Quickie Family Vacay {Daytona Beach}

I know it's been awhile... Let's just say I "lost" my camera connection cord and have been in the process of turning my house upside down, all along, thinking that Baby S had something to do with it hiding from me.  Today, I had to apologize to her. I had to apologize for blaming her silently in my head as I became frazzled and frustrated. I had to apologize because she had absolutely nothing to do with my very common forgetfulness.  You see, I just bought this new purse.  

It's somewhat of a downgrade upgrade from the suitcase I've been carrying around for the last year and a half, lugging diapers and bottles and snacks and toys and wipes and and and....you get the picture.

Last week, the family and I took a little weekend dash to the beach.

It was so much fun and quite relaxing...

If you call relaxing taking a soon to be 2 year old to a large body of water

whom doesn't know how to swim.

No worries there though...

She wasn't very interested in having the water touch her... AT ALL

Well in my hurried packing... look where I stashed my camera connector.

Let's just say, I'm brilliant and keep it moving, OK?

Here are a few more pics of our trip to the beach minus the hubs ;(

 Baby S. didn't know what to do with the sand exactly. She just dug and threw...

After awhile, we stuck to the kiddie pool

Here is one of the kids in Publix.

That's my nephew, isn't he a cutie?

That one is hands down my favorite even though it has nothing to do with the beach.

Just look at their faces!

They love each other!

Meet my big sis and momma.

Momma looks pretty great, Huh?

Thanks for letting me share these memories! Smooches!



One Spot {Makeup Pouch and Key Chain}

 Want to know a simple fact about me? I LOVE Target! I HEART Target! Target makes me SMILE!  I could go into Target for deodorant and walk out with a basket full of goodies and ask myself, "How did that happen"?  I love their super stretchy tanks that go on sale to $5 bucks in the spring. I love walking up and down there aisles like I might find a gold mine if I search hard enough. I love the kids bedroom decor that I keep telling myself that I would've loved something like that when I was a kid. In fact, Target, makes me feel like a kid. A big kid leaving with a big smile until I realize that I may have to do some explaining for my purchases when I come home. Well, you can imagine my excitement when Target put in the "One Spot" a few years back. I could come home with a bag of goodies to play with with out breaking the bank! A few weeks ago, I scored this cute little purse that is totally meant for a child but I just knew I could do something awesome with it.  

 What I was going to make, I didn't know but it became quite clear that whatever it became, it would be a simple project.

First, I detached the ribbon strap and bow from the bag. (Save them for later, you can use them)

Remember my Rose Magnets I made? Well, I used the same idea but instead of attaching the flowers to magnets, I attached them to the front of my purse... like so...

 Isn't that the cutest thing?!?! Now, I don't have to dig for my essentials (mascara, lip gloss, Visine) It all fits perfectly in this little bag and is so easy to find ;)

Now, remember the ribbon strap and bow that we removed from the purse? Yep! We are going to use it to make a key chain!

 I found a set of six key rings at Hobby Lobby for a buck seventy five.

 Put the ribbon through the key ring.

 Fold the ribbon in half. Hot glue the end, roll it twice and hot glue again. That will ensure it doesn't come apart. I then attached the already made bow (from the purse) to the bottom and embellished with different beads. Have fun with it!

If you make either of these, email me pictures! I'd love to see what you come up with!

Couponing for Coupons

I've always hated junk mail. In fact, we stop at the trash can BEFORE we get to the house to avoid the unavoidable build up of clutter... mostly.... junk mail.  Well, a few weeks ago my very sweet neighbor sent me these crazy text messages with pictures of all of her goodies that she got with messages beneath saying something along the lines of... "All of this for just $11 bucks"

 I'm thinking in my head... WHAT?!? That's at least a hundred bucks worth of stuff and it's all items that I buy and use on regular basis. What am I doing wrong here?

 Then, she tells me that she just keeps all of the Q's (coupons) from her mail along with her Sunday newspaper and keeps eyes out for good deals.  Well, if anyone knows me, and they knew I was going to take on yet again, another project, they'd say in their very careful and gentle voice... Kris, you don't need to put anything else on your plate. Well, I probably should have listened to them and my horoscope but why would I not jump at the oppurtunity to save my family money?  So, with that being said, I bought my first Sunday paper and found a few really awesome blogs that not only will teach you how to use your Q's to your best advantage but also, they will tell you where to shop and where to look to find the Q's to go along with a good deal.

 (This is from one stop at Rite Aid a couple weeks ago) Tell me how last week, I walked out of Publix with over $100 buck worth of stuff for $24 dollars? Think I'm joking? Heck no! This is my third week and so far have cut my grocery bill down to a third of what I was spending. The hubs doesn't even mind spending one of our movie nights on the couch next to me while I flip through the deals because at the end of the day... that extra money is going towards something even better! We desperatley need a new washer and the goal is to put that extra moolah to good use! Here is what we are saving up for ;) 

Still don't believe me? Try it for yourself! Here are a few oh so helpful blogs to get you started...

couponmom.com

Southernsavers.com

Mojosavings.com

P.S. On all of these sites, there is a section that says, "Learn to Coupon",

I recommend reading this before starting cause' it can get a little confusing.

Anyhow, have fun, save money, and let me know what you find for amazing deals!

I also have to shout out to Kristie for putting up with my late night phone calls with stupid questions about can I use this on that or that on this? LOL. LOVE you grrrll!