Alex

I am always proud of my children, everyday, but at the end of this school year, I'm going to recognize my Alex. He managed to rack up 5 awards for their end of the school year! He got perfect attendence, participant in Battle of the Books, high Recorder unit scores, A Presidential Academic Achievement award, and the Good Citizenship Award for his 5th grade class. Alex is a sweet, sensitive and caring boy who is going to grow up into a wonderful man someday. He has such a big heart, is so willing to care for others, and has no fear when it comes to people who are different from him. Congrats Alex, you made your family very proud today!!

Couponing.....

Ok,
I'll admit it...I have become totally obsessed with couponing lately. I watched that show Extreme Couponing...and I wondered...how do they do that? So with the help of several blogs, and a book called "How to Shop for Free", I have become a couponer. Granted, I don't ever want to be a hoarder, or EVER have a use for 1000 tubes of toothpaste just because they were free, I am a firm believer in saving a buck. I made my lists, gathered my coupons and set out for the store last night. I WAS AMAZED at how much I saved! I bought 91 items, at a total retail value of $275.56, after coupons and price matching I spent 158.96!!! That's a 44% savings! And this was just my first trip ever doing this!!!! I can think of a lot of things to do with that extra $120 bucks!!!! I know this takes some time to sort and get things ready for a trip to the store, but when you are feeding a family of 6, saving money is a GOOD thing!

This is the kids helping me sort coupons for our trip!