There's no way I could be an "Extreme" couponer, but.....

I'd still like to try my best to save as much as I can! For years, I've picked up the Sunday paper and scoured the sale ads and coupon inserts, cutting only the coupons I would use. Thanks to my Mom, who got me into training at a young age, and who always told me, "Don't buy anything unless it's on sale! Because eventually, it WILL go on sale! And if you can live without it until it does, why buy it full price?" So, now, years later, I've learned to write up grocery lists, check my coupons, and wait for the sales!
Now, I love watching Extreme Couponers, but what I don't like is that for someone like me, it just isn't possible! I have NO stores around me that do double coupons, unless I count Kmart that does it mabye once every 6 months. I hate hearing these people say that anyone can do it, because NO, I can't! Sure, I can go to a grocery store and save a good $40-$50 a trip, but thats after spending around $175! So really, it's nothing "extreme", it's just normal savings with alot of coupons!
Years ago, I tried following some of the online coupon sites, and yes, I did save some money doing that, but having a 1 year old at my feet, a 5 year old whining for something, and a hubby that was working 12-15 hours a day wasn't really good for my "coupon time". And, I do have a few cashiers at Walgreens and CVS that will do pretty much anything for me, I swear I see them more than I see my Mom and Dad, lol! But, if I get the wrong cashier, I don't feel like putting up a fight to get that extra $.20 off my purchase. I guess I've got aways to go, but mabye one day I'll get there!
So for now, I'll continue cutting my coupons and writing up my lists, to save what I can! Mabye, just mabye, one day a store near me will offer double coupons and I can really say I am an Extreme Couponer! Until then, I'll just be a normal couponer!!!

Eden Fantasys- Give someone a treat!

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Where has the time gone?

I can't believe it's almost June, schools almost out, and the kids are definetly ready for the break! I'm hoping that this summer, we'll actually DO the things we plan, instead of just talking about them! I'd love to blog about our summer adventures, so hopefully we'll have a good list and I'll be able to share our fun with you!

Announcing winner soon!

I will have the winner up for the Milson Road giveaway shortly, just trying to get some ends tied up over here!

Win a $20 Giftcard to Dominos from The Not So Blog!

If you're like me, pizza and wings are a normal Friday night dinner! Usually our "treat" for the week, we order mostly diferent places every week. However, I love, love, love Dominos pizza and just recently found one that will deliver to our house! So, with that, this Giveaway at The Not So Blog has me wanting to win BAD!
Dominos has some awesome sauces for their wings, along with some yummy dipping sauces, so head over to Dominos and check out their delicous menu items!
And head over to The Not So Blog to enter for your chance to win the $20 Dominos Giftcard!

Win a Propel Zero Prize pack at Blessing Abound Mommy!

Head over to Blessing Abound Mommy for your chance to win 1 of 10 Propel Zero giftpacks! Included is a Tshirt, Propel water, coupons, and other goodies!
Hubby and I love Propel, because sometimes plain old water just gets boring! Propel has tons of flavors to choose from, and with little to no calories!
Blessing Abound Mommy has many ways to enter, so check it out! Giveaway ends April 29th!

Win a Years supply of Miracle Whip!!

Check out this awesome giveaway from Jabbering Jessi! Enter to win a years supply of Miracle Whip ( 12 bottles)!
Thats alot of Deviled eggs, Salami sandwiches, tuna salad, etc.... Now I'm hungry!!!

Head over now because the giveaway ends tomorrow!

Nutella Party!

Last weekend, I invited some friends and family to join me for a Nutella party! I am in love with Nutella, and letting people know about yummy food products is always fun : )

Nutella is a tasty Hazelnut spread that contains quality ingredients such as Skim milk and a hint of Cocoa! Nutella contains no Artificial colors or Preservatives. It's great to find something like Nutella, it tastes good and its good for you! I'm happy to give my kids a Nutella breakfast, snack, or as a dipper, and they are happy to eat it up!

Nutella provided me with tons of goodies for my guests, Tumblers, Nutella spreaders, sample packs of Nutella, and coupons and recipes for everyone! I had set out Nutella along with all types of dippers- Strawberries, Banana slices, Blackberries, Marshmallows, Pound cake slices, even Potato chips and Pretzels! You may think those last 2 sound wierd, but try them, one word- YUM!!!
Nutella is not only for snacking, but for making meals! One recipe I love to make with it is Nutella/Fruit Panini's. I originally saw this on Food Network, my kids gobbled them up like there was no tomorrow!

Chocolate Strawberry Panini

Ingredients

1/4 cup chocolate-hazelnut spread (recommended: Nutella)



12 (1/2-inch) thick slices pound cake (from 1 (10.75-ounce) loaf


6 fresh strawberries, hulled and very thinly sliced


Butter-flavored nonstick cooking spray


Directions


Heat a panini grill to medium according to the manufacturer's instructions. Spread the chocolate-hazelnut spread over 1 side of all of the pound cake slices. Arrange the sliced strawberries over 6 cake slices. Cover with the remaining cake slices, chocolate side down.
Spray panini grill with nonstick spray and grill each panino until the pound cake is crisp and golden and the fillings are warm, about 2 minutes. Cut each panino in half and serve.

The possibilites are almost endless with Nutella! Sandwiches, crepes, waffle/pancake topper, or just a dip for almost any snack, you can't go wrong with a jar of the yummy chocolate goodness! Check out Nutella, and pick up a coupon while your at it!

I recieved these products free of charge from Nutella/Mommy Parties in return for my opinion.

Milson Road Daily Portraits Review AND GIVEAWAY!!

Looking for the perfect gift can be very stressful, whether it be for a Birthday, Anniversary, Babys birth, or even a Wedding gift. I'm always trying to find a present that means something, and will be something the recipient can have for years to come. When I found Milson Road, I was excited to see a gift that not only shows thoughtfulness, but is a gift that can be cherised for years and years!

I made a Daily Portrait of Hubby and I, for our Anniversary. When it arrives, I was truly amazed at how gorgeous it is! When making your portrait, you get to pick everything from the Background color, to the Mat and Frame colors. It was so much fun just designing the portrait, that I went thru every color to see how it would look. Once I finally make my color choices, I then moved on to filling out some info about our Wedding and again, how fun to go back and remember that awesome day! I then picked out a few pics to include in the portrait and I was done! Only a few minutes "work", and I had a very nice gift to give to my Hubby for our Anniversary!
Milson Road can also make Daily Portraits for Weddings, Special Birthdays, Birth of Babies, Bat/Bar Mitzvahs, and Graduations.

Opening up our portrait was like opening a box of candy, my eyes lit up as I saw how unique it was. I just love how it brightens up our wall, and everyone that walks by it can read about our special day!

Heres the best part!!! One lucky reader is going to win a Daily Portrait of their own!! All you have to do is visit Milson Road and let me know what Occasion you think you would make one for! ( Mandatory entry)

Extra Entries-

1. Like Milson Road on Facebook ( 1 entry)

2. Follow Milson Road on Twitter ( 1 entry)

3. Follow my blog ( 2 entries)

4. Become a Subscriber ( 2 entries)

5. Follow me on Twitter ( 2 entries)

6. Tweet this giveaway ( 1 entry, per day)

7. Blog about this giveaway ( 5 entries, leave link)


This giveaway will end on Monday, April 4th. Winner will be chosen using Random.org, and will be notified via Email! Winner will have 48 hours to claim their prize or another winner will be chosen.
Thanks to Milson Road for a wonderful product and great giveaway!

I was provided with a Daily Portrait of my own, in exchange for a review of their product.

Happy Easter Store Giveaway at Domestic Goddess!

Check out this awesome giveaway going on at Diaries of a Domestic Goddess, where you can win a $50 Gift Certificate to Happy Easter Store!
So many goodies to choose from, Bunny Hoodies, yummy sweets, and adorable baskets!
Head over now and enter!

Too much Fannie May and Girl Scout cookies in my house!

This weekend was GS Cookie pickup, so I now has over 12 cases of cookies sitting with me, I really need to get it together and get them to their owners! Funny that the whole time I was CRAVING the Tag Alongs I ordered, and once they were in my hands, I only ate 2 and didn't want them anymore..... let's see how long they last!
And then there was Valentines Day! My awesome Mom sent us a big box of Fannie May, and each of the kids got their own box! When they arrived, my Mom told me that there was a backorder and that they'd be sending out the rest of the order Monday. Well, guess what? I opened the box yesterday to find the ENTIRE order sent again! My Mom calls them and they said not to worry about it, there was a mix up on their part and to keep the extra candy : ) Now I love me some Fannie May Pixies, Trinidads, hell, I love it all, but I now have a box Hubby bought me, and the 5 boxes they sent in the past few days!!! OMG, so much for keeping off the weight I've lost!!!! I'm actually hoping the dog gets to it, lol!

Oh yea, I've got an awesome giveaway coming up from Milson Road coming up, be on the lookout! It's one you don't want to miss, their Daily Portaits are AMAZING, and you have a chance to win your own!!!

70 Cake Pops? I must be crazy!!!

"No problem, I can make Cake Pops for all 3 classes, it should be fine!" Thats what I wrote to the Classroom party Mom yesterday when the email came out for the Valentines Day party..I had been planning on doing cupcakes, no big deal, we always make cupcakes! But then I had been reading about Cake Pops and just in the past few days had seen so many that I decided I wanted to give it a try.... I hope that wasn't a BIG mistake!
So this weekend is Cake Pop weekend! If any of you have any tips or ideas, please leave me some comments! This is the first time for making them so I'm all ears!!!

And the Winner is......

The winner of the $50 EdenFantasys Giftcode is.... Nicole-Lynn!!!!

An email has been sent, thanks for entering and hope to see you all soon for more great giveaways!!!

2 Snow days and a 1/2 day of school today, lucky kiddies!

This outrageous snowfall came with 1 good thing attached to it, 2 snow days for the kids which meant 2 days to recover from the nasty sickness I've got! As much as I dreaded the snow, it was really nice not having to wake up early to get them off to school while feeling so miserable! You don't know how much I was hoping for the district to just call off today too, since it's a 1/2 day, but no luck!

And of course, the downside to the 2 days off is that now my house is a disaster, there are snowpants, snowboots, gloves, hats, you name it, all over the place! But I guess thats ok seeing that my daughter had a blast, first time sledding all year, and big brother was being SUPER nice and took her with him and his friend, for almost the entire afternoon! It's a wonderful thing, living on a slope where they could just pile the snow up a bit and have a great hill to go down! Hopefully I can get some pics this afternoon, because I didn't want to go near the door the past few days, SOOOOO COLD!!!

How many times can 1 person jinx themselves?!?

So last week, I thought to myself, Wow, it's almost February, and we haven't really had any "bad" snowfalls! Living in Illinois, usually by now we've had at least 1-2 snow days, and this year we haven't had any.
Today, I wake up to find that we are headed into a nasty blizzard in the next couple of days, are you kidding??!!! So, I put some gas in the car just for the heck of it, mabye because I really felt like waiting along with 30 other people that wanted to fill up, like being in a blizzard I'm really going to drive anywhere??!
And of course, Mother Hubbards cupboards were bare so I needed to run to the grocery store, but there was NO way I was going while everyone else was "preparing" for the Great Blizzard of 2011!! I went right before midnight, when I walked in there was only a few people in the store. When I went to check out... there was about 15 people waiting in the 1 aisle open, come ON!
Oh and I cannot forget that last week, I also said to myself, Wow, I've gone a LONG time without being really sick, like Flu sick, or Strep throat sick! I woke up Sunday morning, and could NOT get out of bed, my whole body ached, I was coughing up a lung, and had the chills like crazy! Hubby comes home with the same thing, but of course, since I am SUPER MOM, it doesn't matter that I am also sick! Woke up this morning to get the kids off to school, came home went back to bed, and right before I had to pick them up again, "poor" Hubby was like, Oh I haven't eaten all day, and I can't get upstairs my body is aching so bad", could I make him something? Sure buddy, because I just feel like sunshine and roses and I'd LOVE to make you lunch! I threw together some tuna on bread and told him if he didn't like it, he could climb up the stairs and make himself something better! Ok, so I'm really not this mean, but I'm sick, I'm hurting, and I know that I just have to deal, because honestly, whenever I am sick with my migraines, Hubby does take really good care of me : )
So for the first time ever, I am praying there's a snow day tomorrow, because feeling the way I feel still, I DO NOT want to get up at 7am again to get the kids off to school! I want to sleep in and relax, although, with our school district, they'll keep them going until it hits the 12 inch mark!
Heres hoping you're all staying warm and cozy while the Blizzard comes thru!!!

Oh how I love shopping for my little girl!

This year will be a year of weddings, I'm SO excited! I'm not sure if I'm more excited about the actual weddings, or picking out dresses for my daughter to wear! Unfortunetly, she's not a Flower girl, we were hoping that because they are all family weddings, that at least one of them would have asked her, but I see it as it's there LOSS! She's sooo adorable, and seeing her dressed up in a Flower girl dress would of been awesome!

But, we can still put her in a pretty dress and she'll dance the night away looking like a little princess! Today I went to a few stores, not intentionally looking for dresses but since Communion dresses are starting to come out, I got to check out some pretty cute fancy schmancy ones!
What a surprise when I was looking at Burlington Coat Factory and found some gorgeous dresses that I was afraid to check the price tag.. until I saw that the dresses were only $30-$35! I mean, these dresses were BEAUTIFUL!! My Mom said we are most definetly getting her a sparkly poofy dress, because my little girl LOVES dressing like a pretty princess!

Tomorrow I'm going to check out JCPennys and Carsons, mabye they'll have a good sale going on! I'm sure I'll find a ton more once Easter gets closer!