New bedding

So this is sad. I bought a new playpen for the baby, so that way we can have one upstairs and then downstairs in the school room. The colors are aqua and brown. (The stock photo's color is not accurate. I promise it's brown and aqua.) I'll be putting the pretty one in our room upstairs in our bedroom for the first couple of months which in no way should have justified me buying THIS for our room, but I did anyways. Along with a little rearranging of furniture, it's soooooooooo pretty!

Here's what the room used to look like in case you forgot. I liked the red, but I like it soooo much better now!

Hit the Jackpot

I hit the jackpot today on some clothes for the girls. (Man, that sounds weird saying girls!) I found a garage sale where the clothes were $5 a plastic grocery bag or $10 for a brown shopping bag. Well, you know me....I can cram well. I think Blake and I counted 57 articles of clothing crammed (rolled) into the plastic bag. Who-hoo!!!! I also got a activity gym for the new baby too for only $5.

More Deals

These are all future gifts for Makenna, but hey...we don't have many girl toys yet, so I started. I got all of this for $5.25 at a garage sale. The big doll house, the baby doll, the bag of My Little Ponies, a Strawberry Shortcake doll, a princess blanket and princess sleeping bag, and two bags of socks! Talk about a deal!

Oh, and then I got these real CROCS for 25 CENTS!!!! Seriously, $30.00 shoes for a quarter! Yeah!

I shouldn't count my chickens....UPDATED

...before their hatched, but we plan on picking this up tonight (Lord-willing) for our little princess. With the new baby coming she's gonna need a new bed, and this is a twin or a toddler bed whichever we decide to use it as. I found it on Craig's List today for $125 with a mattress.
I haven't had the greatest of luck this week with Craig's List that's why I said I'm not counting my chickens before their hatched. I thought that I had this phenomenal deal on a stoller/car seat and playpen, but then that fell through. But I decided to pick up the phone this time and call the people, and he said he would hold it for me. Who-hoo!!! Eric's going to get it tonight! I can't wait! What makes it even cooler is that now I don't have to buy a bed skirt to match the bedding that I plan on getting for Makenna. That saves me $$$, and that makes Eric HAPPY!


I can COUNT THEM!!! Count the chickens that is....WHo-hoo!!! Eric got the bed tonight for Makenna, and he already put it in her room. Now, she's not sleeping on it yet, and I don't have bedding for it yet, but it's downright adorable!!!!

Deals and Finds

Found this adorable rug for Makenna's room today on Craig's List. I've been eyeing it at Target since before she was born. They lady I got it from said she bought it but never used it, and you can tell she didn't because it still has that new carpet smell. Oh,and guess what. Remember Makenna's crib bedding??

I found out that Target makes a matching TWIN SIZE too. So Makenna and the new baby can have matching sets. So excited about that!!!!!! I think it's so much prettier than even the crib set, and don't you think it'll look great with the rug too?? LOVE IT!

Makenna's new walker

I have been waiting for this forever. I was checking Fisher Price, Amazon, and Toys R' US everyday for over a month for this cute little toy. It's a two in one toy. One...it's a walker. Two...it's a little baby stroller. I'm all about multi-functioning toys! I wanted to give it to Makenna for her birthday, but I couldn't find it anywhere. I had all but given up. I stopped looking for it, and then one day last week, I checked to see if they had it, and Amazon (click here if you want it), came through for me, (I love that place.), and they had it for $10 off, and of course, they have free shipping for $25 and over. WHooo-heee!!!!
So today, I was watching the window like a hawk waiting for UPS to come, and wouldn't you know it BROWN didn't come until well after 6:30! (Jakeb and I had a debate going. He kept saying that UPS was black, and of course, we know it's brown. After asking the UPS lady what color her truck was, he resorted to calling it.....dark Brown.)
Anyways, she didn't get to play with it too much because Daddy came home with the new entertainment center, and there went all the walk room. Oh well! Tomorrow is another day!


(Look, Amy, the doll you gave her fits perfectly in there!)

Check this out!

Look what we got! We bought the flat screen for 1/2 off at Costco. (It was a display model.) And the entertainment stand...we got it on Craig's list. We basically got both for the less than the price of the regular price of the TV. The entertainment center is HUGE! I can't wait to fill it up! It needs a little work. The bottom doors are falling off.. the hinges are broken, but Eric is gonna fix that. It's pretty nice. (In case you're wondering....the piano will be moved soon!)

More Deals

Here's the loot that I got from the consignment shop that I was telling you guys about. The most I spent was $3 for the light-up pink Carter snow boots. The Nike's were $2, and the rest of the shoes were $1 each.
Then Wednesday night after church I ran into Walmart to get Makenna's birthday cake. I couldn't resist swinging by the baby section only to find clearance deals....$1 and $2 deals. Here's my loot from that.
And last, but definitely not least, I was in JC Penney's today, and I checked out the clearance racks and found these for Kaleb for $.6.97 plus I got 15% off that!!!! Pretty cute, huh? He liked them a lot.

Check out my deals today.

A couple of months ago, I discovered a great thrift store. (Okay, Lisa actually discovered it, and told me about it.) Anyways, I went there today looking for a black skirt for Makenna, and came home with these little goodies along with some other things...books for the kids, shoes for Makenna. Anyways, the goodies right here cost me less than $3. Fun, huh? Who would have thought I'd find a stamp in the thrift store, and for only a quarter. Not even I could pass that up! It's a Christmas ornament stamp. The cute little basket will look awesome in my scrapbook room. It was only 80 cents. The blue organdy ribbon for 10 cents! Craziness! And silver utensil holder might never even hold utensils, but it was only $1, so it came home with me too. I know you are all trying to figure out what that brand new red and white thing is. It's called a Sizzix paddle punch. Basically you place it on a piece of paper with some kind of cutting mat under it. Then you hit it with a hammer, and the star appears. Come on, it was only a quarter too, so no matter how hokey it sounded, I figured for a quarter....who could pass that up. It's for scrapbooking.
Needless to say, I love that place! I think I like it better than Goodwill or as my family calls it "Willie's Boutique." Maybe tomorrow, I'll show you the rest of the stuff I got from there (I'm talking Nike, Talbots, Carters.......good stuff), and there's some great deals I found at Walmart tonight too that I need to post!

Look what we got!!!

Any of you who have ever been to our house know how badly we need a dining room table. Our table is probably over 15 years old. It is warped so badly that (1) when a kid spills a drink....it leaks straight through the crack within seconds because of the gap in the leaf, and (2) playing card games or really any game for that matter is rather difficult because your cards or your pieces keep getting hung up on the lip of the leaf. I'm talking...it's in really bad shape, no to mention the fact that there are only 4 chairs that go with it. We, of course, use 7 chairs, so the other chairs that we use...well, two folding chairs are from my high school cafeteria (they upgraded and gave away the old ones which makes them well over twenty years old) and the other one is a metal desk from also a very long time ago, so we really don't all fit at our table. Poor little Makenna sits off to the side in her booster.

Well, I've been looking at IKEA and I've been surfing Craigs list. Finding a table that seats 8 people is no easy task, but well, it finally happened......I found one! It's so pretty and it seats 8 and has two leaves and table pads. It's a Thomasville solid oak table. The sellers say that it was originally $3,000!!!! And well, we got it for the great, awesome price of $450!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a steal, huh???? I'm pretty sure that we couldn't have bought a new table anywhere with 8 chairs for that price. Check out our old table, and then look at our new table. So pretty...the pictures don't even do it justice. It's absolutely beautiful! These are the pictures that were posted on Craig's List.

oh, and just so you could actually understand why we needed a new table!!! Here's some pics of the old one. The last picture of the old table is just for fun. We're kissing it goodbye!
Seriously, see the gaps between the leaves?

And, here's a close-up of the new table...of the top design.

Look what I got today...

at a garage sale for four dollars!! I've been looking for something to put my printer and my cricut on together next to my computer, and well......shoot, it even has an extra shelf for my picture printer and cartridges. I finally found it for FOUR DOLLARS. Did I tell you that I got this for FOUR DOLLARS???? It's solid oak, super sturdy. Love it. Yay!

Shopping Day

School is officially out in the Alma house. We finished up last Friday. Too bad the boys were able to enjoy their first real day of summer vacation because I'm a mean mom and took them shopping......ALL DAY!! First it was to Hobby Lobby (one of their least favorite stores) to check out some cool sales that they were having, and to buy my Mother's Day present. Next, it was to Deals Dollar Store for some cereal and toilet paper. (Yup, I've decided that it's the cheapest place to buy toilet paper, and it doesn't feel like sandpaper!) Next it was over to Archiver's where we stayed all of 3 1/2 minutes just because they didn't have what I was looking for.
My friend Lisa the other day told me about a new kid's consignment store that we checked out, and I got Makenna an outfit and Luke a pair of new shoes. And since, I was in the neighborhood at this point, I decided to stop by that other awesome consignment store.Remember this one from last year where they had everything you could fit into a bag for $10??? Well, I couldn't believe it! It was gone! I don't know if they moved or what, but they were gone. However, I wasn't too disappointed because there was a thrift store there instead. I was pretty pumped when I found a pair of church pants for Luke....(He is not an easy kid to find pants for....10H). I also found him some shorts, clothes for Makenna, Jeans for Blake, Dr Seuss books for the other boys (They had my favorite...Green Eggs and Ham!), a Cranium game, and Makenna's birthday present: this Fisher Price Gymtastic Play Wall. How awesome is that. It's normally between $50-$70, and I got it for $8!!! We already put it together and eveything. Anyways, after there, we had to stop at the library and return some overdue things (long story there), and then it was off to home.
Well, after we got home, we ate lunch, and then I decided I wanted to check the other Hobby Lobby for something, so off we went again. Then I've had a $25 gift certificate burning a hole in my pocket since Christmas, so we stopped there. (I ended up getting two outfits for Makenna...one because the bottle wasn't together all the way and she leaked formula all over herself.) And, since the boys had been so good all day (except for two instance both including Kaleb....he actually bit Makenna on the hand for no apparent reason! and the other, I don't even feel like typing.) We stopped at Chick-fil-a for a drink and some play time. Talk about one full day. I was supposed to go to the grocery store tonight, but well..I was shopped out!

pizza

Check out this Pizza!!!

It's huge! Eric told me about this amazing pizza that his work ordered for them for lunch. He told me it was big...that it was gigantic, but well...I didn't really believe him. Seriously, you have to see it to grasp how big it was. It's 24x18 inches. Check out the 18 inch ruler. Shoot, it barely fit on our table. I think there were about 30 slices in the pizza. We ended up having to put it on the piano bench so that we could sit at the table comfortably and not worry about spilt drinks.

Our family, which can seriously put down some pizza didn't even eat half of the pizza! It's from this place called Adriatico's New York Style Pizza. It's located down in the Clifton area. Unfortunately, they don't have a web site, but here's the phone number in case you ever get down there and want their pizza....it's to die for!.......281-4344 Their toppings are HUGE, and sooooooo good.

Guess what I'm having for breakfast???? YUM!

ps someone mentioned the cost...I know it was over $30, but less than $35....of course, we had a coupon.

cute dresses....

for $5 each at Meijer (75%off). I was so excited. Aren't they pretty?

deals, deals, and more deals

It's that time of year for good deals!!! Seeing that I have five kids...well, I have to be pretty thrifty! Obviously, I did not get this all at one time. It's been over the past couple of months.

So let's see.....Sears had 50% off their clearance prices....got lots for Makenna next year....dresses for $4.50 and got some shirts and ties for the boys

Then here's some outfits from Kohls....

I must say girls are so much more fun to buy for than boys...not to mention I have tons of boys clothes. But the older boys are starting to outgrow some of their clothes. My friend, Amy found these for the boys at Walmart. I think the most expensive thing was $3.00 She got khaki pants fot $1.50. Thanks Amy!

Then we have the clothes that I got at Walmart. Shirts fot $1 and dresses gor $3!!!! (some are as big as 3T, but she'll eventually wear them!)Then after getting such good deals everywhere, I splurged at Costco and got these dresses for $5 each. Poor Makenna has plenty of winter stuff for next year, but no spring/summer stuff.

a new bag

Cute, huh? This is what I got with my part of the anniversary money that my in-laws sent me. I found it on Craig's List....(I love Craigs List. If you've never been to it, you should check it out. they have tons of stuff on there.) Okay, so back to what I was saying....where else could you get a Vera Bradley bag with matching wallet and coin purse for $25!!!!! And it's cute to boot!

Okay, guess again **UPDATED**

So we all went out to eat again....and ate for dirt cheap. Take a gander at how much we, a family of 6 + 1 baby, spent this time (minus tip). Everyone had their own meals, and three of us actually had Dr. Pepper. If you thought we at for crazy cheap last time, wait till you get a load of this one. 45 whopping cents!!!! How crazy is that???

Guess How much... Edited....

Okay, so we all went out to eat tonight. Guess how much we spent at a sit down resturaunt, (not including tip)?????? Anyone, but Amy can guess! I already told her. And no, my kids did not have the normal hot dog meal that's free. They each had real kid's meals.

Okay, come one Betsy...$5..... that would be totally insane! But we did only spend $10.67...for all SIX (seven if you count little Makenna ust sitting in her seat) of us to eat last night!!! I love Toot's. Kids always get a free hot dog every night, but on Tuesdays they get real kids' meals. So we had 2 shrimp baskets, chicken fingers baskets, and a hamburger. Then Eric and I had a BOGO free coupon (Buy One Get One). Love Toot's!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good Deals!

I went to a great kid's sale today. In fact, I think it was my favorite one yet...(next the stuff a bag for $10 sale.) Usually, if the sale starts at 8:00, I'll get there at 7:30 and wait in line. No lie, people are there that early. Today's sale was at the YMCA and it started at 8, and we got there at about 7:45. There was 8 or so people in front of us. And then they even let us in early!! Whooo-hee!!!! So off I went in search of winter baby girl clothes and husky boy clothes. God really must have wanted me to go to this sale because I got tons of stuff for CHEAP!! I counted it up. I got a total of 57 things for only $51.35, and most of it was name brand stuff. Lovin it! I got a total of: 18 pairs of pants, 5 pairs of pajamas, 1 jacket, 1 sweater, 14 shirts, 11 pairs of name brand socks, 3 puzzles (to bribe Kaleb to go potty), 2 one piece outfits for Makenna, 1 dress..obviously for Makenna, and 1 pair of shoes. (and if that doesn't add up to 57...oh well...I woke up pretty early....so my math skills are not in the best shape.)

Oh, and get this all the pants I bought for Luke...they actually fit him including the Husky pair of jeans I got him!!! Yay!!!!!!

Shopping and a Park

So, thanks to my friend Amy calling me on Wednesday, my friend Mindy went to Target and bought all these cool scrapbooking things in the $$$ spot. Then thanks to Mindy, I went to Target today..and well....spent a little bit of money. See!!!!!! In the first picture everything was only a dollar. Then second picture is stuff I got from Big Lots. Thanks a lot you evil friends. You guys are bad influences!!!
Since the boys behaved so well while I was shopping, I took them to the park afterwards. Took a couple pics while I was there.