Retail Therapy: My Walgreens Run, 7/23

Things have been very depressing around here. I might post more about it later, I might not, but let's just say that in the past 2 months we've had some major turnover in the staff in our children's ministry. I know that God is sovereign and that He is holding us all in His big ol' hands, but it is still hard.

So..........

Today I decided I needed some retail therapy. I know that most husbands would get scared to hear that expression from their wives, but Scott doesn't worry. My version of retail therapy is going couponing to see what kind of deals I can get!

I was going to go to Staples, but after a Facebook post from Mandy, I decided that Walgreens was the place to go this week. With two young boys, I can't justify going from store to store in the summertime in Texas--it's just too hot. So I have to choose just one store to hit.

Here's what I got at Walgreens today. I spent $2.03 and got $9 back in register rewards.


















Bic highlighters: FREE ($.49 for a 5 pack, plus used a $1 off 2 Bic items coupon)

Excedrin: $4.99 OOP*, or FREE after RR (B1G1 at $6.99, used 2 $1/1 coupons, got $5RR)

Tylenol: $3.99 OOP, or $.99 after RR (on sale for $4.99, used $1/1 coupon and got $3 RR back)

Pilot G2 pens: $1 OOP, or FREE after RR (buy a 2-pack at $1, get $1 RR)

Kleenex: $.73 each (on sale for $.89, buy 3 and use the $.50 off 3 coupon)

Scotch tape: $.39 each

Pencils: $.29 for a 10-pack

Papermate pens: $.19 for a 10-pack

As I've explained before, the beauty of Walgreens is the RRs. You end up getting so many RRs that you rarely end up spending "real" money. For this trip, I used $3 in RRs that I already had, plus a $3 off coupon they sent me in the mail (I got lucky--a new Walgreens opened up right down the street, so they sent out some coupons), and a giftcard I had $6.22 left on from some rebates. So, I ended up only $2.03 OOP. If I didn't have the RR, Walgreens coupon, and giftcard, my total would have been about $11.53. I got $9 in RRs back, so I was happy with that.

Don't forget that RRs don't really expire, so don't freak out at the expiration date when you get them. I have had no problems using "expired" RRs.

*OOP = out-of-pocket

Recipe: Frittata

For Monday night's dinner, I made a frittata. I know, I am always making breakfast foods for dinner, but I love them! I have made frittatas a few times before based on this recipe from Tyler's Ultimate on Food Network. I feel like I've finally tweaked it and "healthified" it enough now, so here's a copy of Tyler's recipe with my changes. It really turned out well! I wish I'd thought to take pictures...

Ingredients

• 6 egg whites, 4 whole eggs
  
• 2 tablespoons milk (I used 1%)
  
• 1 cup grated cheese (I usually use 2% cheddar, but any cheese is fine)
  
• Kosher salt and ground pepper
  
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 4 small potatoes, peeled and diced (about 3 cups)
  
• 1 cup mushrooms, sliced (I love the baby bella mushrooms)
  
• 1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, cheese, salt, and pepper until foamy. Set aside.

3. Heat olive oil in a cast iron or other oven-safe pan over medium heat. Add the onion, potatoes, and mushrooms and cook thoroughly.

4. Pour the egg mixture over the top. Pull the edges away from the sides of the pan with a spatula so the eggs flow to the bottom of the pan.

5. After the frittata is about halfway set, transfer the pan to the heated oven. Bake for 10 minutes until puffed and golden.

6. Cut it up like a pizza, and shower slices with with grated Parmesan. Serve with some low-fat sour cream or plain yogurt if you'd like.

Menu Plan: Week of July 20

Breakfasts
Steel-cut oatmeal with flax meal, honey, and banana
Cereal
Oatmeal squares
Pancakes

Lunches
Leftovers
Burritos

Snacks
Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
Grapes
Apples
Carrots
Graham crackers
Yogurt
Cheese and crackers

Dinners
Monday: Frittata, toast (from homemade bread), OJ, coffee
Tuesday: Grilled turkey cheeseburgers with sauteed onion and mushrooms
Wednesday: Pasta salad, fruit
Thursday: Leftovers/fend for yourself
Friday-Sunday: Traveling to Oklahoma to see in-laws, so no meal planning!!

Sunday: A Good Time Was Had by All

Sunday morning
We managed to all get to church without too much bickering. I have a personal belief that Satan attacks Christians with extra vigor on Sunday mornings. It seems like he tries to do everything he can to stop folks from making it to church. He makes the bed extra comfy so you want to snooze longer, makes the kids want to sleep in just on that day of the week and no other day of the week, makes your coffee taste extra good so you forget what time it is, then gets you all in a rush so that you are on edge and start snipping at your family.

Well, okay. Maybe all of that only happens to me. :)

But anyway, we all got to church relatively well on Sunday morning. I was running late and my coffee did taste extra good, but we didn't bicker, and the kids even behaved pretty well while we were getting ready. I got to church and soon welcomed in a little over 20 third grade girls to my classroom. It was "Story Sunday," which we do once per month in the summer. Someone from the church comes to talk to the kids and shares his or her testimony. This week, a wonderful lady named Francie came and spoke. She made a couple of points that I thought were just fabulous.

She talked about how when she grew up, she was in a church that didn't really encourage personal Bible study. She knew a lot about God, but she didn't really know God. To give an analogy, she asked the kids, "How many of you know who George Washington is?" They all raised their hands. "Okay, but how many of you know George Washington?" Of course the point is that we can study a person and learn a lot about him, but still not really have a personal relationship with him. God doesn't want that! He invites us to know Him personally.


Sunday afternoon
We came home, ate lunch, and got the kids ready for a nap. I put Caleb in bed, and while Scott sat down to rock Isaac to sleep, I grabbed my coupons and reusable bags and headed to Kroger. Oh, the joy of bargain shopping without kids! :)

Kroger has their Mega Deal event going on here in North Texas through Tuesday. If you buy 10 participating items, you get $5 back. So basically you get an extra $.50 off per item. Combine that with coupons, and you have some good deals! Even without coupons, there were some good deals. I got 70 items yesterday and spent $75.21. I saved $106.32. I could have saved a larger percentage, but I did get some splurge items: $4.99 for a big bag of organic raisins, $7.99 for Huggies, $2.99 for organic yogurt, etc. But here are some highlights:

Smart Balance butter (tubs or sticks) $.94
(on sale for $1.99, buy 10 and get it for $1.49, use a coupon for $.55 off that is actually IN the store right next to the butter)

Simply Potatoes $.99
(combine a bag of the potato and onion Simply Potatoes with some eggs and cheese, and you have an easy, quick weeknight meal!)

Chex Mix $.49
(on sale for $1.99, buy 10 and get it for $1.49, use a coupon for $.50 off one which Kroger doubles to $1 off)

Irish Spring soap 3-pack $.99

Quaker Snack Cakes $.49

Listerine Mouthwash $.49
(on sale for $2.99, buy 10 and get it for $2.49, use a coupon for $2 off--no longer available online)

Kleenex $.83
(on sale for $1.49, buy 10 and get it for $.99, use a coupon for $.50 off 3)

Kraft cheese $1.49
(not the best price ever for cheese, but good for the cubes and snack packs that are also included in the sale)

I also splurged on some VitaminWater. I really like this stuff! They are regularly about $1.25 or more, but you can get them for $.50 each during this sale.

One note on these mega-deals: make sure you count your items! You have to get them in exact multiples of 10 to make the most of the deals. I got 60 participating items, and I triple-counted them all before I got to the checkout. I'm sure I looked pretty funny, standing in the toothpaste aisle shuffling all the stuff around in my cart and muttering "1...2...3...." to myself. ;)

I see from some bloggers that Kroger is running another very similar mega-deal next week, so many of these deals may continue through next Tuesday.

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When I got home from Kroger, I expected Caleb to be up (he rarely naps) and I was going to pick him up and take him with me on a run to Market Street for a few more grocery deals. But when I got home, it was a picture out of The Napping House--everyone was asleep. Caleb had actually fallen asleep, and Scott had dozed off while rocking Isaac in his chair.

So I let them sleep for awhile as I put away the groceries. At 5:00, I woke everyone up. They all decided to go to Market Street with me, so we made a family evening of it. We haven't been to Market Street in several months, but this week they had a few good deals in their ad, and they sent me a $5 off a $25 purchase coupon.

They have a little eatery area there, so we decided to eat there as a treat and then shop. It was good stuff! Scott had a yummy panini with fruit, I had a chicken Caesar salad (with fat-free dressing), and Caleb had a piece of pizza (part of a $1.99 kids' meal). I had brought along an avocado and some snacks for Isaac, so we were all set.

After we ate, we set out shopping. Market Street is not a place I'd shop every day--their prices are just too high, in general--but it's fun to visit now and then. It's cheap, air-conditioned entertainment for the kids as they point out all the different items. They have "little carts" for the kids, which Caleb adores. They sell flax seed and steel-cut oats in bulk at a good price, too.

We spent $24 and got a good bit of stuff. Then we came home, I bathed the boys, and it was bedtime. All in all, a good day!

100 Things That Make Me Happy

I was inspired by Intentionally Katie, who wrote a list of 100 things that make her happy. It appears to be a meme that's been around the blogosphere for awhile. I thought it might be therapeutic to write a list of my own! These are in no particular order.

1. God--the source of all things good
   
2. Scott
3. My boys
4. Getting great grocery deals
5. Writing lists
6. Crossing things off of to-do lists
7. Clean cotton sheets and blankets
   
8. Hot showers
9. Teaching kids about Jesus
10. A clean and organized house
11. The smell of pencils
12. October
13. Rain--the sound, feel, and smell of it
    
14. Coffee--I drink it all day long
    
15. Time alone (what's that? ;) )
    
16. Sprouts
17. Dark chocolate (or nuts and fruits covered in dark chocolate!)
    
18. Being outside on summer nights
19. Hoodie zip-up sweatshirts
20. Board games
21. Dates with my husband
22. The feel of Isaac's soft, dimpled cheek
23. The Word of God
24. Cloth diapering
25. Bubble baths
26. Swimming
27. Reading
28. The 10 people who read my blog
29. Making plans, setting goals, and having vision
30. My church
31. Food, in general
32. Baking
33. Using natural, non-toxic, non-disposable stuff
34. Traveling
35. Packages
36. New York City
    
37. London
    
38. Paris
39. My family
40. Christmas
41. Enjoying meals with family or friends
42. The Food Network
43. Caleb singing songs about God
    
44. Serving the Lord
45. Getting dressed up and going out somewhere fancy
46. My KitchenAid mixer
47. The ocean
48. Dancing
49. A really good song that makes me want to dance, cry, laugh, or praise God
    
50. Cool breezes on a hot summer day
51. Orange Cup
52. Jane Austen
53. Seeing school supplies at the store
54. My Simple shoes
55. Getting things organized
56. Writing
57. Nap time--when both of the boys actually fall asleep
    
58. Snow--how silently it falls from the sky, and how loudly it crunches under my feet
    
59. Trivia
60. Learning new things (and remembering them later!)
    
61. Hotels
62. A job well done
63. My husband's hugs
64. My father's smile
65. My mother's laugh
66. Seeing old couples still together
67. Road trips
    
68. Libraries (particularly the New York Public Library)
69. Heroes
70. Kings--the TV show, although I also love reading about British history
    
71. Sitting in a bookstore, drinking coffee, and reading a book that I don't have to pay for
72. Campfires
73. Awana
    
74. Long-sleeve t-shirts
75. Watching my kids sleep--particularly when they smile or laugh while sleeping
76. Fireplaces
77. Babies
78. Burt's Bees cologne
79. Old-school jazz
80. Sunrises and sunsets
81. Comments on my blog posts
82. Sleep
83. Used bookstores--I like to think about who owned those books
    
84. To let go and let myself truly act childish with the kids
85. Finding clothes that fit perfectly and look great
    
86. Breakfast and brunch foods
87. Fluffy white towels
88. Gentlemen--men who treat women like ladies
    
89. Making someone smile
90. Being "green"
91. Activities that keep my kids busy for more than 10 minutes at a time
    
92. Bakeries
93. Winning something or getting something for free
94. Red wine
95. Watching the choreography on old movies
96. Being a mom
97. Hiking
98. People who use correct grammar
99. Hearing my husband's voice on the phone
100. Packing for a trip

It took me a few days to compile this list. For inspiration, I asked Caleb what made him happy. He said, "Play doh and crayons." I asked him what he thought made me happy, and he said, "Folding laundry." Ha!

Wednesday

Wednesday. I have made it to Wednesday. Or, shall I say, the kids have made it to Wednesday. On Monday, their fate did not look too clear. ;)

The problem on Monday was really my fault. I was going to take them to Bounce U, but I just didn't feel up to getting them out the door. So, we stuck around the house most of the day, venturing out only for a trip to Sprouts before dinner. When the boys don't have some structure in their day, they get a little wild. I don't blame them.

Tuesday was a ton of fun. We went over to Meme and Papa's house, which is always a big treat for the kids (and me). For the past week, Caleb had actually been counting down the days until he got to see his grandparents. So we went over there to play, eat, nap, swim, eat, swim, bathe, play, eat, and play. :) It was nice to take a break from our (messy!) house and be around some other adults.

Today we are breaking up the day by meeting my friend Karen and two of her boys for lunch. The kids (minus Isaac) will have fun in the germ-infested play area while Karen and I get to hang out. Then, it will be back home to put the boys down for naps and try to clean up the house a bit. Right now there are clothes piled up on the couch, waiting to be folded, dishes to put away and dishes to clean, beds to make, floors to vacuum and mop, counters to wipe... you know, the usual.

Sometimes I think back to how things were when Scott and I first got married. We lived in a cozy but roomy 2-bedroom/2-bath apartment, about 1200 square feet, which took about 30 minutes to clean top to bottom. We just didn't let it get that dirty, since there were only two of us. But now there are four of us, and two of us create much more mess than we clean up. :)

Well, here's hoping you have a happy Wednesday!

Random Thoughts

I am going to be a single mom next week. Scott is going for his third year to be a counselor at a kids' camp through our church. He'll have a group of 9 boys who just finished the 3rd grade. I'll be praying for him! I know that at least one of those boys is not a Christian, so I'll be praying especially that he makes that important decision next week.

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Do you ever enter blog giveaways? There are a ton of them! I usually check out the ones at Natural Mommie, Sage and Savvy, and sometimes Ecobunga or Prizey. I have entered a whole bunch over the past several months, but I had never won one until this week! I entered a giveaway at Intentionally Katie, and I won a YoBaby prize pack. Cool, huh? Free stuff is always good. :) And if you've never been to Intentionally Katie's site, it is worth checking out. It's one of my new favorite blogs.

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Sigh. At a certain time of the day, I grow weary of cleaning up. I get tired of wiping the counters, sweeping the floors, folding laundry....and yet the kids keep wanting snacks that mess up the counters, or spilling food on the floor, or dirtying more clothes. It really is a never-ending job.

Today I feel tired. Just worn out, in general. I know that's normal after caring for a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old, but I am just craving some time away.

I am very excited that Scott and I are planning our first-ever "just the two of us" vacation since our kids were born. We're going to go in October to coincide with our anniversary and his birthday. Right now we're leaning toward going to Seattle. I don't know exactly why, but Seattle seems like a place I could happily live. Maybe because it's pretty granola, and it rains a lot there (to me there is not much better than a cool, rainy day).

Have any of you ever been to Seattle? Any tips for traveling there?