Who needs a dog...

... When you have a balloon! (or bawoon, as Jeremiah refers to it as)

We have taken the boys shopping with us to Publix more often lately. Normally, Mike keeps them at home while I shop, but we have gone the past few times as a family and it has been very enjoyable. The boys love their free cookie, and normally by the time they are done with it it is time to check out. Pubix is so kind to the boys and they give them balloons at each trip.

We enjoy these balloons and the boys get rather attached to them. When I say attached, I mean "cry for 30 minutes to go to bed (which they never do) all the while saying "bawoooon, bawoooon" and first thing they say in the morning" attached. Basically: They. Love. Balloons. VERY MUCH.

See for yourself:

Snack Time with "Bawoon"





Play time after church with "Bawoon"





First thing we think about it the morning is "Bawoon"



Breakfast with "Bawoon"






Blanket Time with "Bawoon"




Play Time with Daddy with "Bawoon"



These boys love their bawoons.
I love these boys more then they love their bawoons.
And God loves these boys more then I love them and more then they love their bawoons.

Boys Laughing

I know, I know - it has been a month since I updated. I did well for a while there. Things got a bit busy the past month and will stay busy for another week or so - hopefully once it slows down I can get back in the swing of things.

I have a few pictures to post but until I get around to that I will leave you with a precious video of the boys laughing at Mike!

PIcs from a Phone

One of our students that we hang out with quite often always captures the best pictures on her phone. I asked her to load them to facebook so that I could have them because they are just so stinkin' cute!

See for yourself:

Couponing from my perspective!

HI! My name is Michael. This is me:

and this is my mom: the one on the left :)

I like to call her the coupon queen momma. I decided that I would take over her blog tonight and let you know of all the great deals she got today! She is too tired to do it herself - I am not sure why she is so tired, it's not like we run around all day long! It not like this happens all day or anything:

or this:or this:

Oh, this is my brother, Jeremiah:
He has his fingers in his ears because he is tired of hearing the word "coupon" all day long... "give me a break MOM!"

well, he is missing out because Mom got some great deals today and I am so proud of her. One of my favorite deals that she bought today was Ketchup!!!! Why have I not been introduced to this red, gooey, yet slimey stuff before? Do you know how good this stuff tastes? just three words:

OH

MY
GOODNESS!!!

yep, my mom paid .58 each for ketchup! Yum, I can't wait until lunch - if only mom would feed it to me every meal...

Well mom went to Publix today and scored some saweeeeeet deals - she bought all of this for ....

...$22.28!!!
tell me my mom's not the BOMB!
(look at all that chicken - bawk bawk bawk (that's what a chicken does if you didn't already know that... )

So here are the digits for this weeks totals in groceries:
Total Value: $120.92
Total Spent: $27.82 ($22.28 was product; $5.54 was tax)
Total Savings:$98.64 - 78% Savings

Mom went to CVS today too! This is her favorite place to go and I love it when she comes home because she is normally jumping up and down and exclaiming her deals in a real fun way to us - very entertaining I must say! Today was no different - she was VERY excited about this one:



Total Value: $28.92
Total Spent: $2.36 ($.46 was product; $1.90 was tax) - paid with gift card.
Total Savings:$28.46 - 92% Savings
Mom was really excited about the fact that she spent 6 of her extra care bucks and got back 11 extra care bucks! Who hoo - I was excited for her on that one!!!!

So... her grand total for year so far is: (drum roll Jeremiah Puh-lease!!!!)
Total Value: $286.27
Total Spent: $53.21
Total Savings:$233.06 - 81% Savings

Whoo wee! That just makes my little 21 month old self shout horray! Way to go mom!

Thanks to God for providin' it, and Dad for workin' for it, and Mom for shoppin' for it, we have yummy food that can go on this table!

Weekly Totals and a New Year Goal

January 1st. A great time to start really cracking down on spending and saving! Mike and I have attempted to follow Dave Ramsey in the past and have also attempted the envelope system - every time we try we fail due to the grocery budget - it has always seemed out of control. Until Now.

I am so thankful that the Lord placed a woman in my life that taught me how to buy groceries as a way of honoring the Lord and my family. It has changed how we shop and spend our money. Now that we have a handle on our grocery budget we feel that we can successfully attempt to crack down on savings and paying off Mike's student loans.

Weekly I am going to blog on my groceries and track the savings each week and see how much in the year we have saved! I found a really good Excel Spreadsheet that helps you track it and will give you the percentage of savings for that week! You can find it through this link. You can download and put in the numbers in the columns and it does all the work for you!

So here it goes for Week One:

PUBLIX

Total Value: $84.22
Total Spent: $23.39 ($19.72 products; $3.67 Tax)
Total Savings: $64.50 - 76% Savings
*I will submit this for a Olay Rebate of $15.00!!! - So if you count the $15 I will get back I only spent $8.39

CVS


Total Value:$30.11
Total Spent on Gift Card: $2.75 (.95 products; $1.80 Tax)
Total Savings: $27.36 - 91% Savings
* This cost me 0 out of pocket because I paid with a gift card that I have for new or transferring prescriptions to CVS. I currently have about $64 on a gift card - I have a feeling it will last a LONG time!

Toys R Us:
Diapers:
Total Value: 10.99
Total Spent: $2.00 ($1.50 product, .50 Tax)
Total Savings: $8.99 - 82% Savings

____________________________

YEAR TOTAL SO FAR:
Total Value: $125.32
Total Spent: $25.39
Total Savings:$99.93 - 80% Savings

Wanna win $100 at Publix?

Head over to I Heard Publix to enter for a $100 gift card!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas form the Spivey Family!