Stockpile pictures

Just some of the stockpile that we've got over the last couple of months. The stuff in the garage I pretty much got from Walgreen's two weeks ago during the P & G promotion. All the blue boxes are stuffed with razors, toothpaste, toothbrushes and body washes. I estimate we have enough laundry detergent to last us at least 2 years (there is another 12 bottles inside). Ok, maybe 3 years. Dishwasher liquid - we are good to go on that too.

Most of the pantry I keep in date order, so the pink post it notes say "use this row first". It is a great way to stop things expiring on you.

The pictures of the freezer are after we ran it down in preparation for vacation. Unfortunately, HT and Bi Lo then ran triple coupons and I ended up stocking up on some free (or profitable) ready made stuff, like pizzas and bread. You should have seen the freezer after the steam fresh veggies promo - a whole shelf of box veggies. Very tasty and good for us. Only about 20 boxes left now.

We still have cereal and oatmeal up the wazoo and it should keep us going until spring next year. What can I say "they paid me to take it out of the store".

I haven't even shown pictures of the boxes in the spare room and the toilet paper and paper towel store in the attic, and the stacks of diapers and wipes ...........

My only problem, apart from storage, is I'm running out of stuff I have to buy because I'm stockpiled up the the rafters. Really, I am.

I did manage to donate a box of items today that are going to a female soldier in Iraq (via some friends). It is Memorial Day after all, made me feel good and got rid of some things I was going to donate to the Women's shelter anyway. Win, win - saved me the trip.

Now, if I can just have another yard sale in the fall and make lost of $$$ for the Disney trip I will be happy.

The Never-ending foil

Seriously, we have had the same roll of foil since we came to America in 2001. Seven years with one roll! We are getting a bit worried because it looks like there is only another couple of years left. It is not like we don't use it either. I don't know, it just seems to go on and on and on. I think it was 1000 feet when we bought it at Sams or Costco all those years ago and at the time it seemed like a lot of money but with hindsight it has been worth it.

Maren the Minx

Just cute pictures of our little minx Maren.

Daddy makes a pond

It all started when we were putting up the fence around the tomato / vegetable patch. Ian used a hammer to put the first post in and as the words "I'm not sure which way the water pipe goes" were leaving my mouth, he hit the pipe, cracked it and created a fountain. The girls and dogs thought it was great and Ian just ran for the yard fence, leaped over and disappeared down the drive. I was left there thinking "ok, that might have gone better". Is my husband a coward? It turned out that he was sprinting towards the water main to shut it off. Good thinking husband. If it was up to me and my reactions it would still be spouting water now.

Ian assessed the damage, dug down, found the pipe, went to the store, bought the necessary supplies, fixed it, turn on the water, turned off the water, bailed out the hole, fixed it again, turned on the water, turned off the water, bailed out the hole, fixed it again......... You get the picture.
At time of writing the leak is fixed (not sure if it will last but .....) and my tomato plants are still not planted. Ho hum, maybe tomorrow.

Last day of School / Romay's Graduation

School is out for summer! Romay had her preschool graduation on Friday and thinks she is moving up to "Kindigarden" - her word not ours. We are glad she is excited about starting at McAlpine in the fall but can't believe our wee baby is growing up.

The girls don't care that school has ended and are just happily looking forward to the Y pool opening this weekend.

Strawberry Fields for ever

Last week, the girls and I went strawberry picking at a really cute place in the south of Charlotte. I think they should weigh the kids before they start, and after they finish, because although Maren and Co are quite small they can pack the strawberries in those little tummies.

We had a great time and came home with two punnets of berries which I had to clean.

I feel the earth move under my feet

Weekend of the 12 tonnes of dirt for the landscaping. The girls had a blast - Ian did not!

This was them on top of the heap.

37 cents - I was robbed

Technically I handed over $3.37 for all this but BiLo gave me a $3 oyno (on your next order) catalina so the actual cost is 37 cents. We also got 10 individual pizzas (thanks to Dandylion for the coupons).

The girls and I made a game out of this shopping trip - we had to guess how much it cost before coupons. Actual cost $225. Maren was closest at $200, then Sawyer at $180 and Romay $150 (oh, Romay you know Mama is going to save big bucks not a measly $150). The winner got a baseball bat, second place a set of baseballs and runner up got a catchers mitt. All in very girly pink from Target. Now, who can we get to teach us about baseball?

All this for 45 cents

What can I say - 45 cents seems like a good deal. That included my lunch sub, 2 lbs of deli ham, yogurt, waffles and lots of frozen morningstar products and asian sensations (they are in the freezer so aren't shown).

Now what on earth am I going to do with 18 hot sauces?

First post - Pups at the Park

The pups and I at the dog park - happier times - just minutes before I discovered my car had been broken into. They stole my coupon binder, carry tote and have shaken my faith in people. I was so upset I was crying. I'll start collecting coupons when I get back from my "rehab" month. Imagine a whole month without coupons and warm weather!

Anyway, I hate to swear but whoever broke into my car was a bad, bad person. They cost us $250 to replace the window and binder (without the contents which were $$$$ worth) and gave Sawyer nightmares.

On a lighter note my eldest DD/ Romay gave me a laugh when she told me that there was "some bad man out there trying to use Moms coupons but he wouldn't know how to use them and wouldn't get any good deals because triples were last week!" Maybe if the "bad man" learnt how to coupon he wouldn't need to steal - heh?

Ian suggested that it might have been a hit by one of the grocery stores because I saved too much during the recent triple coupon trips. Maybe!! LOL.