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With the mania of September and October I didn’t really have time to do any coupon shopping that leads to super deals and stockpiling. I still clipped coupons and used them on items we would buy anyway and of course went to A Full Cup to get the super target coupons. Now we are down to 2 packs of diapers and I don’t have any conditioner. Oh the horror, right?

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!!”

Some friends and I started by doing a costume practice run on the lawn by the Kimball on Thursday. We had the whole place to ourselves and the weather was perfect. I call this, “The Monkey Who Wore Shades”

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.