Okay so here are the pictures of the Wedding Cake that my husband made for my cousins wedding. I think it turned out very good considering the short amount of time we had to work on it.
Now he will probably be doing some other cakes for some more family members. Most of them absolutely loved the cake.

I really don't have time to post anything, but I decided to post this scripture, because I just happened on it today and thought I could at least give everyone a thought for today.

Romans 15:1-2 "We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good,to build him up."

Maybe if I would do more of this I could be a little happier. Sometimes others are easier to please than trying to please myself.

Have a good weekend. We will be doing the Softball tourney and a Wedding this weekend. We also have family coming in from out of town, so I will be blogging again everyday here shortly.

About this time every year I think to myself, "You are so stupid...why do you let your kids talk you into such things?"
I am talking about 4-H. I really think I am more stressed out than the kids are. Okay it's June 25th and Spencer has still not finished his pants. My goal was for him to be done by this weekend. He was almost done, then we had to redo most of the work because they were just not going to fit at all. Even though I knew it would take forever to rip out the seams I just didn't see any other way. He took 3 hours just to rip 3 seams out! I really felt like grabbing the pants and doing it myself. Well, today we did make some progress, but it seems to take him so much longer than it should simply because he is so careless. He will be leaving in 17 days. He actually is going to be out of town for the judging, but will be back in time to escort his friend out on stage in her Civil War dress she is making. He also has to complete a model of a car before he leaves. He actually almost forgot that he had signed up for the model until we looked back over his paperwork.

On the positive side, Morgan has finished her dress and is 1/2 way through her jacket. I hope to have this finished by tomorrow, because she has six other projects to complete. She is actually almost done with her craft project too. We ordered the frame on Friday, and I am hoping it will be here within the next week. When she is finished I will post pictures. I will also post Spencer's as he finishes.

I will have to re-read this post next year to remind myself of the pain I put myself through by not having the energy to tell the kids "NO".

I have been so busy lately that I completely let an ECB for $4.99 expire! I was so upset this afternoon when I discovered it. I even went in Saturday with my Mom and used one of John's just so it wouldn't expire on the 23rd. This one expired on the 19th! I know I haven't been into CVS too much lately and I guess I just kept shuffling this one to the back of the stack! UGH!! I can't let that happen again...that is definitely not frugal!

On the positive side I received an e-mail for CVS to do a survey. I actually qualified and earned $10. So I guess I am still ahead $5.

We are still plugging away at the 4-H projects. I think I will definitely need a vacation when this year is over!
My goal of Spencer having his pants done will not happen. So, I will shoot for tomorrow. Without thinking (I do this a lot) I let him go to a friends house after the 4-H car wash today. I think he was relieved because he was so sick of sewing and might I add ripping seams out that he wanted to run and hide. Morgan will get her dress done tonight and will start her jacket.
Along with 4-H projects we will also be working on making my cousins Wedding Cake. We are planning for 125-150 people. I think we have worked it out to 2 sets of 3 small tiers with a set of stairs in between and then a fountain under this. I will definitely post pictures of this, because this will be the first fondant cake (not counting the one in cake class) John has ever made.
I am also helping with the food. I decided to go with Lasagna. This sounds expensive at first, then we bought the spaghetti sauce for .50ea and the noodles for .67ea. So it's worked out that each pan will cost approximately $20 and feed 35-45 people. This is super cheap and still very nice for a Wedding Dinner.
Along with all of this we still have softball practice and a game. Oh yeah, and I will be working Wednesday-Friday!
To add to all this chaos my brother-in-law from South Carolina called and said he might leave on Friday to come up for a visit. We knew he was going to come, this is just earlier than we expected.

(This is just for you Logan. Even though I know it is still not very exciting.)

Well, I guess HATE is a strong word, but after the game on Wednesday I am starting to think our team will never win. We have one last regular season game this Tuesday. Then we will have at least one more game which is our tournament game. I would love to win one game! This year the season has been so hard. This is John's first year to coach and it is much harder than it looks. I try my best to help, but I am not really that much help. I throw like a girl!
So right now we are 0 - 13 or something like that. We really do have a decent team. All of the girls on our team are so great! I really do enjoy having all of them on the team. I just wish they had a little more drive in them. You know like "The Eye of The Tiger". I guess we (the parents) can want it but they really have to want it or we will end the season with no wins.

I have tried to get to CVS 2-3 times this week and just haven't been able to get in. I have so busy with working, softball and 4-H projects it just seems like I will not get any great deals!

I was so looking forward to getting the Oral-B toothbrushes. I know that when I finally make it in they will be out. My mom said she went in today and they only had 4 left! I just can't for the life of me figure out why they can't order things ahead of time so that when the sale starts they have the product. Okay not that I need another toothbrush, but I am actually donating extra things like this to Operation Christmas Child. So, if I can get more for FREE then I would really like them.

So tell me are your stores the same or am I alone here?

We finally started sewing the 4-H projects yesterday. Wow we have a lot of work ahead of us. Morgan has made a great start on hers she has the bodice of the dress pieced together. My goal is to have her done with the dress this week so she can start on the jacket next week.
This is the first time either one of them have tried to sew. I tried to encourage them years ago and they never wanted to. Now they both decided the same year to try. It would have been so much easier when they were younger.
Morgan is sewing a dress and a jacket for school wear. Since we home school I guess school wear could be pajamas too! LOL!
Spencer is in an open category, so he chose to do a Civil War costume. (Bad choice)
This costume has already cost me $50! That is finding the fabric on clearance. It also called for (16) 1" buttons and (6) 5/8" buttons. I could not find them anywhere on sale or used so I had to get them and bite the bullet, since we only have 3 weeks for him to complete this.
Spencer is just practicing in these pictures. He is showing me that he can sew straight. Which is good, because he can't cut straight!

Wal-Mart is offering a Free Sample of MultiGrain Cheerios. If you have received samples from Wal-Mart before then you know that they come pretty fast, and sometimes they even send a coupon. I have never tried the MultiGrain Cheerios so this will be a great sample to get.

This is what we had for dinner last week:

Monday - Pizza
Tuesday - Biscuits & Gravy, Fried Potatoes
Wednesday - Grilled Chicken, Rice, & Corn
Thursday - Hamburgers (My Son made for one of his 4-H projects) leftover corn, & French Fries
Friday - BBQ Chicken, Lipton Chicken Rice, & Broccoli

I noticed we didn't have many veggies this week. I started working my part-time summer job and sometimes I forget to be specific with what to cook while I am gone. Hopefully this week will be a little healthier.

Tired of continually having to buy refills for your Swiffer duster? I have not bought refills in over 6 months just simply because I can't bear to buy them just to throw them away. Not that I am a GO GREEN person, but I am very frugal and don't like to throw away money.
Well, thanks to Niki over at FREE 2 BE FRUGAL for finding this post, now you can make your own reusable duster!

Here are the very easy instructions. And while your there check out the cover she made for the Swiffer sweeper/mop.

Father's Day is fast approaching, and some of you may not know what your kids are getting their father for Fathers day. Well, I have a great solution! This is a fast and easy craft that can be done in less than 30 minutes. The great thing is you may already have the supplies you need without going to the store to buy them.
I received this great idea form Martha Stewart's craft of the day e-mail. I am truly not a huge fan of her but I do like the ideas that her employees put together! Also if you go to the link above then you will also see that there are other crafts you can do for Father's Day as well.

I got all this for .03! Wow! I was so proud of Mom when she got er stuff for .05 and then it was my turn! I ended up getting more than I had planned on, but it really paid off. Listed below is what I got and what q's I used.

2 Reeses Whipps 2/1.00 - 1.00/2 MQ
12 Bags of Asst. Gold Emblem Candy .88ea - 1.00/2 CRT
2 Folgers Coffee $10ea - 1.00/2 MQ
2 Sobe Life Water 1.00ea - BOGO MQ
3 Twizzler 2.49ea - B2G1 MQ
4 Nivea Shave Gel 2.99ea - (2) $4/2 MQ

I used a $10/50 CRT & a $3/10 CVS products CRT(Gold Emblem are CVS brand)
then I used 29.96 in ECB's
I got back $20 in ECB's
Paid .03 OOP!!!

I did lose 9.96 in ECB's, but still have about $30 so I am okay, because I will go and do the Nivea deal again this week.
FYI - the Nivea Deal is a money maker. Buy 4 shave gels use the coupon from this last weeks paper, B2 get $4 off, then you get $5 ECB's so even if you have no ECB's to start this is a great deal to start with. You bank $1.04!!!

Oh by the way, the Twizzlers have 3 point on them that count towards a free movie ticket. Get 15 point to earn the ticket. So of course now I am saving as many points as possible to count towards this deal. We don't go to the movies much due to the cost, so this will be great if I can get enough points added up.

My menu last week was as follows:

Monday- Coke Roast - glazed carrots - augratin potatoes
Tuesday - Beans & Sausage (like beans and wienies)
Wednesday - Hamburgers & Chips
Thursday - Chicken Tenders - Mac&Cheese - Corn
Friday - Fin For Yourself (Late Ballgame)

Sorry this is a day late...We have been super busy with Softball!

Today (now yesterday) when I got up out of bed this is what I saw. This is the view from my bedroom window.
I thought I would share it with those of you that don't live in this area. And even if you do, you may not get a chance to see the lake everyday. This is the only positive to living where I live. I do have a gorgeous view, and actually the picture does not do it justice.

Today at church we started new classes. The class I chose to go to is about Abraham. It is a video class (not wild about these) but it is being taught by Bob Russell. He is a former minister of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, KY. He is now retired after serving for 40 years.
I think I will enjoy the class and hope to get a lot out of it. At church today we also had 3 baptisms! Yeah, that just makes me feel great!

This week I have taken advantage of a lot of great deals. I thought I would share some of the best deals I got this week.

Meijer - Two transactions (My Meijer doubles to .50)
#1
2 Sunny D - 1ea (2) MQ .25 = .50ea
2 Aunt Millie's Hot Dog Buns - 1ea (2) MQ .35 = .30ea
10 M&M Ice Cream Snacks - 2.29 - (10) MQ 1.00 = 1.29ea
2 Nature Valley Granola Bars - 1.80 (2) MQ .50 = .50ea

Total = 16.21

#2
2 Sunny D - 1ea (2) MQ .25 = .50ea
2 Aunt Millie's Hot Dog Buns - 1ea (2) MQ .35 = .30ea
2 Nature Valley Granola Bars - 1.80 (2) MQ .50 = .50ea

Total = 3.31

CVS Two Transactions
#1
1 Chex Mix $1 - $1 MQ
1 CVS Sheer Band Aids - $1.99

Total = 2.13 pd with cash because I did not have any small ECB's
Received 1.99 ECB for CVS Bad Aids

#2
4 Sierra Mist @ 1.25ea - (1)BOGO IP = 3.75
2 Smart Rinse @ 3.49ea - (2) MQ 1.00 = 4.98
4 South Beach Diet Bars @ 1.79ea - (4) MQ 1.00 = 3.16
1 Malt o Meal Cereal 1.00 - (1) 1.00 IP = FREE

used 3.98 & 6.98 ECB
Total = 1.00
Received 3.00 & 6.98 in ECB's
Plus I have a rebate on the Sierra Mist buy 4 get $5

Walgreens
I did two transactions, but I will put this all in one for simplicity.

4 Band Aid @ .99 (This weeks deal 6/8) - (4) MQ 1.00 adjusted to .99 = FREE
10 Gillette Satin Shave Gel $2 - ESR $1 x 10 - 7 MQ $1 = $3.00
3 Walgreens Ibuprofen 100ct @ 4.00 = 12.00
1 Ecotrin @ 2.00 - MQ $1 = 1.00

used $3 RR
Total = 11.99
Received $5 RR (for the Shave Gel)
June Rebates - #13 $10 (for Ibuprofen) #6 $2 (for Ecotrin) Rebates = 11.20 (on card)
So after rebates and RR I will be ahead $4.21 for all this stuff!

So I finally got teh time to sit down and see how I did last month. I was actually scared I went over my budget, so when I sat down I was thinking, "let's see how much I went over". To my surprise I did very good!
My total was $369.49 on a $400 budget! Yeah!
I did include my newspapers as well as my very expensive dog food ($25.24 for 30lbs.) and still remained in budget!

You can sign up at Malt-O-Mealand get two $1 coupons off any Malt-O-Meal product. This means two free boxes at Wal-Mart or CVS.
These are different coupons then what was available before on thier website or on coupons.com.

I have not been able to make in into CVS this week due the busy schedule we have had this week. I would like to get in and pick up some monthly deals before they are gone. I know the Listerine is a money maker and I just simply need the bandages.
I need to also work up some scenarios and will probably have some scenarios posted for next weeks ad within the next couple of days.

What are your plans to buy at CVS this week? Do you see any great deals?

What we had for Dinner Last Week -
Monday - BBQ Chicken & Ribs, Corn on the Cob, Baked beans (Memorial Day)
Tuesday - Cedar Point
Wednesday - Hamburger Pie
Thursday - Hamburgers, roasted potatoes, green beans
Friday - Stroganoff, corn

As I wrote last week I am not good at menu planning, so I figured I would post what we had for dinner last week.

Knowing that the papers had the P&G coupons this week I wanted to get up early and get the Detroit Free Press this week at Meijer. I had decided to get up at 6am and get to the store and buy my papers before they were gone. Last month I think I made it in at 7:30am and had to run everywhere for the DFP. Then I only ended up with one and had to buy other papers that did not have the same coupons in them. I was so disappointed that I had decided that I did not want that to happen this month.
I actually woke up at 5:30am (extremely early for me as I never wake up this early unless it is for shopping or a hospital visit). I made it to the store at 5:56am. Went and picked up one local paper and started asking the cashier about the DFP. She told me it was running late here lately and sometimes it didn't make it until 7:30am. Well, I decided to do what any other crazy person would do and wait in my car until the papers got there. I was already up and I had came all the way in town to get these stupid papers, and I did just buy a paper so I had reading material.
I waited until 6:50am and finally the delivery guy pulled up. Yeah, I was so excited I jumped out and started talking with him as he got the papers out of his car. As I chatted with him we walked in and to my surprise all these people were just standing there waiting for him to put the papers out. Well, even though I did feel a little comforted by the fact I was not the only person waiting for the paper, I thought can I really be this desperate for coupons that I will wait for the paper guy to deliver and then fight my way through the crowd for my papers?

Unfortunately, my answer is YES. I was very happy I waited for them, because after everyone that was standing there took their papers, only 2 were left!

As I have mentioned before I buy an average of five papers a week, and I have found that the papers pay for themselves. It also gives me extra coupons to trade with others. I have really started to love trading coupons. As I mentioned in an earlier post I would love to start a "Coupon Train" for those of you interested. A coupon train is just simply a way to trade coupons with a bunch of other people. I would like at least 10 people to ride the train so please leave a comment or e-mail me if you're interested.