If you do stuff, stuff gets done.......

If you do stuff, stuff gets done.......

Thursday, August 11, 2016

Purslane, cactus, mermaid craft and another big meal

Thank you all for the information about our mystery plant, purslane.  
We haven't eaten any of yet but I did move it's pot where it shouldn't be able to spread to anyplace we don't want it.  

My son made this cactus arrangement for his uncle's birthday.  

I saw this mermaid craft idea on Instagram.  My daughter already had the Popsicle sticks that have a head and arms.  I set out play dough and a box of assorted sequins, tiny shells and buttons.  
The grands had the best time making these as did the adults who helped.  
This is a craft that is mostly enjoyed in the making, not for keeping, as so many of doo-dads did not stay attached as the dough dried.  That pile of doo-dads on the right is just what fell off.  

Some have tails and some have princess dresses and some are supposed to be boy mermaids.  
Some have hair and are embellished on both sides.  The children who made them were ages 3-7 and all thought it was a lot of fun.  




For my brother's recent birthday, we had a big family meal here.  
This meal was one of the easiest group meals I remember serving.   
The main entree was make your own taco salad.  

I set out tortilla chips, chopped romaine lettuce and tomatoes, a dish of beef taco meat and a bowl of homemade salsa.  All the tomatoes were from our backyard.  
We had a pot of spicy beans and taco salad toppings. 
Meals here always include fruit - this was a cantaloupe from our backyard and strawberries from Aldi (and an adult hand snitching fruit early) 
My daughter brought the desserts- a lemon pound cake and key lime yogurt pie. Both were delicious.  
These grandsons were the last to leave and they love desserts.  They ate lots of supper and then wanted a little more cake and green pie before they went home.  

If you look, you'll see they are using disposable bowls.  Big meals here are always served on disposable plates and bowls.  I find Aldi and the military commissary have the best prices,  I was shocked how much they cost at Walmart now.
The disposable plates and bowls just make clean up so much quicker and easier! 


Summer will be around another month or so but the area schools start next week.  
We've had a fun summer break with lots of cousin fun.  This was a picnic last week after 5 of the cousins played at one of our town's splash pads.  

I hope you all enjoy the rest of your summer- however much longer it lasts ❤️

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

A mystery succulent, planting and a bit more CVS

My son likes to buy succulents and cactus when Lowes has them on the clearance cart for $1-$2. 
Then he re pots them and leaves them at our house for us to plant sit.  
They aren't much trouble and they are thriving in the summer heat and liking all the summer rain.  
But the succulent in the big white pot is a mystery.  My son says he didn't buy it and I sure didn't.  It has grown lots and when I looked at early this morning, it had dozens of tiny yellow flowers.  I guess they close up in the heat of the day.  
Anyone know the name of this mystery succulent? 


He also has some jade plants that have tripled in size this summer.  


The zinnias we grew from seed were slow to get started but are growing up and blooming so pretty 😄



My husband is starting some seeds for fall crops - broccoli, onions, lettuces.......


And Surprise! Or probably not..............

I made a second trip to CVS this week.  The deals were too good not to do them. 
I used my $16 ExtraCareBucks from yesterday.
$2 coupons on each Gain- from the Sunday paper, Coupons.com and the PG website
.25 coupons on Puffs from Sunday newspaper
.25 coupons on Dawn from Coupons.com
Those products came to just a but more than $30 and gave back a $10 ExtraCareBuck

The Body Armour sports drinks are a freebie - they were $3 for 2 and give back a $3 ExtraCareBuck

My mom asked for deodorant and they did not stock the exact kind she requested but the ones I got were too good a deal to pass up and if she doesn't want them, I'll keep them and look at other stores for hers. 
The Lady Speedstick was $2 for $5 and gave back a $2 ExtraCareBuck and I used a 50 cent coupon on each. 
I had a $2 off $8 any deodorant coupon from the CVS printer and also a $1 on any Mitchum.  
So I added a Mitchum to make my deodorant purchase over $8 and I also used a $2 Mitchum coupon.
All 3 deodorants after coupons ended up costing  $3.19 and I got the $2 ExtraCareBuck on the deal.  
Total spent was $10.06 and I got back $15 total ExtraCareBucks for my next trip.

Hope you are all having a great start to August 😍

Monday, August 1, 2016

CVS haul and some tips for US CVS shoppers and baby RJ

Hello! I have been just busy the last 10 days helping with my grands and then my husband had some mouth surgery.  But things are settling down, everyone is fine and I'm getting back to more routine things.  

Here is a bunch of information about how I shop at CVS- as requested- but if you're not into CVS, just scroll to the bottom for sweet photo of baby RJ.  ❤️

I went to CVS today.  This was $57 before coupons, $26 after and I got back $16 in CVS ExtraCareBucks to spend next time.  
The Tide, Dawn and Puffs are all on sale and offer $10 back when you spend $30.
I had printable $2 Tide coupons from Coupons.com and .25 on the Dawn from the same place.  
Haagen Doz ice cream was 2/$7.  I used $1 coupons on each from a recent Sunday insert and got back $3 for each 2. 
Special K was $1.99 I used 2 coupons from the CVS website.  One was for $2/2 Special K and one was $1.  I also had a CVS red box coupon for $1/ any 3 cereals. 
Gold Emblem nuts were $1. I used a $2/2 Gold Emblem nuts coupon printed from the CVS website.   

My receipt and my EXtraCareBucks for next time.  

Tips for CVS 
I plan deals ahead looking at the future CVS ads at IHeartCVS.com 


I look at other CVS shoppers on YouTube.  
My favorite YouTuber is LASavings8.  She is brief and gets the deals across without a bunch of mumbo-jumbo.  She usually posts her deals Sunday morning about 9 a.m. CST  She has already put up a video about this week's deals but she won't have videos for the next 2 weeks as she will be on her honeymoon.  
On YouTube, I also watch 
SavingWithJanandShirl The Coupon Queens
CouponingStacy
Thrifty & Thriving 
Couponing with Toni - she is really good and might be most helpful to CVS beginners 

For all CVS shopper - get a CVS card and then go on the CVS website and sign up to be in Beauty Bucks (you'll be rewarded $5 in EXtraCareBucks for every $50 spent on beauty products and this is before coupons.  The reward comes about 48 hours after your purchases reach $50)
Also sign up for the prescription rewards if you will fill prescriptions at CVS.  
Get the CVS app on any smart device like an Android phone, iPad, iPod or iPhone and check for App only coupons after you link your CVS card to it.  
Scan your CVS card weekly at a CVS redbox card scanner.  (Not the movie rental kiosk but a kiosk inside CVS) scann your card until it quits printing CVS personal coupons.  These will be based on what you previously purchaed.  You could get 10-20 a week and they vary widely like $5/25 any diaper purchase or $2 off $6 any Listerine.  They change weekly.m
The CVS coupons can be combined with Manufacturer coupons.  
Also sign up your email with CVS to get coupons.  I usually get an email the first part of the week for something like $2 off any cosmetic or shampoo.  I usually get emails on Thursday and they will have a CVS coupon for something like $6/30 any purchase or 30% off any non-sale items.  

I also belong to a few CVS Facebook groups to see what other shoppers are getting.  Some of them are very busy lists and I just scan over the posts before I go shopping to make sure I am matching up everything,  
Couponing at CVS is my favorite Facebook group.  

Newspaper coupons - I usually have a few multiples as I subscribe to 2 Sunday papers.  My parents save their coupons and I think my dad usually scrounges up a few extras that he finds at their retirement home. Also, my brother saves his coupons for me and he has access to several papers as part of his job.   If you know someone who subscribes to papers but doesn't coupon, chances are they would be happy to save the inserts.  
Also, if you want to buy a Sunday paper or several for the coupons, Dollar Tree sells newspapers for $1.

I know this all sounds like a lot of hoops to jump through, but once I learned how,  I really enjoy doing it.  And I really like having a big supply/stockpile of most every product we like, bought for very little.  



And here is professional photo of grand #8,  baby RJ ❤️
Thank you all for your sweet greetings about him from my last post.  
And doesn't he have such pretty baby hair? 

Have a good August everyone