Coupons, Duggers, sales, spaghetti, and etc.

This is my catch-all post for the day, so I can't really think of a title. Sorry. :)

We went to the grocery store this evening and between club prices, sales, and double coupons, my "verified total savings" was $80.82. But that doesn't take into account that I also qualified for $15.99 in rebates, which will be mailed to me in the form of checks, after filling out two forms, providing photocopies of my receipt, and allowing 4 to 6 weeks to process. It was our once-every-two-months stock-up-on-canned-goods-and-staples trip, and we also got a few luxuries and special treats, as well as some lotion ($0.50 after the coupon and club sale price) deodorant for Jeff ($1.50 after the coupon and sale), and things of that sort. My favorite deal of the evening: free baby/toddler food. I was in the baby aisle and was going through my coupons (I have a mondo coupon sorter and my mom saves her coupons and I save mine and every two or three weeks I go through and clip the ones I want to keep and file them, sorting by category and expiration date, then I pull the ones we are likely to use and any that are expiring soon before a shopping trip but keep them all with me just in case (this also familiarizes me with all the coupons I have) and prepare to get some great deals!) If I'm not going to use coupons before they expire I try to pass them on to someone else in the store. (Like, I decided against buying another deodorant for me since I had already stocked up, so I passed it on to a woman in that aisle and pointed out that she could get a Dove deodorant for $1.50 with the coupon.) Anyway, I had clipped a bunch of Huggies and Pampers and Pull-Ups coupons for no reason I know of, and there was a family there with a baby and a toddler. So I offered them to them, and in return they gave me two Gerber Graduates coupons they would not use-- buy any two Gerber Graduates products, get $1 off. I had one of these already myself, and so I now had three. I eyed up the Gerber Graduates products and spotted some little containers of soup, a food both my daughters adore. Well, the soup was on for buy one, get one free, and the price was $1.35 per container (which is why I would normally not buy it.) But my coupon was for $1, and Ralphs doubles coupons up to $1, so that meant... they would be FREE! I promptly chose six and used all three coupons to get 6 FREE serving-size containers of soup that Bridget OR Emma can eat! That just made me happy. :) In all, we got about 2 months' worth of supplies (excepting tortillas, bread, milk, diapers, and fresh produce) for $146.16-- and some luxuries to boot. Thank you, mom, for teaching me how to sale-, coupon-, and comparison-shop!

When we came home we made dinner and I settled down to watch "Family Night" on TLC. After Little People, Big World (which I love), they showed the special about the Duggars going on vacation (On the Road with 16 Children, I believe.) I love the Duggars. They are awesome, they work together well, they are effective homeschoolers, they are smart, funny, loving, really great role-models. I especially admire that they happily live their faith every day, while not criticizing others around them who are different from them. I love to see them interact with families and people who do not share their same values or world view and see the love, respect, and courtesy they offer those people. We can all learn a lesson from that. So this was a really fun special to see, and I enjoyed watching it again. However, one thing bothered me. Actually, it bothered me the first time I saw it, too. But this time I noticed it more 'cause there were no babies in the room to distract me. They retrofitted a big 'ol RV with seats and seat belts to hold all their kids. So far, so good. One problem; they had the little ones in forward-facing 5-point harness seats (that's what they should be in, that's appropriate for their ages, weights, and heights) but several of them were installed in side-facing seats. That is a NO-NO! Those seats are approved for forward-facing use only! Also, I noticed at least two of the little boys were not buckled into their 5-point harness correctly! I guess that guy who helped us check and install our seats is right; I should become a car seat technician. I just have that kind of mind, and I notice it, even when it's not my business. Anyway, it's a fun special to watch, other than that safety concern.

This morning we hit the Memorial Day "everything in the store 50% off" sale at Sun Thrift. They do this about 3 or 4 times a year and I love it. Despite my resolution, I DID come home with a little more inventory for eBay. I also came home with a maternity dress for me, a dress for Bridget to wear this fall, and two dresses for when Emma grows into size 6/6X (I try to buy things ahead of time so I can just switch clothes out as she outgrows them.) Oh, and Jeff found a fondue set. I remember fondue when I was Emma's age being fun so maybe we will do that soon. :) And I kept it to less than $25, even with the fondue set! I was so good.

This afternoon we went for a late lunch at my uncle and aunt's house, to finally celebrate all us girls' birthdays. (My uncle has been unwell, but he's doing better now.) My Uncle Bob made his grandma's spaghetti sauce and some big Italian meatballs, and noodles of course, and we had some salad. It was delicious, then we had cake and ice cream and the girls opened presents.

I put some ranch dressing on my salad and couldn't finish it, it almost made me puke. Hmmm... I've been experiencing some queasiness and a few other things lately, time will tell if that means what I hope it does or if it is just a bit of early PMS or a virus (Emma puked on the sheets Saturday morning but I had what I think she had earlier last week and should be over it by now.) OPTs showed that I was almost certainly ovulating last week and we, um, took advantage of that knowledge, so we are crossing our fingers and will have to wait a few weeks. This is the first month since the bleeding from that miscarriage finally stopped, so I am hoping that I am back to normal and that everything "takes."

Anyway, that was my day. I am going to get up early tomorrow to go work in the Bishop's Storehouse (I love working there!) so I had better go get some rest while I can.