Chris Rackley’s “Whoops” statement to be revealed!

So my husband made an invariably notorious statement on his facebook status about 10 days ago.  The statement?  “Whoops!”  What did he mean?   The questions have been pouring in, and now, the “Whoops Solver” is claiming he knows the answer and will reveal it at midnight tonight!

Check out this blog for all the information – don’t forget to start at the beginning!  Only 4 hrs. until the mystery is solved!

The funniest video of Chloe – ever! :)

So, I hate putting this up because some of my readers might think this is our normal discipline routine – let me assure you, it’s not.  However, when Nana and Papa are egging it on, this particular afternoon became a matter of letting them have the joy in comforting our little one – while we laughed our heads off!   Here’s Chloe’s reaction when Chris told her she couldn’t touch Nana’s camera. . . . enjoy!   Keep in mind, all he said was – “Chloe, don’t touch.”

Visit with Nana and Papa!

Spending Time with Aunt Bethany

But Mom, Nana said I could drive!

Yay! Let's go shopping - how much money do you have, Aunt Bethany?

Let me do the Chloe-dance!

the race to the ball!

 

Hmmm. . . I wonder if I can push Nana in. . .

Papa's girl!

Chloe playing with Pa-pa!

I think, no offense to any of the other 3 out there, that this is Chloe’s favorite grandparent. . . .she giggles whenever she see his picture.  Maybe this is why. . . 

Our Latest Home Improvement Project

So this is what we’ve been working on since Memorial Day, and it’s almost there – a yard full of luscious green grass.  Well, it’s grass, and it’s semi-luscious, thanks to the drought; it’s not quite full, but a LOT better than tracking red mud in everytime we played outside with Chloe.  Now, we have to figure out how to keep the wasps out of the grass, or we might have the same problem my friend, Keren, did!  

Before the grass!

We let it grow for 6 weeks before we cut it the first time.

 

Chris mowing for the first time.

 

The finished product!

Some of my balloonflowers - Chloe's favorites.

 

Hopefully we’re at least helping out the curb appeal some on our little house – but for now, um. . . we gotta go cut the grass. . .

Great deal on Pampers at Target this week only!

 

Pampers Jumbo Pack diapers (30 ct. if you need size 4!) are on sale at Target for $8.49.  238 ct. wipes are priced at $5.79.  With this coupon (scroll down to the “expires on 7/31″ coupons) for $5 off both diapers and wipes, and this coupon for a $5 target gift card, you can really score some great deals!  Remember you can always stack these with manufacturers coupons from the newspaper to make the deal even better.  I did 6 different transactions and just kept rolling my $5 gift card – so it was like getting $10 off + whatever coupons I had = really sweet deals!!  I just bought 6 packs of diapers, a pack of swimmer diapers (coupon for $1.50 off here for those too!), a $5 gift card and a bunch of 1,428 wipes for less than $25!!!  (I just had to put the exact number of wipes in – I don’t think we’ll use those all up before Chloe starts potty training – even if she waits like 2 more years. . .maybe we’ll have to have more kids. . . )  So, happy shopping – and I’m sorry, girls, but there might not be any size 4 diapers at the Woodruff Rd. Target. 

PS – the coupons are all good until 7/31st, but the good price on the diapers only lasts until Saturday night.  Starting next week, they might go back to their regular price of $9.99.

News Flash! Publix now accepts CVS coupons!!

So, I’d heard from my friend, Tahsha, that she was getting amazing deals on groceries at Publix using her $4/$20 coupons from CVS as well as Walgreens and other pharmacy coupons. However, I was so sad to try my own hand at it, and find out that they did NOT accept pharmacy coupons – only other grocery store competitors like Food Lion, Bloom’s, Bi-Lo, etc.

After doing a little talking to some district managers, store managers, and cashiers, I was pleased to get a call from Stuart at the McBee Station Publix (the downtown one!) telling me that after talking with his district manager about it, they decided that they should take CVS coupons for like items they sale in their store (Groceries and health and beauty items). YIPPEE!! THis means we can use TRIPLE coupons at Publix – Store couons, Manufacturer’s coupons, AND competitors coupons. . .. oh boy. . . can you tell I’m excited?!?!?

Here’s a roundup of what their current policy is. Remember, this was only confirmed at the McBee station Publix in Greenville, so I’m not sure what the policy is in other stores, but you could always refer them to this store if you’d like! (And anytime you see a “Stuart” walking around, give him a big thank-you!)

*Publix will double coupons up to $0.50

*Publix puts out their own coupons in the Sunday and Wednesday paper as well as in their in-store ads in the front of the store.

*Publix will take competitors coupons like Food Lion, Kroger (if there’s one nearby), and now (at McBee station only) CVS and Walgreens!! Also keep in mind that if you sign up for a “Breeze card” with Bloom’s, you can get some $10/$40 purchase coupons to use as well (these are sent to your mailbox)!

* Publix will allow you to use up to 3 different categories of coupons on one item – only your total cannot be negative.

Publix also has a great Baby Club that you can join to get awesome coupons as well for things like $3/$10 dairy purchase or coupons from the meat department and deli. You can sign up for those here

Our 4th of July

Because Chris has been so busy with work lately, we wanted to spend some time to ourselves during his 3 days weekend. We had a GREAT time! Thursday night, we all went grocery shopping together, then on Friday we went to Table Rock State Park and really enjoyed ourselves. Then on Saturday, we went up to the Gaffney shopping outlets and scored some new clothes which we all desperately needed. All in all, it was a great weekend!

We started with a delicious picnic lunch of clubhouse chicken ceasar sandwhiches with sun-dried tomatoes and sweet potato chips, apple slices, and 6 layer brownies for dessert. As Rachel Ray would say, Yummo!

Obviously, Chloe liked it!

Homemade ice cream – no ice cream maker required!!!

I can’t tell you how excited I am about this post!  I’ve always dreamed of having an ice cream maker, and I’m currently working towards getting a KitchenAid mixer (which includes an ice cream maker settting, I’m told!) for free as a bonus with my current job, but that won’t be arriving until early next year.  So, for this summer, I thought we’d have to stick with whatever was on sale at the stores!  Oh, but was I wrong!  Check this recipe out – courtesy of Paula Dean, my favorite Georgia cook!

 

Prep Time: 10 MINUTES!!!

Freeze Time: 6 hours

Servings: 8 servings

 

3 egg yolks*
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk 
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate sandwich cookies, coarsely crushed
2 cups heavy cream, whipped (Hint: start with only one cup of cream, then whip it to two cups) 

In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks and stir in the condensed milk and vanilla. Fold in the crushed cookies and whipped cream. Pour mixture into a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan lined with foil. Cover and freeze for 6 hours or until firm.
To serve, scoop ice cream from pan or cut into slices.  

* Food Network Kitchens suggest caution in consuming raw and lightly-cooked eggs due to the slight risk of Salmonella or other food-borne illness. To reduce this risk, we recommend you use only fresh, properly-refrigerated, clean, grade A or AA eggs with intact shells, and avoid contact between the yolks or whites and the shell.

A morning with Chloe.

After seeing this, you’ll probably understand more why Chris and I almost fight over who is going to wake her up in the morning.