Laverty's Landing

Italian Soup Recipe

2012-02-13T09:34:00.000-08:00

I love, love, LOVE the Zuppa Toscana Soup from Olive Garden but after going through the Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace classes (which we would highly recommend to everyone), eating out is rarely in the budget. We are dedicated to sticking to our budget and staying on task...one last debt to go!

I had looked up a recipe online some time ago and saved it to my computer. Pulled it up, made a grocery list and went shopping on Friday to get my ingredients. Have you ever bought Kale before!? We certainly had not but we have now. Wonder what I'm going to do with that extra Kale?? If anyone has another great recipe to use up my remaining kale...please comment and let me know! Otherwise, we will just have to suffer (NOT!) through another pot of soup next week.

Time to give it a try. I must say that it was very easy but a little time consuming. It probably took an hour plus from start to finish to prepare and cook the soup but it was well worth it!! We will certainly be adding this recipe to the recipe file!

Note to Chef...turn on some Italian music, pour yourself a glass of wine and get cooking! Delish!!

Makes: 6-8 servings

INGREDIENTS

1 lb ground Italian sausage
1½ tsp crushed red peppers
1 large diced white onion
4 Tbsp bacon pieces
2 tsp garlic puree
10 cups water
5 cubes of chicken bouillon
1 cup heavy cream
1 lb sliced Russet potatoes, or about 3 large potatoes
¼ of a bunch of kale

Sauté Italian sausage and crushed red pepper in a large pot. Drain excess fat, refrigerate while you prepare other ingredients.
In the same pan, sauté bacon, onions and garlic over low-medium heat for approximately 15 mins. or until the onions are soft.
Add chicken bouillon and water to the pot and heat until it starts to boil.
Add the sliced potatoes and cook until soft, about half an hour. We used potatoes that we had in stock and I would encourage you to use more than what the recipe calls for. We all felt like it needed more potatoes and we had thinly sliced them but will leave them a little thicker sliced next time.
Add the heavy cream and just cook until thoroughly heated.
Stir in the sausage and the kale, let all heat through and serve with some Italian sliced and buttered bread. Delicious!

Buon appetito!

Free Movie Nights

2012-02-01T09:22:00.000-08:00

Westfield Southcenter is offering "Romance in the Terrace" with free movie nights for you and your Valentine! They even have an option for dates with your younger sweeties. For all you locales, this sounds like a great day night at the right price!

Date:           February 7th - 9th

Time:          7:00 p.m.

Location:     Westfield Southcenter - 2800 Southcenter Mall, Seattle, WA 98188

Phone:         206-246-7400 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 206-246-7400 end_of_the_skype_highlighting

Details:        Whoever your Valentine might be, bring them to Westfield Southcenter for a romantic-themed movie! Come grab a bite, sit back and take in the show. Enjoy these fun, light-hearted favorites in the Dining Terrace:

February 7th - While You Were Sleeping starring Sandra Bullock
February 8th - Enchanted with Amy Adams and Patrick Dempsey
February 9th - Sleepless in Seattle featuring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree Laverty style

2011-12-14T16:31:00.000-08:00

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas! Enjoy :~)

P.S. For some reason you cannot see all of the screen so you can click this link to see it better...http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/LMi19nGH0aKIBoaZ3gSk

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

25 Days of Free Christmas Music

2011-12-05T08:45:00.000-08:00

Amazon is at it again! You can get 25 free Christmas songs this month with a new song every day. I know my husband will love the first one!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=pe_158420_21974290_pe_b4_t/?docId=1000453281

The Game Of Your Life

2011-11-18T17:43:00.000-08:00

My poor blog is suffering these days. Thanks for sticking with me and I will try to do better in the future!

Today's posting is about another Family Movie Night brought to you by Proctor & Gamble and Walmart. Our family loves these movies and puts in on the calendar and makes a point to sit down as a family and watch them together.

Friday, December 2nd, "The Game of your Life" will be showing at 8/7c on NBC and stars Lea Thompson (from Back to the Future and Caroline in the City). Below is the synopsis of the movie and you can see the trailer here. Mark your calendar!

"When industrious high school gamer Zach Taylor lands a prized scholarship to the prestigious Digital Institute of Game Design (DIGD), his future breaks wide open. The opportunity to study under gaming legend Marcus Bentton and alongside the country’s most creative minds will certainly propel him into a successful career as a video game designer. That is, if he can pass the infamous freshman project that eliminates more than half of the class within the first three months.

Paired with brilliant yet socially awkward teammates Phillip and Donald, the trio persuades Sara Ramirez – a determined and striking team leader with whom Zach has a history (and possibly a future) – to join their team. Working off-campus in the teched-out Lincoln Alley loft, the four set out to involve the entire campus in a quirky new social interactive game. But as the group becomes entrenched in the project, Zach learns that his father Billy, a widower, is facing growing financial woes at home. To help out, Zach accepts an opportunity to work directly with Marcus Bentton on a secretive side project that seems too good to be true. The effort requires nearly all of Zach’s time and energy, which he should be devoting to the project. Struggling to keep it together, Zach is torn between his responsibility to his team, his admiration for Bentton and a chance to help his father.

Everything comes to a breaking point when Zach’s team threatens to remove him from the group and the deceptive truth behind Bentton’s project comes to light. With the guidance of Professor Abbie Lambert, Zach must make a decision that not only affects his future, but the lives and livelihoods of the people around him as well. It’s a revealing story that recognizes the magnitude behind the choices we make and the importance loyalty plays in making good decisions."

Who is Simon Miller?

2011-07-20T12:44:00.000-07:00

Remember last month how I highlighted Family Movie Night! Well, they have a new movie...Who Is Simon Miller? and it will be on August 6th at 8/7c on NBC. It's an action-packed thriller about one family's mission to find out the truth about their father.

The Millers were an ordinary family living an ordinary life. That is, until the day Simon Miller went missing. Now wife Meredith, daughter Sarah and son Kevin must embark on a perilous mission to find him. But what they soon discover creates more questions than answers. This heart-pounding thriller takes you on a family's journey and tests the limits to which the Millers will fight for each other-putting their trust, loyalty and forgiveness to the test.

Check out the trailer and mark your calendars! We will be serving up some goodies and having a Family Movie Night at our house on August 6^th and my girls are excited for this kid friendly thriller!! Plan your movie night with your kids!

Family Movie Night

2011-05-26T15:54:00.000-07:00

Have you seen or heard about any of the Family Movie Nights movies that Proctor & Gamble and Walmart have been showing? We have been able to watch several of the movies. The most recent movie "Truth Be Told" starred Candace Cameron Bure (from the TV series "Full House") who played the role of a Marriage Counselor. All of the movies that we have seen have been geared for the entire family to watch.

They have a new movie, "Field of Vision", that will be shown on Saturday, June 11th at 8/7c. It's a compelling story about the challenges and rewards in doing the right thing and stars Faith Ford (from the sitcom "Hope and Faith"). Looks like a great movie for our kids! You can see a preview here.

According to the Family Movie Nights webpage:

"Walmart and P&G have partnered to create the Family Moments initiative to help moms and families better connect with each other. Family Movie Night is a part of that movement to provide meaningful entertainment for the entire family.

During Family Movie Night, you can be confident that the programming on their screens will be fun and action-packed, without the worry of having to dive for the remote to change the channel when inappropriate ads or other content comes on. Soundtracks for the films also feature top producers and artists. The day after airing, a special 2-disc DVD/CD bonus pack will be available for purchase exclusively through Walmart.

By providing this block of time, Walmart and P&G are striving to reconnect families across the country that are bombarded by busy schedules and the lack of programming that's appealing to everyone. Tune in and see what the buzz is about."

Mark your calendars and sit down with the entire family for a good quality movie. We actually enjoyed the humorous commercials as much as the movie! Pop some popcorn, add some hot tamale candy (something my mom always does :~)) and lay out a blanket with pillows to make some memories with your kids!

Summer Reading Programs = free books

2011-05-09T09:20:00.000-07:00

It's getting closer to summer! I don't know about you but I'm ready for some sunshine and some down time for the kids. We haven't had much of a Spring and I'm ready to start wearing Capri's and T-shirts! I am so tired of sweaters and jeans. The kids are so ready for a break from homework and reports. Bring on the sunshine and summer!

The one thing my kids have always loved is the summer reading programs that are offered by local book stores. My oldest is getting too old for them though! Bummer!! Why do they have to grow up so quickly!? There are several bookstores that participate and who doesn't love a free book!

BORDERS
Borders has the Double-Dog Dare Challenge for kids 12 and under to read 10 books and get one FREE! Go here to print the form and here to see a list of books that your child can select from for their FREE book.

BARNES & NOBLES
They have the Imagination's Destination Summer Reading Program. Kids read any 8 books and record them in the journal. You can download the form and see the list of free books that they can choose from here. They also have some activity pages you can download for both parents and educators.

HALF PRICE BOOKS
Last year Half Price Books offered a Summer Reading Program called Feed Your Brain. I couldn't find any information on their website with summer's 2011 information. So, check their website in a week or two and you should be able to find out the details. Last year, the program gave out free Half Price Books gift cards to kids who read for 15 minutes or more each day for at least 5 days. Seemed like a great program but we did not take advantage of this one since it's not in our immediate neighborhood.

CHUCK E. CHEESE
Chuck E. Cheese offers many incentive program. Kids can earn 10 tokens for reading every day for 2 weeks. Go here to see a list of all the programs that they offer and to print the reading log. They have logs from "potty training" to "no nose picking" where kids can earn FREE tokens! Seriously!!

PUBLIC LIBRARY
Check out your local library because most libraries offer a summer reading program. Our library offers a free book as well as a chance to put your name in for several different drawings like a $50 gift certificate to the mall or a giant stuffed animal.

If you would like to quickly print off some free bookmarks, go here or here and then print them on cardstock. Cut out the bookmarks, punch a hole in the top and then tie on some yarn or funky ribbon. Your kids will love having a new bookmark that you've quickly handcrafted for them!

Reading is a great way for kids to soar! They get to experience adventures, solve mysteries and learn in the process. Shh! Don't tell them about that last part. Help your kids develop a love of reading and reward them this summer by participating in one or more of the summer reading programs!

Scared of Sharks?

2011-03-17T09:43:00.000-07:00

There is a great inspirational movie coming out next month that's on our list to see. Soul Surfer, the movie, is based on the true story of Bethany Hamilton and her encounter with a tiger shark while surfing.

The film features AnnaSophia Robb as she protrays Bethany Hamilton in her fight to recover and get back on the waves. Bethany had a natural talent to surf so her world was shaken after this shark attack. Also starring, Dennis Quaid and Helen Hunt as her loving parents & the talented musician, Carrie Underwood, as her youth group leader. Sounds like a great cast to me!

Included in the movie are two songs performed by Britt Nicole who is a favorite music artist of Madison. Britt Nicole has thought-provoking lyrics that she tends to write with specific people in mind but that are applicable to all.

Bethany Hamilton is a great role model for daughters and has several books available that would be good to add to your daughters library. Go here to watch the trailer of this must see movie that will be in theatres everywhere on April 8th!

A Little Chuckle For Your Day

2011-02-23T13:51:00.000-08:00

It's been far too long since I've posted a picture of my cute girlies. I got them these fun lip lolipops for Valentine's Day that we all got a kick out of. I thought those of you who are faithful viewers would like this. Have a great day!!

Safeway's at it again!

2011-01-06T10:52:00.000-08:00

Back in August before school started I was able to stock up on the Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks for my kids' lunches at about $0.25/box at Safeway! Well, you can get them for the bottom line price of $0.09/box right now! They also have a great deal going on the Nature Valley Granola Bars...$0.57/box! Here's what you need to know to get the deal but keep in mind that this deal only last until January 8th at Safeway!

Purchase Betty Crocker Fruit Flavored Snacks: Fruit Shapes, Fruit by the Foot, Fruit Gushers, Fruit Roll-Ups, or Fruit Stickers Between 12/27-1/23 (The $0.09/box price is only good through 1/8 at Safeway!!)

Buy 3, receive $1 off-your-next-order (This is a Catalina coupon that prints after your purchase)
Buy 4, receive $2 off-your-next-order
Buy 5, receive $3 off-your-next-order

Buy (5) Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks $0.99 each

use (1) $1/3 printable-bettycrocker.com or pillsbury.com

use (1) $0.50/2 printable-coupons.com or 1/2 General Mills insert
Pay: $3.45 out of pocket
Receive a $3 Catalina coupon
Bottom line: $0.45 total (or $0.09 a box!)

Nature Valley Granola Bars $1.77, limit 6 w/ in ad coupon ends 1/8

buy 5, receive $3.50 OYNO Share w/mom

use (1) $0.50/1 printable -coupons.com or smartsource.com

use (2) $1/2 printable-bettycrocker.com or pillsbury.com or

use $0.75/2 from GM 1/2

Total OOP: $6.35, and receive $3.50 Catalina

Final Price: $2.85 or $0.57 each

Just a reminder for those of you who *Swagbuck, you can print some of the coupons above from there and then you'll get more swagbucks! Go to the Earn tab and then select Coupons. My Safeway had plenty in stock to choose from and they even had a healthier chose Fruit Roll-up called Simply... It is made with more than 90% fruit juice and I found it on the top shelf plus it was included in the sale!

*Interested in learning about Swagbucks, see my post "Are you Swagbucking to Christmas?" Now that Christmas has come and gone I can share what I was able to get with my Amazon cards. I got a Small Stereo/Cd player for my oldest daughter which she loves, 3 DVD's (2 of which were new releases marked down to $10 - The Karate Kid & Ramona and Beezus**) and a CD. Not bad for $75 in Amazon gift cards I earned while searching the net! Read my post!!

**I highly recommend Ramona & Beezus! This was a great family movie and gave me a better understanding of how my youngest tends to think :~) I'm hoping they will come out with other Ramona movies.

Kellogg's $10 December Rebate Available

2010-12-18T14:23:00.000-08:00

I have an extra rebate form available for any of you local coupon gals. About two months ago I picked up the Kellogg's/Keebler "Your Ultimate Holiday Guide" coupon book at Albertson's. Included were several coupons and a $10 Rebate but there is a limit of one per household so I do not need the extra. All you have to do is purchase 10 participating products in one purchase and submit your receipt for a $10 rebate.

Here is a list of participating products:

Keebler Crackers (7.7 oz. or larger), Keebler Cookies (7.5 oz or larger), Sunshine Cheez-It Crackers (7.5 oz. or larger), Sunshine Krispy Saltine Crackers (11 oz. or larger), Carr's Crackers (4 oz. or larger), Famous Amos Cookies (14 oz. or larger, Murray Sugar Free Cookies (4 oz. or larger), Kellogg's Rice Krispies Treats Crispy Marshmellow Squares (8 ct. or larger), Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Bars (10 oz. or larger), Kellogg's Special K Bars (3.8 oz. or larger), Kellogg's Special K Crackers (8 oz. or larger), Kellogg's FiberPlus Chewy Bars (5 ct. or larger), Kellogg's Cinnabon Bars (6 ct. or larger), Kellogg's Fruit Flavored Snacks (10 ct. or larger), Austin Sandwich Cracker Packs (7.4 oz. or larger), Kebbler or Sunshine 100 Callorie Right Bites Snacks (4 ct. or larger)

All products must be purchased in a single transaction on one store receipt between 12/1/10-12/31/10. Requests must be postmarked by 12/31/10 and received by 1/10/11.

It's available to the first of you ladies to comment!! Time's ticking...

HOT Safeway deal for meat

2010-12-13T16:20:00.000-08:00

Would you like to get about $50 worth of meat for around $12!?! I just had mine delivered and got $57.66 worth of meat for the very low price of $11.81!!!

Queenbeecoupons.com had most of the info following and you can go to her site to see what she ordered. Right now Safeway has several cuts of meat as BOGO. Queenbeecoupons got two packs of the BOGO Hamburger and Chicken while others got the Fresh BOGO Crab. I couldn't find the crab that is listed in the ad so I'm thinking my store was sold out.

I purchased two packs of the BOGO Chicken Breasts & two packs of BOGO Rump Roast. My online total was $40.08 after promo's codes and they deduct the BOGO meats when they package your order so that amount comes off later. Once again, I paid $11.81 for $57.66 worth of meat!! Basically, I paid for 1 pack of Chicken Breasts.

Head over to Safeway.com to start shopping. You have to be new to home delivery in order to get the deal. Set up your new account and then load your meat. Make sure your total is $50+. After you've loaded your meat, proceed to checkout and select your delivery for anytime today or Tuesday, December 14 (the delivery will be free so don't worry about the price that is usually $6.95 to $12.95). Continue checking out and enter promo code CJSAVINGS, this deducts $15 off your total. Then, enter promo code EASY7 for free delivery on your first order.

You must have your order delivered by Tuesday, December 14 to get about $50 of meat for around $12. If you can't get it delivered by Tuesday, December 14, hold off. I'm sure the deal will run again. Good luck!

Christmas Tunes - FREE

2010-12-01T23:04:00.000-08:00

Target has 13 FREE Christmas tunes that you can download. I downloaded it earlier today but haven't had time to listen to them. Not sure that they will all be added to our Christmas playlist but it's the right price! The list of songs follows:

Tiny Tree Christmas by GUSTER
Toy Jackpot by BLACKALICIOUS
Snow is Falling by DARKER MY LOVE
Perfect Gift by NATALIE HEMBY
10,000 Watts by CRYSTAL ANTLERS
You'll Never Find My Christmas by BISHOP ALLEN
Get Down for the Holidays by JENNY O.
Mrs. Claus Ain't Got Nothin' On Me by LITTLE JACKIE
Got Something For You by BEST COAST, WAVVES
It's Christmas by COCONUT RECORDS
Party Hard by LITTLE ISIDORE
Súper Mamá (Supermom)by THE PINKER TONES
Un Regálo Para Mí (A Present For Me)by CECI BASTIDA

Click on this link to go get your free music from Target!

A Rockin' Christmas

2010-11-29T21:57:00.001-08:00

Not your typical Christmas Greeting from our family but the kids love it and Katelynn encouraged me to use that picture of Jack. She was laughing hysterically! Enjoy.

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Looks like this is having a hard time loading! Hopefully some of you will be able to view it...

Are you Swagbucking to Christmas?

2010-11-24T00:45:00.000-08:00

Have you joined Swagbucks and started earning your free giftcards or other prizes? I joined in April 2010 and to date have earned $75 in Amazon giftcards as well as a $10 Starbucks card that I was able to use on my trip to Texas over the summer. Not bad for just searching the net!! That $75 in Amazon giftcards is a huge blessing to our family and will be used for some Christmas presents this year.

Not sure what Swagbucks is...let me explain a bit. It is a search engine that you can use for searching the net. By searching, you can earn "swagbucks" or points that will accumulate and eventually earn you giftcards or other prizes. You do not earn swagbucks for every search but are awarded swagbucks periodically throughout the day with your searches.

The $5 Amazon giftcard is my favorite and is available for 450 swagbucks. On average, I get 1-2 giftcards a month just for searching and completing what I detail in the following.

You can easily earn 3 swagbucks daily just for completing the Daily Poll, going to Trusted Surveys and also for completing the NOSO (No Obligation Special Offers). All of these can be found under the Earn tab at the top of the page. You do not have to complete any of the NOSO's to get your swagbuck. You can just skip the offers you are not interested in and after about 4 offers, you will be awarded 1 swagbuck. It just takes a few seconds to complete this.

It's really as easy as it sounds! Just go to Swagbucks to register and then start searching. A couple of tips that will help you out:

1) You can't just do one search after another trying to earn swagbucks. Swagbucks is a search engine so they want you to do searches but if you just complete one search after another trying to earn swagbucks, then you will temporarily not be able to continue.

2) Complete those items I suggested above under the Earn tab daily to get an easy 3 swagbucks daily!

3) On the home screen, if you scroll to the bottom you will see "Special Offers". Check this every week or so for offer under approximately 5 swagbucks. These are usually quick videos that you can watch to earn a few quick points.

4) Add the free toolbar. It's a visual reminder for you to search with Swagbucks. Also, a couple of times a week, there will usually be a message for you to quickly earn any where from 4 to 12 swagbucks just by entering a code! Watch "From TSG" in the toolbar for messages to earn swagbucks.

5) Read the Swagbucks Blog. You can locate it on the Home page on the left hand side about half way down the page. There are usually 3-4 posts a day and every few days there will be a code in the blog for you to earn swagbucks!

6) Coupons! For all you couponers, Swagbucks has recently added coupons that you can print. After printing and redeeming the coupons, you will have 10 swagbucks added to your account for each coupon!! It will take a few weeks to see the points added to your account though.

Sign up for Swagbucks today and start searching. Wishing each of you a Very Happy Thanksgiving!!

TGI Skillet Meals & Dunkin Donuts Coffee DEALS!!

2010-11-09T08:38:00.000-08:00

I wanted to share two great deals taking place this week at Target. The first one is an awesome deal that I took advantage of last week but it looks like it's rolling into this week at Target.

Buy 3 TGI Friday’s Skillet Meals on sale buy 2 at $5.99 get one FREE
Total = $11.98
Use the $4/2 Target store coupon found here
Plus, stack with 3 $2/1 coupons from the 9/26 SS or new coupon from the 11/7 SS
Final cost ONLY $0.66 each! What an awesome price!!

To print two Target store coupons, hit the back button after the first coupon prints. I reload my paper the reverse so that I use one piece of paper for both coupons.

We had the Firecracker Sesame Chicken and I was impressed with the packaging. All of the items were packaged separately. We have never had these before and I don't think I would ever buy them but I couldn't pass up on the price for this meal.

We needed two of the meals to feed our family of 4 and I served up some rice on the side as well. Everything tasted really good and my hubbie enjoyed it the most. It was a little spicy for the kids (the rice tamed it down) but that was one of the few I could get. You can't beat the price!

Deal #2 - Centsible in Seattle noted a great deal on Dunkin’ Donuts coffee this week at Target. My caffeine-lovin’ friends needed to hear about it!!

Dunkin Donuts Coffee Bags $6.49
Buy (3) and use (3) $1.50/1 coupons from 10/31 Red Plum
Pay: $14.97
Then, get a $5 Target Gift Card!

Bottom line: $3.32 a bag! That beats the price that Fred Meyers had a few weeks back on Seattles Best of $3.99!

Thanks, Centisble in Seattle!

By the way, if you like coffee deals, don’t forget that every Friday in November you can score a free 12-oz Seattle’s Best Coffee at participating Burger King restaurants.

So, print your coupons and RUN to your nearest Target to take advantage of these deals but save some coffee for me! I'm going later today!!

And the Winner is...

2010-10-11T15:27:00.000-07:00

The two lucky readers of the "Sniff, Sniff, Hurray" Gain Prize pack are: Tracie T. and Kristen R. Your packages will be in the mail later this week. Congratulations Tracie & Kristen!

Please be assured that all winners were chosen completely at random. Thanks to all for participating!

Hurray! It's time for a Gain giveaway!

2010-10-07T09:00:00.000-07:00

Recently, I came home to a lovely box on my front porch compliments of MyBlogSpark. Don't you just love getting a package! I'd like to give you the opportunity to come home to a package as well but first, let me give you some details about what was inside the box.

When I opened the box a crowd cheered! Literally! You know those cute little greeting cards that sing when you open it. Well, the advertising that went into this box was great. My kids got a big kick out of it!

I got a sample of Gain Dishwashing Liquid to try out. It comes in 3 refreshing scents at Walmart: Original, Lavender and Citrus Splash. The sample I received was the Original scent and it does a great job of taking care of the after dinner clean-up! I would like to try the Citrus Splash scent next.

Thanks to P&G through MyBlogSpark, two lucky readers will win a Gain “Sniff, Sniff Hurray” prize pack that includes:

v $5 Walmart gift card

v An I Heart Gain t-shirt (size large)

v I’m throwing in a $1.00 off Gain Dishwashing Liquid coupon

To enter the giveaway, please leave me a separate comment for each method of entry. The first one is a requirement to enter the giveaway.

1. Leave me a comment of which scent you would like to try.

2. Post this giveaway on your blog and let me know in the comment section

3. Not a blogger? Then, email 3 of your friends this post and leave me a comment that you’ve done so.

4. Post this giveaway on Facebook and leave me a comment stating that you have done that.

Contest runs until 6 p.m. (Pacific Time) on Sunday, October 10, 2010. This give away is open to U.S. addresses only. I will draw a winner and the winner will be contacted via email. They will have 48 hours to claim the prize or I will choose someone else. Be sure to leave your email address, or have it available on your blogger profile.

Goodluck!

P&G provided me with the free product, dishwashing liquid, t-shirts, and gift card giveaway through MyBlogSpark. All opinions of this Gain review are my own.

Stick it and 4 get it & a coupon giveaway!

2010-09-23T08:34:00.000-07:00

Recently I received some coupons from Vocalpoint to try out a new product. For those of you unfamiliar with Vocalpoint, it is a sampling site created to promote word-of-mouth advertising by sending out samples and coupons. The coupons I received were for the Bounce Dryer Bar. It is a fabric softener bar that you adhere to the inside of your dryer and this website has some great Q&A videos for any questions you may have about the the Bounce Dryer Bar.

The coupons that they sent enabled me to snag a great deal at Target last week. In fact, I now have a years supply of Bounce Dryer Bars! Let me explain...

The bars come in different sized packages and the ones that were on sale were the 2 pack. Two bars last about 6 months depending on the frequency of use and your dryer settings. I selected the Outdoor Fresh scent and it is wonderful! My clothes smell great and I do not need to worry about adding a fabric softener to each load now.

Let's be honest, haven't you been busy answering questions from your kiddo's or your spouse and then couldn't remember if you put a fabric softener in the dryer or not. Then, you've used up two!

The ease, convenience and great scent of this product are all great selling points. I would recommend you give it a try! In fact, for any of you local folks, Vocalpoint was kind enough to send me some extra coupons for some friends. So, the first 2 people to leave a comment about there favorite Halloween costume will receive a $1.50 coupon for the Bounce Dryer Bar so you can it it a try.

P.S. I've got another giveaway coming up so stay tuned!

Coffee Roast Recipe

2010-09-15T21:12:00.000-07:00

This recipe is to die for! First of all, let me start off by letting you all know that I am not a Roast fan. My husband on the other hand, LOVES Roast!! For him, it just brings up all those memories of a good home cooked meal.

So, I've been the good wife and occasionally cooked him a pot roast with mashed potatoes and carrots, gravy, biscuits...you get the picture. But, I never enjoyed those meals until I got this recipe from my mom.

The first time I made it I thought, seriously...I need to brown the roast for 5 minutes on each side! But, follow the recipe and you'll see that this is the most tender Roast you have ever had...and the Flavor! Don't you just love a recipe that you can prepare and then go do your grocery shopping and come home to a house that smells devine! Each time I make this, when the family get's home and smells it, the first thing they say is "Mmmmm! What's for dinner!?" You gotta try it!

In the past, I've had to substitute dried onion for chopped onion and it tastes just as good. I just use ground pepper and it works just fine as well.

I'm hoping that you will be able to click on the recipe card above and save it but for some reason, that doesn't always work with blogger. So, I will give the recipe to you here as well.

Ingredients: 3 lb sirloin tip roast, 2 TBsp Vegetable Oil, 1 medium Onion - chopped, 2 Garlic Cloves - minced, 1 cup Brewed Coffee, 1/2 cup Water, 1 Beef Bouillon Cube, 1 tsp Salt, 2 tsp Dried Basil and 1/2 tsp Coarsely Ground Pepper

Instructions: Brown all sides of the roast on medium high heat in hot oil for 5 minutes on each side. Add the roast to the crock pot. Add onion and garlic to the skillet and saute until tender. Stir in coffee, water and bouillon cube, salt, basil and pepper. Stir and then pour on the roast. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours until tender.

Give this recipe a try and let me know what you think!

Monthly Sales Cycles

2010-08-21T21:47:00.000-07:00

For all you couponers out there, you will want to copy and print this for the front of your coupon binders! It is the Monthly Sales Cycles that will help you predict the upcoming sales. We all know that produce is seasonal and if you want to make strawberry jam, you do it around June when the berries are fresh and at their peak. Now you can be an even more savvy shopper with this handy Monthly Sales Cycles that I saw at The Krazy Coupon Lady.

January:

National Oatmeal Month: Quaker
Diet Foods including: Healthy Choice, South Beach, Lean Cuisine, Special K, Kashi, Smart Start, 100 Calorie Packs
Super Bowl Sunday: Pepsi, Coke, Chips, Dips, Cheese, sandwich items, crackers, snacks, wings
Seasonal Produce: Oranges, Pears, Grapefruit, Tangerines, Broccoli, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Chard, Collards, Kale, Kiwi, Avocado, Cabbage, Spinach
Clearance: Christmas Decorations, Toys, Wrapping Papers,
Winter Health: Cold Medicines and Vitamins

February:

National Canned Food Month: Canned Fruit, Vegetables, meats: Tuna, chicken, salmon, pie fillings
National Hot Breakfast Month: Malt O Meal, Oatmeal, Eggo Waffles, Syrup
Valentines: Chocolate, Hershey’s, KY Lubricant, etc
Chinese New Year: Soy Sauce, Teriyaki Sauce, Noodles
Seasonal Produce: Artichoke, Asparagus, Raspberries, Potatoes, Strawberries, Broccoli, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Chard, Collards, Kale, Kiwi, Avocado, Spinach

March:

Frozen Food Month: Frozen Meals, TGI Fridays, Contessa, Foster Farms Chicken, Eggo, Sara Lee, Healthy Choice, DiGiorno, Freschetta, Breyers, Dreyers, Marie Callendars
Seasonal Produce: Artichoke, Asparagus, Avocado, Haas, Broccoli, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Chard, Collards, Fennel, Kale, Leek, Lemon, Lime, Mushrooms, Onions, Spring, Orange, Peas, Radish, Rhubarb, Spinach, Strawberries, Tangerine

April:

Easter: Ham, Eggs, Some Baking Supplies: sugar, spices, baking mixes, chocolate chips
Earth Day: Organic foods, Energy saver
Seasonal Produce: Artichokes, Asparagus, Beets, Broccoli, Cabbages, Carrots, Grapefruit, Hass Avocado, Mushrooms, Onions, Peas, Rhubarb
Clearance: After Easter sales are the time to stock up on decorating, baskets, etc for the next year.

May:

Memorial Day: BBQ Sauce, Ketchup, condiments, charcoal, salad dressing, potato chips, dips
Paper Products: plates, utensils, insect repellant, sunscreen
Cinco De Mayo: Salsa, tortillas
Seasonal Produce: Artichokes, Asparagus, Avocado, Beans, Green, Beets, Blackberries, Carrots, Onions, Sweet Vidalia, Peas, Edible Pods, Peas, English/Shelling, Potatoes, New, Raspberries, Strawberries

June:

National Dairy Month: Eggs, Milk (Free Milk Catalina, wyb cereal), Ice Cream, Cheese, Butter, Yogurt, cool whip, In-store dairy coupons or booklets
End of June is Fourth or July Sales: Hot Dogs, Hamburgers, BBQ Sauce, Ketchup, condiments, charcoal, salad dressing, potato chips, dips
Seasonal Produce: Apricots, Blackberries, Blueberries, Boysenberries, Cherries, Corn, Cucumber, Eggplant, Grapes, Honeydew, Nectarines, Peaches, Potatoes, Raspberries, Red Onions, Squash, Summer, Strawberries, Sweet Vidalia Onions, Tomatoes, Watermelon

July:

National Ice Cream Month
More 4th of July BBQ Sales: Hot Dogs, Hamburgers, BBQ Sauce, Ketchup, condiments, charcoal, salad dressing, potato chips, dips
End of July: Back to School Sales begin: crayons, pencils, folders, binders
Seasonal Produce: Asian Pears, Bartlett Pears, Beans, Green, *Blueberries, Corn, Cucumber, Eggplant, Figs, Garlic, Grapes, Nectarines, Onions, Red, Oranges, Valencia, Peaches, Peppers, Sweet/Bell, Plums, Potatoes, Squash, Summer, Tomatoes, Watermelon

August:

Back to School: Pudding cups, Lunch meat,
Staples and Office Depot Penny items
Disinfectant: Clorox, Purell
Clearance: Insect Repellant, Sunscreen, charcoal
Seasonal Produce: Apple, Gravenstein, Avocado, Hass, Beans, Beans, Green, Berries, Corn, Cucumber, Eggplant, Figs, Grapes, Melons, Onion, Peaches, Pears, Bartlett, Pepper, Bell, Plums, Raspberries, Squash, Summer, Tomatillo, Tomato

September:

Back to School Sales through labor day: crayons, pencils, folders, binders
Diabetes: Bayer Glucose Meters, Glucerna Cereal
Seasonal Produce: Apples, Artichokes, Beans, Bell Peppers, Chile Peppers, Cucumber, Eggplant, Grapes, Onion, Orange, Valencia, Pears, Asian, Pears, Bartlett, Pomegranate, Squash, Tomatillo, Tomatoes, Winter Squash

October:

Halloween: Candy
Beginning of the baking sales: Canned pumpkin, evap milk, baking chips
National Seafood Month
Adopt a Shelter-Dog Month: Pedigree, Purina
Seasonal Produce: Almonds, Apples, Artichokes, Arugula, Beets, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbages, Chard, Chestnuts, Cranberries, Lemons, Parsnip, Pears, Pomegranate, Potatoes, Potatoes, Sweet, Pumpkin, Spinach, Squash, Winter, Turnips, Yams

November:

Baking Sales in full swing: nuts, chocolate chips, evap milk, sweetened condensed milk, coconut, cake mixes
Canned foods – soup, broth, condensed milk, vegetables, fruits, spaghetti sauce
Turkey, canned pumpkin, stovetop stuffing, betty crocker boxed potatoes, gravy mixes, rhodes rolls, frozen pies, cranberry sauce, jello, marshmallows
Seasonal Produce: Anjou Pears, Beets, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbages, Carrots, Celery, Comice pears, cranberries, kiwi, lemons, orange, potato, squash, yams
Clearance: After Halloween sales are the time to stock up on things for the next year. I like to buy the Halloween candy-alternatives like halloween crayons, erasers, watches, spinning tops, etc. I mix this in with my next year’s candy bowl and it stretches my loot for all the neighbor kids!

December:

Holiday Dinner: Egg Nog, Deli Platters, Instant Potatoes, gravy mixes, rhodes rolls, frozen pies, cranberry sauce, jello, marshmallows
Baking: Flour, Sugar, Butter, Cream, Cake mix, Brownie mix, Muffin mix, Breads, Pie Crust, Marshmallow, Whipped cream
Canned foods – soup, broth, condensed milk, vegetables, fruits, spaghetti sauce
Clearance: Buy all your Thanksgiving Decorations, extra table settings and turkey carving products now once they’re at least 50% off.

Target Mobile Coupons!

2010-07-21T18:53:00.000-07:00

Here's a couponing option that saves on ink & paper. You can now sign up to have Target send your cell phone mobile coupons. Every few weeks, you will receive a text message with a link for some Target mobile coupons. When you click on the link, it will open up your phone's internet browser and take you to a link for the coupons. Head to Target and do your shopping and then hand your phone to the cashier for them to scan and your coupon savings will be deducted! It's really that easy!! I've used it twice now and haven't had any problems. Both times, my cashiers were a bit surprised and had not scanned mobile coupons before but it scanned fine.

This weeks coupons were for $1 off Purex laundry detergent, $0.75 off 6-pk. Hershey milk chocolate candy bars, $1 off 12-pk. beverage item (A&W Root Beer, Canada Dry, Sunkist or 7Up), $1 off Hanes apparel item and $1 off InStyle magazine. They do not expire until 8/7/10 so I'm holding off on these to pair them up with a good sale! Go here to sign up for your Target e-coupons. Message and data rates may apply.

Sweetpea Beauty - New Veggie Tales Video

2010-07-18T17:08:00.000-07:00

I wanted to let all you VeggieTales fans out there know about a new DVD coming out at the end of the month. Following is the information about the latest video from VeggieTales.

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who has the truest heart of all?

Once upon a time, there lived a royally sour blueberry, a fair rhubarb
maiden and a dastardly deceptive mirror! Sweetpea Beauty knows that what’s on the inside is what matters most, but insecure Queen Blueberry can’t see past her own reflection! So, when a decree is handed down that only the most beautiful can rule the land, the Queen gets nervous and things turn ugly! Banished to the dark forest, Sweetpea’s fate seems bleak until a charming prince, a band of merry minstrels and seven snow peas come to the rescue! Will Sweetpea and her friends be able to warn the Queen in time to save her from the clutches of the tricky mirror – or will the crumbling kingdom and the Queen’s own heart be lost forever? Find out in this fairy "Veggie" tale about the real meaning of true beauty.

Plus, the almost-classic tale of . . .Snoodlerella.

A self- conscious Snoodlerella is the star of the ball after getting an extreme makeover. Her life of glamour is short-lived as the clock strikes midnight and her glasses, braces and insecurities return. Will she be able to see herself as the good King sees her—unique, beautiful and perfect just the way she is?

The video will be released on July 31, 2010 and features 9-time Dove award winner Nichole Nordeman singing "Beautiful for Me" song. This is a great new song from Nichole that I can't wait to hear my girls singing throughout the house!

This video is perfect for all the little princesses in your life. Let me leave you with the theme verse: Samuel 16:7 "For the Lord sees not as man sees - man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

Disney Movie Rewards = Free Movies, etc.!!

2010-07-18T15:33:00.000-07:00

For all you Disney fans out there, you need to check out Disney Movie Rewards! I found out about this a few months back and have been able to "cash in" on a free movie already. My girls picked out Tuck Everlasting and were thrilled when the movie arrived in the mail recently!

How does it work?? You earn points for: 1) eligible Disney Blu-Ray and DVD Movies, 2) watching eligible Disney theatrical releases (like Toy Story 3!) and 3) eligible Disney CD releases. The eligible Blu-Ray and DVD's come with codes that you enter online and after you have accumulated enough points, you can trade your points for DVD's, novelty items and toys, apparel and accessories, etc.

Right now, after registering, you can earn 5 points just by entering code L8N5VG3F6C! Each month you will receive a monthly newsletter that has another code for 5 points. I'm sure if you take a look at your Disney collection that you too will have enough points or nearly enough points to get a fun freebie at Disney Movie Rewards! That is unless your toddler has gotten ahold of your dvd's and taken out the loose papers that were enclosed that held the code... :~) Go to Disney Movie Rewards to register and get all the details!

High Value Coupons on Meat & Free Money!!

2010-07-17T13:20:00.000-07:00

About 6 weeks ago, I signed up to receive a weekly newsletter from Albertson's. Not sure of what to expect and knowing I could always unsubscribe, I gave it a whirl hoping to get an early sneak preview of there weekly savings. Low and behold...every week since, I get an email that DOES include a sneak preview of there sales but MOST IMPORTANTLY...I get a HIGH value coupon off of a different meat each week. One week, it was $2.00 off of a $4.00 purchase of chicken at the meat counter. Another week, it was $2.00 off of a $4.00 purchase of pork at the meat counter.

This week it is $2.00 off Lloyd's Babyback Ribs so I can combo that with the $0.75 manufactured coupon I have and get a great deal on some Ribs! If you haven't already signed up to receive the Albertson's Newsletter, according to hip2save, you can sign up now and get some free bread (up to $3 value). Use promo code FREEBREAD when you enter your information.

Your family will thank you when you come home with meat for a family BBQ dinner! Pair it with some homemade potato salad and some ice cold lemonade. I'm getting hungry just writing this!

So, a while back, I mentioned Swag Bucks on my blog. I joined about 3 months ago and have received a $10 Starbucks Gift Card (yummy!), have $20 in Amazon.com e-Gift Cards and I have enough swagbucks to buy another $15 worth of Amazon.com e-Gift Cards. This program is AWESOME! My Starbucks Gift Card came right before I went to Texas so that was a great treat to have!

All you do is sign up here and then you use it for your searches just like you would another search engine like Yahoo, MSN or Google. I'll be using my Amazon.com e-Gift Cards for buying some Christmas presents this year. Why not get paid to search? I'd be happy to give you some pointers and answer any questions you may have about Swag Bucks...just comment or send me an email. Enjoy the summer with your family!

Freebies for Good Grades on Report Cards!

2010-06-10T23:07:00.000-07:00

School's almost out and after all the hard work your kids put in this year they can kick off the summer with some great rewards. Following is a list of some freebies that I've heard may offer your kids a "reward" for their good grades! Make sure you phone ahead to see if your particular store is offering these freebies though.

*Baskin-Robbins -- Get a free scoop of ice cream for good grades on your report card!

*Blockbuster -- Get a free family friendly movie rental for A's on your report card for grades K-12!

*Cheryl & Co -- Get a free cookie for every A on your report card!

*Chick-fil-A -- Bring in your report card showing all A's and B's and receive a FREE 8-pack of nuggets!

*Chuck E. Cheese -- Bring in your most recent report card and your child will receive FREE tokens for good grades (up to 15 tokens per child)!

*Family Video -- Get a free rental when you show your good report card!

*Krispy Kreme -- Get a free donut for each A (up to 6 A's)!

*McDonalds -- Students with straight A's can get a FREE Happy Meal!

*Pizza Hut -- Each marking period, any child who has 3 A's or the equivalent thereof, will receive one Personal Pan Pizza and a small soft drink or carton of milk by presenting their report card to the manager (dine-in only and for Elementary and Middle School children)!

*Sbarro Pizza -- Any student with A's and B's on their report card automatically becomes one of our PizzAchievers. Sbarro will provide every PizzAchiever and an accompanying adult with a FREE slice of cheese or pepperoni pizza and a small soda!

*Topps -- The Topps of the Class program has been created to give you a great trading card gift when you put your mind to work. Every time you bring in a report card to this store, the manager awards you with a gift!

*Limited Too -- Get $5 off any Limited Too purchase when you take your report card to the retail store within 30 days! I wonder if Justice will honor this now...may need to make a call on this one!

*Credit Unions -- I've heard that some credit unions will deposit $5 in your child's account for a good report card. Anyone been able to take advantage of this and what Credit Union??

*IBC Bakery Outlet Store -- Students with A's and/or B's will receive a FREE Hostess or Dolly Madison snack cake and parents will receive one FREE loaf of bread at participating bakery outlets; click here for more information.

I have not personally taken advantage of these but read about them on the internet through various couponing websites. As soon as we get those report cards though, we will be making some calls to see who in our area is participating! Do any of you have any other "grade deals" that you can let us know about in the comment section or have you tried any of the above offers??

Hosting a House Party!!

2010-06-09T11:08:00.000-07:00

Wahoo! I just got selected to host a party for House Party. I love the House Party idea! House Party lets people host a special event featuring a fun, free, exclusive experience sponsored by the world’s leading brands. You apply to be the host of any party that interests you. If you are accepted as the host, you will receive a party packed filled with items to help you have a fun party.

I have heard that the parties are very entertaining, and the sponsoring company provides you with everything you will need to have a successful event. It's free and a great excuse to get together with friends! What’s better than FREE?

There are several different parties you can apply for, there is something to interest everyone. Here are some of the parties, that are currently seeking applicants.

BIC Soleil 100 Days of Sunshine AfterParty

FiOS Viewing Party - The Ultimate Battle

Kleenex Fresh and Clean Hands House Party

Have you hosted a House Party before? I’d love to hear which one you hosted, and any input you have about their parties. How fun!!

A Peek in My Coupon Binder and My Categories

2010-05-26T09:07:00.000-07:00

I thought I would share my coupon binder for anyone looking to get serious about couponing. I wish I knew about this when I became a stay-at-home mom! It is saving my family so much. It is a part time job for me right now but it is totally worth it! I plan on bumping my family grocery budget down by $50 per pay period in a month.

Above is the binder I recently moved up to after my other binder was getting too full. Also, you really want a zipper binder to keep from losing your coupons if the binder get's dropped. This binder was purchased at Walmart for $10 in the Office/Supply section.

Weekly, I make my stop at the Dollar Tree after church and pick up the Sunday paper for $1.00 each. I pick up one paper per family member. You may think that's a little crazy but when you have 5 coupons for Cheetos and you can snag them for $0.29, you'll thank me! We're not talking about the small lunch Cheetos either. Yes, I bought 5 bags of Cheetos at Safeway for $0.29/bag and my girlies were thrilled!!!

At the front of my binder is the Stock-up Prices that I got here at Fistful of Coupns and here at Faithful Provisions. The Faithful Provisions is an 11 page pdf file and very detailed. Stock-up Prices is the price you pay to stock-up your pantry and freezer. This list also includes the sale price they are willing to pay for items. Example: A good sale price for cookies is $1.25 but the stock-up price is $0.99. That way when you are making your list, you can make sure it is the best deal for your family or you may decide to wait until the price is lower.

These are the categories that I have in my binder. I have added to them since I started and you will want to modify it for your family. I no longer have Babies at home so if you do, then you will want a section for that.

*Free

*Produce/Dressing

*Condiments/Sauces (includes your BBQ sauce, mayo, salsa, marinades, etc.)

*Beverages

*Packaged/Canned Goods (includes pasta, bread, boxed mixes like Zatarain's, etc.)

*Baking (Includes sugar, chocolate chips, cake mixes, etc.)

*Cereal/Breakfast

*Snacks/Candy (Includes chips, granola bars, gum, crackers, etc.)

*Dairy (Includes milk, butter, cheese, sour cream, yogurt, etc.)

*Meats (Includes meats from deli and meat dept. - frozen meats like chicken nuggets are filed in the next section - frozen foods)

*Frozen Foods (Includes meats, icecream, rolls, prepared frozen meals, etc.)

*Personal/Razors/Deoderant (I have all three of these together and plan to break them down when I get more dividers! Personal includes feminine products, etc.)

*Oral Care/Make-up (I also have these combined but plan to break them down when I get more dividers. Oral Care includes toothpastes, whiteners, dental floss, etc. I keep all cleansers, etc. in the Make-up sections as well as nailpolish, lipstick, etc.)

*Medicine/Vitamins

*Hair Care

*Body/Lotion/Soaps (Body includes body washes. Soaps includes hand soaps, soap systems, etc.)

*Cleaning Supplies (Includes your toilet and glass cleaners, dish soap, etc. I also include sprays and candles here.)

*Paper Goods (Includes toilet paper, ziploc containers and bags, kleenex, paper towels, etc.)

*Office Supplies/Misc. (Includes light bulbs, batteries, pets, bug sprays, etc.)

*Kids/Toys (Includes coupons like The Littlest Pet Shop you can snag here! Click on the link and select Toys on the left side to see and print the BOGO coupon and score them free at Toys R Us this week since they are on sale Buy One Get One!)

I use the baseball card holders for my coupons. You can find these at Target and Walmart by the registers and trading cards. I have three packs of them now but you can start out by buying 1-2 to get going. They are around $5 for about 30 sheets. This way you can flip through all your coupons and see what you have. A little more time consuming than some of the other couponing methods out there but I won't miss things by having them all filed and visible.

A couple of tips:

1) To make clipping those coupons easier, grab all your coupon packs from the newspapers you buy (ex. SmartSource) and open up and lay out the like pages on your kitchen table or living room floor. Grab a stack that are the same and snip them leaving a bit of a border so you don't cut off the expiration date, etc. This way you are not clipping coupons from 5 of the same SmartSources. Really speeds up your clipping!

2) Only print computer coupons that you know you will use. Otherwise, you are wasting your ink. Lots of times, the newsletters/emails I receive will say to print the latest coupons and in the beginning I did. Now, I've learned that you can usually print the coupons that you need when the product is on sale.

3) See a newspaper coupon that is not a product you use/want...keep it! I am not a contact lense wearer but yesterday, I bought contact solution and profitted $1.26! They paid me to buy the product and I'll pass it along to a family member if they can use it or to my local food bank. How did I do that? The product was on sale for $7.99 and after I paid, I received a Register Reward for $8 for a future shopping trip. I used a $2.00 off coupon so after paying for the product plus the taxes, I profitted $1.26 - Wahoo! You may be thinking, it's only $1.26 but I could buy 4 bags of those $0.29 Cheetos with that money! That is what couponers call a Money Maker or MM.

4) Keep in mind that you pay the tax on those free items so make sure it's an item you need or that you'll use. Those free deoderants and lotions are not really free when you consider the tax but they are really inexpensive.

Feel free to leave me a comment if you have any questions. Good luck!

Celebrate Good Times...Wahoo!!!

2010-05-10T22:26:00.000-07:00

Alright guys & gals! I am celebrating and wanted to share a couple of things with you as an encouragement that you too can do this!!

#1 - Walgreens Deals

On Saturday, I purchased the above products from Walgreens for a total of $5.29!! Wanna know how...I stacked coupons and used Walgreens ad coupons. The Tide detergent was $5.99 normally so I paid less than that for everything. I also had 3 Register Rewards from past sales. My purchase would have cost me $27.90!! It truly does pay to clip those coupons & get your grocery list in order. My #1 secret...sign up for those newsletter of the gals I've mentioned in other posts and start clipping and organizing those coupons. They know what they are doing! I've been at this for a month and if I can do it, so can you. FYI..those seed packets were 3/$1 and were added as fillers so I could use my Register Rewards. They are cheap and we can use them in the yard.

#2 - Freebies in the mail today!!

I was working at my daughters school today and came home with a headache so finding this Taster's Choice coffee in the mail was very refreshing. You gotta love coffee and a good nights rest!! Although, my hubby may not need the Breathe Right strips anymore (click on the link and get your free sample!). He's lost nearly 30 pounds since January 1! Way to go Babe!!! I'm so proud of him.

#3 - Got an email from Faithful Provisions & guess what...I won!!! Yippee!!

I entered a drawing for a "Blue Avocado Starter Kit" at Faithful Provisions for Mother's Day and won! I received an email and my package will be in the mail soon. I'll post some pics when I receive it. Yahoo!! I'll be sporting some cool bags at the grocery store. Too cute!! Best of all...FREE!!!! Thanks Faithful Provisions!

4 - Not so good news...last week my youngest came home with what appeared to be the flu and was home for 4 days and today my other girlies came home sick with similar symptoms. To make matters worse...and I'm in serious denial and hoping I'm just coming down from the coffee high from earlier...I think I'm getting sick too! So, off to bed as soon as this is posted.

Make sure you are getting your rest and taking your vitamins! Best of luck on your couponing adventures! Isn't it fun!!

Doing the Happy Dance!

2010-05-04T13:21:00.000-07:00

Because my girls are Hannah Montana fans, let's start with the Happy Dance from Hannah and her friends...

Why are we doing the happy dance? Because in about 3 weeks times, I have been searching on Swagbucks and now have enough points to get a free $5 Amazon.com gift card!! Three weeks!! Can you believe it!?! While I'm compiling my coupon shopping for the week, I occasionally do searches on Swagbucks. I find that several times a day, you are awarded 10-18 points for a simple search. Keep in mind that I have seen more winnings in the mornings and evenings and it does not pay when you do search after search.

Have you joined Swagbucks yet?! If not, now is a great time to do so! Why? Well, thru Friday, May 7th, it is my understanding that new members can score 50 Swagbucks when they sign up. All you need to do is go here and use the Swag Code: SWAGNATION5 (case sensitive).

Even if you are already a member, you still have a great chance of earning lots of Swagbucks this week! You see, this week ONLY they are doubling the amount of Swagbucks you are awarded throughout the day via searches– which means you have a greater chance of earning more Swagbucks this week then you normally would, so get to searching!

Also, starting today, Swagbucks will be introducing a new daily poll feature that will allow you to earn Swagbucks every day simply by answering their daily polls. …And don’t forget that you can still earn daily Swagbucks by heading to the “Special Offers” section. Just go to the Swagbucks homepage, click on “Ways to Earn” in the top left, then click on “Special Offers” and then click on the “View Our No Obligation Offers And WIN Swag Bucks” on the right.

Once you get to this page, it will state, “Welcome to Swagbucks Special Offers. Sign up for the free money-saving offers you like, feel free to skip the rest, and find a special swag code reward at the end.” Skip ALL the offers by clicking the skip button or the See Next Offer button beneath the advertisement. Finally after about 4 to 7 pages you’ll be awarded with 2 Swagbucks (possibly more)!
It really doesn't get any easier than this! You literally have the opportunity to get free cards for spending on gifts for others!! I'm sold! Happy Searching!

Stock up Prices

2010-04-30T09:51:00.000-07:00

Since starting seriously with the whole couponing, I feel like I'm getting good deals but I've actually been told I can do better by the "seasoned pro's". These gals have been doing it for years and know what they are doing! The more you do this, the better you get at gettting the BEST deals. I'm told it takes 2-3 months before you start to see a significant decrease in your food budget. I'm baby stepping my way there though and having fun doing it.

I started searching online to figure out what the best deals are and what prices you should pay to stock up on food so that I know when to wait and when to buy more. This first gal, from Faithful Provisions, is from Tennessee so some of the prices may be more or less depending on where you live. She has an 11 page stock up price listing! Click on the "provisions - get it now list" to be directed to it. She also has some good recipes available there.

I'm not sure where this second gal is located but I have subscribed to her at Fistful of Coupons. She has a much shorter stock up price list but it includes things that the other gal does not have. She also includes what she get's for free which is really helpful to know!

These are the things she get's for free...Toothpaste, Shampoo, Conditioners & Stylers, Razors, Contact Solution, Bodywash, Mouthwash, Deodorants: both Mens & Womens, Floss, Crackers, Scented Items:candles, plug-ins ect, Lightbulbs, Pantiliners, Medicines/Vitamins. I'll drink to that!!

Swag Bucks - Earn Free Gift Cards!

2010-04-29T11:07:00.000-07:00

Since I've started getting more serious at saving money for my family, I discovered another way that I can do that. Everyday most of us do at least a search or two of some kind on the internet. Why not get "paid" to do that?!?

Let me explain...I have recently registered (for free) at Swag Bucks. It is a search engine, similar to Google, that you can use to perform searches and earn points that you can later redeem for gifts. You can trade in your points on a variety of items and what interests me the most is the $5 Amazon gift cards! I have been using the Swag Bucks site for my searches for about 2 weeks and at the rate I'm going, I'll have one of the $5 Amazon gift cards in about a week. Not bad for 3 weeks of casual searching on the internet!

They offer a variety of items that you can turn in your points for. Just to name two more of them...Target as well as Barnes & Noble gift cards. I find that you earn the most swag bucks when you search first thing in the morning and in the evenings. Usually, I'm getting 20 swag bucks a day. If you earn swag bucks, it seems to be a while before you are rewarded with more.

You can sign up for the newsletter and you will receive codes so that you can earn more swag bucks. It's important to know that you cannot post these codes for anyone else to use or you will put your account in jeopardy and could lose all of your points.

Daily, you can go to the "ways to earn tab" and select "special offers". Complete the no obligations offer. You only sign up for the things you want and you do not have to sign up for any of them to receive swag bucks. Just hit the skip button to move along to the next offer. After about 5 offers, you will receive your swag bucks. You usually only receive 1-4 swag bucks for completing this but it only takes about 1 minute.

How do you get started?

Go here and register on Swag bucks by creating an account
You will get 3 Swag bucks just for signing up!
After registering, you can immediately start searching for anything you want on the web just by using the Swag bucks search engine!
Periodically, while searching, you may see a pop up that says you’ve won anywhere from 1 to 12 or more in Swag bucks. Sometimes you will need to enter in a code that is there in order to obtain the Swag bucks.

I am so excited to be using Swag bucks on a daily basis and getting closer to my 450 points I need for the Amazon gift card! I’ve heard that other bloggers were able to pay for all of their Christmas presents last year by using Swagbucks! Can you beleive that? They had earned so many Amazon.com gift cards, that the gift cards covered the full cost of their purchases! With that being said, my goal this year is to pay for several of my Christmas presents with gift cards I’ve earned through Swag bucks! I’m so excited about this challenge and I hope some of you are up for the challenge too!

They also have an excellent referral program! If you refer someone over to Swag bucks and they earn a Swag buck, you will earn a Swag buck too–up to 100 Swag bucks! So you could potentially earn 100 Swag bucks from each friend you refer! Let the searching begin!

My Coupon Shopping List for the Week

2010-04-19T12:14:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd share what's on my coupon shopping list for the week so far. That way, for those of you new to couponing, you can copy the text, print it along with the coupons and head to the store. You will need one of the coupons from the Sunday paper.

There are so many other offers available so be sure to check out the two websites that I've mentioned in previous post... Thrifty and Thriving as well as Hip 2 Save.

By the way, for those of you in need of printer ink...I need some and priced it at Walmart & Target for $39.00!! You can get it at Walgreens only on Thursday, Earth Day, for $1!!!!! Now that's a GREAT savings. Hope this helps those of you just starting out. Have a great week!

My Shopping Deals

RITEAID (go on Monday)

U By Kotex Pads 14-18 ct., Pantiliners 50-60 ct., Tampons 18 ct. $3.49
Get a $3.49 Single Check Rebate #36
Use the $1/1 coupon found here
Final Cost FREE + a $1 moneymaker!

TGI Friday’s Snacks $0.99
Use the $1.50/1 coupon found here
Final Cost FREE + Overage! FYI...I Need to go back and try to find these. I thought it was a frozen good but I think it's a chip.

Hershey’s Candy Bars 4-4.5 oz. $0.99
Use the $1/1 Hershey’s Extra Dark Chocolate Bar 3.5oz+ coupon from the 4/18 SS (SmartSource coupon from newspaper)
Final Cost FREE! FYI...tried this today at Rite Aid and it would not work with the coupon on had.

WALGREENS (go on Thursday)

Colgate Total Advanced or Enamel Strength Toothpaste 4oz. or Wave Toothbrush $2.99 = $2 RR
Use $0.75/1 coupon found here
Final Cost $0.24!

Printer Cartridge Refill black or color $1 with in-ad coupon BRING INK CARTRIDGES!!
Available 4/22 (Earth Day) ONLY! Wa-hoo! What an awesome price! BRING INK CARTRIDGES!!

Buy 4 Velveeta Shells and Cheese cups $1 each = $1.50 RR
Use 2 buy one get one free coupons from here
Pay $2
Get back a $1.50 RR
Final cost ONLY $0.50 for all 4 cups!

Walgreens Reusable Shopping Bag 3/$1 with in-ad coupon
Final Cost $0.33 each! Great “filler” item for your coupon to item ratio!

TARGET (go on Friday)

Quaker Instant Oatmeal Single Serve Cup $0.93 (Price Cut until 4/24)
Use the $1/1 coupon from here
Final cost FREE!

Men’s Merona Classic Fit Jersey Polo Shirts are on sale this week for $8
Use the new $3/1 Men’s Merona Item Target coupon from here
Final cost only $5!

Simply Go-Gurt $2.12 (On Price Cut until 5/8)
Use the $1.10/1 Go-Gurt coupon from here
Final cost ONLY $1.02!

Pure & Natural products– 2 pack Bar Soap or hand soap priced around $2 or less
Use the $2/1 coupon from here
Final cost FREE! !

Shout deal scenario without coupons:
Buy 3 Shout 4-Pack Travel Size Wipes $0.97
Pay $2.91
Then submit for the $5 SC Johnson rebate in folder for a final cost of FREE + a $2.09 profit!

Couponing at Drugstores

2010-04-16T11:13:00.000-07:00

Starting to get more organized with this couponing and I'm having fun at it too! Yesterday I headed to Walgreens with my list and coupons in hand. The Pecan Sandies were on sale for 2/$5 and they had an in-store coupon for $2 off which takes it down to 2/$3. I printed 2 coupons for $1.00 off each Pecan Sandie at home. When I got to Walgreens though, they only had one Pecan Sandie. The Walgreens offer and coupon did include the Keeblers. So, my goal was two packs of cookies for $.50 each but instead I paid $1 each. Not bad!

The Kotex were on sale for $3.49 and I had a $1 off coupon. When you pay at the register though, a $2.50 Register Rewards prints for your next shopping trip. So, the Kotex were basically free!

Pantene was not on my list to purchase at Walgreens but I noticed that it was on clearance. The gel was marked down to $2.59 instead of $3.99 and the shampoo was marked down to $3.59 instead of $5.99. That is already a great deal but I happened to bring along my extra coupons (just in case) and saved an additional $1 for the two Pantene products.

All of the Easter products are marked down by 75% so I picked up some candy. The Brach's Hawaiian Punch jelly beans (note...nothing on the bags indicates Easter) for $.62 and I had to pick up some of the Whoppers Robin Eggs for $.50. Love that!

I am now reading daily the Thrifty and Thriving and Hip2Save newsletters. I signed up for a lot of the coupon sites earlier in the month but I find that most of them are linked in these newsletters or they are coupons that you need to clip.

I do have an update and a word of caution for any of you that signed up for Cellfire with your Safeway card. I tried using it the other day at Safeway for an item that I knew was saved to my account. The coupon never showed up and when I went to the site to figure out what the problem was...I realized that my cell number is not the number that I enter when going through the check-out. You have to use your cell number though for this electronic coupon site. I may not continue to use this program... I'm finding better deals by following the two newsletters I mentioned earlier.

Check out the video below on The Today Show from the Coupon Mom. This is another good site to check out but I find the other two are easier for me to follow. This video is amazing for you to see just how much you can save at the register. Now I need to find that app they are talking about for my phone... Anxiously awaiting my free Sunday YES! newspaper coupons so I can get to saving some more money for my family! Who knew that couponing could be so much fun! Happy Saving!

Watch video

I'm Hip 2 Save

2010-04-15T08:38:00.000-07:00

Since we've started our Financial Peace class at church, I'm working on becoming a couponing queen and having financial peace. My latest and now favorite couponing email/newsletter that I receive is from http://www.hip2save.com/! You get an email a day from this fun, sweet, and helpful gal with all the latest deals that are out there.

Sometimes, all the coupons are linked for you to grab online and other times, you'll need to have past coupons that you've saved to get the greatest savings. She even has videos to explain some of the in's and out's of couponing that are quite helpful. Did you know that Target will take 2 coupons!?! They will take a manufacturer's coupon and a Target coupon. That doubles your savings!

Still trying to get a system down for it though. I used to get the coupons, go through them and pull out what I'd need or use and toss the rest. Now, I'm starting to file all of the coupons and keep them so that I can get in on all the good deals and freebies!

Our new budget is starting to become fun now. I've always loved a good deal and yesterday I was just giddy over what I was able to get at Target.

I was able to get the five items above at Target for $4.18 (before taxes)! The price I would have paid is $11.18!! I had a savings of $7.00 in coupons. Now how cool is that!! I paid $.84 each for the Degree Girl deoderant rather than $2.34 each. The Reach Dental Floss, I paid $.52 instead of $1.52. The Nivea Body Wash would have cost me $3.49 but I had a $2.00 off coupon and paid just $1.49!

The savings are adding up so I'm able to spread that out in our grocery fund. I'll be adding the hip2save link on my blog for others to see when they visit. You just can't go wrong here ladies. It takes a bit of time in the beginning to get more organized and get your game plan but it really adds up! Happy Shopping!!

Just Between Friends

2010-04-09T13:52:00.000-07:00

Here's my tip of the day for all you ladies out there looking for a good deal or if you are in need of clothes, toys, furniture, etc. for your household. This looks especially great for all you mothers with babies or toddlers. Check out the Just Between Friends link who will be coming to The Puyallup Fair on April 23 - 25. It is like a giant indoor garage sale with different consignment stores that bring goods as well as mom's just like you and I. The program was started by two ladies and is now located in many states across the US. If you are located in a different state, then you too may be able to take advantage of this offer in a city near you. Just go to this Just Between Friends link if you reside in another area to see a list of events in your area. Following is a news video of the event.

Easter Bunny Hit by Car

2010-04-01T22:17:00.000-07:00

A man was blissfully driving along the highway, when he saw the Easter Bunny hopping across the middle of the road. He swerved to avoid hitting the Bunny, but unfortunately the rabbit jumped in front of his car and was hit. The basket of eggs went flying all over the place. Candy, too.

The driver, being a sensitive man as well as an animal lover, pulled over to the side of the road, and got out to see what had become of the Bunny carrying the basket. Much to his dismay, the colorful Bunny was dead. The driver felt guilty and began to cry.

A woman driving down the same highway saw the man crying on the side of the road and pulled over. She stepped out of her car and asked the man what was wrong.

"I feel terrible," he explained, "I accidentally hit the Easter Bunny and killed it. There may not be an Easter because of me. What should I do?"

The woman told the man not to worry. She knew exactly what to do. She went to her car trunk, and pulled out a spray can. She walked over to the limp, dead Bunny, and sprayed the entire contents of the can onto the little furry animal.

Miraculously the Easter Bunny came to back life, jumped up, picked up the spilled eggs and candy, waved its paw at the two humans and hopped on down the road. 50 yards away the Easter Bunny stopped, turned around, waved and hopped on down the road another 50 yards, turned, waved, hopped another 50 yards and waved again!

The man was astonished.

He said to the woman, "What in Heaven's name is in your spray can? What was it that you sprayed on the Easter Bunny?"

The woman turned the can around so that the man could read the label.

It said: Hairspray. Restores life to dead hair. Adds permanent wave.

Just a little funny to brighten your day!

We got a Dollar...Hey, hey, hey hey!

2010-04-01T12:46:00.000-07:00

I'm on a new mission! Couponing! We've been going to the Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University class for the last several weeks. It has been very informative! If you ask me how it is, you will hear that last statement from me as well as "In my face". It is a great class to make sure you have all your financial ducks in a row but at times for me, it has been a bit overwhelming.

The first few weeks, you work on your budget. I can hear you groaning & trust me, I have and still do my fair share of groaning!! Jack and I thought we were doing pretty good...NOT!

So, my lately endevor is to start taking advantage of all those dollars out there that are available to everyone. I've always been a bargain shopper and a coupon clipper. Now, I'm getting more serious though.

I've recently signed up for two electronic coupon programs. That way, if you run into the store to grab that gallon of milk and remember that you haven't ate lunch, you can grab that yogurt that you have a coupon for at home and not feel guilty for not waiting until you had it. When you scan your Rewards or Club card, you'll get the discount! How easy is that?? I guess I'll have to let you know after I've used it.

The two electronic coupon programs that I've signed up for are: http://shortcuts.com/Home.action and http://www.cellfire.com/. They came to me in an email from another coupon program that I've subscribed to. Each day, I get an email from http://www.thriftyandthriving.com/. Within it are a number of savings opportunities.

Today, one of the deals was a Mr. Potatoe Head from Toys R Us for $1.99 which is normally around $9.99! If you go to Thrify and Thriving, you can see this deal with the coupon as well as all the others available.

I'm hoping to be singing the Dollar song and doing a little jig but replacing it with $100 or even $50! The most important thing to keep in mind though...don't buy it if you don't need it. Good luck!

Grand Prize Winner!

2010-03-30T15:35:00.001-07:00

We have a winner!!! Our exchange student Sally drew the name this afternoon after school and then the girls got in on some "Vanna White" action to show you the loot once again. In case you can't read the name, my lucky sister got the luck of the draw. I will put your package in the mail tomorrow. Thanks for participating ladies!

100th Post and a Blog give-away

2010-03-27T10:28:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe it but this is my 100^th post so I’m celebrating by having a Give-away! Since Easter is rapidly approaching, I decided to make up some more Primitive Easter Eggs and gather up some other goodies for one lucky winner to enjoy!
The winner will receive some great smelling Primitive Easter Eggs, Bunny Recipe Cards & Place Cards that I made, a cute Mary Engelbreit Address Book and a Creamy Custard & Blushing Apple Candle! Sorry but the red shelf and antique egg carton are not included.

Here’s the simple rules and how to enter!

Anybody within the U.S. may participate; bloggers, friends, neighbors, family members, etc.

To enter into the drawing just leave a comment on this post. Easy enough! Please leave an e-mail address in your comment and as a example to avoid scammers from snagging your email you can do this: christylaverty(at)hotmail(dot)com.

Now for an additional entry, if you have a blog and mention the giveaway you will get another entry! Leave me a comment with your blog address so I can check it out. But what if you don’t have a blog? You can still get another entry by emailing at least 5 of your friends about the giveaway (just cc me so I know you did it: christylaverty(at)hotmail(dot)com). Don’t forget to give them a link to the blog so they too can check out the give-away and enter to win as well.

For an extra entry, become one of my followers! For those of you who already are a follower, leave me a comment that you are and I’ll enter your name again for the drawing!

So, you’ve got a chance for 3 entries into the drawing. Good luck!

The cut-off date for the drawing is Tuesday at 3 p.m. so I can get you your package before Easter. We will draw a name and announce it on our blog and then your goodies will be sent. Good luck and don’t forget to check back to see if you won!!!

Primitive Easter Eggs & Practical Parenting

2010-03-26T10:30:00.000-07:00

Look what I made the other day! These primitive Easter eggs were a fun and easy craft to make. I found them online a few months ago here and decided I just had to make them. It was an inexpensive craft made from the plastic eggs that everyone fills with Easter candy and some cinnamon. I also wrapped them in cheese cloth to give them a nice primitive texture but you can't really see it in the photo.

They smell soooo good! They are sitting in my foyer and each time I walk past them the sweet smell of cinnamon greets me. I would have liked to have left them out on a country plate or in a shallow country bowl but I knew that it would be too big of a temptation for our kittens. I didn’t want to wake up one morning and find cinnamon all over my white carpet! Now, I’ve got a BIG surprise coming up tomorrow but it will remain a secret until then. So come back and see what the suspense is all about!

Now on to the Practical Parenting… This week, it is discussing the “final leg” of school as summer is on the horizon and how we can help our kids motivated.

The “final leg” and the “last leg.” These are two very similar phrases, but with very different meanings. When we return from Spring Break we will be starting our 3rd quarter of school – you might say we are on the final leg of our school year. So, how do you keep your child motivated and help them finish this final leg of the year strong? How do you keep them from feeling that they are on the last leg?

One thing that is very important is your attitude about the last quarter of school. If you express to your child that you are tired and can’t wait until summer break – guess what they will begin to express? That right – your child will oftentimes mirror your feelings and emotions. What your child needs from you at this time of year is renewed excitement and encouragement to do their best.

The last quarter of the school year is one where many new and challenging concepts are introduced, and the final touches are made to be sure your child is ready for the academics of the next grade level. I have seen many children “fade” at this time of the year. As a school, we will keep your child as motivated as we can, but we need your help as well.

Keep giving your child that position motivation and reinforcement that you gave them at the beginning of this school year. Now would be a good time to be checking on their homework situation, and on projects that are in the works.

Determine now how you will help your child think this time of year is as important as the beginning of the year. Pray daily with your student for God’s strength and motivation to help them finish strong. Pray that very thing for yourself as well. Approach this time of the year with the determination to finish strong on this “final leg” of the school year.

So, remember to stop by tomorrow for my BIG surprise. Until then, have a great day!

Okay...you twisted my arm! I'll give you a little hint. 100th post tomorrow and a give-away!!!

St. Patrick's Day Card & Practical Parenting

2010-03-17T10:17:00.000-07:00

I've been under the weather the last several days with an awful sinus cold so the Practical Parenting did not get posted last week. My head felt like it was gonna explode! I'm finally on the road to health again but still not 100%. Wasn't it nice of my loving husband to share his cold with me. "What's mine is yours" is what you marry for. Somehow my husband forgot that when he was at work the other day and neglected to bring home some of the yummy chocolate that he went into great detail about! What a turkey! What goes around, comes around........watch out Laverty!

On to last weeks Practical Parenting and then a treat for you and the one you love! Are you tuned in to what your children are saying? Read the following that our Principal had to say about listening carefully to your children and problems at school.

This is something I wrote about in September. I thought it would be good to include it once again as a reminder for the rest of the year. Has your child ever come home upset and told you about something that happened that day? Your natural instinct is to believe every word and want to fix the "problem" right away. That is not a bad thing - but remember, you only have one side of the story. So what do you do?

The best way to respond to your child is to be a good listener. Let them tell you what happened. Assure them you care about their well-being and will find out what you can do about it after you contact the teacher. The biggest mistake you can make is to make a promise to your child that you may or may not be able to keep.

Remember, they are watching you and learning from you how to handle those bumps in the road. Here are some simple steps to help you -

1. Listen to your child's story - ask questions, especially when they use "absolute" words in their story (i.e. always, everyone, etc.)

2. Give them hugs with your words as well as with your arms - let them know you love them no matter what. Pray with the - God does care ever about the "little things."

3. Tell them you will contact the teacher to find out more information. (You can do this several ways - e-mail, phone call, or write or note.) Let your child know it is best to get as much information as possible before you can take any action.

4. Approach your child's teacher as neutrally as possible - try not to "attack" or

"defend." Ask for their version of what happened. Ask clarifying questions of them as well. Your child's teacher is your partner - they want your child to be successful also. Working as a team helps your child more then working in opposition to one another.

5. Let your child know what you found out. More likely than not, you and your child's teacher will reach an understanding. Even if you disagree with the final outcome, do not "belittle" the teacher in front of your child. That is detrimental to all parties concerned and very unproductive.

6. If all else fails, make an appointment with the Principal - I'm sure they desire to help your child reach their full potential. They will happily partner with you and your child's teacher to accomplish this desire. (I changed this one a bit to make it applicable to you since it was written for our school.)

Now for something fun! I'm doing more digital crafting (when time allows). Now if I could just figure out how to make a little money at it. Got some homework to do to try and figure that out. Following is a digital card that I was able to create with some digital freebies I've been collecting. You should be able to click on the card and it will open another window with the card in it. Then right click and copy the card. Next, paste it into a program of your choice and then print it on card stock. I love the "Lucky" song by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat so I used part of the lyrics for the card. Hope it works for you! Have a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Well...I'm sorry but you cannot click the picture to open it in another window. If you right click it to copy it, it is really small for some reason and then when you enlarge it, it is distorted. Sorry! I have been playing with it and trying to figure out how to fix the problem but have been unsuccessful. If you would like, I can email you the card. Leave me a comment and we'll try that!

Practical Parenting

2010-03-05T09:52:00.000-08:00

As most of you know, our daughters attend a Christian school and each week our Principal includes a “Practical Parenting” section in our weekly newsletter that comes home every Thursday. I’m going to attempt to include it in my blog each week. It’s always nice to get some additional guidance on raising these precious children that God has placed in our lives. Have a great weekend!

Several years ago we had a speaker share with our parents some great ideas on talking children through a discipline situation. Here are his ideas.

Identify your child’s misbehavior. Describe exactly what they did. Describe how that misbehavior impacts other people. Suggest an alternative, acceptable behavior. Tell them what the consequence will be. Reiterate your expectation for next time.

Walk your child through the 4 A’s:

ADMIT – Be honest. Admit what you did that was wrong.

APOLOGIZE – Say, “I’m sorry for….” Apologize to everyone you have hurt or offended.

ACCEPT – Accept the consequences or discipline for your actions without anger.

AMENDS – Make amends. Fix, pay for, replace, or make up for what you’ve done. Next time change or correct the behavior.

Your child is in process (actually all of us are). Your job is to teach them the Godly way to walk through this life – making the right choices and correcting the wrong ones. It is a great honor to raise children as well as a great responsibility.

Going down??? The up's & down's of an escalator

2010-02-22T09:32:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we had the pleasure of hosting our exchange students father for a night. He was here on business and was able to get in a quick visit with his daughter and our family. What an opportunity! We can see where Sally gets her kind disposition.

We were able to share a meal together Friday evening and sit down and talk and then Saturday morning it was time to take him to the airport. We are thankful to have had the opportunity to meet Mr. Kim.

Upon leaving the airport though, 'we' had a bit of an adventure. You know how the news and other shows have mentioned the hazards of escalators. My youngest was in flip flops but she wasn't the one we had to be concerned over. Nope! The folly was on me. As we were taking our leisure stroll down the escalator, my upper body started inclining while the rest of me was still taking the ride down, for a while that is.

I'm sure there was some kind of a warning at the top of the escalator warning riders "Beware! Ride at your own risk." I let out a "Umm! Aahh! Help! I'm stuck. Help!" through a nervous laugh. Unbeknownst to me, my purse strap got stuck in the handrail! After about 5 tugs I was finally able to dislodge the strap and of course, like any person who feels like they made an idiot of themselves, I looked around to see if anyone saw me. I'm sure a "Funniest Home Video" camera was somewhere filming and laughing at my situation.

Who knew that for a small parking fee, one could get a free ride in at the airport. So, next time you hop on an escalator and think it's going to be a leisure ride, beware! You just might be in for a scary ride! Have a great weekend!

Giggles and Smiles

2010-02-04T14:25:00.000-08:00

My poor blog is once again being neglected as I’ve been taking care of my responsibilities in our home. I took the time to update the background for February, now it’s time to start blogging again. I’m afraid that I will be sparse in my postings though as I need to start plugging away at our taxes. Fun times!

It has become a tradition now to put together a digital calendar for my sister and other family members that they can put into a CD sleeve. I have a lot of fun doing it but it is somewhat time consuming. Each year, I think, “Why didn’t I start this sooner so that it would be ready for Christmas!?” I love looking at it though as does my sister and it’s a creative outlet. So, I’ve just wrapped up the December page and can get it printed and in the mail. Wahoo! My sister has been patiently waiting for it :~)

I’ve included two pictures for those of you that are unfamiliar with a CD calendar. Each month, the new calendar is at the bottom of my blog so you can get a peak at them. You can either use them like an easel like I have or you can close the CD, add magnets and use it on your fridge. My husband took his to work so he can see his family daily.

Giggles

A blonde teenager, wanting to earn some extra money for the summer, decided to hire herself out as a "handy-woman" and started canvassing a nearby well-to-do neighborhood.

She went to the front door of the first house, and asked the owner if he had any odd jobs for her to do.

"Well, I guess I could use somebody to paint my porch," he said. "How much will you charge me?"

Delighted, the girl quickly responded, "How about $50?"

The man agreed and told her that the paint brushes and everything she would need were in the garage.

The man's wife, hearing the conversation, said to her husband, "Does she realize that our porch goes ALL the way around the house?"

He responded, "That's a bit cynical, isn't it?"

The wife replied, "You're right. I guess I'm starting to believe all those dumb blonde jokes we've been getting by e-mail lately."

Later that day, the blonde came to the door to collect her money.

"You're finished already?" the startled husband asked.

"Yes," the blond replied, "and I even had paint left over, so I gave it two coats."

Impressed, the man reached into his pocket for the $50.00 and handed it to her along with a ten dollar tip.

"And by the way," the blond added, "it's not a Porch, it's a Lexus!"

Smiles

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed that as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil. In the first, she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil, without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She then pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.

Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me, what do you see?"

"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.

She brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. She then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma.

The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, Mother?"

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity -- boiling water -- but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But, after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

"Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?"

I hope each of you are having a blessed day! Before closing though, I'll leave you with a quote from Helen Keller - "The struggle of life is one of our greatest blessings. It makes us patient, sensitive, and Godlike. It teaches us that although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it."

Life isn't always easy and it's not supposed to be. It is through difficulties and challenges that we grow as individuals and families. It is difficult when we go through those seasons of life but one day we look back at what we have overcome. There is a group that plays frequently on our Christian radios station called Kutless. One of there newer video from their song "What Faith Can Do" is available here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnCEyfRdvDY. You can see more videos by Kutless at http://www.kutless.com/default.aspx or for more of their videos, go to http://www.youtube.com/kutlessrock. They just started touring with Casting Crowns and both sing great music.

Laughter, Giggles & Smiles - Keep looking up

2010-01-06T11:42:00.000-08:00

I hope this posting inspires you to keep looking up as that seemed to be the main focus from my comics and inspirational stories.

A little girl walked to and from school daily. Though the weather that morning was questionable and clouds were forming, she made her daily trek to the elementary school. As the afternoon progressed, the winds whipped up, along with lightning. The mother of the little girl felt concerned that her daughter would be frightened as she walked home from school and she feared the electrical storm might harm her child. Full of concern, the mother quickly got into her car and drove along the route to her child's school. As she did, she saw her little girl walking along at each flash of lightning; the child would stop, look up, and smile. Another and another flash of lighting followed quickly and with each, the little girl would look at the streak of light and smile.

When the mother's car drew up beside the child, she lowered the window and called to her "Honey, What are you doing?"

The child answered, "I am trying to look pretty because God keeps taking my picture."

I had to throw this one in because I think it's cute!

THE BUZZARD:
If you put a buzzard in a pen that is 6 feet by 8 feet and is entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of its ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner. The reason is that a buzzard always begins a flight from the ground with a run of 10 to 12 feet. Without space to run, as is its habit, it will not even attempt to fly, but will remain a prisoner for life in a small jail with no top.

THE BAT:
The ordinary bat that flies around at night, a remarkable nimble creature in the air, cannot take off from a level place. If it is placed on the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly and, no doubt, painfully, until it reaches some slight elevation from which it can throw itself into the air. Then, at once, it takes off like a flash.

THE BUMBLEBEE:
A bumblebee, if dropped into an open tumbler, will be there until it dies, unless it is taken out. It never sees the means of escape at the top, but persists in trying to find some way out through the sides near the bottom. It will seek a way where none exists, until it completely destroys itself.

PEOPLE:
In many ways, we are like the buzzard, the bat, and the bumblebee. We struggle about with all our problems and frustrations, never realizing that all we have to do is look up! That's the answer, the escape route and the solution to any problem! Just look up.

Sorrow looks back...worry looks around...faith looks up! Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly and trust in our Creator who loves us. Have a great day!

Finally...October 2009 Family Pics - Part 2

2010-01-05T12:47:00.000-08:00

After 2 months of dealing with computer issues, we have finally resolved them. However, it appears to be a temporary and almost daily fix. I was able to remove a Trojan virus from our computer after many hours and with the help of my dear hubbie. Then a friend (thank you , thank you, thank you!!!) was able to refer us to a program to remove the spyware. It seems we keep getting spyware back on our computer so pretty much daily we have to run the program to remove it. Oh well! At least I can use the computer again!! If you are having spyware issues, try downloading this free program at http://www.malwarebytes.org/index.php.

Now I have some serious catching up to do with family photo’s. I will keep plugging away to get them loaded for you though. So Halloween was two months ago! You’ll still get to enjoy some fun photo’s.

Katelynn decided to try a new sport this year. The last two years she has played soccer. This year, she decided to try Volleyball and really enjoyed it. She certainly has the heigth for it! Another few inches and she will be as tall as I am but she is only in the 5th grade!!

We always go to a local Pumpkin Patch and have gone to the same pumpkin patch the last several years. This year, we decided to try a new one and were we ever impressed! We went to Maris Farms located in Buckley Washington. You can see what they have to offer at http://www.marisfarms.com/. To start off, I was a bit shocked at the price we paid for the family but I have to say, it was totally worth it! They had the most amazing maze! We were in the maze for a good 30 minutes and that was racing each other through the clues to get to the end first. Wait until you see the aerial shot of the maze. Each year they do something new. They also have a bouncing pillow. It is a super-sized, air-filled rubberized jumping pillow. The girls and Jack had tons of fun on it! They also have a mine shaft tube slide. Half of the slide is underground which the girls thought was pretty cool.

My dad pitched in and helped the girls carve their pumpkins this year since Jack was out of town for work. The hardest part is pulling all the yuck out of the pumpkins and it's fun to see the looks on the girls' faces! The end product is worth it for them though. I had to run an errand with my mom and the girls hurried as quick as they could so that when we got back they had their pumpkins all lit up so we could see them! They did a great job and they all turned out really well!

Jack was gone for much of October and November with traveling for work. The life of a single mom is not for me!! He ended up being gone for Halloween so I got to brave the cold and some raindrops with the girls. It ended up being a pleasant night all things considered. You have to understand that I'm a fair weather girl! I'm always cold and bundled in layers so being inside is a preference for me but I was a brave mom and helped make some wonderful memories for my girls. I kept thinking that Katelynn only has one more year of this so I needed to make the most of it for her! Sally and Katelynn went as 50's girls since we had the poodle skirts from the party we attended earlier in the month. Madison had her heart set on being a Vet. She wants to be one when she grows up and as much as she loves animals, I can see it happening! I was able to find a Mr. Potatoe Head doctors shirt at Value Village that worked great for her costume. You gotta love thrift stores!!

It’s hard to believe that two weeks ago the Christmas break started for the kids and now they are back to school. I hope each and every one of you had a wonderful Christmas and a safe New Year!

Virus & Spyware Issues...ARGH!!!

2009-12-06T20:18:00.000-08:00

Our home computer is having some serious issues! Since the Saturday following Thanksgiving, we have had nothing but problems. I was ready to yank the computer off the desk and chuck it. I was up until 4 am one morning trying to run a scan of our computer. After seeing some of the problems, I didn't dare leave the computer and check it in the morning! The scan took over 4 hours!!!

I think I was able to get rid of the virus but now we are having spyware issues. I can no longer get on the internet without different pop-ups that I don't dare touch. If you get any kind of a pop-up that says you have a virus and to run a scan...make sure it's your anti-virus program or you could be infecting your computer and paying a lot of money for a scam. I did not fall for that but got the virus just by closing the window that popped up.

Now it looks like we will be paying someone to fix it. Needless to say, my blog is a slow work in progress. Not having access to the home computer is making it extremely difficult to decorate it up for Christmas as I'd like to. The house is all beautified and I would like my blog to greet you all decked out as well. I cannot get the banner changed on my hubbies computer. ARGH!! I'm not a very happy girl right now and I'm really not looking forward to paying someone to fix the issues!

Tell me why I have McAfee anti-virus program when they are not catching these issues. It seems to think all is well with our home computer. After talking to a live representative, she informed me that they usually only catch about 50% of the viruses and such out there. 50%!!! Oh, but get this! They can have someone fix the problem in about 25-30 minutes for the low cost of $89.99!!! What! Your anti-virus protection program didn't work for me and now you want me to pay you to fix it!! Why didn't you catch it in the first place!!! Isn't that their job! I'm in the wrong business.

Okay. Enough ranting for now. Just wanted you all to know why my blog looks the way it does and why I haven't posted any more of the photo's I promised. Hopefully soon we'll be up and running at normal speed, virus and spy-ware free!

October 2009 Family Pics - Part 1

2009-11-30T11:11:00.001-08:00

I am later than usual in getting family pictures posted so I figured I would do it in two parts. That way at least one of them will get posted today!

Last month we celebrated Katelynn and my Birthday's late with the family. Lots of activities to plan around so it just didn't happen in September like we usually do. It is always fun to get together with family though! We ate Taco's and played games. The girls giggled and laughed and had lots of fun together. If you are looking for an inexpensive, fun game for the family, check out Go Nuts! http://www.gamewright.com/gamewright/index.php?section=games&page=game&show=226 It is a nutty game that will leave everyone howling!

Then, we got to go to one of Madison's friends' house for a 50's Sock Hop Birthday Party. We all had so much fun getting dressed up and attending this party. Jack went as Al (Happy Days diner owner) which was perfect since he was put to work helping in the kitchen. The rest of us girls donned poodle skirts, pony tails & scarves. The girls had a bubble gum blowing contest, limbo contest, hoola hoops, drag racing (hot wheels cars blown with a straw!), dancing and lots of fun 50's food. Lots of fun!

Fabulous Freebies & Finds - free manufacturer coupons

2009-11-25T09:23:00.001-08:00

Last spring, we subscribed to our local paper that was running a special for a couple of months. I'm a coupon clipping girl and a bargain shopper so this was an excellent way to save money for my family. When the "special" ran out, we just cancelled our subscription but I was really missing those manufacturer coupons that I got each week!

So, when my husband got a call recently from the paper asking if we would be interested in subscribing again, he told them it was too much. They did the usual salesman pitch of, "Well, what if we did this for you?", to which he said we could not afford as well.

Being a one income family, we do not have some of those perks and luxuries that two income families have but I love being a stay-at-home mom and beautifying and maintaining our home. It is a priviledge and a sacrifice we are willing to take for our family.

Then the salesman surprise Jack with, "would be interested in just receiving some of the ads and coupons?" Hmmm...That may be something to talk about. How much?? FREE!!!!! Really? Yes, FREE!!!!! AWESOME!! Sign us up.

I just got my first one on Sunday. Now, it is only a few of the ads, mainly grocery store ads which I already receive. Those poor trees! However, hidden amongst the store ads were those manufacturer coupons that I love! Yahoo!!

For those of you local, call 1-800-289-8711 or log on at secure.thenewstribune.com/yes to sign up. If you are not from this area, give your newspaper a call and see if they are doing this as well. The paper is called YES! and maybe they offer in your area. Good luck!

Laughter, Giggles & Smiles

2009-11-24T23:48:00.001-08:00

They say laughter is good medicine so let's put it to practice and laugh a little. Aren't these pictures precious! I'm going to use them for a while for our Laughter, Giggles & Smiles that I post. This is when the cousins were 4 years old and who knows what they were cracking up about. Savanah had taken a spill earlier in the day and has a nice scrape on her nose but they are still too cute. My, how they've grown!

So, in honor of Turkey Day coming up, I've got some funnies for you as well as a few others about being a mom.

A second grader came home from school and said to her grandmother, "Grandma, guess what? We learned how to make babies today."

The grandmother, more than a little surprised, tried to keep her cool. "That's interesting," she said, "how do you make babies?"

"It's simple," replied the girl. "You just change 'y' to 'i' and add 'es'."

Real Mothers don't eat quiche;
They don't have time to make it.

Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils
Are probably in the sandbox.

Real Mothers often have sticky floors,
Filthy ovens and happy kids.

Real Mothers know that dried play dough
Doesn't come out of carpets.

Real Mothers don't want to know what
The vacuum just sucked up....

Real Mothers sometimes ask "Why me?"
And get their answer when a little
Voice says, "Because I love you best."

Real Mothers know that a child's growth
Is not measured by height or years or grade...
It is marked by the progression of Mommy, to Mom, to Mother....

What happened when the turkey got into a fight?????

He got the stuffing knocked out of him!

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure she carries, or the way she combs her hair.
The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes,
Because that is the doorway to her heart,
The place where love resides.
The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole,
But true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul.
It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she
Shows, and the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows!

Why did the man invest in feathers??

He heard the stock market was going down!

LORD PROP US UP...

Every time I am asked to pray, I think of the old fellow who always prayed, "Lord, prop us up on our leanin' side." After hearing him pray that prayer many times, someone asked him why he prayed that prayer so fervently.

He answered, "Well sir, you see, it's like this...I got an old barn out back. It's been there a long time; it's withstood a lot of weather; it's gone through a lot of storms, and it's stood for many years. It's still standing. But one day I noticed it was leaning to one side a bit. So I went and got some pine poles and propped it up on its leaning side so it wouldn't fall. Then I got to thinking about that and how much I was like that old barn. I've been around a long time. I've withstood a lot of life's storms. I've withstood a lot of bad weather in life, I've withstood a lot of hard times, and I'm still standing too. But I find myself leaning to one side from time to time, so I like to ask the Lord to prop us up on our leaning side, 'cause I figure a lot of us get to leaning at times. Sometimes we get to leaning toward anger, leaning toward bitterness, leaning toward hatred, leaning toward cussing, leaning toward a lot of things that we shouldn't. So we need to pray, 'Lord, prop us up on our leaning side, so we will stand straight and tall again, to glorify the Lord.'"

Have a memorable Thanksgiving with your family or friends on Thursday and be sure to count your blessings! There is so much to be thankful for...your home, family, friends, jobs, church, freedom, food, clothes, vehicle, health...and the list goes on. God Bless!

Thanksgiving Pretties - Day 7

2009-11-23T10:28:00.000-08:00

Day 7 - Home Decor

Day 7 of Thanksgiving Inspiration focuses on Home Decor and fall crafts. Too bad we don’t have another week before Thanksgiving!

Joys of Home made this little sign of the season as a visual reminder of what we need to be thinking and hooked you up with a tutorial. Love the header in her blog too!

Melanie gives us her Thankful Banner tutorial. It’s a fabric and paper holiday banner pennant to hang from the fireplace. Love all the banner ideas that are popping up every where! It’s a fun and inexpensive craft.

Jennifer gives us her paper Turkey hand print wreath tutorial, turkey spoon craft, Indian dolls, and lots of other fun Thanksgiving crafts. My favorite is the Pilgrim & Indian dolls that you can use as place cards since there are pictures of everyone. Go to the Thanksgiving crafts link above and scroll down about 1/3 of the page.

Robin did a Give Thanks Banner. It looks like it's a Thanksgiving Advent Calendar that has pockets for notes of what you're grateful for. Lots of cutting involved with this one and I doubt any of us could get it done between now and Thanksgiving but there’s always next year!

These pretties are over at The Memory Zone. They made a few table decorations from their scrap stash. Did you know that you can go to your local Ben Franklin, purchase cardstock and use their die cutting machine!?! They have just about everything you can imagine.

You can decorate for the season by using your kiddos school projects, like Holly's Haven. What a great way to display their work! This gal also has some vintage music framed and she has a link for you to get it for free. Lots of vintage graphics to choose from! Love that!!

Heather shows us her decorated Thanksgiving table setting using her late Grandmother's china and napkins folded into lotus flowers. Love the hollowed out pumpkin vase for a centerpiece! This gal has a lot of fun stuff on her blog. I'm off to do some grocery shopping for the big day...

Thanksgiving - Day 6

2009-11-21T23:07:00.000-08:00

Day 6 - Traditions & Gratitude

Day 6 of Thanksgiving Inspiration focuses on gratitude and family traditions. I hope you'll be inspired to do one of these activities with your family this year.

World of Homemaking does the Turkey Day Awards! Ask each family member for their nominations and be sure everyone gets an award. For example, "best haircut of the year" or "toughest survivor of a home renovation." You make awards in these cute pine cone scrolls tutorial.

A tradition that would be fun to start is a Thanksgiving Book. Every year each member of the family is given a sheet of paper to write down the things for which they are thankful. You then put the sheets into a binder and save them so that next year you can look back and see what everyone wrote the year before and then compare it to the current year.

High Heeled Mama made a gratitude garland. You gotta love that black mantle with the pretty leaves.

Jennifer submitted her picture grateful album with a mini tutorial so you can do it too! This is so pretty! I love the idea of using pumpkin patch photo’s and the quotes she used are awesome.

Debbie submitted her Thanksgiving blessing book to help focus on what we're grateful for. She does one of these books each year. How special is that!

Jo-Ann submitted her family tradition; every year the children make their thankful lists on the chalkboard in their kitchen. Jo-Ann takes a picture of it to capture these special blessings. Her story she tells about how that list changes as children grow up is touching.

Rebecca submitted her family's tradition; She makes a thankful turkey and throughout the month everyone writes something they're are thankful for and adds it to the turkey. He gets nice and fluffy by Thanksgiving. With just a few days until Thanksgiving though, you can cut out your feathers and have your company write on it when they arrive. Then you, your older children, or another adult can assembly it and show everyone after dinner.

So this one’s not really a tradition but rather a fun game that you can do with the kiddo’s after dinner. I tore it out of a magazine last month and I’m not sure which one. It is called Name That Turkey Tune. It’s a bit of musical amusement! Have everyone take turns crooning familiar songs, replacing all the lyrics with the word gobble. Choose a category for each round (Christmas carols for example) and see who among the nonwarbling guests can be the first to make out each melody. I’m sure there will be a lot of laughter with this game and who knows…maybe it will become one of your traditions! I just had to include this photo from Friends too. It was either that or Mr. Bean.

Thanksgiving - Day 5

2009-11-21T20:08:00.000-08:00

Day 5 - Thanksgiving for the Kids

Day 5 of our Thanksgiving Inspiration focuses on the kids and some fun activities you can do with them to help make the day a little more memorable. Enjoy!

No Fuss Fabulous has such a fun kids table theme, nuts! They can play "How many acorns?", printable acorn maze, name card, and much more. I’m going to get out those hazelnuts I have & do this for my girlies and have a prize involved and I’m printing out the acorn maze as well!

Stacy submitted her marshmallow Pilgrim Hats, a Thanksgiving craft/treat for kids. So here’s my thoughts…you could put a blob of peanut butter on the top of the hat before dipping it in the chocolate. Now doesn’t that sound yummy!!

What's Cookin? hooked us up with this yummy turkey cupcake.

The Fruit Gobbler makes a fun editable centerpiece or hors d'oeuvre for the kids while dinner is in the oven.

No Fuss Fabulous has some fun ideas for your kiddos Thanksgiving table. Simply tie your napkins with raffia or spare ribbon and insert one to three crayons. This will go well with the next one too!

You can download these fun coloring projects for the kids right here - http://www.alphamom.com/holiday/2009/11/thanksgiving_day_kids_table_cr.php. The kids can decorate their own table with this. I love the fun turkey centerpiece for them!

There are many crafts to choose from like the Thanksgiving Paper Plate Turkey Craft. Have fun making and printing some of these treats!

Thanksgiving - Day 4

2009-11-20T12:33:00.001-08:00

Day 4 - Thanksgiving Organization

Day 4 of our Thanksgiving inspiration features several women who have figured out how to organize the day to make it run smoothly. I'm all about good organizing ahead of time. Get reading quickly because the clocks ticking and Thanksgiving is right around the corner!

This one’s my favorite. Look at LW Designs Thanksgiving organizer! It's a beauty. A place to put your place cards, coupons, guest list and menu. My Tip: This organizer could be modified or a second one made for all your recipes, magazine clippings, blog print outs, decorating ideas, invitations, and traditions, etc. So cute!

A Well Organized Space also has a detailed list of to do's to make your Thanksgiving Day a success.

Organized A to Z has a couple good tips on getting organized for Thanksgiving. I especially like the tip on setting your table the night before. I do this for everything I host and it saves tons of time. That helps make the morning less stressful and more fun.

These are a few great way to help us all stay organized to keep the stress low and stay focused on our families.

Thanksgiving Pretties - Day 3

2009-11-20T10:29:00.000-08:00

Day 3 - Table Settings

Day 3 of our Thanksgiving inspiration features table settings. I hope you find a couple fun ideas you'll love!

A Stirring Life has featured several fun ideas for your Thanksgiving table. I love the idea of altering the candles with "Giving Thanks". Love this one!

Canyon Wren Cottage has several table settings to draw inspiration from.

My Design Secrets has several table decor ideas that you can incorporate.

Here's Ever After Scrapbooks.

What a great idea that Kendra's has of posting a menu. Her paper pumpkin with matching napkin ring and place cards are darling! May have to make me one of those pumpkins.

Unity Stamp also coordinated her menu, napkin holders, place cards, and favor.

Pine Is Here did this amazing pine cone table setting. Be sure to check out the fun pine cone turkey she made.

Here is the fabulous Kari & Kjsa's table from last year. They also have some fun Thanksgiving ideas such as attaching a quote to the pumpkin that doubles as a place card and glittering a pumpkin for decor or ice your bubbly.

This hanging place card from Style Me Pretty was a fun way to dress up the dinner. This one probably should have been included with place cards. This wouldn’t be very hard to create though. Print out the names on some pretty green cardstock with a romantic and wispy font and embellish with other pretty papers & ribbon. Ta da! So many pretty tables!

Thanksgiving Pretties - Day 2

2009-11-20T08:56:00.000-08:00

Day 2 - Thanksgiving Centerpieces

Today you get to see some fabulous and unique centerpieces for your Thanksgiving Day table. I hope you'll be inspired with something you see for your Thanksgiving Day table. Enjoy!

This beautiful creation is found over at It's A Wonderful Life. She didn't link to where she found it but thinks it can be done with 3 plates, some clear glasses, Jelly Beans or Fruit, and leaves, pine cones, etc. It's such a beautiful and unique centerpiece! You could even put some fresh cranberries in the glasses.

I really like this idea from WindyCorner. It is in my top two and you could put anything in this darling centerpiece. Adding the garland really finished it off.

This centerpiece was found over at Buckets of Holiday Ideas. Turning wine glasses upside down and putting pumpkins inside them is such a darling idea.

Lemon Annie has several fun Thanksgiving centerpiece ideas. The candles and nut combo is a unique and simple centerpiece idea. I’ve got a bunch of hazelnuts that I could use. This is my other favorite!

Poppy Paperie made a tutorial on how to make this altered tin tea light holder.

This is for all you scrap-crafters! JustRite Stampers made a tutorial on transforming the treat box into a centerpiece.

This pear centerpiece was found over at The Solomon Spot. You could use lemons or apples as well.

This is a cute idea for the kids. This is featured from Pilgrim hat centerpiece.

Check out these pretty roses that are made from maple leaves! Here is a tutorial on how to make them. Gorgeous!

Personally, my dining room table is full of food and family which leaves little room for a centerpiece. How about you? There certainly are some nice ones here though!

Thanksgiving Pretties ~ Day 1 of the fun

2009-11-19T23:11:00.000-08:00

I found something similar to this on another blog so I thought I’d edit it and get it posted for you to enjoy. They had 8 Days of Thanksgiving crafts, deco’s, food ideas, etc. I’m going to try to post 2 days worth every day so you have time to enjoy it all before Thanksgiving and get some great ideas for your Thanksgiving tables.

Day 1 – Thanksgiving Place Cards

How amazing is this 3D pumpkin place card from Shelley over at Mocha Memories. She also has a more traditional one in this same post that you may enjoy.

Speaking of 3D pumpkins, look at what Christine made! Aren’t they adorable.

So technically this isn't a place card but there's a tutorial on how to make this paper turkey at Crazy Stampin Women. You could easily put it on a name card.

See! Didn't I tell you those turkeys would look great on place cards. Thanks to the Sun Stamper we now have a visual.

Are you looking for a less traditional place card for your table or the kiddos table? Jan has hooked us up with a tutorial on how to make this brilliant water bottle place card. Inside the bottle is the recipients favorite candy. How did they do that?? Check out the tutorial! Clever.

Found these place cards at Splitcoasterstampers located here http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1141980?&si=thanksgiving while I was doing a search for Thanksgiving placecards. If you ever need to get inspired, go to Splitcoasterstampers! They have so many projects to get your creative juices flowing!

This cutie was also found at splitcoaststampers posted by “Slanzal”. You can find it here http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1143852?&si=thanksgiving.

These are the Thanksgiving place cards that I made from the last two years. The clipart is from http://www.pccrafter.com/shopping/ and the cards are embellished with glitter which is difficult to see from the picture that I took on my phone. PcCrafter is my favorite resource for clipart!

I hope you are inspired by some of these great place cards to make for your tables. Day 2 will be posted tomorrow as it's getting rather late! Sorry but I need a little beauty sleep :~)

Who needs the swine flu!?! Let's spread smiles instead!

2009-11-17T14:25:00.000-08:00

My blog has once again been neglected! So I figured I do a quick post while my kids are watching a movie. How about a giggle and a pick-me-up!? Later in the week, I'll post some family photos from October.

Last year I replaced all the windows in my house with those expensive double-pane energy efficient kind, and today, I got a call from the contractor who installed them. He was complaining that the work had been completed a whole year ago and I still hadn't paid for them.

Hello, just because I'm blonde doesn't mean that I am automatically stupid. So, I told him just what his fast talking sales guy had told me last year, that in ONE YEAR these windows would pay for themselves! "Hello? It's been a year!" I told him.

There was only silence at the other end of the line, so I finally just hung up. He never called back. I bet he felt like an idiot.

Smiling is infectious,
You catch it like the flu,
When someone smiled at me today,
I started smiling too.
I passed around the corner,
and someone saw my grin,
When he smiled I realised,
I'd passed it on to him.

I thought about that smile,
Then I realised its worth,
A single smile just like mine,
Could travel round the earth.
So if you feel a smile begin,
Don't leave it undetected -
Let's start an epidemic quick
And get the world infected!

So, let's use our contagious smiles and spread some cheer this week!

Fabulous Freebies & Finds - Yankee Candle does it again!

2009-10-27T08:29:00.000-07:00

I don't know if you took advantage of this last time I posted it but it is such a GREAT deal! The Yankee Candle Company (http://www.yankeecandle.com/cgi-bin/ycbvp/retail.jsp) has their tarts and votives for $1 again!! When I posted this before, I went to my local Ben Franklin Store (http://www.benfranklinstores.com/) since they have such a big selection of Yankee Candles . They even had some of their Christmas scents in the back that hadn't been put out yet and a sweet lady went to get several votives of my favorite...Christmas Cookies. YUM!! These make wonderful gifts for friends, family and teachers. The promotion price will automatically be applied if you use code #TS910A2 when ordering online. If you would like to shop at your local store and not pay the price for shipping, you can grab the coupon here http://www.yankeecandle.com/yc/html/retail/Email_HTML/webCoupon_TS910A2.html

Harvest blessings to you!

Family Pics September 2009

2009-10-23T17:26:00.000-07:00

Where does the time go?? It seems like I have less time every day. Here it is nearly the end of October and I'm just getting our September pictures on our blog.

Last month I caved and let the girls get a pet...make that 2! What was I thinking?? Oh yeah. I was thinking, how much I truly love them and I gave up on our pet-free home. You can only suggest a pet rock and a chia pet so many times before you have to give in. How long do cats live?? Oh yeah...longer than I want to think about. It's a love-hate relationship for me right now. They can be cute one minute and then I can completely lose it over the odor and the cat litter that's on my bathroom floor (among other things)!

Katelynn and I both have September Birthday's that are one day apart. The girls made me a pancake breakfast before church for my Birthday. I was awoken quietly by them to come down for a nice breakfast that they made with dad. Upon entering the kitchen, there was the site of flour all over the island and stool. They said I wouldn't have to do a thing since it's my Birthday. That lasted about 20 minutes. Looking back now, I love the effort and thought that they put into making my day special. They are so sweet!

Sally, our exchange student fits right in with our family. She has such a sweet smile. She loves to help me in the kitchen and is getting used to me taking her picture. Little by little I'm getting more pictures of her. We feel so blessed to have her staying with our family for this school year.

You only live once, make it count.

100 Fun Fall Things To Do (Scroll over words to find fun links!)

2009-10-16T09:27:00.000-07:00

Pick Apples
Carve a Pumpkin
Make a Halloween Costume
Throw a Fall Craft Party
Bake Pumpkin Bread or Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
Decorate your house for fall
Volunteer as a screamer at your local haunted house
Make a gingerbread haunted house with your kiddos
Go on a hayride
Plant mums
Brew cider
Make chili and invite neighbors over to watch football on TV
Build a tent with blankets and sheets, chairs and chip clips
Make playdoh and play with it!
Build a fire and snuggle
Rake leaves for an elderly neighbor
Roast tomatoes and garlic for an awesome homemade sauce
Make handprint canvases and display them
Finger puppets!
Make a recipe book of your tried and true favorites
Call an old friend
Plant bulbs for spring
Fertilize evergreen trees
Create Halloween Silhouettes using black vinyl and your Cricut (or Scary Window Silhouettes here)

Get an early start on handmade Christmas gifts
Create a Spooky Tree
Donate old clothing and give it to a charity
Share a ghost story with kids
Bake soft pretzels
Host an indoor picnic
Have breakfast for dinner
Make a pinecone bird feeder and hang them outside
Make a homemade heating pad on a cold night
Make a collage like this one.

Take a walk and collect leaves.
Wear a poncho
Sign up for Story time at the local library
Swap DVD's with a neighbor and hibernate for a "date night"
Read "How to Eat Fried Worms" with your kids

Learn to crochet, quilt or knit
Embellish a bedspread or quilt
Paint a room
Take a road trip
Take a family photo for Christmas cards
Do some early Christmas shopping
Scrap with your dearest gal pals
Organize a neighborhood bonfire
Make & eat edible eyeballs

Attend your local high school's homecoming game or parade
Bake an apple crisp
Clean your junk drawer
Write your parents a letter by hand, expressing your love and appreciation
Try a new recipe that intimidates you
Learn to can tomatoes
Make loaded apples and share
Write or email your favorite teacher and tell them what they meant to you
Make a fall garland and hang it
Have a favorite photo enlarged on canvas
Learn to make homemade pot holders
Cream of Potato soup. Enough said.
Make white trash and send some to school for a favorite teacher
Volunteer at school for an upcoming project
Make S'more Popsicles

Bake these adorable spider cupcakes
Make homemade toffee and eat it all by yourself
Print off games/puzzles online for bored kids
Buy and wear leg warmers
Make a pom pom scarf
Make these adorable cuff bracelets

Decorate the outside of your house with orange lights and hay bales for fall
Scare someone and LAUGH
Host a trunk or treat at your school as a fundraiser
Spend a whole evening looking at finished scrapbooks
Hang artwork your children created
Take tired fall decor to someone who might appreciate it
Dinner in a pumpkin--totally delish!
Collect pinecones or acorns and display them in a glass dish
Let kids play with sidewalk chalk in the garage on a rainy day
Teach your children to scrapbook and let them create!
Give yourself a spa night in your own tub
Stay in your pajamas all day long--as a family
Bake a lot of mini loaves of bread and freeze some
Learn to play backgammon
Take an online class of some sort
Make Spider Web Balloons

Organize your scrap space
Visit a local recycle center
Make cookies for local firefighters and thank them (police officers, too!)
Give sunflowers to a total stranger
Have a Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino at Starbucks Create a Countdown to Halloween Calendar or banner
Cowgirl Cookies in a jar
Make Halloween Twinkies

Create a chore chart

Research your family tree
Host a pirate party

Host a pig roast or a clam bake
Make favors for a Halloween party

Bake Grandma's Molasses Cookies

P.S. I found this great list on another blog and wanted to share it with you. Enjoy!

Friday's Fortune ~ $1 Yankee Candles! & August Family Pictures

2009-09-25T09:32:00.000-07:00

Ah! Life has been crazy but good with school starting and it's about to get even crazier! Jack will be traveling again with work so I'll be a single parent a bit. It always makes me more appreciative of our time together when he is gone. It's so much easier now that the girls are older though.

One has to be thankful for a job and those airmiles! Every two years, we travel to Texas for a medical conference and those airmiles allows us to do it. For that, I'm extremely thankful!!

On to the Friday Fortune! Yankee Candle has their tarts and votives on sale for $1 (for a limited time only)! That's half the price and with Fall in the air, I can't wait to start burning my candles. You can shop online or at a local store. Check out their website at http://www.yankeecandle.com/cgi-bin/ycbvp/freestyle.jsp?category=%2fRetail%2fTarts+%26%2338%3b+Samplers+%26%2336%3b1+Each&cm_mmc=TartsSamps-_-092209-_-Link-_-tartsSamps3. You will need the promo code of TS910A1. Click on the following link to print the coupon if you'd like to shop at a local store. http://www.yankeecandle.com/yc/html/retail/Email_HTML/webCoupon_TS910A1.html

This is my favorite time of year! By no means is it the temperature I enjoy but I just love the fall scents and colors. Chai Tea, Caramel Macchiato, spiced apple cider simmering on the stovetop, the crunch of leaves under foot on a brisk walk. Then comes Christmas! Snow falling, Peppermint mochas, candy canes, hot cocoa. Mmmmmm! Life is good! Doesn't it just get you in the mood for the season. My two most favorite scents from Yankee are Christmas Cookie & Spiced Pumpkin.

Following are some of our pictures from August. I hope this finds all of you well. Enjoy the beautiful colors around you as the leaves change and float to the ground. Take a walk with your family and kick up some leaves. I'm sure next month my girls will be piling the leaves up so they can romp in them! God bless!