Jenna's flag ceremony

On January 16th the first grade did flag ceremony for the whole school. Jenna had a speaking part in the program about the history of the American Flag.

"The 50 stars stand for the 50 states in the United States of America."

My little performer LIVES for this kind of attention!

It works at Harmon's too!

Paid: $27.90
Saved: 48.03
Plus, earned 10 cent/ gallon gas coupon!

I always think of Harmon's as a bit pricey, but grocerysmarts strikes again! Can you see all that stuff? If not, there are 4 boxes of Honey Bunches of Oats, 2 boxes Raisin Bran, 10 boxes Wheat Thins (a favorite at our house), 3- 2Liter bottles of Coke products, 3 gallons milk, 1 lb Roma tomatoes, 1 dozen eggs, 1 box of paper clips (to organize my growing coupon collection), and a York peppermint patty- my reward for such hard work!

The cereal came out to 1.16 each and the Wheat Thins to .66 each!!!

I love this!

On your toes!

This one keeps me on my toes- non-stop! Here's Lydia wanting to be part of a ballet class that she cannot attend! She waits outside for a total of 1 1/2 hrs while her sisters have class.

Luckily, she has cousin Emma there for the first half to run around with. They can see their reflections in this panel so they go over there to watch themselves dance and be silly.

More than meets the eye

Why am I intrigued by this transformer video?

A part of history

We watched the hoopla that was the Inauguration of President Obama yesterday and my girls were so excited! Jenna kept saying over and over that he was the first! black! president!!! Aubrey kept jumping up and down each time she saw him. I'm glad they were excited to be a part of this truly historic moment. I know Jenna will remember it and Aub will probably remember a little about it.


As we were watching, Jenna remembered something she had seen in the kitchen earlier and returned with a part of the Sunday newspaper. She felt it important to decorate for the occasion like this:


We also waited anxiously to watch the "Go Utes" in the parade. Of course, they were nearly last, so it took a few hours. To pass the time we had the atlas out to find where each float, group and band came from. (Delaware was in the same place every time!)

My observant girls kept noticing how bored the President's girls were during the parade. (If it had been in Moroni they could have scored some good taffy and Otter Pops!) Jenna told me after that the parade must have been much more exciting for Mr and Mrs President than for their girls. (I think they looked bored and plastered with fake smiles the whole time, especially her!)

Anyway, I wasn't thrilled when he was elected, but I do pray that he is successful in guiding our country and thus the world. We have such a huge impact globally and a great responsibility in this blessed nation. I pray for wisdom and good judgement for him!

Family goals

Inspired by my friend, Crystal, we made family goals last night as part of Family Home Evening. I thought I'd throw these out there for accountablility purposes.

As a family, our goals are to 1.LISTEN- Do what you're asked when you're asked. 2. Family prayer and scripture study at 8:30 everynight, whomever is home will stop what they are doing and participate. 3.Watch less TV (We still need to clarify and quantify that one) 4.Happy bedtime and everyone sleeps in their own bed all night long.

Corrine: Eat healthier, get the house organized, Do the 5K run in Moroni on the 4th of July, Read scriptures with Tim at night
Tim: Run the race with Corrine, Finish 10 books, including the Book of Mormon, Resolve the truck issue.
Jenna:Get ready without being asked, Learn how to do the monkey bars, use words to resolve arguments- count to 10.
Aubrey: Be nice, Learn to read, Get dressed without being asked.
Lydia: Get potty trained, play safely, put on jammies by herself.

I'll let you know how things are going throughout the year.

Ok, gotta go watch the Utes Marching Band in the parade. Later!

Aubrey- on ballet

As were getting Aubrey ready for dance Thursday, I was reminding her to listen to the teacher. She told me enthusiastically, "Oh, I will Mom! I want to be an artist of ballet. Then I can teach Maclaine my moves. And when he's mean to me, I'll just ignore him and keep doing my ballet."

I'm sure Maclaine is on the edge of his seat waiting for private ballet lessons!

I have to show you this...

UPDATE: I forgot to give you the passport. When you go to grocerysmarts.com, enter the passport g84ckv and it will put you through to the Utah stores. Chose a store and go from there. If you have questions, let me know. Happy shopping!

You might be sick of my shopping trips, but I have to show you how today went. Just be glad you aren't my hubby or sisters who have to hear every detail!

I went back to Walgreen's to try to get the last few things I had coupons for, and this is what I got. It came to exactly $4.00. They were still missing a few of the things I wanted, but I think I have enough cleaning supplies to last me the rest of the year. (I try not to clean too often, creates unrealistic expectations. Ü)

Then I went across the street to Smith's. I did two separate transactions so I could use both of my $5 off from the Happenings book and my baby club rewards. That pile of diapers (8 pkgs Huggies diapers and 2 pks Pull-ups) cost me $76.22 with tax. Then I got everything else there (2 lbs cheese, 3 Lean Cuisines, 4 Dannon Activia 4 packs, 2 large Powerades) for $4.36 with tax!! Grand total: 80.58. That's way less than I usually pay for just the diapers!! (I also got a 10 cent fuel reward, too)

I had another $6.50 I could have saved if I had been paying better attention and grouped things better- next time I'll know!

I also have a rain check for DanActive yogurts drinks that will be $1 for a four pack and for some Suave lotion that will be FREE!!!

I'd like to promise that this is the last time I will photograph my groceries, but that's a promise I'm not sure I can keep. Feel free to skip these posts!

Lydia's farewell to Christmas

All Christmas season Lydia worked on her cute "Merry Christmas." I finally got it on video, so here's her farewell tribute to the holidays.

I am her mother, so think she is the cutest thing ever. I hope you enjoy it too!

It worked!

So, we had a great time last night at our Grocery Smarts class. Thanks to all who were able to come. If you couldn't come and want to have the lady come teach a class to your friends/family/ward, you can find her here.

The key that grocerysmarts.com uses is combining manufacturers coupons with sales, and store coupons too, where possible. That way the item is already on its best price when you use a coupon on it to get it even cheaper.

I just started getting the newspaper on Sunday, so my coupon inventory isn't huge yet, but I decided to start with Walgreen's since they have their own coupons from their ad, take manf. coupons/ printables, and have a monthly in-store coupon book. You can use up to 3 coupons ON ONE ITEM THERE! I just made a quick list from grocerysmarts and headed out to try it. HOLY CRAP! IT WORKS!!

I paid in two separate transactions because the Pepsi gave me a $5 coupon for my next purchase, and there were a few other things that had limits, so I broke those into two groups. Here's what I got:

5-12 packs Pepsi, 4 boxes Kleenex, 4 rolls Bounty paper towels, 5 pkg Halls cough drops, 4 cans Glade air freshener, Lysol toilet bowl cleaner, Lysol wipes, 2 boxes Fiber One bars .

For all of that I paid 34.47 and saved 35.04 off their regular prices!

They were out of a few other things, so tomorrow I will go back and get (or demand a rain check for) Oust Air sanitizer for FREE, Scrubbing bubbles flushable wipes for .89 each, and Fantastik cleaner for .89 each. Yeah!!

In case you are wondering if it was hard or time-consuming, I was in and out in 20 minutes (because I actually had and used a list) and I had my 4 and 2 yr old with me. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

Time to refinance?

I really will blog a regular entry again someday, but in the meantime, here is a shameless plug for my awesome mortgage guy, who also happens to be my awesome dad.

If you are needing to refinance or are buying a new house, CALL MY DAD! He will take great care of you and is one of the best in the business. I know people always worry (rightly so) that they are getting taken advantage of when they get a mortgage. I have the same fear when buying a car! My dad is honest and knowledgeable about his business. He has been in the banking industry for all of my life, so he knows how to get things done.

Anyway, rates today for a 30 yr fixed loan are 5%, and for a 15 yr fixed they are at 4.5%- most people would be lowering their monthly payment at those rates. Keep in mind that with the recent financial crash, lenders have stricter requirements, so if your credit isn't great you rates may be higher. Call him and see what he can do for you! Tell him you know Corrine.

Gary Lloyd at Associated Mortgage 232-1466
(By the way, he didn't ask me to do this, I just want you to know where to go for a good experience and hopefully help you out.)

Grocery Smarts Class

Just a reminder, my grocerysmarts.com class is tonight at 7pm. Let me know if you need more info.

Come Learn How
To Feed a Family for A LOT less!
· Shop at only 1 store – no running around town!
· Buy all of your family’s groceries, household, and personal care items (including diapers) all for about $180 a month for a family of four – while building massive food storage at the same time!
· NO clipping and filing individual coupons! Very quick and easy! A HUGE way to save money!
· Eat a healthy, well-balanced diet and have ease in meal planning!
· FREE WEBSITE and FREE CLASS – there is no cost to attend and no cost to use the website!
What could your family do with hundreds extra every month? Bring friends! For more information please call Ku’uipo Vea at Grocery Smarts at 801-963-0968 and visit www.asweetsale.blogspot.com

One last thing to say...

Not to beat a dead horse, but here is some light reading for u.

Go Utes!!