Five on Friday: September 29

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__one__ Caroline has decided to be Owlette from PJ Masks this Halloween, and while I am THRILLED she is taking a break from two years of princess costumes (first Elsa, then Rapunzel), I am bummed that Emmie and Caroline won't have themed costumes. I'm still undecided on Emmie, and I'm afraid if I don't come up with something she's going to end up with the old Elsa costume. Poor gal.


__two__ I got SO many compliments on the earrings in my Rocksbox set this past week. I even wore them for beach pictures. You can sign up HERE and use my code kristinjbff1 to receive your first month completely FREE!! They send you 3 pieces of jewelry at a time, and you can try it for as long (or as little) as you want! You can cancel at anytime, but I've kept mine going for well over a year now and I'm still loving it.

__three__ My face starts to get realllllly dry this time of year, and I've started using this Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Miracle Oil. I put it on at night after my shower, and my face still feels so moisturized and soft in the morning.



__four__ I got a good laugh this week when I picked the girls up from daycare, and found out Daniel had dressed the girls in each other's clothes. At first, I was mortified, but then it really just gave me a good laugh. The worst part was the top Caroline is wearing below I had re purposed from a dress last year to a shirt this year for Emmie, so she's totally wearing a 12M dress as a shirt (when she usually wears 4T). You can be assured that the rest of the week, I got Caroline dressed before I left the house so there would be absolutely no confusion. Daniel always takes the girls in to daycare, since I have to be at work at 7:30 and live 30 min from the office, but I must say this is a first for him.

 

__five__ I got all our Halloween decorations up this past week. I love this Halloween countdown I got at JoAnn Fabric a few years ago - and Caroline has loved seeing the number go down every day!

Saving at the Grocery Store

I rarely pay full price for anything. Whether it's a bag of chips, a new pair of shoes, toothpaste...you better believe it's on sale or I have a coupon. Sometimes, my frugality is extreme, but I went to Publix this weekend to show you that simple steps can save you a ton of money - and then you can spend that money in other places (in our case, on fun trips for our family!).

I got all that is pictured for $7.52 before tax. You heard me right - a huge bottle of Tide, two packages of diapers, toilet paper and more for $7.52. Here's how:

• 2 Progresso broths, on sale BOGO $2.59, used $1/2 Publix digital coupon and saved $1 on Saving Star, final price $.59 for 2
• 2 International Delight coffee creamers (helloooooo, pumpkin spice!), on sale BOGO $2.73, used 2 $1/1 printable coupons, final price $.73 for 2
• 2 Pampers/Easy-ups, on sale buy 2 get $5 off (regular price $9.99 and $10.99 each), used $5/15 Kroger diaper purchase store coupon (received at checkout last time at Kroger), used $3/1 Pampers and $3/1 Easy-Ups Publix digital coupon, and received $2 back from Checkout 51 for buying Baby Dry, final price $2.98 for both
• 1 Chobani Smooth, on sale $.90, received $1 back from iBotta (this app is my favorite!), final price $.10 profit
• 1 Cascadian Farm granola bar, on sale $1.99, used $1/1 Publix digital coupon and saved $1 on Saving Star, final price FREE
• 1 Tide PurClean, on sale save $5 wyb 1 (reg. price $13.99), used $5/1 Publix digital coupon and $1/1 Publix Game Day Greats coupon, final price $2.99
• 1 Charmin 6 double roll toilet paper, on sale $3.33, used $1/1 Publix digital coupon and $2/1 Publix Game Day Greats coupon, final price $.33

Does this take work? Absolutely. Some weeks I do better than others. And please note, I did also purchase fresh fruit, veggies, and meat for my family, so my bill isn't just $7.52. That being said, I got so many essentials for $7, that I have more room in my budget for the fun stuff!

Annual Beach Trip - 2017

Caroline LOVES the beach. Loves it so much, that after we left last summer, she has consistently said the following:

"'When can we go back to the beach?"
"Do you remember last time when we went to the beach? I want to go back"
"Are we going to the beach for summer vacation?"

This has been on repeat for the last 11 months.

Luckily, our favorite 3 year old was in luck, and we packed up the Suburban glorified van and set off for the Destin/FWB area on Sunday.

I truly love everything about the beach. However, I don't love taking a 2 year old who hates sand touching her feet to the beach. And that pretty much sums up how the three full days we spent at the beach were. When Emery had her water shoes on she would tolerate the sand for about 15-20 minutes or so, and then I would head with her to the pool where she would paddle around in her puddle jumpers and refuse to let me hold her/touch her/do anything with her.

However, we still had a great time, and seeing Caroline's reaction to being at her FAVORITE PLACE IN THE WORLD was priceless. It makes me even more excited for our Disney trip in February - if she is this excited about sand, I can't imagine her reaction to Cinderella's castle.

Our first day was great weather, and we spent a good chunk of time taking turns either searching for seashells or burying each other in sand (that is, when Emery and I weren't hanging out at the pool). Daniel was a good sport and got a chest sunburn while waiting for his girls to cover him up with sand.

Emery and I successfully covered Caroline up after a few tears when Emery shoveled sand in Caroline's eyes.

The second day I wised up and put the girls in their rash guard swimsuits. I love their smocked swimsuit sets, but it's just not worth the constant reapplying of suncreen everywhere.

The third day, it stormed in the afternoon, but I couldn't complain because we'd had perfect weather leading up to it. You can see the storm brewing in the background.

It wasn't the most relaxing trip, but it was great to spend alot of quality time with my favorite people. We stopped for lunch at my favorite sushi restaurant on the way home in Montgomery (where we lived for 4 years pre-kids), and the girls took turns taking bites out of lemons. I'm not sure why they thought this was enjoyable, but they continued to do it the entire meal.

And then, after about 2 hours straight of crying and screaming, the little one fell asleep! Why is the drive home always worse than the drive there?

Caroline's already asking about next year's trip....and I can't wait to pick another beach. Last year was Orange Beach, this year was Destin, and I'm thinking maybe somewhere in SC next year. Where are your favorite places to beach it?

Five on Friday: Beach Faves!

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We are getting ready for our annual beach trip, and I absolutely cannot wait. Caroline has been
asking since last summer when we would be headed back, and I must say I felt the same way. Emery hated the beach last year - but I'm hoping she'll enjoy it more now that she is a little older. We absolutely LOVE going late summer/early fall, and we always go somewhere in the Gulf - Destin, Fort Walton, Orange Beach, etc. I am enjoying vacationing whenever we want while the girls aren't in school! In preparation for our trip, I thought I'd share with you five of our must haves when we are at the beach!

__one__ First and foremost, inexpensive beach toys are a must. Caroline can spend hours scooping sand into her bucket and running to the ocean to get more water for her sand creations. I actually found our toys from last year (by some miracle!), but if I hadn't found them, I had my eye on this set from Amazon.

__two__ Something we got a lot of use out of last year was this beach tent. It wasn't the cheapest option, but it is reasonably priced and I scoured reviews to make sure it was going to accomplish what I wanted it to do - which was keep the babies cool and under shade, but be large enough to where I could get inside too if need be. It worked great, and we're taking it again this year for when the girls need a break from the sun.

__three__ Something Caroline got a huge kick out of last year was having her own beach chair. Yes, it's one more item you have to lug down to the beach, but it made her feel special and it really wasn't that big of a hassle.  I just got Emery the Melissa and Doug one below so she would have her own special chair this year too.

__four__  The girls aren't great swimmers yet (which I'm sure swimming lessons would help with...but every summer I forget), so we always bring Puddle Jumpers so we don't have to stress when they are in the pool. The pool is actually one of our favorite parts of vacation (less sand), so we spend a lot of time there.










__five__ Finally, make sure once you get there, you head to the grocery store and get groceries and other supplies, because you're going to need that bottle of wine (or two) after a long day on the beach.




Happy Friday, y'all!

Five on Friday: Holiday Fun!

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This week, the girls, Daniel, and I had a GREAT holiday weekend. We spent alot of time laughing, watching movies, enjoying the beautiful weather, and just enjoying each other's company. Here's a little bit of what we've been up to.

__one__ My sweet Caroline went to the pediatric ophthalmologist last week. Her eyes have been crossing when she tries to focus on something, whether it's far away or nearby. The staff at Vanderbilt was AWESOME with her, and she insisted on sitting in the chair all by herself. It's amazing how they can do eye checks on kids her age. She even took the dilating eye drops like a champ, didn't cry once, and was SUPER pumped to pick out some purple glasses after the visit. They hope that the glasses will correct the crossing. If not, we may have to go down some other paths I'd rather not deal with (like muscle surgery on her eye). She tried on a pink pair of glasses before settling on the purple, and she looked so adorable in them!

__two__ Friday night, we had some friends over for adult beverages and some Cards Against Humanity. The little one went to bed begrudgingly at 7 as usual, but Caroline and our friends' son Connor stayed up til 11:30 watching movies on the couch. I kept expecting to look over and see them passed out, but they hung in there. Of course, we paid for it the next day when Caroline woke up at 6:15 as usual, and was a total jerk all day, but it was so fun to enjoy some adult time with friends.

 

__three__ These two silly gooses decided (around 3 p.m.) to have a sleepover in the office Sunday while I was doing a little online shopping. I love their sweet, imaginative hearts.

__four__ The girls had picture day at school this week, and I love this picture I got in front of the pantry door much better than the professional pictures taken at school. Emmie is absolutely swimming in her shirt.....bless that tiny baby.

__five__Our bathroom renovation project is ALMOST complete! All we need is a shower door. I can't decide between a hinged door and a sliding door. Any opinions? We had a hinged door before and it was fine, I just like the idea of the sliding variety. Although the hinged one is a better value....so the cheap side of me may win.