Cute Therapy

Merry Christmas!

picture credits: Abigail , Anna, and Jacob

Food Lion and CVS

Our Food Lion only marks down meats but ,I am finding that it is worth a trip in to get these deals. They mark down well before the sell by dates too! I purchased the following:

• 6 pounds of frozen vegetables
• 2 loaves whole grain bread
• 2 pounds deli turkey
• 13 one pound packs of beef hot dogs
• 2 1/3 pounds sliced honey ham
• 4 pound whole tyson chicken
• 11 pound Smithfield ham
• 3 pound boneless pork loin
• 4 1/3 pound pork roast

Total spent $55.89 ($1.16/lb.) for meats and veggies

It was a pretty good week at CVS too. I spent more cash than usual because I started with only 5 extra care bucks. I did four transactions rolling extra care bucks and had one 5 off 30 that came by email. I spent about $10 cash and ended with a 7.99 ECB and 3.00 ECB. Next week is looking really good! Be sure to check out Southern Savers for all the details!

And The Winner Is...

Congratulations Meredith!

Menu Plan Monday

Monday
B-cereal, toast with cream cheese and strawberry or blackberry jam
L-homemade macaroni and cheese
D-strawberry and banana smoothie,scrambled eggs
desert after tree trimming....honey bun cake ( recipe at the end, and I will add a photo after it's done) Thanks Marie!

Tuesday
B- cereal, bananas
L-turkey sandwiches, pickles
D-whole wheat fettuccine alfredo, peas

Wednesday
B-cinnamon bread, grapefruit or juice
L-beans with cornbread
D-baked chicken, potatoes, steamed mixed veggies

Thursday
B-eggs, oatmeal
L-smoothie, pbj
D- grilled cheese, fries

Friday
B-cereal, bananas
L-beans and rice
D-Roasted whole turkey, sweet potato casserole, dressing and gravy

Saturday-
B- muffins
D-leftovers

Honey Bun Cake
1 box yellow cake mix
3/4 cup oil
4 eggs
8 ounces sour cream
1 cup brown sugar
1 tblsp. cinnamon

Mix together first four ingredients stirring by hand. Pour half of batter into 11x13 pan. Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon. Pour remaining batter on top and swirl the batter. Bake at 325 degrees for 40 minutes.

Icing:
Mix together 2 cups powdered sugar with 4 tablespoons of milk and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Punch top of cake with fork, pour over hot cake.

Don't forget the giveaway to celebrate my blog-a-versary! If you haven't already go leave a comment!

Blog Anniversary and Giveaway!

Monday December 15 will be the first anniversary of Joyful Nine. I can't believe quickly the past year has gone by. It seem like yesterday that I was counting the days waiting for Rose to be born!
I have enjoyed learning to blog and still have a lot to learn . I love sharing photos with family and sharing recipes and just the day to day things of our home with my real life friends and my blog friends, like Monica. Blogging is great for sharing all our frugal finds!
I don't have as much time as I would like to write about homeschooling and our day to day life. This is why you usually see more pictures than words here:) I love taking pictures of everything and if I didn't need sleep you would see multiple posts everyday. However, since I need sleep and we need food and clean clothes, it is more hit and miss here than I would like! Lord willing, I look forward to another year of blogging!
To celebrate my blog-a-versary I will share my favorite blogs to read:
In no particular order...

• Tammy's recipes
• Like Merchant Ships
• Shine Again
• Money saving Mom
• Biblical Womanhood
• Nesting Place
• Southern Savers

Now...help me celebrate my anniversary by leaving me a comment! Every blogger loves a comment! If you are a regular reader, let me know!
I will randomly choose one person from the comments to win a $10 gift card. I will even let you choose what kind of card! You can choose from the following....CVS, Kroger, Wal-mart, Walgreen's, Food Lion, Starbuck's, or McDonald's.
So, leave me a comment! Be sure to tell me what gift card you want if you win and your email address if you don't have a blog. The contest will end at midnight on Monday the 15th. I will announce the winner sometime Tuesday.

Abigail's First Piano Recital

Abby did a beautiful job in her first recital. She played "We Three Kings". She was very nervous, but all the practice and playing has payed off. She played so gracefully despite the butterflies!
It was a great way to start celebrating Christmas. I am so thankful for Abby's desire to learn to play. It is such a blessing to hear her playing hymns and beautiful music through the house.

Abby, we are very proud of you!

CVS-Black Friday

The details...

• three transactions
• began with 23 extra care bucks
• bought-5 quart crock pot, 3 G2 gatorades, 2 tubes of colgate, 1 Johnson's soft lotion, 1 aussie shampoo, 1 aussie conditioner, 1 king size kit kat, 4 hershey's dark chocolate, one colgate spin brush, 1 pair of Phillip's ear buds, 1 Magnavox universal remote.
• after rolling extra bucks for three transactions spent $0.61 out of pocket
• ended with 14.47 extra care bucks

If you have some extra bucks to spare, the sale on appliances is pretty nice. The choices include a waffle maker, coffee maker, popcorn popper, griddle, or 3 in 1 grill. They are on sale for 19.99, and you earn 10 ECB's, making the appliance 9.99 after ECB's. There are many items free after extra care bucks. Read all of them with coupon matches here. It would be worth the effort to get there! Read other savings stories at Money Saving Mom!