Deals & Steals: Veggies Tales: "Incredible Singing Christmas Tree"

Any VeggiesTales fans out there? Download the "Incredible Singing Christmas Tree" album for FREE on Amazon!! :)

I don't know how long this deal will last (it may be today only?! IDK)  So go get yours now, before it's too late!!!

Here's the link!

 I downloaded mine already! It's awesome!  KB's favorite holiday is Christmas (esp for the music aspect of it)....  so needless to say, we're pretty stoked about this deal!  Actually, her current favorite VT's  album is another Christmas-themed one (A Very Veggie Christmas)...  so you could say I am also pretty excited for a little "change of scenery" (in a manner of speaking - lol).  Plus, I love the fact that this is audio.... so along with all the music, singing and fun[ny] dialogue/story... there is a fair amount of imagination required when listening to keep up with what is going on... :) 
  

A *huge* thanks to Jen  for the tip!!

*** UPDATE (12/22/10) - free album download still available!!! ***

Saturday SCORE! :: Date night....

This week's awesome deal...

Thanks to coupons (& MIL for getting us an Entertainment book this past year, for Christmas) + a leftover Regal Movie Theaters gift card... We just scored....   

• Dinner @ Subway (bogo 6 inch w/ drinks)
• A Movie (Saw "Salt" @ the theater... and after the gift card & a coupon, we paid a total of $7.50)
• Dessert (shared a brownie @ Applebees)

Our grand total for the evening....  just under $20! ~ Yessss.... !!!! :-)

Celebrate 25 years - 25¢ BOGO Blizzards®

Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy

Growing up in a family of all girls (whose mom dressed us alike on various occasions)... I love  matching mama/daughter dresses. Of course being frugal, I prefer to find them gently used...  for a portion of the price. - Enter... eBay! The only thing about eBay is, of the few Mother/daughter sets that actually exist at any one time, the average size of the mommy's dress is usually a large or XL  - way too big for me...

All Natural Play Clay

Marmee taught preschool for many, many years, and used to make homemade playdough for us, all the time! - I forgot how easy and fun it is! Plus with homemade... you no exactly what's in it No worries about funky ingredients or toxic colorings! So, if some ends up in your curious toddler’s mouth.... it's perfectly fine! (though the taste probably won’t be much to her liking)

The October 2009 issue* of Family Fun Magazine recently contained an excellent recipe for All Natural Play Clay. I especially like this one, because you don't have to have cream of tartar on hand. ... nor do you have to cook anything. And since there is no stove involved... children can be part of making it too!

The other part of the article, that really caught my attention, was the tips on coloring the dough, using common [natural] kitchen ingredients, such as cocoa powder, beet juice, paprika or turmeric! Hmm...I wonder what other colors we could figure out...? Perhaps, blueberry juice for purple... ??

*if you happen to own a copy of this magazine, the article can be found on page 18 of the issue.)

Ingredients
1 C flour
3/8 C salt
1 T vegetable oil
Natural Dye (see below for colors)
Directions
In a bowl, combine flour and salt. Pour in oil & natural dye and stir well. Knead dough for a few minutes. If clay is too soft, add a bit more flour. Store the clay in air tight containers in the refrigerator.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Natural Dye:
Brown: 3/8 C plus 1 T hot water, 4 T cocoa powder
Fuchsia: 3/8 C hot beet juice
Orange: 3/8 C hot water & 1 T paprika
Yellow: 3/8 C hot water & 1 tsp. turmeric

• Here’s a link to the online recipe. It’s almost the same as the magazine recipe, but the magazine recipe included a tablespoon of vegetable oil too... as well as those natural dyes I mentioned! :-)
  
• In light of the season, this is one I definitely want to try... a recipe for Pumpkin Pie Play Dough... Mmm!!
  
• Arm & Hammer even has a cool pdf where you can get ideas on how to use your play clay. Their version is slightly different but if you want a little longer lasting it would work too. Click HERE for that PDF

Free Museum day!!!

http://microsite.smithsonianmag.com/museumday/

I just became aware, that this Saturday (Sept 26, 2009) is national, Free Museum day!! ~ Click the link above to discover which our your local museums will be participating... and then print your card to get up to two free museum admissions**

I was personally surprised at how fairly extensive the list was, for our sunny state.... G-wiz, Spanish point, Great Explorations, Cracker Country, Florida Air Museum, Bok Towers, and the Edison & Ford Winter Estates are all included... among many , many others!! ~ PLUS, most museums don't charge admission until a child is three... so mostly likely it will be completely free for our family to go!! ~ Now, the tricky part is, choosing which one we want to visit most... :-)

Thanx MoneySavingMom for the heads up!!

**Admission Card is good for general admission for you plus one guest. One Admission Card per household. Not for use with any other offer.

Date night: 05/28/09....

Tonight was date night, so we went to Chili's for dinner....

And once again, God provides...
& we were able to enjoy an inexpensive, yet wonderful night out...
just the two of us!!

Thanx to a generous gift-card from LBC's LEARN....
and this "$5 off two entrees" coupon (courtesy of 8coupons.com & fatwallet.com )

We were able to get away with a delicious dinner (+ 2 drinks - a splurge for us), for only $1.29!!!

B (of course) had steak... the Flame-Grilled Ribeye, to be exact...

While I had the oh.so.tasty Quesadilla Explosion Salad...

Fajita-marinated chicken, mixed cheeses, corn relish, cilantro, diced tomato, crispy tortilla strips and ancho-chile ranch drizzle. Served with cheese quesadilla wedges and our citrus-balsamic dressing.

Which I now *highly* recommend! OMW... it was excellent!! - SO good!!

Thank you Lord.

Toddler crayons...

What does one do with a whole bag of old, unwanted, crayons... some that are perfectly good - just extremely illogical for small hands... and others that are broken and of no use to anyone??


Why, recycle them into toddler crayons, of course!!!

Like most families with toddlers... no matter what the child's temperament. you always end up with a bunch broken crayons.... Fact of life. Those thin, elongated little buggers, are just not designed for a toddlers chunky hands, or their beautiful, spontaneous spurts of swirling energy & creativity! So what's the solution? These beauties...

Here's how it works....

You’ll need:

• Crayons - (you can purchase them cheaply at the back to school sales.... or just use ones you already have! - I would highly recommend using higher quality [Crayola] crayons though!!)
• Muffin pan or candy molds (preferably one that you don’t mind getting a little crayon on! Also, some prefer mini muffin tins... I used a regular sized one.)
• An oven

Preheat your oven to 250 degrees F.

Peel off all the paper from the crayons...

(for the new ones, I found it much quicker to remove the paper in one smooth motion if I carefully ran the exacto knife down the center of the paper and peeled the paper back -- for the old ones with stubborn wrappers, a minute or two soak under running hot water worked well.)

Break them into small pieces... & arrange them in each cup of the tin.
(I did like colors together, but multi-colored ones would be fun, as well!)

Bake just long enough to be melted, so you can’t distinguish the crayon shape anymore
(^These^ are not quite there yet!)

Turn off the stove...
but leave them to sit & congeal a little, before moving the pan.
(**this is especially important if you are doing multi-colored crayons!! -- Failure to do so, will cause the colors to amalgamate... and you will end up with brown crayons!!!**)

Let them cool and solidify....

Pop them out of the tins....

(If you have trouble with this, you can put them in the freezer for a bit)

And Enjoy!

Apparently they make good stacking toys too! ;)

Did you have trouble with a clear layer of wax forming on the top of your crayons?
See my Addendum post, here.

Free TCBY Cup or Cone for Mother's Day...

The Country's Best Yogurt (TCBY) is giving away free cups and cones to all Mom's on Mother's day - May 10, 2009! (This offer is at participating locations - so you'll probably will want to check before you go)

PLUS! They are currently running a special... $1.99 for their Frappe Chillers!
(limited time only!)

See more, on their site, here

Starbucks: Grande Iced Coffee with Milk for $1.95

Now, through June 29, 2009, you can get a Grande (16 oz.)
Iced Coffee with Milk from Starbucks for only $1.95. More details here.

Thanks for the tip, Money Saving Mom!

Free book monthly, for children 5 & under

Dolly Parton Imagination Library: Free book each month for children 5 and under

The Dolly Parton Imagination Library is a program available in many areas which offers a free book, mailed to each month to the child's home, for anyone aged 5 and under.

I just was made aware that is is available in our area, and signed KB up... but I have heard from many different readers that the books they send are good quality and that it's definitely worth your while to sign up if your area offers this program.

To read more details and see if this program is available in your area, go to the website, here.

Discounts.... and Valentines Day!!!

I know, I know... those two things really don't seem like they should go together.... but when your hubby is out of a job, and money is tight (or if you are just a tight-wad... ahem! I mean frugal with your money).... then, any little trick is well worth it! -- And I think this one will knock your socks off!

Restaurant.com is currently running an awesome
coupon code (expires 2/19)... for 70% off!!

-- Just use the code: PREZ during checkout!--

That's right! The already awesome discounted prices... just got even more affordable! :-) But what's even more exciting is.... since we had postponed celebrating our Valentines day (due to sickness, & holiday rush, etc.), we were able to get a $50 gift card to our local The Melting Pot Restaurant (which Restaurant.com would have normally sold for $20).... for only $6!!!! Procrastination (even though planned) has once again paid off!!! hee,hee!! ;)

Off course, per the rules of Restaurant.com, the $50 card is only valid with a $100 minimum purchase.* ~ But since we were, once again, being frugal.... my hubby had already redeemed his Am-Ex reward points, getting us another $50 gift card.... which we will pair with the above deal (totaling $100)... and eat oh.so.very.well!!! --

So, we get to have a fabulous & romantic Valentines Dinner, at a fancy restaurant (which also has sentimental value - it's where we went the night we got engaged!)..... All for just $6 + tip!! -- I am SO excited!! God is SO good!!

(Now to get everyone - namely Mother-in-law - well, so we can pick a time/date to go....)

* (Excludes alcohol. 18% gratuity added before discount, 1 cert. per table, No split checks. Not valid on holidays.)

Free Disney on Your Birthday!

Disney is offering free admission, on your birthday during 2009!!

Start your birthday off right with the most magical birthday present of all: free admission on your birthday during 2009 to one of the Theme Parks of Walt Disney World® or Disneyland® Resort*! It's our gift to you and it all begins right here.

To get this wonderful birthday gift for yourself, your children or others in your household, follow these simple steps:

• Register your birthday—and other household members' birthdays too, if you want.
• Print the confirmation message you receive after registering your birthday.
• You will also receive an email reminder two weeks prior to your birthday, which you can also use to redeem your free admission on your birthday.
• Bring proper ID and your confirmation message to the gate at one of the Theme Parks at the Walt Disney World® Resort or Disneyland® Resort on your birthday in 2009.

BTW, if you’re a Passholder (or have a valid Multi-Day Ticket or a Seasonal Pass that you would use for admission on your birthday in 2009)… you have several options which are available for you….

• A special birthday FASTPASS® badge+ for certain attractions at the Theme Park you visit on your birthday; or
• A 1-day Magic Your Way base ticket for you to use any time until your next birthday; or
• A birthday fun card in an amount equal to the price of a 1-day Magic Your Way base ticket* for you to use on your birthday for merchandise, recreation or fun activities at select participating locations at Walt Disney World® Resort.
  
  (FAQs can be found here).

We currently have Season passes, good until May 5, 2009. Since my birthday is May 2nd (still in our pass window)… we’re hoping to be able to on & around my birthday... enjoy everything on our current passes… get my 1-day pass for another time… and then go back on B’s (& KB's) birthday (August)… for one more day of family-filled, Disney fun!! :-)

More currently, however.... we will be be taking a friend of my sister-in-law's up there on January 20th for her birthday! (also inauguration day, therefore being nicknamed: D-day. - Dooms day, Depression day, Disaster day... and (for something good/positive), Disney day!!) Anyway, FriendKara (yes, her name is Kara too) will get in free for birthday, and we'll all use our passes. Since we live so close.... we plan on driving up there early that morning, hit the park of her choice during the day (I think she is leaning towards Magic Kingdom - which I am totally thrilled with, as MK is my favorite!!) and then drive back that night! :) ~ It's going to be SO much fun!! :)

Free hot drink at Barnes and Noble!

Barnes & Noble Starbucks Cafe's are offering a coupon for a complimentary tall drink-sized latte, cappuccino, espresso, freshly-brewed coffee, or hot tea (up to $3.20 in value). This coupon can only be redeemed once per customer (per visit)... but I assume each person in your family could print and use one. Good through October 31, 2008.

(Store Locator)

A gift-card family night

Tonight we spent some well-needed quality time.... my having a family night... almost completely paid for with gift cards!

We hit Starbucks... where I had the first wonderful glimse of one of my favortie sesons... fall!! B and I spit and enjoyed our first "Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino"of the season! Yum!!

Build-a-bear, to get Boo's birthday present. (There, after the gift card & $5 off coupon, we we able to get about $12 worth of stuff for a little over $4!!)
Bath & Body works, to buy a body cream & shower gel in my favorite new scent... Rainkissed Leaves™ - Where I not only had a $27 gift card (from returns)... but then, they were running a buy-one-get-one-50%! - So I even still have $11 & change on my card!!