Donor Drive

In case you have noticed my Blog List I have added a link titled, "Donor Drive".  This link is the site for Dos and Tres' school annual Golf & Walk Event fundraiser.  Now, I'm not a golf fan but I am a HUGE fan of Cullman Christian School!  If you would like to help us out, then please click on the link and you will search for Mrs. McCormick's Cub Club. 
Our school goal is $40,000.  This money is used for the general fund of the school.  I wish I could convey what a great school CCS is.  CCS has a warm, friendly environment with a great curriculum program.  For example, Dos is only in the K4 program and he is reading!  It is a wonderful feeling to hear your child read.  Tres will be in K4 next year and I look forward to what she will learn. 

Grocery Day

Today was grocery day.  I did pretty good considering I spent about $10 the other day at Walgreens and today $130 at Publix.  This will last us two weeks.  I'm such a tight wad in the sense that I still think to myself, "I could've done better" but at $70 a week for a family of five is pretty good.  My best deals I think were:  at Walgreens this week they have $5 register rewards when you purchase one Almay cosmetic plus they have several Almay products at a 30% discount.  I matched these deals with a $2 store coupon and a $2 manufacturer's coupon to get a $4.19 eye makeup remover for $.19 plus $5 in register rewards.  Basically, I got paid to get some much needed eye makeup remover. At Publix I got a $10 Publix gift card for purchasing $15 worth of Conagra food products.  However, I really got more than $15 worth because all of the Conagra foods I purchased were buy one get one free (B1G1).  I've been really excited about the gift cards and rebates I've received recently.  I have the $10 gift card coming plus up to $17 in rebates headed my way.  I would have NEVER thought I would be getting paid to purchase high quality products.  Prior to couponing, I thought the only way to save on groceries was to buy store brand.
I recently read of a site called the 30 dollar weekly grocery challenge.  I am intrigued and need to read more because that would be pretty sweet to spend $30 a week however I'm not sure that's possible with a family of five.  Still my biggest challenge is buying meat at a good deal for two weeks at a time.  As a Christmas gift, my in-laws got us half a cow that will be slaughtered in April.  The cost for us to slaughter it will be $150 so I'm curious to see how much this will save us over the year.
I made it home in time to fold clothes and clean some before going to pick the kids up.  Plus, we got to ride bikes and play on the trampoline.  Pretty good day. 

If I Die Young...

Have you ever had a song stuck in your head?  Well, mine is "If I Die Young" by The Band Perry.  This is a group that on some level I would like to dislike them but I find myself really enjoying all their songs thus far.  Now this group has nothing to do with my day except that their song is on "repeat" in my brain.

For a month now, I've been off my game but today was my turn around.  Yeah!!  Thanks in part to an injury Numero Uno sustained yesterday evening, he was home today to spend the whole day with the kids.  So, my man and I took the kids out to Smith Lake yesterday to test our friend's boat out.  We never got to test the boat because as my man was releasing the boat into the water, his ring finger got caught between the boat and its trailer almost severing his finger.  Thankfully, he's okay.  He does have a few stitches and a couple of days off.  Now as terrible as it sounds, if Numero Uno would've been at work I would have been just as behind in all my housework.  However, today I was able to do six loads of laundry, balance our checkbook, make out tomorrow's grocery list, exercise, and donate old clothes to a local charity.  Whew!  I've still got a few more tasks to complete and am hoping I can still keep going until all is complete. 

On the other hand, when Daddy's in charge, this is what the children have to eat...

Oh well, they had a good time:)

In Case You Wanted to Know...

Tres did fantastic today!  She was a little nervous when we first arrived at her Jamboree but I think that was because we had to meet in a new gym before everything started.  Once she was able to run around to get some "jitters" out, she loosened up and had a great time.  I'm uncertain if I can explain or describe how wonderful this experience was for me.  Here are a few pictures.  The smile on her face made mine and Numero Uno's day.  I truly believe Tres had a great time:)  My parents came to watch her, and I think she really liked having them ther to cheer her on.

We had another busy day today but I'm not really certain when life is not busy due to the fact that day in and day out you have routines that must be done in order to keep some sanity.  On my list for today was Jamboree then help my sister.  My sister teaches at Cullman Christian School's high school.  Tonight they held their first Honor Society formal.  I agreed to help her get the location decorated.  I enjoyed doing it and amazingly, Dos and Tres did not complain one time about being there.  I was very proud of how well the kids did while I was working.  When we finally arrived home this afternoon, I was spent.  I really didn't do much of anything else except my youngest nephew did come over to play with my kiddies tonight.  I also went over tomorrow's sermon notes since I will have to sign tomorrow.

Today's List

Here are the last pictures I took with my camera.  Can you tell I've not had my camera for a while?  I need to just start taking pictures of my kids since it has been 3 months since their last photos.  I will get some pics of Tres tomorrow since it will be her gymnastic Jamboree.

 

My To Do list has been pretty steady here lately and I am strangely at ease and peace with our life right now.  Let me take a moment to say things are going very well for us right now.  I hope I will be proactive enough to keep ahead of the chaos that always seems close behind.  Today I was able to send out fundraising letters for the school, have a picnic with Tres, plant carrots and lettuce in the garden, ride bikes with Dos and Tres, go to Wal-Mart, AND give Tres a mani and pedi for tomorrow.  All in all, I would say that is a successful day. 

I still need to get the whole family's outfits laid out for tomorrow's Jamboree.  I'm pretty excited about this event for Tres. I have new batteries in the camera and will have the disc recorder charged up for in the morning.  I'm trying to prepare myself for the possibility that Tres will freak out in front of a crowd or decide not to cooperate. 

By the way, I have received two different FREE subscriptions to magazines I like.  Mamapedia has a deal for $5 on one year subscription to Disney's Family Fun magazine; however, if you are a first time user to Mamapedia, you receive a $5 credit when you sign up making your subscription free!  Then today I saw on Couponing to Disney that FreeBizMag.com will give you a complimentary subscription to Woman's Day when you apply.  Honestly, I'm a little iffy on the Woman's Day because I applied and they accepted me; however, the fine print read something about publisher must accept application.  I was slightly confused. It will take up to 12 weeks to get on the magazine rotation so I will have to keep you posted on whether or not I really got the free deal.