Thirsty Thursday

Tonight Ben is enjoying our Thirsty Thursday tradition by himself.  He is enjoying his cocktail with our pasta dinner. 

This evening's cocktail is a traditional beverage: Ginger Ale and Irish Whiskey

Here is a step-by-step to make your own Ginger Ale and Irish Whiskey:

 Get some ice (Ben prefers these large ice cubs for cocktails)

 Two cubs in a tall glass

 Irish whiskey

 Ginger Ale

 2 shots of Irish Whiskey

 Top off with Ginger Ale

Enjoy!

Cheers!!!

Harris Teeter Super Doubles!

I hit up Harris Teeter for the super doubles specials that started today. 

My goal was to make it out of the store for less than $5.  I did some advance planning, checked out the coupon policy, and made a list before I headed over to the store today.

I picked up some new products for Ben and Elizabeth, and then one of Elizabeth's favorite snacks- fruit squeezies.
 

 These are all the items I got today at Harris Teeter

 About my purchases:

Elizabeth  loves the fruit squeezies.  They were on sale 2/$5.00.  I had $1 off coupons for each box, that doubled to $2.00 off each box.  That made each box 50 cents.

Ben has never tried to Oscar Meyer protein snacks.  They were regular price of $1.99.  I had $1 off coupons that doubled to $2.00 off each one, making them completely free.

Elizabeth loves any kind of yogurt.  The yogurts were regular price of $1.79 each.  I had $1 off coupons that double to $2.00 off each one, making them completely free.

The Colgate mouthwash was on sale for $5.00.  I had a $2 off coupon that doubled to $4 off.  Additionally, the store had a $2 off e-coupon.  So I was actually paid $1 to buy the Colgate mouthwash.  Since the store doesn't pay people to shop, the $1 came off my total. 

The Hormel Compleats meal was kinda the same deal as the mouth wash.  It was regular price of $2.59.  I had a $1 off coupon that doubled to $2 off.  Additionally, the store had a $1 off e-coupon.  So I was actually paid 41 cents to buy the Hormel Compleats meal.

That "$1.41 extra is what helped lower my total since the squeezie boxes were 50 cents each.

I had coupons for everything, but I think those are the interesting match-ups, and you can understand a little bit about how I shopped the deals.

 

These are the items I got completely free today today.

So, here is a list of everything I got today:

(1) 1 Liter of Colgate Mouthwash

(1) bottle of Vidal Sassoon Styling Mousse

(1) bottle Vidal Sassoon Conditioner

(1) bottle L'oreal Conditioner

(2) Old Spice Deodarants

(1) bottle of Suave body lotion

(4) boxes of Dole Strawberry Apple squeezies

(4) packages of Oscar Meyer Protein snacks

(3) cups of blueberry Greek yogurt

(1) Hormel Compleats meal

(1) loaf of La Brea fresh baked bread

Total before coupons: $67.17

Total spent:  $3.95 (after tax)  

                      $2. 58 (before tax)

Percentage saved: 94%

Happy Shopping!

Nature Walk

After work today, Elizabeth and I went on a nature walk around the neighborhood.  I purposely didn't take her to the playground so we could mix it up a bit.  I wanted to enjoy the flowers and warm weather.  After our nature walk, we played with bubbles and chalk on the driveway (but I forgot to take pictures of that).

 Say cheese!

 Running up and down the sidewalk

 Inspecting some plants

 Inspecting some bark

 Sunglasses over the eyes

 Sunglasses over the face

We hope you are enjoying the spring weather as much as we are!

Easter Sunday

Our Easter Sunday started early (Elizabeth woke up at 6am).  After a little Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and playing in her room, we took Elizabeth downstairs to see what the Easter Bunny had done.

 Elizabeth got lots of goodies from the Easter Bunny

 Ben also got some goodies from the Easter Bunny

 I also got a few things from the Easter Bunny

View from the stairs

 Elizabeth checking out what the Easter Bunny left for her

 Then it was time to find some eggs!

 She wanted to open each egg before finding the next egg

 She wanted to wear her new backpack from the Easter Bunny

We went to Church at 9:05am and enjoyed a wonderful Easter service  After Church we came back home and got ready to host Easter lunch for us and Jessica, Noah, and Scot.  We had such a wonderful morning and our afternoon with friends and family was a great Easter day.

 Our table for Easter lunch

 Ben getting some food ready for our Easter lunch

(and the cards from family)

The Easter Bunny also came for Jessica, Noah, and Scot

Once everyone got here for lunch, I totally forgot to take pictures of the rest of the day.  We had a great lunch of ham, green bean casserole, salad, honey glazed carrots, pasta salad, crescent rolls, and apple pie with vanilla ice cream.

We hope you had a great Easter Sunday as well.

He is risen!  He is risen indeed!

Easter decorations

We have a few Easter decorations around the house.  Having a two-year-old limits where in the house I can put out decorations (little hands tend to grab decorations) but I have come up with a few creative solutions.

 Easter bear on top of the movies

 Easter snow globe :)

 Easter Bunny

 The bar needed a few Easter decorations

 

The Easter Garland that Elizabeth and I made

 

 Plates and napkins for Easter morning breakfast

 Welcome to our home 

 A little Easter snack

Hope you are ready for Easter.

Throwback Thursday Stories

Today I am linking up with Jessica at themomcreative for her first ever, Throwback Thursday Stories.

Tons of people post Throwback Thursday Pictures, but most of the time leave out the stories that go with it.

Jessica is challenging up to post the picture and the story that comes with it.  I thought this would be fun and I knew exactly which holiday I wanted to choose from.

4th of July, 2006

My Grandmother lives in Texas and owns a house on a lake.  As kids, my cousins and I always spent the 4th of July with all of our family out at the lake.  We would swim, ride in the boat, get pulled behind the boat on the yellow whale, and eat a lot of hamburgers and hotdogs.  At night, there was an unspoken lake competition of fireworks displays.  Each family would set off fireworks from their docks and send them out over the lake.  It has always been one of my favorite times of the year.

Now that all the grandchildren are grown up (there are six of us) and we live in four different states, it is much harder to get together.  I definitely miss all the holidays where my whole family is together.  My childhood and early 20s are full of great memories from the lake house (and now I get to enjoy bringing my family there).

But, one of the other things we do (besides go to the lake house) is go to Joe T Garcia's in Fort Worth.  Every time we visit Texas, the whole family gets together and heads over to Fort Worth to eat some of the best Mexican food you have ever had.  Joe T's is a place I have been going to for over 30 years and the memories of eating there are just as vivid as fishing off the dock.

The picture above is from the weekend of the 4th of July in 2006.

From left to right: My cousin Jennifer, my cousin Jayme, my brother Andy, my cousin Jessica, me, and our Grandmother.  

We enjoyed lunch outside (it must not have been 100 degrees that day) at Joe T's.  Now I don't remember what we talked about, what the temperature was, or if I was completely sunburned; but I know that we had a great time eating lunch together.  Joe T's is always a good time and I look forward to going back again this summer.

Happy Throwback Thursday.  You can link up here:The Mom Creative