Memory: St. Patricks Day

This is a cute little game to spread the leprechaun love.

I assume my family is not the only with spring fever, so I rounded up a list of a few kid apps – all 100% FREE. Hopefully it can save you some sanity!

IstoryBooks is an app with interactive storybooks . It’s really cute and the kids like to be involved with their story.

Fishes Puzzles for Toddlers and Kids FREE – great for toddlers and pre-k age kids. Allows them to figure the puzzles out “all by themselves” by matching the ocean creatures to their shadow shapes.You can try it out on your computer  before downloading,as well.

TooTooNi! Trains, cars & planes for kids- an educational app with 10 fun games to help kids learn while playing, plus enough variety that they don’t get bored easily. This one has games from painting with their fingers to music, connect the dots, and building blocks.

Math Fun for Kids – a good choice for older kids who need or want a little practice with their math skills.  This app spans math skills from adding & subtracting to multiplication up to the 12x tables. It has an option to try it on your computer before downloading it to your device.

Connect the dot – Vehicle – great for little boys who love planes, trains, and cars. They connect the dots, then get the verification that they did it correctly when the shape pops out at completion. A great way to give them a sense of accomplishment while playing.

I hope this helps someone else who has active little ones! I would love to hear about any android apps that your kids love. I have ages 4-10, so varied ages and interests. What is your favorite app currently?

To make these little breakfast goodies, start with a greased or lined muffin tin. You can make as many or as few as you wish.

Bacon Crumbles

I put some bacon on the bottom of the muffin liner. You could also use any other breakfast meat your family enjoys,or leave it out altogether. That’s the beauty of these egg muffins, you choose what you like.

I added some salsa.

For the next bit I added some salsa to a few of the muffin cups. I left it out of the ones for my youngest kids.

Shredded cheddar cheese for the next layer.

I grated some fresh cheddar into each cup on top of the bacon & salsa. It is cheddar even though it isn’t orange, by the way. It’s organic and raw, so the orange coloring hasn’t been added to it.

Then add the eggs

I scrambled one egg for each muffin cup , poured it on top and then put the tin in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Just check to see if it is done with a toothpick or knife. If it comes out clean when you pull it out of the center of a muffin, they are ready to eat!

Egg Muffins ready to eat!

Then plate them and a complete breakfast is on the table! I apologize for the quality of this last pic. I didn’t have time for staging a nice photo because it was time to get the kids ready for school. However, the general idea is there!

A couple of tips for this recipe: don’t over cook. Dry egg muffins aren’t nearly as good as the correctly baked ones. Also, If you use paper liners, more egg gets left behind when you peel it. I found that a greased muffin tin yields a nicer shape and prevents you from peeling wrappers for little hands. After all, every minute is valuable in a busy morning, right?

How do you save time without skimping on a healthy breakfast in the morning?

image credit: Zulily and TOMS

You have probably heard of Zulily. I have, many times, but I just made my first purchase yesterday. Just in case you missed it,  Zulily a discount buying site similar to Groupon. You get  new deals on things like clothes, shoes, beauty products, and toys every day and sometimes they are really nice products for a price that you can’t find elsewhere. You can also refer friends to earn credit to your accout (but I think that most everyone is already signed up, so don’t count on that).

image credit: Zulily and TOMS

Yesterday I saw someone comment about the TOMS shoes currently for sale on Zulily for adults and kiddos. So, I went over to look and found this adorable pair of toddler TOMS for my little guy. They are so cute and have little giraffes all over them. There weren’t any that I cared for in my size or for my older kids, so I didn’t bother to mention the deal here. BUT ,today there are a ton of new styles of TOMS added to the stock and I think it is worth taking a look!

Here is my referral link if you are new to Zulily and want to give me credit. If you prefer to keep your referrals to yourself, here is a link that doesn’t give me credit. Either way, these shoes are so cute, very “green” and quite on trend. It’s worth a look to see if they strike your fancy.

Easy Cupcake & Candy Stand for Valentine's Day

If you are looking for a creative way to add flair to a Valentine’s Day party display or a Bake Sale table, then look no farther! This cute little stand can be ready to go with just minutes of effort.   I shared a how-to in an earlier post. You can see my complete step-by-step explanation of how to make a fast and easy cupcake stand , or you can just gather a few  supplies and jump right in.

For this project I wanted something with a Valentine’s Day theme,so I picked up these plastic plates and bowls at Target and the Dollar Tree today.

I also purchased a glass candle holder to use as the stem between the tiers.

You can mix and match the pieces to find the arrangement that best suits your intended use.

It’s really simple, but I think that’s alright because it gives the table a nice splash of color with very little effort or time.

Entertain the  kids (or yourself while you wait in the carpool line) with the help of Agent P. The new Disney game app“Where’s My Perrry?” is free and lots of fun for  little minds!

To skip the review and enter the giveaway , just scroll to the bottom of this post!

It’s “that” time of year again! Time for the holiday business to get into full swing…list making, shopping, baking, gift wrapping, decorating your home, visiting family, and more. Those things leave little time for the day to day chores like dishes and laundry, or at least that is true around here. Anything that makes life a little easier around the holidays is welcome at my house! So, let me introduce you to Purex with Oxi.

I had a chance to try brand-new Purex with Oxi laundry detergent with stain remover. I am a girl who has her laundry system figured out and I seldom deviate from my favorite products. I use Oxi Clean as a pre-wash stain treatment, so I was hoping for great results with a product that includes Oxi right in the detergent. I actually ran out of the Oxi Clean spray, so I had a great opportunity to give it a chance to prove itself.

My 7 year old son had chocolate milk stains all over his favorite shirt. I would normally spray with Oxi Clean, then wash as usual. This time I loaded it, along with as many other stained clothing items as I could find, into the washer and poured in a cap full of Purex with Oxi. I crossed my fingers and hoped it would work. And, it did work very well. There was only 1 light area of stain left on the shirt after washing. I am fairly certain that my regular spray would have gotten that stain out, too, but the majority of the stains and all of the dirt was gone with only 1 step. The rest of the clothes looked and smelled great.

So, my official opinion is that Purex with Oxi is a great product for every day laundry use. I don’t plan to replace my trusty spray bottle of Oxi Clean for the really tough stains, but I do look forward to not having to spray every single food deposit or ink mark that my boys leave on their shirts. Let me tell you, with 3 boys, that can be alot of spraying and a lot of product! Purex with Oxi is a great way to get the every day stains out of your clothes and boost their overall cleanliness in every wash cycle. I also like the idea of it working on a stain that I may have missed before it gets into the dryer and gets set in. Overall, this product gets a thumbs up from me for ease of use, scent, and the boost it gives to the cleanliness of my family’s laundry.

Now, if you are interested in trying Purex with Oxi FREE for yourself, Purex has kindly given me 3 coupons that are good for 1 free full sized bottle each. That means that 3 of my lovely readers will be winning a FREE bottle of laundry detergent with stain remover. Yay for making your holidays a little easier! Entering is easy and should just take a few seconds. You can leave a comment at the bottom of this post for 1 entry, then just click  to say you entered. See below for more ways to enter and increase your chances of winning!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tomorrow morning I am heading out to collect all of the ingredients that I will need for my Thanksgiving Day cooking and baking. I imagine that most of you are doing the same, if you haven’t already.  If you are doing a lot of cooking, that means a lot of buying. Here are a few coupons that you may be able to use to cut some costs on meal prep.

• Butterball turkey – save $3.00 when you buy 4 participating products
• Cracker Barrel cheese cuts, blocks or bars (great for cracker trays) – save $1.00/2
• Big G cereals including Chex for Chex mix – save $1.00/3 & another coupon for $1.00/2 Chex cereals
• Kellog’s Cereals including Rice Krispies for treats – save $1.00/2
• Carapelli Olive Oil- $1.00 /1 17oz or larger
• Pepperidge Farm frozen breads or rolls – $0.50/1
• Spice Islands Spices - save $1.00/ any 2 (great for pumpkin pie spices)
• Betty Crocker Muffin Mix -save $0.50/any 1(nice to have on hand for breakfast if you have guests arriving)
• Hormel bacon toppings – $1.00/2
• Arrowhead Mills whole grain breakfast product - $1.00/1
• Pepperidge Farm Jingos crackers - $1.00/1
• Bob Evans prepared side dishes - $0.50/any 1
• Folger’s coffee - $0.50/1
• International Delight coffee creamer - $1.00/2
• Milky Way candy bars (you know you will deserve a reward after all that shopping) – buy 2 get 1 free
• Pillsbury Crescent Rolls – save $0.40/3 – also $0.40/3 biscuits
• Pillsbury pie crusts – save $0.50/2
• Kentucky Legend ham or turkey breast – save $2.00/1
• Land O Lakes half & half - save $1.00/2 quarts

I’m so excited to get started making everything, and even happier that soon I will be with my family. As households across the nation prepare for a day of thankfulness, have a great shopping trip!

The house before we moved in...the roof is grey now.

Here it is, the little place in the country that we have begun making our own! We moved ourselves and most of our things down to the hills of southern Indiana this summer. The rest of our things made it here last weekend and we are busy trying to decide where to put what, and doing our best to make it feel like home. We love the community, the people, and the space, but it always takes awhile for a new place to be “home”, right?

It’s quite a bit different than the house we lived in for the last several years. The house we had in town was brand-new, built by us, details decided by us, and every single thing in it was new. It was in town with just under a half acre for a backyard and a cul-de-sac in front. Now we have a slightly older house that has alot more space, a huge kitchen, a front porch to swing on and drink coffee in the mornings, woods behind our house,a big ol’ barn, 18 acres and a whole lot of work to do!

The house we moved to was previously my brother in law’s home and they built it themselves, but it was  few years ago so some things do need a little fixing up. The largest projects so far have been having electric installed in the house and installing ac/heat, & changing the well pump to electric(harder than it sounds). Those 100+ degree days in June and July? Ya, we didn’t have ac for most of them. So, the “practical” stuff is out of the way now and we get to do the fun things that I really love to do when we move.

I enjoy painting the walls, picking out new flooring, and I get positively giddy over a trip to Lowe’s or JoAnn Fabrics. There’s not much  that is more fun for this crafty,artsy mama to work on than feathering our nest. Oh, the projects I hope to accomplish! I have this empty canvas (well, after we move the rest of the boxes out of the way and get everything where it belongs)and all the fresh air and autumn colors to inspire me…and um, Pinterest for the rest (seriously addicting)!

I can’t wait to share our house DIY projects with my readers! I will be sure to take a lot of photos so that I can really give you an idea of what it’s like and what we are working on up close. It’s a bit of directional change from mostly posting freebies and deals, but it does fit the theme because we will definitely be doing these projects with the least out-of-pocket cash as possible! I am planning to post a new DIY post at least once a week for now. There will still be deals and product reviews, but you will be seeing more “before” and “after” type posts and tutorials.

DIY posts to look for in the next week or 2 include:

-changing the vinyl floor in the kitchen to wood laminate (this one is more of a “before” & “after” and not a tutorial as I didn’t plan to post it, but I want to share it with you.

- Living room wall painting – from off-white to a double toned beige&tan textured faux-finish with a product review & tips.

- Before & After photos of the area of the kitchen and small bedroom that we turned into a powder bath & laundry room.

- A few fall decor and craft tutorials.

I look forward to sharing it all with you!

Ok, this deal was too good not to share! You all know I love Starbucks (a little too much). They hardly ever offer discount deals, so I was ecstatic to see that there is a deal available today ONLY for a 50% discount! You can buy a $10 gift card for only $5. Yup, for real! I don’t know how long it will last, but it was still available just a minute ago when I snagged mine. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about it earlier today! See the offer HERE (available through Living Social). 

Note : I just checked,and as of 5:30 pm EST you have a little over 6 hours left to grab this deal !