Click the photo above to see all the photos.

My mom came to visit this weekend. She flew in Friday afternoon and we headed for SuperTarget to buy all the goods for the Thanksgiving dinner Nonni was going to cook the next day. That night we went to Pappasito’s for dinner. YUM! After dinner Nadia and Nonni had some good play time.

Taking photos of each other.

On Saturday my mom got the turkey going in the morning and then Nadia showed Nonni her first episode of Jack’s Big Music show. It was a big deal to Nonni since she had been hearing all about the show. Then they played.  Joy, Janis and my Grammie joined us for Thanksgiving dinner that afternoon. Once everyone left there was more playtime for Nonni and Nadia (are you noticing the pattern of the weekend?). The best part was when Nadia pointed to my mom’s head and said, “Ponies! Mama.” And so I put some ponies chosen by Nadia in her hair.

Sunday morning we just had a relaxing time. Nonni and Nadia watched another episode of Jack’s and had a BOOTS dance party. Then we got Nonni off to the airport so she could be home in time for work and her anniversary on Monday :)   It was a great time and we are so happy that she was able to come and visit.

• For the fact that most of America fears OBESITY rather than starvation, unlike most of the rest of the world. The majority of parents globally really do wonder how they are going to feed their children each and every day.
• For clean water that comes out of any number of faucets in my home.
• For immunizations that save MILLIONS of lives each year.
• For the overwhelming generosity of the majority of Americans. Whether helping here or around the world, America does a lot of giving.
• For our military.
• For nice paved roads and bridges.
• For the cars we have to drive on them.
• For a free election system.

So I invite our readers to share with us the things that you think make America great. (and no offense to our international readers - feel free to post about your country if you want.)

This is from the Vietnam Memorial. It’s a volunteer making a rubbing of Mike’s dad’s name.

I hope that everyone took a moment today to be grateful to all our military has done for us. For those still serving and for those who have now retired, we are grateful. To those families who have lost loved ones like we have, I wish for God’s comfort in your life today.

This photo is from the top of the Washington Monument with the WWII memorial in the foreground.

“Froggy Jammie Night”

“Diaper Drums”

“Nadia Fingerpaints for the first time”

• I get a double Sunday paper for $1.99. I like to check the deal sites on Sunday and then clip the appropriate coupons for the coming weeks deals and any other coupons I might be interested in.
• If there are really good coupons I might also get another double paper.
• Coupons do NOT come out on holiday weekends like Thanksgiving and Christmas, so don’t waste your money on newspapers.
• My aunt and uncle give me their coupons each week, so I always get another set.
• Please note that I don’t clip and file all the coupons each week. That is way too time consuming and tedious.
• Then I try to get to the stores in one shot on Monday after Nadia’s nap. If we go when she is fresh, she can get in and out of the stores with me quickly.
• I have a 3 ring binder with baseball card inserts. I use dividers to sort the categories and then I put the coupons in the baseball card inserts. The binder zips closed and then nothing falls out.
• I think the choice of categories is a personal decision. Everyone has a method they prefer, so go with what will work best for you.
• I use a Sharpie to place the date the insert came out on the front cover, then I place them on a shelf in my pantry in chronological order.
• This helps when you are on a deal site and someone says, “Free Fructis Shampoo by going to CVS and using the $1 coupon in the 10/19 SS”
• SS stands for Smart Source, RP stands for Red Plum and P&G is for the once a month proctor and gamble insert. Almost every deal site uses these initials and dates to reference coupons.
• You can also buy coupons from coupon clipping sites. Please note that it’s illegal to ‘buy’ coupons, so you are paying them for the ‘clipping service.’ Don’t ask me why, it’s just the way it works.
• I like to use The Coupon Clippers for this, but there are a lot of other places that do it. They have rules on minimum orders and limits on some coupons, but for the really good deals it is worth it.

Now to the deal sites. I have been using Refund Cents  since 2005, but it’s been around much longer. I pay for the Internet only access (she offers a magazine also, but this isn’t the best way to start for a newbie). It’s $12 a year when you pay in advance. You can also get a trial 3 months for $4. This site has a lot of information!! If you are new to this whole thing you need to start by reading the information on Walgreens, CVS and/or Rite Aid depending on what’s available in your area. Then you can check the Centsible Chit Chat page for deals that are posted as people find them.

If you are local to me you can let me know that you want an invite to our local yahoo group called MomSaves.

I also like A Full Cup. This is a free site and there are some great forums and tips on there too. My favorite part is the Target Coupon generator. That way you can print just the coupons you want and not waste ink. And you can use Manufactures Coupons and Target coupons on the same item. Awesome!

This same rule applies at Walgreen’s and CVS. It’s really great when you can combine coupons. This is how you can get a lot of items free during sales.

The main thing to remember here is not to let couponing overwhelm you. If you are just starting out and building your coupon stash, you aren’t going to be able to work the deals that list a coupon from 2 months ago. In those cases, let it go and remind yourself that you will quickly have all the coupons you need for the deals. Don’t be surprised when you go to a store and they are out of an item that is a good deal. Everyone is trying to save money and take care of their family. If you are going to make a special trip, make sure you go at the start of a sale or it’s unlikely that the product will be available if it’s free.

Now if any of you have any recommended sites, feel free to list them here for everyone else to learn from.

So while Nadia was napping yesterday I took some time to clean out my coupon binder, recycle the expired ones and to check out my favorite deal sites to see what was happening this week. I matched up all the coupons out my pile of inserts and later Miss Nadia and I headed out for a coupon adventure. Here is what we ended up with after going to two Walgreen’s, Target and Kroger.

The total retail cost would have been $205.31. The total I paid was $43.97 (including tax). The cost for the 12 jumbo packs of diapers was $32.47 (that’s 2.50 a jumbo pack). So the cost for the balance of the stuff was $11.50!! If you can’t make it out in the photo, here is the list:

• 2 toothpastes
• 4 Almay One coat mascaras
• 1 Loreal Pure Radiance mositurizer
• 3 bottles worchechire sauce
• 1 bottle syrup
• 4 boxes cereal
• 2 bags cookie mix
• 1 bag chocolate chips
• 2 glade Wisp candles
• 2 boxes Celestial Seasonings tea
• 1 Quaker oatmeal
• 1 dial hand soap

Now would I have bought 4 mascaras in one day? No, but they were completely free. I can use one and give the rest away. (PS If you are local and want one, let me know) The Loreal says it’s for “mature skin”, so I will pass that along too, but everything else can and will be used by my family. The regular price of cereal alone would have been at least $10.

My friend Stephanie and I have been talking about this because she is just getting into the whole coupon world. But she is starting to hear some of the same things I have heard in the past about why people choose not to coupon. My personal favorite is that they are just for poor people!! This cracks me up. Do you have a clue how much I contribute to our family income by using coupons? Do you have any idea how many friends, family and charities I am able to help by couponing? A LOT!!!

Less than 1% of the Sunday coupon inserts are ever used in America. That is because they are in every single paper and of course manufacturers look at them as advertising with the hopes that you will be loyal to their product. But do you know how I look at them? As free money! And you don’t have to do all the research on the weekly deals. There are plenty of internet sites where people are more than happy to share their coupon deals.

I know couponing isn’t for everyone, but the number one issue facing the country that people claimed was the reason they voted for Obama was that they were worried about the economy. Doesn’t it make sense to save yourself money on items you would already buy like shampoo, conditioner, tissue, toilet paper, toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap and more? And isn’t it even better to get a lot of them for free and put that money toward something else?

*edit* I will do a future post about all the websites that I use and what I like best about them.

My cousin Jen drove up from Houston to visit this weekend and we had such a nice time. Lots of good food was consumed and Nadia had fun with a new playmate. Jen brought Nadia a leap frog guitar and then immediately had a “jam session”. Nadia also displayed her awesome drum skills for Jen - if you think the videos are cute, you should see it in person.

On Sunday night we went to the going away party for our friends the Carman’s. They are headed to Little Rock for a new job and we will miss them greatly, but pray for God’s blessing on their move and family. All the kids had a great time playing while the adults enjoyed a bunch of tasty desserts. I made a Curious George cake in honor of Clarity since her favorite animal is the monkey.

On Monday we went to lunch with some friends. Mary, Lina, Laura and I have gone on a couple of girls trips in the past (pre-babies) and Mary was visiting Texas for a week. I was happy to see Mary after such a long time and lunch was yummy at the Cheesecake Factory.

When I was making lunch one afternoon Nadia grabbed the pot holders and said, “I cook!! I cook!!”

Then on Friday our friends Tricia and David hosted a toddler trick or treat party at their place. A street right by them is shut down and the police are around and people come from all over to trick or treat. The houses are done up and we just thought it was so much fun and were happy for the invite. Click on the photo below to see all the photos from the night.

Mike told Nadia to hold her bucket and say, “trick or treat” and people would give her candy. Here she is at one of the first houses.

After that she said, “AGAIN.” She caught on right away and wanted to go to more and more houses. A little later I saw some costumes a few houses behind us and said to Mike, “There is Thing 1 and thing 2″ and Nadia immediately said, “Cat Hat, Cat Hat.” even though she couldn’t see the people I was talking about. Once they caught up to us I had to ask the family to pose with Nadia since she just wanted to follow them once she actually saw them. It’s just too cute!

After the trick or treating we headed to Grammie’s house and then to see Paula and Roger and their friends the Flemings. Nadia took in a haul of candy which I am going to help her eat

Click on the photo above to see shots from the weekend. I warn you it’s a ridiculous amount, but they are cute!

We had Nadia’s birthday party last Saturday and it was great fun! The theme was music, specifically “Jack’s Big Music Show”. Here’s the cake and FYI - it took 11 cups of cake batter and 10 cups of icing to create. Oh my!!

Papa, Grandma Brooke and Tahni drove up for the event. Brooke took charge of the food situation for which I am grateful because I had to work on the cake. Plus lots of local family came and several of Nadia’s playgroup buddies. We played an episode of Jack’s for them - Nadia’s favorite, “Phil the Coo Coo Bird”. The little ones danced around and had a great time. Then we opened presents. Nadia got a lot of really cool music themed items and cute clothes.

After that we had cake. She seemed confused by all the singing and blowing out the candles, but she liked the cake!

I made Jack’s Big Music show shirts for the kids as party favors along with some noisy items like horns and maraca’s (sorry parents - had to keep with my theme). Here is Nadia modeling the shirt.

It really was a wonderful time and our shy in big groups girl did great because the kids had their own little area to play in and I think she didn’t get so overwhelmed by the people. We loved that she jumped all around to the music and got so excited about the instruments she was given and she just wanted to play with them right away.