CVS Savings!!!

I went to CVS yesterday and had my best ever buy!! I got:

Charmin 9 pack roll of toilet paper
Bounty 8 pack paper towels
Tide liquid detergent
3 CVS cough drops
Airborne dual pack (daytime and nighttime)
Dawn dish detergent
Feminine pads

I had the following coupons:

$4 off $20 purchase, $5 off $15 purchase, $2 off $10 purchase, Tide $.35, Charmin $.25, Boutny $.25, Airborne $1.00, Dawn $.75, and $5.49 ECB (extra care bucks). I spent $2.37 our of pocket. I should have received 3-$.99 ECB. The ECB didn't print for some reason. I asked the clerk (Andy) why. The manager came over and couldn't figure out how to make it print the bucks so he returned me the $2.97!! I think that means they paid me $.60 to take the merchandise out of the store!!!
Eeyore just shook his head in disbelief!!!

Happy New Year to us!!!

PUPPIES!!!

PICS FROM THE LAST POST!!

MOM'S HAIR NEW CUT!!

LIGHTNING HITCHING A RIDE ON THE GO KART.

POCAHANTAS AND I ON THE GO KART

MY DRESS + GRANNY'S SHAWL!

I can't Believe it's our last night here at Granny's . It seems like we just got here. Who would ever wanna leave this beautiful place?!?! Unfortunately we can't escape from reality and stay in our quiet little hideout forever.

Last night I got to have a wonderful, long, luxorious bath in Granny's jacuzzi tub!! Pocahontas massaged my shoulders, neck, temples, and later my back. She also gave me a pedicure. I loved it!! She told me she'd do it again sometime, but I had to pay her then..."Today is free day", is what she told me.

Today Fiddly, Granny, Pocahantas, and I all went shopping, mostly for a prom dress. I found one that I absolutely love!! But we needed to get the approval from Eeyore first. My mom had an appointment with Granny's hair dresser to get a haircut so after that Eeyore met us at Dillards to see the dress. He actually said he thought it looked pretty...now it's not his favorite dress, but he did approve! Granny has a shawl that goes perfectly with it too. After that all of us went to eat lunch at Logan's. We were all stuffed. Fiddle D. Dee, Granny, and I all went to look for shoes to go with my dress after we ate. Eeyore, Lightning, and Pocahantas decided to go back to Granny's instead of more shopping. We didn't find any shoes, but we did stop by my uncle's house on the way home to see the puppies. They're so cute! There are eleven puppies, 5 solid black, 5 black with gray and white spots and one chocolate one. I forgot my camera at Granny's so I didn't get any pictures, but we're hoping to go back by on the way home 2morrow, because the little kids didn't get to go see them, so I'll try again then. When we got home Pocahontas and I rode the golf cart for a little bit, then we went down to the river to see how many crabs we had in the crab baskets(to see if we had enough to eat). We had six, I wasn't sure that, that was enough, but Fiddly talked me into it. So we took them out, declawed them, and I cleaned them almost by myself. Since Fiddly and I did all the work and there were only six(little ones) we ate them all. I did have to call my cousin to make sure I remembered right, and she talked me through that part that she did the last time(mostly laughing at me). And in my opinoin they all turned out very good! I think that's all for now...

... Oh and for those inquiring minds wanting to see pictures of our Christmas morning, well all of those pics are on Granny's camera and she has a different kind of memory card than me and at the moment I have no way of getting them on here. So hopefully sometime later I'll be able to get those and put them on for all to see.

We get to open one present on Christmas Eve, Pocahantas chose to unwrap me.

So, I was planning on writing about the rest of our time here at Granny's on the last post and having just one big post, but when I went to put the pictures on I kinda screwed it all up, as you can probably tell from the random gaps in between the pics, but alas that didn't happen so I'm just making it into 2 posts.

We didn't have a Christmas Eve dinner with all my cousins like we usually do, but instead we had a Christmas "Adam" dinner as Sully calls it(because Adam came b4 Eve). And for this Christmas "Adam" dinner we had a Mexican meal with tamales, Mexican rice, guacamole, tortillas and a Mexican cake. I forgot what the cake's called something like 3 milk cake or something. I didn't really like it, but it looked pretty, and on top it said Feliz Navidad. For an appetizer or whatever you wanna call it we had bean dip and tortilla chips. Christmas just wouldn't be the same
without our Mexican food. The tamales are my favorite!!

Today we had pancakes, bacon, and sausage for breakfast. And for a late lunch and early dinner we has turkey and dressing, giblet gravy, mashed potatoes, broccoli with cheese and these little Greek things that had spinach and feta cheese wrapped in this thin pastry type thing.

Then we went to my uncle's house to see the car my cousin got. We didn't stay long, because one of my cousins was sick running a fever, and all she wanted was for me to hold her. I kinda freaked out cause I'm a bit of a germ-a-phobe. I felt sorry for her cause I could tell she didn't fell good, but I didn't wanna get sick either. So we got outta there as soon as possible. As soon as we got home I stripped off all my germ filled clothes and jumped in the shower. I also dowsed the jacket I was wearing in Lysol, but the sad thing is I'll probably still get sick...I don't want to, but because of irony it's bound to happen. Pray that the rest of us all stay healthy!!

That's pretty much all that's happened so far. We did go see National Treasure 2 one day...it was good!! I can't wait to find out what kinda fun we're gonna have the rest of the week...as long as everyone's feeling well.

DORY

Merry Christmas!!!

We hope you all have had an amazing Christmas!! We sure have...it's always fun here at Granny's house. We came down here Friday and met Granny and our cousin Nikki at Aunt Bo's, a new seafood buffet near where she lives. It was good, but not my favorite. Later that afternoon the little kids wanted to check Granny's crab baskets...so we went down to the river to look and we had 14 crabs!! Even though we had seafood for lunch we were all craving freshly boiled crab...Granny makes the best! The only problem...who would clean the crabs so they could be cooked and eaten? Well my cousin assured us she knew how to do it, and thinking that if she could do it surely I could too, I volunteered to help. So with the careful instruction of my cousin I proceeded to "wash the guts out" after she cracked open the shells and handed them to me. It's probably one of the grossest things I've ever done. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to eat one, much less enjoy it, because just the thought of eating what I had just had my hands all in made me queasy. I did however eat one and a half and they were very good! I was pretty proud of myself, even though my cousin did most of the work.





.

Happy 21st Anniversary Mom and Dad!!!

Love,
Dory

CVS Bargains!!!

How much would you think I spent on this purchase from CVS??? My husband guessed $8.00. I have been following tips listed on Moneysavingmom.com. I used CVS coupons,ECB, and manufactured coupons and ended up having to add the Snickers bar because they wouldn't pay me to walk out with the merchandise!! I spent a total of $0.39!!! My daughter couldn't believe it!! Also in return I got $12.49 in ECB and $4 off $20 purchase!!! I do plan to go back this week for another purchase! I wonder if I will do as well then????

2 Christmas beauties!!

Our school has a new mascot!! Our cheerleading coach had the costume made and it looks very cute. My friend and I (the 2 seniors) named him. His full name is M.J. Ziggy Daniels, M for her name, J for my name, we got Daniels from her middle name Danielle, and we just liked Ziggy!! Although, everyone just calls him M.J. Now, I know you probably didn't need or want to know the full name and explanation of the name, but I thought I'd share that anyway.



The boy who wears the mascot costume is actually one of the football players, who happens to have a better toe-touch than most, if not all of us on the squad. He's a pretty good mascot, but at one point he got tired, so his MOM got in the costume to give him a break, and I guess he was embarrassed or something because he never got back in it. I think it would be fun to put on the costume and jump around and act crazy. I would've given him a break and put on the costume, if I wasn't cheering. I think as long as his mom doesn't get back in it he'll do a great job. Well I hope all of this makes sense and isn't too wordy, because it's 11 o'clock at night and past my bed time!!

Jesus loves you,
Dory

Lamentations 3: 22-23 ~ “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

I'm thankful for a Lord and Savior that is full of compassion, mercy and grace!
I'm thankful for a healthy family!!
I'm thankful for this time of year!
I'm thankful for spending time with family over Thanksgiving!
I'm thankful for a sweet niece that has made a lovely header for my blog!!

Many thanks to Laurel Wreath for hosting today’s Thankful Thursday!
Blessings to each of you - be thankful!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas on the Seedlings blog!!! I want to thank a Wonderful niece for the design! She has helped Spruce us up!! I promised her that I would be more current with our post!!
Thanks Flibby it looks wonderful!!

NEW HOBBY!!!

I bought the above things over the last 2 days from CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid. My out of pocket expense was $35.48. I saved $70.19. I have $31.49 coming in rebates or Extra Care Bucks. That's like $3.98 for all in the picture!!! Not bad!

I also went to Publix (the items aren't included in the picture because some are already in our tummies!) spent $24.49 and saved $45.21. The lady behind me couldn't believe it! She went on and on about how much I saved and how many bags were in my buggy! A total of 7 bags! Dory was a little embarrassed that she was being so loud!!

I have been considering trying The Grocery Game! If you aren't familiar with TGG, it is a way of matching coupons with store sales.

Most stores have a sales cycle, generally a 12 week cycle. The inventor of the Grocery Game, Teri Gault, has tracked the sales cycles (and now has a team of folks all over tracking the local stores).They have a database that tells them when an item has hit a rock-bottom price. Some items are on sale at one time but will have an even lower price later on--this is called a "phantom sale." When an item is at it's rock-bottom price, you as a shopper are to stock up, try to buy 12 weeks worth of that item, so that you will have all you need till it hits that rock-bottom price again. They also have a database of coupons that come in the Sunday paper, combine those coupons with those rock-bottom prices and you get AMAZING savings--sometimes you even get stuff for free!!!
The price of the list is generally $10 for one store for 8 weeks, plus an additional $5 for each store after that. BUT....the first month is your trial month and is only $1 for as many store lists as you want!!!!
The list comes out once a week and is really organized. Black items are fairly good prices but not rock-bottom, so if you NEED something that is black, go ahead and get it. Blue items are rock-bottom, so stockpile these items. And Green are items that are free!!
If you want to try the one month trial for only $1 and see what you think! If you feel generous and want to give me credit for the referral, put this email address in Lynnomartin@hotmail.com. For every 3 referrals, I get some free weeks off the list. BUT, I am not telling you about this for the free weeks!!! I'm having a wonderful time saving money and wanted to share it with you!!
Here are a few tips:
1. It may be good to get extra Sunday papers.

2. Find a way to organize the coupons that works for you!

3. Start saving!!!

HAPPY SHOPPING!

Email Address:

lynnomartin@hotmail.com

A Not So Typical Day

This morning I woke up on the run!! I threw the clothes from the washer into the dryer! Started a new load of clothes in the washer and turned on the dryer. It didn't sound right :( . I didn't have time to do anything about it then, so off I ran!

When I got home I called a very special friend who just a couple of weeks ago called to tell me she had just repaired her washing machine!! I told her what was going on and she directed me to this nifty fix-it site!!! We figured out what was wrong, my dryer belt had broken. She encouraged me that I could fix this!!! After her prompting I called a local store and they had the belt in stock!!

Once I bought the belt it was time to take the dryer apart!! Me taking a dryer apart?? Would it ever be put back together?? Would it really ever work again?? Taking the dryer apart turned out to be pretty easy!! After looking at the inside for a while I couldn't figure out how the belt went around the pulley :(. Off to the phone to call my trusty friend! She came right over and after several minutes and a couple of trips to the computer she figured out how it worked!! We had the belt installed and dryer put back together within minutes :) ! Now time to see if it worked.... I pushed the button and NOTHING.. What now?? What have I done??? Then it hit me.. it wasn't plugged in!! I plugged it up and pushed the button PRESTO IT WORKED!!!

The price of the part was $16.15. I've estimated that if we had called a Sears repairman it would have been $75 for a housecall, $100 labor, and $20 for the part... That is a savings of $ 178.85 :). I've told Eyeore that my friend and I need a trip to Starbucks for saving him big bucks!!! That or either a new outfit! So how was your day????

Our garden is growing...here are some pics.






This is a flower on the cucumber plant.

Our boat. The one next to it is also a Royal Caribbean ship, but it's alot bigger!!!This was taken from a restaurant overlooking one of the pools.
The island of Coasta Maya

Sophie and her snails that I mentioned in my earlier blog.

Coasta Maya

We saw this sign in the bathroom...I thought it was funny, so I took a picture.

So I promised Miss Poppins that I'd blog more about my trip, so here it is. The second port we went to was Costa Maya. It was pretty, but you could definetly tell that it was a tourist spot!! There were alot of stores and Kiosk's(sp?) in basically this big circle. There were pools right on the beach. We got a table pretty close to the pools. It was really nice. Me and Madison both got Mexican dresses while we were there. Her's was red and mine's green!!haha We wore them to dinner that night and everyone seemed to like them. While we were sitting at the table just hanging out, Sophie(1 of my "cousins" 4 the week) who's 6, found some snails and then named them and made up a whole story about them. There was a daddy snail and a momma snail. It was really cute!!!


Me and Madison in Coasta Maya

Sorry I haven't updated yet...I just haven't seemed to have the time. The cruise was awesome!!! I loved it!!! The first few days we were at sea and that was nice. It was realtively warm and kinda wet, but still very relaxing. Grand Cayman was the first port we got off at. While we were there we went to one of the beaches, it was the furthest away from the town. There was a restaurant right by where we were swimming so when we weren't swimming we were sitting under the little awning of the restaurant. There was this little bird that came right up to us while we were sitting there and started chirping at us. The cab driver told us that we could walk back to town, it was only a 45 minute walk. We opted not to do that!!haha Our cab driver also told us that gas on the island is $6.50 a gallon. It kinda makes our gas price not seem so bad. On the island we saw a McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's, and a Subway!! I thought that was kinda funny. We also went shopping. I got a pair of sunglasses that kinda look like the ones I had in Disney world.

This is the bird we saw at the restaurnt.

Silly me, I just remembered, my name was Dory!!haha I guess it really suits me...huh?

Ok, so I understand that we haven't updated in a while(now that I think about it, it's been about 4 months...I think), and I have no idea what I'm gonna write, but there have been some requests that we update so here it is. I'm just kinda making it up as I go and I'm a little tired as well, so I'm warning you now it could be a crazy mess. Let's see...I'm leaving tomorrow morning to go on a cruise, it's my 17th birthday present from my grandparents!! We're leaving out of New Orleans and we're stopping in the Grand Cayman Islands, Costa Mia(sp?), and Cozumel!! I'm really excited!! I've never been on a cruise before!! Neither has my mom, I think she's a little jealous. Supposedly its supposed to be in the 80's while we're down there, and I'm really excited about that. I don't do cold very well, so getting to go hang out in 80 degree weather sounds wonderful!!! I'm planning on taking lots of pictures and I'll post them when I get back. I'll be thinking of all of you. I hope you all have a good week.

Jesus loves you,
umm...I forgot my "code" name or w/e you wanna call it...I guess I'll just make up a new one. How does Jo Beth sound?