More CVS Deals

So the doc told us not to take Jake to nursery today and John and I both seem to have sinus stuff so we spent Sun morning relaxing. Because I hadn't bought a stitch of groceries this week we went to Walmart for the basics. I decided to buy 3 papers today because they are $1 each at WM. I made my money back big time on just the coupons I used today. Now before I go any further I need to give my normal stance on coupons. If I am not using the for a steal like this I usually don't bother. I buy store brand for most of groceries and Suave or store brand for most of my toiletries. I know I am cheap but it is what has to happen for me to stay home with the kiddos. So I want those of you who hate the thought of clipping coupons to know I am right there with you but it is so worth it for this. With my coupons and the bucks and sales at CVS this week I spent $4.97 of real money and got all of this:


It is a bad pic but I can give you a run down:
-3 Pantene Pro-V Shampoo/Con
-3 Sunsilk Shampoo/Con
-4 Degree Deo (plus I found ones with travel samples in them...look for these, they are great for gym bags)
-Bottle 24 ct Excedrine (made a buck on this one with the coupon and bucks back)
-Febreze Candle
-Febreze Spray
-Febreze Plug in

Here is how I did it:
I started out with 24.95 ECB's and I bought everything but the febreze products on the first check out. With my bucks and coupons I spent $2.37 and got back 10 more ECB. On the second check out I bought the 3 febreeze products and used my 10 bucks, coupons and spent $2.50 and got back 5 more ECB's to use on my next visit.

The febreze product are definantly splurges but I made bucks on them and had good coupons for them. Plus who doesn't love their house to smell good???
This month is their semi annual beauty sale so a lot of their higher end products are on sale with good bucks so now is a time to spend your up front money so that you can start your savings. It is a lot of fun and you are saving your family money in the process. Love to hear about your deals.

The Chief Meal of My Day - Part Two

" Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things." Phil 4:8

Principles for Relating to my Husband:

1. 1. He deserves my utmost respect at all times, not because he earns it but because the Lord commands it: Don't relate/respond to him based on the way he relates/responds to me!
2. Do whatever necessary to protect his name, ego and reputation at all cost in all circumstances: Be extremely selective and discreet in discussing matters that concern him with others.
3. Give to him in all ways at all times and entrust my well-being (physically, emotionally) to the Lord
4. Clearly communicate my needs to him and help him to be successful at meeting those needs.
5. Know that he will fail me and choose to forgive him today for all that he will do from this day forward - Christ did this for me!! : Keep short accounts
6. Don't be naive in my thinking - my feelings will be hurt, my needs won't be met and he will let me down. It is my responsibility to seek quick reconciliation despite who is the victim
7. He is my sweetest gift from God on this earth. Delight in him and cherish him.
8. Take him at his word and make him be a man of his word
   

CVS Rocks

Ok so I love to save a buck. Who doesn't? But I occasionally go on line in seach of ways to be more frugal. I read a blog the other day of a women who spends 20 a week on groceries for her and her husband. I thought wow that is amazing because my kids don't eat a ton more so I started looking to see how she did it. In one week she went to 5 different stores to buy her groceries. She will be greatly disappointed at how much her budget changes when kids come along....I dread the trip to one grocery store much less loading and unloading for 5 a week. I admire her for doing it with no children (although I might have been caught doing that when we had no kids???)
I really want to be a good steward of my money and do the best I can to save money on our grocery budget but I also feel like I have to be a good steward of my time. Well about a week ago I learned about CVS and it is great. I will use what I have done to tell you how it works:
If you get a CVS card there are certain items that you get Exra Care Bucks back for purchasing that product. So this week the nivea men's line was on sale and John likes that face wash. The deal with it was that for every $15 you spent on nivea products you get $5 bucks. The bucks are essentially like a gift card for the store. They print out on your reciept and you give them the reciept to redeem the bucks at the next purchase. So I bought the face wash and a few other things and ended up with 15 bucks. Well every week they usually have 1 or 2 items that you get the whole amount back in bucks so it is essentially free. There are 2 places you can find the deals - 1. the weekly sales flyer 2. a monthly flyer they put in the store. The deals are different in each of them. One is good for the week and the other you can get for the whole month. The April free product is CVS brand Tylenol. You pay 3.99 and get 3.99 back. So I went in and bought the limit (5) and it cost me 19.95. I applied my 15 previous bucks and only paid $5 for 5 bottles of Tylenol BUT I got 19.95 bucks back. I did 2 seperate check-outs so I could use those bucks for my next stuff. The item in the weekly ad that was "free" was the Softsoap body wash. They cost 4.99 and you get 4.99 in bucks back. There was a limit of 5 per househould/card. So that was 24.95. I used my 19.95 previous bucks and only paid $5 for 5 bottles of bodywash. BUT I got 24.95 bucks back to use on my next visit. So I got all of this for $10:

The key to getting the best deal is using your bucks to buy things that will replinish the bucks you use. You can also use coupons and then you end up making more money. I also read that after you use your card for like 4 weeks in a row CVS coupons start printing off with your reciept and you can use store coupons plus manufacture coupons to get an even better deal. The first week or so you will have to spend money - and CVS does cost more than Wal-mart but once you start "working the system" you don't have to really spend much more money. I spent 10 on my trip today but I have 25 bucks to use on my next visit. Isn't that amazing!!!!! THIS IS A GOOD THING!

The Patient is Great!!

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support. John and I have really felt like we have a family here this week and it has been great. Jake did great in his surgery. The doc said that his nasal passage was 95% blocked from his adenoids and that he should be a different child now. He said that he couldn't hear, smell or taste as a result. Many of you know he has occular albinism, a vision problem, so 4 of his 5 senses have been compromised lately which explains alot of his "grumpiness" as he puts it. Here are some pics of the patient:

doggie recovered great as well

he couldn't hold his eyes open to eat it. When we gave it to him it was a double popcicle. He ask John to break it in half so he could take Brady half of it - So precious.

Recovering just fine - sharing popcicle with brady (a different one of course) and the off to the rescue helicopter to save a hurt animal and it is not even 10 am.

Thanks for your prayers.

The Chief Meal of My Day

I just got home from an amazing women's time at church. I am so encouraged and incredibly challenged by God's word and Brenda Payne's applications to it. We talked about loving our husbands and I wanted to share with you some things God showed me.

She begin by saying that our starting point for loving our husbands was a correct fear of God. Funny how God has brought this up twice in one week for me. From my proverbs post you saw that I learned that in Duet this means to live by stipulations in a grateful response to God's redemptive grace. I really love that because if I take time to think about what God has done for my undeserving self, I am completely grateful but if I don't remind myself daily of it I forget and begin to live for my fleshly desires. Charles Hodges says that "His wrath is so bitter, and his love so sweet: that hence springs an earnest desire to please him..." She used an amazing quote by John Piper that will probably be hanging over my sink or somewhere for me to see daily. He said " a woman who fears the Lord will not run away from God to satisfy her longings and relieve her anxieties. She will wait for the Lord. She will hope in God. She will stay close to the heart of God and trust in his promises. The prospect of departing into the way of sin will be too fearful to pursue; and the benefits of abiding in the shadow of the Almighty too glorious to forsake."

She talked about how we are called to love our husbands. She described the difference between Agape and Phileo love and said that in Titus 2:4 "train the younger women to love their husbands that it used the Phileo form or love which she described as including warm feeling and expressions of love. She said it refers to a banquet or the Chief Meal of the Day...the best I have to offer. How convicting.

And then later on she ask the question: "Do identify myself more as a wife or a mother?

By 5 o'clock the chief meal of my day has been completely gobbled up with out even a scrap left over and by far I id myself as a mother more than a wife. I know in the back of my head that John is to be my first priority and we do make a few decisions to protect our time together but for the most part we get the scraps if their are any left. I don't think that I am much different from anyone at this stage of life. But I think I have excused it as just a season. God really showed me today that thinking like that is not biblical. It is just a season and it does and will continue to look different but it is more about my thoughts, motives and intent. I have let my conscious coast on the pities of the world for this season in my life. I strongly believe that there is no harder job in the world than being a mom but I also know that God promised in his word that he would never give me more than i could handle. He also has set up in his word that my husband should be the chief meal of my day (it's a funny saying). He didn't tell me to do this after the kids are grown and gone but for today. He also said he has give me all that I need for life and godliness today.So as I put all of this together (just today) I see that in this season of life my intentions, thoughts, planning and motives should be aimed toward making John the chief meal of my day.

So during the q and a I really was thinking "ok how do I practically make this happen in my life now? I want to mull over this some more but so far I have 2 practical thoughts.
1. Create a tight community in my life. I am sure this sounds weird but I think that so many of us moms are bearing a burden God didn't intend for us to bear alone. Why is it that we are so afraid to ask for help or to offer to help others. For me it is fear of rejection and selfishness. I am choosing to fear man above God. We all know if we are honest that the days are much sweeter when you have another mom to keep you company and share the load. When I spend a day with a friend and all of our kids it is wild and crazy but it is easier and encouraging. I come home and feel refreshed and have much more to offer. I have learned just this week that I have several sweet friends that have offered to help me with a specific need and that offer itself refreshes me. It is community in the making. I really believe a village is necessary to raise a child and nourish the family as a whole. We don't understand community anymore - it seems to be becoming obsolete but it is so needed. God never intended for me to do this alone. If I am a hand, I need eyes, a foot and so on to help me walk with God, to help me raise my kids and to help me love my husband.

2. I need to release myself from that guilty feeling that I am not doing enough for my kids. Our society today has become a child driven society and as it increases so do the divorce rates. And for me it is not even the out of the house activities - it is the guilt i feel when I am at home and need to do other things besides play with my kids. Don't get me wrong there is a balance here but most of the time I don't fall off on the side of neglect and ignoring but the opposite. I was thinking today about the prov 31 woman. It goes on and on about how productive she was in her home and yet her children still rise up and call her blessed... Today our society says that if you don't nurture your kids they will rise up and cause you shame. So we nurture and nurture and nurture and they still go their own way. What did she do that was different. This I need to think on more but I know that in order for me to glorify God in my roles I have to be diligent with my time and to do that I have to have time to think and plan and pray and I can't sacrifice my time - little time with my husband. So how do I learn to balance these things during the day and not feel guilty about it? I do it now but when I do I have a knot in my stomach that I am harming my children because I am leaving them to entertain themselves or I let them watch noggin for a little while. I mean the prov 31 woman didn't have a dishwasher or a single modern convieience and so I know she spent many hours doing her chores around the home and God allowed this in Scripture as a model for me to follow. I must find the balance so that at the end of the day John can be the Chief meal of my day. I welcome your thoughts.

Now This is Fine Art

what kid doesn't love pancakes, yogurt, grapes and pears that look like this. The boys giggled with great delight as we prepared breakfast this morning

Brotherly Love

This morning, dark and early, the boys were up. We were in Brady's room changing his diaper and the boys started fighting over the blue chair. My response, as usual, was " boys be kind to one another" and I left the room to throw the diaper in the trash. Jake called me back and said mom come look at us. This is what I found:

It really was a delight to my heart to see that he got it. He even ask me to take a picture...quite amusing.
Of course 10 minutes later Jake was sent to his room because he got mad and pushed Brady down. But this is the nature of the beast. Thank the Lord for His grace and that He came and set our imperfect record straight.