Honestly - Lean Cuisine Honestly Good Entrees are The Stuff!

I just tried the Lean Cuisine Honestly Good Lemongrass Salmon entree (compliments of BzzAgent).  Holy Wowza!  It was so, so flavorful and fresh and colorful.  Who knew that eating what I deem restaurant-quality food could be so good for you!  And for an entree that fantastic, you can't beat the price.

Unless you have coupons, that is!  And, naturally, I do!  Want one?

 

BzzAgent sent me a coupon to buy my very own Lean Cuisine Honestly Good entree, so I could let others know my true thoughts on it.  No strings attached!  Luckily, I liked loved it enough to be able to brag honestly.  They also sent me some "dollars off" coupons to share.

What to Do When the World is Yours

The sad news is that Andrew, the love of my life, has gone away on a men's camping trip.  Outdoors.  In 30-ish degree weather.  And I already miss him, and so do our kids.  He won't be back for 3 days.

So, it's up to me to keep busy, to have fun with the kids while maintaining a household and preparing for Thanksgiving.  Actually, it's not much different from any other long weekend, but it just seems different because he is out "playing," and not just gone all kinds of crazy hours at work.

So here's what the kids and I will do.  If you have any other suggestions that we can squeeze in, please let me know!  I'm ready to take on the weekend!

Friday - after I get off work & get Logan off the bus, we'll probably play a game, grab a quick dinner then go to Lights Up at The Summit for some fireworks and music.  My dad invited us to go with him.  How cool is that!?

Saturday - typically Logan and I go couponing in the morning.  I'll let Savannah sleep in, and my little man and I will run out to Wal Mart, Meijer, & Kroger to get some shopping done.  We'll take a break until mid-afternoon, when we meet a friend and her daughter at Puzzle's Fun Dome where the kids can run around and exhaust themselves.  After that, we'll probably head to Mom's to strip wallpaper.  After that, I'm all about doing a little sweep of the house and winding down with the kids.  Then - ME time!  Lately I've been going absolutely nuts earning SwagBucks.  By answering surveys, watching videos, and doing simple web searches, I earn points which I have been redeeming for Amazon.com gift cards and PayPal cash.  This is giving me a jump start on my Christmas shopping, because I can start buying things for Andrew without even touching our bank account!  Sweet!  Anyway - I think I might do some Christmas shopping for him while he's gone.  And maybe some shopping for the kids too...

Sunday - Get up and get ready for church.  Church gets out around 10:00, then we'll go to Mom's for some coffee.  After that, it's NFL time.  I will succumb to the pull of the couch and some snacks, and watch the Bengals, Colts, and some of my other teams play.  Hopefully somewhere in the midst of my cheering, Andrew will arrive home safely, smelling of outdoors.

Any other ideas of what I can throw in there?  Go ahead, I'm ready!

What to Bring for an Un-Thanksgiving Meal?

Everything changes when you get married.  It does.  And it's good.  And it takes some getting used to.

Holidays, for instance.  No longer do you spend one Thanksgiving meal with the whole family.  Instead, Thanksgiving spans multiple meals, and even multiple days.  Fortunately, since I have gotten married, our families have worked out the details of "sharing" the kids at the holidays.

This year (as in previous years), we will host Thanksgiving at our house on Thanksgiving day.  I make the turkey, rolls, deviled eggs, stuffing, pie, snacks, tea, and such.  Family members bring the mashed potatoes, green beans, and corn pudding.  We watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  We watch football.  It's traditional.

The day after, we go to my mom's house and celebrate Thanksgiving with her.  I usually bring leftovers, about which she is delighted!  She also fixes a meal, but it's a little less traditional.  In the past, it has been a savory rosemary pork roast.  Mom is a wonderful cook and a lovely hostess.

This year she will again be making a pork roast.  However, she has asked all the kids to bring a non-traditional side dish.  What?  What am I supposed to do?  What should I bring?   Little Smokies?  Potato salad??  Birthday cake???

Help - I need a non-Thanksgiving side dish to bring to Mom's.  The day after I host 15 people at my house for Thanksgiving dinner.

. . . And thanks in advance!

Cheap Bailey's (coffee creamer)

Be sure to "Like" the Bailey's Coffee Creamer Facebook page.  You'll have the opportunity to print a coupon for $1.50 off Bailey's Creamer!  (Remember to hit your "back" button a few times to print the coupon a second time.)

Take your coupons to WalMart, where the creamer is just $1.88.  After the coupon, you can score this amazing morning sensation for just 38¢. 

Hurry, before all the coupons are gone!

My Steals This Week

Did you know that I'm gaga over coupons, rebates, deals & steals?  Well, I am.  So you're going to hear about these kinds of things quite a bit.  Since I'm so excited about my lunch break shopping trip, I'm going to cut to the chase.  Here's what I got:

STAPLES (They are offering quite a few 1¢ deals to get you in the doors.  So I take advantage of those!  However, you do need to spend $5 to get the 1¢ items.)

• 6 pocket tissues @ 1¢ each
• 10 pocket folders with prongs @ 1¢ each
• 2 packages of colorful paperclips @ 1¢ each
• 9 RoseArt 24 ct. crayons @ 50¢ each (doesn't sound like a good deal, but you're not done reading...)
• 4 5-packs of Bic mechanical pencils @ 25¢ each

Total with tax = $6.02

THEN I used coupons (did you know that Staples accepts manufacturer's coupons?  I didn't know this until I called and asked!)

I used 3 - $1 off 3 RoseArt products coupons AND 2 - $1 off 2 Bic products coupons

That brought my total down to $1.02 for all 31 items!!!  You can't beat that with a stick!  (By the way, I have always been met with superior customer service at Staples.  Every person with whom I have come in contact has gone out of their way to help me, and to offer a smile with their service - even when using coupons!)

Some other steals...

• Kroger: free Suave deodorant, Colgate toothpaste, Stayfree maxis and Carefree liners using coupons from the past couple weeks' coupon inserts.  
• Kroger: Pop Tarts 3/$5 minus a $1 on 3 coupon = 3/$4.  PLUS, I had a coupon from a back-to-school display for $2 off milk when you buy 2 Pop Tarts.  So I got a half gallon of milk FREE.
• Office Max is offering 5¢ protractors or compasses, 25¢ marker 8-packs, 1¢ backpacks (after MaxPerks bonus rewards) and 1¢ Duracell batteries after MaxPerks bonus rewards.

There are some other good deals lurking this week, including ones at Rite Aid, Walgreens, and CVS.  They involve coupons and store rewards as well, so if you're into that kind of thing - make sure you stop by this week for everything from cheap Listerine mouthwash and Pantene shampoo to free Oral B toothbrushes and Crest toothpaste!

Full Time Working Mom Schedule

I am blessed to have a job.
I am fortunate I love my job.
I am lucky to be able to leave my work at my job so I can devote time away from work to my family.

But I am busy.  Boy, oh boy, am I busy!  Here's an idea of a typical day.  From 5:45 in the morning until 11:00 at night, here's what I do:

Wake up, get showered, dressed, & ready for work.  Get Logan up, dressed, fed, and ready for preschool.
Drop Logan off at school, then go in to work.  Work until 4:30, then get Logan from school and head home.
Pick up Savannah from home, & take both kids to get their allergy shots.  Endure being pummeled by Logan for making him get shots.
Come home.  Exercise.  Shower.
Put in a load of laundry.
Fix dinner.  Clean up dinner (sometimes.  Most nights I have the kids clean up if they didn't help me cook.  It's a house rule.).
Play a game with Logan.
Finish laundry.
Get dinner ready for the next day (i.e. thaw out meat, make Jell-O, marinate meat, etc.).
Get Logan in & out of the shower.  Brush his teeth.  Read him a book (or two).  Put him to bed.
By this time it's around 9:00. 
Time for me to do some picking up around the house.  Then I do envelope stuffing and data entry jobs for my dad.  Occasionally I'll fit a blog entry into the mix.
Around 10:30 I'm wiped out.  I'll relax with a magazine and doze off around 11:00.

And you know what?  As much as I love my children and my husband and my life, I always feel like I'm not doing everything just right.  I'm not giving them the attention they deserve.

How do you do it?  How do you balance a full day at work with time with the family, yet fit in cleaning the house and fixing meals?  Please enlighten me.  I'm still working on it all!

Preschool to Kindergarten Transition

My little guy is getting ready to go to kindergarten.  He's ready.  His preschool teacher says he's ready.  The kindergarten intake teacher says he's ready.  I'm not sure I'm ready.  "He's just a baby," I keep telling people.  I know it's not true, but he's my baby!

So I enrolled him in the before-school program at his school on Tuesday.  This means:

• He will be dropped off at school before school starts in the morning, and will ride the bus home (providing I can race home from work and beat him to the bus stop).
• I will need to reconfigure our budget.  This is not a bad thing.  The before-school program is less than half of what we're currently paying for preschool.  Here's to paying off one more (last!) debt.
• His last day of preschool is coming up in less than a month.  The farewells to his teachers and staff who have been there for him since he started going there at 6 weeks of age will be terribly sad.

Logan with his dad at preschool graduation

My question for you: what do you suggest giving to his teachers and staff as good-bye presents?  We were so blessed to find this day care & preschool.  They have loved my son beyond belief.  They have played with him, taught him, and shown him how to play well with others.  Their rates are very fair and the memories are fond.  So what do I do (knowing that we are still on a budget, but truly love this place) to show my appreciation to this preschool for 5 years of wonderfulness?