Paula Deen

When the school and work days end, what better way to connect with your family than by cooking in the kitchen? And when the school bake sale calls for volunteers or you need ideas for your sleepover party, Paula Deen's Cookbook for the Lunch-Box Set has the simplest, most delicious recipes for the fun activities that happen all school year long.

Go here to pre-order a signed copy! Entry code lunchbox to save $5

Another great Christmas gift! Someone special on my list is going to love getting this!!!

Halloween Costumes

When I was little we enjoyed every holiday and look forward to them with great anticipation. Mom and Dad were great about taking the good and letting go of the bad and allowing us to enjoy every holiday Easter Bunny and all. One of my favorites was Halloween/Fall Carnival. Getting dressed up and of course getting candy was so much fun. Having 6 kids and living on a Pastors salary there was no extra money to buy costumes so my Mom always came up with amazing ideas. I can remember one year she made me a dress out of newspaper! Now we enjoy the holiday with our boys. Although we don't go trick or treating anymore we take a day off school, go to the seed store and purchase hay, flowers, pumpkins and decorate the front porch. We then go load up on good candy and fill the pumpkin. We plan a fun menu of finger food and rent a scary movie (ok, its usually a comedy but we say through the movie, its so scary! LOL!) We then sit back and wait for the kids to come to the door. Its so cute seeing all the costumes and smiles when you give them a hand full of candy or last year we gave popcorn balls which was a huge hit (no, I did not make them, got them from Wal-Mart!). Last year we kept seeing a flash out the window after a while we wondered what it was and when we opened the door we saw people using our porch as a back drop for photos!

That was a nice compliment.

Buying costumes can get expensive but sites like this one here make for a great deal. Monday - Friday at 9AM they offer $5 or under costumes. Now, I know, many of them I would not allow in my home but you can do like my parents did, take the good throw out the bad. Hope you have a great day planning for a fun holiday with your family.

Sick Again

Our boys went through a very bad flu several weeks ago and although we did not have a doctor take action to "officially" claim it as "swine flu" we did have two doctors say they had it and both of them tested positive for flu. They were sick for 4 long weeks. It started out as a flu with high fevers (103.8) bad body aches, headache then went into a strep type sore throat, then into an upper respiratory infection ending with ear infection. Since getting this bad bug they are now catching everything.

About two weeks ago one of them came down with this large quarter size spot on his belly. We started the normal round of fungus medication. It was red, no fever, no raised spots, no itching and it was not bothering him, just looked like a normal fungus infection. It was not getting any better so we decided Monday we would take him to the doctor to have it looked at.
Before we could get to the doctor he was getting in the bath and came out and said, "Look Mom!" He lifted up his shirt and showed me about 20 spots covering his stomach. They have now spread to his back and neck area. So, this morning it was back to the doctor! He has been diagnosed withPityriasis Rosea. In most cases, pityriasis rosea goes away in four to eight weeks. Its believed to be caused from a viral infection and is not believed to be contagious. I love to words "not believed." The doctor said because they were both so sick with the flu their white blood count is low and they are having a hard time coming back. Now we are faced with keeping home from church and other confined spaces and helping them build back a healthy immune system with diet and vitamins. The Mayo Clinic offers great advice on the flu and any other illnesses you may have. The flu is nothing to play around with and in our case its not an illness that has been easy to overcome.

Menu Planning Monday

On my mission to become better organized, I've decided to take advantage of the cute note book that's hanging on my refrigerator. I found this cute note pad (yes, feeding into my organizing mission and love of paper) at Michael's for just $1. Its a weekly menu planning pad. This week is going to be a crazy week for us with Dad having doctor appointments, boys going to the doctor, going out of town, throw in a birthday and a ton of other things to do. This is a great week to get back to menu planning and help keep me organized.

Monday - Omelets & Yogurt Parfait
Tuesday - Spaghetti, Garlic Bread & Salad
Wednesday - Juicy-Lucy Burgers (per birthday boy request), Tater Tots & Veggies
Thursday - Baked Chicken, Baked Sweet Potato & California Veggies
Friday - Out of Town
Saturday - Out of Town
Sunday - Cold Cut Sandwiches and Veggies

I already have the meat I need from my shopping trip last week to Food Lion so I only need a few more items. I have my gorcery list made out and ready to go. Try meal planning this week! It really does make life much easier.

See how other have planned their weekly menu by visiting these links at
I'm an Organizing Junkie and The Grocery Cart Challenge

Daily Deal At Target

This is a fun deal! Every 24 hours target will list a product online with an unbeatable price ( below cost ) and standard shipping is always free!.. You can view the deal by clicking here. Remember, they only last 24 hours. On the right top side of the page you can see how much time is left until a new deal gets posted.

Simple Shoes

$55.00 on sale for $14.90
I'm on sale!
I have silk polka dotted uppers
I have certified organic cotton knit linings
I have Ortholite/recycled car tire pedbeds
My outsoles used to be a car tire*
I have a vulcanized rubber sidewall and heelcap
I have 100% post consumer paper pulp foot forms
I ship to you in our totally state-of-the-art/back-to-the-future post-consumer recycled box

Summer is almost out the door for 2009. Its a great time to find deals on those left over summer items and stock up for next year! Simple Shoes has some great clearance items and they are made with ecofriendly materials. Check out the clearance section here and remember Christmas is just around the corner!

Aramark Work Clothes

Looking for a sale on some polo wear tuff shirts?

Then this is the sale for you!

Go here to see all the details, some items were $25.99 now just $2.99!

SUNDAY PAPER

GET YOUR SUNDAY PAPER TODAY!!!!!

There's going to be a TON of coupons this week so make sure to stock up! I will post deals that I find, so clip your coupons so you can get the deals too! Its going to be a great coupon week so don't miss out! I am going to purchase 3 papers so I can get some great items and continue working on filling my Christmas Pantry.

FREE redbox Movie!

Thanks for the emails and comment about blockbuster not having a location in our area! They made me laugh! I guess everyone loves a free movie! Since we're deprived and don't have a blockbuster box in our area I found out if you go here to redbox and register they will send you a code to get a free movie! Yeah!!! Free movie for those of us who can't get a blockbuster deal! Enjoy a free movie and enjoy a little family time! Go here to find a red box in your area. Enjoy!

FREE Movie!

Toot!!! Toot!!! Time for another FREE movie! This time its a GeoTrax movie that my nephews are going to enjoy! Go here to register for your FREE copy!

Another great stocking stuffer!!!