Poor baby!

Ezra woke up with a fever and stuffy nose yesterday. Today, he has fever, stuffy nose and cough.  I hate when he gets sick. I always feel so bad for him. It is never fun. Today, all he wanted to do was watch Elmo and cuddle on the couch. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the cuddling. Since I am such a sucker for him, I baked him some cookies today. Me, him and daddy enjoyed them together. I hope my poor guy feels better soon!

Bakugan Battle Brawlers

At 5 a.m. this morning, I embarked to Wal-mart.  I know, Walmart on Black Friday, not fun.  My nephew is a big fan of Bakugan and I know how much he would love the video game for his Nintendo Wii for Christmas.  And anyone that knows me, knows I have to get the cheapest price possible.  I love saving money.  Needless to say, Walmart was the only store that had it on sale and a good one. They were selling the game for $25 which retails for $50. I have been shopping on Black Friday for years.  It is a tradition I do every year but I never shop Walmart on Black Friday.  That is another tradition...lol. Well, I was at Wal-mart looking all over for the game.  If anyone has ever shopped at Walmart on Black Friday, they know that finding something there is so hard.  I was starting to get bummed because I was there almost an hour and could not find the game. I finally found it in a stand by the groceries of all places.  I was so happy when I saw it.  There were only two left!  VICTORY!  When I held the small item in my hand, all I could think is the things we will do for the ones we love. Especially the children.  I could only imagine when Ezra gets older and really wants a certain item, how I will go that extra mile to make sure I get it for him.

Thanksgiving Day!

Thanksgiving was a hit!  We enjoyed spending time with the family. Ezra had so much fun playing with his cousins. Here he is with all of his cousins:

Ezra, Jenna, Jacob, Nathan, Elijah

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

I truly have so much to be thankful for!

I love Thanksgiving!  It is so much fun to have the family together and enjoy each others company. I am so blessed. I have a wonderful family and was blessed to marry into a family that I love so much. Tomorrow, Abe and my family will be coming over.  We always have a good time together. Ezra will be able to play with all of his cousins.  I always love watching him interact with them. Of course, everyone will chow down on some good food.  The men will be watching football while the ladies go through the black friday ads. I hope everyone enjoys their Turkey day!

Gap is having a great sale!

Gap.com is having a GREAT sale!  Sweaters for men and women and fleece for kids and babies at 50% off. If you combine it with a 20% off code GAP20, you will save even more.  Woohoo!!! You can get men's sweaters from $16 and women's sweaters from $14. Not too bad!!! Free shipping on $50 or more. These always make great Christmas gifts!

Santa Buddies Disney Movie

Ezra loves dogs.  He gets so excited when he sees one and says "doggie, doggie" over and over again.  It is so adorable. So, today we went to pick up the movie Santa Buddies.  I can't wait to see how he reacts when he watches the movie.  Target has the blu-ray combo movie pack on sale for $19.99. It includes a blu-ray and standard dvd. There is a $10 coupon you can use for the combo pack. Here is the link to print the coupon:  Click Here for Coupon

Enjoy!!!

Baking With Ezra - Peach Cobbler

Ezra and I baked a Peach Cobbler.  It was so yummy and of course fun with my little guy. It is such an easy and quick dessert.

1 cup of all-purpose flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup margarine, melted
1 (29 ounce) can sliced canned peaches, drained

 ground cinnamon

1.Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2.In a large bowl, combine flour, sugars, baking powder, salt and vanilla. Pour milk into dry ingredients and then stir in melted margarine. Mix thoroughly.

3.Pour mixture into a 9x13 inch baking pan. Arrange peaches on top and sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes.

Here we are baking together and yes that is my preggo belly.  Ezra enjoyed placing the peaches on the dish. He also enjoyed tasting them!

Staying on a budget

Spent $128.37

Saved $97.67

Just finished my grocery shopping trip for Thanksgiving and food for the week.  Didn't do too bad!  I started couponing about 2 years ago and now I can't stop.  Trust me, there are days that I don't want to do it but the guilt of spending more money than I need to kills me. It does take work and time, but I find it to be worth it. I have put us on a budget of $300 a month for groceries and other household items.  Every grocery trip, I log in the amount I spent and saved in an excel spreadsheet. I also have a monthy calendar that I write out my meals for the week.  I base my meals on the meat that is on sale and my stockpile. So far this month, I have spent $274 and saved $183.  Sometimes with coupons, I end up getting free stuff.  Like today, I got a free Rachael Ray magazine and mozzarella cheese.  I will be heading to walgreens later today to get my free reynolds wrap with coupon.  Well I am off to enjoy my Rachael Ray magazine while my italian beef is cooking in the crock pot for dinner!

Baking with Ezra

Last week, Ezra and I baked Apple Dumplins together. They were delicious! I wasn't sure how he would do or if he would even like it.  To my surprise, he loved it.  We had so much fun together. He helped me place the chopped apples on the dough. Of course,  he took a few bites into the apples and placed it on the dough. It was the cutest thing ever.  When we brushed it with butter and sugar, Ezra decided to lick the bowl of sugar dry.

Because of the great bonding experience and watching him enjoy helping mom bake, I will be doing this with him weekly.

My little helper

Yum...some good tasting apples.