Makin' Money!!!

Justin and I decided to go on a cruise about a month ago. He's going to be in Florida for a conference and I'm going to fly out and we will leave together. I can't wait! It will be a short cruise to the Bahamas and will be without the kids.

After deciding on all the details, I decided to "step out of the box." I challenged myself to pay for the cruise by selling things on Ebay and not touching our savings. I went through each room and made a list of things we were no longer using. I listed everything and I raised all the money. I am beyond thrilled. I've sold purses, dishes, baby bottles, books, blankets, and more. Justin's only request was that I not sell the children.

Selling on Ebay has been so easy and I would recommend it to anyone. Please comment if you would like help selling things. It really is as easy as 1-2-3.

Hope everyone is having a great week! Tomorrow is Friday. I can't wait. I love the weekends.

Walgreens for Week of 8/7/11

Hola, readers! I did make that plural because I think I have more than one reader now. Can I just start by saying that I will never complain of cold weather or rain again. I would run errands for months in the rain and cold with my three kids!!! This weather is making me CRAZY!!! Can I just say I tell my husband thank you every single day for working outside a lot for our family. I really mean that. I need to dedicate a post to that sweetie heart! He would die if he knew I just referred to him as that....

Any who...here's what I got yesterday & today at Walgreen's. I found a really good Walgreen's yesterday near our church that hadn't sold out of everything in 32 minutes. Plus, Justin was with me to help with two thirds of the children so that was AWESOME!!! He took Chase and baby girl in a cart and baby boy and I chilled. I think he thought he was an only child for 7 minutes. I'm sure it was the highlight of his week.


Transaction #1
Listerine Smart Rinse for $3.00
Use $1.00 off coupon from 7/31/11 SS Insert
Pay $2.00 OOP
Earn $2.00 in RR

Transaction #2
Repeat Transaction #1

Transaction #3
Keri Lotion for $5.99
2 Filler Items--I got the 10 ct pencils that were on sale for $0.19 this week
Use $2.00 off coupon from 7/17/11 SS Insert
Use $2.00 RR from transaction 1
Use $2.00 RR from transaction 2
Pay $.40 OOP
Earn $5.00 in RR

Transaction #4
Colgate Total for 2/$6.00
Crayola Crayon 24 count for $1.00
Use $.75 off colgate coupon from 7/24/11 SS Insert
Use $.75 off colgate coupon from 7/24/11 SS Insert
Use $5.00 RR from transaction #3

Earn $5.00 in RR (1.00 from crayons and 4.00 from toothpaste)

The dry erase markers were on sale for $.99 this week. I used two $2.00 off 2 coupon from . Wow, that's a lot of 2's. I threw in two fillers of the $.19 pencils so the register wouldn't beep at me. That total was $.36 OOP.

Everything above sums up my Sunday trip.

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I ran into another Walgreens today for Huggies wipes. These are my favorite brand and we use them a lot. They were on sale this week for $5.99 and there was also an in ad coupon (aug coupon book) for $2.00 off. I also snagged a Walgreen's Infant Care Coupon Book that had another $2.00 off coupon. Finally, I used two $.50 off Huggies wipe coupon from 7/17/11 SS insert. My total for 4 packages of 216 ct wipes was 7.12. I used my $5.00 in RR from Sunday to bring it down to $2.12.

When I was walking out today I realized that I had a coupon for a free Herbal Essence product and a free Aussie product in my car. I ran out and got those and bought a bottle of each for free. They were on sale for $3.00 this week and you earned $1.00 in RR from each. Ergo, I made $2.00 in RR. HOLLA!!! p.s. i got the free product coupons from their respective FB pages and they are no longer available. Sorry.

My total savings for the two days was $79.33. I spent $7.38 OOP and I have two dollars in RR left. Had I been thinking, I would have done the herbal essence and aussie deal before the wipes and applied it to that. Let's just blame it on the heat.

These are the days of our lives...

Today was an uneventful but very fun day. A day that I want to just freeze in my mind because my kids were all so good and sweet. Baby girl finally got over her stomach bug and she was back to her normal, sweet self. She felt pretty crummy these past few days and pretty much only wanted mama. Her sweet brother would try to sit by her and she would cry/whine and push him away. I felt bad for both of them.

We headed out to the Apple Store after morning naps and I felt like I needed a Paxil to help me deal with that store. So. Many. People. I now fully understand why Apple currently has more cash than our Government. The store is totally stroller un-friendly. I gave my phone to the employee and he said he would take a look and find out why my speaker wasn't working. Of course, he couldn't duplicate the problem. Oh well. At least we got out of there fairly quickly.

Lunch was at Culver's. I love that place and big brother got his chocolate ice cream. He got it all over his cheeks and mouth and said, "I look like Jesus." It was so cute!

Everyone all took great naps at the same time. I love it when this happens:) We headed to HEB and I got Sushi to eat. I love me some Sushi!

This day was so perfect...I love my sweet family. I know I am going to want these days back!

Hope you guys had a great Saturday! I will leave you with some pic of my sweet boy looking like Jesus.

Crock Pot Cooking

Yes, I live in Texas and I know that it gets hot in the summer. But, can we please catch a break? It's terrible. All week it's supposed to be between 104 & 107. I feel as if I might faint every single time I walk outside to water my plants. Not really, but it's bad! We are in a terrible drought that I predicted last year when I finally bought my Hunter rain boots. I wish it would rain constantly for a week. If it does, I promise not to complain about running errands with my three babes in the rain. Pinky promise.

So what is one to do about cooking when it is burning up outside? I used to say go out to eat but that was before I got on Dave Ramsey's bandwagon. I now bust out the crock pot and leave the oven turned off. Yesterday I did meatloaf that was so good. It lacked in presentation, but thankfully my husband and kids didn't mind. Also, when has meatloaf every really been that pretty?

Today I am attempting my chicken enchilada recipe in the crock pot. This is my mother-in-law's recipe and the enchiladas are stacked, not rolled. It's super yum and a meal that my family of 5 enjoy. That, in itself, is a miracle.

So, without further ado, here's the recipe:

*2 cups of cooked chicken. This can either be cubed or shredded.
*2 cans cream of chicken soup
*8 ounces sour cream
*4 ounce can green chilies (chopped)
*2 cups shredded cheese
*8-10 corn tortillas

1. Spray crock with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Mix chicken, soup, sour cream & green chilies in a bowl
3. Tear apart tortillas and arrange in a layer. I usually tear one into 4 pieces.
4. Pour half of chicken mixture over tortillas and spread into an even layer.
5. Sprinkle half of your cheese over chicken mixture.
6. Repeat steps 3 through 5.
7. Put lid on top and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours.

I promise this is easy and I can put it all together while my 3 kids are playing in the kitchen all around me.

I have also used all different types of chicken. Sometimes I will shred a rotisserie chicken from the store and use. Today I sauteed chicken breasts in butter and garlic.

Hope everyone is doing great. Stay cool and don't melt!