A'shopping we will go...

One of the fun parts about my mom's visits is that we go shopping. And, though I don't (usually) ask her to, she loves to buy things for me and the kids. After all, that's what moms/grandmas do, right? :)

So, this trip was no exception.

On Friday we took Jason to get his 1st birthday pictures taken (with a coupon, of course. Side note: man, is that a racket or what??? They take all of these beautiful pictures of your adorable kid and you're supposed to stick to your small budgetted amount????)

While there we went to our favorite store, Christopher and Banks. All of the clearance items were an additional 50% off. I found a shirt and a blazer that I liked and Mom bought them for me. I think she paid a little over $30 for them, total.

She went to Coldwater Creek and bought a few things 75% off. I think she said she saved over $100 off the original price

On Saturday we took the kids to Toys R Us to buy Jason's birthday present (I had some money from his other grandparent to use). I also had a $10 gift certificate that I had earned from credit card rewards. And, Tyler had a $3 off $3 coupon that he received in the mail for his birthday.

Mom bought the kids each a toy for $10. We bought Jason a toy for $40, combining her gift and the other grandparents gift and one of my $10 certs. Tyler also got another toy with his $3 coupon.

On Monday, Mom and I went to an outlet mall. This is where the fun really began.

First, I needed to buy Katelyn some shoes. I found a BOGO50% sale, so I was able to buy her two pairs of shoes for $30.

Next, the Strasburg clothing store was having a "store closing" sale. Most of their stuff was only 20% off, but they did have a circle rack of 75% off clothes. Mom wound up buying Katelyn two dresses for next winter, and Jason an outfit for next winter and only paid a fraction of the original cost (come on, who really pays $250 for a child's dress???). We're saving these for birthday and Christmas.

Finally, we landed at The Children's Place. We hit the jackpot there. Winter tops and sweaters were on clearance for $2.99. Between the two of us, we picked up all of Katelyn's tops and sweaters for next winter. Also picked up two sweaters and a shirt for Tyler (honestly, why is the girl's sections three times as big as the boy's?)

Then I found light weight sleepers for 99 cents each! These were originally 3/$25!!! I picked up every style in Jason's current size and in the next size, too.

We've decided to save the winter clothes for Katelyn's birthday in October. Ain't early and cheap shopping great???

Finally, on Tuesday we went to a nearby outdoor mall, mostly just to get some fresh air. This mall just happens to have a Christopher and Banks, too. Would you believe that I found a shirt that I had admired on Friday that wasn't on sale then, now marked down??? And they were still an additional 50% off. So, I got the shirt that was originally $35.50 for $10!!!!

I'm so thrilled with all of our finds!

Thanks, Mom!!!!