A Cookie Cutter Diva's Life

Been kind of MIA this week! Our internet loves to take breaks and only work for half the day but as of Thursday we have been completely with out internet all day every day! I'm so furious! We have called the techs several times and got told 3 different days they would come out and never did. Got told they did and we weren't home (when we were) and that they left a door hanger (and they didn't)
I'm sitting in my back yard bumming the internet right now and went to starbucks and enjoyed some alone time to myself and a nice peppermint mocha while getting some internet time there! UHG so frustrating! I can't print my coupons out or anything right now! I feel like it's COSTING me money lol

Nothing to exciting going on around here lately. I got some coupons in the mail this week from Bushes Baked Beans for writing them and telling them how much I liked their products!

I also got a coupon for a free bottle of pantene that I can't wait to get and a few samples this week in the mail! Makes getting mail exciting when you're getting something aside from bills!

I was very stoked that I had some girls clothes given to me to fill the sizes I was empty on for miss Peyton (my youngest) too!!

She was in the ER on Friday because we are pretty sure she had bloody stools and she has had diahrea since and been very fussy. Finally today she hasn't had any. I'm really worried about her and waiting for the stool test to come back. I hope we hear something tomorrow. I feel slightly like we got blown off when we went in. She has had several digestive problems since being born and you would think that and the fact it might be blood would be taken a lot more serious!

Thursday we had a breakfast potluck playdate here which was awesome! Lots of fun and good food! Some much much much needed adult interaction time haha

I guess that's about all for the excitement around here lately!

spent $43 at walgreens and saved $88!
4 toys for a joint bday party
1 crest mouth rinse
2 grape jellys
3 lip liners
2 eye liners
4 cans mushrooms
2 cans of folgers coffee
1 nivea bodywash
2 pantene shampoo/conditioners
colgate toothepaste
2 things of cottonelle
4 boxes of cereal
gilette fushion razor
crest toothepaste
contact solution!


Then at HEB tonight I got buy one get one free batteries and two coupons printed out and one of them was for a free jar of salsa!

I set my alarm and got up this morning to go to family Dollars Grand Opening!! I wasn't going to be nuts and go stand there in a line so I just set it before opening and hoped I got one lol I wanted the deals regardless!

I wound up getting my $5 gift card, a bag with a tshirt, shopping list, jar opener, water bottle and so...me other stuff and a bunch of samples!

3 Cascade 20ct packs
4 Cans of Cream of Mushroom Soup
4 Herball Essence Shampoo/Conditioner
1 Bic Soleil 4pk Shavers
2 Cans Pringles
2 Oral B Toothebrushes
1 Curad Bandaids
1 Noxema 7ct Razors
Total = $10!! Total Saved $36

Great thing I had my coupon policy handy! I had a feeling there might be a problem with the new store! 1st she told me my manufacture coupon wouldn't take because they take one per item and I said no you take on store coupona nd one manufacture and showed her the policy and she goes "oh"

Then tried telling me she couldn't take the coupons that were over the product price and I showed her where it satted they just don't give cash back if over and she argued with me that it was under "not accepted" and I said no it's a different column. I asked for the coorporate phone number to clear it up and she said the district manager was there and he comes over and she says how it's free and that's wrong and he said no I was right and got in an argument with her. She kept apologizing after and I told her it wasn't her fault if she didn't know. So I had ran home to get something and found another coupon and went back and she asked if I had the coupon policy on me still so she could copy it and teach the employees lol

Next stop was Wallgreens!

$45 worth of cover girl make up.. 1 foundation and 2 mascara's for $1.50 after sale/coupons!!!

This has been and AWESOME day lolSee More

The front of my coupon binder!



The inside of my coupon binder. This is where I keep my shopping list for the deals I went to hit up that I found online, in sales ads or just my grocerie list!

You can also see how I keep my coupons in a baseball card size page, each having their own pocket. I seperate them according to brand in each square.



Here is where I seperate my pages by colorful tags or sheets. I seperate them by catagories such as..

1) Hygeine
2) Cleaning
3) Cold
4) Frozen
5) Dry Fods
6) Pastas, Sauces and Cans
7) Drinks
8) Baby Items
9) Misc Items
10) Store Coupons (like clothing discounts, rewards cards)
11) Resteraunts





The Full Page Inserts. This is where I keep my large coupons or rewards charts in one and in another I keep a copy of every stores coupon policy for an easy refrence!




The back of my coupon binder. This is where I keep an envelope suggested to me by a friend to put all of my pulled coupons for easy access at the end of my trip for an easy check out! I just place them in there as I pull them through out the store!

This week has been such a bust between the way I felt and Peytons exzama which finally was cleared up enough to leave the house today! Thank heavens because I had a lot to do!

First we went and got my blood drawn to check my thyroid levels. The kids were so well behaved! It's times like those that it makes me proud and Aidan helping with the baby while I have to do that. Then they act normal.. lol jk

After we went to chucky cheese like I have promised for days to do when they pulled it out of the "Summer Fun" jar the beginning of the week! They cashed in their rewards charts for 10 free tokens a piece and I bought $5 extra to split up between them. We got a good hour and a half of fun with that so you can't beat that!

After we had to do some pick ups and checked out the clothing swap they have once a month. Sometimes you will be lucky and find something and others not much at all. I never can find anything for Bryan or the boys. Mostly the girls. However today I found a few shirts for him which he needed more and a few for Aidan for winter which he needed some so I'm super stoked!!

After that we went to trade in another Wii game of Aidan's choice this time for a new one. He got Nerf! Of course haha

Well today was kind of a crappy day. Wound up rescheduling two appointments for my daughter because her exzama was so bad and I wasn't feeling well at all today. So we stayed at home and relaxed and the kids played with some neighbor friends.

So my deals tonight..
Wallgreens
$.50 wonka candy bar x2 ( $1 off coupon )
$.25 extra gum x8
$.99 facial tissue x2
...$.60 4pk tic tacs x2

FREE movie rental from redbox

Target
$.50 pillows x2 ($2 off coupon)
$1.00 Nivea Wash ($2 off coupon)
$1.00 Tums (after 2 $1 off coupons) couldn't find the smaller one to make it free
$1.00 skintimate shave gel ($1.50 off coupon)
$3.00 toddler silverware ($1.50 off coupon)
$1.00 TGIF Frozen Meal x2 (2 $1.00 off coupons)
$2.25 skinny cow ice cream ($1.50 off 2 used with below item too)
$3.25 skinny cow candy
$1.00 taco ortega shells x2 ($1.00 off coupon)
$.20 taco ortga season x2 ($1.00 off coupon)
FREE Bengay ($5.00 off coupon)

received $1 off ice cream coupon at check out

Free Entree at Panda Express with my order (coupon)

Did a survey for chickfila and received a free chicken sandwhich

Did a survey for Panda Express and received free entreeSee More

well the kids made mommy mad and lost their summer fun activity today .. should have cleaned their room! lol

How ever it wasn't a complete blow for them today! I had to go out and meet some people for some pick ups/drop offs today and while we were out we got a few things done I had wanted to do.

They got a free kids movie to watch tonight with my redbox code so they were happy about that one! So they watched Beverley Hills Chihuahua 2 tonight!

They also decided they had an old Wii came they didn't play much anymore and wanted to trade in which we haven't done in awhile so we took it in and got a really good credit for it so they wound up getting a new game completely free! They got the Bee Movie game!

Then mommy grabbed dinner on the way home with a free coupon since daddy wasn't supposed to be home till super late with school but he wound up getting home earlier and broke my "free streak" today and I had to grab him some food too lol

Just been kinda of a blah day and just here today getting a few things done. Trying to take care of the car tags that we didn't get the renewal notice on in the mail like normal and my husband got pulled over and found out they had been expired since last month! Niiiiice! Trying to get things squared away with our crappy Internet that keeps going out every day at the same time for several hours.. yeah I got blown off about that one so my husband might have to call with that "Stern" voice and get things done lol

So that's all of the excitement around here today! ha!

After church this morning the kids pulled out "Bake Cookies" from our "Summer Fun" jar! So we made some sugar cookie dough

3/4 Cup Butter, softened
1 Cup Sugar
2 Eggs
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
2 3/4 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp salt

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour; baking powder and slat; gradually add to creamed mixture.
Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm.
Bake a 375 for 8-10 minutes.








Scored a sandwhich maker off of freecycle today so I was really excited about that! On the way home I hit up good will. I go there a lot but not to this one in a long time. I went to try to find a denim jean skirt that would fit me as I've been looking for a few weeks to have something to go with everything and dress it up a bit if needed. Wound up walking out with a denim skirt, a pair of nike shoes for Brooklyn, 3 dresses for her, a pair of earrings, necklace and bracelet set for her all for $24! I heart that place!

Then I had to stop at HEB to get a few things and got $50 for $13!! yay!

Well today we enjoyed sleeping in a little for our Saturday and then me and the 3 oldest kids headed off to see the new Cars 2 Movie in 3D with the tickets I won online with one of my couponing sites! Things like that make every bit of it worth it! I enjoy that my kids get to do so much more then planned sometimes!

Hubby stayed at home with the youngest since she likes to run all around right now and wouldn't be into it. I will be glad when she can go!

I also get a weekly coupon from the theater and this weeks deal was get a small popcorn free with cookie dough bites! So mommy enjoyed her favorite candy and we had an extra popcorn for the end so we didn't have to pass back and forth so much! It still added up to about $20 with the concession though today! That makes you enjoy those free tickets even more haha




After I went over to Target to check to see if they had the pillows in stock yet and check out what they had on jeans with the most current coupon deal I got! I wound up saving $45! I got ..

3 Large Boxes of Poptarts SALE 2/$5; $1.00 off target coupon, $2 off = $1.50ea
Sharpies SALE $1, $1 off target coupon = FREE
6 Boxes of Pasta Salad SALE $1.33ea, $.50 off two coupon x 3 = $1.08ea
Kids Tennis Game SALE 75% off = $1.25
Cookie Crisp Cereal SALE $2.25(I think it was??) $.75 off coupon = $1.50
2 Pairs Jeans for Brooklyn SALE $4 (from $8), $2 off target coupon x2 = $2 ea
2 Boxes of Ziplocks $2.04ea, $1 off target coupon, $1 off = $1.00 ea
6 Summer Time Plates 75% off = $.45ea
2 4pk Summer Time Tumblers 75% off = $.45ea

Total was about $24!!! yay!

Decided to enjoy the rest of the evening in and since Bryan has been at school all week and I have been really good with eating light since I'm just cooking for me and the kids we treated ourselves to some Buffalo Wild Wings tonight which I haven't had in sooooo long and rented a movie to watch together since we haven't gotten to spend much time together this week!

Kids are having a blast on the slip'n'slide now but going to get my cuddle time as soon as Peytons worn out to go to bed!

So today the kids pulled out "Water Balloon War" out of the "Summer Fun Jar" so they had lots of fun having a water balloon fight in the yard with each other and then we filled up the pool and played in the back yard this afternoon.

The kids pulled out "Camp In The Living Room With Tents" from their "Naughty Or Nice Jars" so they will be doing that this evening for fun!

Put some good use to some banana's about to go to waiste and made some super YUMMY Banana Muffins!

Prep Time:
10 MinCook Time:
25 MinReady In:
35 Min
Servings (Help)

US
Metric Calculate

Original Recipe Yield 12 muffins, or 48 mini muffins
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large bananas, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup butter, melted
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Coat muffin pans with non-stick spray, or use paper liners. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
2.Combine bananas, sugar, egg, and melted butter in a large bowl. Fold in flour mixture, and mix until smooth. Scoop into muffin pans.
3.Bake in preheated oven. Bake mini muffins for 10 to 15 minutes, and large muffins for 25 to 30 minutes. Muffins will spring back when lightly tapped.

Other than that it's been a pretty lazy afternoon around here relaxing and staying out of the heat!

Today the kids pulled out "Bowling" from our "Summer Fun" jar! So we went to enjoy our free summer bowling program that we signed up for (plus cost of shoes) and met up with a friend of ours who we haven't seen in a long time because she's been out of town! So Brooklyn was stoked to get to see one of her best friends!




I had to stop at the store on the way home to get a few things and they had a bunch of summer items on sale 50% off at Target! So the kids picked out this really cute golf set that was on sale and played with that when they got home. I also finally got a pic nic basket! I've been dying to get one since we go on so many pic nics but I always seem to miss finding them! They had a cute wooden one and a cloth one. I wound up getting the cloth one for $5!

Had some super yummy sushi for dinner and won some Car's 2 Movie tickets tonight so the kids are excited!!

I made these for a treat for the kids tonight! They looooved them!!

Only I did mine in blue rather than pink since I have two boys that would throw a fit haha

1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® yellow cake mix
Water, vegetable oil and eggs called for on cake mix box
1 cup candy-coated chocolate candies
18 flat-bottom ice cream cones
3 containers (12 oz each) Betty Crocker® Whipped strawberry frosting
1/4 cup Betty Crocker® candy decors


1 Heat oven to 350°F (or 325°F for dark or nonstick pans). Place paper baking cup in each of 18 regular-size muffin cups; place mini paper baking cup in each of 18 mini muffin cups. Make cake mix as directed on box, using water, oil and eggs. Spoon evenly into regular and mini muffin cups.
2 Bake mini cupcakes 11 to 13 minutes, regular cupcakes 17 to 22 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from pans to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
3 If ice cream cone holder is unavailable, make a holder for the cones by tightly covering the tops of 2 empty square or rectangular pans (at least 2 to 2 1/2 inches deep) with heavy-duty foil. With sharp knife, cut 18 "stars" in foil, 3 inches apart, by making slits about 1 inch long.
4 Place about 2 teaspoons candies in each ice cream cone. Remove paper cups from cupcakes. For each cone, frost top of 1 regular cupcake with frosting; turn upside down onto a cone. Frost bottom (now the top) of cupcake. Place mini cupcake upside down on frosted regular cupcake; frost side of regular cupcake and entire mini cupcakes completely (it's easiest to frost from the cone toward the top). Sprinkle with candy decors. Push cone through foil opening in cone holder; the foil will keep it upright.

Todays adventure pulled out of the "Summer Fun Jar" was a "Balloon Party!"

This was a cool thrifty little idea to give them something to do on a bored summer day with out going out and spending any money!

I tend to be crazy when it comes to keeping things like gift bags, streamer, party supplies, etc that we might need again. So of course I had some left over unblown up balloons from one of our past parties and blew those all up and let the kids go wild in the living room!

They played with them throwing them in the air, drew on them and made faces, decorated them, played games, and popped them!





Of course this wound up turning into a tattoo party because at the end the kids thought it'd be more fun to color on themselves and did a little face painting of their own then played like they were an a safari adventure!

Well today we got a few things done and got some appointments scheduled, picked up some shoes for the girls off freecycle, went to the dr to try to get this mess straightened out with getting the kids records transferred to the new drs office (going on 4 months of not getting them now) I need to at least get the shot records for Brooklyn so I can figure out what/if she needs anything for school! The one I have shows she needs 5 shots but I know she had some shots a few months ago so I need to find out for sure! They said they'd fax at least that over but it wasn't there when I checked 2 hours later! So hopefully we get that straight here soon or they finally give it to me so I can get stuff straight and get her enrolled!

Then we headed to the pool and hung out for a few hours there!

Tonight for dinner I made Broccoli and Cheese Soup! Kinda warm for something like that but it turned out super yummy and I was wanting to use some of the stuff I had at the house!


Ingredients
3 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped broccoli
3 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
6 tablespoons margarine
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
1 1/2 pounds processed cheese food (eg. Velveeta), cubed
5 chopped potatoes
1 pinch ground white pepper


Directions
1.In a large pot over medium heat, simmer the broccoli in the broth for 15 minutes. In a separate skillet over medium heat, melt the butter or margarine, add the onions and saute for 5 minutes, or to desired tenderness.
2.Add the flour to the onions and stir well, forming a pasty substance. Gradually add the milk and stir until thick. Add this mixture to the broccoli mixture in the pot and stir well. Then add the cheese, stirring until melted. Finally, add the pepper. (Note: Be careful not to let the soup boil, or the cheese will break down.)

Lots of fun stuff here today!!

First Peyton had therapy this morning which went really well and she even went pee pee in her potty twice while they were here! They were really impressed with that! Hopefully she will prove to be like her siblings and be potty trained at 2yrs too lol

Then we headed off to 7-11 to get our free slurpees for 7-11's birthday celebration! The kids loved that the best of course! I didn't wind up getting one but my husband said he went to get one on his break haha

Then since the park was just around the corner from where we had to go to get to one I decided to take the kids to play for a bit. It was of course blazing hot and I knew it would be so I didn't plan to stay long but they've been wanting to go to the park so bad! Of course as kids they didn't seem to care much about the heat and played and played and played! The only part that bothered them was the slide lol






When we got done we headed over to Target to use our $2 off coupon for the pillows to get them $.50 each but they were all out! BOO! But I did pick up another pack of pens with another coupon for $35!

After that we headed over to Walmart because I had to pick up some milk and we got our gerber meal for $.33 after our coupon! I totally forgot I had gone there for my milk to get free shavers because I normally try to avoid Walmart lol The kids enjoyed their free cookie there of course too!

Then mommy grabbed a free chickfila sandwhich for lunch to enjoy all alone during nap time!






Spent the rest of the day catching up on the house and laundry and got some stuff together to donate to the local shelter and took a nice long nap! Cooking some lasagna for dinner! Mmmmm mmmmm!!!

My coupon/deals yesterday! Went to Target to get my free sharpies and pens and see if they had any $.20 glue sticks left. Wound up with this..

4 12pk pepsis for $11
colgate toothe paste $1.25 (after 2 coupons)
wet ones $.75 (after coupon)
9 Notebooks $.20ea
2 packs Wooden Pencils $.97ea
White Out $1.94
Perm Markers FREE (after coupon)
Ballpoint Pens $.39 (after coupon)
12 Glue Sticks $.20ea
10 Liquid Glues $.20ea
4 Crayons $.20ea
Large Glue Sticks $2.89
Filler Paper $.75
Fuler $.50
Tape $.89
2 Bags of Sour Patch Kids $1.99 (one was free after 2 coupons)

Spent $33!! Says total Saved was roughly $45!

Then I took back the school supplies I got at Office Depot that I found on Sale and got back $36 so I saved about $26 on school supplies all together and that brings my total down to $42 for all 3 kids (not including back packs)!

Then I went to Staples and I got 2 packs of paper $.25 after rebate and 2 packs of $.01 pens and 2 $.01 glues!

And I had lunch for free with a coupon at Rosas (paid for a margarita lol) while I enjoyed clipping coupons in peace lol

oh boy oh boy oh boy! What a day today has been!!

The kids pulled out "Go See Transformers 3" out of the "Summer Fun" jar! Something they were waiting and dying to do and see it in 3D! Mommy is sad she didn't get to go haha

So this morning I got up and I went to check out the Old Navy $20 Grab Bag deal. I didn't set my alarm because I didn't know if I wanted to go yet and decided I'd wait and see if a few people went and some reviews. I saw some good ones, went down to the store and they had a lot of bags left and then I hear an employee say "it's 5 of the clearance shirts" um.. seriously I knew it was clearance but 5?? I could buy more then that off your clearance rack for $20! Heck I could go buy more then that new on one of your sales specials for that and be happier with what I was getting by knowing for sure we'd use it! No thank you! PASS!

Visited a few garage sales on the way home. Loaded up the truck and took a truck load of recycled stuff down to the recycling center.

Then Bryan headed off with the boys to the movies so I spent some time cleaning out the garage after I took the recycled items. Reorganized a few things and got some stuff cleared out I felt we didn't need and could part with to try to thin things down and posted them on the freebie page.

Bryan picked up 2 boxes for me on the way home which was a great score for me because it was boys items in the size I needed! I was worried that there would be more girl things but I got just what I needed for Aidan so I took that out and passed on the rest!

While I was doing this my lovely daughter who was in and out the garage and coloring ever so peacefully in the living room decided that the kids scissors in the coloring box would be more fun and that she would play hair stylist and cut her own hair!!






Let me tell you.. I must be on some really really good anxiety medicine because I always thought if my kids pulled that I'd beat the crap out of them! All I could do was calmly have a complete cow, take a picture to send to daddy and send her to bed for a nap and take a nice warm relaxing bath while I recovered myself from having a complete mental break down thinking my little girl is starting her first year of school next month with some jacked up hair!! *sigh*




Finished up some laundry, baked some brownies and after dinner decided I couldn't take it anymore and I was going to fix her hair myself! I've cut hair before but obviously I'm not a stylist! I can't do some super cute hair do but I can do what needs to be done at least on a girl lol

Bryan how ever walked in on me and started yelling at me and flipped out about it and we got into it, I locked him out of the bathroom yelling just trust me lol




He was happy with it when I came out thankfully haha I evened it out to one of the layers she had cut which was a little longer then the other layer she cut on the left side. It was still a couple inches shorter but not as short as the complete chop off! Yes it's obvious that it's uneven on one side but it's not as obvious as when it was long in the middle and then chopped on the sides! I think over all it looks kind of cute and better then her hot mess she normally has so I think we might start keeping it like this.

We're going to slowly let the left side even out the next month and hopefully get it all squared away and perfect by the start of school!

She confessed she wanted it short like her friend Natalies and I told her that's completely fine but next time tell us so we can take her to get it done!

We started out our day today with a little appreciation for cows! Chickfila had their annual "Cow Appreciation Day" which we've never done before because we didn't have anything to wear and then I decided we'd get creative today and had a few things at home we could do so with so it would be cost efficient to do so! Plus it gave the kids a little something to do with their day and they got even more excited about the event knowing what they were doing!
So we got some old white shirts we had at home, got out the markers and decorated shirts for all of us to wear that had cows on them and said something funny.
The kids colored their face and spots on their legs and arms and wore some pants to match.






You got either a free entree or free meal based on your costume and how much you dressed up.
All 4 kids got free kids meals and I got a free meal! Nothing like going to eat somewhere and hearing your total is $0!!
The kids had a lot of fun, took lots of pictures and enjoyed seeing the people that came in dressed up!

After we had our lunch we came home and the kids pulled out "Scavenger Hunt" out of the "Summer Fun" jar! So I put together a little scavenger hunt for them to have fun with!

In the first picture they found something red, 2nd picture they had to find a flag, and the last was the end to it all where they had to find their prizes! That of course was their favorite part and a little inexpensive hot wheels and necklace to add a little extra fun to it!

Today is also their day that they get to pull something out of the "Naughty or Nice Jars" if anything is left to see what they are rewarded with for being good! They pulled out "Pizza Night" so we got pizza from Little Caesars to end the evening!