School Pictures I'm Happy About!

At the beginning of the school year Cade came home with an order form for school pictures. I was floored at the prices for one pose of not-so-great pictures. I was so excited when I learned that Jenna Jameson was offering Better School Pictures for a fantastic price. She was scheduled to take pictures of Myla's preschool class, so I arranged for her to take Cade and Gavin's pictures too. I'm so glad it worked out! Check some of them out:

Myla's preschool class



And I just had to include a picture of the cute way she packaged the CD. Such a sweet personal touch!

E-day

Here are a few pics from the day. I only got a few of Myla, and she was scowling in every one of them, so they didn't make the cut. :)

Waiting for the eggs to be hid.

Easter Basket Hat

Gavin thought this was the best part. He didn't really care about the eggs.

At one point he was running toward Grandma Cat and giggling with the bucket over his eyes.

Gavin with my Grandma.

They kids got these cute gummy bunny teeth. They loved them.

Sister Shoutouts

Check out the new Royalty Bowtique created by Nicki and her friend, Erin. There are tons of cute accessories for your little boy or girl. Capes, tutus, bracelets, hair bows...so much fun! Great prices and quality product. They are having a giveaway to kick off their grand opening! You can also catch Nicki on Etsy!

My sis-in-law, Jamie, is now registering for preschool for the 2010-2011 school year. She will be offering two different preschool classes this year. Go here to get all the lovely details. Myla has LOVED preschool with Miss Jamie and Miss Lisa this year. They make learning so fun. She always comes home with art projects and learning sheets and stories to tell about outside time or what her friend said. I love it! It has been so wonderful for Myla. I love that there are two teachers. Double the fun!

The winner of the Spring Treats prize pack is Jill!

She said:

My favorite spring/summer time treat is fresh watermelon. Oh my gosh, I could eat a whole melon all by myself. Yummers!

Mmmm, watermelon is my favorite too. I could live off of watermelon during the summer. I can't wait until they are in season. Congrats Jill!

Thanks for all of your great spring baking recipe ideas! It was so fun reading them. Have a wonderful Easter weekend.

Spring Baking

Spring cleaning? Bleh. Spring baking? Yay! I love baking. My quiet, Christie place is in the kitchen baking up some sweet treat. (Now I need to figure out how to bake without eating the product. That's a tough one.) In the past couple of weeks I've made Lemon Cream cupcakes (my favorite!), tried out this awesome carrot cake recipe (very rich - yummy!), and intend to bake up some Key Lime Pie cupcakes for Easter (if you like Key Lime Pie even a teensy little bit, you must try this recipe).

I love finding new recipes. I have a variety of websites and blogs that I look at for inspiration and direction. Baking from scratch is something I enjoy, but I am also so glad there are quicker options out there. There is a new website called Bake Sweet Memories that has some great spring recipe ideas for fun desserts using Betty Crocker cake, cookie and brownie mixes. There is a cute Easter Bunny cake that I think the kids would love.

For sewing night last night I decided to try out the Spring Fruit Pizza. Very good and very easy!

The best part is that Safeway (and family of stores) is having a fantastic sale on Betty Crocker products. Now through April 6th, Betty Crocker cake mixes and traditional brownie mixes are on sale for $0.69 each when you buy 4. You can also download coupons directly to your Safeway card from the Bake Sweet Memories website. I love that option because I can never remember my coupons.

Safeway and Betty Crocker, through MyBlogSpark generously sent me this cute little Spring Sweet Treats pack, which included a silicon baking pan, stainless steel mixing bowl, mixing spoon, oven mitt, free Betty Crocker brownie mix coupon and a $25 gift certificate to Safeway. (The silicon baking pan is a dream to bake with. I made the fruit pizza with it and I couldn't believe how easy it was to get the big cookie out. I'm thinking I need to invest in more of these babies.) They have provided me one to give away to one of you!

If you would like to win your own Spring Sweet Treats prize pack (including a silicon baking pan, stainless steel mixing bowl, mixing spoon, oven mitt, and a $25 gift certificate to Safeway), check out the Bake Sweet Memories website and come back and tell me which recipe you'd like to try out. Want a second chance? Leave another comment telling me your favorite spring treat ever - and maybe you could leave the recipe or a link to it?? I'm always on the hunt for new recipes. Want a third chance? Blog, tweet, Facebook or (whatever you do) about this giveaway and come back leaving a comment that you did.

Just to recap, you have three chances to win:
1. Leave a comment telling me what you'd like to try out from Bake Sweet Memories.
2. Leave another comment telling me your favorite spring treat.
3. Blog, tweet, Facebook about the giveaway and come back and leave a comment telling me you did.

Giveaway ends soon on Wednesday, March 31st at 11:59pm. I will randomly choose a winner at that time. Good luck!

McMillan Spring Training

The weather is amazing right now, and we are taking advantage of it while it lasts!

I'm one of those moms

I love to make the kids all matchy-matchy. Sometimes it's a sickness. Sometimes I have to stop myself from trying to convince Kevin to coordinate with what the kids are wearing. Like I said, it's a sickness. And no, I don't feel the need for Kevin and I to get all matchy-matchy. That's just weird. :)

Anyway, for Myla's Easter dress I did something new: I sewed dress that required a zipper. If you saw the zipper you would not be impressed. It looks pretty crappy from the back. So I won't show you the back. But it's in, and that's what matters, right? I'm trying to improve my sewing skills. I think I've got elastic and velcro down; it's time to move to the next level. I bought a fun tie pattern from here and made coordinating ties so that the boys could match their sister. I know my time is limited--soon they will be disgusted if I try to make them match. I'm taking it while I can get it. :)

Winner

I apologize for being a little late to announce the winner of the giveaway.

I did things a little differently this time and threw all the names in a bowl.

My trusty sidekick closed her eyes...

and drew a name. And the winner is...

Cheryl F! She truly is a Lucky Ladybug. Congrats Cheryl!

And thanks to everyone to entered.

Stayin' Alive

PhotoFunia

Just what I need, another fun website to suck all my "free" time away. Like how I blame it on the website? :) Check it out here.

Bonus Box Tops For Education & Kroger $25 Giftcard Giveaway

If you have school age kids you probably clip box tops or have at least heard of the idea. My oldest just barely started school, so I didn't really know much about it. General Mills, through MyBlogSpark recently provided information about a great new way to help out your neighborhood schools! It’s hard to believe that the simple act of clipping Box Top coupons has raised over $300 million for our kids’ schools. Now you can earn even more money for the school of your choice because from now through March 18, the Kroger Family of Stores is giving you the chance to get even more Bonus Box Tops.

Here's how it works: All you have to do is register at www.RewardYourSchool.com and select the personalized offers that you would like to receive.

Once you register, you will automatically receive 5 Bonus Box Tops for your school of choice just for signing up! You will also receive custom offers for bonus box tops for purchasing participating General Mills products. The offers you select will then load onto your Kroger Shopper Card to be redeemed once you purchase the items. The great part is there’s no clipping! The Bonus Box Tops will automatically go straight to your chosen school. Just remember to scan your card when purchasing the participating items.

Recently, General Mills, through MyBlogSpark, provided me with a gift card to any Kroger store (which is Fry's, in my neck of the woods) to check out how it works. It's so easy. It takes less than 5 minutes to register on www.rewardyourschool.com, and even easier to just buy the items.You get to choose which school the box top credit will go to. And then pick up those items during you next shopping trip. The website even provides a "shopping list" of products to choose from. Nice!

General Mills, through MyBlogSpark, has also provided me with a $25 Kroger gift card to give away! So, wanna win? You have three chances:
1. Leave a comment in response to this post.
2. Go register at www.rewardyourschool.com (seriously, less than 5 minutes) Come back and leave a comment telling me you did it.
3. Blog (or tweet or facebook or whatever you do) about this giveaway. Come back and leave a comment.

And yes, you can do all three to increase you chances for winning! This giveaway closes
Tuesday, March 9th at 11:59pm.

I'm NOT an organizing junkie...but aspire to be

I know, this is probably not news to most of you...especially those that have lived with me at one time or another. Do you ever have that feeling that you are flying by the seat of your pants? You are rushing around trying to put out fires? You react, instead of act? Sometimes I do. Lately it seems like my day begins and ends that way...always in a rush. Always moving on to the next thing. Never ahead of the game. Playing catch-up. And that is when life feels so overwhelming me. I can never get ahead. I watch other moms and how they just seem to have it together. I think I've figured out the difference between them and me: they are organized! I need to get more organized. But where to start? Well, in my search for advice I found an article called Managing Your Household that I found on the Executive Homemaker site. It described me perfectly! I'm taking a lot of what she says to heart. I've thought about my priorities and goals and discussed them with Kevin. I have created a schedule for myself. Because I have fun doing it, I designed this daily job chart for me so I know what I'll be working on everyday. Then it won't be so overwhelming and I won't feel like a failure if I don't get the entire house cleaned everyday. And I'm working on a chore chart for the kids. They are at that age where they can take on some responsibilities around the house.

I feel so much better having a plan!

Footies

What is it about footie pj's that's so adorable? I don't know, but I love them. I've been thinking about finding Kevin a pair. Think he'd wear them? :) Notice Myla holding the boys there so I can take a picture? She knows how to keep 'em in line.

I don't usually like to talk about money, but...

Whew! I just finished doing our taxes. Usually I rush to the computer to do my taxes the second all of our W-2's and other tax forms arrive. There's something about filling in a form that floats my boat. I don't know...

Anyway, I decided today was the day. I sat the kids in front of Dora and went to town. So I'm just going to be honest here. Doing taxes for me is almost like a cleansing of my financial soul. I have to go through all our bills and statements to see where our money went. I cringe, and then cringe some more. Really, did I buy that much fabric this year? Did we really eat out that much? It's really eye opening for me. And I need it...every year. I beat myself up and then work out a great new budget that "I am definitely going to stick to" and continue on my way. I do great for the first few months, and then lapse into my old habits. I know this about me. It's not the big things I struggle with...buying new cars or big toys or houses when we can't afford it. It's the little things that get me in trouble. But the little things eventually add up to big things. Money burns a hole in my pocket. It's a disease.

The visiting teaching message this month is on managing our resources wisely and staying out of debt. As some friends and I were discussing this we shared our tips and tricks. Or I should say, they shared their tips and tricks with me. And after pouring over our financial records I am so excited and motivated to try a few. Maybe you could share your tips with me too?

One of the methods that I have tried (and when I stick to it it really works) is the envelope method. The amount that I budget for groceries, gas and household items gets split up into their corresponding envelopes each month and I only spend from those envelopes. When the money is gone, it's gone. For me, using the debit card makes the money intangible, and therefore harder to control. So having the physical money right there helps me stay within the budget. Here's some info on that. That's one method I've tried. What works for you?

A fun tip that one of my friends shared is that she has a shoe box or can that she tapes up really good so she can't get into it. She puts a hole in the top and she writes on it the date she starts saving. Into the box/can goes all her change and loose bills. She forgets about it after she puts it in. She said that when she went to get into it there was over $500 in it that they used on a vacation. I love that idea! So today I did it. Meet my new friend:

She's really nothing special, just an old shoe box that I taped up really, really, really well (I don't want to be tempted to get in) and covered her with a paper. Easy peasy. Then I went around the house and gathered up the piles of loose change. I couldn't believe how many piles of change we had. It's embarrassing really. But I'm excited because, like I said, money really does burn a hole in my pocket. If I have a $5 I'm thinking, "Now, how can I spend that?" I know, I'm sick. :) But this way I can shove it in the box and forget about it. And then, later on down the road we can go do something fun with it. Like a skiing trip next winter! (The Olympics have inspired me. :))

Money talk usually makes me uncomfortable, but I figure that I can't be the only one in the world who struggles with budgeting. And I know that there are a lot of you out there who are great at it. So, share your wealth of knowledge. Get it, wealth of knowledge? Hee hee.

Kid Updates.

Cade is 5 years old and is a ball of energy. He never stops moving! He's either fighting imaginary Transformers or playing light sabers with Myla. He loves school and adores his teachers. He comes home everyday repeating pretty much every word they said. It's cute! He's super excited to start Kindergarten next year. He keeps telling me we need to get him ready for Kindergarten. We got some BOB books and read a couple every day. It's amazing how his reading skills have skyrocketed. It's so fun for him to be able to say he read the whole book. He's a great helper and loves Myla and Gav so much. He'll be starting T-ball soon and he can't wait for that! My dad played catch the other day with him and he loved it.

Myla is three years old, but soon to be four (she won't let me forget it!). She wants to be as old as Cade and hasn't quite figured out that she won't ever be as old as Cade. Myla is a busy little bee. She goes to preschool twice a week and also goes to her dance class once a week. She loves it all. She is my most social child and is always looking for something to do or somewhere to go. She writes her name everywhere and loves practicing the alphabet and primary songs at the top of her lungs. She loves to ride her bike and play with her brothers. Sometimes she's quite the little tomboy, having two brothers, but she's definitely all girl too.

Oh, the Gavman. He keeps us laughing. He is talking a little more lately. Mostly he just parrots what we say. Recent additions to his vocabulary include foul ball, hot dog, car, bath, Cade and Myla. He thinks he should be able to do everything his bigger siblings can do. When they play Wii he wants a turn too. When they ride their bikes he wants nothing to do with his new toddler car, he wants to ride a bike too. Gavin started nursery in December, but hasn't quite warmed up to it yet. It surprises me because when I take him to the gym kidcare he cries when I come to pick him up....he doesn't want to leave! But when we take him to nursery he throws a the fit of the century. Oh man. He'll get used to it soon. He's growing up way too fast for my liking...but isn't that always the way it goes. He is quick to smile and laugh. He's such a joy!




Kevin isn't one of my kids, but I thought I'd give a little update on him anyway. He has begun his last semester of nursing school! Can I get a woot woot?! (Ok, I can't pull that off very well.) He has a lot on his plate now with work, school, church calling and family, and sometimes it can get overwhelming, but I think he is doing a fantastic job. We all can't wait until May!

Happy *Love* Day!

idea from here

And the winner is...

Chelsea! Hooray!

She said...

My healthy tip is I eat fruit (like berries, bananas, kiwis, or whatever is your favorite) or a smoothy with yogurt, milk (opt) and fruit when I have a craving for something sweet. It takes care of the sweet tooth while providing nutrition.

Thanks for all your great tips! I appreciate it. Have a wonderful weekend! Look back soon for another giveaway!

Happy Day and a Giveway!

I'm happy today, for a couple of reasons:
#1 - I'm finally starting to feel better after an icky bout of the flu. Yuck! Thanks to my sweet husband who actually let me call in sick to Mommyhood. He stayed home from work and let me stay in bed all day. Yeah, he's a keeper.

#2 - After finally being able to eat something without yacking, I tried this great Fiber One yogurt (courtesy of Fiber One, Safeway, and MyBlogSpark). It definitely made my mouth smile. Mmmm, Vanilla yogurt. Seriously. I'm a sucker for vanilla yogurt. Yes, I'm a plain Jane. Check it out. The super happy part is that there are only 50 calories in each serving...and 5 grams of fiber. Guilt-free! It's still on sale at Safeway until Tuesday, February 9th - Two 4-packs for $4.00. Go here to get a coupon for even more savings. Great deal!
#3 - I get to giveaway a $50 gift card to Safeway, thanks to Safeway, Fiber One and MyBlogSpark. 50 smackaroos! This gift card can be used at Safeway, Vons, Pavilions, Genuardi's, Dominick's, Carrs, Randalls and Tom Thumb.

So, how can you win? Just leave a comment giving me a healthy tip that has worked for you. I need all the help I can get! Easy peasy! You have until Thursday, February 11th at 11:59pm to enter. I'll pick a name using the random number generator at random.org and post it first thing Friday morning. Good luck and feel free to share this info with your friends!

So...how did you do on your first month of New Year's resolutions? One of my resolutions (along with a trillion other people) was to lose weight, be more active, eat healthier. I lump it all into one resolution. I'm not gonna lie, there were some days when it was hit and miss, but for the most part I feel like I improved. I lost some weight, I feel healthier and I'm still motivated. Motivation! That's half the battle. (Thanks to my sister for help in the motivation department.) But I'm definitely not perfect. I have a sweet tooth. A big sweet tooth. And something that helps me curb that sweet tooth is yogurt. It's almost like ice cream. Almost.

I signed up for MyBlogSpark a couple of months ago. It's pretty cool. I get to review products and share my opinions. It's fun (you should check it out!). MyBlogSpark, Fiber One, and Safeway have provided me an opportunity to taste and review Fiber One yogurt. I'll let you know what I think. I'm excited to try it. It would be a great addition to my diet to help my weight loss goals. Curb the sweet tooth and get more fiber. Safeway (and it’s family stores, Dominick’s, Tom Thumb, Randall’s, Vons and Genuardi’s) have a great deal going for Fiber One yogurt. Right now until Feb. 9, you can purchase two 4-packs of Fiber One yogurt for only $4. (And if you go here you can print off a coupon too! Check out the recipes and other fun stuff while you're there.)

The best part is that Safeway and MyBlogSpark are providing me a $50 gift card to Safeway (and it's family of stores) to give away! Look for the giveaway within the next couple of days!