Mommy and Me

We are STILL here!

2010-08-05T09:26:00.000-04:00

Hey any visitors that happen on us! We are still around and going strong ..the blog doesnt reflect that ..clearly :) But we are still busy this summer so come on follow the link on the sidebar. We will still find you a way to friends and fellowship!

Playhouse Fun

2010-01-27T20:56:00.002-05:00

We had a wonderful time at the Just Like Home Playhouse a week or so ago!

This is a new to us place in Summerville. Its a great place where the kids imagination can run wild in all kids of different rooms - dressup, trains, tea time, and games!

The kids all had a great time ..we will be back!

Lots to Look Forward to!

2010-01-26T17:15:00.002-05:00

Good grief..perhaps I have too many blogs to keep up with :)
We have had a great turn out at many new activities this past year! We have tried many new things and hope to do the same over the next MaM year!

Some things to look forward to on the upcoming calendar ..The Charleston Fire Museum, Just Like Home Playhouse, The LowCountry Children's Museum, SwapTilYouDrop playdate, Wannamaker Park Day ..we have lots going on and LOTS to be excited about!

We had lots of fun over the holidays..starting with the Punkin’ Patch at Boone Hall Plantation in October..

We had a great Holiday MaM party ..where we made lots of treats to take home and made lots of fun Christmas memories!

This year, we have already visited a great new place ..called Just Like Home Playhouse ..it will be a favorite of the year for sure!

We have LOTS of great memories, and lots to look forward to this year coming so hope you will come and join us! :)

Cooper River Bridges

2009-10-13T22:58:00.003-04:00

The Mommy and Me group went to the Memorial Waterfront Park today - we got to enjoy the wonderful Charleston weather both under and ON the Cooper River Bridges.

About 24 of us got together to play on the playground, eat a sack lunch, walk the fishing pier and then wrap it up by taking a walk up the Cooper River Bridge. It was a beautiful day and mommies and kids alike had a great time!

We will definitely have to make this a recurring activity!

Fall Calendar

2009-09-07T21:34:00.002-04:00

We have taken a break from the Mommy and Me blog ...but not our activities! We have had a great summer, full of activities for ages infant through school age. We have had the best participation ever, and have welcomed several new friends in the process :)

Some of our new friends ...Mandy, Melanie, Letitia, Stacey, Jenn N. ...just to name a couple of them!

We are excited to look forward to a GREAT fall ..so check the fall calendar and keep an eye on the blog for pics and stuff to look forward to :)

If you havent joined us yet ..we hope you will come get to know us!

Children's Museum

2009-01-14T14:02:00.001-05:00

The kids had a great time today at the children's museum! Several of them had a plan of action for when they got there ..Ty's was the grocery store :)

We are back in full swing with our activities after a Christmas break ...lots of things planned for 2009! Its gonna be the best year yet! :)

Hope everyone can join us at some of our upcoming events..some of which, I dont know what they will be. But they will be fun, trust me :)

We are really excited about using the Children's Museum as the location for our first Family Fun Night in the next couple of months!

Stay tuned!

The Pun'kin Patch

2008-10-21T17:26:00.001-04:00

Well, the group headed out the Boone Hall Plantation for their Fall Festival and Pumpkin Patch!

The kids got to play on the jump castles, roll around in some dirt (lots of dirt), see some goats, and go on an adventure filled hayride!

By adventure, I mean getting stuck in the mud within about 2 minutes of us getting started! We got to sit waiting for a tow out longer than we actually spend on the actual hayride but we made the most of it..eating all the Kennedy kids snacks and keeping the kids from jumping in the giant mud ocean we were in!

All in all it was a great time, and a great way to kick off the Fall!

Our hayride adventure..

This was the tow out ..it took a bit of work but that little tractor that could pulled one other tractor, and two trailers filled with school kids and Mommy and Me'ers!

It was all part of the fun!

We had a great time..cant wait to see everyone next time!

Gone Wild

2008-10-07T14:12:00.001-04:00

Okay, they aren't WILD animals, exactly. But the kids went WILD over them :)

We went to Bee City today, where the kids had a great time with the animals. And there lots of those ..kids and animals.

We saw lemurs, monkeys, goats, miniature horses, turkeys, wallabies, pheasant, snakes, koi fish, llama..oh, and bees.

They got to feed most of the animals there, which some liked and others opted out of. When we did this back in March it was a tad bit cool, but today was perfect weather for running around like wild animals :)

Enjoy..and be sure to both download yours and check out the pictures that other mommies took today!

Mommies to Be

2008-09-30T16:18:00.005-04:00

Well, I was realizing today that we have LOTS of mommies expecting! We are so lucky to get to soonly (not soon enough for these mommies, I am sure...) be welcoming some more sweet babies to our group!

Some mommies who will be graced with new little bundles are Stephanie, Amanda, Michelle B., Amy and Beth!

Stephanie will being having a little girl in December, and Michelle will be having a little boy in January!

Yeah for us ..we are growing in more ways than one!

Tumblebuggy Time!

2008-09-30T16:13:00.001-04:00

We had a near record attendance today at Tumblebugs..surely everyone's favorite activity. We had 41 mommies and their kiddos there ..and it wasnt even that crazy!

We did lots of "tumbling" and running around like crazy people. To make sure the chaos came with us, we took it all to Chikfila afterwards and brought them some craziness as well as some business! We had a great time..be sure to upload your pictures to the forum!

Fun times!

Deals of the Week, 9/21-9/27

2008-09-26T13:56:00.004-04:00

Okay, this post might seem pointless b/c the week is almost over, but it does have some purpose:). Today (Friday) and tomorrow are Walgreens' "double-dipping days," the two days of the month where this month's EasySaver catalog and next month's EasySaver Catalog overlap. I just wanted everyone to be aware:). You can always get some great deals on these two days. Plus, they usually put out a coupon for the event, and this month's coupon is $5/$20. You can get it here. Now, I must say that the deals are even sweeter if you participate in Walgreens' rebate program, which I highly recommend. They have a number of items each month that are free after rebate, and if you use a coupon or a Walgreens coupon like the $5/$20, you can make a profit. Plus, you submit the whole thing online--no mail or stamps needed. Just create an account, and whenever you get a rebate item, go online and enter the receipt number. Simple! You can also opt for them to send you a gift card instead of a check, and you'll get an extra 10%. I still have $10 on my card from last month's rebates, and I just got email confirmation that they are going to add $56 to my card from this month's rebates. Yay! Unfortunately, that will take 5-10 days, so I won't have it for these double dipping days.

Okay, that's my plug for rebates. You can find some of the double dipping deals here at moneysavingmom.com, frugalisfab.blogspot.com, or commonsensewithmoney.com.

After looking at all three, here is the deal I'm going to try and pull off. All told, it will cost me $16.58 plus tax (and I still have $10 on my gift card, so that's less out of pocket). I will get back $10 in Register Rewards and $8 (plus 10%) in October rebates. So basically, I'm getting everything for free. And what am I getting?

3 bottles of Dimetapp
4 bags of Hershey's miniatures for Halloween
2 Reach products (either toothbrushes or floss)
1 bottle Glade Fabric and Odor Eliminator
1 Glade Scented Oil candle
2 boxes Snuggle dryer sheets

Here's how I'm hoping it goes down:
Transaction 1:
3 Dimetapps--$15.00
Glade Fabric and Odor Eliminator--3.39
4 bags Hersheys miniatures--8.00
2 Reach products--5.00
Total: 31.39
Coupons:
6.00--3 Dimetapp coupons (print them here)
1.00--Glade coupon from newspaper
1.00--Glade Sept Easysaver coupon (located in store)
2.00--Hershey's Sept ES coupon

New total: 21.39 (your total must be over $20 after coupons to use the $5/$20)
Use $5/$20
Total: 16.39 plus tax
--Will get back $15 in Register Rewards (10 for Dimetapp, 5 for Reach products)
--$6 in October rebate (for Glade and Hershey's)

That's a good deal right there, but I'm really into air fresheners right now, so I want the free Glade candle. So I'm going to use my $5 Register Reward to get it.

Transaction #2:
Glade Scented Oil candle--5.99
2 Snuggle Fabric Softeners--4.00 w/ coupon from weekly ad
Total: 9.99
Coupons:
2.00--Glade candle coupon from newspaper
2.00--Glade coupon from Sept. Easysaver
.80--2 .40 Snuggle coupons from newspaper
Total after coupons: 5.19 plus tax (remember, to use Register Rewards, you have to spend the whole amount before tax, or it won't scan. Hence, the Snuggle sheets. I had to look through the weekly ad to find something in that price range that I really needed. And I really need dryer sheets:))
I'll use the $5 RR, and pay .19, plus tax.

Here's hoping it all goes smoothly. I'll let you know:).

In other news, I found two sites that post Publix deals. One is here at Southernsavers.com They also have next week's CVS deals up, which is great b/c I usually go on Sunday, and moneysavingmom has been a bit slack in posting the weekly deals:). The other site is fiddledeedee.blogspot.com.

So now that I've found the Publix bloggers, I feel that there is no real reason for me to keep up a weekly blog unless I see some really great local deal that you can't find elsewhere. Like, for example:

*The North Charleston KMart is doubling all coupons up to and including $2.00 this week! Sorry for the late notice:) I kept waiting for some blog to come up with a list of deals, b/c I'm too busy to go and forage without a plan. But I should have posted it earlier for anyone else who is interested.*

Anyhow, as always, if anyone else sees any good deals, let us know!

Extra Extra...Perfect Park Weather is Here!

2008-09-23T14:15:00.001-04:00

The kiddos had an perfect day at the park..as did the mommies who didn't have to worry about burned legs and bottoms, and had a cool breeze to make watching the kids an okay thing to do.

The babies were in their cute-form, especially the girls who were pretty in pink today.

Enjoy the shots of the day..we got some good ones!

Mommy and Maddox are having a great time on the slide..so are the other "kids"

We even had some grandma's visit today! Yeah for grandmas!

Playtime at Courtney's

2008-09-18T18:37:00.001-04:00

We had a BIG O L' group at this weeks playtime at Courtney's (my) house!

We had wall-t0-wall mamas and babies! Everyone was all smiles, most of the time :)

Yes, that would be my son with a girl in his lap (they were reading books together)! :)

MaM mommies, please go on the forum to discuss the possibility of breaking up into more than one home for our home playdates! We are growing out of our skins!

See you next week at the park!

Deals of the Week, 9/14-9/20

2008-09-17T16:40:00.003-04:00

Sigh. I am officially green with envy over big city coupons and Krogers. It all started in Indianapolis where I was visiting my brother- and sister-in-law. I bought a Sunday paper and got the biggest Smart Source and Red Plum I had ever seen, chock full of coupons that I didn't even know existed! While it was wonderful, I couldn't help but be envious that my sis-in-law got these every week...and that she got milk for 2.50 a gallon at Kroger!
Then, I went to Macon. In comparison, my mom's Red Plum had--I kid you not--two coupons, one for evaporated milk and one for pet food. Wow. Don't feel too sorry for her though, b/c she gets amazing coupons mailed to her from Kroger. And speaking of Kroger, I got 4 Glade Scented Oil Warmers, 13 cans of Campbell's soup, two boxes of Huggies 64-ct wipes, and a Kit Kat bar for $4. FOUR DOLLARS! Who needs coupons when your grocery store has its own version of Register Rewards, amazing promos, and regular prices that beat Publix's sale prices??? Urghhh. I really am feeling a bit covetous.

But instead of envying, let's be thankful for the deals that are available to us, shall we?:) So without further ado, here are some things you can get for free:

CVS
--Excedrin is 3.99, with 3.99 in ECB's
--Aleve is 3.99, with 3.00 back in ECB's, plus there is a $1 printable here Final price: free.

--If you have $2/10 coupons, here are two more freebie scenarios:
#1: 2 Covergirl lip products--3.99 each
1 Covergirl eye shadow--2.99

Use $2/10
Use CG BOGO lip product
Use 2 CG $1/1
Pay 2.98 + tax, and get $3 ECB's back

#2: Excedrin--3.99
Aleve--3.99
4 Glade air fresheners--.99 each
Use $2/10
Use $1 off Aleve
Use 2 Glade BOGO's
Pay about 6.95 + tax, and get 6.99 back in ECB's

Walgreens
Buy 1 Pantene Beautiful Lengths Shampoo
1 Pantene Beautiful Lengths Conditioner
1 Pantene styling product
Total will come to 12.00
--Use $1/2 Pantene coupon from P&G 9/14 insert (hope y'all got that)
--Use coupon for free Pantene styling product with purch. of shampoo and cond.
Your total will then come to 7.00.
It will print a 2.00 Register Reward, and there is a 5.00 rebate for the Beautiful Lenths shampoo and conditioner.
Thus, it will be free after RR's and the rebate.

I looked at Publix's weekly ad online, and it looked pretty dismal. If anyone sees anything good, leave it as a comment:)

Welcome Brycen!

2008-09-10T11:02:00.005-04:00

Well, Jennifer and Carter just came to us in the past couple of weeks, but can still be excited for them that they welcomed the newest member of their little family into the world last night!

Jennifer and Baby Brycen are doing great, recovering from a quick labor yesterday afternoon and evening (I talked to her on the way to Celebration Town yesterday and she was planning a few more days!).

Brycen was a big un' weighing in at 8 lbs and 10 oz.

We cant wait to meet him!

Congrats Jenn, Carter and Devon (we havent met him yet!) ..oh, and daddy too! :)

Jumpin' Like Crazy ...

2008-09-09T12:54:00.001-04:00

Today our little group met at Celebration Town ..a jump castle place!

We had a great time letting the kids play, and the mommies visit. We had a smaller group today, but some who we havent seen in awhile and a couple we are only just meeting for the first time. It was a great time...here are some shots from the day! :)

Our little ones had a great time ..everyone is sufficiently worn out for nap time! Yay!

MOMMIES ANONYMOUS!

2008-09-09T08:09:00.002-04:00

Its finally here!

We get to start our Mommies Anonymous group this Thursday!

In case you have missed the discussion, we are going begin meeting every other Thursday morning, to discuss what is on our hearts as moms and wives!

We will take a moment to focus our minds and hearts on God and his promises, then talk about what we need to discuss that week..whatever it may be!

This week, for our kick-off we will have a paid babysitter (much better paid if everyone will pitch in a bit :) then we will work on a schedule for each of us to take turns babysitting the little people.

Hope to see everyone there, cant wait to get started! ...oh, and see the forum for details of location and times! :)

Deals of the Week, 9/7-9/12

2008-09-08T20:50:00.004-04:00

There are some really good deals this week, and they are elaborated really well elsewhere on the internet, so I'll forgo rehashing them and instead give you the links.

Moneysavingmom breaks down the CVS deals here. The only thing to watch out for is that, despite reports to the contrary, Chex Mix is NOT on sale in the Summerville stores, so you can't get it for free (boo). Neither is Renuzit Tri-scents in case you're wondering. Neither are in our flier.

The best Walgreens deals are written up here at Centsible Savings. The most noteworthy ones are:
--Crest Pro-Health mouthwash is 4.50, and you get 4.50 in Register Rewards afterward.
--After printing three coupons, you can buy 3 Robitussins for a total of 2.97, and then get $10 in Register Rewards! That is awesome.
--You can buy four Scrubbing Bubbles action scrubbers and three Scrubbing Bubbles wipes for a total of 8.36 and get $10 back in Register Rewards.
--One thing she doesn't mention is that some of the candy miniatures are 2/$4. If you get the Nestle Crunch bars (12 oz) pack, there is an Easy Saver coupon for $1 off 2, making it 2 for $3. This is a pretty good deal--that candy is usually so expensive! Unfortunately, the coupon will not ring up for some reason, but they'll enter it in manually for you.

Also, just a note on Register Rewards. They definitely have their limitations. For those who don't know, they are little slips of paper with a dollar amount that you can use "like cash" in the store on your next transaction. But they will not pay for one cent of sales tax. So if you're total comes to $16.82, and you have a $10 RR and 2 $3 RR's, the last $3 will not go through, and they will not let you use it. That's because the purchase is only, say $15.25 before sales tax. So you have to pay more out of pocket. It's a pain. Also, if you pay with RR's, no RR's will print out. So if you are doing a deal with RR's, you'll have to pay with cash. This is also a pain, but it's understandable b/c it keeps you from rolling something like your free mouthwash RR's over and over and getting 100 free mouthwashes. So anyway, that's my rant on RR's.

I personally did the Robitussin deal and the mouthwash deal, and then used my 14.50 in RR's (plus a couple from last week) to buy diapers and some really good sales.

Also, Courtney told me of a good deal at Publix this week. You can get a 40-count box of Kotex tampons, and it comes with a free Venus razor. The razors sell for around $10 by themselves, and the box of tampons is only $6. Plus, there was a .50 coupon in a recent paper, which Publix will double to $1. So then you are getting the tampons and Venus razor for $5, making that a good deal. If I see any other great deals in tomorrow's Publix ad, I'll leave them as a comment.

Lastly, I have a website recommendation if you have babies or small children in diapers: babycheapskate.com They tell you about all sorts of good deals on baby stuff, and my favorite is that on Sundays, they let you know about the best diaper and formula deals of the week. They also have something that I've been looking high and low for and finally made myself: a chart with the number of diapers that come in each package size (Jumbo, Mega, etc) and diaper size (newborn, 1, 2, etc). And in their deals, they break down the price per diaper for you.

They also said to be looking for big cans of formula on clearance, since Similac (and probably soon Enfamil) are moving to new cans. So if anyone sees them around here, let me know! Supplementing is expensive!

Deals of the Week, 8/31-9/6

2008-09-02T15:53:00.001-04:00

There are a lot of good deals this week, ladies! I think I’m going to start waiting until Tuesday to post the blog so that I can report on Publix’s deals, too:).

CVS—Free Covergirl and Dawn!
Covergirl Wetslicks is free after ECB’s (so you pay 5.99, and get 5.99 back in ECB’s)
--There was a $1 off any CG product in this Sunday’s paper, and a Buy One Get One Free coupon for any CG lip product. So you can either make $1 off one, or you can get 2 for free!

Dawn Hand Renewal is apparently *secretly* on sale for .99. There is a $1 off coupon in this Sunday’s paper, making it free. I’m going to try this tomorrow, and I’ll let you know if it works:).

Colgate toothpaste is on sale for $2.99, and you get $2.00 back in ECB’s. There are $1.50 printable coupons out there, and there is a $1.50 coupon in the August All You magazine (available at Wal-Mart). If you have two $1.50 coupons, you can make $1 profit. There were also some .50 and 1.00 off coupons in the past Sunday paper, so could also use those to get them cheap. However, if you have been CVS’ing long, and you are not up to your ears in free toothpaste, you’re doing something wrong:).

Target—Free Poptarts
Every week, Target seems to have one killer deal that draws me in. This week, it was that pop-tarts (and Cheez-its, Rice Krispie treats, and something else) were 4/$9. Not too great, but then you get a $5 gift card when you buy four. So after the gift card (which you can use on your next purchase, it will be 4/$4. Not too shabby. But it gets better.

Last month’s Kellogg’s coupon insert (in Sunday papers) had $1 off 2 coupons for these products, making it 4/$2 after coupons.

And then, when I went to our Target on Main St., I saw that they were really 4/$8.56, and so my total came to 4/$1.60 after tax. Woo-hoo!

Unfortunately, I forgot that Target has web coupons for pop tarts for .50 off 1. SO, you can get them for free, or in our case, make a profit if you print off 4 coupons and just get pop-tarts. That is exciting to me.

Warning: When I went on Monday evening, it was slim pickins in the Pop-tart department. I don’t know if they are going to restock or what, so if you are just going for the pop-tarts, you might want to call ahead.

Walgreens—Cheap Pantene
Pantene Expressions is on sale 2 for $9 at Walgreens, and then you get $3 back in Register Rewards (good on your next purchase), making it 2 for $6. There were $2 off 1 coupons in Sunday’s paper. If you use 2 coupons, you will get the Pantene shampoo and conditioner 2/$2. Yea!

There is also an Excedrin moneymaker you can read about at frugalisfab.blogspot.com

Publix
Here are the BOGO deals that I had coupons to stack with. I don’t know where most these coupons are from, but I assume I got them from the paper. I’ve been collecting coupons for a little over a month, so if you have been clipping coupons that long, you probably have them, too.

BOGO Deals mixed with coupons:
Tyson Chicken Meal Kits—2 for $6.59
--$1 off 2 boxed meals, and $1 off 1 bagged meals
Final price: 2 boxed meals for $5.59 or 2 bagged meals for $4.59

Post Selects or Honey Bunches of Oats—2 for $3.99
--$1 off 2
Final price: 2 for $2.99

Old El Paso dinner kit—2 for 2.69
--$1 off 2
Final price: 2 for $1.69

Nabisco Honey Maid Graham crackers—2 for 3.99
--$1 off 2
Final price: 2 for 2.99

Chinet Classic White—2 for 6.19
--$1 off 1 from the Super Summer Savings guide that was available at Publix
Final price: 2 for 4.19

Right Guard Extreme deodorant—2 for $3.99
--$1 off 1
Final price: 1 for 1.00

Kid's Dream Playroom!

2008-09-02T14:42:00.001-04:00

I know my boys werent the only ones who left thinking that they were not loved as much as Seth! :) The playroom was a kids dream at Rhonda's house. Ty's personal favorite was the ride-on train!

Rhonda laid out a spread like no other in the history of MaM and we all left stuffed and happy! Aside from the one little fella lockin' himself in the bathroom for 20 minutes (that would be my son) ..all went smoothly :)

Thanks, Rhonda for sharing your home and I hope you will let us come back sometime if you are ever able to clean up the mess we left behind! :)

We had a great time..cant wait to get together again next week! :)

Oh, and last by not least, we welcome our newest member ..Jennifer and Carter!

And the next time we see these two, they should be sportin' a new little brother/son!

Pray for a safe delivery and quick recovery for this mama of (almost)three boys!

Parenting 101

2008-08-26T15:19:00.002-04:00

We have had some great lessons on relationships, parenting, and especially marriage the last couple of days! We have been blessed to be part of the Marriage Matters seminar with Jerry and Lynn Jones at our church this week.

Our first day with them they did a great session on parenting. I thought I would pass on some valuable tips I picked up. Some of these, we have already put to good use and seen some great results.

Some thoughts..

* The fundamental teachings the children will take with them the rest of their lives are in place by the time they are 5 years old (yikes.)..whether good, or bad.

* Their feeling of being emotionally neglected or nurtured, also in place by the time they are 5 years old.

* Most long term memory does not begin until 36 months or older.

* Children have the ability to make choices, and understand the connection to consequences of their choices at around the same time as they start understandable verbalizations..24-36 months.

Some thoughts on discipline that I found to be most helpful ..

* A punishment or positive reinforcement of a behavior ONLY works as such if the child SEES the thing as a punishment or reinforcement. Her example was if you make a Barbie doll a reward for good behavior for your tomboy little girl..she may not feel motivated by that.

* A punishment or positive reinforcement is only such if it STOPS the bad behavior, and REPEATS the good behavior respectively. Example, if you put the kid in time out over and over again and he keeps up with the same behavior, then time out isnt effective for curbing that bad behavior

* Spanking is an acceptable form of punishment IF it is #1 not your way to vent anger at the child's behavior, and it #2 prevents the behavior from continuing.

* Allowing a child to make choices teaches them a very important concept called, natural logical consequences. This is allowing the child to experience the logical consequences of his choices..you chose macaroni and cheese for lunch, then logically you have to EAT the mac and cheese for lunch.

* Natural Logical Consequences tend to be a very effective way to communicate right and wrong for a child who is old enough to make choices. Example, If you CHOOSE to throw the toy, then you CHOOSE to lose the toy.

I used this with Ty yesterday. He was ready to go home from Chikfila. I wanted to run an errand, but I didnt have to do it, and I certainly didnt want to do it if he was not going to cooperate.

I gave him the choice (because I didnt really care either way ...those are times to give them the option ..so I learned) to go straight home, or to go Tuesday Morning on the way home. I explained that if we stopped then we were all going to get out of the car, go to the store, and then we would go home when we were done. He pondered, asked a few important questions (i.e., were there kids toys there, are there cookies there, etc.). I truthfully answered his questions and he made his choice. He felt very big, and powerful when he decided we would go to Tuesday Morning on the way home.

We were only in there for about 10 seconds before he second guessed his choice and started complaining about wanting to go home. I reminded him that he had made the choice, that he was responsible for the consquence (that mommy now needed to look for some stuff, and he would have to wait to go home) .

He stopped whining. I dont know..I cant explain it. But, I think we are on the way to something great here! :)

We are still meeting tonight and tomorrow night..PLEASE come if you can, both nights at 7-9pm. Childcare is provided, and its really great!

Have you used these lessons already? Share! :)

What we did...

2008-08-26T15:08:00.003-04:00

Well, some of our Tumblebuggers may have noticed that the boys and I didnt make it today :)

The problem being that we were in a bit of an accident on the way ..we are all good, and safe. God took good care of us, including the other driver (a 17-year old kid).

So..missed you guys, and sorry no pics from Tumblebugs this week! :)

Summerville Savers Deals of the Week, Aug. 24-31

2008-08-25T15:48:00.002-04:00

Well, right now is a good time to post my deal blog, b/c I just got some great deals. For those CVSers out there, I did the deal that "Deal Finding Mom" posts about here. Basically, you buy Kotex pantiliners, Playtex tampons, two CVS handsoaps, and two boxes of Malt-o-Meal cereal, and you make over $2 profit in ECBs. I'm donating the cereal and one of the handsoaps, but I can definitely use the rest. Plus, I got the free-after-ECB Zipfizz energy drink (gross) so that I could get two boxes of the CVS brand facial wipes for free (I love them). To do that, buy those three things and use a $2/$10 coupon and 2 $2 off coupons from the beauty book. There is a link on Deal Finding Mom to get those coupons.

Then, I moseyed on over to Walgreens, where I got two Glade Scented Oil plug-ins and two Rimmel eye shadows (over $20 value), and paid just the tax, which was .75. Woo-hoo! Both of them were BOGO, and there was a BOGO coupon for the Glade plug-ins in yesterday's paper. I got the Rimmel coupon from the July All You magazine. (You can buy those magazines at Wal-Mart for less than $2, and they have a ton of coupons.)

So I'm excited. All told, I got about $46 of merchandise for over a dollar of profit!

Did anyone else find any good deals this week?

Lessons from the Playground

2008-08-20T09:00:00.000-04:00

I have thought alot lately how important our role is in our children's lives. Not that we have to ponder long before we come up with a long list, but it goes way beyond diapers, feedings, and kissing boo-boos

This week, at the playground, my three (almost 4) year old was attempting the big-kid monkey bars. Needless to say this was a skill only SLIGHTLY above his skill set.

He asked me to help him attack this task, which of course I gladly did.

I thought as I supported his body to let him hang just enough to flex those growing muscles, but not too much so the task would be too much for him ..that this is so symbolic of our jobs as mothers.

Again, when my almost 2 year old wanted to walk UP the slide, like big brother, and I supported his little bum JUST enough to give him the leverage he needed without doing all the work myself. He felt so proud of his accomplishment!

So symbolic ...

As mothers we must help them enough to make them feel they have accomplished, but not so much that they feel too dependent, or incapable themselves. We must praise enough to give them confidence, but not teach them that they are infallible and do not need direction from others. We must support but not take all the weight, lest they never learn to stand on their own. We have to let go, but not too soon and without having taught them the right things.

How great is this job we have!

It can be overwhelming, but we should never forget the importance of what we do. Never underestimate the power of your support, love, teaching and efforts.

These babies have so much to learn..how blessed we are today to be able to be their primary teachers!

Crazy FUN Times!

2008-08-19T19:00:00.001-04:00

Whew! I think this was our best attended home playdate yet! With 32 mommies and babies in attendance you can imagine the amount of noise and chaos! :)

It was fun though, and I for one didnt feel too overwhelmed by it ..the kids had plenty of places to run and play (both, they did in high speed) and all left ready for the kind of naps us moms only dream of.

We had some new faces, some oldies but goodies returning from their summer hiatus (we are so glad you are back!), some visitors and all great friends to share some sweet fellowship (and yummy food) with!

Here are a few special moments we caught!

The girls showing their TRUE selves ...

We had some fresh new faces with us today, and we are SO glad they came to share our chaos!

Meet Amy and Madelyn on the left..this was their second visit, but certainly not their last! And Krystal and Emma on the right..they were just visiting but we SUCKED them in so are official MOMMY and ME'ers :)

And last, but not least and certainly most anticipated...Miss Brandi and her sweet babies Wesley and Riley ..note Courtney and Caryn sporting the babies, with Tracy being weird in the background :)

We are again reminded that God is blessing our group and daily adding to our numbers! :)

May God continue to bless this precious group of Godly mothers, as we seek to be better at being what God wants us to be as moms and wives!

Cant wait to see you next week!

Summerville Savers: Deals of the Week

2008-08-17T15:05:00.003-04:00

Hi everyone. Those who know me and know that I have recently caught the "deal-seeking" craze will laugh at this post, as it represents one step closer to the addiction/insanity that I am trying to avoid. The thing is, though, just about every time I go to church, one or more of my friends tells me about a great deal. Or they'll even call and tell me, which is awesome. And then sometimes I see a great deal, and I want to call and tell everyone. But then I think, who can I call randomly to tell about this deal who won't think I'm a raving lunatic for doing so? And my list gets much shorter:).

So instead of all that, I thought maybe we savers (you know who you are:)) could band together and just post any amazing deals we see during the week. Though there are websites out there that do sort of the same thing (shout out to moneysavingmom!), I think it would be great to have a post where we could put great deals that we find here in Summerville and that we know definitely work. I'll try not to have a lot of overlap from the popular websites, and I'll also try to highlight simple deals that don't take 50 coupons from 4 months ago combined with 2 rebates to do.

Then I thought that as we stumble upon great deals and freebies throughout the week, we could leave them as comments on this post so that all could share in the savings. Especially if you find something free. If you find out that you can get free shampoo and conditioner from Bi-Lo by using two coupons, for example, please share!

Okay, without further ado, here are some good deals I see this week.

1. Two 30 oz Shout Stain removers for .89 total (.45 each) at Publix.
This deal is good at Publix, and it only lasts through Tuesday, when the weekly
deals switch over. Shout is normally 2.89, but this week, it is BOGO (buy one
get one free). Then, there is a coupon book called "Smart Summertime Savings"
located in the front of the store. In that booklet, there is a $2 off 2 coupon.
Use it, and get 2 Shouts for .89. (Even if you don't need Shout, this would be
a good buy to give to the Southeastern Children's Home, which is collecting
cleaning supplies at church.)

2. Free Sara Lee Soft and Smooth bread (up to $3.89)
This is a coupon in today's paper, but I wanted to post about it, in case you
don't get the paper. To me, it makes the paper worth buying:).

3. Dove Shampoo and Conditioner for .99 at Walgreens.
It is on sale 2 for $4.99 this week, and there is a $2 off 1 coupon in today's
paper. You'll need 2 papers to get 2 coupons, but then you can get two for .99.

4. Lastly, if you aren't afraid of rebates, Rite-Aid is giving a full rebate (worth
$3.19) for Crest Extreme + Scope or Extra Whitening + Scope toothpaste. There
was also a .75 coupon for this product in a recent insert, meaning that you'll
technically make money for buying it.

Okay, that's all I have for now. Again, as you go through your week, please post any great deals you find:). Thanks!

Local FUN times!

2008-08-15T09:28:00.003-04:00

I just found some info (actually, my hubby did) on a FREE activity for the kids TOMORROW!

It sounds like a BLAST..complete with animals, a jump castle, a bug exhibit, ..fun! It is sponsored by Animal Planet so should be great!

The Animal Planet Expo is Saturday, August 16th from 10am-4pm at the Ladson Fairgrounds ..maybe we will see you there!

Mommy Polls

2008-08-14T18:11:00.002-04:00

Hey all mommies!

Please take the polls to your right..they are for research for a project that a friend is doing!

Thanks girls!

Children's Museum ..great time!

2008-08-12T14:07:00.001-04:00

It was a livel y place, that Childrens Museum in Downtown Charleston this week..whew! I need a nap!

The kids had a blast though, and using that BOGO coupon Tanya found, it was cheap entertainment!

Here are some snap shots of our fun day!

Our boys, especially, loved the Shrimp Boat..ARG!

The grocery store was the favorite of several of the little ones...

We had a great day, cant wait to go back..in the fall, when LOTS of those kids are back in school! Ha! :)

Playtime at the Pool

2008-08-08T08:35:00.001-04:00

We had a fun day yesterday, despite the 100 degree weather! We played at the pool at White Gables, with Dayton as our little host. Most of us enjoyed the water, while some of us enjoyed eating snacks more than getting wet!

Speaking for myself, I will not miss this heat when its time for it to go. But, while it is here we will enjoy getting wet!

Playdate!

2008-08-05T15:23:00.001-04:00

A few of us gathered for a little playdate today ..we had a great time! Other than the kids frequently trying to get into the wine stash ..dont ask..all went well! :)

Here a re some shots of our little ones today..so sweet! Oh..and we welcomed a new member today! Amy and her little Madelyn joined us for the first time, and we love them already!

We were all enjoyin' our friends today! :)

Little Bits and Pieces...

2008-07-30T20:15:00.000-04:00

We had a GREAT turn out this week at Tumblebugs. There were some new faces, and some old faces who were coming out of their shell a little :)

The kiddos a GREAT time, and mommies had a good time visiting!
We also talked about some of us who have home businesses.

We have several of them represented in the group including, Stice Services (heating and a/c repair and maintnence), Premier Jewelry, Pure Romance, Natural Childbirth classes/birth assistance...just to name a few!

I am gonna post a message board thread as a place for everyone to describe and advertise their buisnesses! Hope we can support eachother in our respective endeavors! :)

The First Mommy and Me Birth

2008-07-30T08:04:00.001-04:00

We have a Mommy and Me first, as the first baby born within our officially formed group was born last month!

We welcomed baby Henry James on June 26th at 8:41am. Son of Anna, and brother of Richard ..he weighed in at 8 pounds and 5 ounces.

He is the spittin' image of his brother ..for sure! :) Henry's mommy and brother will be staying with Anna's mom while daddy, Jordan, is doing some training for the next 6 months. We will see them when they get home in January!

Congrats Anna, Jordan and Richard..cant wait to get to know Prince Henry better! :)

Mom's Night Out

2008-07-22T16:04:00.000-04:00

We had a great time Monday night at Olive Garden! Courtney, Dana, Rachel, Tanya and Melissa had a night out kid free (thanks to the hubbies and mothers in laws who watched kids) complete with good food and good conversation! :)

We talked about some of the things we want to do with the group and some specifics of the direction we want to group to go. With a membership approaching 50 we have great potential to meet alot of needs.

We are really excited about Mommies Anonymous which we will be starting in the fall. We see it being a mommy's "support group" where we focus on a Godly principle in mothering or being a wife, and encouraging eachother to that end. We will also use this a time to vent our parenting frustrations, and get some advise from other moms. I know I for one could use it! We will take turns watchin' the kids nearby (but far enough away to get something done :), and hopefully they will have has much fun as us!

We are excited to get started on those and the other ideas we shared this week! As always, it always great to get together with the girls! :)

Top #1 Favorite

2008-07-17T20:38:00.001-04:00

Our number one favorite Mommy and Me activity is hands down TUMBLEBUGS! We love it.

We get to play and be loud. We get to roll, tumble, jump, run and all while mommies get to have some adult conversation.

This once a month activity has been with us since the beginnings of our group getting together, and will be around for awhile. We love it!

Sweet Summertime

2008-07-17T20:25:00.001-04:00

It has been a fun summer for us already! We, of course love the water so we find ourselves at the Sprinklers, and have plans for Whirlin' Waters later this month. I'll tell you what..there ain't nothin cuter than little kids in the water!

Which reminds me..we love it when our daddies come too!

Home Sweet Home

2008-07-17T20:14:00.001-04:00

We have had several home playdates lately and we love them!

We have really enjoyed getting to visit eachother in our homes and relax while the kids go NUTS.

We also have discovered a mutual love for FOOD, so you better believe that is there in sufficient supply :)

This past month both Melissa S. and Kim shared their homes with us and while the size greatly varied between to two, we had a blast at both! The future calendar holds visits to Rachel D., Courtney (hope the floors are done by then!), Dana and Rhonda's homes! See you there!

Here are some shots and fond memories from our home playdates!

Welcome to Mommy and Me!

2008-07-10T08:36:00.000-04:00

I think this will be a great way to share some of our fun activities with the world..or at least our grandmas, grandpas and other interested parties :)

We want this to be a fun place to visit, so suggestions are more than welcome! If you would be interested in posting your blog as a link send me a note at the address on the sidebar, or via the mommy forum!

For the protection of our little ones we will only post first names but you know who they are ;)

We also want contributions of pictures, thoughts and ideas so share share share! If you would be interested in writing a post send it to my email and we will get it posted!

We are having a blast as a group and I cant wait to see us grow grow and grow!