I used to like Aldi's

Now I LOVE Aldi's! 

I started shopping at Aldi's about 4.5 years ago. I had to drive about 20 minutes to the closest store but didn't mind one bit because of the money I was saving on groceries. I bought mostly produce and usually only spent about $20 a week. I will admit, there were times that the produce didn't look great and I walked out with only a few items.

Last year we had a new Aldi open very close to our house. It takes me all of 5 minutes to get there. When they first opened the store was not very busy. It was rare to see more than 10 cars in the parking lot at a time. Over the past year Aldi has really upped their game. The food options are constantly growing and the parking lot is FULL most days now. In fact, they have so many new food items that they had to get larger shopping carts. Now I buy about 90% of my groceries at Aldi each week. Every time I go I find great new items. Last week I noticed that they got new shelving systems in half of the store, so they could stock more items.

New Carts with 2 seats and retractable buckles! No more struggling to tighten the belt! 

What was in my cart this week?

Half and Half- $1.89 each

Eggs- 99cents (they also have free range organic for $2.99)

Half Gallon Milk- $1.29 (They don't have 1% gallons)

Gallon Milk- $2.19 

Organic Whole Milk Vanilla Yogurt- $2.99

Mozzarella Ball- $2.69

*We do not eat an organic diet at our house. Aldi does have a great selection of organic milks, eggs, produce and cheeses at excellent prices. Their regular milk and eggs are certified hormone free from animals fed an all natural diet. 

1 lb fresh green beans- $1.49

Red Onions- $1.69 for bag

2 lbs red grapes- $1.98

1 lb bag Bag of Roma Tomatoes- $1.49

1 pint Blueberries- $2.79

Sugar Snap peas- $1.99

Avocado- 99 cents and HUGE

Seedless Cucumber- $1.29

Bag of green apples- $2.99

mangoes- 99 cents each

Bananas- 44 cents a pound, bags are labeled with weight

Prices on produce change. In the summer fruit prices drop dramatically. Often times raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, and pineapples are 99 cent. I often see the exact same brand berries carried at Publix for 2-3 times the price. 

Other random items:

Apple sauce pouch 4 pack- $1.89, we always have these in the pantry. They are often marked down to $1.59

Organic Free Range Low Sodium Chicken Broth- $1.79

Extra Virgin Olive Oil- $3.49

Pinot Grigio- $7.99

Baked Chips- $1.69

12 Grain Bread- $1.79

I know that shopping at Aldi's I am always getting a great value. Some items could probably be found cheaper at other stores by finding coupons and matching with sales but I honestly prefer to not have to coordinate all of that. 

Here's a few more items we love to get at Aldi's but didn't need this week:

Plastic Cutlery- Mixed or just forks

$3.49 for 96 pieces

Plastic Bags-

$1.99 each

100 sandwich bags

40 quart freezer bags

50 quart storage bags

30 gallon freezer bags

40 gallon storage bags

$1.99 for 75 sq ft

These paper plates are thick and don't leak! They also have paper bowls that hold up great even with a hot bowl of chili!

These napkins are nice a thick. I used to use coupons and buy Vanity Fair napkins...not anymore. 

These have been marked down for the past 2 weeks. Even at their regular price they are cheaper than Walmart and Target brand.

They now have 2 ends caps full of baby items. The organic baby food pouches are 79 cents and come in a great variety. We used the formula for a few months with Lucy and she had no issues with it. We also loved the puffs and yogurt bites. We have not tried the diapers but I have heard great things about them. We did try the pull-ups but found they ran small and didn't have much stretch. We took them back with a few missing and had no problem exchanging for other products. They had grass drying racks (similar to Boon ones) for $4.99 last week. 

My family goes through tortillas pretty quickly. They have small and large size in flour and corn! 

99 cents for 20 small tortillas makes for some cheap quesadillas. 

I could have taken more pictures but the store was very busy!

Gluten Free Products- In the past few months I have noticed a HUGE selection of gluten free products. If you are gluten free you should really check out their products. Everything from pasta, breads/wraps, frozen pizzas, pancake mix, to cookies and crackers. 

If you have not tried shopping at Aldi's you really should check it out. I might recommend going with a friend who has shopped there before to help learn the ropes. Don't forget a quarter for your cart! 

*This is not a sponsored post...I just love Aldi!

Five on Friday!

One
On Monday Lucy had her 15 month well visit. I had scheduled it during Molly's school time but forgot about President's Day so poor Molly had to tag along. Luckily the ipad entertains her (with headphones!!!) and she is a great helper. Lucy was not happy. She cried from the minute the doctor walked into the room until the minute we left. I tired distracting her with cheerios but then she knocked the snack container on the floor and it broke open and cheerios went EVERYWHERE! She had an ear infection and got 2 shots...not a fun well visit!

Two

We have still been spending a good bit of time outside in the afternoons. Molly was playing with her golf set and throwing the plastic golfballs around the yard when she got a hole in one! She was so excited. I was less than thrilled...

Three

I have managed to get sick again. Two weeks ago I had a horrible head cold but thankfully it passed after a few days. Now I have a horrible cough and feel really run down. My chest and back hurt so badly every time I cough. I don't do well with cough medicine so I am just pushing the vitamins and trying to rest (yeah right!) I bought two big bottles of this juice at Target yesterday. 1200% of your daily vitamin C has got to be good, right?

Four

I bought myself my first pair of converse from the Nordstrom sale this week. I really needed some casual shoes that look cute but are comfortable and can go from the park to running errands. I have been a big fan of Toms for the past few year but decided to try something new. What casual shoes do you love?

Sidenote- I accidentally shipped these to our old house. The sale of that house was a very awkward situation so you can imagine how uncomfortable it was to text the new owner to ask if I could swing by and pick them up. 

Five-

Matching outfits for the girls! Need I say more. I needed to order the girls some gold matching shoes for an upcoming wedding and picked out the dresses as well. They are super soft and were a great price. I love Old Navy for kids clothes. The jelly shoes run pretty small (as do the toddler clothes). Lucy normally wears a 4 but she fits in the 5 in the jelly shoes. Molly sized up as well. 

DIY Simple Hairbow Holder

When my first daughter was born she was gifted the cutest little hairbow holder for alligator clips. We've loved having it hanging in her bathroom and letting her pick out matching bows each morning, even if the bows last 5 minutes and end up on the floor of the car!

Lucy didn't get a a ton of gifts when she was born. Not that we needed ANYTHING but she didn't have some of the adorable personalized gifts her big sister had. She is just now starting to wear bows to hold back her bangs and I just had them scattered on her bathroom counter. I decided to create a simple bow holder on my own.

A quick trip to Hobby Lobby and $8 later I had the supplies to make 2 simple bow holders. I will probably make one for my niece as well. I got materials that matched the artwork in her bathroom. While it isn't fancy it was very easy to make and is perfect for holding the amount of bows we have.

Flamingo Artwork, old from Hobby Lobby 

Materials:

Wide Ribbon (I used 1.5") 

Thin Ribbon (I used 5/8")

Wood Plaque

Paint for Plaque

Felt pieces

Paint brushes

Hot Glue Gun

Push Pin

Step 1

Paint Plaque. Once the gold was dry I traced Lucy's name into it and painted it with some paint I had in my stash. The wood was soft so tracing it with a pen left a good imprint. 

Step 2

Measure ribbon and cut both. Measure your space to see what will fit. If you are making it as a gift I would make the ribbon about 2 feet long. Also cute a small piece of the thicker ribbon for the top. 

Step 3

Make felt flowers for the top and bottom. For the particular felt flowers you simply cut 4 circles (the don't need to be prefect) , fold them over with a little hot glue in the center and then fold over again. Glue the 4 folded circle (now triangles) onto a piece of round cardboard. For the flower centers I just cut a tiny strip of felt and rolled it up. I glue a push pin to the back of one flower to attach the hairbow holder to the wall.

Step 4

Once the paint is dry use hot glue to glue the ribbon to the top and the bottom. For the top just fold over a few inches of ribbon to use to hang with the push pin.  Line the smaller ribbon up in the center of the thicker ribbon and glue at the bottom to hold in place. Glue the other felt flower to the bottom. This helps to weigh it down and hold it flat to the wall. 

Step 5

Once everything is dry hang it up and add hairbows! 

 

Cost Breakdown-

I happened to go to Hobby Lobby on a good week and a lot of my materials we 50% off. I used my 40% off coupon too!

Wide Ribbon (I used 1.5") - 50% off- $2

Thin Ribbon (I used 5/8")- 50% off- $1.50

2 pack Wood Plaque- Used 40% off coupon- $2.40

Paint for Plaque- 30% off- $1.50

Felt pieces - 33 cents each

Paint brushes- already had

Hot Glue Gun- already had

Push Pin- already had 

total- $8.06 with enough materials for 2 hairbow holders and probably extra ribbon and paint!

A Dentist Trip FULL of Mom Guilt

I took Molly to the dentist for the first time this week. She's almost 4 and we have never taken her. My uncle is my dentist so we took her there so we could go together to get our teeth cleaned. I took her with me last time I got a cleaning so she could watch but she mostly had her eyes on the ipad.

She did great for the cleaning and the hygienist kept telling her how she was being so good. She would look over at me with a big grin each time she got complimented. My uncle came to check her teeth at the same time the hygienist came to get me for my cleaning. I felt awkward leaving her in the chair...like mom should be there holding her hand the WHOLE time! I could hear my uncle say something about a cavity and some sealant and my heart sank. Molly got her prize from the ladies at the front desk and came to sit with me while I finished up.

My uncle (the dentist) told me she had 2 cavities and would need to get them filled. He also said he would put sealant on her back teeth next time we came in to help prevent future cavities. He left to go check another patient and I tried so hard to keep it together. The tears just started rolling down my face, you know, laying halfway upside down with dental tools in my mouth. The hygienist stopped and wiped my tears, leaned down and whispered "we've all been there, it's okay, your a great mom". Without saying anything she knew exactly why I was crying. We want to do the best for our kids. How did I let her get 2 cavities before she was even 4??? Mom guilt is tough. Through out the rest of the day I kept getting a little teary eyed just thinking of my sweet little girl having fillings done. 

So now we will do better. I have bad teeth and I don't want the same for my daughter. My uncle joked that kids have baby teeth as a learning set for parents! Molly doesn't like to brush her teeth on her own and makes me do it for her. Any tips out there for getting kids to practice good oral hygiene?

A DIY Minnie Mouse Birthday Party

I am just about finished planning Molly's 4th birthday party and can't believe how quickly time is flying. It seems like just yesterday I was planning her 2nd birthday party. We had just moved into our new house and decided a backyard party would be a good idea. I decided on a Minnie Mouse theme, even though she would have preferred Elmo, and had a lot of fun with a few DIY projects. 

Invitations

For some reason I don't have a picture of her actual invitation but this is a picture from the tutorial I followed. It was a good bit of work but they turned out super cute. I used pink ribbon instead of red. The tutorial can be found here- Invitations

I purchased a circle cutter from amazon- Circle Cutter

Front Door Sign 

I used a black poster board, a chalk marker, and scrapbook paper. I used the disney font from the invitations and traced it on the cardboard. 

Centerpieces

I made these with supplies from the dollar tree! I bought a few packs of little terra cotta pots, some moss, and multipacks of foam balls. I had the ribbon from the invitations. I just painted the foam balls and hot glued them together and put them on a skewer. I stuffed the painted pots with a little newspapers, covered it with hot glue and burned my entire finger tip and i pushed the moss into the glue! I made a large one as well with materials I found in my moms craft closet. Free is always good! I had made the polka dot napkins for a baby shower and decided to use them to make a little runner for the birthday party

Food

Hot Dog, Hot Dog, Hot Diggity Dog! A hog dog bar it was! It was so easy too! We had a ton of toppings ( onions, relish, jalapenos, pimento cheese, chili, shredded cheese, and slaw), a huge fruit salad, and chips. I like keeping things simple. I wish I had a better picture of the food setup. 

For drinks we just did pink lemonade, juice boxes, and bottled waters. 

Mouse Ears

I spent a ton of time making mouse ears for everyone. I found a great tutorial  and only burned my fingers 457 times. I made Minne and Mickey and made sure everyone wore them. I ordered black plastic headbands on ebay. 

I also made Molly's tshirt using some black scrap fabric I had and some leftover iron on chevron material. I used Wonder Under to back the black fabric. 

Side Note: 

I was about 8 week pregnant here and so bloated. 

I hadn't told anyone yet and felt so weird keeping such a big secret.

Cake

I splurged on the cake but it was just the cutest thing ever and so tasty. Our old neighbor is a pastry chef and made it for me. Molly flipped out when she saw it. Totally worth the money!

Banner

I made the banner in the background using my circle cutter, cardstock, and scrapbook paper. I tied the circle together with think white ribbon. 

Party Favors

I HATE party favors but feel like they are expected. I made little bags with magic washcloths (I had to go to 4 Dollar Trees to find enough Minnie/ Mickey ones) and a few sheets of stickers (also dollar tree). $1.25 per bag seemed pretty good to me and it didn't contain ANY candy! 

Activities

As Molly's present we bought her the jump castle. I found one used on Craigslist for around $100. It was so fun for all the kids and we still use it on a regular basis. Last minute I printed out some coloring sheets as well. We had a bubble machine going the whole party as well and the kids loved chasing the bubble around. 

I had such a blast planning this party. Hopefully her 4th birthday will be just as fun! 

For her 3rd birthday I just let her pick out any cake she wanted from Publix and had the family over for dinner, cake and presents! 

Five on Friday!

One
Today I finally decided to start a blog. I have been thinking about it for a long time and finally sat down and did it. I hope to be able to use this blog as a creative outlet, something I feel like I have lost since having kids. I chose my blog name for my two little girls. My almost 4 year old, Molly, is called "Darling" by her daddy and my 1 year old, Lucy, is called "Ducky" by daddy. Lucy is named after my husbands grandmother and she was called grandma Duck by her grandkids.

Two
The weather beautiful the past few days and we have been trying to spend our afternoons outside. It is so cute to watch the girls play in the backyard together. We did a big backyard project this winter and our grass is in rough shape from it but we are still enjoying the warm temps and trying to get some fresh air. It makes me so excited for summer. Just thinking about the girls splashing in water tables and running through the sprinkler makes me smile.

Three
Molly has recently been requesting hair bows to go with every outfit. She has never been a bow girls so our options are very limited. The other day I ordered some highly recommended bows on amazon and I can't get over the quality and price. I paid $16 for 40 bows but now they are marked down to $11. 

40 Pack of Bows

Four
We signed Molly up for soccer this spring, FINALLY! We wanted to sign her up last spring but with Lucy being so young it just seemed too difficult. I didn't really want to be on the soccer field during witching hour. I put it off and before we knew it we had missed the Fall soccer deadline so we finally got her signed up for the spring! She has skills assessments this weekend and starts practice in March. Daddy took her to get socks and shin guards and we spent some time in the back yard getting used to them this week. How does she look so grown up? She is superhero obsessed and wants to wear this shirt everyday!

Five
I am working to get everything in order for Molly's fourth birthday party. We are planning a park party after school on her actual birthday (a Wednesday). It seems weird to have a weekday party but we have a wedding the weekend before and will be out of town the weekend after. I can't wait to share all the details!