Going it alone!

Well...

I am going to attempt it.

Yes...I am going to cancel

Savings

Angel and have a go at this money-saving and couponing thing alone. Well, it won't be totally alone. I have the help of many coupon sites and blogs that I now follow.

The main reason for joining

SavingsAngel was...I saw the need to start saving money big time and stockpiling for summer. My clientel always drops a bit in the summer so I thought it wise to prepare.

Well, now I have a whole closet and freezer full of supplies...and since the summer is upon us...I thought I would save even MORE money by dropping SavingsAngel's service. I'm going to "attempt" it alone and see how it goes...mostly so I can save that $19.95 a month during our lean summer months. If all goes well at the end of summer...I'll continue to do it on my own. If I feel I need more help, I'll sign back on with SavingsAngel once my clientel has picked up again in the fall. Simple!

I feel I have learned ALOT from SavingsAngel and from all the blogs I now follow. I pretty much KNOW what to do and HOW to do it...it will just be more time consuming.

I'll keep ya posted!!!

Movin' on...

This Wednesday is the last week of the boys' current Royal Ranger class. Nate has finished up all three years of Ranger Kids. Evan is finishing up Adventure Rangers. Both have been very busy over the years. I am so thankful they both love the program as much as they do. I am also so grateful for the dedicated leaders they have had. They have learned so much scripture, so many skills, had so many activities, and such...it has been amazing. They are both looking forward to many more years of excitement, learning, and adventure but as always will miss their current commanders. Here's to another exciting year!

Happy Memorial Day!

Today is Memorial Day...

We started our day by going to Zeeland's Memorial Day Parade. It was really nice. All the veterans marched in their uniforms...it gives one such a feeling of pride and gratefulness.

Both of the boys marched as well...Evan with Cityside's band and Nate with Lincoln. They both did a great job.

We came home and chilled out for a while. Then we went out and did some errands. I had to run to WalMart, Target, and Meijer (more on that later!). Then we stopped by Red Robin for dinner. Came home and worked in the yard and mowed. It was a very pleasant day. This is the last week of school for the boys! I can't believe I will have an 8th grader and a 3rd grader next fall! Where has the time gone???

Bring on the thunder!

Enough of these sissy little showers.
Bring on the thunder!
Bring on the lightening!
All these silly little drizzles do is mess up my hair!
Where is a good storm!
I LOVE A GOOD THUNDERSTORM!

ZPS photo gallery...guess who made it in?

As I was scanning through the ZPS photo gallery online...

something caught my attention. Yep! That's Evan in the picture with his Social Studies teacher!

They have been learning about the process of getting clean water in third world nations. They participated in their "Annual Water Walk"...walking 1.5 miles with 1-2 gallons of water that they gathered from a very muddy creek and then putting it through a filtration process as a learning experiment. Very cool hands on learning! I was just excited to see Ev's picture in there! Proud mommy!

My awesome deals this week!

Well, there were quite a few REALLY good deals this week at both Meijer and FamilyFare.
A couple of my favorite deals at Meijer included:
Buy two boxes of Nabisco crackers at 2 for $5.00 and get three blocks of Kraft cheese for $1.00 a piece!!! WOW! Combine that awesome deal with a $1.00 off coupon on both of the crackers and you get those for 2 for $3.00 instead of 2 for $5.00!!! I repeated this deal four times!
Also couldn't pass up the Kellogg's cereal deal. They had selected kinds for $1.80 a box...with all the Kellogg's printables available right now at $1.00 off...I got loads of those for 80 cents a box!!! I got like 10 boxes of cereal! LOL!
Another incredible deal was the Oscar Meijer hotdogs. On sale for $1.25...manufacturer's coupons available online for $1.00 off two, combined with Meijer Meal Box coupons of $1.00 off two, you get these for 25 cents a pack! I think I stocked up on 16 packs!!!
FamilyFare had a great deal on Kraft salad dressing this week. On sale for $1.67...use a manufacturer's coupon for $1.50 off and you get it for 17 cents!!! I only had one of those, but I had three other $1.00 off coupons so I got three at 67 cents...still an awesome deal!!!
My cabinets and freezer are loving me this week!!!

Girls Day Out

On Saturday, Jess, mom, and I went out for a "Girls Day Out". First we went for pedicures. We had a blast. I had never had one and let me say it was worth every penny. We went to a cosmetology school where the supervised students worked on us. I got french tips and she even put a little pink/glittery swirl on (very girly!) for free! BONUS! So cute!

Then we went to the Grand Traverse Pie Company for lunch (I think that's what it was called). It was very yummy. Then we went shopping. Got some awesome deals at the mall in Charlotte Ruse. I got five new tops! Very cute!

Then we headed over to Target to browse around and stopped off at Starbucks for an iced coffee.

Then Jess introduced me to the world of thrift shops. I had never shopped them because I always kindof had "thing" about them...kinda thought it was "icky". But they had some really cute clothes! Name brands too! I think I may be adding thrift stores to my shopping excursions! We had a a really nice day out. Needs to DEFINITELY be done more often! LOL!

Tulip Time was a success...and now comes to a close.

Another Tulip Time has come and gone. We were so blessed to have had good weather each day. I have to say, it takes on a whole new perspective now having a son involved in the band. It's EXTREMELY busy...but wonderful. I got quite a few shots of the parade. If you notice the two AMAZING shots of Evan playing his trumpet...those are courtesy of my CafeMom friend Selena who blessed me with those! (Thank-you Selena!) The tulips were beautiful, the weather was great, the parades were awesome, and we ate lots of over-priced, fattening junkfood. LOL! Enjoy the photos! And until next year...continue to "tip-toe through the tulips" with me! :-)

What a busy week!

We had a really great...busy day today.

Work was especially busy because we had a full house...I took on some of my part-timers all day because we're closing early on Wed/Thur for Tulip Time. So work was especially hectice today.

I did manage to sneak in a good power-walk. Got thirty minutes in. And ditzy me didn't even think about putting on sunscreen...tis the season! My neck and arms are fried! Live and learn!

Ev had a track meet and really stepped it up a notch. He got his best time ever...again! I'm really proud that he always seems to improve at each meet! Go Ev!

Then we had a quick dinner tonight and the boys and I went downtown for Tulip Time. We walked around the park and took some pictures. We watched the Klompen Dancers. We walked downtown to a couple shops. The boys love going into The Sandcastle...it has alot of unique toys and such. Then The Peanut Store is a favorite of Ev's...all that candy! Last but not least, we stopped off for some good old fair food. We got a snow cone and a funnel cake. YUM!

It was a busy...but fun day!