MENU PLAN MONDAY 4/2/12-4/8/12

Dinners:
1-Turkey Meatloaf (from freezer), Cheesy Cauliflower, Mashed Potates, Broccoli
2-Meatball Soup, Rolls, Cinnamon Chips w/ Fruit Salsa
3-Chicken Marsala (from freezer), Garlic Bread, Green Salad
4-Chicken Cabbage Soup, Chicken Noodle Soup
5-4th
6-LO's

Lunches:
1-Fried Rice
2-Pitas w/ Meat
3-Mac and Cheese and Tuna
4-
5-Ham & Swiss Quiche w/ Hashbrown Crust
6-Spinach Dip, Chicken Salad, Pasta Salad

Snacks: Goldfish,

Treats: Birthday Cake, Butterscotch Cookies

MENU PLAN MONDAY 4/2/12

DINNERS:

Monday: Hearty Breaded Fish Sandwiches, Carrot and Cucumber and Celery w/ dip

Tuesday: Meatball Soup, Rolls, Green Salad

Wednesday: Chicken Basque-Style, Peach and Berry Crisp

Thursday: Bacon-Wrapped Potatoes, Green Salad

Friday: Honey Rosemary Chicken, Herbed Swirl Bread, Broccoli and Cauliflower

Saturday: HM Pizza, Spaghetti Squash Bake

Sunday: Easter Dinner

LUNCHES:

1- Mac and Cheese, Tuna

2- Fried Rice

3- Sandwiches

4- Smoothies and Popcorn

5- Soup

6- Chips and Salsa, Smoothies

7- out

BREAKFASTS:

Bagels and Cream Cheese, Toast, Waffles, Melon, Grapefruit, Eggs

Menu Plan Monday 5/30/11

Dinners:

1- Southwest Eggs Benedict, Waffles, Cantaloupe

2- Chicken and Broccoli Bake, Rice

3- Mexican Potato Bake, Smoothies

4- Fish Ceasar Salad, Fruit Salsa w/ Cinnamon Chips

5- Noodle Heaven

6- Steak, Onions and mushrooms, Potato Coins

Lunches:

1 -Crackers and Egg Salad and Salami

2- Soup and Salad

3- Chicken and Rice

4- Sandwiches

5- Chicken Nuggets, Fries, Carrot Sticks

6- Left-overs

7- OUT

Breakfasts:

Grapefruit, Melon, Bananas, Cereal, Omelets, Egg Pepper/Bacon Muffins, Oatmeal Chocolate Cookies

MENU PLAN MONDAY 5/15/11

Dinners:

1-Cashew Chicken, Egg Rolls, 5-cup Salad

2- Cheeseburger Boats, Mashed Potatoes, Steamed Broccoli

3- Fish Ceasar Salad, Fruit Salsa w/ Cinnamon Chips

4- EZ Chicken and Rice, Smoothies

5- Roast w/ Potatoes and Carrots, Rice box, Rolls

6- Mexican Potato Bake, Smoothies

Lunches:

1-Crackers and Dips

2- Soup and Salad

3- Cottage Cheese, Avocado and Black Bean Salsa w/ Chips

4- Sandwiches

5- Chicken Nuggets, Fries, Carrot Sticks

6- Left-overs

7- OUT

Breakfasts:

Grapefruit, Melon, Bananas, Cereal, Omelets, Egg Pepper/Bacon Muffins, Oatmeal Chocolate Cookies

MNEU PLAN MONDAY 4/17/11

Sunday: Costco Chicken, Potato Salad

Monday: Cheddar Corn Chowder, Rolls, Green Salad

Tuesday: B4D: Southwestern Eggs Benedict,

Wednesday: Cheeseburger Boats, Mashed Potatoes

Thursday: Fish Ceasar Salad

Friday: Mexican Potato Bake

Saturday: Make-Your-Own Rice Bowls

Sunday: Asparagus Strata

Ham

Scalloped Potatoes

Deviled eggs

Lemon Raspberry Bread

MENU PLAN MONDAY 2/20/11

Monday: Cheeseburger Boats, Fries, Veggies w/ dip,

Tuesday: Chicken and Rice, Green Salad

Wednesday: Country-Fried Steak, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Sauteed Broccoli, Rolls

Thursday: Tilapia, Spinach Rice Casserole

Friday: Taco Salad

Saturday: Biscuits with Loaded Eggs and Bacon Gravy

MENU PLAN MONDAY 4/12/10

This week I am trying out making gluten-free bread from Pamela's baking mix. I tried it at a friend's house and it was really good. We're trying to switch over to being gluten-free which sounded really hard until I discovered the Pamela's mix.

1- Makeover Country Fried Steak, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Pineapple Chunks, Vegetables

2- Sausage Egg Bake, Carrot and Celery Sticks, Orange Cup

3- Marinated Salmon, Box of Rissotto, Green Salad

4-Pesto Pizza w/ Chicken, Pepperoni Pizza, Carrot and Celery, Cucumbers

5- Tuna Noodles, Green Salad, Tortilla Chips w/ Fruit Salsa

6- Cashew Chicken, Apple Slices w/ Cinnamon

7- Left-overs

Breakfasts: Fruit Smoothies, Apple Pancakes, Eggs, Egg Tortillas, Chex, Toast

Lunches: Tuna Salad w/ Avocado, Rice Noodles, Crackers w/ Mango Salsa, Salad, Hard-Boiled Eggs, Smoothies

Snacks: Rice Cakes, Popcorn, Soy Crisps, Apples, Pear and Apple Crisp, Cookies

2009 TOTALS- SAVINGS and EARNINGS

I didn't think that I could top my 2008 totals for savings and earnings, but I did! I saved and earned over 1000 dollars more than last year!! In late 2007 I started learning about little ways to save and earn a little money. These methods includes stockpiling, couponing, taking surveys and finding other ways to save. My totals for 2009 are as follows:

Total Savings and Income: $6635.00
Total Spent: $4092

Commissary: Total Spent: $3956
Coupon Savings: $1562
Target: Total Spent: $613
Savings: $544
Walmart: Total Spent: $15
Savings: $20
Walgreens: Total Spent: $634
Savings: $1085
Other Stores: Total Spent: $445
Savings: $749
Staples: Total Spent: $53
Savings: $205
JCPenney: Total Spent: $84
Savings: $245
Haircuts: Savings: $455
Rebates Received: $81
Ebay Earnings:$
Debit Card Rewards: $75
Other: $408
MyPoints: $125
Surveys: $375
Swagbucks: $20
Car Insurance Review: $500
Phone Service to Magic Jack: $260

Can I get to $7000.00 next year? We'll see!

Menu Plan Monday 2/1/10

This week's menu is largely from my latest issue of Cooking Healthy so I hope it's good!

Monday: Makeover Country Fried Steak, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Sauteed Frozen Veggies, Tray of Health

Tuesday: Toasted Clubs w/ Dill Mayo, Chips, Raspberries and Blueberries w/ Chocolate Fruit Dip

Wednesday: Marinated Salmon w/ Wild Rice a Roni, Green Beans, Orange Cups

Thursday: Potato Gnocchi, Green Salad

Friday: Crab and regular Manicotti, Carrots and Celery w/ Dip

Saturday: Noodle Heaven, Green Salad, Makeover Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake

Sunday: Mexican Egg Casserole

Find tons of menu plans at I'm an Organizing Junkie!

Advent Festival

On the 29th I took the kids to our church's Advent festival which was set in "Bethlehem." Bethlehem was originally called "Jerusalem" and was built this past summer for vacation bible school. They left it up to use for Advent. Church people were dressed as people from the town and the youth group was dressed as Roman guards and beggars.

Em and I-guy took off shortly after we got there to do their own thing which mostly involved trying to get money and items like the gold bowls pictured below. I did manage to wrangle them into doing the crafts but mostly I was on my own with the two little kids and caught glimpses of the older two running around having a blast.
Kabe was invited to try some dancing and tamborine playing by this lady. I thought she might be too shy to do it, but Kabe took that tambourine and enjoyed some dancing and playing.


I-guy even came by and tried it... for about 2 seconds until he realized it wasn't for him!

Em got really into joyfully playing the tambourine! Then she dashed back off to do her own thing.
Nate and a carpenter (this guy was a carpenter in real life too) gluing a wooden frame.
Kabe holding the wooden craft while the nice carpenter man tied the leather strips.

The finished product:

The two "littles" making clay ornaments.
One of the neatest and simplest crafts I've ever seen was a bubble wrap advent calendar. They had cut bubble wrap into the shape of a Christmas tree with 24 bubbles. The kids then wrote the numbers 1-24 (or got help) on round colorful label stickers. You then pop one bubble per day until Christmas.
Kabe carefully putting on stickers.

Too clever!
The youth director had an adorable baby boy last summer and she was dressed up as Mary and the baby was playing the part of baby "Jesus." Nate got all sort of big smiles out of the baby.
Three of them adoring baby "Jesus."
Kabe thought the baby was super cute. It doesn't seem like it's been that long since she was a baby herself. *Sniff.*
After all the crafts and fun, we had to take a bathroom break. Here are the younger two in the process of washing hands.
Then we rounded up Em and I-guy. They had managed to gather some clay coins, leather strips, and a cinnamon stick. What a great afternoon it was!

Garden of the Gods Pics

DH took the kids to the Garden of the Gods yesterday while I got some stuff done. A good time was had by all as evidenced by one of the kids stating that this was "the best day ever." (This gets said pretty much any time we do something new and cool).

Toddlers climbing- they look like twins to me here.




This one cracked me up: Nate is "holding" up balanced rock with two sticks. Wow- I'm impressed! (That's not me at the edge of the pic).

Still holding up the rock- is it getting heavy?

I love the look on Em's face here.

Solo Sunday

This was the first Sunday in years that I took the kids to church sans hubbie who was sleeping after working the overnight shift at work. And how did it go... GREAT! We've been going to this church for about 3 months now so I thought it was time to try.

I dropped the older two off in their Sunday School class, took Nut to his little class and Kabe went to sing in the choir with me. I was just a little worried about Kabe sitting up in the choir loft with me and being quiet the whole service but she did a wonderful job. Kabe actually prefers to go to the service with DH over staying in Sunday school.

Everyone in choir thought she was a little doll and when I sat down in the alto section during warm-up the sopranos were calling over that Kabe was a soprano and better sit with them. We went in to the service and Kabe sat on her own chair and stood, sat and sang along with the liturgy. At one point the pastor announced a 60th wedding anniversary for a couple in our church and everyone started clapping. I look over and little Kabe is sitting up straight in her chair with her two baby dolls on her lap enthusiastically clapping.

For the sermon I let her snack on some "Honey Pillows" (a new cereal from Kashi I bought with a coupon) and after that she colored in her coloring book. The tenor behind her was watching her color and afterword told me that watching her really brightened his day. Everyone in choir wants me to bring her back so she can be the new choir mascot.

I'm glad it went so well but she is my shy, quiet and observant laid-back little girl. So much of this is personality Part of the reason we didn't go to church for several years was because the church we went to in North Dakota didn't have any kind of programs during church once the kids got to be past nursery age. Em just couldn't handle more than about 45 min of the almost 90 min service and I would get so frustrated. I didn't understand age-appropriate behavior expectations and it got to be so stressful then impossible. She is one of two more active children I have and she was having some medical issues to boot.

It helps now that the kids are a little bit older. We also now go to a traditional Lutheran church where the service is not quite an hour long and a shorter sermon (phew- no more 45 minute ones!). I like the variety and rhythm of the traditional liturgy with the organ, hymns, classical music, readings and communion. We also choose to go to the service that is during the kids Sunday school so they don't usually go in with us.

Although the other week the boys were sick so I took Em to church myself. What do you know- now that she is 9 she can sit still and we had a pleasant and relaxing time together in the service. What a different attitude I have now than a few years ago about this! I'm way more relaxed and no longer view your young children being in the service with you as "more godly" or "biblical" or whatever. Eventually we'll probably all do Sunday School first and then all regularly go to the service, but not for a while.

2008 TOTALS- SAVINGS & EARNINGS

2008 has come to an end and so it is time to tally my 2008 savings and earnings. I am pleased to see that the total is almost $5500 dollars! One of the biggest ways I saved was in strategic use of coupons at the commissary saving almost $800! My CVS saving were also significant, but we don't live near a CVS anymore. Boo hoo! Walgreens has helped take up some of the slack as I have been getting some good deals there. Another significant way we saved money was in my learning to give DH and the boys their haircuts. We saved over 400 dollars that way! I am looking forward to even more savings in 2009 and plan on trying to reach 6000 dollars!

Total Savings and Income: $5466.00
Total Spent: $6431

Commissary: Total Spent: $4332
Coupon Savings: $799
CVS: Total Spent: $661
Savings: $1540
Target: Total Spent: $663
Savings: $280
Walmart: Total Spent: $185
Savings: $75
Walgreens: Total Spent: $253
Savings: $457
Other Stores: Total Spent: $337
Savings: $437
Haircuts: Savings: $466
Rebates Received: $126
Ebay Earnings:$257
Debit Card Rewards: $200
Other: $734
MyPoints: $75
Surveys: $52

Trekking to Denver

Right now we live only about an hour away from Denver- a real-live big city! I subscribed to the Denver Post at a very low rate so I could get the Sunday paper coupon inserts. Last week I noticed a blurb about a concert that the Denver Symphony Orchestra was putting on called "Trek: the Concert." I knew we just had to go. DH and I are both Trek fans and both love the symphony. What a perfect combination! We already had a babysitter, so I found out about directions and tickets and we were on our way... driving to Denver for our date night. Who would've thought?

I was so excited that this concert would be hosted by two of my favorite Trek actors of all time: John de Lancie ("Q" from ST:TNG) and Robert Picardo (the Dr. on Voyager). It took the reality of seeing them in person to realize how much of a fan I am. I was so keyed up when I saw them both come out on stage in the flesh in black tuxes with tails. We paid a pretty penny for our tickets and had a great view. John de Lancie looked tall and just a little older and greyer than he did on TNG and had a bit of facial hair, but once he started talking and joking around I totally recognized "Q." He has such a great voice and larger-than-life stage presence. Which was why he was so absolutely perfect playing "Q." The "Q" episodes are some of my favorites in all the series that he appeared in.

It was also fun to see glimpses of the Dr. from Voyager come out when Picardo would speak. Though I enjoyed seeing the actors real personalities and not just the characters they played. They both told some personal stories about how they got involved in Star Trek (neither of them had been fans previously). John de Lancie told a great story about how he didn't ever know who Gene Roddenberry was the first time he met him.

De Lancie told a great story about how he got the part in TNG. He was in a play when his agent called and told him she had gotten an audition for TNG. He didn't go because it was during the time he was doing his play. So she got him another audition during his lunchtime which he went to. The Next Generation people wanted him for the part of "Q," however they wanted him to start before his play tour was over. De Lancie said he couldn't miss any of his plays. So Roddenberry told him that he needed to be there by the fifteenth of the month to start and that was the latest he could be there. Well, the fifteenth happened to be the last day of the play tour. De Lancie's play happened to be playing in Tokyo on the fifteenth, but de Lancie had to be in the U.S. on the fifteenth. What did he do? He did his play in Tokyo, boarded a plane and "thanks to a little magic called the International Date Line" (he said this with a tada and a flourish- very Q-like), got to the U.S. in time to be there for his first day as "Q!" Everyone was laughing.

We also learned some interesting tidbits about the history of Star Trek and how it came about. I guess I wasn't a big enough fan, but I didn't know that the theme from Star Trek had words. Cheesy bad words at that. It was a hoot to see Picardo sing them in a style that reminded me of that Voyager episode where he becomes a musical idol on that alien planet. Both Picardo and de Lancie concluded that perhaps the theme is best done without the words and I concur!

I didn't know the de Lancie was also a gifted musician. He chose all of the music that the symphony played and it was fascinating to hear him explain some of the differences in the themes from each of the Star Trek movies and how they reflected the different composers and movie contents. He acknowledged that Star Trek IV was a fan favorite (including mine) and humorously talked about how the 5th movie (Star Trek: the Final Frontier) was the worst calling it "The Final Affrontery."

My favorite musical moments were hearing the main themes from the TV shows- especially the latter ones. The hall was filled with the amazing sounds of the themes from The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager. The brass sections sounded so majestic, but I did noticed a couple of fracks and out-of-tune notes on the trumpet and horn solos. DH (a trumpet player) was sympathetic and told me that those solos were incredibly difficult.

Overall the orchestra sounded just fantastic and the experience of being encompassed by the music is one I will never forget. (It sounded a thousand times better than any surround sound system!) The percussionists were fun to watch as they swung plastic tubes around over their heads to get an "otherworldly" sound on some of the themes.

The two actors sat on stools watching the orchestra perform and I liked watching their reactions. Picardo looked cute perched completely on the stool while de Lancie looked very Q-like with one foot on the stool and the other long leg extending to the floor.

The only thing I was disappointed by in terms of the musical selection was that they didn't play the absolutely exquisite theme from a Next Generation episode called "The Inner Light." (no, they didn't Caro *sigh* )

The music was definitely featured, but the two actors also did quite a bit of narration in between the musical selections. They were such a hoot as I knew they would be! They made jokes about all the big egos associated with Star Trek (Roddenberry, Nimoy, Q, Shatner).

De Lancie asked the audience who we thought would win in a battle between Q and the Borg. Of course we were all cheering for Q and booing the Borg. He then asked what about between "Q and Iron Man?" Most all of us including me were hootin' and hollerin' that Q would win. But then he asked who would prevail: "Q or Mrs. Q" and everyone laughingly acknowledged that it would be Mrs. Q. What was SO funny was that when he said "Mrs. Q," de Lancie ducked his head and cringed with a beaten puppy look on his face that was totally in the Q character when around the Mrs. Loved it!

Another funny bit was when they introduced the Next Generation and de Lancie said something about Captain Picard. Right after de Lancie said "Picard," Robert Picardo uttered a low-toned "o." De Lancie said no, it's not Picard-o, it Picard. We are talking about Captain Picard, not you. "It's Picard." Then we hear another "o" from Picardo. Everyone's laughing now and Picardo says that he knew what de Lancie was talking about and was simply acknowledging what de Lancie was saying about Picard. To which de Lancie replied, "oh" with such great timing and expression. So funny!

While talking about the Next Generation and Q, I was happy to hear de Lancie talk about "mon capitan" in a most Q-like fashion.

Unfortunately the night had to come to an end. I could have stayed there for twice as long listening to the great interaction and chemistry between the two actors and the beautiful music of the orchestra. But we had to drive back home.

I was really wishing I brought my camera as some people actually dressed up in costume. The best were a couple who were dressed as Klingons and looked very realistic. They were standing in the lobby during intermission letting people take their pictures with them and I was kicking myself that I forgot my camera as that would have been a fun picture to have.

I am so glad we got adventurous and went all the way to Denver for this concert. It was a late night for us, but I didn't even care the next day when I woke up tired with a headache as I was still pumped and happy from the concert the night before. Man, I'd better watch out, I'm going to be in Trek costume next time if I'm not careful!

Menu Plan Monday 8/25/08

Monday: Chicken Wrap w/ Ranchero Sauce and Avocado Salsa, Salad

Tuesday: Pepper Rice, Crustless Fruit Tart

Wednesday: OUT

Thursday: Turkey Burgers w/ Avocado Salsa, Chips, Fruity Coleslaw

Friday: Orange Thyme Chicken Thighs, Orzo w/ Mushrooms, Hi-Enzyme Salad w/ Egg

Saturday: L: Chicken, Garlic, Mushroom and Green Onion Pizza, Raspberry Chocolate Bars

Sunday: L: Egg Ham Bake, CB Hash Browns, Grapefruit

D: Left-overs

Lunches: Mac and Cheese, Tuna Salad, Egg Toast, Fried Rice w/ Ham, Soups and Bread, Pitas,

Snacks: Pretzels, Cheese, Kefir, Blueberries, Apples, Peanut Butter Cookies, Raspberry Lemon Bread, Popcorn, Nuts

It's been a rough few weeks! I've had three illnesses in a row and the last one triggered my asthma so that it has been the worst it's ever been! I've been out of commission for a while in terms of energy and being able to do stuff. It's very frustrating to me as I like to be active. Thankfully I got an old Dr. in N. Dakota to give me a prescription that seems to be helping calm the asthma.

One advantage to having to pick up some prescriptions is that I've been able to use a couple of transferred prescription coupons for Rite-Aid and Walgreens. The other day I did one of my prescriptions at Rite-Aid and got a 30 dollar gift card. Then later I did my other prescription at Walgreens for a 25 dollar gift card. At Walgreens I used my gift card to buy each kid a toy since I also had a 5 dollar off 20 dollar purchase coupon. So I ended up getting 42 dollars worth of toys for only 13 dollars out-of-pocket! (If you don't count the gift card.) The kids were very thrilled and grateful for their new toys since I've hardly bought them any toys for a while because of trying to save money.
Yesterday I-guy and I woke up early and hit a couple of deals together. First we snagged a newspaper and went over to Starbucks to look at it and have a little breakfast. I enjoy getting out in the early mornings here as it is most always foggy and cool. We drive by the huge park by our apartment with a duck pond and most of the ducks have migrated out onto the lawns and road which they don't do during the day. I like having to stop to wait for ducks to cross and get out of the way.

I-guy was perfect company and even spotted a coupon I had missed. He brought along his newest WebKinz stuffed animal and was playing with it. About every lady we ran across thought he was so cute and a couple told him so. He gets kind of shy and embarrased by this, I think! I-guy and I also went to CVS and used the CoinStar machine and picked up a couple of things we needed. He loved feeding the coins into the machine and thought the whole thing was so neat.

MENU PLAN MONDAY 8/11/08

Monday: Cod, Rice Pilaf, Baked Spinach, Heath Vanilla Ice Cream Pie

Tuesday: HM Pizza, Veg w/ Dip, Salad, Raspberries & Blueberries w/ Chocolate Fruit Dip

Wednesday: Chinese Chicken Salad, Cheese Straws

Thursday: Chicken Nuggets, Fries, Veg w/ Dip

Friday: Steak, Baked Potatoes, Cheesy Cauliflower, 5-cup Salad

Saturday: Baja Chicken Wrap w/ Ranchero Sauce, Salad, Lemon Cookies

Sunday: Scrambled Cheesy Eggs, Cracker Barrel Hashbrown Casserole, Bacon

LO's

Lunches: Nachos and Pita Chips w/ Fruit Salsa, Mac and Tuna, Veggie Pitas, Egg Salad on Sourdough, Egg Toast, Noodles, Rice a Roni w/ Chicken

Snacks: CCC Cookies, Blueberries, Kefir, Pretzels, Pepperonis, Cheese, Carrot Cake


Lots and lots of menu plans can be found at I'm an Organizing Junkie's blog!

Last week was a rough one and so the menu plan consisted of toast, noodles and chicken soup and Gatorade. We all got some terrible stomach virus which involved all the usual fun stuff that goes along with it. (I'll spare the details). Poor little Nutty got hit the hardest and spent the week looking like this:This is very far removed from his normal active and energetic self, but I'm happy to report that he seems to be mostly back to normal. The main benefit of his not feeling well was that I got some really good snuggling time in with him and we even took a couple of naps together. He's usually too active and busy to stay in one place for long. What a sweetie!!!

Super Savings Saturday 8/2/08

This is the first time I am taking part in Super Savings Saturday over at moneysavingmom.com, a blog I have found extremely helpful in scoring deals and saving money.

Since January of this year, I have been using several techniques (that I am keeping track of on my sidebar) to save money. These include using coupons, playing the "drugstore game," shopping sales and clearances and signing up for freebies in the mail.

This picture shows about 40 dollars worth of stuff I got for free this week!! Here's a rough breakdown:

Walgreens: free-after-rebate BioInfusions shampoo and a hair treatment (11.98 value)
free-after-rebate Jane mineral powder (4.99)

CVS: free-after-ECB's CVS liners and tampons (2 pkg. each)
free Revlon blush (9.99 value) free-after-ECB's
Kotex on sale for 2.50, used 2.00 off coupon. Paid .50

Used two 3.00/1 coupons for Planters (when you buy 3 Kraft products). My 3 Kraft products were KoolAid's at 10 cents each. The Planters were on sale at the commissary for 2.00 each so I actually made money off of them!

Electrasol: used 2.25/1 coupon and got it for about .50 at Target!

We also went to an anniversary sale at our favorite local health food grocery store and got 2 full-size Bumble Bars, 2 mini-Clif bars (not shown because we ate them in the van), and two samples of Tom's of Maine toothpaste (with 1.00 off coupons) for free!

This week was also an excellent week for the mailbox. I was so exited because I got my first reward from MyPoints. For a while now I've been clicking on the emails this site sends me and doing a little of my online shopping through their site that I would've done anyway. So I was so excited to get my $25 Starbucks gift card!!

I also was happy to find out that Target sent me not one, but two $5 gift cards because I am on their mailing list and they had to withdraw a coupon they sent out for toys. (It was a $5 coupon off a $25 dollar toy purchase that had been illegally altered). The cool thing is that I had already used the toy coupon for I-guy's and Em's birthdays back in April before all this happened! I LOVE Target! Forget Walmart, I try to go to Target whenever I can!

Finally I got TWO rebate checks in the mail this week. The first one was for Zout stain remover. I am doubly happy about this one because not only was it free, but I was so happy with the results of this stain remover, I will definitely be buying it again. It worked so much better than anything I had tried before.

The other rebate check I received was for $6.99 for purchasing a hair treatment product. It has been extremely fun and exciting to discover this whole world of savings and free stuff that I barely knew existed before!

Kabe's First Pigtails!

MENU PLAN MONDAY 7/21/08

Monday: Cashew Chicken, Fruity Coleslaw,

Tuesday: Fried Rice, Veg w/ Dip, Blueberry Cobbler

Wednesday: Grilled Marinated Pork Chops, Baked Potatoes, Green Beans

Thursday: Garlic Chicken Spaghetti(x2), Raspberry Romaine Salad w/ Balsamic Dressing

Friday: Meatball Soup, Albertson's French Bread, Cinnamon Chips w/ Tangy Fruit Salsa,

Saturday: OUT

Sunday: Pizza Quiche, Sliced Pears, Veg w/ Dip

Breakfasts: Sunshine Toast w/ Egg, Cereal, Toaster Pastries

Lunches: LO Spaghetti, LO Roast Pitas, Pancakes, Egg Toast, Mac n Cheese, Egg Salad, Tortilla Chips w/ Black Bean Salad

Snacks: Triple Chocolate Cookies, Yogurt, Peanut Butter Spoons, Blueberries, Pepperonis, Pretzels, Smoothies, Cheese Crackers, Nuts

Find more menu plans at I'm An Organizing Junkie's!



I didn't know when I started putting up menu posts again if anyone was ever coming back to my blog. I haven't been a very good blogger and had decided just to put up whatever I wanted whenever I wanted and not worry about if anyone looked at it. So thank you to JettyBetty, Karen, Jeannine, and Jamie for coming by and even commenting! Hi there!

To answer some questions... yes we are still in the AF. We finally escaped North Dakota after over five and a half years! Now DH is in training school in California for about four months. In September we will be moving to Colorado for our next assignment.

Surf Beach

A while back we had some unusually hot days for our location in California. It got to be above 100 degrees and since we have no A/C in our apartment, we headed out to the beach where it was a beautiful 75 degrees.

Em and I-guy just LOVE running from the waves over and over.



"Why did Mommy make us wear these silly hats?" Here are the babies. They aren't too fond of the water.

Instead, they like to dig in the sand together. In this picture they were looking for little crabs and bugs.

I love how the beaches around here are never crowded. Then again, they are usually cold and foggy. But you can't have everything! They sure were beautiful this day!