Think Mother's Day!

Since we live far away from all of the kids' grandparents, I try to get them photo gifts. We have given them a photo book, a collage of pictures, photo mugs, magnets...I think that's all but there's probably more. The photo mug we gave them was homemade, however. One item that did. not. last.

Well, the mug is still in tact, but without their picture on it!

Today, however, Snapfish has a promotion going on through April 13th, to celebrate their 11th birthday. When you buy one collage photo mug, you get 2 free. That's 3 mugs for $12.99!  You can use up to 15 pictures, choose from 14 backgrounds and add a title if you wish. Use the code 11MUGS at checkout.

Remember, you will have to pay shipping. I'm not sure how Snapfish does with stacking coupon codes (using more than one per order), but you can always try. A good way to know if they allow it is to look where you put the code in. If there are more than 1 spaces, then chances are you can use more than one. Check out RetailMeNot to see if there is a free shipping code or percentage off to use with the code for the mugs.

Happy making!

Hushmakaka

The kids have a book called 'The Last Straw' about a camel that the Three Wise Men use to travel to see the Baby Jesus. In this book, the camel is continually complaining to himself about his aches and pains.

"My joints, my gaut, my sciatia."

I feel like Hushmakaka today. On Friday night I broke my toe. I kicked a ladder that I left up for painting. So I cry (which I never do) and it's hurting like crazy. On Saturday I accidentally kick the same toe on the door.

How? Have no idea.

So last night I wrap my toes in an attempt to help it heal straight. This morning Jon made a splint and wrapped it for me. There was a point sticking out a bit that I caught on the carpet and pulled the wrapped, splinted toes bruising up my foot.

See, I'm like Hushmakaka.

So now I'm chair ridden. Jon won't let me up for a couple of days, save the essential needs. I'm hoping this helps it heal faster. The average 4-6 weeks heal time puts me right at my half marathon...I don't even want to think about that!

So we'll file this one, also, under Life's Lessons Learned...The Hard Way.

P.S. Any tips on helping my toe heal faster are most welcome!

Testing...1, 2, 3

So this is a test to see if my mobile blog posting works. If it works...totally awesome. That means I can post a blog on the go when I'm out & see a great deal!

Sa-weet !!!

Currently, it feels like 100 degrees in Oklahoma. Hopefully it's not a sign of how the summer will be. It's hot here anyways during the summer. A cooler summer like the ones I had as a kid would just fine by me!

This was a test. And only a test. Stay cool!

P.S. Don't forget to wear sunscreen.
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Stretch That Meat!

My kids are growing every day. That is more evident in how much they are eating. I send Isabella a whole lot of lunch and she's starving when she climbs in the van at the end of the day. The other night I made tacos. Usually 1lb of ground beef is enough with plenty left over. Not so this week! We ate nearly all the meat in one meal.

Of course it was super delicious.

But still.

Thanks to Taco Bell, the term 'fillers' has gotten a bad reputation. I, however, still love it! I totally use fillers to make my meat last. When making tacos, I add half and onion or more chopped fine. I also have started to add green pepper, also finely chopped. Beans are another great addition to make taco meat last longer.

When I make spaghetti sauce, alot of times I'll add pureed carrots. You can't really taste the difference and it adds more vegetables to each serving. Also, I like to add a can of diced tomatoes if I'm using canned spaghetti sauce.

There's a whole world of possibilities when you start adding little things to your recipes! What are your filler secrets? Do share!

Soul Surfer

Last night I had the opportunity to take Isabella and Liana to see the movie 'Soul Surfer' for free! Our local Christian radio station has been running ads for the last couple of weeks to see it before it's released. So I went online and filled out I wanted to go and wanted 3 tickets. I don't know what I was thinking, putting in 3 tickets when there are 5 in my family. But I did. Monday afternoon the confirmation e-mail was in my inbox!

I was interested in it not only because of the interesting story based on real life events, but also because it had Anna Sophia Robb, Helen Hunt, Dennis Quaid and Carrie Underwood headlining. It was a delightful surprise to see Craig T. Nelson (hello Coach!) and Kevin Sorbo (of Hercules fame!) in the film as well.

While I was a little hesitant to take the girls, knowing the storyline, I prepared them ahead of time. They knew to expect she was bitten by a shark and that was very scary, but they also knew that she doesn't die. Seeing the story on the big screen, though, brought all of us to tears. I am the only one that will admit it!

Bethany Hamilton with Anna Sophia Robb (Bethany)

It was a great movie, with a great message. It's so disheartening to take the kids to see a film that is full of suggestive, disrespectful and vulgar language. Even in G rated films insinuations and double meanings run rampant. This movie did not have one moment when I cringed thinking they were going to have a new attitude or saying that was going to have to be corrected. Bethany Hamilton's faith is very evident in the film and that is refreshing to see!

If you're going to pick a movie to see next weekend, pick this one. It's a tale of triumph in the face of tragedy and adversity. It's about finding your way when you can't see through the storm. You will leave feeling warm and encouraged, and able to look your mom in the eye!

Blistered

I remember the days when my kids were young, and everything was put into rhyme form. "Owies from the sun, that's not fun!" was our sunscreen rhyme. Now it's more like "Sunscreen on first!". The girls are great about it, and Konnor follows the girls so there are really no problems.

If you're my friend on Facebook, you may have noticed my status update as 'I love the feeling of being crispified by the sun' or something along those lines. Well...I take it back. I take it ALL back!

No, I didn't use sunblock. The (not so) funny part is Friday was April 1st, and I wish it were a joke. However, these blisters are no joke. Yep, I'm blistering.

So this is your friendly reminder that when the sun is out, put the sunscreen on. What does this have to do with budgeting? Absolutely nothing. File this under 'Life's Lessons Learned... the Hard Way'.

I hope your weekend was great! I have been working hard on getting together prices for my Grocery Budget that will hopefully go live this weekend. Also I am in the midst of cleaning. Still! I have a lot of ground to cover here!!!

Until tomorrow.

Hopefully without blisters.

Returning An Item

Today I'm going to return a dress to Kohl's. It's a beautiful navy blue dress that I absolutely love (I'm super into jewel tones!) but that in all honesty I'll never wear. The regular price was $78, I paid $13 for it. That makes it harder to return....it was soooooooo inexpensive!!!!

But it's not a good deal if it never gets used. If I'm honest with myself, there are things about the dress that I don't like. I'm a taller person, and the top puts my hips about 2 inches higher than where they are. I don't actually like the pockets, but you can't really see them.

That's the end of my dislike list.

So I'm forcing myself to take it back. Luckily I got the dress from Kohl's where you don't need your receipt, just the card you purchased it on. They truly do have one of the best return processes ever! They aren't lying in their commercials.

Friday has become our 'coffee date' morning. We all load up and drop Isabella off at school, then hit a coffee shop and have as much quality time as we can with two other little kiddos in tow. Then I have errands to run. I absolutely love Fridays!!!

Have a terrific day. Try to not fall prey to any April Fool's Day jokes *hehe*.