5!!!!

Such a bittersweet day!

Today is Sammy's 5th Birthday!

Bitter because I kind of miss those crazy days when he was little and I had no idea what I was doing! ;)

Sweet because I'm so proud of the boy he's becoming and can't wait to see what God has for his and our future! =)

Samuel,
I am so incredible blessed to be your Mommy! I thank God everyday for placing you in our family! You made me a mommy and I am so very thankful! You're sweet and caring, smart and funny, silly and crazy! =) We have a ridiculous amount of nicknames for you and you love each one which makes me smile! =)
We love you more than words can say and we can't imagine how we lived 26 years before meeting you!
You entered this world with style! "Thanks" ;) for making me a complete spectacle at the hospital when everyone wanted to come in and see the "woman with the 11 pound baby"!! You were enormously perfect! =)
That spring day 5 years ago we welcomed you into our family and just a few weeks ago
 God welcomed you into His and we couldn't be more excited!! =)
Our deepest desire and heart's prayer is that you grow to have an insatiable thirst for knowing God, to love Him with an extraordinary passion and to serve Him with your whole heart and life. We can't wait to see what God has in store for you!
We love you, Samboni, Sam Barone, Rony, Ronarooni, Jamesers, Sambo, Mac&Cheese... (you get the idea!)

(I'll put up pictures of his actual cake and little party we had soon)

Ode to Bargains!

This is so crazy fun!

I went to Shop Rite last night and saved an obscene amount of money (in my opinion).

I spent $44.56 and saved $64.66!!! Plus I got $8 catalinas for my next shopping trip and 2 free reusable shopping bags! 

So I walked out of there with $101.61 worth of stuff for just $36.56!!! 

How insane is that?!

So, tomorrow I plan on attacking huge RiteAid deals.

Here's what I'm gonna try. I'm still very new to the Drugstore deals and unsure of how it all works so I'll let you know how it goes down!

{Plus I'll have both boys with me so....please pray for me! ha! =)}

Transaction #1

Gillette Bodywash/Deodorant 2/$8 plus $2 SCR

2 Gillette Deodorants $8

2 Gillette Body Wash $9.98

- $5 off $25 coupon

- $4 off 2 Body Wash/Deodorant coupon

- $1 off BW/D coupon

- $2 off BW coupon

- $9.98 using (2) BOGO coupons

final = $6 Money Maker! woohoo! (hope this works!) =)

Almay BOGO plus $5 Single Check Rebate (SCR) when you buy 2

2 Mascara $5.99 (BOGO)

- $2 using (2) $1 coupons

= $3.99, plus get $5 SCR

final = $1 Money Maker! =)

Transaction #2

Biore Skin Care 3/$15 plus $5 SCR

2 Pore Strips $10

2 Cleansers $10

- $5 off $20 coupon

- $1 off coupon

- $10 using (2) FREE Cleansers when you buy Pore Strips coupons

= $4, plus get $5 SCR

final = $1 Money Maker! =)

Transaction #3

John Freida Products 3/$15 plus $5 SCR

3 John Freida products $15

- $5 off $20 coupon

- $9 using (3) $3 off coupons

- $1 Rite Aid Video Value coupon (I have 2 of these, but not sure if I can use both?)

= $2 plus $5 SCR

final = $4 Money Maker! =)

CoverGirl Products BOGO

2 CoverGirl products (approx. $7)

BOGO coupon to get both FREE!! =)

ReNu Travel Size Eye Solution 99cents

2 ReNu Travel Size $1.98

- $1.98 using (2) $1 off coupons

TOTAL for all 3 Transactions = $12 MONEY MAKER!!!

Squeeeealing!!!! =)

My hubby is away and I have an insane migraine, but I am super happy! So much so that I think I was caught squealing a few minutes ago! =)

Don't get me wrong, the boys were unnecessarily grumpy and whiney today and I know it's by God's grace that we all survived the day! =)

But I had been meaning to get to Acme all week and when I saw this post by Michelle (you are stinking amazing and my new hero!!) I put together a new list with new coupons and headed out with the grumpies boys.

We scored some SWEET deals and I had to drop something off at my parents' house after so I dropped the grumpies boys off to enjoy some ice cream and I headed back to Acme to get some more loot! =)

So, I'm not as good as Michelle (or Robyn, or Ashley, or Stephanie, or...) and I think I could have done even better with coupons, but I still think this was pretty awesome!

This is everything that I got in the 2 trips:

That is 4 boxes of Wheaties Fuel cereal, 4 boxes of Supreme Brownies, 8 boxes of Fruit Snacks, 2 packs of Mashed Potatoes, 2 Frostings, 1 Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix, 1 Edy's Ice Cream ($1!!), 1 box of Kashi Crackers (FREE!!) and 2 Warm Delights (they are going to be so *delightful* during my husbandless week!!)

I spent a total of $10.01 out of pocket and got an additional $9.50 for my next shopping trip! So that ends up to be 51 cents! 

It could have been even better had my dear son (ahem, Caleb!) not lost one $2.50 catalina somewhere between the store and the car!

I also got a free Mom's bible in the mail today and a free sample of Kashi cereal (that's where I got the coupon for the free crackers at Acme) AND my parent's are going to take the boys for a sleepover tomorrow night! YAY!!!!!! (Grammy and Pop-Pop, you are the best and I owe you big time!!!!)

I'm going to go celebrate with a movie and some coffee ice cream (that was a splurge that I didn't include in the photo!) =)