Finally, some new photos!

Here are some recent photos of our crew. It's hard to believe that they are almost 2 years old. They amaze us every day with new ideas and challenges. Keeping us SUPER busy is their newest trick. We are just along for their journeys and loving it!


The brothers hanging out on the couch.

At the zoo - it was super cold, but a really fun day!

Free stuff and Walmart savings

I just couldn't resist bragging a little bit. I won 8 months of FREE soy milk from "Today's Soymilk, 8th Continent"! I was beyond thrilled when I checked my mail and had a letter along with a TON of coupons for free soymilk. As you know by now, I have become a BARGAIN shopper. Finding a good soymilk bargain can be pretty hard to come by, especially as often as we go through it in our house. I entered this promotional contest a few months ago with hopes that I would win, but really forgot about it as it has been a while. Little did I know what would be coming my way! So, THANKS A TON 8th Continent - we love your soymilk!!!




I also know how you all like looking a photos of my shopping sprees, so here is a new one for you. The photo above is of a recent trip that I made to walmart. I was able to purchase these 22 items for only $43.00. (These items all retail for over $83.00 - that's a $40.00 savings!) I was able to use a coupon for every item that you see in the photo (with the exception of the toys). Some of my super deals are as follows:

There were some great markdown on toys, so I decided to grab a few to save for the holidays and the boys' bithday. They were priced SO LOW, it was hard to just pick out the items that I did!

2 boxes of Renu contact lens solution

Priced $1.47

used 2, $1.00 off coupons

Paid $.47 each

2 pkgs Nature Valley Nut Clusters

Priced $2.28

Used 2, $1.60 off coupons

Paid $.68 each

Honey Bunches of Oats

Priced $2.50

Used $2.00 off coupon

Paid $.50

Air Wick Freshmatic I-Motion Kit

Normally priced $13.97, but on "roll back" for $6.00

Used $6.00 off coupon

Paid $0 - FREE

Eating like BIG boys!

The boys have a new "trick" they can pretty much eat by themselves! The photos that you see at the top were taken at the beginning of their lunch. The photos you see below were taken towards the end of their lunch. It can get pretty messy, but they have to learn. Right? They are getting better at it each day.

Weekly savings

Walgreens has some pretty nice deals going this week, so I decided to try and "stock up" on a few items:

10 boxes of Royal jello

PAID $.20 each ~ $2.00 Total

6 bottles of Peroxide

PAID $.33 each ~ $2.00 Total

5 candy bars

PAID $.49 each ~ $2.45 Total

4 cans Campbell's Condensed Cream Soup

PAID $.39 each ~ $1.56 Total

I was also able to get some great deals at Walmart this week. I was able to purchase 26 items worth $72.00 for only $28.50! That's about a 62% savings. Some of my SUPER deals were:

4 Airwick I-motion smell goods - on sale for $5.00 each

Used 4, $4.00 off coupons

PAID $1.00 each

6 Pull ups flushable wipes - $1.64 each

Used 3, $2.00 off 2 items coupons

PAID $.64 each

2 pkgs Bic Markers - on sale for $.50 each

Used a $1.00 off 2 items coupon

PAID $0 - FREE

2 boxes of HUGGIES wipes - $2.47 each

Used 2, $2.00 off coupons

PAID $.47 each

1 pkg Nature Valley Clusters - $2.94 each

Used $1.60 off coupon

PAID $.68

2 boxes of Zantac (8pk) - $4.23 each

Used 2, $5.00 off coupons

OVERAGE $1.54 total - THEY PAID ME!!!

4 pkgs White cloud TP - $2.00 each

Used 4, $1.00 off coupons

PAID $1.00 each

If April showers bring May flowers, then what do September showers bring?

It's been a while since I've posted any new pictures, so I wanted to share some recent photos of Paul, Seth, and Clay. The photo below is from one morning last week. We had a break in the rain, so the boys and I decided to go outside and pick some tomatoes and peppers from our garden.

These 2 pictures below are from earlier today. It feels like it's been raining for a week straight and we have not had the opportunity to get the boys outside to play. (Even our back deck is soaked.) The ground is pretty saturated, so we decided to take a walk to our mailbox to check the mail.
Here are Clay (solid blue), Seth (green), and Paul (blue/white stripe) holding the mail as we walked back to our house.

Best shopping day to date

My local grocery store, Kroger, runs their sales from Wednesday through Tuesday. I got such great deals last week, that I decided to go back for some more deals before the sale closed. (Priscilla, you inspired me to go back.) So, I ran out to the store last night and I am SO happy I did. I think I had my best shopping experience yet! In summary, I was able to purchase 39 items worth $109.01 for ONLY $33.26 - that's right I ONLY PAID $33.26 for all of my groceries! That a 71% savings of $75.75!!!!

I was looking at this week's Kroger ad this morning and I think I was kind of able to get the "best of both worlds" last night. It looks like they had already started marking the sales for this week, so I was able to take advantage of last weeks deals with some of this weeks deals. If that is the case, then maybe I'll just have to start doing my shopping on Tuesday nights!

Kroger - super savings

I hit the mother load during this trip. Kroger is currently running some great sales that I was able to combine with some great coupons. In addition to running a sale that allows you to purchase 10 items for $10, they are running another similar sale on random products which are already marked down and if you by 10 of these specially marked items you get $5.00 back. Even if you don't have coupons to match them with, you can still walk away with some really great deals this week. I was able to save a total of $63.65 by purchasing items ONLY on sale and using coupons! Here is a list of my super sweet deals:

8 boxes of General Mills cereals

Regular price: $4.79 each

Paid: $.99 each

4 boxes of Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks

Regular price: $3.79 each

Paid: $.99 each

2 boxes of Nature Valley Granola Bars

Regular price: $3.49 each

Paid: $1.64 each

2 boxes of Hefty zip lock freezer bags

Regular: $1.85 each

Paid: $.80 each

Kroger brand marinade

Regular: $1.99

Paid: $.65

Kroger salad dressing

Regular: $1.50

Paid: $.65

Betty Crocker Peanut Butter Cookie Mix

Regular: $2.35

Paid: $.69

Country Crock Spread

Regular: $2.35

Paid: $1.15

Pampers wipes

Regular: $2.79

Paid: $0 ~ FREE

Two 4-packs of Dannon Yogurt

Regular: $2.79 each

Paid: $.88 each

Hillshire Farm Sandwich meat

Regular: $4.29

Paid: $1.89

Walmart - super savings

I found some REALLY great deals during this shopping trip. I had to purchase dog food for our dogs, because I am not willing to let them starve, and it kind of threw me off a little. If you subtract what I spend on the dog food alone, I would have only spent $15.93 for everything you see in the photo above! Some of my super finds were:

2 pkgs of Chinet plates

Regular $2.54

Used 2 $2.00 off coupons

Paid: $.54 each

2 pkgs Carmex Lip Therapy

Regular $1.08

Used 2 $1.00 off coupons

Paid: $.08 each

Welch's Strawberry Jelly

On sale for $2.68

Used $.75 off coupon

Paid: $1.93

2 pkgs of Pull Ups Flushable wipes

Regular $1.64

Used $3.00 off 2 coupon

Paid: $.14 each

Travel size skintimate shave gel

Regular $1.47

Used $1.00 off coupon

Paid $.47

Tyson Chicken Nuggets

On sale for $5.50

Used $1.00 off coupon

Paid: $4.50

4 pkgs of BIC Pens

On sale for $.50 each

Used 2 $1.00 off 2 items coupons

Paid: $0 - got them for FREE

2 Glade 2oz soy candles

Regular $2.97

Used 2 coupons for FREE 2oz Glade soy candle

Paid: $0 - got them for FREE

We love the weekends

We had a great time last weekend! We took the boys over to my parents house to play and eat dinner. The dinner that Yaya and Papa-Al prepared was yummy. It was just an absolutely beautiful afternoon so the boys were able to just play around and we were all able to eat the delicious dinner outside. Here are a few photos of the boys playing in the sand with their Dad.

We all got up on Sunday morning and met up with my parents, my brother, and nephew at our local park. Again, it was just a beautiful day and the boys had a grand time running all over playing with new things. We just couldn't have asked for better days!

Here is our nephew, Tyler, playing with his little cousin Paul.

We have another exciting time planned for this upcoming weekend when we go visit Shane's parents. So, be sure to check back in on us to see what kind of fun and trouble we can find while we're visiting with Nana and Big Daddy! We can't wait! :)

Saving our garden veggies

Some of the "fruits" of our labor: squash, bell pepper, banana pepper, jalapeno pepper, cow horn pepper, Roma tomato, better boy tomato, purple hull peas, and green beans.

I wanted to try a new technique for putting up corn. All you do is take your fresh corn and wrap it in foil. You then put the foil wrapped corn in zip lock bags to freeze. When you are ready to eat them you just boil the corn with the foil still on.

I chose to "flash freeze" the bell peppers.

New Play Area

The boys have a "new" play area on our back deck and they LOVE IT! In the picture above they are coloring at their picnic table. The rest are just random photos of them playing on the deck. Enjoy!

Weekly Savings Update & Giveaway

We decided to take this week and do our monthly "restock shopping". We spent a little more money earlier in the month, so that we could spend significantly less in the weeks to follow. I made several shopping trips so that I could get the best deal on things we needed. I was able to go by Walmart, Kroger, and Walgreens and got some really great deal at all 3 stores.

The photo is of one my trips to Walmart, here are my SUPER deals:

2 bx of Eggo waffles ~ paid $1.00 eachon sale for $1.50 each and used a coupon for $1.00 off purchase of 2 bxs.

Jack Links Chicken Jerky ~ FREE!!!

Found a coupon for FREE product in All You Magazine

Tyson Chicken ~ paid $4.00

Normally $6.50, on sale for $5.50, used $1.50 off coupon

2 Travel size skintimate shave cream ~ Paid $.47 each

used 2 $1.00 coupons

Suave body wash ~ Paid $.25

Found on sale for $1.00 (in clearance) used $.75 off coupon

AXE shampoo ~ FREE (Thanks Shane - he found this deal)

Used coupon from Details magazine

I did end up making a second trip to Walmart this week to get a few more things. Again, I was very pleased with some of the great deals that I came across:

8th Continent SOY Milk x 2 ~ FREE

normally $2.73 each, used 2 free coupons sent to me from the company

Wacky Mac Veggie pasta x 2 ~ paid $.67 each

Used 2 $.75 off coupons

Dentek Floss sticks x 2 ~ FREE

They were on sale for $1.00 each and I used 2 $1.00 off coupons

Travel size RENU contact solution x 2 ~ $.47 each

These sell for $1.47 each and I used 2 $1.00 coupons

Suave Body Wash ~ Paid $.25

Found on sale for $1.00 in clearance and used $.75 off coupon

I also managed to squeeze in a trip to Kroger early this week, these deals are still running at my local Kroger until Tues, August 18. They had some great buy 10 items, pay $10 deals going on this week.

B10/$10:

Purchased 4 chef boyardee cans for $1.00 each ~ paid $2.60 ($.65 each)
used buy 3 get 1 free coupon, also used $.35 off 3 coupon which doubled

Purchased 4 loaves of SaraLee wheat bread for $1.00 each ~ paid $4.00

This would have normally cost $11.56

Purchased 2 packages of dry spagetti pasta ~ Paid $2.00

This would normally costs $2.98

Other Great Kroger Deals:

Wheat flour ~ paid $2.99 (on sale)

Franks's Hot Sauce ~ paid $.50

Regular price $2.24, on sale for$1.25, used $.75 coupon

2 boxes of fish sticks (42ct) ~ paid $3.99 each

Regular price $7.99, on sale for $6.99, used 2 $3.00 off coupons

2 packages of BIC pens (10ct) ~ FREE

Regular price, $1.99, on sale for $.50, used buy2/get $1.00 off coupon

3 packages of Baby Goldfish (A favorite around our house) ~ paid $.99 each

Regular price $2.00, on sale for $.99

2 bx of EGGO waffles ~ paid $2.00

On sale for $1.50 each, used buy2/get $1.00 off coupon

4 bxs of Post Cereal ~ paid $1.38 each

Regular price $4.35 each, on sale for $1.88 each, used 2 buy 2 bx/get $1.00 off coupons

In honor of my great savings week I would like to offer a giveaway to 5 different people.

I will randomly chose 5 different people who will receive one coupon each for $1.00 off any one package of Kellogg's Rice Krispies Ceral (11oz or larger, any flavor).

In order to enter this giveaway you must leave a comment on this post with a super savings story of your own. It doesn't have to relate to groceries, just any way that you have saved.

I will randomly chose a winner by 7pm central time on Sunday, August 16. Only one entry person please. (Family and friends, you are allowed to enter this contest so come join the fun!)

Good times outside

Our garden

Beautiful Tabasco pepper plant

Playing together

Toy Box

Here is a photo of the "toy corner" of our living room before.

Here is an AFTER photo of the "toy corner" - notice the awesome toy box that Shane refinished. Doesn't it look great? I found this piece a while ago at a local antique/consignment shop for a great deal. Shane has been working on it stripping the old paint off, sanding, and staining this wonderful toy box. I think he did an awesome job. Having this big toy box in our living room definitely cuts down on the clutter.

Gardening update & super shopping deals

I have been so busy lately, that I've forgotten to grab my camera when I am working with our veggies. I hope to do better with garden photos for upcoming posts. We have been enjoying our summer garden and are already thinking of things we want to do with our fall/winter garden. Recently, I have been cooking squash and tomatoes on a regular basis. We harvested some green beans over the weekend and let me tell you they were yummy! Shane's parents also brought some cucumbers and a huge watermelon last weekend. I don't know exactly what I'm going to do with the cucumbers, but I am looking forward to coming up with something. I also can't wait for the boys to try the watermelon. Don't worry, I will make sure to have my camera ready for that!

Pictured are my finds from a recent Walmart trip. I don't really like shopping here, but they had some pretty sweet deals that were hard to pass up. My super awesome deals at Walmart were:

Angel soft 4 pack TP ~ $.50
with coupon

6 pack Nestle water ~ $.50

with coupon from All You magazine

4 packs of Huggies Flushable baby wipes ~ $.14 each

purchased 4, priced $1.64 each

used 2, $3.00 off 2 coupons from coupon

Electrosol Dishwasher Tabs ~ $1.32 each

used $2.50 off coupon

Kraft dressing ~ $.06 each

purchased 2, priced $1.56 each

used 2, $1.50 coupons
All You Magazine ~ $1.74

used $.50 off coupon

I also made a trip to our local Kroger grocery store this week for milk, produce, and a few other items. Here are some of my really good deals:

Charmin 12 pack TP ~ $4.99
saved $4.60 with in store sale and coupons

Pampers diapers/wipes ~ $30.75

saved $6.00 with in store sale and coupons

Silk Soy milk ~ $ 1.99

saved $1.50 with in store sale and coupons

Tyson fresh chicken ~ $3.08

saved $1.70 with in store sale and coupons

2 Hormel meals ~ $.25 each

saved $5.08 with in store sale and coupons

Brothers

Rainy days, won't keep the Kesler Crew indoors!

It has been pretty rainy and overcast for the last couple of days. I believe it's suppose to be like this for the rest of the week/weekend. When there are breaks in the rain, we try to get the boys outside to run off some of their energy. While we were outside on this afternoon it started to sprinkle, I don't even think our little guys noticed. They were too busy "working" outside. Here are some photos of them working in our flower beds. Soon after this, they were running around our garage with brooms. They are so funny!

Clay and Paul, playing with the water hose in the mud. Where is Seth? Oh, he's way over in the back sitting in their swimming pool/water park. Don't worry, his Dad is back there with him!

Paul and Seth, clearing the rocks out of the bucket.

Chester is always near. Here he is watching Clay to make sure he moves the bucket with the rocks just right.

Super deals and cooking

Walmart Deals

Some of my super deals were:

2 cans Chef Boyardee mini ravioli ~ $.24 overage (They paid me!)

3 cans Pork&Beans ~ $.40 each

French's mustard ~ $.50

Travel size Dove deodorant ~ $.03 overage

2 Travel size skintimate shave gel ~ $.50 each

3 pkgs Kotex ~ FREE

2 bx Crayola crayons ~ $.25 each

Dawn dish washing detergent ~ $.50

Cascade Rinse Agent ~ FREE (A $3.47 value)

Every item that I purchased was on sale. This trip cost me out of pocket $21.42 for 27 items. I was able to save an additional $14.82 with my coupons. I would like to add that the cashier that was checking me out was not very pleased that I was using coupons. She kept mumbling stuff about how they get written up if the coupons are wrong, blah blah blah. I assured her that my coupons were correct - I'm OCD like that. I also explained to her that coupons were part of my income and that I needed to use them. She let me use them, but complained the entire time I was checking out. It will make me think more about taking my business to Walmart. Unfortunately, I do not live in a big city so I really don't have much choice on some things.

If you have any specific questions about these deals, please feel free to leave a comment or email me. I am happy to share my deal scenarios.

KROGER DEALS:

I happened across this SUPER deal while I was walking by a clearance cart. I was able to pick up a bottle of this Aveno shampoo and conditioner for ONLY $.99 each! How? These normally sell for $6.99 each and my local Kroger had them marked down to $1.99 each. I also had 2 coupons for this particular brand of Aveno shampoo/conditioner for $1.00 off. I'm so glad that I thought to look in the bin! I was able to get 2 products worth $13.98 for only $1.98 - that's what I call sweet!

I usually go to our Kroger for my diapers, milk, and produce because I can get a better deal on them rather than at Walmart. Not only did I find a SUPER deal on shampoo/conditioner, but I needed to pick up some more canning jars. For some reason, I thought that I was going to have to take a trip to Walmart and get some because I just knew the jars would be cheaper there. I am proud to say that I was WRONG! I was able to pick up 12, 8 oz BALL canning jars for only $6.50! These normally run somewhere between $7.50 - $9.00. So, this was a super great deal day for me!

I wanted to share some of our other "food savings". When I'm not taking care of 3 busy toddlers and searching out good shopping deals, I really enjoy cooking - especially with veggies from our garden. Most of the time I have more veggies than I can cook at once, so I've been searching out different ways to save them for a later time. Here is a picture of our 2 different types of squash that we have growing in our garden.

This is squash that I have sliced and layed out on a cooking sheet pan that is lined with wax paper. This sliced squash is ready to "flash freeze". Flash freezing is a really easy technique in freezing certain fruits and veggies. It doesn't take long and the food should last for a while in the freezer. Isn't this a neat photo?

Doesn't this look good? This is an easy Greek White Bread. Why Greek you ask? Well, I've tried my hand at cooking Greek food before and it was really fun. My 2 prior Greek cooking lessons were not easy, but I made it through and have been dubbed an Honorary Greek by the Gianakos Family. I wish I could remember the names of everything we made... (K, help me out.) Anyway, when I found this "easy" recipe on line, I figured I had to give it a try. As it turned out, it was really easy and tastes just as good as it looks!

Daddy's boys

The boys have been busy today! Here are some pictures from this morning. The amazing part is that I got these photos in this order. Clay, Paul, and Seth remind me so much of their Dad. Each of them are VERY different, but they each share some of their Dad's same characteristics...They like to work on their cars, they enjoy staying busy around the house, and they LOVE to be outside!

Clay flipped the 4-wheeler over and decided to work on the tire.

Clay working on the front tire, while Paul supervises.

Paul working on the front tire.

Seth had to work on the front.

After they were all done, Clay was ready to go!

Seth fixing the bug.

Seth, Clay, & Paul watching the humming birds fly around the feeder out front.