Insulting Target Commercial

I was relaxing last night and watching tv while my husband took the kids out to the Y. While I was watching I saw this commercial put on by Target where this mom made her son a homemade Iron Man costume for Halloween.

Do you feel offended after watching this commercial? I totally did. Especially since we made both our kids costumes this year! I think that mom did a great job at making the outfit!

Here are some photos of our kids' costumes this year:

Even when we went to another Trick-or-Treating event, a person standing by seeing our kids homemade costumes said, "Wow, you don't see that anymore. I remember when we used to make all our Halloween costumes." I'll take that as a compliment.

Another excellent blog that clearly has done their homework on this commercial:

target-commercial-hates-on-homemade-halloween-costumes

I'd love to hear your thoughts if you've seen this commercial and how you felt...

Grocery shopping this week = $32.63

Meijer = $10.40

Target = $ 3.58

(I know, Zingers?? My husband went shopping with and he had a craving for them.)

County Market = $11.21

My boys go through apples like candy, so when I saw that apples were $0.88/lb., I stocked up!

Walgreens = $7.44 got $10.25 back in Register Rewards

Total Spent for this week = $32.63

Chili's: Kids Eat Free on Halloween Weekend

Just a heads up in case you're planning on eating out with your kids this coming holiday. Both October 20th and 31st, dress up your kids for Halloween and they'll receive a free kids meal (with the purchase of an adult entree). This offer is good on dine-in or carry-out. Kids must be 12 years old and younger and in costume.

Bring out the costumes...

I have been wondering where to find different Halloween activities to do with my kids during this season. Our boys love to dress up, so why not milk that for all it's worth? So, after surfing the web this past week, I finally came across a brilliant website that shares lots of activities to do with your kids in the Chamapaign-Urbana area.

Visit Chambana Mom's blog to find out what there's to do around Halloween.

There are a couple other festivities that I knew about that were not mentioned on their list.

• Good Shepherd Lutheran Church annual Trunk or Treat - 4:30-6pm - Sunday, Oct. 24th.
• Halloween at the YMCA - Friday, Oct. 29th - 6-8pm.

Have fun this Halloween and be safe.

Salvation Army Finds = $6.20

This morning I had a doctor's appointment, and had some extra time in between, so I stopped at Salvation Army with my husband and Pudge. It was a good day to go, because they had kids clothing 50% off! I love those days!

We got this brand new Amazing Race game for $3. My husband and I love the Amazing Race and have some friends who do too. Maybe they'll play it with us.

My favorite find is this almost brand new coat for Z-man from Old Navy! And guess how much I paid? Only $2.50.

And with the hood:

And a sweater for Pudge for $0.75.

Recalled Trike

I just found out that a trike that we have from Fisher Price has been recalled. The boys actually don't ride it all that often, but it always scares me when I know that we have a toy that could possibly harm them. We have the Diego Trike, and it seemed pretty popular at that time. So, anyway, I guess we'll take it back and use that $25 towards something else. Just wanted to warn you in case you had this toy as well.

Walgreens has a code out for a free Photo Collage. Just follow this link and it will take you to the website where you can make your free collage. The code is 8x10TREAT. Offer expire 10/23.

Walgreens Run

Walgreens = $6.49

Got back $10.50 Register Rewards!!!

This might have been my best Walgreens shopping ever! Plus, I will be giving the Campbell's Labels for Education to our church, so it's a win-win situation.

If you're curious as to how I complied my list for Walgreens, check out Coupon STL's blog, where she figures out $5 scenarios to Walgreens.

Grocery shopping for 2 weeks = $79.49

Okay, so some of you may be blown away by the huge amount I spent on groceries. Don't worry, I hadn't gone shopping in two weeks, so my grocery budget for this trip was $80. We usually only allow for $40/week on groceries.

Here's what I came home with:

CVS = $6.50

I got $5 ECB back. Also used $1/2 Kellogg's coupon.

County Market = $57.94

I used alot of in-store coupons this week.

Big Lots = $15.05

We were funning low on snacks at our place, and the best place for me to stock up is Big Lots. When I was there (since it was my first stop), I made sure to check to see if they had any other items that were on my grocery list. I was surprised to find bread for only $1, Rice-a-Roni, pasta, and Wheat Thins all for less that what I would pay at a regular grocery store.

It feels nice knowing that we are stocked up on bread and other items. Here's to a good shopping week!

Halloween Treats

I should totally be folding laundry right now, but I got distracted by checking my email. Parenting is a fabulous website for anything kid related, and so here is my latest find on their website....Halloween treats and goodies! For more recipes, click here.

This picture above is super creepy to me, but highly creative by using white chocolate, m&ms and a latex glove. Super cool!

And if you're looking for healthy snacks, they've got them too! I love that website!

Still looking for a kids Halloween Costume?

Are you still looking for a halloween costume for you little one? I got a recent email from Parenting magazine with tons of ideas for costumes.

Click on this link to find more ideas!

Garage Sale Findings

Today was a beautiful and crisp day for garage sailing, and I got a chance to go without my two little boys! I had some friends from church that were willing to let me tag along with them. This morning was a little chilly, but overall, it turned out to be a gorgeous Fall day.

Here's what I came away with:

The first 2 sales we went to had so many name-brand clothing for real cheap, so I was excited about that!

I found multiple outfits for my oldest son, that were all from The Childrens Place, Carters, or Old Navy. So I was pretty pleased with that.

I found 3 long sleeved shirts for my husband, and all 3 totaled to $1! Can't beat that!

And last but not least, we ended up at an Estate Sale, where my friend found 2 Pyrex containers for $1! I heard from the Frugal Girl, that that is an excellent find. I also scored some Miracle Grow for my gardens.

Did you score any great finds at garage sales lately?

Fun Video

Okay, so my sister sent me this link for a video of a retired couple who turned a Mazda truck into a radio flyer wagon! I just had to post it on my blog for others to see and read about. Enjoy!

Click here to enjoy the video!

San Diego, CA

The reason I had not posted anything for a few days, is because I was away at a Youth Workers Convention in San Deigo, CA with my husband. It was a great time being away from the everyday routine. The weather wasn't quite what we had expected, and everyone blamed us for bringing the rain and cold weather with us! Which I didn't mind too much.

I just wanted to highlight some of the things we did and post some pictures of the speakers we heard. My husband has relatives out in Chula Vista, CA, so we stayed with them and saved money on a hotel. They were extraordinary hosts, and it was so good to get to know them better.

While we stayed with them, we got to hang out and see some of the sights with them. I'm not a great tourist, so I forgot my camera at home. Here are some pictures I got off the internet to show you where we went.

First was the Coronado Bridge that led to an island near the San Diego border. We drove across it like a bat out of hell - super scary! And then we took a ferry across to walk by the bay.

Here is a photo of the bridge at night:

Here is a photo of the convention center where the Youth Workers Conference was held. No pool for us, though!

We got to hear from Gayle and Ted Haggard about their experience in the Church and what happens when that all is crumbled away. You can read more about what is going on in their lives here. I saw them on Oprah one day, so they're kinda famous to me.

And here is a photo of my husband and I's favorite group, The Skit Guys. We love to watch them and laugh at all their skits. They're so funny!

It was a lot of fun to be away with my husband and enjoy the time we could have together.

Grocery shopping this week = $37.97

This week's grocery was a hit! The first picture is from County Market (last week's ad), and the second picture is also from County Market, but it's from this week's ad. Pictured below I got for $26.41.

Pictured below I got for: $11.56.

Here's what we got from our CSA (Community Shared Agriculture) and from our garden this week:

The lower half (tomatoes and peppers) are from our garden, and the rest is from our CSA. We're getting lots of tomatoes (still!) and the green peppers are finally rolling in. Let's hope the frost didn't get them.

Total spent for this week's groceries was $37.97!