Still Picking up the Pennies

We had such a wonderful weekend. Friday night we went to the circus, I paid $15 for me to get in but the boys were free. They did not ask for any junky toys or rides on the animals, we were content just watching the show and the crowd. Noah loved the acrobats, and Joel enjoyed the dry comedy. On Saturday, the boys took me out to lunch at our favorite restaurant, and it just happened to be a mystery shop. I love eating out and being reimbursed for a majority of the bill. Then we went to visit Dave's mom, we stayed longer then we had planned but every one enjoyed the visit. The sunshine was so warm sitting there. Then to visit my parents. My mom was babysitting her great grand daughter Isabel, my boys just love playing with babies. Sunday we slept in and enjoyed lounging round the house. The plan for the week is a lot less stressful then last week. Monday - Fish sticks with tater tots Tuesday - Ham something Wednesday - soup and dinner rolls Thursday - Brats on buns

So today was just a normal sort of day, until the boys got off the bus. That is when Noah announced that he received all stars through out the day and was even picked Student Of the Week!!! YIIPPEE!!! I am so proud of my youngest little ball of energy. As a special reward, he will be featured on the bulletin board at school, leader in line ALL week and he gets to read a special story to the principal. He is so proud of himself and this is a HUGE step for my little ball of energy so we are playing up as much as we can. We went to get ice cream of choice from the corner store as a snack. We had pizza for dinner and tv fest on netflix and a slumber party in the living room all in celebration.

Over the spring break I gave myself a budget of $50 for a bit of 'extra' fun with the boys. Come Thursday I did not spent a cent of the $50 and decided we needed a change of pace, I called around to local hotels. I found a decent one with a indoor pool for $45.35, so we stayed there Friday night. We got to lounge around in the hot tub and the boys LOVED swimming and I stayed with in my budget. I just love when I can see big bright smiles like this on my familys' faces and stay in budget.

My Frugal adventures this week include the first letterboxing adventure of the season. The boys and I had a trip to town planned and about 45 minutes in between scheduled events so I was looking for something frugal to do with our time. I found a new letterbox was planted in November 2010 that we had not found. So I printed the clues out and we hunted for it, but never did find it. But being as it was only 27 degrees, I do not feel to badly about it. We will return with a compass in the warmer weather. Also, I needed a babysitter last night for only about an hour. I called my sister-in-law that just loves our fresh eggs. I asked if she would watch the boys for an hour in exchange for the eggs and new playmates for her girls for the hour. She said yes, her girls were getting a bit restless so it was a win-win situation.

Today the boys and I had a fun frugal Friday, we made flubber (with out Borax). My boys are not in to the mucky muddy things that most boys like, but they did admit to enjoying this flubber making. First is Noah my 8 year old, next is Joel the 11 year old. I thought for sure this activity would not be enjoyed by Joel but he did enjoy it. For dinner we will have homemade pizza and our family night movie, which is Marmaduke. UPDATE on the circulating pump, the repair man was here for nearly two hours, not sure what the bill will be yet. We opted for a new pump and a bit of maintenance work be done. Here is a look at the new, quieter pump. She's sure tiny. One more thing, I am part of the Purex Insider team and I received my first product to try today. I am so excited to try the Purex Complete Crystals Softener. I was sent a sample and a freebie coupon for a full size product. I cant wait to try it, I love fresh smelling laundry. I may be given a few e