Couponing at CVS

Today I went to CVS on my lunch hour to do a little couponing. It's supposed to snow some more tonight so I thought I would get some supplies (like toilet paper and dishwasher detergent). With both girls home for the holidays, I'm running my dishwasher almost every night!

I got all this (after coupons and Extra Care Bucks) for $3.19 ($1.55 of that was for tax). So, I think I did pretty good. Sometimes I do better than other times.



Some of the supplies I buy (especially the smaller sized Tide, etc.) I give to Kristen to take to her apartment.

Winter Wonderland

Here's some pictures of the house from various angles. The snow just seemed to drift to the front door area. And there were some major drifts between the cars in the driveway.

Christmas Eve 2009

We're having a White Christmas this year. It's very cold and it's been sleeting and snowing all day. Winds have been gusting at 50 MPH so we have lots of drifts. Interstates are closed and travel of any kind is being discouraged. As usual for this time of year, I have my usual back problems, and Kaitlyn is sick. Joe had to take her to the urgent care clinic this morning. She doesn't have strep but the doctor said if she doesn't get better in a couple of days they will test her for mono.

Here's a couple of pictures from the backyard and one of the front.






DON'T EAT YELLOW SNOW!!

I'm a Proud Mama!

It's official, Kaitlyn has a 4.0 her first semester at college. I do believe she'll be on the President's Honor Roll. She found out today she made a 93 on her zoology exam and she was soooo excited. I'm proud of Kristen too. She has been on the Dean's Honor Roll (3.5 or better) almost every semester. BUT, she made her first C ever this semester in Tax Accounting. She hated the class and swears she will NEVER do tax accounting!

I've got back problems. Too much work and not enough rest. I can barely get out of bed in the mornings and walk. I can't wait for Christmas to be over so I won't have as many hours at Kohl's. They have me scheduled for 19 hours this week. I called in sick tonight because I just can't stand on my feet for long periods of time; if I step wrong it sends shooting pain in my left hip and almost brings me to my knees. I'm hoping my doctor will call something in for pain (like muscle relaxers) so I can get some bed rest. The pain is REALLY bad in the mornings, then lets up for awhile during the day and about 5:00 it starts coming back. At least I sit most of the day at my other job.

Random Pictures from the Past

I ran across some old pictures and thought I'd share. This was Kristen and Kaitlyn's first OU/TX game. This was made in probably 1996 or 1997.

Here's a picture of some of Joe's family. Joel Smith (Joe's dad), Drew Smith (Joe's brother) and his son Steven. Jason Smith (Joe's half-brother) and Kristen and Kaitlyn. The jet is the one that Drew flies.

The nurse and the nerd. Kristen was either 3 or 4 in this picture.

Heather and Chris Nichols' wedding in McKinney, TX.

Nana and her grandchildren in Memphis. I think this was like 1993 or 1994.

Joe and I tailgating before an OU game - probably in 1993/1994.

Kaitlyn and Kimberly in Kaitlyn's Barbie Jeep. This was probably in 1996/1997.

Somebody Went to a Lot of Trouble

Last night both girls were home so we went to dinner to celebrate Kaitlyn's certainty of having a 4.0 GPA her first semester of college and Kristen passing her tax class exam (she hates tax with a passion). We drove up to Moore to eat at Earl's Rib Palace (our favorite barbeque place). Afterwards we decided to take the back way home to see some Christmas lights and Kaitlyn says, I know where there's this cool tree. So we found it. Somebody went to a lot of trouble to put lights on EVERY SINGLE BRANCH. It's beautiful - it's like the burning bush in the Bible - it looks like it's on fire!

Halloween Pictures

Kaitlyn and her boyfriend, Michael, finally sent me some pictures of the costumes I made them for Halloween. Do you think they look like Tinkerbell and Peter Pan?


How about now?


They thought this would make for better conversation at their party! I love it!!

Couponing

I've started couponing (not to the extent that Lorna does yet) and tonight this is what I got for $7.96 total including tax. I had two store coupons and the rest were manufacturer's coupons that were doubled up to $1.00 (coupons that are $1.00 are doubled to $2.00 off). I went to the store specifically with these items in mind and coupons in hand. Before she took off for coupons it was $20.16. So, I'm learning how to do this through research and tips from Lorna.

Advent Festival

One of the things I REALLY enjoy doing at my church is working at the Advent Festival each year. I especially like working with 4th - 7th graders. You get to go and sit at a craft table and help the kids make the craft for that table. This year the craft at my table was making a wallet out of a juice carton (not a juice box). It can be done. They were pretty cool looking and the kids had the most fun decorating their "wallet" with the different colors of duct tape. Here was the first group that came and sat down at my table. There are probably 20-30 different crafts people at the church can come and work on. The crafts are "rated" for different age groups - with extremely easy ones for little children and some rather hard ones for adults/older teens. Down in the atrium a combo plays (piano, drums, violin/fiddle) Christmas music and cookies and punch/coffee is served. They sell t-shirts/hoodies and the church is all decorated. I just love it. Working with the crafts and the kids reminds me of when I was a Girl Scout leader (with my friend Kay) for Kaitlyn's troop and all the fun we had.