this week {2.22 to 2.28}

~ the four of us went out to eat at rey azteca ~

~ we shopped at target, kohl's, lowe's, hobby lobby, wal-mart, bi-lo and harris teeter ~

~ at kohl's, i spent $56 and saved $165 ~

~ i worked on the neighborhood newsletter ~

~ i bought an instyler, hat, scarf, and sunglasses. i have an accessories fetish ~

~ i put together an agenda for and hosted the social committee meeting ~

~ we bought cabinetry for our laundry room ~

~ coleman turned ONE YEAR OLD ~

see related posts HERE and HERE

~ my husband deleted an episode of american idol before i had a chance to watch it!!!! ~

~ spencer had a doctor's appointment. he had a physical (he's almost 5 feet tall!!!), got some booster shots, and got on some new allergy meds ~

~ i got my first ebates check ($3...better than nothing, i suppose) ~

~ spencer had a basketball game on thursday night (and their team actually won) ~

~ matt took off thursday night from work in order to help get ready for coleman's party (his idea, not mine) ~

~ there was plenty of party prep throughout the week, but on friday, i took the day off from work and spent the entire day baking, creating, decorating. my mom was there all day with me and was a huge help ~

~ coleman had a small birthday party at daycare. mom, matt, spencer, and i attended ~

~ mom and i went with coleman and the daycare on the bookmobile (it comes every other friday) ~

~ lindsay came to our house to take photos before and during the party ~

~ we had a house full of folks to celebrate coleman's FIRST birthday ~

here are some early reflections on the event. more details and photos to follow.

~ we attended another first birthday party saturday afternoon (next door) ~

~ spencer has his last basketball game of the regular season. he scored his FIRST THREE POINT SHOT and the coach brought in burgers as a treat after the game. ~

~ my family all hung out and had dinner (and oysters) at my sister's house saturday night ~

~ i was pleasantly surprised to find out that lindsay already posted teasers from the party ~

~ sunday, dad and cynthia came over for a visit ~

~ later on sunday, matt's parents came over to visit ~

~ matt bought a new gate for the bottom of the stairs ~

~ i created a flyer for matt's brother's campaign kickoff (he's running for county council) ~

{savings tracker}

spent = $196; saved = $96 (33%)

annual savings = $767 (40%)

this week's savings were affected greatly by a lot of the party items i had to buy. i used coupons/sales where possible, and bought some things ahead. but, in the end, still had to purchase some full price items.