Alice!

I saw this site on facebook(thanks Molly!)and had to try it out!  Alice.com is a website that sells household items.  Garbage bags, laundry soap, nail polish remover, and SO much more!  I thought I would search the site and see just how much it would cost to get the things that I knew we needed for the rest of this month.  I bought 21 items and it cost me $48.89.  My items included some larger quantity things(toilet paper, paper towels) and some things that I bought specifically the brand that I was used to(toilet bowl cleaner, laundry soap), so I think that overall the cost was VERY comparable to Walmart if not better.  Granted, you could certainly get some of these items when they are on sale and the price would probably be lower, but the great thing about Alice is that they apply any existing web coupons that they have found to items in your cart!  There are also great clearances and items that they have put on sale as well. 

After placing my first purchase yesterday morning and receiving the box this afternoon with ALWAYS FREE SHIPPING(29 pound box mind you!), I decided to look again today for coffee and fake sugar(aka splenda) and was thrilled to find coffee on clearance!!!!  I also found crystal light on clearance! 

My only complaint is that I didn't go through a referral.  If I had I would have scored a $10 credit on my future purchase.  I wish I had known that!  So if you are interested in checking this awesome site out, please feel free to use my referral to get your $10 credit. http://www.alice.com/referral/50088B40

And if you have questions please let me know! 

The 5 fairies in the New Tinkerbell movies!

and the amazing nanna who loves them enough to spend MANY hours creating these awesome costumes!  Thanks Nanna!

Another Wonderful Review

Thanks so much Jess!  I am thrilled!

http://jessicaturnersblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/giveaway-friday-uppercase-living.html

My new clock!!!!

Now I have NO excuse!  I must be on time!

Honestly, wasn't A product from Uppercase that intimidates me except...this new clock! 

We started selling these clock kits in August.  They are available in all 40 of our colors and include a set of working hands!  You rub the clock numbers and then mount the hands, which was what I was nervous about...the hands!  So, this afternoon I set out to give it a shot!  I figured if I got nervous or if things weren't going my way, Sean could finish the project.  BUT!!!  low and behold 15 minutes after starting I was sitting back admiring the new addition to our living room!  Keeping perfect time, I might add!

I think I should pick out a hot pink one for the girls room now!  The kids one is SUPER cute!

Made 5 of these crazy hats!

Super easy, and so fun! This was my second sewing project! (Karen Robbins took the photo!)

New Photo Vinyl!

I think I may have a problem...I am rather addicted to our new photo vinyl!

Here is the latest photo to make it to my collection!

Photo before editing.

Finished photo vinyl for my wall in my bedroom...5 feet by 4 feet!

Here is the photo next to my 18" photo so that you can see the scale difference!

Be sure to enter this giveaway!

I think I know the demonstrator who is the "annonymous" demonstrator! ;)

http://andtwinsmake5.blogspot.com/2009/10/uppercase-living-wall-embellishments.html

Scholastic Online!

My mother passed on a children's book obsession to me. Her eyes would light up when she saw books at a garage sale and she kneeled down to rifle through the books to find the best books for the best price.

This obsession has led to MANY books. In fact probably more than one household can handle. I actually have books in plastic bins that my children have *never* laid their eyes on. Obsessive much?

Well my obsession has been fed yet again! This year when Kiara came home with a cursive worksheet, I checked the worksheet to see where it came from(which publisher). It was a scholastic workbook so I quickly went on the scholastic website to see if I could get her another workbook to have at home. I was so pleased to learn that you can now order your monthly scholastic book orders online! They still ship to the teacher and the teacher gets the credit from your order to supply the classroom with more books! Talk about a win/win situation!

In addition to being able to order from your monthly sheets, you can also see over 500 other titles to add to your order. The great thing about this is that you can now get pre-k books even though your pre-k child isn't in school OR you can surf the clearance section for the $1 books! And there is no shipping fee!

The only catch- your teacher has to sign up to allow you to order online(you need a username and password from the teacher), but when they do they get an extra book for EVERY online order that you make!

So, if you are obsessed like me...or looking for something specific be sure to check out the scholastic site! And if you don't get book orders but would like me to add something to our list, I would be more than happy!

Fuel your Morning!

I am really bad at eating breakfast. I mean...I don't think I ate A breakfast during my high school years, and if I did it was probably at a local restaurant NOT something that I figured out on my own.

Well...I am a big girl now(in more ways than one!) and am figuring out what works and doesn't work to help me feel full and know that I am providing the nourishment that my body needs to keep up with my family, business and endless stacks of laundry!

So...here is my steel cut oat recipe(I make a big batch so that I can refrigerate)

-6 cups water
-2 cups milk(I use 2% because its what we have in the house)
-2 tsp. olive oil
-pinch of salt
-2 cups steel cut oats
-1/4 cup brown sugar
-8 Tbsp. flax seeds(this might be major over kill and can certainly be omitted)
-cinammon to taste

1. Pour water and milk into a big pot on the stove. Add the oil to the water and milk so that the oats don't get too sticky.

2. Turn heat up and wait for a boil. When boiling add the oats, flax seeds and pinch of salt, stir and turn the heat down to low to simmer.

3. Stir the pot every once and a while until you get the consistancy that you like(I like mine pretty thick and it takes about 20 minutes on low) Add the cinnamon to taste.

4. Remove from heat and pack it up for storage(I keep mine in a plastic container with lid in my fridge)

-You can add anything else that you want. These are great with raisins or nuts and you can certainly use brown sugar splenda if you prefer to save the calories.

*If you use my recipe your serving size is 1 cup and you should have enough for more than 8 days. 1 cup = 6 points.

My Biggest Loser!

Sean that is! Ever since he found a med that actually takes his pain away he has been un-stop-able! He is swimming, rock climbing, running, biking, lifting weights and...nagging me! LOL! I am super proud of him and his desire to get healthy again!

He recently joined the "Biggest Loser" competition at Premier Fitness in Algonquin. Premier Fitness is a personal trainer type gym where you go to get one on one help. They opened up this biggest loser competition and I signed up...when Sean found out that the med that he was put on actually took his pain away, I traded my spot for his(I can do this at home, and wanted him to have something of his own). There are prizes for the participants who are in the top three percentages lost and for team loss(they grouped them up).

This week he lost 4.06% of his starting weight and I lost 3.55%. It has been fun sharing in this loss and gathering information that we think is helpful for both of us!