target this week

hi koo-pon-ers!
just thought i'd share the things i am going to try to get for cheapy cheapy at target this week. i sifted through a lot of blogs to find these, i skipped over the very processed foods and things we just don't need.
anyhow, some of these are FREE, so if you get the paper start saving your koo-pons!

Philadelphia Cream Cheese – $0.99/ea

Use $0.55/2 here (IE) or here (FF)

Final Price = $0.72/ea when you buy 2

Airwick Freshmatic Ultra iMotion Starter Kit – $6/ea (Price Cut until 4/10)

Use $5/1 in 3/7 Smart Source insert

PLUS

Use $1/1 Target coupon here

Final Price = FREE

Dove Daily Moisture Shampoo or Conditioner – $3.44/ea

Use $2/1 here

PLUS

Use $1/1 Target coupon here (exp 4/17)

Final Price = $0.44/ea

Band-aids (select kids, others) – $1.77-1.82/ea

Use $1/1 Target Coupon here

PLUS

Use $1/1 in 1/3 Red Plum insert

Final Price = FREE

Oral-B Stages Cars, Hello Kitty and Winnie the Pooh Toothbrushes – $1.99-2.29/ea

Use $1/1 Target Coupon here

PLUS

Use $1/1 in 2/7 P&G insert

Final Price = FREE-$0.29/ea

Crest Kid’s Toothpaste (4.6 oz) – $1.67/ea

Use $1/1 Target Coupon here

PLUS

Use $1/1 in 2/7 P&G insert

Final Price = FREE

Gillette Fusion Razor (1 ct) – $4.99/ea (will likely vary by store)

Use $4/1 in 2/7 P&G insert (exp 3/31)

Final Price = $0.99/ea

Johnson & Johnson First Aid Kit to Go – $0.97-0.99/ea

Use $1/1 in 1/3 Red Plum insert (exp 3/31)

Final Price = FREE

Johnson’s Buddies Soap – $0.97-0.99/ea

Use $1/1 Johnson’s Baby in 1/3 Red plum insert (exp 3/31) or here, here and here

Final Price = FREE

FREE $10 Gift Card wyb any 2 HP Single Packs or Photo Value Pack Ink

(Excludes HP 02 Series Ink. Most likely varying prices- 2 shown are 56 or 94 at $23.49)

FREE $5 Gift Card wyb 2 Select Tampax & Always Products

Extended Gift Card Deal valid 2/7 – 4/10. 

Many different types and price points included. 

-$2/1 Always Infinity Save 14ct or larger 3-7-10 PG x4/30

-$2/1 Tampax Pearl or Compak Pearl 18ct or larger 3-7-10 PG x4/30

-$1/1 Always Pantyliners Save 34ct or larger 3-7-10 PG x4/30

-$1/1 Always Pads Save Clean or Feminine Cleansing Cloths 3-7-10 PG x4/30

-$1/1 Tampax 18ct or higher 3-7-10 PG x4/30

Skippy Peanut Butter 15 or 16.3 oz $1.79

-.75/2 Skippy Peanut Butter Products (any variety) – 03-21-10 RP

Scott 12pk 1,000 Sheet $7.49

-$1 off 8-pk. or larger Scott bath tissue TARGET COUPON PRINT

-$1 off 8 or more rolls of Scott Extra Soft Bath Tissue PRINT & PRINT

-$1/1 Scott Extra Soft Bath Tissue 8 ore more rolls 3-21-10 SS x5/2

Degree Deoderant 2.6 – 3oz $3.29

(ad shows Ultra Clear but I have added in other matchups in case)

-$1/1 Degree Men or Women PRINT

-$2/1 Degree Ultra Clear Women’s PRINT

-$1.25/1 Degree Girl Anti-Perspirant and Deodorant HERE

-$3/2 Degree Girl Anti-Perspirant and Deodorant HERE

-$1.25/1 Degree Men Invisible Solid & Deodorant HERE

-$3/2 Degree Men Invisible Solid & Deodorant HERE

benefits to the belly

i'm half asleep on the couch while Ethan cuts out the squares for my
quilting project. some days having a baby belly is fantastic.

speaking of eggs...

EDITED: NEVER trust a recipe from a pregnant woman. as michele pointed out, i missed a vital ingredient. highlighted below! these are pretty sweet, nice and cakey. alison, i have a better recipe for you.  i'll email.

this is a great breakfast recipe for egg sensitive kiddles.  and really for anyone else since it's soooo easy and the ingredient list is short.

Orange Rolls

1 white or yellow cake mix
2 pkg. yeast
1 t salt
2 c flour
2- 2½ c flour
orange filling (recipe follows)
orange frosting (recipe follows)

Combine cake mix, yeast, salt, and 2 c of the flour. Mix. Add 2¼ c hot water.  Add 2- 2½ c flour and knead until well mixed (or just leave in your mixer with a dough hook and let it get nice and kneaded).

Let rise until doubled.

Push down dough and roll out into large rectangle. Spread orange filling. Roll up and cut into 1½ inch slices. Let rise again until doubled.

Bake at 350 for 20-22 minutes. Frost while still warm with frosting.

Orange Filling
Mix together:
2 T plus 2 t butter, softened
4 T sugar
2 t orange juice
1 t grated orange peel

Orange Frosting
Mix together:
2 c. powdered sugar
4 T orange juice
1/4 t grated orange peel

happy birthday kari!

look!  i remembered TWO friend's birthdays in a row!  i'm on a freaking roll here.

next up, kari.

first off, she doesn't have a blog. i think that's tragic... hint hint.

why kari is great:

• she's a good mother. but not good enough to leave me alone in my panicking. if i need someone to feel and feed my panic, i call kari.
• also, crafty. meticulously so. she has been known to stay up until the w.e.e. hours of the morning to finish projects, primarily for her kids. who are always in handmade halloween costumes and easter dresses.
• she is a very very good writer. so good that she never would have just written 'very very good'. she'd come up with something much more descriptive and perfect. if i wasn't so disorganized i'd post one of her poems i salvaged from our apt in college.
• honestly, make her share a poem with you.
• she makes dinner every night and there is always milk in the house.
• sometimes, her house is not perfectly clean. sometimes there is a sock in the living room and a dish in the sink. but that's about as bad as it gets. since i have found only insanely clean friends in my life, i find great comfort in knowing there is probably a sock on her living room floor.
• just talk to her oldest child for 5 minutes to get a very good understanding of what an effective mother she is. not just good, effective.
• she'll kick your trash in lake powell, at every lake related activity.
• it's her fault i like dr pepper. that little ad on the right side of my blog, primarily her fault. i didn't like dr pepper before i met her, now i can't tear myself away.  but i think it makes us cool.
• if you need a book to read, call kari. i have called her from a book store at least three times in my life and she talked me through panicking about buying the wrong book.
• the title of this blog was unabashedly stolen from her. also: big fat jerk, paralyzed by indecision and pantie-waist.

happy birthday kari! 

as soon as ethan and my boys stop coughing i'm going to bring you a cake!  (remember i am pretty disorganized so this may happen in the middle of april.  alison still doesn't have hers.)

happy birthday alison!

happy birthday to the lovely alison.

why alison is great

• she is a stellar photographer.  primarily self-taught.  she is posting daily photos on her blog now.  it's private, but if we know who you are she'll gladly add you.
• her style is simple and clean.  alison was the first person i knew who regularly de-junked.  everything in her home serves a purpose.  there aren't any odd piles of things in the corner and things are rarely in disarray.
• she is a healthy eater and she makes it taste good.  her kids get healthy snacks (except for today when we couldn't talk 4yo into a nice lunchable instead of mcdonalds!)  she turned me onto quinoa, it may have saved my life!
• she is also a fantastic baker, and she enjoys doing it.  she takes her time, cleans as she goes and almost always ends up with something lovely to present.
• she is generous.  to ethan and i especially.  
• she is honest and freely shares her views, without offending
• she's crafty!  as evidenced by her blog, she's one crafty mama.  i'm surrounded by crafters!  alison and i also run this little blog.  a loooooong list of things we'd like to find time for.  sadly we haven't sewn together in months
• she's outdoors-ey without being totally irritating about it.  she camps, she snowboards and she's good at all of it.
• she recycles without being irritating about it!
• she'll kick your trash at any hollywood related trivia!
• she made these lovely little ladies, and raises them with more energy than i could ever muster!

i am making you a cake, but you won't get it until sunday!   

happy birthday alison!

preschool!

bubby's preschool has a blog this year- yippee!

you can see him here, last on the right. i quite like his little green outfit. especially since there was a frantic rush to find something green as we ran out the door to preschool.



and a few photos from discovery gateway.

they're mine! ALL MINE!

take a look at my sister's blog to see some of the adorable dresses that are now hanging in my baby's closet waiting for her arrival. i think there are about 15!

parenting is sooo much easier when everyone you know tackles it before you! :)

help! i don't know me!

i need to write a bio for myself, by tomorrow night.

if anyone has any suggestions... let me know. just leave a comment.

you can start the comment with "Emily is super awesome because..."

ok. not really. just tell me what you think i do all day. that should work.

attention egg allergy moms!

i have finally found a pancake and waffle mix that does not contain eggs AND doesn't call for eggs in the preparation!

occassionally i read the ingredients on various pancake mixes to see if there is a reasonably priced, not ultra-fancy organic mix that has nothing to do with eggs. we've had several fails. including purchasing a few Bob's Red Mill mixes because we read the directions wrong. (in our defense, the directions are tiny and it's hard to concentrate with kids in the shopping cart) we have an egg substitute Ener-G Egg Replacer, it works fine but it's kind of a complete failure on cookies and such. and not so great on pancakes.

thanks aunt jemima, i want to kiss you!

speaking of, a few cereal companies have released retro boxes of their cereal. do you think aunt jemima will? i think not.

p.s. if i had to pick and allergy for my kid, it would be eggs. it's pretty simple to avoid and doesn't cause much more than itching and a slightly upset tummy. but i still hope he grows out of it!

koo-pon follow up

first off, i say koo-pon and cray-on. but i am not the person to ask about speaking. everything is a too quiet mumble. i am happy to report the poll shows cran is totally the loser. ha! stupid cran.

i have only had one or two successful koo-pon-ing trips. one was to target at christmas time, and i must say, it was epic. i've had some success with target gift card offers, but beyond that i am lost. my parent's give me the koo-pons from their paper, honestly i like getting the paper but it was cut out of the budget long ago. a lot of coupons you can print. this is kind of an issue for me because i think printer cartridges are a big fat money making machine. they must be overpriced.

but. i have been training. there are a few blogs i read, they help tremendously. they tell you what to do and when to do it. it's a lot of work, but basically pretty simple. i have them all in one folder in google reader and i scan them all at once pretty fast. when i plan a trip to target i scan through and just read the target posts. beware, all these blogs post numerous times a day!

someday soon i hope to make a weekly trip to the grocery store with lots of savings. just as soon as i get my brain back from my uterus!

Never Pay Retail Again: good for more than just groceries, lots of retail stores and what-not. (meghan, i think they are in FL)

One Cheap Chick: from the SL Trib. good for local UT deals, not grocery.

Stretching a Buck: great for target stuff.

Totally Target: also good for target deals.

Utah Deal Diva: this one makes me tired. she spells it out pretty clear but there is so much work! but worth it for local grocery lists.

40 a Week for Food: another very good grocery blog.

did we just cheat?

so more than 30 days ago i bought two pairs of super fancy maternity jeans at the gap. $69.50 a piece. i went on the lucky "whole store is 40% off, 50% if you have a gap card" day so my total for both pairs of jeans was $76 instead of $139. (not $69.50 because they take the 40% off and then the 10%, or something like that).

fast forward more than 30 days later i decide the unworn beautiful jeans are not going to be used much since they are long, i am prego and many many flats are in my future. no heels when i am prego, i'm too klutzy.

so i send them with ethan to be returned. i send ethan to do all my returns because i've found that the less you know about the return the better they treat you. since he is mr. nice guy (when not on the radio) everyone treats him like their favorite neighbor as he shrugs his shoulders and says, "i don't know. my wife just said to return them."

he just called to tell me that since the receipt is over 30 days old the jeans cannot be returned and credited to my gap card. she has to process them as a regular return with no receipt, giving us a gift card for the amount the jeans are selling for today. happily, the jeans are still full price. so in the mail is coming a gift card for $139.

i think we just cheated. but the gap knows we did it. there is a friends and family sale going on right now, 30% off your entire purchase. if i was a less than honest person i'd stock up on several pairs of fancy maternity jeans and forget about them for 31 days. sadly, i'm pretty honest. so that saves us a trip to provo.

we deserved some good news, we deserved a break this snowy gloomy day. thank you gap. now just stop making your clothes so "tween-ey"! and banana republic get over yourself. old navy, keep it up.

that is all.

note to all: DO NOT get a gap card. it is one of the very worst credit cards i have ever had. high late fees, odd rate changes, total crap. even though we scored i am still canceling the card now. like the gap, hate the rules.

in which there are too many toes

beware. feet. ew. lots of feet. but entertaining nonetheless. and they both have pretty non-mangled non-gross feet. but still. feet.

ew.

nerd!

i think that maybe i am a nerd. not the smarty pants glasses wearing one, the socially awkward one. i am pleased as punch that the internet has created several ways for me to communicate with the outside world NOT using the phone. i hate the phone. if you have a phone conversation with me it's going to be awkward, no matter who you are or how long i've known you. ask ethan, i'm a whole other idiot on the phone. i must be enjoyed in person to be fully appreciated!

anyhoo, in my nerd-i-ness i have become addicted to a podcast from the lovely people at howstuffworks.com. there is a lot of information there and many podcasts, but my heart lies with "The Stuff You Missed in History Class". i didn't realize until after high school and college that my attention span is total crap. i mean absolute total crap. i would read my assignments, do my homework, listen in class and be totally confused that i was essentially a C student. i tried hard, i just couldn't remember anything at all. now that i know my weakness i have been trying, in tiny ways, to re-live my education. this podcast is a huge part of that. it's absolutely fascinating to me. even while i listen i know i am missing tons, and most of the information i forget two days later. but it doesn't matter, because nobody is testing me on it. learning just to learn is sooooo much easier, clearly.

i have one complaint. there is one girl on the podcast who keeps saying anyways. i have a hard time trusting an expert when they use that word. (anyhoo is totally fine, 'cause everyone knows that's totally fake) another issue, on the early podcasts one girl has an odd accent that i can't place. it's the same as the waitress on the cool whip commercial who says cream like it has a k and she is trying to swallow her tongue. it's a little irritating.

but i highly recommend it to anyone who has time. they are short and sweet.

a few favorites:

• Did Genghis Khan really kill 1,748,000 people in one hour?
• What was in Peter the Great's cabinet of curiosities?
• How the Donner Party Worked
• How did Rasputin really die?
• Why is there an underground city beneath Beijing?
• Did Marie Antoinette really tell French peasants to eat cake?
• How can a corpse be incorruptible?
• Why were some Japanese soldiers still fighting decades after World War II?
• How the Black Death Worked
• How Typhoid Mary Worked
• Who was the real Bluebeard?
• Toussaint L'Ouverture and the Haitian Revolution
• Who would have been the Nazi king?
• Rival Queens: Mary Stuart and Elizabeth I

check it out.

question for y'all

do you use coupons? the every week in the newspaper coupons? do you double them? is your brain fried after your weekly grocery shopping trip?

i have been trying to be a coupon-er, but it's not going well. so i wanted to see just how many people actually put the work in, because the rewards seem huge.

isn't she lovely...

that's right: she

honestly i know these ultrasound pics probably drive some people crazy, so i'll just share one. the very sweetest one. i'm sure i don't have to explain that it's a profile. barely created and already she's lovely.


and it seems i will never have to purchase anything for this child. i thought having a girl would mean buying loads of stuff, but friends and family make it so much easier when they drop off loads of clothes. amy brought over bags and bags of clothes and a big box of shoes (and she didn't even make me open the door to show her my appalling dirty house)! my sister sent a suitcase full of dresses, mostly handmade. and not just little sundress easy handmade- smocked! (for a good smocking example look at the collar on this lovely dress) more on my sister's sewing genius on her blog the polkadot chair (it's kind of a big deal these days).

now i just need an infant car seat, tiny size pajamas, maybe a good baby carrier and a car to fit three car seats and we're set!

dine and dash

ethan works on his "rick steves" dreams:

weird. and all because i hate magenta.

interesting results. take the quiz here. (found via How About Orange)

The Dewey Color System® is now the world's most accurate career testing instrument.
This report based on your personality traits indicates your two most enjoyable day-day-day occupation skills. It’s a summary of the full report, the Color Leadership Evaluation 5.0.
“Studies indicate workplace enjoyment is the key to success. So as you read, consider only “Was I mostly having fun at work?” Disregard your present and past employer’s environment.

Best Occupational Category
You're a CREATOR
Keywords
Nonconforming, Impulsive, Expressive, Romantic, Intuitive, Sensitive, and Emotional
These original types place a high value on aesthetic qualities and have a great need for self-expression. They enjoy working independently, being creative, using their imagination, and constantly learning something new. Fields of interest are art, drama, music, and writing or places where they can express, assemble, or implement creative ideas.
CREATOR OCCUPATIONS
Suggested careers are Advertising Executive, Architect, Web Designer, Creative Director, Public Relations, Fine or Commercial Artist, Interior Decorator, Lawyer, Librarian, Musician, Reporter, Art Teacher, Broadcaster, Technical Writer, English Teacher, Architect, Photographer, Medical Illustrator, Corporate Trainer, Author, Editor, Landscape Architect, Exhibit Builder, and Package Designer.
CREATOR WORKPLACES
Consider workplaces where you can create and improve beauty and aesthetic qualities. Unstructured, flexible organizations that allow self-expression work best with your free-spirited nature.
Suggested Creator workplaces are advertising, public relations, and interior decorating firms; artistic studios, theaters and concert halls; institutions that teach crafts, universities, music, and dance schools. Other workplaces to consider are art institutes, museums, libraries, and galleries.