Saturday, November 14, 2009

Safety First!

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Nathan standing at the front of a Firetruck.

One weekend, Nathan and I went to Target and we stumbled upon our town's Safety Fair completely by accident. Having no other agenda for the day, we stopped.

It's kinda funny when something that is meant for the 'kids' ends being cool to you as the adult parent. For example, the Police Department opened up a SWAT truck for everyone to sit inside and check out. It was very cool for me to see something that I've only ever seen on tv and in movies!
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They also had a display table with gear and artillery.
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They also had a helicopter, super cool to me since I've had a long standing fascination with helicopters. Unfortunately, Nathan doesn't share this passion with me, he seems to prefer the helicopters stay in the sky.
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Sitting at the wheel of the big red firetruck was Nathan's absolute favorite part of the day.
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I love how the hat fell over Nathan's face in this next picture.
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They also had a Bomb Squad truck on display, I captured this brief video of the Bomb Squad's robot that they use for disarming dangerous bombs.


What an unexpected, surprisingly fun time for both of us! And it was FREE!
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Friday, November 13, 2009

Creature of Habit

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If Greg had a blog this is what he would post about, per Greg Friday morning. Greg is such a Creature of Habit that when I'm able to get Honey Nut Cheerios at .97 cents a box and I buy 14 boxes. It makes him very happy. :o)

There's no greater disappointment for a Creature of Habit then heading to the kitchen for your daily bowl of Cheerios and then remembering your OUTTTT. For the Creature of Habit, it throws the entire day off and if the Creature of Habit was in a good mood as he headed to the kitchen, it's been soured just a bit because of the Habit has been interrupted.

Fourteen boxes for the Creature of Habit means he won't be running out for at least 2 months!

So glad I could make my husband happy with something so simple. :o)

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Hull Family Pictures 2009 - Not a Bust!

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Does anyone remember this post from last year? Hull Family Pictures a BUST for 2008!

Well, this year our family pictures were NOT a Bust and I am over the moon kind of happy!
The picture above is my absolute favorite of all the pictures and it's the only one I'm planning to show right now. hahaha! What a teaser huh?

I have looked at this picture over and over and over. I love it because I feel it totally encapsulates the specialness of how I feel about my husband. If I were a real writer, I would be able to put words around what my heart feels when I gaze at him. The admiration, the respect, and awe...yet it's so much 'more' than that. So much more. I don't know how to explain that I could look at him every day of my life and just 'appreciate' him. I can't imagine that anyone could possibly understand what I'm trying to explain but I can 'see' it in this picture. So because the words fail me, this picture will just have to do.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

You are Totally Busted!

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Little boy, you are totally busted for getting into Mommy's makeup!

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Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Monday, November 9, 2009

Wow.

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I can't believe what I've been missing all these years.
I had no idea how good these are!

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Coupon Phenomenon

In my copious spare time, I've picked up a new hobby. Saving money. Greg is thrilled. hahaha!

Here are the groceries I purchased today, regular price $77.69. Diapers, Diaper wipes, Batteries, Milk, Bread, Eggs, 10 boxes of Kleenex with Lotion, Jelly, etc.
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I paid $34.58. Here's how I saved $43.11.

1. Loyalty card, it's easy savings. I saved $34.11 with the loyalty card. Easy but it gets more complex when you introduce some key coupon strategies.
2. Stacking Coupons = Using a Manufacturer coupon PLUS a Store coupon. See Example 1.
3. Multiple manufacturer coupons = Having more than one of the same coupon. See Example 1 & 2.
4. Coupon Doubling = When a grocery store doubles the value of your coupon. Today my grocery store valued any and every coupon at a $1.00. So any coupon I used, no matter the face value, equaled a $1.00 when I checked out. See Example 2.
5. Store Promotions = Special promotions like Buy 10 of X products, save $5 off your total bill. See Example 2.

Example 1:
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I paid 1.79 for each pack of these Energizer Batteries. Here's how:
Loyalty Card Price:...........................$3.79
Manufacturer Coupons:..................-$1.00
Competitor Store Coupon:...............-$1.00
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Total Price Paid:..............................$1.79 per pack
Not a bad price for Energizer Batteries. I had 2 manufacturer and competitor store coupons so I bought 2 packs of batteries.

Example 2:

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Special Promotion Price:............................$0.99 a box if you buy 10 boxes
Manufacturer Coupons:............................-$0.50 off, when you buy 3 boxes
Competitor Store Coupon:.........................-$2.00
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(10) Boxes of Kleenex:..................................$9.90
(3) .50 off coupons, doubled by my store.....-$3.00
(1) Competitor Store Coupon.......................-$2.00
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Total............................................................$4.90
Price per Kleenex Box, 4.90 divided by 10......$0.49 per box
Store promotion..........................................-$5.00 off your bill if you buy 10 'participating products', Kleenex is a 'participating product'!
They paid me..............................................+$0.10 to take these Kleenex off their shelves!

Do you get it?

I also had other coupons as part of this sale. I had a coupon for the the eggs, they were also free and I had a $2.00 coupon for the diapers, a $1.00 coupon for the diaper wipes, etc, etc and it all adds up to a savings of $43.11!

If you want to know more about saving money with coupons, let me know. :o)