Tag Archives: shopping

A Mini Shopping Spree for Miss G {With the Help of Coupons.com}

Like I mentioned in our first ever Small Style post, we almost never buy clothes for Miss G at regular price.  I wouldn’t have necessarily considered myself a bargain hunter before becoming a mama, but when it comes to kids’ clothes, there are so many great deals to be had that you almost feel silly purchasing items at full price.  Gracen will be 3 years old in just a couple of months, and so far, stocking up for the following year during end of season sales has worked wonderfully for us.  

The other thing I’ve taken advantage of on more than one occasion is shopping online when a great promo code has landed in my email inbox.  The thing is, when online shopping, there’s almost always a great promo code floating around somewhere… you just have to find it.

Enter coupons.com.  Coupons.com is basically a giant digital coupon book that has all of the promo codes you could ever need or want neatly organized in one little corner of the internet.  It houses both printable coupons to use in stores and digital promo codes to use when shopping online for all kinds of brands and companies.  Just enter what you’re looking for in the search bar, and most likely, multiple money saving coupons will pop up! (Tip for Canadian residents: Just add ‘Canada’ to the end of the store’s name when searching, and codes valid in Canadian stores should pop right up.)

When we were recently given the opportunity to stretch our purchasing power at The Children’s Place using coupons.com codes, Gracen and I were more than up for the challenge.  Here’s what we got for our $50…

IMG 9173active solid racer back tank | denim utility skort

IMG 9177active ruffle tee | denim utility pants

IMG 9183aviator sunglasses | denim jacket | floral ruffle romper 

Cute, right?  Okay, so truth be told, we actually spent closer to $58 when all was said and done, but I’d say that’s pretty good for 7 mix-and-match pieces, one of which (the denim jacket) originally cost over half of the entire budget.

GIVEAWAY 50 Dollars to spend at The Children s Place from COUPONS COM | Mama Papa BubbaWhat’s even better than learning about a new way to save money?  Coupons.com is giving one lucky Mama.Papa.Bubba. reader the chance to stretch their purchasing power with a $50 e-gift card to The Children’s Place!  Want to see how many cute items you can purchase for your little one with just $50?  Here’s your chance!

Coupons.com has generously offered to give one Mama.Papa.Bubba. reader a $50 e-gift card to spend at The Children’s Place.  This contest is open to US readers only (sorry everyone else!) and a winner will be selected at random on Tuesday, June 25th, 2013.

There are multiple ways to enter. Please leave a SEPARATE comment for each.  To enter to win a $50 e-gift card to The Children’s Place via Coupons.com:

-> Visit the The Children’s Place page on Coupons.com and tell us which coupon code you’d use to stretch your $50 the furthest

-> ‘Like’ Coupons.com on Facebook, then come back here and leave a separate comment saying you did so (or previously did)

-> ‘Like’ Mama.Papa.Bubba. on Facebook, then come back here and leave a separate comment saying you did so (or previously did)

-> Follow Mama.Papa.Bubba. on Twitter, then come back here and leave a separate comment saying you did so (or previously did)

-> Follow Mama.Papa.Bubba. on Pinterest, then come back here and leave a separate comment saying you did so (or previously did)

 

Obviously the more times you enter, the better your chances of winning. ☺  Don’t forget to leave your email address!  The winner will be announced on June 25th and contacted via email.  Good luck!!

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iPhoneography // The Day She Got $10

For the last 19 months that we’ve lived in our little old house, we’ve collected mail for the previous tenants and messaged them each time there’s been enough to warrant them making the trip into the city to pick it up.  Because there were 6 adults {plus a baby} living where the 3 of us do now, the mail stacks up quite quickly.  I honestly don’t mind one bit, but every month they apologize profusely for inconveniencing us.  A couple of weeks ago, when the father/grandfather of the family popped by for a pick up, he handed me a pretty red envelope and said, “For the kid”.  I smiled, thanked him, and set it aside for when Gracen woke up from her nap.  

Later in the afternoon, she opened it up to find two crisp 5 dollar bills.  I explained that it was money (poor girl can operate a debit machine like nobody’s business, but has barely seen dollar bills in her lifetime) and asked her what she’d like to do with it.  We brainstormed ideas and came up with these options:  put it in her piggybank, keep it in her purse, deposit it in her bank account, give it to someone, or use it to buy something.  In the end, she decided that she wanted to buy something with her money (“a bath bomb would be nice”, she told me) and Superstore was the place to go.  So off we went. 

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When we arrived, I explained that she had $10, so whatever she wanted to purchase would have to be less than that.  She carefully browsed the aisles, inspecting items while asking “Is dis one 10?”

When she announced that she was ready to make her decision, she had 6 options to choose from… A Hello Kitty Easter book, a small collection of bath toys, 3 bottles of glittery paint, a group of squishy dinosaur toys, a bracelet making kit, and a ride-on bouncing ball.  We lined the choices up down the middle of an aisle and she slowly started ruling things out.  “Not dis one…”, then she’d go and put it away.  When she’d cut the selection down to just 3 items, she confidently shouted “I pick the bouncy ball!!!”  With that, we tidied up the rest of the stuff, and headed to the self-serve checkout where she scanned her item, deposited her money in the slot, and collected her receipt.  

With my little lady having completed her first ever shopping purchase, we headed home to blow up her new bouncer and play in the backyard.  She’s bounced around the yard every time we’ve been outside since, so I’d say she’s pretty pleased with her decision. ☺

$10a pretty little envelope // headed to the store (panda hat required)

happy with her choice // bouncing bubba

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Easily Pleased

IMG 0139One of the {MILLIONS of} things I absolutely adore about Gracen is her enthusiasm and appreciation for little things… Today, while shopping for a few craft supplies, we came across these {$2} foam letters and she could not have been more thrilled that I agreed to let her take them home when she asked.  For the rest of the day, she held them, prepared for bath time, and talked about how she would show Papa when he got home and he would say “Wooooooooow!” During bath time, it was as though she’d won the lottery – “ABCs, Mama! ABCs!  Grae Grae loves ABC toys!” As she carefully placed each one up on the tiles, she attempted naming them with  enthusiastic guesses (as of now, she knows A, G, S, Y, and Z really well) and every once and a while got her ‘squinty Uncle Gary concentration face’ on, looked up at me for assistance, and said “Dis one a hard one?”

Good lord, I love this little lady.

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iPhoneography // Accidental IKEA Morning

Somehow a quick fan stop at Home Depot became a morning at IKEA. Oopsies! I blame it on Grae… Clearly she’s the one that loves the place. ☺

Untitledmoving in // lounging

bed tester // “blankie, Mama?”

no hands // soup taster

hiding // new fabric

convinced Mama to buy restaurant food // first ever white flour pancake

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Taken with Instagram. Find me under jkossowan.

We ♥ IKEA

I can hear the voices of my dad and brother already…  Sure, the furniture probably isn’t the highest of quality, but seriously?  We love IKEA.  Grae and I headed to our giant, shiny new store this afternoon, just for fun.  She adores the new kids’ play area so much that I think she’d stand and watch children play through the glass all afternoon long.  Of course, she’d rather be on the other side of the glass, so after her countless requests to go “Nin!”, we put her up against the height chart just to see…  3 inches to go.  (Sadly, those 3 inches will probably be gained much faster than I’ll want them to.)  With that, we headed up to the showroom and made our way straight to the kids’ area. Gracen hugged stuffies, laid on beds, and touched/tried every toy available.  IMG 1597IMG 1598IMG 1600

Of course, we stopped in at the Swedish food market on the way out too.  Although we still have plenty of elk-shaped pasta, we did take home some of the most delicious-smelling blueberry tea and a package of multigrain crispbread that Miss G picked out herself.

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A Hoola Hoop… At Last!

Weeks ago, little Miss G fell in love with a mini hoola hoop that was sitting in our backyard (a toy-littered lawn has become a regular thing recently, courtesy of the 5 very lovely, but highly unsupervised children that live in our basement suite).  Each time we were outside, she’d play with it for a few minutes and then we’d carefully place it next to the stairwell, only to find it back in the middle of the lawn ready to be played with the next time we were heading out.

But here’s the silly part.  Because she loved it so much and because Easter was just around the corner, I may have told Grae that the Easter Bunny would bring her a mini hoola hoop of her own.  Big mistake.  Before one makes promises on behalf of the Easter Bunny, they should really check out the local stock first.  Long story short, there were no mini hoola hoops to be found, and although she was more than spoiled on Easter Sunday, I felt bad for not fulfilling the promise I had made.

Well lo and behold, guess what we found today while we were at the dollar store of all places?!  The most perfect little hoola hoop ever!  And in aqua no less!  Grae was thrilled.

IMG 0923IMG 0927IMG 0958And more than anything, I was thrilled that I had finally followed through on my silly little promise.  Lesson learned.

Shopping Date

IMG 3238I must admit, I’ve been terrible about sticking with Gracen’s regular bedtime lately.  There’s really no excuse, but the extra sunlight at the end of the day, paired with the beautiful weather we’ve had lately, has made it tempting to stay outdoors a little later.  The result is a late dinner, a late bath, and a late bedtime.  Which wouldn’t be terrible if she made up the extra time by sleeping in a little the next day, but that doesn’t happen.  Our little early bird wakes up at 6:30 a.m. regardless, and if she hasn’t gotten her full 12 hours of sleep, she can be a little off for the remainder of the day.  Such was the case today.  By 9:30, she was ready for a nap on the way out to South Surrey for our shopping date with Steph and Baby Tate.

IMG 0839She woke up a short 15 minutes later when we arrived at our destination and was a bit of a grumpypants.  Luckily, visiting with Baby Tate and playing in the kids section of Indigo! are immediate mood lifters.

IMG 0852The four of us grabbed coffee (steamed milk for Miss G of course), visited, and did some shopping.  Together, Grae and I picked out this sweet little dress for one of the upcoming weddings we have planned for this summer.  I loved the colours and she loved the pockets {that can be filled with nuts}, so it was an easy pick.  She also got to pick out a pair of on-sale flip flops and this heart-covered pair was the natural choice.  She was so excited about her new goodies that she insisted she try them on as soon as we walked in the door.

IMG 0913Is there anything cuter than ten tiny toes in a pair of flip flops?  I doubt it.  ☺

Shoping in the States

Today was Brad’s virtual Saturday, so we headed down to Bellingham for our monthly stock up and some fun. First, we hit up our two favourites, Trader Joe’s and Target for the essentials.  Gracen was a champ about spending a couple of hours roaming up and down store isles and enjoyed riding around inside the shopping carts.  Afterwards, she and Papa headed to the mall’s play area while I got in a full 45 minutes of clothes shopping by myself (a post-Grae first)!  It was already past nap time, so we snuck in a quick lunch at the Chipotle knock-off, The Habenero Factory, and hit the road to do a few errands while G snoozed in her seat.

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IMG 2861Gracen awoke from her nap to find that we were parked out front of this shop (hmmm…wonder whose stop this was…) and naturally, we had to get out of the car to investigate the big green guy.  She wasn’t so sure of him at first, but she quickly warmed up to him and ended up giving him 5s, kissing his knees, and rubbing his rock hard abs.  After all that, I’d say Miss G and The Hulk are good friends, wouldn’t you?

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Tired and done with shopping, we headed back towards home when we decided to make an impromptu stop in White Rock.  It was absolutely freezing by the ocean, but we layered up and headed towards the beach.  Lucky for us, a train was making its way down the tracks as we got to the boardwalk.  Grae watched closely as it nosily clunked on by, until it stopped.  I mean, completely stopped, creating a barrier between us and the beach.  We waited and watched until it finally started with a jolt, and continued along its path.

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Gracen loved ‘Grizlee’, the bear statue and kissed his fur (she’s all about kissing things she likes right now) and rode on his back.  We played on the grass, collected rocks, threw them in the ocean, and walked along the boardwalk until we were frozen solid and could no longer stand being out in the wind.

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Once we got home, our little helper helped empty all of the grocery bags, we ate dinner, and it was bath time and bedtime for G after a long day.

A Regular Day with Grae

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Ponies.

IMG 5093Morning reading.

IMG 5101Serious colouring.

IMG 5108The Rainbow Fish on storylineonline.net.

IMG 5114Errands, round one.

IMG 5116Usual post-nap scene.  A cozy blanket, books, and a little snack.

IMG 5123Errands, round two.

(On a side note, we can’t go to Superstore without going to see this little duck.  He’s been the only duck amongst a crowd of bears since we moved to Vancouver 6 months ago, and Grae loves him. Every time we walk through the doors, she starts signing ‘duck, please’ and proceeds to point you in the right direction.  We stop by, she visits with him, and that’s that.  Not quite sure what we’ll do when the duck eventually finds a home one day…)

IMG 5128Crayon transferring.

IMG 5136Messy dinner.

IMG 5139Pre-bedtime apple.