Happy Valentine's Day

We are having a nice family day at home for Valentine's Day. Josh and I went out last week to celebrate our 11 year dating anniversary. We usually do that instead of going out and fighting the crowds on V-Day. Hannah is quite the popular girl this holiday. She has gotten lots of fun presents. Growing up, my dad always got us girls presents, while my mom got presents for the boys. I thought this was a fun tradition that we could continue in our family, so Josh and Hannah exchanged presents. I got lots of chocolate from my dad and from Josh-that should help me lose my last 10 lbs of baby weight :)

Indianapolis Shopping Trip

On Saturday, we had a girls shopping trip to Indianapolis. Jody, Hannah, Courtney, Caroline, and I headed over at 8:30 in the morning, and we did not get back until almost 11:00 at night! What a long day! One of the best parts about the day was that I ran into Amy Troyer at Crate and Barrel! All of a sudden, I hear "STEPHANIE DOWNING!" Amy was coming out of the store as I was going in. How fun is that-It was so good to see her!! We had originally scheduled the shopping trip because Jody wanted to get Hannah a Valentine's Day dress at Janie and Jack. They only had one Valentine dress, and we weren't that in love with it, so she ended up getting her lots of spring and summer clothes instead. She also got her first pair of sunglasses, which match her new swimsuit. Now we are ready for the warm weather to come!!!

Mom Blogs

I got everything in the picture above for $6.18 (Two ocean spray juices, Two boxes of Kashi granola bars, 7 Yoplait yogurts, 1 Huggies baby wash, 4 Johnson's Buddies soaps, 1 Package Quilted Northern Toilet Paper) Since I started staying at home, I have got onto "mom blogs." There are tons of blogs totally devoted to saving money and being frugal. I have found that many of the moms who write these blogs are Christians and are practicing Christian principals. Jennifer actually gave me the web address for one of my favorites. It is: http://freebies4mom.blogspot.com/ She references and links to many more blogs, which will in turn send you to even more blogs... the savings are endless. You will find that many will post a picture of what they purchased at the store and how much they spent. I was excited about this, so I am posting a picture of my last trip to Target, where I spent a total of $6.18 using a combination of Target and manufacturer coupons. What a deal!! Also, at my last big shopping trip to Wal-Mart, I used almost $40 in coupons! I am actually getting things for free a lot, or sometimes I even get paid for "buying" things after my coupons! I have been clipping from the Sunday paper and printing lots of online coupons. It takes time, but it's rewarding!