An Almost Free Saturday.

We decided to have "special time" with the kids on Saturday. We had no plans for the weekend and that was fine with us. J had a day planned for the boys, but those plans fell through. He asked me for some suggestions and boy did I come up with some. It was 9am, so I quickly called Lowe's to see if they had a workshop going on. They did! She said they were making snowmen and it started at 10. The boys got ready as I looked for some coupons for their next event. I found some coupons for free miniature golf and go cart rides. I also gave him some coupons for a free kids meal and ice cream. I think he spent under $5 for their whole day. I had a girls day out with M and my Mom. We went to the craft fair at the soccer field. I didn't even know about it, my Mom told me. She is not a craft fair person at all and she couldn't believe I didn't know about this one. I was going to take M out to the one in Tarpon and then we were going to eat lunch at our favorite restaurant. M loves Gyros! We parked at the day care down the street from the fair. I had to park there last time because the place was packed, so I figured it would be a good place to park this time too. My Mom said they were charging $2 for parking at the other lot. I saved money and didn't even know it. Great start. There weren't that many craft vendors set up. There were a lot of businesses with booths. My Mom found some earrings that she was looking for and a few other things. She wanted to buy me some earrings, but I wouldn't let her. She did end up buying me a cake server. M went on a free pony ride. I donated some money since they are rescued ponies and I know it will go towards a good cause. After the craft fair, I was going to take M to the one in Tarpon. She wanted to go home instead. I am not sure why? I offered to take her wherever she wanted to go, but she refused. We ended up going home and doing some crafts of our own. She painted a pony bank, we baked cookies, made egg bread and muffins. She kept saying "Mommy, isn't this a nice day staying at home?" She kept on looking out the window to see if the boys were home. I finally asked her if she wanted to come home to wait for them, she said yes. We were about to snuggle up and watch Mickey Choo Choo in my bed when we heard the boys. Well, they had a special guest with them, NaNa! The kids were so excited. J said we had the rest of the night to ourselves. I took a small nap and then we went out to dinner. We went to the Sake House for sushi. We got home pretty early, but it was still nice to go out to dinner.

I slept in on Sunday and then went to the grocery store. I had 2 different transactions. One of them was only .60!! That check included 8 McCormick grinders, 2 Sunsweet Ones, 3 Philadelphia cream cheese blocks, 16 Organic juice boxes, and Lipton tea bags. I love coupons!! The next order was way more expensive. It was a whopping $15.66. That order included 8 McCormick spices, 4 coffee mate flavored creamers, 8 boxes of crackerfuls, 4 boxes of ritz, 4 boxes of wheat thins flatbreads, 1 Cuban bread, 3 packages of Publix deli meat, 1 package of swiss cheese, and 2 bags of Lays chips. We were making Cubans for lunch today, and serving chips on the side. The bag person was telling me that I was a really smart shopper and she uses coupons too. I donated some of the crackers on the way out. They have the box for the food bank set up at the store. Talking about donating...the other day M and C kept saying "we can put this in your shelter." I had no idea what they were talking about until today. A few days ago I was cleaning out my closet and my dressers and I put everything into a bag to donate. Well, I found C's stuffed animal in the garage and I put it in the bag. He said "what are you doing with my animal?" I said "I am putting it in the bag for the shelter." At first he put up a fight, but then he understood and wanted to put more of his things in the "shelter."