Coupons coming out in Sunday's paper

Click on the link to see the coupons that will be in the paper tomorrow, Sunday July 26 The listing is from someone in Virginia but I usually get the same ones in my paper.

CVS 101

If you want to jump on board the coupon wagon, you have to know about CVS. CVS is where the best deals are had. Since the first of the year, I have saved $1056 at CVS with only spending around $60. And, I am just a casual couponer. There are others way more serious about it than I.

The coming week would would be a great week to get started with CVS Extra Bucks deals. They are having a sale on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday only that has many school supply items that will be free with Extra Bucks. You can find the deals starting tomorrow by clicking HERE.

Here is an example of one of this weeks deals.



My goal here is to give you a brief overview on how to get started without overloading you. We shall see! It does become quite overwhelming .


First, get your CVS ExtraCare card.






You can sign up online but, you'll have to wait to get your card through the mail. If you want to start with this weeks deals, just go in the store, tell the cashier that you want to sign up for an Extra Care Card. It will only take a few minutes and your card will be ready to use immediately.


next, earn EB (Extrabucks)


How do I earn Extra Bucks Rewards?

* Earn 2% back with every purchase in-store and online at CVS.com.
* Earn 1 Extra Buck for every 2 prescriptions purchased in-store and
online at CVS.com.

How do I get my Extra Bucks Rewards?

* Every 3 months your Extra Bucks will print on your store register receipt, or
visit CVS.com to print your Extra Bucks.
* Spend your Extra Bucks at any CVS/pharmacy or online at CVS.com the next time
you shop!


But, the big savings are found by getting EB trhough the weekly and monthly promotions. You can find the weekly circulars at www.iheartcvs.com.
EB are earned through promotions, such as “Buy XX, receive $YY in eb.” The EB print at the end of your receipt on the trip that you buy the qualifying items - clip them and keep them as carefully as you would cash.

♥ The required amount to receive the eb is calculated before coupons.
♥ You do not have to buy all the products for that particular promotion in the same transaction or at the same store.
♥ eb coupons can be used to purchase nearly anything in the store. (excluding prescriptions, alcohol, tobacco, and Gift Cards)
♥ you cannot get change back when you spend your eb's. they can be entered as less than their face value (if your cashier knows how), for example if your total comes to $1.97 and you have an eb for $1.99 that you would like to use, and you don't mind losing 2 cents
♥ eb coupons expire 4 weeks from the date they are printed.



You can also get items free by combining coupons with deals.

For Example- Colgate toothpaste is 1.99 with 1.00 EB making it .99 cents. But, by combining that deal with a 1.00 off coupon, the item is free. And occasionally, you will come across a deal where toothpaste is 1.99 with 1.99 EB back and then, use a 1.00 off coupon and this my friend, is what we call a MM (or money maker).

And because of these sort of deals, the following is an overview of CVS' coupon policy.


CVS accepts manufacturer's coupons, including ip (internet printable) coupons. CVS also issues their own store-specific coupons. you can get these by email or printed out at the end of your receipt (these are referred to as CRT's - cash register tape).

Both EB and CRT coupons are linked to your CVS account, which means you cannot use them without the same CVS card that earned them. It used to be that we could share email coupons, but recently that has been changing a bit. It seems most of the item coupons (like $1 off gatorade) can still be used with any extracare card. however the $$/$$ coupons (like $3 off $15 or more purchase) will beep and the cashier will receive a message that the coupon was not issued to your card.

The CVS coupon policy allows for the use of one manufacturer and one CVS coupon on the same item. often a very good deal can be had when you combine a CVS item coupon and/or a manufacturer's coupon on an item that gives back eb's.

Hopefully, this will be enough info to start you off. The best way to really figure the system out is to just try a small purchase.

Blessings,
Dana

I'm praying for you Dana. I Can't Imagine What you're Going Through...

Those were the words that came from my Aunt Nancy in an e-mail. I think I heard an audible laugh come from myself when I read those words.. They were written in a response to an update on Chloe's heart condition. What I thought but didn't write back, was that she was the precise person that came to my mind when I thought of the one person I knew that probably did understand what I was going through. And, that my greatest fear was that I would be her, living the life that she has lived but with the inability to live it as gracefully.

I like to think that it was my age and not insensitivity that caused my lack of understanding of the severity of the situation. It never crossed my mind that Christmas was probably much different for her and I wonder now, if she wondered, (still wonders) if every Christmas she enjoys with her son would be the last. Maybe she just never allowed herself to have those thoughts. I'm not sure..

Before I explain myself, I feel the need to express that I am looking at things through an altered lens. My details may be off.. It's information that has been told to me here and there in pieces. None the less, they are the pieces that form the picture in my head. I am the youngest of 15 grandchildren. Ten on my mother's side and five on my dads. The older I get, the more I realize what a different picture that I see as opposed to the picture that my older cousins see. They remember things more clearly than I. They see a younger version of everything.. My cousins disease was old news by the time I was old enough to understand that something wasn't quite right. And honestly, they made it look like it was easy, like it wasn't a big deal.. But as I've faced things with my own children, I've asked more questions, and with every answer, I'm always amazed.

During the two week wait that we had to find out what was going on with Chloe, I thought about them a lot. I thought about the wait that my Aunt Nancy must have endured many years before and of the devastation that she must have experienced when she found out the results and I selfishly thank God that I don't know that devastation first hand because our results turned out much differently.

When my cousin Tony was three months old, he was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. The prognosis was grim. In the beginning, they said that he wouldn't live past six. When he made it past six, they said twelve. I think they eventually stopped giving him a time line and just kept hoping against hopes that he would keep outliving the odds. My aunt and uncle were determined that he would live the most normal life possible. My mother recently told me a story... Tony was a very small child and weak from the disease. But, still, he wanted to play football. My mother said that she was sitting next to my Aunt Nancy at one of Tony's football games, when a much larger kid hit him hard (at least hard in a mothers eyes). My Aunt Nancy scared out of her mind stood up and said, "no, he can't do this. He's too small". My Uncle Gene took her by the hand and sternly told her to sit down, explaining that he COULD do it. And so, she sat there quietly and still. With big tears rolling down her cheeks. I remember them joking about it being time for my uncle to "beat" Tony. I didn't realize then that it was a mode of survival. My uncle had to lay him on his stomach on a regular basis to beat him on the back to loosen the mucus so that he could breath. There were many hospital stays and many medications. They pushed him to eat when he didn't want to because he felt so bad. He trained his lungs so that he could hold his breath the amount of time it took him to swim their swimming pool two and a half times. I walked beside him at a cystic fibrosis walk-a-thon when I was a teenager. I had a hard time keeping up (did I mention I ran track in college?) He beat the odds, all of them. He graduated high school with honors, got a great job, married a wonderful woman that handles his disease like God made her for that, and adopted a beautiful little boy.

As in true character of the disease, Tony's condition has continued to worsen. His hospital stays have become longer and the complications have been greater. He eventually got bad enough to be put on a list for a lung transplant. The condition has to be extremely severe for a person to even be considered for a transplant, for the benefits of the transplant to outweigh the risks of the surgery. That has been a painful process as well. First the decision to have the transplant and then, the wait, and many false calls. When I was visiting my family in Alabama a month or so ago, they had one of those false runs. Tony was number two on the list. The person in front of him needed both lungs and a heart. If the heart wasn't good, Tony would get the lungs so with every donor that came in, they prepped Tony too. Just in case. The false runs were no surprise. They had been warned to expect them. But the surprise came in Tony's reaction to the false runs. I guess it wasn't that much of a surprise to those of us that know him. But there is no doubt in my mind that the nurses who provided his care have seen Jesus. I talked to my uncle after one of those false runs. After they had prepped Tony for surgery, shaving him from chin to toes, on the way back to his room to wait for the verdict, Tony stopped to pray, not for himself. But, for the guy that was number one on the list and for the family of the donor. I'm sure I no longer need to explain to you what a sweet, unselfish soul that lies behind those weak lungs. And I can't begin to explain to you the faith that I have seen their whole family exhibit through the whole ordeal(mom, dad, and sisters too), always thanking God and trusting him while waiting for his perfect timing. They have been through so much. In the middle of all the false runs, my aunt fell while she was at the hospital and broke her shoulder in four places. There have been many more hiccups along the way and still, through all the trials they've faced, they haven't taken their eyes off God. And I have no doubt that lives have been changed because of their influence.

I can think of very few other things that I could be more excited about saying more than: It looks like his perfect time has come. This afternoon, they got another call. With great hopes and guarded hearts, they headed for the hospital one more time. He was prepped once more and waited once more to find out that this time, the lungs are good. As I write this, Tony is a few hours into an eight to ten hour surgery. I don't know how many years it's been since he's breathed a breath without being in pain. But, I know one thing for sure. He will never take for granted an every day blessing that most of us never think twice about.

He still has a long road to recovery ahead of him and our family does covet your prayers tremendously. I will update as soon as we get more news.

And just one more thing.. If you aren't an organ donor, please search your heart and please remember that donated organs are always used to save someone's child.

Blessings,
Dana

EDIT: 4:30 a.m. 7/22/09-- The lungs are in and working great. Tony's wife reports already able to see a difference in his color and breathing. Thank you all for your continued prayers!

Update: 12:07 p.m. 7/22/09. Tony has been removed from the ventilator and is breathing on his own! What a blessing! Please continue for his body to accept the transplant.

Tuesday's Tips and Tricks-- Homemade dishwashing detergent and cleaning your washing machine

Lu requested a recipe for detergent for the dishwasher. I found a recipe but have not tried it. (Apparently, it comes from a person named Lorraine, whoever she is, Thanks Lorraine!) Please let us all know how it works if you try it.

Dishwasher soap is easy to make, and cost effective. I mix up a batch in an empty canister, and pour it in the dishwasher as needed.

Mix and use per dishwasher load:
1 Tablespoon Borax
1 Tablespoon Baking soda

OR

Mix equal parts Borax and Baking Soda, and add 2 Tablespoons per load. Increase proportion of soda for hard water. Use vinegar in the rinse cycle.
Lorraine

And my friend Daisy, requested a way to clean her washing machine. You can find directions for that HERE

And my friend Julie had a suggestion for Aprils problem with stains on white counters: Rub a half of a lemon on it. For some abrasiveness, dip the lemon in salt.

Please add any tips or tricks that you might know!

Blessings,

Dana

Swagbucks

Some of you may be wondering about all the talk about swagbucks. Well, swagbucks is an internet search engine powered by google. As you search, you earn swagbucks which can be traded in for merchandise and giftcards. We have some friends that bought all of their Christmas gifts with Swagbucks last year. So, sign up by clicking HERE It's free!

Click HERE for more information about what swagbucks are and how to earn them.

Manic Monday-- Super Sprinkler.

Keep the kids busy all day by making a sprinkler from a fun noodle.
Brought to you from www.familyfun.com

SUPER SPRINKLER
Who says pool noodles are only for the pool? We turned one into a super squirter that can be used to launch all sorts of fun and games, such as the High Water Jump shown here.

Start by poking holes in a pool noodle with a large nail. Plug one end of the noodle with a wadded-up plastic shopping bag, then seal that end with duct tape. Insert a garden hose about 4 inches into the other end and secure it with duct tape if needed.

To play, swing the noodle and have your child jump over it, use it for a watery limbo contest, attach it with duct tape to a swing set so that kids can swing through the shower (as shown above), or let your kids come up with their own wet and wacky games.

Coupon Matchups

I searched around through my various coupon sources to find you the easiest to use source for this weeks deals and coupon matchups for the various stores I frequent for huge savings. Last week, I saved $115 dollars at Kroger! Just click on the store and it will link you to that stores deals and the coupons that are currently out to match those deals.

Publix
Publix penny item this week is Publix Frosted Flakes

Kroger


CVS

And for my poor mom and sister who don't have a Kroger bless their hearts, here is Food World's deals for the week. They still haven't done coupon matchups but we'll keep our fingers crossed.

Feel free to comment with any questions or e-mail me at everythingpictured@gmail.com. I am by no means an expert in this area. Just sharing what I've learned so far.

Blessings,
Dana

Family Friday

This Friday, I want to extend outside our immediate family and introduce you to one of my sisters in Christ. Her name is Stephanie. Stephanie is a mother of three children. I met Stephanie here online. She's a friend of a friend.. I keep having to remind myself that we haven't actually met in person. Anyway, Stephanie is an ordinary girl like you and me (unless you're not a girl and then, not so much). She is a mom that tries to squeeze 40 hours out of a 24 hour day, she disciplines, she hugs and kisses and when she lays down at night she prays for her children. And also like most moms, she has the desire to give her children every chance in life. I guess that's why her situation lays heavy on my heart. Her story could easily be my own. Stephanie's daughter Makinna was born with ear deformity called Microtia & Atresia. You can click on the link in my left side bar to get more information. But, the abbreviated version is that she wasn't born with an ear canal on her left side. Makinna is otherwise a very healthy and happy little girl. But, because of the deformity, Makinna doesn't have hearing in that ear. Statistics say that children with this deformity if left untreated, have lower grades in school and ultimately, lower paying jobs as adults. As a mother, I understand the need to do anything that is under my control to put my children on a level playing field. Starting in November, Makinna will undergo three different surgeries to correct this condition..

So how can you help? Well first, something we all can do, pray for the Sherwood family. Trey and Stephanie with Makinna will head out from central Florida and fly to California three different times. There are no doctors experienced at preforming this procedure on this side of the country. They will leave their other two children in someone elses care while they travel. And as always any procedure, life threatening or not, is huge in a mother's eyes. This no doubt will be difficult time for this family. Please pray for peace and for Makinna to respond better than even expected.

And of course, this will be quite an expensive undertaking. The procedures are estimated to cost from 15,000 to 20,000 dollars. Our family knows from personal experience the toll that health care expenses can take on a family. We are so blessed that our church has set us up with a much better plan than we've ever had before but up until this year, we have had only one year that had less than 5000 dollars in medical expenses since 2002. We are so thankful that this is a burden that has been lifted from us. I see this as an opportunity that we can take to thank God for the health that he's blessed our family with and blur those lines between families and be the family that God intended us to be as one. If you feel so inclined, you can click on the picture of Makinna on the side if you would like to donate and help carry this burden of the Sherwood's. Whatever you can do, ever little bit helps. I have also set up a place where you grab a button to share her story on your site. Please join me in loving, supporting, and encouraging this family.

May God bless you so that you can bless those around you.

Dana.

PS: I will try to do our weekly family update some time this weekend.

Awe Shucks... I've been awarded..

My friend over at hyperactivelu blessed me with two awards yesterday! Thanks Lu! You didn't have too but I'll sure enough take it! And now, it is time for me to bestow the award on five of my blogging friends. Lu would no doubt be included in this list if she hadn't already won the award but none the less, you should check her out. Each of these ladies are creative in their own individual ways but, they have blogs that I make sure I visit as soon as they post something new because I can't wait to see what they have to say or what new thing they are going to to teach me.

Becky at Five Mockingbirds-- Becky is a friend from college. She loves to cook and has lately been showing some neat decorating tips. She is the mother of three so there of course is no shortage of mom talk.

Holly at The Hud-sons and One Pretty Princess -- Holly is a wonderful writer. I always get a few laughs at her blog and usually a few tears too. She is pregnant with her fifth child and that is always fun to watch.

Jay at Janey and Me Happily-- Jay was one of the students that was in our youth ministry when Adam was an intern 11 years ago. She now is one of my best friends. This girl has creativity coming out her ears. She's a photographer, she sews, she decorates and if she hasn't tried it yet, if you challenge her with it, she will.

Stephanie at Stoked to Be Stokes-- another former student turned best friend, she is a first time mom and adjusting to being a stay at home mom. She is another one of those artsy girls that is abundantly blessed with creativity. She also could really use some love and support from some other moms so, you should definitely pay her a visit:).

And last but not least is my friend over at Life's About a Dream -- Incredibly quick witted, I have never come across anyone one else that can say so much in so few words..

And the thing that I love most about all five of these moms is that they are all Christians, you know, the real kind, that admit that this parenting thing can be tough and they're just doing the best that they can to love the one's God's blessed them with.

I love all you girls!

Tuesday's tips--How to clean your dishwasher

Per request from Julie over at The Best Times of our Lives, Today I am posting how to clean your dishwasher so that your dishwasher runs most efficiently.

WARNING: As I was researching for the least harmful way to clean your dishwasher, I came across several articles warning against using harsh chemicals in your dishwasher because it can nullify your warranty.

I try to avoide using harsh chemicals anyway, especially when it has to do with something that my family will be putting in their mouths. Dishwashers leave residue behind therefore, I don't want that residue to be chemicals.

I regularly poor vinegar in the bottom of my dishwasher as I'm running a load. This seems to do a pretty good job of keeping it clean. However, every area has different water so I looked around for something a little more heavy duty. I knew that it would involve vinegar because I use vinegar everywhere! The friend that I mentioned above, Julie, started me on using a vinegar glass cleaner several years ago (equal parts vinegar and equal parts water with just a drop or two of dish detergent). I had tried using vinegar and water as a glass cleaner before but the dish soap is the magical ingredient that keeps it from streaking. Every since I discovered that trick, I have been on vinegar frenzy! To find out some of the many other uses for vinegar, click HERE. I very rarely use anything but vinegar or bakingsoda (often the two together) to clean my home. And, if my kids get the bottle and decide to quench their thirst, they probably won't drink much but if they do, it won't hurt them!

And what I really came here to post: How to clean your dishwasher with vinegar and baking soda, brought to you from www.howtocleanthings.com.

I also came across several things saying to clean it with a powdered citrus drink. If you've tried this, I'd love to hear the results.

Cleaning a Dishwasher with Vinegar

Dishwasher Stains. The first step is to remove the racks so that you can see what sort of stains you have. The bottom rack will come out easily, but the top . . . not so much. On my dishwasher, the top rack was locked into aluminum gliding arms. On the end of the arms were two plastic clips that came out with a little dexterous manipulation. Once the clips were removed, the top rack slid right out. Using a flashlight, you will now be able to locate the stains. Most of the grime will be around the drain near the floor.

Disassemble the Dishwasher. On the floor of the dishwasher is the main spray arm. On my dishwasher it was held in place with an easy-to-remove plastic screw. Once I unscrewed it, the whole thing lifted up allowing me to see what was trapped underneath it near the drain. I really didn't expect to find anything in it, but to my surprise I found two pieces of broken glass. I also discovered that a piece of my dishwasher was broken—a small, round plastic seal. Another reason to periodically clean your dishwasher.

Vinegar and Soap. To clean the dishwasher, I decided to use white vinegar, a little soap, a green scrubby, and some elbow grease. I combined a couple cups of vinegar and 6 drops of soap in a bowl. Dipping my green scrubby into the solution, I went to work scrubbing the walls and floor of the dishwasher. The stains disappeared after 10 passes with the scrubby. I thought the floor of the dishwasher looked relatively clean, but after closer inspection, I discovered a thin film of grime was present. The grime came off very easily with a single pass of the scrubby.

Clean the Accessories. Next, you will want to clean the spray arm you removed from the floor of the dishwasher, and make sure nothing is blocking the holes. Sometimes bits of food can get through the filter and lodge themselves in the holes, debilitating the spraying arm. Use the same mixture to remove any build-up of lime scale or stains on the accessories. The racks will probably be more or less clean, but it won't hurt to wash them, too.

Rinse with Water. Once you have finished scrubbing, rinse the stains with a little water to make sure that you got them all. If you manged to get all the stains out, reattach all the components you removed. You will notice that in the bottom of the dishwasher there is a pool of liquid. This is the cleaning solution and water. Don't worry about draining it. You will be getting rid of it in the next step.

Baking Soda. For this article I tried something I had not seen done anywhere else. I realized that the easiest way to rinse everything out of the dishwasher would be to run a quick cycle. But then I thought what if you put ¼ cup of baking soda in the soap dispenser? The baking soda would combine with the vinegar and perhaps further clean the dishwasher. My only concern was that there might be some residue leftover. I tried it with a quick rinse cycle, which is the shortest cycle on my dishwasher. After the cycle finished, the dishwasher was really clean and there wasn't any residue. Make sure to put the baking soda in the open tray and not the closed tray. Quick rinses don't last long enough for the other one to open.


Blessings,
Dana