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The first two weeks of April are always busy for our family. Handsome's birthday is on the 9th and Baby Girl's is on the 13th. So when April rolls around we can always be found planning two birthday parties, and usually two sleepovers. I always plan our Spring Break for the week of their birthdays as well and it's such a nice break, well, from schoolwork that is. There is no rest for mom that week.
Here's a couple of pictures from each of the kiddo's birthdays...
I am once again in love with CVS! Every single transaction I did yesterday went through perfectly. Well, almost. But we won't dwell on that last one in which my ECB's didn't print like they were supposed to and the manager had to come up and couldn't figure it out and wound up just giving me money back instead.
Anyway, here's my stash from this past week. Crystal does a much better job at explaining everything pertaining to CVS, but I'll explain to you what I did on this trip.
First of all, I plan my trip before I leave the house. I write down what to buy, what coupons to use, how much it should cost me (approx.) and how many ECB's to use and how many I should earn back. This saves me lots of time and confusion. I take my ads with me just in case they're out of something I had written down to purchase so I can rework my plans.
Ok, so here's how this trip went...
I started my trip out with $11.97 in ECBs.
Transaction #1:
*Buy 3 Excedrin @ 1.99 each = 5.97
Use (3) 2.00 coupons = +.03
Earn 3.00 ECBs
(I only bought 3 instead of the limit of 5 because I only had 3 coupons)
*Buy 3 CVS Pain Relief Gelcaps @ 3.99 each = 11.97
Earn 11.97 ECBs
*Buy 3 sets of Essence of Beauty toe dividers @ .99 each = 2.97
Earn 3.50 ECBs (this was supposed to be $5 ECBs back, I just noticed this...hmmm)
Total before coupons = $20.91
Total after coupons = $11.92 (I also used a $4 off $20 CVS coupon)
Used ECBs to pay entire amount
Spent out-of-pocket: $0.00
Earned $18.47 in ECBs (should have been 19.97 ECBs)
Transaction #2:
Couldn't do what I had planned because they were out of the Softsoap Spa Body Wash, but had they not been I had planned on buying 4 of those at 4.99 each, making the total 19.96 plus tax, using my 19.97 in ECBs to pay for them and earning 19.96 in ECBs back.
Transaction #3:
*Buy a Precision Xtra Diabetic kit for 19.99
Use ECBs
Spent out-of-pocket: $1.52
Earn 19.99 ECBs back
Transaction #4:
*Buy 1 Swiffer Sweeper Starter Kit @ 8.99
Use 1.00 coupon = 7.99
*Buy Swiffer Dust refills @ 5.99
Use 1.00 coupon = 4.99
*Buy Febreeze Fabric Refresher @ 3.99
Use .50 coupon
*Buy Febreeze Noticeables Starter Kit @ 6.99
Use 2.00 coupon = 4.99
Use coupon for Buy Starter Kit Get 1 Febreze Air Freshener Spray FREE!
Total before coupons = $28.46
Total after coupons = $21.46
Used all of my $19.99 ECBs plus $1.98 out-of-pocket
Earned $10.00 ECBs back
Now, the SMARTEST thing to do is to roll those $10 ECBs over to my next trip to start out with, but I made the mistake of going down the dollar isle. I bought a 10-pack of tissues so I could stick some in my purse, a pair of men's dress socks as a joke for Sweetie because he's forever looking for dress socks (that match!) so I told him I'd rather spend $1 a day on new socks instead of constantly finding his matches that seem to disappear all the time, I bought a lint roller Sweetie has mentioned we need, Baby Girl asked for a bag of pretzels, and I bought a shower curtain. All of that came to $8.67, so I'll be starting out with pretty much no ECBs again, but you can't beat the deals I got. I'm just going to have to discipline myself to SAVE those ECBs for the next trip because it really does save more money in the long run.
My total out-of-pocket this trip was a whopping $3.50! If I were to buy everything in the picture at their REGULAR (not on-sale) prices, without any coupons or ECBs, my total would come to $161.90!! I saved $158.40!! Now THAT'S what I call a bargain!
So, all-in-all I am a very happy CVS'er! And this week I had two wonderfully sweet ladies checking me out and that made my trip even better.
Sigh... I'm a happy gal I am.
I went to see a female gyn. doctor last Friday and do you know what she said to me? She said that she's going to FIX ME!!! YIPPEE!!! I'm so excited!
Why do I need fixed you ask? Well! Just sit right down and let me tell you. How long do you have?
Six years ago this past January I had my fourth and final baby. I also had a complete tubal ligation. Oh how I wish I hadn't gone that route. But that's another story for another day.
Anyway, I have not felt myself since. I have felt like I was going crazy. I'm always tired. I forget everything, even very simple things like what was coming out of my mouth! I'll just be talking and then I'll go, 'mmmm mmmm', trying to get the right word to come to my brain so it can send it to my mouth. Most of the time other people finish what I was trying to say. It used to be funny, but it's not so funny anymore. My weight gain is horrific, which has caused me to develop sleep apnea, which causes me to be even more tired. I'm always so hot. In fact, I sleep in shorts and a tank top with the ceiling fan and another small fan on my bedside table blowing on me... even through the coldest winter months! I'm constantly thirsty. I'm very emotional (weepy, grouchy, angry, hateful... you name it) and a while back my MALE doctor, whom I do really like but whom I know just doesn't GET women problems, put me on an anti-depressant because I sounded 'depressed'. HELLO! No, I'm not depressed. There's way more going on here! But anyway, I have been taking the prescription he gave me because it's the only thing that helps keep my emotions under control. One day without it and I don't even want to be around myself!
So anyway, I told all of this to my new best friend and she took me seriously and said she's going to fix me!! She drew blood that day and I have to go back in next Monday for them to draw some more so she can check for levels of all kinds of different things! (The different blood draws are so they'll be on different days of my cycle. How cool is that?)
Words just can't describe how excited I am! I miss myself and I can't wait to feel normal again! It's been far too long. My kids will think they've been given a new momma!
I'll keep you updated.
Since we have been homeschooling (going into our 7th year), I have never bought anything brand new as far as curriculum goes. I always shopped for the best bargains, which usually meant buying used. I'm totally fine with that. I LOVE good bargains!
But this year, I did something I've never done and oh my gosh was it fun!! We got a really good tax return this year and even though we could have used it all to pay down our debt (which we are doing with the rest of it), for the first time I simply listed what we needed for next year and went to a few different websites and BOUGHT it... ALL NEW! I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it!
However, when I thoughtfully shared my excitement with my children, who, might I add, are actually the lucky recipients of everything I ordered, they seemed somewhat less than enthusiastic. I don't get it. Don't they understand how FUN this is? Don't they get all giddy when they think of opening a BRAND NEW math book? And the look and feel and smell of fresh, unopened handwriting books and science books and history books! Oh my!
I just don't understand kids these days.
Anyway, I was talking to a very dear friend the other day who uses a boxed curriculum and I have a sister-in-law who uses another boxed curriculum and I am just shocked at how much these types of curriculums cost! Don't get me wrong, I don't think they're bad choices, we've even used some of each of them in the past and like both. However, using them for our entire curriculum was never an option for our family simply because we couldn't afford them. When you have four children things tend to get a bit expensive.
We've always been more of an eclectic homeschooling family anyway. Early on I wrote down the subjects I felt we needed to be covering and then took them one by one and researched until I found what I felt was the best fit for our family. We've had some duds, and some winners we've stuck with the entire time. And every now and then we'll add something and sometimes we replace something else. But we have reached a pretty happy medium and usually stick with most of the same things.
Anyway, here's what I bought for next year and this covers all four kids. I'll share the prices with you as well so you can see approximately what homeschooling costs our family.
*Above and Beyond Five in a Row
Bought from the Five in a Row digital store
$19.00
*Rod & Staff English
Bought from the Rod & Staff website
3rd grade student book
3rd grade teacher's manual
(2) 3rd grade worksheets
7th grade student book
7th grade teacher's manual
7th grade worksheets
$77.50 plus $8.61 shipping
The following items were all ordered from Rainbow Resource:
*Handwriting Without Tears
My Printing Book
Regular double line notebook paper (ream)
Wide double line notebook paper (100 sheets)
*Sequential Spelling
Level 3
*Apologia Science
Exploring Creation with General Science
Daily Lesson Plans for Expl. Creation w/Gen. Science
*Truthquest History
Ancient Egypt/Ancient Greece
*Bible Study Guide for All Ages
(3)Intermediate student pages for lessons 27-52
*Audio Memory
World Geography Songs kit with CD
Total for Rainbow Resource order: $154.45 (free shipping!)
*Scienc Kit
ordered from Home Science Tools
$22.50 plus $7.97 shipping
*Math U See
I haven't ordered this yet but hopefully will be this week. This can be purchased from the Math U See website.
Alpha Student Kit
Gamma Student Kit
Delta Student Kit
Epsilon Student Kit
Epsilon Teacher Kit
Fraction Overlays
$145.00 plus $12.50 shipping
(I acutally AM trying to find a deal on this since it is a tad expensive.)
So all together, not counting the math yet, I have spent a whopping total of $290.03, and that includes shipping, to homeschool all four of our children next year! Not too shabby if you ask me!
So how about you? What does it usually cost you to buy your curriculum for the school year? Do you have a monthly/yearly school budget?
I went to CVS this past Monday and left more irritated than I've been in a long time. Let me just say, we do not have the most friendly CVS employees. And their expressions and attitude let me know loud and clear that they don't have the time nor the patience to deal with those of us who are still just learning the in's and out's of shopping at CVS. I was overly-nice and apologetic, even returned the $4.00 too-much-in-change they gave me! So much for a smile being contagious!
Anyway, because my ECBs weren't printing like they were supposed to and some of the deals I had read others had done that I was trying to copy but the sweet, friendly CVS girls wouldn't let me do, I got a bit confused and flustered along with the icy-cold looks I was getting, I wound up spending $16.33, NOT what I had planned! But I also used $28.97 in ECBs and earned $11.97 in ECBs back. I'm lucky I made it out of there with anything because I was very tempted to simply say, 'Forget it!' and walk out leaving my buggy full of stuff behind.
Hopefully next week will be better. Think I'll go at a different time of day and hope I get more friendly workers.
To learn all about shopping at CVS, stop by Crystal's blog and click on 'New To CVS'.
So, this is NOT the way to get more people to visit your blog (for those of you who are looking for more traffic). Not blogging isn't very interesting for your readers.
I am the biggest homebody ever, and I hate busy-ness and running constantly. But I'm learning that no matter how much I kick, I'm not going to be able to stay in my comfy cozy home all the time like I'd like to. Having kids has a way of doing that to you.
Last weekend I took Baby Girl, and four other young ladies, on an overnight trip with our church to a youth conference. 
(Baby Girl is on the left.)
The church that held the conference is a 2 1/2 hour drive away and on Friday night we had 48 people from our church in attendance! I am so proud of our church people, they're the best. 
(Nothing better than a bunch of bellies full of White Castles at midnight, aye?) We stayed overnight and I have to brag on our teenagers. They are just a great bunch of kids. They love to laugh and have a good time, but it's all innocent fun and they are not ashamed to praise and worship the Lord!
The youth choir also visited another church and sang last night and will be doing so again tomorrow night, and Baby Girl is a memeber.
And for some reason we have been visiting the doctor and dentist over and over
lately. Sinuses, check-ups, braces, regular cleanings, hormone level testing, etc. I think we have more appointments this month than we've ever had. Sigh... not settling too well with this homebody.
And then the birthdays. Handsome is having his Golden Birthday next week. He'll be 9 on the 9th! And since his birthday falls on a Wednesday this year, he is having a slumber party tonight, as I type this, with Reece Cup and four other little (loud) boys. But they're having the time of their lives; running, yelling, shooting each other, playing basketball and video games, building marble runs, playing Battleship, and eating homemade pizza and chocolate chip cookies. Tomorrow we'll have his party with his friends and family.
Then on the 13th Baby Girl turns 12. She will be having her party next Friday followed by a slumber party with 6 or 7 of her girlfriends. Yes, it's hectic and loud and tiring around here the first two weeks of April, but I love seeing my kids having so much fun with their friends. They're all good kids, either cousins or kids we go to church with, and I don't mind one bit having them here. We've never had any problems out of any of them and they make us laugh. Life is good when you're a kid, isn't it? I'll post pictures soon.
Oh yeah, I'll also have been married to the greatest man in the whole entire world for a whopping 13 years on the 22nd of this month as well.
Sigh... life is good.
We have participated in Pizza Hut's Book It program for a few years now and it is such a nice treat to take the kids out for lunch once a month or so and reward them for their hard work.
Registration is now open for K-6th grade students for the 2008-2009 school year, but be sure to sign up by June 13.
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