Had to make some revisions…my new blog is up now.  Still not real fancy or anything, but up and running at least.  I’ll put my posts there when I find good deals that are worth sharing. 

Check it out! Saving by the Cartful

This blog will remain for family posts.  Which…we’re cooking the turkey tomorrow, and making some Thanksgiving treats…so there will no doubt be a post to follow!

Wow!  I can’t believe the kids are on Thanksgiving Break already!  Time is flying by; my kids are getting so big so fast, sometimes I wish I could slow it down so I could savor everything a little bit longer.  Jason and I got to spend time at Kelseas school today for a Thanksgiving program.  Kelsea was a pilgrim girl.  She did so good!  It melts my heart to see the ‘I’m so proud you’re here to watch me’ smile spread all over her face. 

She is growing into such a sweet lil’ lady.  She spent the last 2 days writing filling up an entire notebook sheet of the things she is thankful for.  I couldn’t help but to take a picture.  Its definately getting put into the basket of things I will treasure forever!  She list everything from our family, and Jesus, and her clothes, butterflies,  many, many different foods, and her teacher!    So happy that she has such a thankful spirit!

I have been feeling ’thankful’ lately for the world wide web, and the loads and loads of mulah I save finding deals and steals that others take the time to share.  Today I went too: Target, Albertsons, Winn Dixie, Publix, and the fruit/produce stand.  I spent about an hour and a half shopping, and a little less than $80, and that will last us for about a week and a half.  Anyway~because I was asked to share, (& I really enjoy it), and because this blog really is meant to be more of a keeping up with the family type of a thing, I am starting another blog in the very near future which will just be a place for posting the deals I find.  Be looking for that soon…

Do you think its too early to do your Christmas cards?  If I told you they were FREE would you still think it was too early?

I happened upon this blog awhile back. You will want to bookmark it, subscribe to it, check it daily, etc., etc.  I have gotten so many good tips on ways to save money, and yummy recipes, etc; this is a blog that I check DAILY!  (if not more often)  

Today, thanks to one of the posts on Crystals blog, I ordered 100 Christmas cards for FREE.  I’m talking, personalized, photo cards, with envelopes.  Go here to See Here by Fugifilm and register, upload a photo, and create your card.  Then add 50 cards to your cart, and enter the code newbaby at checkout, and you will see the price and the shipping go to $0.  You do not even need to enter a credit card or anything. 

After that, I placed another order for 50 more of the same cards.  And at checkout, I entered the code freebies4mom-1109, type it exactly like that.  And you will once again see the amount clear to $0.

=100 cards for FREE!  I already received my confirmation for both orders. 

Thanks Freebies for Mom and Money Saving Mom  for this great information! 

ENJOY!!!

Jason was at a golf tournament with a buddy today, both kids were at school, and I went on a grocery shopping bonanza!  When you go to 4 different stores, it is a bonanza.  Now BEFORE you call me crazy…one store is about 2.5 miles from my house, the others are within a mile, and right next to each other.  And while, it may still seem a bit extreme, I was able to cover all our meals, some extras to make for the freezer, and a few baking supplies for the week, and some cleaning supplies/household goods,  (actually some things will last much longer) for the week for $80!  Woohoo!!! 

I got it all done, and put away, and some straightening done around the house before I picked up Brady from school.  AND-this was his 2nd day in a row of staying ‘clean and dry’ at school.  We beelined to Target for an inexpensive reward to celebrate!  Maybe the ‘regression’ period is ending. 

The weather is awesome here.  It is just crushing to me that the chiropractor said ‘no running’ otherwise I’d be hitting the street tomorrow morning.  We’ll definately be outside doing something though.  Maybe Jason will be up for pulling the Christmas stuff out of the attic.  I am SO ready!

Do you like Black Friday?  Do you KNOW what Black Friday is? 

If you do…then this website is for you!  I registered with my email address this year and last year too.  They email you when any black Friday ad becomes available so you can start ‘planning’ what stores you want to hit up that morning.  I actually heard there are some stores opening at 3am this year!  CRAZY…ok-ok-I’m one of the crazy ones too.  If I can save me some mulah you know I’ll be there.  I’ll even be sporting my ‘Jesus loves Black Friday t-shirt’ in honor of the occasion! 

Boy was I pooped last night!  Had a great C3 Childrens Ministry meeting.  I love when we’re able to touch base and hear about how things are going and what we can improve on in this ministry area.  I feel very fortunate to be a part of this ministry!  I slept hard after the day I had though.  It felt good to wake up after getting a good nights sleep.

We’ve had some sickness working its way through our house.  Mostly Jason has been affected; the kids have had just a few random coughs or sneezes.  I can not-so-fondly remember how things were this time last year, and I feel very thankful for the good health we have had so far this fall!

I’m heading to the chiropractor today.  I’m a little nervous; I always feel that way before heading to a new doctor, and the fact that THIS doctor is going to be cracking my spine, just magnifies this for me.  HOWEVER, the fact that I can’t even run half a mile without my back hurting is all the motivation I need.  Well-that and the fact that I’ve cleared the house of all IB Profen, and my stomach is starting to talk back about it!    Hopefully this doctor will help provide some relief. 

I recognize its been awhile since pictures have been posted; that is on my to-do list for today.  I’m also in the process of trying to transfer my blog over to a new one…I’ll post here when that happens; I’m having some ‘technological’ difficulties so we’ll see how it goes.

My plans for tonight included getting a jump start on the laundry mountain that has been growing this week in my closet; however, Jason is not feeling up to speed, so plans changed a little.  The kids and I spent some time in the backyard~LOVE Central Florida weather right now~then they helped me try out a new banana bread recipe.  It’s one main recipe with a few ‘extra’ ingredients I threw in.  Let’s just say I need someone to hide it from me, so I don’t devour it all tonight!  Just in case you ever have some bananas that are too brown to eat….

½ butter (yes I used the REAL stuff)

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

4 bananas mashed

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp nutmeg

*3 tbsp brown sugar

*1 tbsp water

-Cream the sugar and butter with a mixer. Add the vanilla, eggs, and bananas and mix well. Add the dry ingredients and mix until well blended. Pour into a 9×5, greased loaf pan. Bake 50min-1 hour at 350 degrees. About 15 minutes before its done (the loaf will be full size, and almost ‘set), mix the brown sugar and water, and brush onto the top. Return to over and finish cooking.

It is delicious!  It is so moist, but the top is a little crunchy and sugary!  You will LOVE it!  I am not a baker, so if I can make this and have it turn out great-you definately can too!   I took a picture to post, but I’m feeling like a good book, and another slice of banana bread are too good to pass up right now! 

I just got an email, the Kodak Gallery Million Gift Giveaway has reset.  If you register with your email address, you will get a code (I got $15 off) sent to your email address, and you’ll have up to Nov. 17th to order an item, or even prints.  Check out my post here for more info!  Don’t forget to register at Ebates first, and click through their site so you can get money back!  If you register through the link I provided you’ll automatically get $5 deposited into your account for registering! 

I wanted to mention one more ‘opportunity’ this week that is available.  This is something I have been apart of for about 2 years, and I have benefited greatly.  Its called BzzAgent.  You don’t give out anything personal except for your address, which they need because they send you FREE things to try out, spread the word about to your friends, and then report back with feedback.

I don’t usually do too much reporting back; the more you do, the more points you earn, and the higher up you get on the list to qualify to try things out.  The top things I have gotten are free Boston Market, free Chilis burgers, MAC cosmetics and a FREE Sonicare Electric Toothbrush.  Its over $140 in the store, and I got it completely free.  Its just a fun program to be a part of…you might want to check it out!

Not much to report on today.  My back and headaches are bad enough, that I’m finally giving in and going to the doctor.  I have to wait until Monday for an appointment.  Our car and computer seem to be functioning up to full speed; although it appears the front brake roters (sp?) are warped, and need to be repaired/replaced.  Not a biggie~we’ll hopefully have that taken care of this weekend.

Jason managed to remain employed during another stage of  restructuring at his company.  PRAISE GOD!!!  Kelsea is managing to roll out 100% on her A.R. tests at school, and can not get her hands on enough books.  Brady…is well…Brady!  We’re still working on the whole ‘regression’ thing with potty training.  Bribery and consequences don’t seem to have much affect.  They are playing in the yard with daddy right now…which is just about the perfect ending to our week!