Mama's Little Loves: July 2009

Thursday, July 30, 2009

I came home tonight with, well, lots and lots of stuff much to the consternation of Caleb. A very frustrated and annoyed husband looks over deals and responds, "They don't need any of that!" Which of course refers to the kids. Which I then respond with, "No, but it is fun. And Piper's birthday is coming up. And I want to stock up for the garage sale." Excuses, excuses.

So my question to you is this: when does the stocking up and the deal grabbing become too much? When do you stop? And finally, HOW do you stop once you have started?

First up is Piper's birthday presents. Here is what I got.

A pack of playdoh normally $9.99 marked down to $2.24. Dora and Diego figures normally $12.99 marked down to $3.48. A twirly wand that she carried around with her everywhere in the store normally $4.99 marked down to $1.98. And lastly a "princess wand" that Ambry wanted to get her normally $2.99, marked down to $.98. A grand total of $8.68. I didn't think that was bad. I was planning for $10.00 for her birthday since I thought that was plenty to spend on a 3 year old's birthday.

So what do you think? I was already planning on bringing back one of the wands. One sparkly, twirly, fun light wand is plenty. Would you also return the Dora and Diego figures? Granted she really likes watching those shows and has a Dora bike now courtesy of Poppa and Grandma. Like I said, when is too much, too much?

And onto the HUGE purchase for the night. Here is what I got.

4 Partini games regularly $20.00 each, marked down to $5.00.
3 Hyper Jump games normally $14.99 each, marked down to $3.72
3 markers $1.00 each (they were the bright colors as opposed to primary...again begs the question when is too much, too much?)
1 Kids Mircroscope normally $39.99, marked down to $9.99
2 V-Tech games regularly $24.99 each, marked down to $6.22
1 slip and slide regularly $9.99, marked down to $6.99
3 Cranium Cadoo games regularly $15.00 each, marked down to $3.75 each (I didn't get charged for one of these but the coupon still came off without beeping. Crazy!)

Total normally for all this would have been $272.93!!! Yikes! But I ended up paying $21.08...HUGELY, GIGANTIC SAVINGS!!! (I used Target coupons on the games to get them so cheap.)
BUT, did I really need to get all of that? Did I really need to buy 4 Partini games instead of just one? Who cares that they were free? Insert a small but resounding "ME!" here. The Hyper Jumps were free...the Cranium games were free...and since these were below the $5.00 coupon, I made money for buying these!

And what makes it worse when I get home and put everything in it's place--because you have to have a place if you are going to buy that much stuff--is that I wanted to go and get more of all the things that I could get for free. Because in my mind it makes sense to get things if they are free. Nevermind that I will eventually run out of space. Nevermind that there are only so many birthday presents that you can stock up on.

Blah, blah, blah I say. Unfortunately Caleb doesn't agree with me. And this is where I need your input. Do I stock up on things when they are free? Is there such a thing as too much "free stuff"? What would you personally do? How do you draw the line on too much "free stuff"? I would definitely appreciate any comments you leave. Thanks ahead of time!!!

Labels: deals, Miscellaneous

// posted by Sharon @ 9:30 PM 3 comments

Monday, July 27, 2009

My $38.38 trip to Meijer! Details to come later. :)

Labels: meijer

// posted by Sharon @ 9:34 AM 1 comments

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Aunt KK stopped by a day last week and was so sweet and brought the girls an ice cream cone. Seriously, this is probably their first ice cream cone they have ever had from McDonald's. :)

Ambry says, "Oh Mom it is so hot. It is a perfect day for ice cream!."

The always very photogenic Piper.

So cute.

Thanks again Aunt KK!!! That was so nice of you and you know how the girls LOVE seeing you!

Labels: Ambry and Piper pics

// posted by Sharon @ 10:23 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Really, 2 days in a row, Piper? At least no one can say she doesn't have personality/character! This is how I found her watching a movie with Ambry. Purple swimming goggles and cheesy chex mix.

This is her "can't you see I'm busy Mom?" face.

Showing me her chex mix. :)

She's special all right. :)

If I took pictures of all the things this girl does...my computer would be seriously overloaded with pictures. Just yesterday, she got into my face lotion and I caught her behind the chair in the living room smearing it all over her face, arms, and legs. Next she got into the chapstick stack and put "lipstick" everywhere. At least she only applies it to herself and not everywhere else. A day in the life of Piper is definitely an interesting one. :)

Labels: Piper pics

// posted by Sharon @ 10:30 AM 0 comments

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Piper has a serious love of peanut butter. But she doesn't want to eat it on bread. She asks for apples in order to get peanut butter. But she doesn't eat the apples, she just dips them into the peanut butter and eats just the peanut butter. She has such a love of peanut butter that she asks for it for a snack. And apparently if I say "No" she will still get it out of the cupboard and eat it anyway. :)

This is where she was showing me how she got it out of the jar. Lovely, right?

Look at that face. Pure joy.

Labels: Piper pics

// posted by Sharon @ 10:26 AM 0 comments

Friday, July 10, 2009

Piper's first haircut in a, well, in a long time. She really needed it too. I didn't dare cut it too short though. I only took off about 2 inches.

See? Kind of scraggly lookin'.

A sucker for sitting so still. :)

And the haircut. Not too much taken off. Just enough to clean it up a little.

Maybe someday I will dare cut her hair all up to its shortest layer. But for now I like her hair a little longer.

Labels: Piper pics

// posted by Sharon @ 1:50 PM 0 comments

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Fourth of July pics...we went over to my brother's house--Gerrit--for Fourth of July. Lots of food, games, and awesome fireworks that we got to watch right from his front yard.

Piper anxiously waiting for the parade.