Note - I am on an extremely high-profile project at work that has consumed all my time and brain-cells so this post is going to just be full of randomness… In fact, I think I started writing this up last Thursday and am only just now posting.
I have wanted to begin posting on a semi-regular basis of what Carissa’s current ‘favorites’ are. Since some things change so often with her, I think it would be a neat thing to look back on. (The desire is also probably stemming from the fact that I watched The Sound of Music a few weeks ago.)
Let me know if you can think of another favorite to add to the list.
Color: Blue (has never changed despite my best efforts to encourage purple)
Movie: She doesn’t have anything currently that she wants to watch over and over again like she used to do with The Aristocats or Cars. If I had to pick three, I would say Fox and the Hound, Lion King, and Snow White. She also really likes an old VHS copy of Disney Sing-A-Long songs that she found at Nana’s.
TV Show: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
Clothes: Carissa’s favorite thing to wear is her Lightning McQueen PJs or her Thomas PJs. For street clothes – T-shirts, shorts, and sneakers is her ensemble of choice. And, the T-shirt cannot be something that doesn’t care for (like pink) and it must have a character on it that she likes (such as Mickey or Lightning).
Place to go: On our Fridays together, she will generally request we go to the zoo, the park, Chuck E Cheese, or Target.
Thing to play: Carissa wants to paint everyday so I guess that is it!
Song: I have a Disney CD in my car and the first thing she requests is Hakuna Matata from the Lion King. I have to get her on tape singing ‘It’s our prob-rem flea… Feelasophee!’ (It’s our problem free…. Philosophy)
Book: No real favorite other than some mini-books on colors. She likes to ‘read’ them me.
Favorite thing to do with Momma: Go to Target and watch cookin’ at bedtime
Favorite thing to do with Daddy: Probably play on his Iphone. She has her own page of apps and knows the code how to unlock it and access her games.
Favorite meal: Dino-nuggets, french fries, ketchup, apple juice (yeah, we're still working on the water/milk thing)
Favorite candy: Jelly beans, Hershey kisses, chiclets gum (preferably from the bank)
Favorite treat: Blue snow-cones that I bring to Pa's after work
Favorite toy: Carissa still carries her 'whobbie' wherever she goes, but that isn't really a toy. I guess would lean to her stuffed animals, particularly the dogs. Among others, she has Bolt, Buster, Clifford, and Pluto all hooked up to collars and leashes that we got at the $1 section at Target. She will talk to them and give out instructions too - kind of like a little girl would do with a tea party with dolls, but without the tea... and the dolls.
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Sorry, but I also have to share my CVS Deal of the Week: I bought $47.92 worth of products for $2.14 plus $6 in ECB’s for next time. How’d I do it?
- CVS had these nice 3M Hooks on Sale 2/$5 (from a regular price of $6.99!?!) plus if you bought $15 worth of 3M products, you got $5 ECB for your next purchase printed with your receipt
- 3M had a coupon on their site for $2.50 off 3M Hooks
- I printed off 6 coupons, got 6 hooks for free plus $5 CVS coupon back
- I had another $3 off a Lumene product coupon. Most of their stuff is in the $15-$20 range, but they had some kind of $2.99 make-up wipe refill pack so I used the coupon to get it free
- Just so I didn’t get to the register and owe nothing, I also bought a toothbrush for $1.99 that had a $1 ECB that printed
Now, I will confess that I honestly have no need for 3M Hooks or those make-up wipes or really that toothbrush right now. But, if CVS wants to basically give them to me for free plus some ‘money’ for next time… I’ll take it!
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I subscribe to several ‘deal’ blogs through my google reader. Most (if not all) highlight the ‘Drug-store Game’ and have at least a weekly post about the amazing deals they have gotten at either CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid. Considering that there is a small CVS downtown and two big ones on my way home, I finally decided to give it a go…. And have had some unbelievable results!
Now, if you ever go to a typical drugstore, you know that their everyday prices are not comparable to the prices you can get at Walmart. BUT, what the drugstores do have is some type of rewards program – CVS has ‘Extra Care Bucks’ and Walgreens have ‘Register Rewards’. In the weekly ads, you’ll generally find several products that are on sale and coupled with a reward printed with your receipt that can basically be used as cash on another transaction.
Now, these sites that I have in my reader literally do ALL the work for you so it is a total no brainer. They look over the Sunday ads, search the web for coupons that match up to the deals in place, and give you the links to print them off. And, the deals are generally for stuff you would buy anyway like toothbrushes, sunscreen, deodorant, etc. (Granted, we do have about three bottles of shampoo and four tubes of toothpaste under the sink that resulted from these adventures – but they will eventually get used and they were practically free!)
I have not done Walgreens yet, only CVS but check out a few of my transactions to see what I’ve managed to get!
April 21: Out of pocket - $2.99
1 Dove Skin Revitalizer
1 Edge Infused Shave Gel
1 Two pack Speed Stick Deodorant
1 Rightguard Deodorant
1 Lumene Cleanser
1 Lumene Eye Makeup Remover
Regular CVS Prices - $44.44
Total Out of Pocket - $2.99 PLUS $2.89 Extra Care Bucks for next time
How’d I do it?
- Dove Skin Revitalizer (reg price - $12.99) was on sale for $4. Matched with a $3.75 off coupon = $0.25
- Edge Shave Gel (reg price - $3.29) on sale for $2.89 – got $2.89 ECB’s
- Two pack of speed stick for me (reg price - $6.19) clearanced out for $3.10
- Rightguard for Travis (reg price $4.50) clearanced out for $2.25
- 1 Lumene Cleanser (reg price $10.99) coupon for $5 off - $5.99
- 1 Lumeme Eye Makeup remover (reg price $6.49) coupon for $5 off - $1.49
Total after coupons = $15.97. But, I had some carry over ECB’s from last week totaling close to $13.
Resulting in a total out of pocket - $2.99 (Now, the deodorant was not on my initial list as they were not advertised clearances. Had they been, I would have likely had more coupons!)
April 14: Out of pocket - $1.49
2 bottles of pert plus
1 box of raisin bran
1 tube of colgate enamel protectant toothpaste
Regular CVS prices ~$15
Total out of pocket - $1.49 PLUS $5.99 ECB’s for next time
How’d I do it?
The Pert was on sale 2/$5 and I stacked it with two $1 off coupons = $3.00
The cereal was on sale for 2/$4 – stacked with $1 off coupon - $1
The colgate was on sale $3.99 – stacked with $1 off coupon - $2.99
Plus $6.99 ECB’s from a previous trip
Here is my favorite site for the deal breakdowns. After she posts it, people will comment with their own deals beneath it so you can get even more ideas.
Try it! I know it looks completely overwhelming, but the bloggers really do all the work and research for you - all you have to do is print out the coupons and make your list! Have fun!
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If there were any doubt that Carissa isn’t my child, it was exhausted this past weekend.
The Bunny left Carissa the board game Hi Ho Cherry-O in her basket, and we pulled it out to play that afternoon. If you have never played the game or forgotten how, it is basically a counting game. Each player has a ‘cherry tree’ that you fill with ten cherries. The object is to be the first player to remove the cherries from your tree into your corresponding basket. You accomplish this by using a spinner which is divided into seven sections. The sections are – 1) remove one cherry from the tree and put in your bucket; 2) remove two cherries; 3) three cherries; 4) four cherries; 5) a dog (replace two cherries in your bucket back to the tree); 6) a bird (replace one cherry); and 7) a basket with an arrow (meaning to replace all the cherries back to the tree).
Now, if you have ever played a board game with me, you know that I can be a little, um… competitive. To the point that I can get creative with my adherence to the rules of the game. Ok, ok, I cheat at board games. There! I admitted it!
Anyway, back to the story… We were playing Hi Ho Cherry-O, and Carissa won the first round and wanted to play again. We loaded up our respective trees with the plastic cherries and commenced playing. Carissa was on the verge of winning, when she hit the section on the spinner to put all the cherries back on the tree. She was ok with this, until I emptied my tree first thus winning that round. (Now, did I gloat to my sweet little three-year-old daughter that I was the winner? No way! Well, maybe a little. Ok, ok, I did.)
She looks at me (with a glint in her blue eyes): “Let’s play it again, Momma.”
When it was her turn to spin, it looked like she spun the spinner in such a way to hit the much desired “four cherry removal” section.
Travis and I looked at each and conversed with our eyes, “Did she really just do that?” “I’m not sure?” “I think she did that on purpose.” “Don’t call her on it yet, it may not have been.” “Hmmm, Ok”
I had my spin, Travis had has, and it was back to C. AND SHE DID THE SAME THING! That little stinker!
That little Cherry didn’t fall far from this Cherry tree!
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We had a great holiday weekend! Friday after I finished with work, we had lunch with Pops and Grandma Ronnie for Veronica’s birthday. They met us over at the house, and we got to show off our new floor, TV, and movie room. We then went off to Floyd’s and got there just in time for the start of crawfish happy hour! Woohoo! We had two HUGE platters of mudbugs along with fried pickles and crab legs.
Saturday, we had Easter lunch at my mom’s with all the extended family. Carissa and I made a chocolate cake with candy surprises inside – we dropped Reeces peanut butter eggs throughout the cake. I forgot to tell Travis about it, and he came outside to ask me about it with a funny look on his face. He said something to the effect of “I thought you just did a box cake? There was something different about it.” He did quickly point out though that it was a ‘good’ different! The eggs melted into the cake so you got a yummy burst of chocolate and peanut butter. We’ll have to do it again!
After a delicious lunch of turkey, dressing, sausage, ham, casseroles, bread, etc etc, Carissa got to hunt for eggs again at mom’s house with her cousins. She came away with over $8, tons of candy, and other goodies. The favorite was some sparkly nail polish and a little lip gloss and glitter set. After the hunt, C went into the heated hot tub for the first swim of the year.
Saturday night, Travis went to play poker with Jake, while I got to stuff the eggs for the Easter Bunny to hide for the hunt at our house. The Bunny must have heard that rain was in the forecast because he smartly hid the eggs inside the house. Carissa woke up early the next morning and was out the bedroom door before we could call her back. Exclamations of “WHAT?! HUH?! Oh my gosh!” was heard….
I’m guessing that the Bunny must have had a little too much fun shopping at Target, because Carissa sure did get quite a bit of loot! The Bunny also kindly left Travis and me a little something so no one was forgotten.
After the hunt, Travis and I got dressed for church and had a wrangling and negotiation session with Carissa on her choice of ensemble. (We finally settled on a pastel short set after much red-faced crying and screaming.) We met up with Ryan, Valerie, mom, dad, and Janet and Roger (my parents friends from Vegas) to go to church. We selected the ‘Contemporary’ service at the FUMC-Pasadena thinking that if C misbehaved, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal. Turns out, she did really well, especially during the singing parts. I think that her daddy’s arms were a little tired from having to hold her the whole time though!
We went back over to Mom’s for Easter leftovers lunch, and then headed back home to watch Madagascar 2 and Bedtime Stories and eat some of the candy that was left by the Easter Bunny. I’ll have you know that I only indulged in ONE Cadbury Crème Egg. I opened it on the premise that Trav and I would split it – yeah, didn’t happen. But, wow, it was oh soooo good and worth it!
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Today is Good Friday and a holiday for Travis. It is supposed to my RDO Friday, but…. With my new project at work, I’ve had two mandatory conference calls this morning and was given one pretty intensive task to be completed as soon as ‘reasonably’ possible (corporate code for you better do it now) despite it coming to me yesterday at about 4:47pm. Luckily, I’ve finished the task and should be done with the second call shortly so I will be able to enjoy the majority of the day with my favorite guy and little gal.
We’ve been pretty busy the past few weeks. We spent my bonus on a new TV for the living room thus satisfying Travis’s long-term wish of having a flat-panel TV mounted above the fireplace. (It is kind of ironic that we spent Trav’s bonus on the Disney trip that I wanted, and my bonus on a TV that he wanted. But, both purchases make all of us happy and that is what counts!) I must say that it does look awesome though! Not just the TV itself, but the quality of the HD cable. Wow, what a difference. I do have to get used to the Comcast DVR in lieu of my beloved TiVo, but we are working our differences out.
Carissa got to spend a Saturday night with her Grammy for a girls’ night. They went to Target, the science museum, IMAX, butterfly center, and just enjoyed some good quality time together at the house watching movies, playing kitchen and store, coloring, and all the other good grandparent things. Pat has an embroidery machine and has been very busy putting all of C’s and her cousins’ favorite characters on clothes. Carissa even picked out a blue dress to put Donald on! What?!
Travis spent a couple of days in New Jersey for work. Carissa was so funny when she talked to him on the phone. She was very concerned about where Travis was going to sleep, but really perked up when he told her about the train and airplane rides. Travis brought home a Webkinz bunny for Carissa, and we got it set up on the system. She wanted him to be a boy-bunny and named him Cotton-Candy. She has also deemed that next time Daddy goes to New Jersey, he will bring home a girl bunny for her Momma. (I had wanted Cotton-Candy to be a girl, but Carissa reasoned with me that Trav would bring me my own next time.)
Last weekend, we had two egg hunts to go to. Carissa really got into it. The Pearland Parks one was so crowded. I felt like mother-goose flapping my wings around my baby to keep her from getting trampled on by the over-zealous parents ‘helping’ their kids get their eggs. She ended up with six eggs, which was perfect because that is just how many she said she wanted.
We had much better luck at my Dad’s KC Hall hunt. They only had about half the kids that were expected, so Carissa got a TON of eggs in her basket. So much so that we filled up her basket twice! Her favorite candy has been the tootsie-rolls – but just the brown ones.
I was also very pleasantly surprised (and relieved) that Carissa walked right up to the Easter bunny for a picture. You always hear of stories of toddlers being scared to death of the characters at Disney. It looks like she’ll do just fine!
Speaking of Disney, I paid the bill yesterday! Woohoo! As Peter Pan says, “Here we go! Off to Neverland!”
Have a very Happy Easter everyone! (Yes, I just refrained from writing HOPPY Easter! Well, maybe not!)
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