Fun Weekend

George and I hadn't had an uninterrupted weekend together with nothing to do since early or mid November. So last weekend, when he didn't have to work (he had worked the previous 4) and we didn't have any trips planned, we decided to go out and do several special things.

Saturday, after sleeping in, of course, we headed down to Crown Center. I remember Crown Center fondly. When we were young we would go to Kaleidoscope (at Crown Center), a fun craft and learning center. George had never been there so we went an visited some of the shops and grabbed a burger before heading to the outdoor ice rink. Of course, ice skating always sounds like fun...but really it hurts your feet, legs, and sometimes your hind end...not to mention it's cold. Thankfully neither of us fell, but our legs wearied very quickly, and our feet ached. We enjoyed it, but were thankful to put our shoes back on and get into the warm car.

Yes, that is the look of terror, also known as, "take the picture fast before I fall smile".

As we were heading back to the car though we heard an announcement, "Ladies and gentleman please clear the fountains. The water show played by the KC Symphony is about to begin". The fountains in the summer frequently have kids playing them and running through to cool down, but needless to say, it is January and 25 degrees, and there was no one in sight. We stopped and enjoyed the water show, before hurrying to the car.

I just thought the reflection of the lights on the the wet ground/fountain area was beautiful.

Sunday evening we headed down to another KC hot spot that we love, the Plaza. We never pulled out the camera, but we treated ourselves to a nice dinner at the Melting Pot and enjoyed just having some quiet time together once again.

This weekend will be another busy one, but one we are looking forward to. We have not been to Illinois in quite sometime, but are looking forward to making a trip there this weekend to celebrate a late Christmas with George's family.

Three stop shopping spree

Usually when I have a shopping list that includes many coupons or various store deals I can almost guarantee there will be some type of problem; a difficult cashier, out of stock, refusing coupons, etc.

Today I made three stops; CVS, Walgreens, and Target. Each store went smoothly and without any hitches. Here are my brief summaries;

CVS
2 bottles of sparkling apple juice
2 bags of Russell Stovers' chocolates (Christmas clearance)
2 packages of paper plates
2 Glade scented oil refills (Christmas clearance)
2 spools of wired ribbon (Christmas clearance)
1 box of Nerds (Had to grab something quick to cover my negative balance)

I used a B1G1 coupon for the chocolates, a $3 off $15 purchase, a $2 off $10, and a $4 ECB. The plates were B1 G1 50% off. According to my receipt I saved $39.36, and spent $0.43 out of pocket.

Side note...I can't remember exactly when I got involved with CVS, but sometime in the late summer, since then, my year to date savings is over $1500!! If your not convinced to try CVS yet...you're really missing out!

Walgreens
1 bottle window washer fluid (a must have and Target was out)
1 bottle Vive Pro Shampoo
1 bottle Vive Pro Conditioner
2 Glade Scented Oil Candle holders
3 Glade Scented Oil Candle refills

I used 2 $1 off Vive Pro manu. coupons, $3 off to Vive Pro Products store coupon, B1G1 Glade candle holder coupon, and $3 off 3 candle refills. Also the shampoo was clearanced to 2.59, the conditioner 1.29 (so it was a money maker) and the candles were B1G1 from the store, so they were completely free, and I will bet getting a rebate for $2. So my out of pocket expense was $5.31. Total savings of about $34.00!

Target
3 bags Hershey's candy (Christmas clearance)
2 containers of ornaments (Christmas clearance)
2 boxes of raisins
4 cans of soup
2 single ornaments (Christmas clearance)
1 bag marshmallows
1 bag flour
1 bag brown sugar

All Christmas clearance was 75% off, I got approx. 25 ornaments for less than $5. The candy was $.69 per bag, plus three store coupons for $.50 off each bag. My students never get sweets from me...they might be surprised! The soup had several coupons; a $.40 off 4 manufacturer coupon, and two $.50 off 2, store coupons. The other items were just things we needed for a few recipes I'll be making this week. All in all I spent $13.88 but saved nearly $20.00!!

JCPenny's deal

While George was out working on Friday I piddled around some stores near the hotel. Several clearance Christmas items caught my eye, but I wanted to talk the purchases over with George. He gave me a thumbs up for the next day and the deals ended up being even greater. There was an additional 20% off clearanced merchandise and $10.00 off a $50.00 purchase.

Prior to sale prices I would have spent over $175, but walked alway just spending $45.00.

This platter, which will match perfectly with our china, was originally priced 39.99, and we paid $9.00 for it!

The back side of the platter has a matte-like finish on it.

This is the picture of the entire purchase. 3 Christmas tree centerpieces (orig. $49.99), 3 cute Christmas mugs, perfect for filling with candy and giving as small gifts (orig. $12.00 each), one gold ornament (orig. $7ish?), large red platter, and large red bowl (orig. $39.99 each).

I was thankful to get such wonderful deals, and add to our Christmas decorations for next year.

A quick update

The last few weeks have been very different for us. George left nearly three weeks ago to do some business in Oklahoma. Our original plans for the holidays had been to spend Saturday and Sunday before Christmas with my family, then Sunday evening through Christmas day with George's family. When he was called to Oklahoma, we knew we would have to revise our plans. We had to take the "one day at a time" method, which was a phrase mom frequently used as we were growing up. Anyone who knows me, knows I like to plan things, and "one day at a time" isn't how I typically do it.

Thankfully George was able to leave Oklahoma Saturday before Christmas and drove straight to my parents' home. Ben, Julie, Hannah, Abby, and I had arrived just before George. We had a nice dinner together and exchanged gifts, including our annual gag gift exchange. Sunday morning we all attended services at New Liberty. Unfortunately, Mike wasn't feeling well, so we missed having him there, but it was nice worshiping all together.

We had decided since George had worked 140+ hours over two weeks, to travel to his parents' house would be too much, so we postponed seeing them until later in January. We headed home and had two quiet days by ourselves. George was able to catch up on a little sleep and we had a nice time together again. Wednesday morning he headed back to Oklahoma, and I spent the day with my close friend Kerry. We had a wonderful brunch at Andres' and then did some antiquing and shopping on the Plaza.

Wednesday evening Mom and Fadraon spent the night with me, while Micha and Daniel stayed down the street with Ben and Julie. Micha was scheduled to fly to Dallas the next day, but mom had to head home as Fadraon was fighting off a virus. So after doing some shopping with Micha and taking her to the airport, I headed down to spend some time in Oklahoma with George. Thankfully the amount of claims he was getting had slowed down, so we were able to spend the evenings together and relax.

Thursday he was notified he would not be getting any more claims, so he was free to go home when he was done with his work load. So Sunday morning, at 5am we left Oklahoma to come back to KC, just in time for him to fill an appointment at a local church. He is back at work today, and ready for a day off tomorrow. Thanks to all those who have kept him in your thoughts and prayers while he has been away.

And now for some pictures...

Cailin and Emma showing off their new blankets from Uncle Ben, Aunt Julie, Uncle George, and Aunt E.

Hannah loved carrying around my new purse. Julie said she became quite fond of it prior to her wrapping it. She definitely is coming to appreciate accessories. Thanks again to Ben and Julie for the purse. I love it!

Caitlin and Emma showing off their new hair pieces, which were a part of the gag gift exchange.

An evening with Hannah

Hannah's reaction to the flash. She would laugh, then rub and rub and rub her eyes.

Because all dogs need socks, right?

I never realized how fun it was to "blow" your nose.
Dogs also need to blow their nose. FYI-they don't like it anymore than kids do.