Busy, busy

It was a busy day at our house yesterday.

I was cleaning out my pantry and Shea was playing in the kitchen when he slipped and fell. He has his first busted lip now. After a few tears he was up and playing again but his lip is swollen. I know it's probably the first of many bumps and bruises my active little boy will have in his life.

Then we made more freezer meals. Lena came over and she made lasagna while I made chicken stuffing casserole & baked spaghetti.

We ate some of the Chicken Stuffing Casserole last night and it was yummy! Here's the recipe:

2 packages (6oz each) chicken stuffing mix
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 cup milk
4 cups cubed cooked chicken
2 cups frozen corn

2 cans mushroom stems & pieces
4 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1. Prepare stuffing mixes.
2. In a large bowl, combine soup and milk. Set aside.
3. Spread the stuffing into a greased 9x13 pan.
4. Layer with chicken, corn, mushrooms, soup mixture & cheese.
5. Cover and bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.

After that we ran some errands and then Shea & I came home and played for a bit before I went to work. I thought this was a really cute pic & wanted to share it. :)

Staples

Many of you know that I got a part time job at Staples a few weeks ago. It's convenient because they give me the hours I want: evenings & some weekends (so Jonathan can be home to watch Shea). And it's only 5 minutes from my house.

Well they are having a pretty good sale this week on school supplies: 4 pack gel pens free after rebate, slider pencil cases for a penny, mini staplers for a quarter, and 2 pocket plastic report covers for 20 cents. The report covers are good for organizing coupons or menus; they have holes on the side, like a folder does, so you can put it in a 3 ring binder.

Another cool thing about Staples is this Saturday, Aug 2, they are having Teacher Appreciation Day. This is even for homeschool moms. I know you get a free gift if you are one of the first 200 teachers (I think 200) and I'm pretty sure there are other cool perks if you stop by. I will find out more details tonight and post here.

Diapers, Diapers Everywhere!

I have been hoping this Walgreens diaper deal would work out, and had pretty much given up on it until last night.

Those of you that shop at Walgreens know about a coupon book they have available at the front of the store. A new one comes out each month. Well, July's coupons were good thru 7/26 and August's coupons started 7/25 so there were two "overlap" days where you could use both coupons.

My friend Lena and I decided that Friday morning we would drive to all of our local Walgreens and hopefully get this great deal on diapers. But it was a bust; no one had the August books out.

On Saturday I called every Walgreens in my county to see if they were available yet but they were not. I was so disappointed!

Lena was coming over Saturday evening to do some more freezer meals with me and she stopped by Walgreens on her way over. OH MY GOODNESS they have the new coupons! Needless to say, we abandoned our meals and drove to 3 different Walgreens and cleared out their shelves!

Here's what I got:

27 packs of diapers @ 5.99 each = 161.73

minus (9) $5/2 coupons from July book = 94.23

minus (9) $5/2 coupons from Aug book = 26.73

After Register Rewards back ($5 for every 3 packs) this was my total:

-18.27

Yes, Walgreens paid me 18.27 to take 27 packs of diapers out of their store! Crazy, huh.

This picture doesn't really do it justice. But here it is anyway. Lena's 24 packs & my 27 = 51 packs of diapers!! Wahhhhooooooooooooooooooo :)

My help comes from the Lord

Psalm 121:1-8

I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?

My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.

Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand.

The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.

The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

New Pictures

When I said I would have some pics up by the weekend, I meant THIS weekend. As in today. Erm, yeah. That's it. Well I'm glad to finally have my pictures up & hope you guys enjoy them.

July 4th:

And Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-Fil-A:

Whew

Shea decided to lock himself in my room this morning. He has been learning to "turn or twist" things this week. For example, on Monday it was my mascara wand that he learned to twist open and put on his face like blush - I guess he was trying his best to copy mommy! Good thing it was washable! Yesterday he twisted off the cap of a water bottle. And today, he went in my room and shut the door. I started walking toward my room when I heard the click. He had turned the lock on the door. Oh boy. I tried to unlock it with bobby pins, screwdrivers, anything I could get my hands on but couldn't get it unlocked. So I finally took the doorknob off the door and rescued my boy who was just crying his little heart out. But we are all better now & glad to be out! :)

Some old news - we had some fun family time over the last couple of weeks. I have pics from July 4th and from Cow Appreciation Day at Chic-Fil-A to post but my camera adaptor is broken and I'm unable to load pictures on my computer for now. Stay tuned - hopefully I'll get them up by the weekend.

Fun at the Beach

This morning we met a bunch of friends at the beach! We had lots of fun and made a run for the car when the rain started! On the way home we stopped by Office Depot and got some school supplies for a penny each - 20 folders & 5 protractors for 27 cents!

Hope you enjoy our pictures!

Freezer Meals

Yesterday my friend Lena came over and we started making some freezer meals. I made 5 (8x8) casseroles: 2 King Ranch Chicken, 2 Chicken & Brocolli Rotini, and 1 Cheddar Macaroni & Beef Casserole.

We each ended up buying 1 whole chicken and cooking it for about an hour or so in the oven, then pulling it off the bone & shredding it. I had plenty from that one little $4 chicken - enough for 4 casseroles & a little extra to snack on while we assembled. :)

I am so excited to have these meals done & ready to heat up and eat! If any of you have made a successful freezer meal, please share your recipe! I am looking for more ideas to make in a few weeks! Here is a recipe for the Chicken & Brocolli Rotini; most of the ingredients you should have in your pantry already.

Chicken & Brocolli Rotini

2-3 cups chicken

1 can cream of chicken soup

6-8 oz rotini

3 cups brocolli

2 cups cheese

1 cup milk

Combine all ingredients except 1 cup cheese. Pour into casserole dish. Sprinkle 1 cup cheese on top. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes (longer if frozen).