WFMW: Useful Freebies

The kids are both sleeping in late today (probably related to the gloomy weather), so I'm taking advantage of this rare "alone time" to seek out some useful freebies online. Here are the best freebies I've found so far today:

• free download of a new Rascal Flatts (My favorite!) song HERE
• buy a bag of pretzels (or other products) and send in the UPC for a FREE Rachael Ray cookbook- details HERE
• enter just your email address HERE to receive a coupon for a free CroisSonic breakfast sandwich
• Earthbound Farms is offering a free tote bag this week if you're one of the first 10,000 people to take the “Sustain Yourself, Sustain The Planet” multiple choice pledge on their website- I chose the "use reusable totes" option for my pledge
• receive a free LeapFrog Music CD when you create an account and click on your child's LeapFrog toys-- it took about two minutes to click on a toy my DD has & create the account

The real trick to taking advantage of free offers is to only select those that your family will actually use. There was a time when I would have signed up for every single free & sample offer I found, just for the thrill of getting something for nothing. Then, I had to figure out where to store all those tiny bottles and packets of products. If I remembered to use them up, I had to contend with the tiny packages in a shower with no shelves... not a lot of fun. Today, I bypass plenty of free sample offers because they aren't products I would normally purchase.

I know that some people collect the samples and donate them. Please consider where you're donating these and whether the recepients will actually want the items. A homeless shelter might be happy to have these... a nursing home, not so much. I speak from experience~ trust me, most frail elderly people do not want to deal with hard-for-them-to-open samples of unfamiliar products!

Getting free items that we'll actually use... not just things that will add to our clutter... definitely works for me! Check out Works for Me Wednesday for more great tips!

My Splurge: Spring Bag

Confession time... I splurged on myself today. I really wanted a new purse for Spring, and, lucky for me, Kohl's just happened to have a giant "lowest price of the season" sale going on. (I actually went there to pick up a gift for someone else. I got a great deal on that, too, but since that person sometimes reads my blog, I can't tell you about it!) I usually go with something fairly neutral, as I carry the same bag for months on end. Today, though, I saw this purse and it was love at first site. Those happy Spring colors... the perfect size... the "bucket" shape I usually favor... what's not to love? Happily, I snagged it for only $19.20... originally $48.00! I would never have paid $48, but at $19, it was just too good to resist. What about you... do you have a bag that you love? Do you carry the same one all the time, or change with every outfit?

Menu Plan Monday 4/27

This week's menu is highly subject to change- if our state inspectors show up at work, DH and the kids will be on their own, as I'll have to work every day until late evening. (I normally only work two days and one evening per week... but with the state due any minute, it's required that I'll be working a lot more during their visit.) So, with that in mind, I have a stash of "heat and eat" meals in the freezer for them. But, assuming I'm home, here's what we'll be eating:

• MONDAY: kielbasa, my favorite ranch potatoes, steamed broccoli
• TUESDAY: Chicken Hurry, steamed mixed veggies/potatoes (The veggies/potatoes are new-to-us frozen mixture I found on sale!)
• WEDNESDAY: crockpot beef machaca in flour tortillas with all the fixings, stewed tomatoes
• THURSDAY:our favorite BBQ ribs in the crockpot, corn, parslied potatoes
• FRIDAY: meatloaf, green beans, au gratin potatoes

*If you're having a weird "de ja vou" feeling, you might have read my previous menus over on my cooking blog, since I've been doing Menu Plan Monday for a long time now! :) For the time being, I've decided to consolidate that blog and this one, so from now on, my menus & recipes will be here @ Tiny Blessings.

Walgreen's Earth Day Coupon & Freebie

Walgreen's is offering a FREE reusable tote, today only, when you use THIS coupon. The coupon is also good for 15% off many products, and 20% off Walgreen's brand items.

This definitely works for me, especially since I was already headed there to pick up some sale items!

Diabetic charms, anyone?

Does anyone know where I can order "diabetic" charms for beading? I've given up on finding my daughter a reasonably priced Medical ID that doesn't look like it belongs to a 90 year-old man. (Not that there's anything wrong with 90 year-old men... LOL!)

It also has to be fairly plain, in order to be worn with her school uniform. There are several neat sites with colorful beaded id bracelets out there, but none have exactly what I want. What I'm looking for are charms that say "diabetic", either dangling or long & thin, like the name plate on a charm bracelet. I've searched online several times now, and I keep finding really expensive ones (Sorry, but the 6 year-old doesn't need 24k gold!) but nothing in a more reasonable price range. Any ideas? OK, this is just too funny. Right after I hit the "publish" button on this post, I decided to search again on my own. Wouldn't you know it, the second site I clicked on had the exact charms I had pictured in my head, and they are only $5 each. I can't believe I finally found them, and right after I had posted this asking for help-- LOL!! However... I'll still be happy to have any ideas or other sources you might want to share!

I'll be back later with pics from yesterday of my crafty projects for my sister's baby shower!

Seven Quick Takes Friday

Seven random thoughts bouncing around in my head:

1.) I'm like the rest of the world, amazed by Susan Boyle's beautiful voice. I'm annoyed, though, that every tv report I've heard makes a point out of repeatedly calling her an "ugly duckling" and far worse. I get the point... she doesn't give off the appearance of a star performer... but why must they harp so much on her looks??

2.) I tried Big Mama's recipe for Creamy Pork Tenderloin this week and we loved it. Next time you're in the mood for some comfort food, make this. Yum!

3.) Prayers answered: my friend Sarah's 7 year-old daughter, H, had her tonsils and adenoids out yesterday and everything went well. Your prayers for a speedy recovery would be much appreciated!

4.) My kids spent a day at our new baby sitter's house this week. I like her, the kids like her... but it's still a weird thing for me to leave my babies in someone else's care. I can't think about it too much. I am very grateful that our schedules, hectic as they are, usually only leave us with one day per week when we have to have a babysitter.

5.) I'll confess... I'm one of those proLIFE, Christian, Right-Wing Extremists. Whew. I feel better having made that confession. ;)

6.) While I'm confessing... I slept until 8am this morning. The kids slept even later. I can't remember the last time that happened!

7.) I'll be spending most of my day today to preparing for my share of my sister's baby shower on Saturday. I have food to make, name tags to create, and a few groceries to buy. I also have a fun project planned for her gift, but I can't share it here yet because J reads my blog. ::waves:: Hi, J!

Click on the button above for more 7 Quick Takes or to share your own!

Did you go to a tea party?

They're all over the news today... who knew? A couple of weeks ago I joined up on a Facebook group for the local tea party. I seriously considered going, right up until the cold/ rain/ whining children that I was contending with at 5pm last night kind of changed my mind. Now, I'm wishing I'd gone, even if that would brand me as a terrorist.

I've been to plenty of political protests in my life.. most notably several large ProLIFE rallies in Washington, DC. But those were all back in the days before I had kids~ since having kids, I've kind of dropped out of any kind of political activism. The last year or so, though, I've been itching to get involved again. (And I'm also having a craving for hot tea right now.... go figure.)

What about you-- has all the tea party talk made you want to get involved, or do you think it's all a waste of time?

WFMW: marking photos

This simple tip is something I've been doing for a couple of years now, and it's saved me a lot of time and frustration. After we get photos back from a studio, I print a set of clear address labels with the subjects' names, ages, and date of the photo. Then, as I cut the pictures apart, I put a label on the back of each one. I haven't had any trouble with the clear labels staying stuck on, even after a couple of years. No more worries about forgetting to mark them, or pens that bleed or smear. Quick and easy, it definitely works for me!

Trying to Simplify: Cooking Here

After much debate I've decided to close my cooking blog, at least for the time being. I simply don't have enough time to keep up with multiple blogs right now. So, from now on, you'll see an occasional recipe or menu post right here on my main blog. The cooking blog will remain online for now as my recipe archives.

To make the transition complete, here's my menu plan for the rest of the week:

• TUESDAY: fried egg sandwiches for DD and I.... the boys (DS & DH) were both asleep, so DD and I decided on something quick and easy. I "blame" Songbirdtiff for putting the fried egg sandwich idea in my head. ;)
• WEDNESDAY: *new recipe: Big Mama's Creamy Pork Tenderloin, mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli *I'll actually be using some pork medallions that I got on clearance last week.
• THURSDAY: roast chicken in the crockpot, augratin potatoes, green beans
• FRIDAY: leftover chicken~ likely turned into soup or chicken & noodles~ and I'll be boiling the carcass for broth~ yum!
  

As usual, you can check out tons of other menu plans @ Menu Plan Monday.

Happy Easter!

Easter has always been one of my favorite holidays. It is a holiday full of hope and promise in our risen Lord. To me, it seems that this hope is illustrated for our mortal senses in the beauty of Spring flowers and, if we're lucky, warm and sunny weather. (This year it looks like we're in luck-- other years we've had snow on Easter.) It's also my favorite time of year in terms of the church's music... many of my favorite hymns, like this one, are sung at this time of year.

However you are celebrating this beautiful holiday, enjoy!

Home Again

DH and I celebrated our 10th anniversary yesterday by going out of town for the last two nights without the kids. We haven't done that since DS was born, and he'll be 3 in June. We watched CNN without interruptions.... ate meals without cutting up anybody's food... ate at a Japanese Steak House where they cooked on our table... and just generally relaxed while the kids stayed at my mother-in-law's house. It was wonderful, especially after nearly two weeks of sickness at our house.

Do you think it's possible to install one of those tables where you can cook right on the table in my home? I'm pretty sure my kids would eat anything that I could stir-fry right in front of them and flip onto their plates. As it stands now I have to cook their food on my stove (with my back to them) and then put it on plates and carry it to the table= boring. We could definitely liven up meals with one of the Japanese steak house cooking tables.

I'll have Sunday Scrappin' up tomorrow- right now I'm off to catch up on blog reading! :)

WFMW: Birthday Party Advice?

Six years ago today my beautiful daughter was born. She was seven weeks premature, born via emergency c-section. We were terrified that we might lose her, or that she'd survive but have terrible problems. None of that happened.... she surprised even the doctors with how well she did in the NICU, and she was home just a few weeks later.

Today, she's celebrating her 6th birthday. We're baking cookies to take to her kindergarten class this afternoon, and then on Saturday she's having her first-ever kid party. It's a Princess themed event, and we've planned three craft projects for the girls. We've invited 15 girls (the school rule is if you hand out invitations at school you have to invite ALL the girls in your class, not just a few) ... but so far only five have RSVP'd. So really, I have no idea how many girls and how many pounds of glitter will be flying around here on Saturday.

Sooo..... my WFMW Backwards Edition question for you: Do you have any tried and true birthday party tricks I need to know? As I said, this is our first kid party, so I'll take any tips you'd like to share! :)

Ask your own question at the backwards edition of WFMW!