Rolling Extra bucks at CVS

Yes, its time for another CVS post. Let's start from the beginning. First, I purchased 3 NovaMax Glucose Monitors paying zero (not even a penny). With this purchase I received $60 is Extra Care Bucks (ECBs) to use on future purchase. Read more about how I did this here.

My $60 dollars had to be spent all at once...which was harder than I thought. Granted, we could have walked in picked up $60 worth of merchandise and walked out..but we wanted to purchase more items to give us more ECBs, thus making even more money off the original deal. Our total was nearly $100 dollars prior to coupons and ECBs. By the time it was all said and done we paid just over $3.00 out of pocket and received almost $61.98 in ECBs. To break it down...

4 bottles Fruit 2 0 water: Buy One, Get One AND 2 Coupons ($1 off 2)
2 bags Dark Chocolate M&Ms: Coupon (Buy One, Get One) and $2 ECB earned
2 bottles Saline Solution: We just need these
1 box Kleenex: Needed these too, we are fighting off colds
2 Magazines: Just wanted these for fun. :)
2 Ameal BP: 2 Coupons ($3 off each) and $59.98 ECBs earned
Plus a $10 off coupons any purchase over $50.
And our ECB credit of $60.00 from the glucose monitors.

Over the next few weeks we will try to roll over those ECBs and the others we have saved up into more deals.

Fall Air

Although I realize fall has been in the air for several weeks now...it is just now starting to feel like it to me. Time to dig out the cozy sweaters, jackets, and boots. The trees have just started changing in the last few weeks, and the "crunch crunch" sound underneath my feet as the dried leaves cushion each step. Here are a few pictures that I've captured of gorgeous trees as winter draws near. Nothing spectacular of the photography, just trees that make me remember why this is my favorite season.


Another favorite thing to do is to light the fireplace. We haven't turned on the heat yet, but have enjoyed getting the fireplace up and going to take some of the chill out of the air. Plus I love the smells and sounds of wood burning.

And now four...

We officially have FOUR nieces!! Abigail Grace (Abby) was born on Friday afternoon. You can see more pictures and read more on Count Your Blessings. We had the privilege of being with Hannah all weekend. We stayed at Ben and Julie's with her and took her back and forth from the hospital between nap and meal times. Although Ben and Julie keep thanking us profusely, it was a lot of fun for us and didn't seem like work at all. Thankfully, Julie and Abby are doing well. Here are a few pictures to share of the new sweetheart.

(You have no idea how hard it is to get a picture of a baby, 1, 4, and 6 year-old; this was our attempt)

Buzz buzz...

As many know, my uncle is a bee keeper. I had never heard much about the process until we were able to get a brief tutorial while we were visiting. Below are some pictures of the "bee world".

This shot is from their driveway which curves around the back of their house. If you look closely beneath the trees, you can see a small portion of his bee hives.

A black and white version of the picture.

Teaching in action

The entrance and exit for the bees, a small little crack.

This is the best picture I could get of a bee. My zoom just wasn't good enough.

I don't remember what this huge thing does...but the process was much more complex than I thought.

A few more pictures ...

The other night I couldn't get all my pictures in my post. Here are just a few more...as mom commented it was a beautiful setting and very peaceful. To explain the picture below; I was sitting on a bench and snagged my pants on a small nail. George had the bright idea to use a soda can to pound it down. Unfortunately, he just shook up the soda, and then put a small hole in the bottom of the can. If you look closely you can see a stream of soda coming out.