I made my 2009 calendar and a great scrap sale at ES!

So this is what I have been up to this weekend. Chrissy Williams came out with a fabulous new calendar template set and I couldn't wait to work them up. Now all I need to do is print them up and they are ready for my holiday gifting! Here's the good news for you - This template set is on sale for just $1 today at the Elemental Scraps Dollar Day sale. Hurry over by clicking on the image below to check out all the great sales. Well, don't hurry so fast that you don't take a look at my pages I made! You can find listings of credits below the final layout. Thanks for looking!

Credits: January If Only In My Dreams by Ziggle Designs, Pineapple Plantation and Bren Boone, CD Case Calendar Templates by Chrissy, Font - CK Becky February Paper Hearts by Pineapple Plantation Designs, CD Case Calendar Templates by Chrissy Williams, Font - CK Becky March BFF 4 LIFE by Chrissy Williams and Angie Kovacs, CD Case Calendar Templates by Chrissy Williams, Font - Wendy Sue April CD Case Calendar Templates by Chrissy Williams My Dog ~ 'Lucky Bum'! by Chrissy Williams, Staples and stitching are also by Chrissy Williams from other kits, Font - Wendy Sue May CD Case Calendar Templates by Chrissy Williams MY MOTHER'S GARDEN-FOLIAGE by Alicia Oestreich, STITCHING NO. 1 by Carina Gardner, Flowers by Jen Wilson, Font - Unnamed Melody June CD Case Calendar Templates by Chrissy Williams, Favorite Place by Chrissy Williams, Soccer ball by Simply Sweet Designs, Fonts - SP Sweetie Pie, Smiley Monster July Star Spangled by Ziggle Designs, CD Case Calendar Templates by Chrissy Williams August Alice by Ziggle Designs, Alphabet Soup by Ziggle Designs, CD Case Calendar Templates by Chrissy Williams, Font - Highland Perk September Scrap Orchard August Mega Back 2 School , CD Case Calendar Templates by Chrissy Williams, Font - Wonderful Wendy October Autumn Falls by Bren Boone Designs, CD Case Calendar Templates by Chrissy Williams, Font - NoodleScript November Scrap Orchard September Mega Fallin' For You , CD Case Calendar Templates by Chrissy Williams December Two Turtle Doves by Ziggle Designs, Alphabet Soup by Ziggle Designs, CD Case Calendar Templates by Chrissy Williams, Font - NoodleScript

Here is a picture to show you how these kinds of calendars look when assembled. You can click here to go to the site for instructions.

Works for me Wednesday: Fun Family Game

Fun Family Game:
Recently we went to Wendy's for dinner and the kids meal toy was a little scavenger hunt game. My kids loved playing it but I could see where we could improve upon it. I can't find where my kids have put it at the moment so I can't tell you exactly what it is called but we played it a bit differently than the rules and I intend to make up a version for our family that is more individualized anyway. In the game was a small deck of cards and on each card was a "scavenger hunt" item. This was the only part of the game we used. What I did was shuffle them and then give 5 cards to each child and then on my cue they could pick them up to look at them. When I said, "go" they would run from the room and try to be the first one to gather up the 5 items. The first one back to me with their items would win. I would then make them quickly return all the items back to their appropriate locations before we would start the next round. Otherwise you could quickly end up with all kinds of random things piled up that "you" would have to put away at the end of game playing.
The scavenger hunt cards had items like the following on them:
rock
plastic bottle
ruler
stamp
key
then there were several alphabet related cards that said "something that starts with the letter "b""
there were also several color related cards that said "something that is the color red"
So for the letter ones it was all different letters and the colors were several different colors. I hope that makes since.
Anyway the cards were very small and there were some items that were not easily accessible in our house and then of course I thought of several items that were easily available in our home that I decided I want to recreate the game and make it more personalized to our family and home. I am going to use index cards so that they can keep track of them better. My kids loved playing this and it cost next to nothing. Try it with your family and see how they like it. For more tips and ideas visit the Works for me Wednesday thread by clicking on the image above.

Grocery Deals - Week of Oct 15

Albertsons

The following meats are $1.88/lb
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts or tenders
Beef round rump roast
Boneless pork sirloin chops or roast
Bone-in pork shoulder roasts or max pak country style ribs
Beef chuck 7 bone roast or max pak steaks
Honeysuckle white whole turkey breast

$1/lb gala apples or roma tomatoes
$2.99/lb 93% lean ground beef

There are also several items that qualify for an instant $5 rebate when you buy 10 participating items which make the final price on the items $1, $1.50 or $2 but it is late in the day and I am not going to type them all in. Sorry - see the store or ad if you are interested. They are mostly General Mills and Betty Crocker items.

Smith's

$1.79/4 lb bag of Kroger sugar or flour
$5/4 doz large eggs
4/$5 Hershey chocolate baking chips
69 cents smith's evaporated milk

$1.79/lb pork loin or rib chops or country style spareribs
$1.99/lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
$2.49/lb rump roast or petite cut sirloin steak
$1.29/lb cooks butt or shank portion ham

Scrappy News

I can't wait to see what these free"bees" will be. If you digi scrap and you love high quality designs - and of course if you love a good deal - like FREE then this is for you.Starting tomorrow Scrap Orchard will have 1 Free"bee" a day for you!! And a piece to a coupon code!! At the end of the week, you'll have 7 free"bees" and a coupon for 30% OFF in the Market!!! Make sure you stop by the blog or the forum to get the link to the free"bee"!! Each Free"bee" will only be available for ONE DAY!! And you need all the Free"bees" to get the coupon code!! You won't want to miss this!! Tonight's Free"bee" is from Irene Alexeeva!!!

Scrappy News

There is more that I want to share but I am on my way out the door so it will be short. Elemental Scraps is having a Dollar sale today and Chrissy has this way cute kit for just $1 today. Head over there and check out all the great deals!

And here is a page that I made using this kit.

And it is time for another speed scrap at the Scrap Orchard. These are so fun! There are also many wonderful new products in the store at the Orchard so if you haven't looked lately - you are in for a treat. Go to the market here. Ok... a busy day so that is all for now.

Works for me Wednesday

I must admit that my tip today is from one of my digi scrappin friends blogs Theresa Marie. I am going to respect her privacy and not link you over to her blog. She share some menu ideas and I am always on the look for quick and tasty. I think these will fit the bill.

One of the recipes she shared was for goulash. I must admit that in my whole life I have only had it once and do not remember if I liked it or not. So I think it is a good idea to try it again and see. The only thing I do remember is that it was what was for dinner when I went on a babysitting job at the age of 11 or so. The family had 6 kids and paid 50 cents an hour and the babysitting was awful lol. And now....

Dinner Menu Ideas

Theresa said, "Goulash recipe = 1lb cooked hamburger, slightly under-cooked elbow noodles, 1 can tomato soup, 1 can tomato paste, 1 can pork & beans, 1 can corn and water as needed if it looks dry. put all on low in crockpot for 4 hours or so.... WAY easy :) and it's comfort food here."

And she shared the links to these two recipes too.
Honey Glazed "dump" Chicken
Chili Maple Glazed "dump" Chicken
I buy my meat in large bulk packages too and so I think these "dump" recipes will work well for me. I love the idea of adding the ingredients to the bag before freezing it and then it is ready to go when you thaw it. Can't wait to try these out. Hope you'll enjoy too. Thanks my friend Theresa! For more great tips click on the Works for Me image above.

Grocery Deals - Week of Oct 8

Albertsons

$1.88/lb container Strawberries
39 cents Dannon yogurt (limit 12)
$1.79 Albersons 12 pack sodas (limit 8)
3/$5 Oscar Mayer meat wieners (limit 3 with in ad coupon)

There is a 4 day meat sale thurs-sunday
$1.29/lb assorted pork chops
$1.99/lb boneless beef chuck roast
$1.99/lb boneless pork shoulder roast or country style ribs
$3.99/lb beef petite sirloin steak
$4.99/lb beef loin, top sirloin or tri tip steaks

Smith's

99 cents/lb red or black grapes
88 cents Michelina's entrees
79 cents ea. When you buy 6 2 liter 7-up products
4/$5 doz large eggs
$2.99/lb beef round, london broil or petite cut steak
99 cents/lb chicken split breasts, drumsticks or thighs
$2.49/lb extra lean ground beef

Life Happenings

Ok so I know - I stink at blogging my friends lol! It has been a while since I have posted something besides digi scrap news or the weekly grocery post but hey I have been busy! This post will be to show you what I have been up to since the kids went back to school. I think I'll start with the recent and work back and that way you can read only as far back into my past as you want to hee hee!

With the kids out of school for Thursday and Friday last week we decided to take a little get away. We hadn't had an opportunity to stay at the West Yellowstone Worldmark since it opened so we went up Wed. after the kids got out of school and then came home Friday afternoon so that the kids could attend Gracy (our neighbor's) birthday party and Clayne could get in a few hours at the office. The weather was fabulous and I loved the scenic drive with all the golden aspens. We spent lots of time at the indoor pool and one afternoon browsing the local shops. The kids love shopping for souvenirs and they finally decided on T shirts. They had never been in one where you could "design" your own and they loved picking out just the right shirt and then selecting the decal that they liked best. Savannah got one that said "It's not easy being a princess!" and Cheyenne decided on "Frequent Blond Moments" while Morgan decided on one that had an outdoor wildlife scene with an elk on it and Carson got one that said "World's largest source of natural gas." We vetoed the one he really wanted that said "I love to fart." The guy at the shop was great with customer service and even let the kids behind the counter where they could peel off the paper after the decal was set. Savannah thought that was especially neat-o. So that was about it for our trip - we didn't even go into the national park. Cheyenne had just been there on a field trip the previous week for school and wasn't too excited about going in and we just know better with our kids. When there is a pool to be swam in that is all they want to do. If we try to do something else they just whine about missing out on swimming time! Oh well, guess it saves us money.

Other things that have been keeping me busy is reworking the soil in my flower bed. The soil has always been crummy and I have been putting off this job ever since we moved in here. I have a hard time getting flowers to thrive in the bed right up by my front door and so Clayne and I carefully worked around the sprinkler system and dug the dirt out, added some good dirt and nutrients and then replaced the dirt. I had to try and save all my spring bulbs as we did this too so that I could replant them. I also bought more tulips and put them in while I was at it. I hope this next spring rewards me with a burst of beautiful color! I have until planting season in the spring to decide what perennials I want to add since I removed the mess I had previously planted.

I am taking a photography class at the VoTec and am half way into it now. It is just once a week and then has photography assignments to do before going back the next week. I am learning lots and really needed a kick in the pants to start using that great camera I bought from Shelly as my Mother's Day present. I was a bit intimidated by it and it had been sitting while I found it easier to just use my little point and shoot. Now that I am using my "new" camera I am finding the advantages to this nicer camera. I don't think I'll ever become fabulous but improvement is all I am hoping for. The photo here is for a week where we were to take a photo that told a story. I don't know why but cemeteries always intrigue me. They make me wonder what the people were like and how did they live, etc. This little girl was only 2 years old when she died and although I don't know the story - I know that there was one and I just felt a bit sorrowful for the family as I stood there that morning. I loved the way the light angled down from heaven onto the grave marker. I got good reviews on this photo in class too which made me feel good lol. I titled this photo "heaven's angel."

Savannah was in her first parade on Spud Day a few weeks ago. It was a dismal and rainy day and I tried to talk her out of it by telling her how cold and miserable she'd be but she proved me wrong by insisting we go and she thrived on it. She loves being a star and was all smiles even in the pouring rain. This was where the saying of "don't let it rain on your parade" must have originated since she didn't let it ruin her day. Carson was the only other one to go with us and he gathered a haul of candy. After the parade it stopped raining and we went and looked at the booths where we bought a sling shot for Carson, cotton candy for Savannah and some kettle corn for me. I am a sucker for popcorn!

Speaking of corn. The stake farm offered free corn and I had to take them up on it. I made 2 trips out to the farm and picked a total of 300 ears of corn that I then husked, removed from the cob and froze. It was a sticky mess but we are sure going to enjoy that tasty corn this winter.

Now that I put it all down in a post it doesn't seem that my life is really that busy lol. But it just continues to fly by with the daily duties of "momhood." I am still babysitting my sweet little niece, Megan. She is here now and taking a nap while I get my post done.

Scrappy News

Just thought I'd take a minute to show you what the designer's that I am on Creative Teams for are up to and share a few layouts too.

Digi Nirvana is having an awesome sale and some items cost as little as 29 cents - but the sale ends soon so hurry. Click on this image to go to Digi Nirvana and see all the great deals. Some are Halloween items and some are everyday items. Kami of Ziggle designs has this darling new alpha and a fun new kit available in her store. Images are clickable and below is a layout I made using these new items. My layout is clickable to go to my gallery where you can see all of the credits.

This month's collaboration kit at the Scrap Orchard is the BOMB! It is an amazing value at just $3. But the price will go up on Oct. 7 so hurry. It is a spooktacular kit for Halloween and fall projects. Click on this image to go purchase it. And you can see a layout I made with it below.

This gorgeous kit is for charity. Proceeds will be used to send care packages to our troops. Click on the image below to read more about it. And you can see a layout below that I made using this kit.

This template is a freebie at Chrissy William's shoppe. Click on it to go to her store and get it. And yep. I used it on the layout below as well. You can click on my layout to go to my gallery for a full list of credits.

Ok that is a wrap for now. Of course this is only a small sample of what these ladies have in their stores. I hope to post again this weekend and share some of what I have been up to in my life and with my family. I know I have been a real slacker in this! Hope you all have a great weekend.

Grocery Deals - Week of Oct 1

Smith's

$7.96 ea. Kroger Frozen Chicken assorted cuts and weights
$2.49/lb pork loin boneless chops
$1.29/lb Cook's butt or shank portion ham

Case Lot Sale
$15.96/12 pack 18 oz Peter Pan peanut butter
$11.99/24 count Campbell's SpaghettiOs
$3.99/24 count 8 oz Kroger tomato sauce
$11.99/24 count Kroger cream soups
$18.89/24 count Kroger canned fruit
See store or ad for more products

5/$13 Coca-cola 12 pack products

Albertsons

The following are $1 when you buy 10
Betty C Cake mix
Betty C Warm delights
Betty C Potatoes
Bisquick shake 'n pour pancake mix
Hamburger, chicken or tuna helper
Betty C brownie mix
Pillsburry crescent rolls, cinn. rolls or Grands biscuits
Betty C frosting
Old el Paso taco shells, ench. sauce or ref. beans

The following are $1.50 when you buy 10
General mills cereal (select varieties)
Progresso soup (select varieties)
Betty C cookie pouch
Pillsbury ready to bake cookies
Ghiradelli baking chocolate
Smucker's spoonables ice cream topping
Betty C fruit snacks

The following are $2 when you buy 10
Chex mix
Nestle toll house morsels
Jif peanut butter
Nature valley or fiber one bars
Crisco spray
nabisco ritz crackers
Ghiradelli choc chips
Yoplait multi pack or go gurts
Betty C complete pancake mix
Mother's cookies (select varieties)
Pop secret micro popcorn
Smicker's jam or jelly
Betty C muffin mix

88 cents/lb red globe grapes
$1.69/lb boneless skinless chicken breasts or tenders
Buy one get one free on several cuts of meat

$10.99/ 25 lb bag albertsons granulated sugar

Make It Snappy Freebie Blog Train

Kami of Ziggle Designs is the host of the Make It Snappy Crop and Chat. Click the image below to go to the Scrap Orchard forum.

Everyone who participates in the crop and completes the challenge will be awarded this participation gift.

Do you like this mini kit? Well here is some more good news. Kami of Ziggle Designs and her creative team (of which I am a member) have created several 12x12 quick pages for you to collect by visiting each of our blogs in a blog train. Too fun huh?

Here are the previews of the two pages I created for you. They are in one zip file and you can get to them by clicking either of the two preview images below. If you do need a password it is tiffanyqp

And here are the other stops for the blog train be sure to visit them all to collect all of the pages.

Tami:http://ifyourescrappyandyouknowit.blogspot.com/

Jennifer: http://elephantsandlemonade.blogspot.com/

Jaye: http://jayedid-designs.blogspot.com/

Tiffany:http://tiffanybodily.blogspot.com/ (you are here)

Kami:http://www.zigglescraps.com/

Lori:http://scripityscrap.blogspot.com/

Grocery Deals - Week of Sept 24

Smith's

$1.59/lb Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
$2.99/lb rump roast or petite cut sirloin steak
$1.89/lb Pork chops or country style spareribs
99cents/lb red seedless grapes

The following are 6/$6 when you buy 6
Kroger cereals, bars, oatmeal or toaster treats

The following are 10/$10
Kroger sour cream, cottage cheese or dips
Kroger frozen veg
Dole Classic salad bags
Kroger and Mountain Dairy ice cream

Albertsons

They are having a 1/2 price sale on several meat cuts and a variety of other items

99cents/lb bone in split breasts

The following are 70 cents/ea when you buy 10
Hershey's baking chips
Daisy sour cream 8 oz
Campbell's cream mush/ckn soup
Duncan Hines cake mix
Zatarain's rice mix
2 ltr Coca-cola drinks

There are some other items that are mix/match for $3 off rebate when you buy $10 of participating products

Sam's Club has big poly buckets of hard winter red wheat for your food storage. The weight is 37 pounds and the price is just under $19. A pretty good deal so I added another 3 buckets to my food storage.

Grocery Deals - Week of Sept 17

Albertsons

20/$10 (only 50 cents each)
Campbell's Cream of Chicken or Cream of Mushroom soup

4/$5 Campbell's chunky soup

$1.99/lb Extra lean ground beef
98 cents/lb Green seedless grapes


Smith's

$1.99/lb Extra lean ground beef
$1.99/lb whole pork loin

4/$5 large doz eggs
10/$10 Kroger sour cream, cottage cheese or dips

They are continuing with the buy 15 participating items and get $3 instant rebate on tomato soup or chicken noodle soup as well as spaghettiOs and Campbell's chunky soups (see last week's grocery post or the ad for details.)

Scrappy News

Hurry over to Elemental Scraps by clicking on the image below to check out the $1 day sale. Chrissy has a great new template set she just released and you guessed it... you can get it for a buck for today only. See the image below for a better looksie as well as an example page made by me.

(Credits: Midnight Garden by Pineapple Plantation and Ziggle Designs, Template Ad It Up by Chrissy Williams, Stitching by Gunhild Storeide, Word Art by Elegant WordArt by Bethany, Font Century Gothic)

This kit is available for free at the Scrap Orchard for this month only when you purchase $10 in products from either Ziggle Designs store or Pineapple Plantation Designs store. Just add this to your cart and the discount will be given when you check out!!

Grocery Deals - Week of Sept 10

Smith's

$1.59/lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
$2.49/lb pork loin boneless chops
1o lb/$10 red seedless grapes

The following prices are good when you purchase 15 participating products and receive a $3 instant rebate.

39 cents Campbell's chicken noodle or tomato soup
$1.25 Prego Pasta Sauce
$1.25 Campbell's chunky soup
$1.05 Pepperidge farm goldfish crackers

Albertsons

38 cents Dannon yogurt (first 12)
$1.88 Corn king sliced Bacon (first 3)

The following are just $1 each when you buy in sets of 10

Albertsons cereal (some varieties)
Quaker granola bars
Albertsons oats
Albertsons fruit snacks

The following are just $1.50 each when you buy in sets of 10

Albertsons cereal (some varieties)
Quaker oatmeal to go, granola bites, instant oatmeal, breakfast cookies, oats, simple harvest bars
Aunt Jemima syrup or pancake mix

19 years!

Today is our 19th wedding anniversary! Don't we look like little babies here? Guess the passing of time and aging does that to you lol. So here are 19 reasons I love my wonderful husband Clayne.

1. Patient
2. Considerate
3. Example
4. Thoughtful
5. Understanding
6. Supportive
7. Faithful
8. Loving
9. Forgiving
10. Respectful
11. Constant
12. Helpful
13. Religious
14. Thankful
15. Provider
16. Soft-spoken
17. Laid back
18. Happy
19. MINE

Here's to many more years of marital bliss!

Cupcakes Anyone?

When I saw these in the recent issue of Woman's Day magazine I just thought they were the cutest! I am a sucker for pastries anyway and cupcakes are so yummy. When I went to their website they didn't have a photo nor could I find one as cute on the net so if you get a chance in the check out line or at a dr office take a peak on page 124. I had to settle for a pic I found by googling. Still you get the idea. Here is the link for the above cupcake if you want to try that version of the recipe. It has a cream cheese filling and sounds heavenly.

The recipe in Woman's Day is as follows:

makes 24

Active: 20 min Total: 1 hour

Cupcakes

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup sour cream

2 large eggs

Glaze

1 pkg (14 oz) 50 caramel candies

2 tbsp heavy cream

Ice cream sticks

Garnish: Red sprinkles

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. you will need 24 muffin cups lined with paper liners.

2. Cupcakes: Combine flour, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl.

3. Beat applesauce, sugars, butter, sour cram and eggs in a bowl with mixer on low speed just to combine. Beat in flour mixture until well blended.

4. Divide batter among muffin cups. Bake 30 minutes until a wooden pick inserted in cupcakes comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely.

5. Glaze: Heat caramels in a medium saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently, until melted. Add heavy cream and stir until combined. Cool 2 minutes. Working quickly, while mixture is still warm, spread top of each cupcake with 2 tsp of glaze. if glaze gets hard to spread, heat on low, stirring until more melted. Insert an ice cream stick into center and top with sprinkles. Place in freezer for 5 minutes to set.

Note: Cupcakes should be glazed and served the same day.

Per serving: 250 cal, 3 g pro, 44 g car, 1 g fiber, 8 g fat (4 g sat fat), 33 mg chol, 218 mg sod

These cupcakes were pictured in the mag and they were nice enough to have the image at their site so I could easily share it. Cute huh. In the mag though they didn't cut the top of the "trees" off. Still I think you get the idea. I just thought this was so clever for a fall cupcake. And while I was looking for that Carmel Apple cupcake I found this site. Lots of cute images for decorating cupcakes. Have fun.

Grocery Deals - Week of Sept 3

Smith's

They are having a 2 week case sale while supplies last.

$9.99/case of 24 Libby's vegetables
$15.96/case of 12 Kroger 18 oz peanut butter
$3.99/case of 24 Kroger 8 oz tomato sauce
$2.99/case of 24 Kroger bottled water
$12.00/case of 12 Kroger quick oat canisters
Be sure to check the ad or the store for more case lot deals.

$2.99/lb Petite sirloin steak, london broil, whole pork tenderloin or baby back ribs

Albertsons

They are having lots of buy one get one free offers so be sure to check the ad or store for more.
Here are a few of the BOGO deals
Beef round rump roast
Boneless, skinless chicken breast or tenders
Bone in pork country style ribs
Hormel sliced ham
Jimmy Dean sausage rolls
Sliced deli roasted turkey breast
Bakery cinnamon rolls

The following are $1 each when you buy ten and get an instant $5 rebate
Betty Crocker brownie mix
Hamburger/Chicken or Tuna helper
Bisquick baking mix
Betty Crocker potatoes
Betty C ready to serve frosting
Progresso Bread crumbs

The following are $1.50 ea when you buy ten and get an instant $5 rebate
General Mills cereal
Gen. Mills Chex mix bars and snack sacks
General mills granola bars and fiber one bars
Betty C Muffin mix
Progresso soups

Just Catching Up a Bit

This is going to be a fairly lengthy post - I am making up for not blogging much this summer - but I hope you will stick with me. Just scroll to whatever interests you.

This Month:

I have two new Nephews. Congratulations to Clayne's sister Kami and her husband Brad. Aren't they darling!

Nathan Larry Weight: 6 pounds and 15 ounces Length: 20 inches Time: 12:00 am Date: Monday, August 11, 2008 & Adam Paul Weight: 4 pounds and 13 ounces Length: 18 1/2 inches Time: 12:00 am Date: Monday, August 11, 2008. I'm so glad that they are here healthy and well. I just wish that they lived near by so I could love on them.

This Week:
School started. I am loving the quite hours I have at home alone. So far I can't say that I have completed any monumental tasks but I am making some progress on getting my house clean from a whole summer of neglect. One of the best things about being back to school is being back on a routine. I am loving having all the kids in their rooms by 9 each night and actually getting to bed by 10:30 myself! Getting up for the gym at 5:20 am this summer was really hard after staying up late night after night. I am feeling much more rested already!

When the kids left for school that morning I told Savannah to be sure to think about what her favorite part of the day was so that when she got home she could tell me all about it. I met the kids at the bus stop that day and she was bursting with excitement. When I asked her what she liked best she said, "I LOVED IT ALL!"

Savannah - First Grade! Age 6

Carson enthusiastically told me, "I really like my teacher. She is nice." I actually had a little time with them off to school to make a scrapbook page with his first day of school picture.

(Credits: Scrap Orchard September Mystery Mega , Stapes by Bren Boone, Font- Wendy Sue)

Carson - Fourth Grade! Age 9

Morgan's report on his first day of school was, "School was really fun. We pretty much just played games the whole day!" He has also loved it that for this first week of school he has had no homework. I am sure that won't last.

Morgan - Fifth Grade! Age 10

Cheyenne burst through the door and said, "I loved my first day. I am friends with everyone in the school." I am thinking that may be a slight exaggeration but I am happy for her positive attitude and her desire to be friends with all. I had time to make her first day of school photo into a layout this week too. Isn't she gorgeous? YIKES!

(Credits: If Only In My Dreams by Ziggle Designs, Pineapple Plantation and Bren Boone, Font - Wilderness)

Cheyenne Eighth Grade! Age 13

Right Now:

I am babysitting my sweet niece Megan. She is almost months old now and she is such a darling. I enjoy having her keep me company once a week. Usually I have her on Mondays but once in a while it will be a different day of the week. This week it was nice to have her on a different day than Monday since it was the first day of school and there was already a lot going on. This is my 6th week of babysitting her and so far she has only been naughty one of the days she was here. She is a pretty good baby.

Later Today:

I am planning to attend an online speed scrap at the Scrap Orchard. If you enjoy digital scrapbooking and would like to join in the fun, please do. It is at 7 pm Eastern or 5 pm our time (Mountain). For the first hour you are given instructions every 10 minutes or so and you follow along with the instructions given and create a layout in the hour. They are nice and give you an additional hour after all the instructions are posted to finish up your page and to upload it in the gallery. For participating in the crop and completing the layout you are then rewarded with a free gorgeous mini kit by Ziggle Designs. If you want to attend the crop join us in the forum here. Following the speed scrap there will be a chat where you may get lucky and win some more free goodies. The chat starts at 9 pm Eastern. Here is the participation prize. Cute huh?

Ok and while I am talking up Scrap Orchard I have to tell ya that the September Mega is available now. I used it to create that cute page of Carson at the bus stop above. It is a huge kit for just $3. The contents of the kit will be revealed on the 7th of Sept, but then the price goes up to $10. So take a chance and surprise yourself with this kit. Pick it up while it is cheap and then see what is inside for yourself. You will love it. Click on the image below to go get it. While you are at the Orchard be sure to check out the Farmer's Market (click on the image below to go to the Farmer's Market) where select items are on sale for just $1. Very cute stuff for such a great price. And if that isn't enough there is another promotional sale going on that you can read about below too.

I know it is hard to read that small print. It says "Excludes commercial use, charity, farmer's market and mystery mega" but there are still plenty of other items that it is good for so go shop.

Removing Moisture From a Watch

Ok I really do enjoy the Rocks in my dryer site and now that the kids are back in school I am hopeful that I will be able to post a helpful tip each week. Today's tip:

Removing Moisture From a Watch

This summer Clayne got some water in his favorite watch. It was just a little bit of moisture under the face plate and it made it hard to clearly see the time. His watch isn't the cheapo WalMart type so I really wanted to try and save it. We placed the watch in a mason jar full of uncooked rice with a tight lid and in about 24 hours the rice had absorbed the moisture from his watch and it is as good as new. Clayne has a co-worker that removed water from a cell phone in a like manner and had good results. Hope this proves helpful to others too. Have a great day. For more helpful tips and ideas visit RocksInMyDryer.net

Grocery Deals - Week of August 27

Smith's

$4.99/lb New York steak or roast
$1.69/lb Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
19cents/lb seedless watermelon

5/$13 Pepsi or Coke 12 packs when you buy 5
$1.77 Cheetos, Fritos or Lay's chips
4/$5 Bush's baked beans
10/$10 Hamb or HD buns, cottage cheese, sour cream or dips

Albertsons

$1.69/lb Boneless, skinless chicken breasts or tenders
$5.99/lb Bone-in Rib Eye steak

There is a $3 instant rebate with qualifying purchase on several items. I'm going to leave it to you to check this out.

Find Your Wings - Mark Harris

This song came on the radio on my way home from the gym this morning and I have to admit that I actually got a bit teary-eyed. For weeks now I have been looking forward to getting all of my kids off to school for some time alone at home to get things done. But I have to admit that I can get a bit nostalgic when I realize that my oldest is now 13 and my baby is 6. Hope this song will remind you of your wishes for your children too as they enter this new school year.

Grocery Deals - Week of August 20

Albertsons

10/$10 deals
Medium eggs
Alb. sour cream
Sunmaid Raisins boxes 6 count

10lb/$10
whole frying chicken, split breast, drums, thighs or whole legs

Smith's

$2.69 gal. milk
$6.96 Kroger frozen chicken assorted cuts and weight
10lb/$10 green or red seedless grapes
$1.89/lb pork chops or spareribs
4/$5 Bush's baked beans

10/$10 deals
Frozen dinners assorted varieties
hamb/dog buns
frozen vegetables assorted varieties
Kroger dips, sour cream or cottage cheese
Kroger fruit snacks
Little Debbie snack cakes
Kroger cheese singles 12 oz.
Bar S jumbo meat franks

Grocery Deals - Week of August 13

Smith's

5/$10 Big K 12 pack soda
4/$5 doz. eggs
$2.99/lb Petite sirloin steak or London broil

the following are 10/$10
Kroger sour cream, cottage cheese or dips
Little debbie snack cakes
Pringles chips
Mountain dairy ice cream
Crest toothpaste

99 cents 4 pack Cotonelle TP
88 cents Kleenex tissue
4/$4 General mills granola bars - includes Nature Valley, Fiber one, Milk'n Cereal bars

Albertsons

$1.69/lb Boneless, skinless chicken breasts or bone-in assorted pork chops
98 cents/lb green grapes
$2.99 Albertsons or Crystal geyser spring water 24 pack
$3.99 Charmin basic TP 12 rolls or Bounty basic paper towels 8 rolls

There is also an insert with coupons for some of the deals this week as well as a few $3 or $5 instant rebate offers when you make a qualifying purchase. See ad for details.

Grocery Deals - Week of August 6

Albertsons

Mega Mix or Match sale is going on
When you purchase any 10 participating items in a single transaction using your card you get an instant $5 off with no limit to the number of items you can purchase.
There are many items so I am not going to even try to type them up. See the store or ad for details.

They also have many 10/$10 items and I will list just a few here
Albertsons quick oats 18 oz
4 count bakery cin. rolls
Best foods real mayo squeeze jar

Smith's

4/$4 when you buy 4 Malt O Meal cereals
4/$4 when you buy 4 General mills granola bars (includes fiber one bars)

$1.99/lb extra lean ground beef
99 cents/lb chicken drumsticks, thighs or bone in breasts
$1.99/lb Pork loin or rib chops
$1/lb red seedless grapes
10/$10 Crest toothpaste

Grocery Deals - week of July 30

Smith's

$6.96 Kroger frozen chicken various bag sizes

$1.49/lb country style ribs or butt roast

2/$3 One pound strawberry packs

$2.79/gal milk

4/$5 Doz. eggs

The following are buy 10 participating items and get $5 off instantly (limit 3)
$1.50 Keebler fudge shoppe cookies
$1.50 Betty C. Fruit snacks
$1.00 Betty C cookie pouches or frosting

$1.50 Ball park franks$1.00 select Kellogg's cereals
$1.00 Kroger apple juice$1.00 Kroger instant oatmeal
$1.00 Daisy Sour cream

Albertsons

The following are for Thurs, Fri, Sat only
$5.56/4 lb strawberries
$1.88/12 pack Albertsons sodas
$1.47 Sara lee bread

There are many buy one get one free offers on meat and seafood

$1.19 Select Post cereals
$1.88/lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts or tenders
39 cents Dannon light and fit yogurt (first 12)
4/$12 Pepsi 12 packs

The following are 20/$15 after a $5 instant rebate
Hunt's ketchup
Hunt's spaghetti sauce
Hunt's snack pack puddings
Crunch 'n Munch popcorn

$7.99 dozen roses Someone tell Clayne lol