Happy Halloween from the Patterson's!

The Great Grocery Challenge - Week 2

My first stop was at CVS on Sunday. Their sales weren't too great this week, but I did pick up milk and a free pack of wipes. I spent $3.05 (saved $2.99). See below for the rest of my purchases.

Target: $14.81 (savings of $24.11) -- But, this was on a gift card, so $0.00!

Walgreen's: $2.70 (savings of $9.83)

Meijer: $31.57 (savings of $32.94)

I also made a stop at Beauty Brands - bought hairspray for $2.14. (They just opened a few weeks ago, and I received a $10 off a product purchase in the mail.)

And, I made a 2nd stop at Walgreen's for their 4-day sale - spent $1.52 (saved $7.50), a 2nd stop at Meijer - spent $4.94, and a stop at Sam's for formula - spent $40.32.

So, my total for this week is $86.24! This was a savings of $63.26 (not counting my Target purchases). If it hadn't been for the formula, I would have met my goal. Just a few more months of that! This is still less than I was spending before couponing though!

Drake with Push Toy

Seriously!! Can this kid slow down?? He is learning something new every day. I just can't believe it.

Check out what he is doing today:

We also had his 9 month pictures taken today! I was a little worried with the crazy weather we were having earlier this week, but it was perfect. The sun was shining, and Drake didn't care that it was only 40* outside. He even smiled for a bunch of the pictures so I can't wait to see how they turned out.

Climber!

Ever since Drake has figured out how to crawl, he has been all over the place. He's usually chasing one of his balls into the kitchen, under the table, to the area where Kahlua's food/water are, to the front door, and grabbing the petals on my plant. He has shown little interest in the stairs...until last night. We might be regretting this in the future, but we actually encouraged him once he got up on the landing. :-)

{good thing daddy was there to catch him!}

{at the top!}

Drake also got his first "boo boo" at daycare today. Our sitter has a gas fireplace, and Drake touched his hand to the glass (the fire wasn't on). It was still pretty hot since the pilot light was on, and he got a blister on his hand:

It doesn't seem to bother him though because he is still crawling everywhere.

The Great Grocery Challenge Week 1

I've decided to participate in The Great Grocery Challenge found here. In the past, we were spending about $100/week on groceries. At that time, I was going to Meijer once every two weeks and using some coupons. Now, I am stockpiling, visiting Meijer, CVS, Walgreen's, and Target about every week. My goal is to get our shopping down to $50/week including formula, dog food, etc.

This challenge is making me more aware of what I am spending and providing some accountability so I'm pretty excited about it.CVS: $5.30

Target: $5.55 (but, it was paid on a gift card, so $0.00!)

Walgreen's: $20.19 (Still learning on this one. I should have done multiple transactions to use some RR's that I had.)

I also spent $48.13 at Meijer this week.

So, my total was $73.62! Not too bad, but I've still got some work to do. :-)

This week's CVS trip!

I haven't posted any of my deals in a while so I thought I would share this week's CVS trip.
Buy:
2 GM Cereals - 2/$6
2 Cheez Its - $1 each
2 Colgate Toothpastes - $2.99 each
2 John Frieda Hair Care - $6 each
1 Dawn Hand Renewal - $0.97
1 Dial - $1.99
1 Candy Corn - $0.99
1 shampoo - $0.10
Sub-Total - $30.03


Coupons:
$1.00/2 GM Cereals
$1.00/2 Cheez Its
2- $2.00/1 John Frieda
$2.00/1 John Frieda (CVS Coupon)
$1.00/1 Dawn Hand Renewal
$0.99/1 Candy Corn (CVS Coupon from the machine!)
$5/$30 CVS Coupon (from email)
$10 ECB (from last shopping trip)
Sub-Total - $24.99

Paid - $6.56

Received - $11.98 in ECB!


Total Savings - $34.69 (84% savings!!!)

Rader Family Farms

We have had an unusually warm weekend here in Central Illinois. Jason's work had free tickets for a local family farm/pumpkin patch so we decided to take Drake.

Checking out the animals in the petting zoo area.

First time sitting on straw....he didn't mind at all!

I'm really glad we didn't have to pay to get in since we only stayed about an hour. It was so warm and Drake was really too small for everything, but it worked out perfectly.

I think Drake will love it next year when he can do a little bit more. They had a ton of fun things for kids to do!

Birthday Weekend

This past weekend, we headed north to my brother's house for our birthday celebration. The weather was a little warmer than last year which was good since we were going to my nephew's football game on Saturday morning. Most of Mitchell's cheering section

He's on the red team...and they won!

The boy cousins...Drake, Mitchell, & Reid

The birthday group - Mitchell, Kelly, Jarrod, & Chad

I think Mitchell liked his new bag...what do you think?! It was even filled with fun things like marshmallows, powdered donuts, gum, and a card game.

It was a great weekend. But, now we've all come home with colds. :-( I took Drake to the doctor this morning and it appears he has the start of his first ear infection. It was fun to see what he weighs now...17lbs 7ounces! He's on an antibiotic and will hopefully feel better soon.

8 Months!!

Dear Drake,

You are eight months old now! We can't believe how big you are getting. You have changed so much this month!

This month you started crawling (9/15)! You have mastered that plus moving from laying down to sitting up like a pro. You've even learned how to pull up on everything...including your crib (9/17)! You will leave one hand on something and reach for something else, too. I think you'll be cruising the furniture soon!You have three meals (started lunch on 9/18) and take four bottles a day. You also tried meat (turkey) for the first time. Your pincer grasp is getting SO good! You really like puffs, yogurt melts and lil' crunchies for snacks. Momma gave you a biter biscuit to try. You did a great job, but momma was still too nervous when you were eating it. I think we'll wait for a little while to try it again. You've tried some table food (Ritz cracker, peas, green beans, macaroni shells, mashed potatoes, breadstick, eggs). You seemed to really like the cracker and breadstick, but you weren't too sure about the rest of it. We're still working on the sippy cup.
You LOVE Kahlua. Anytime you are down on the floor, you immediately crawl to her. Unfortunately, I don't think she feels the same way because she always gets up and moves. :-)

This is one of your favorite toys along with the music table!
You have also learned how to reach up for us. But, you only do it when we come to you with our arms out.

You took your first airplane ride and have visited five states now - IL, WI, TN, KY, & AZ!You still LOVE your baths and being outside. Both of those things cheer you up right away! You went on a baby swing at the park for the first time!
You're wearing size 9 months clothes. You are in size 2 diaper during the day and size 2-3 overnight. We are still loving the Pampers overnight and Huggies or Pampers during the day. We'll be transitioning to size 3 when the last few size 2 diapers are gone.
We love you so much and thank God for blessing us with you!

Happy 8 month birthday, Drake!

Love,
Momma