My new skill

I know I usually take time on my blog to comment on the kids new skills (for the record, Quinn's crawling - I have pictures and stories to confirm - I just haven't been able to post them yet). Anyway, I thought I'd take a minute to brag about my new skill... COUPONING. Oh, I know. When I hear the word coupon I think of some crazy cat lady who spends hours scouring the newspaper ads clipping every coupon she sees. But I'm much more resourceful, I have the Internet, so I just read blogs from those crazy couponing ladies, print the coupons they tell me to and buy the things they tell me to buy.

Normally, I walk out of Target with like 2 things and manage to spend $50. Never fails. I have never spent less than $50 in any single Target trip (unless I had a gift card). But not today. Today, I spent just $29.16 and walked out with $75.75 dollars worth of merchandise. Plus, I have another $15 coming my way in mail-in rebates. WHAT?



Here's something I didn't know before a few days ago, you can use TWO coupons for the same product. One has to be from the store (ex. printed from target.com) and the other has to be from the manufacturer. And another fun fact, you can use an identical coupon multiple times if you've bought that item multiple times. That means I can print 3 $1 off Popsicles and use all three coupons so long as I buy 3 boxes of Popsicles.

So, here's the breakdown of my shopping trip today:

Huggies Little Swimmers Swim Diapers
(this was where most of my money was spent, but I needed them anyway)
$9.99 Target Price
-1.50 Printable coupon from target.com
-1.00 Coupon from Huggies
$7.49 And it came with a bonus travel size sunscreen. Who doesn't need that?

Scrubbing Bubbles Power Sprayer + 2 Scrubbing Bubbles Bathroom Cleaner
$12.77 Target Price
-3.00 Target coupon for the sprayer
-5.00 Coupon from Scrubbing Bubbles (for the sprayer)
-2.00 Coupon from Scrubbing Bubbles (for the bathroom cleaner)
-5.00 Mail-in rebate from S.C. Johnson
+$2.23 (technically I just made some money)

2 Shout Stain Remover
$1.97 Target Price
-1.00 Target Coupon
-0.55 Shout Coupon
$0.42 each, so $0.84 total, plus this is part of the S.C. Johnson rebate, and you can have 3 per household

Eggo Waffles, Eggo Pancakes
$4.18 Target Price
-1.00 Target Coupon
-1.00 Eggo Coupon
$2.18 (I missed a dollar on this one 'cause the Target coupon was when you buy two. If I'd printed 2 Eggo coupons before it expired, I could have saved an extra $1)

Dove Body Mist
$3.64 Target Price
-1.00 Target Coupon
-2.00 Dove Coupon
$0.64

Dove Travel Shampoo
$0.97 Target Price
-1.00 Dove Coupon
FREE

2 John Frieda Shampoos
$9.98 Target Price
-3.00 Target Coupon
-3.00 John Frieda Coupon
$3.98 for 2

2 Glade Fabric & Air Freshener
$6.98 Target Price
-2.00 Target Coupon
-2.00 Glade Coupon
$2.98 for 2

2 OFF! Insect Repellent
$9.88 Target Price
-2.00 OFF! Coupon
$7.88 for 2

And those last 2 qualified me for my third $5 S.C. Johnson rebate! I'm pretty happy with myself.

So her

The moment I snapped this photo, I knew I had a keeper. Fierce, sweet Calla. At two and a half, she has more personality than a kid her age really ought to be allowed. She's an amazing big sister, even if she loves Quinn in a way that makes me think she's channeling Elmyra Duff. I just adore it when she says, "Oh, Kinny. You're my BEST friend!" She's an even better baby sister who absolutely idolizes her brother. She follows him everywhere and essentially repeats 90% of what he says, changing only the intonation so that it actually seems like they're having a genuine conversation. You'll never hear her refer to him as just Brick. It's always "my Bick" or "our Bick." I'm dreading the day that "Kinny" and "Bick" and "nana" (banana) and "lello" (yellow) are retired for their proper pronunciations, but I know that day is creeping up on us FAST.

Calla is no doubt a determined child. I can't really blame her though - the apple didn't fall far from the tree, you might say. She'll throw a fit without really understanding why she's throwing one. And she LOVES to scream at the top of her lungs. Sometimes I think she does it just to see how loud she can get. She also knows the weight a well-timed "I love you, Mom," can carry, but always says it with sincerity.

Happy Father's Day

Poor, neglected, blog. I actually have a decent amount of pictures to process and share with anyone who's still reading, but I can't seem to find the time to get to them. I had to get to this one though 'cause they're all just too cute. Happy Father's Day, Bryan. We love you!