I love a Deal!

Okay, so I see all these blogs with different people showing pictures of their groceries and the savings they got on them. Well I always thought that it was kinda funny but it still intrigued me. I am always looking for a good deal my husband often complains about my frugalness. It is sad to say that through our whole married life we have never had a good food storage. We were just always thankful to get by with what we had.

We as a family have decided that those days are over. I have turned into kind of a "preparedness freak" I just don't want to be the one in a crisis looking for a handout. I also want to live completely debt free. I have found a lot of joy in living more simply. I also don't feel that my kids think they are going without. Growing up my siblings and I were not handed everything. (We like to tease my Mom that we never had cereal with sugar in it.)But it also taught us great work ethic.We have always worked our rear ends off for what we wanted. It doesn't mean we can't have nice things we just need to work for them. Hopefully this will help my family be more appreciative of what they do have.

So along those lines here is my funny grocery picture. Right now Albertsons has a great sale. If you look at the insert in your paper you can mix or match 10 items. After you have bought those you get a $10 coupon for groceries. I went back and did this in 5 transactions one after another continually using my $10 coupons. I also had coupons for all the items on sale which was a bonus. ( my motto: if its not on sale or I don't have a coupon for it I don't need it )If you are a mother and not using coupons you are crazy! I realize they are time consuming but I saved over $25 in coupons of my own not including the free Albertsons ones. Also, If I have time anyone has time . So here is the grand total of what I bought at Albertsons and what I spent.

2 Bags of Totinos 90 count pizza rolls
4 boxes Betty Crocker Ultimate Fudge Brownie mixes
4 boxes Pillsbury Toaster Strudels
6 Pillsbury ready to bake cookies
4 Progresso Chick. Noodle Soups
2 Pkgs. Pillsbury Cinnimon Rolls
4 Grands Flaky bisquits
2 boxes Chex mix choc. bars
4 boxes Betty crocker fruit snacks
2 boxes Betty Crocker Fruit Roll ups

34 items for $23.86
Savings $51.10
My kids were so excited to have "name brand" foods too!

Ladies Man

Today is Valentines Day and I just have to write a little something about my Victor. He has been saving money to buy flowers for all of his friends that are girls. He went to the store and bought them and then he took them to each of their houses. Yes I know he is much braver than I am.(these were all girls in our ward) He also bought flowers and candy for his school teacher who lost her husband in a plane Crash this year. Then he gave one to me and his sisters.He is such a sweet boy with a tender heart. One of the things I love about him is his testimony. He is not afraid to share it. He knows what he knows and he believes it with all his heart. He will be such a wonderful husband someday. I sure love him.

My Baby is 7!

Alesia with Dr.Fielding. What a great Dr. We sure miss him

Her first birthday. She just smiled the whole day

This girl potty trained at 18 months.
Always decorated with makeup and jewelry. Not much has changed

I can't believe my little girl is 7 today. It really does just seem like yesterday when I had her. She weighed 6lbs. 3oz. and had curly black hair. She was also very sick when she was born. She spent a week in the hospital due to a small heart defect and severe jaundice. I used to call her my "triple light" baby. They had her on 3 bilirubin lights at once. I was only able to hold her when it was feeding time. I remember how hard it was trying to go from my house to spend time with my other children and back to feed and be with her. Luckily the hospital was so great and let me have a room to stay in while she was still there.

A lot has changed since then. She no longer has curly black hair. Its more of a dark brown straight hair. She has a healthy heart and tons of spirit. She is quite the Diva of the house. We have had to learn some new parenting tricks with her too. She thinks she's 7 going on 17.

I sure love her so much! She is a great friend and never wants to hurt antybody's feelings. Our family is so blessed to have her. We love you Alesia Hope!

SIDENOTE: Before I knew I was pregnant with Alesia. Carlos And I had a special experience. I have never put it in writing but others have told me I should so here it is. Carlos and I were laying in bed and I heard someone say "Mommy" I jumped up and looked around thinking it was one of the kids. It wasn't. Carlos jumped up at the same time and said someone just came in our room. No one was there. The next day Carlos insisted that I take a pregnancy test. I explained to him that I didn't need to because I was taking birth control. He wouldn't leave me alone about it. I made a Dr's apt and explained my experience to my Dr. He kind of laughed. He had me take a test and a very faint line showed up. He assured me it was not dark enough to mean anything. But, just in case he sent me for blood work (keep in mind I was so early, I hadn't even missed my period- Sorry if thats to personal) He called me the next day and told me that "God must be sending us a miracle." He was right! I knew when she was born so sick that she would pull through because she had told us she was coming to our family before we even knew it. It proved to us that sometimes Heavenly Father knows what need even when we don't.