Amy’s Notebook 06.12.08

June 12th, 2008

I love these ideas for organizing your digital photos (@ Small Notebook)

These are some great ideas for teacher gifts for next year (hat tip to Parent Hacks, @ Midwest Mom)

I want to make this chalk paint with the kids (@ The Library Collective)

I want to try these pies in a jar (@ not martha)

This homemade no-bake cheesecake sounds delicious (@ Everyday Food Storage & Preparedness)

I love these ideas for things to do with your kids before they grow up (@ mommysecrets)

This cheese bread looks so yummy (@ Scribbit)

I really like these dishtowel crafts (@ Tip Nut)

Now this is the way to celebrate National Donut Day (@ Skip to My Lou)

The first adult sweater I have ever wanted to knit is finally here (@ Flint Knits)

These homemade dishtowels are so cute (@ Motherhood for Dummies)

I love this Father’s Day project (@ Havin’ Fun Yet?)

These boo boo bags would be another great teacher appreciation gift (@ Crafty Daisies)

The cutest embroidery pattern ever (@ Pimp Stitch)

These little travel suitcases would be great for the kids (@ Blue Yonder)

I need to make some strawberry shortcake this summer (@ Posie Gets Cozy)

A busy day activity with cornstarch and water (@ Pepper Paints)

This round-up of marinades looks great for all our summer grilling (@ Cheap Healthy Good)

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Posted in Amy's Notebook | 6 Comments »

Interview At Blog Coach

June 11th, 2008

Angie, the brilliant inventor of Baby Cheapskate and Freepeats, is now venturing into another blog territory… helping bloggers blog just a little bit better! Blog Coach shares tips for blogging and is featuring some interviews with some really great bloggers.

I am so honored because Angie interviewed me for her site! My interview can be found here and I share some ideas and tips that I learned while working on our blogs. You know, the stuff that I wished someone would have explained to me when I ventured out into the blog trenches. I hope that it will be beneficial to someone out there.

Here are a few other entries that might be helpful to beginning bloggers:

Five Commandments for Blogging

The Player Scores… And Silence

How Do I Track My Traffic?

Gaining a Readership (The Frugal Way)

How Do I Work From Home?

Thanks you to Angie for featuring me and I look forward to learning more on blogging through her new site!

In the beginning, my biggest blogging challenge was what to even write about. What has been your biggest blogging hurdle?

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Posted in Announcements | 5 Comments »

Happiness Is… Blowing Bubbles

June 11th, 2008


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Posted in Family | 9 Comments »

Summertime Planning

June 10th, 2008

I was really inspired by Whatever’s summer list and vowed that we were going to do that this summer for our family. We headed over to the Dollar Tree and picked up a piece of poster board for $.50 and a fresh new Sharpie marker for $1. On the way home, we talked about all of the things that we wanted to do this summer and we both got really excited about all of our fun plans.

Ethan made the list with us and this is what we came up with:

Go to the beach (St Joe and/or New Buffalo)
Go to the dinosaur museum (the Field Museum)
Play Mario Kart with mommy
Make homemade slushies
Run through the sprinklers
Go to the zoo (Ft Wayne and/or Potowatomi Zoo)
Go to playgroup(s)
Go to VBS
Go to the dollar movie
Sleepover with our cousin
Have an Earth Hour family night
Make homemade pizza
Eat at the food court at the mall
Make homemade play dough
Go to St Louis
Go to Granny’s house to play
Make Magic Milkshakes
Go to Grandma’s house to play
Go to the park
Get our first library card
Go to the water park
Make banana pops
Wash the cars with daddy
Get out the rainy day suitcase
Watch the Car’s movie and eat Jimmy John’s
Have an ice cream sundae night
Buy presents for the homeless shelter and deliver them
Go to Krispy Kreme and watch them make donuts
Have a picnic in the backyard
Go to the AirZoo Museum

Ethan drew a picture of his family in the summertime to go along with our list and we hung it in our kitchen for the summer.

I love that the majority of the activities he picked didn’t cost money and that the ones that he did pick that cost something could be special things that we could look forward to together. Since we have no big vacation plans, this looks like a really great round-up of activities to keep us busy this summer.

It is kind of funny though… I think my husband & I are just as excited as he is!

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Posted in Family | 23 Comments »

More Coffee Talk

June 10th, 2008

It has been awhile since I had been to Sam’s Club, but after all the adventures in bread making that I had been doing, I had run out of a key ingredient for cooking… all-purpose flour.

I don’t know what it is about going to Sam’s Club, but it is like I have to give myself a pep talk for an entire week that I am going there. I think it is because it is so big and the lines are so long and walking the place takes so much time, but maybe that is just me? Usually I choose the Click ‘N Pull option, but our Sam’s is under construction so I thought it would be easier if I just ran in and got the stuff myself.

I usually run in and run right back out and rarely do I browse because, frankly, I end up spending money we don’t have. As I was making my beeline towards the flour, this shiny bag caught my eye and I was doing a little happy dance in the aisle.

Sam’s Club is carrying my FAVORITE coffee in the whole wide world- Folger’s Gourmet Vanilla Biscotti. I have been highly addicted to this coffee since the company sent me some samples to review and that, my friends, is why Freebie Friday might not really be free. I can’t tell you how many “free” things I have gotten suckered into buying and this coffee is no exception.

This is a killer deal though, $10.88 for two pounds of coffee! Don’t forget, Sam’s also carries Dunkin’ Donuts for cheap too!

What have you received for “free” that you are now hooked on? Tell me I am not the only one getting sucked in by free samples!

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Posted in Announcements, Family | 15 Comments »

Redbox Code 06.09.08

June 9th, 2008

Today’s free code for a Redbox movie is 6TK2A3. This code is good for one free movie and you can use it until midnight tonight. Enjoy a free family movie together!

Side Notes:

– If you want to rent more than one movie for free, bring more than one credit/debit card. You can use the same promotional code, you just will need different cards to charge it to. The charge will be zero as long as you return your movie on time for the next day.

– When entering in your free movie code, you need to enter it FIRST before picking the movie. On the very first screen, click the, “Rent with Promo.” Enter in the above code and then make your selection- the amount should then total zero.

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Just a few other quick things that I have added to our site this weekend!

Product Reviews:

Braincandy Products
SmartShield Products
Nalgene BPA-Free Sippy Cups
LeapFrog’s TAG Reading System
Mario Kart Wii Game

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Posted in Freebies | 3 Comments »

Boo To McDonald’s

June 9th, 2008

I feel like there should be some scary 48 Hours Mystery music playing in the background or that this picture should do some eerie fade effect or that I just grow wider and wider. I just found out that my McDonald’s Vanilla Iced Coffees are made with WHOLE MILK. I only have one word to say to this…WHY?

This picture was taken after I went for a run. Yes, these were my little treats to myself after working out at the gym or doing something amazing like going for a run around the neighborhood in ninety degree weather (which I did this weekend and almost died). Little did I know that I was gulping all of the calories back into my body.

I discovered this after I had went to the gym one morning. Sweaty from a really good workout, I pulled up to the drive-thru and asked for the usual, but this time I asked the one question that I did not want to ask.

“Um, ma’am, can you tell me…is that coffee made with nonfat milk?”

“No.”

“Um, well, could you make it with some nonfat milk?”

“No.”

“Well, is it made with two percent milk?”

“No. It’s made with whole milk.”

“(teeny tiny voice) Can you change that to a medium please?”

What the hay? I love these coffees and they are so inexpensive, but I do not need to be gulping whole milk throughout the day. I am not on a diet, but I prefer not to ingest 11 grams of fat (according to McDonald’s website) in one sitting.

Oh, and here are the ingredients that they have listed:

Premium Roast Coffee. Light Cream: Milk, cream, sodium phosphate, sodium polyphosphate, DATEM, sodium stearoyl lactylate, tetra sodium pyrophosphate, sodium hexametaphosphate, sodium citrate, carrageenan. CONTAINS: MILK. Vanilla Syrup: Sugar, water, fructose, natural (plant source) and artificial flavor, caramel color (with sulfites), potassium sorbate (preservative), citric acid, malic acid. Ice.

Hmm? Sounds like a chem lab in my stomach!

Now I am going to figure out how to replicate this. After all, if I can crack the code on Starbuck’s Peppermint Mochas, these McDonald’s iced coffees should be a walk in the park.

Do you guys have some suggestions for making the perfect iced coffees? Any tips to share before I try to replicate my coffee experience with some good old-fashioned nonfat milk?

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Posted in Family | 45 Comments »

My Little Treat

June 9th, 2008

I can’t help it! I have wanted these shoes ever since I read Emily’s entry to her husband and now they are mine, all mine! I grumbled an excuse to my husband that Ethan & I had to run to Payless Shoes, after our church service, to get Ethan some sandals. As we marched into the store, I tapped my shoe on the floor waiting impatiently for Ethan to make a decision. After trying on a zillion pairs of shoes, he finally settled on the perfect pair and ran up and down the aisles as I searched the boxes for the pair of shoes that I had been dreaming of.


One pair left in my size, I clutched the box to my heart and practically kissed the $16.99 tag that was hanging off the side of the box. Yeah, it was a love like that.

The girl gushed over the shoes and said she had women coming in with pictures of these shoes asking for them, but they only had a couple of pairs left. And one of them walked out with me.

I had a hard time walking out with just one pair and my son (the perfect little boy he is) kept telling me, “Oh, mommy! You have to get those shoes! Those are perfect!” And then I would blink my long lashes and say, “Can you tell Daddy that when we get home?” After clutching four boxes, I returned three of them back to their spots. Aren’t you proud? You know me and shoes– it was tough!

Alas, we left with one lone pair, but all of the rest of those sweet summer prints will just have to be in my heart for now…or until the next BOGO sale!

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Posted in Family | 14 Comments »

Freebie Friday: June 6, 2008

June 6th, 2008

A big thank you to Heather, from Freebies 4 Mom, for helping us with our freebies today. Swing by and check out her new site design- it looks amazing! While you are there, be sure to get some coupons for your next grocery day– she has some really wonderful ones posted!

Don’t forget that today is Free Donut Day at Krispy Kreme! Enjoy a free donut of your choice today with the kids! Happy Freebie Friday, everyone!

Health & Beauty


Food
Attune Probiotic Bars (100 free coupons given out daily)
Fruitabu Smooshed Fruit

Entertainment
Rcrd Lbl – they only list free music downloads

Home & Garden

Mark Your Calendars
June – MaxFactor Lash Lights Tour from 10am to 4pm get a free mini makeover
June 7 – Free Ice Cream at Friendly’s 12pm to 5pm
June 7 – The Home Depot Kids Workshop – make a Catamaran from 9 to noon
June 16 – Free Small Root Beer Float at A&W; from 2pm to 8pm

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Posted in Freebies | 7 Comments »

Notebook Experiments: Blueberry Muffins & Loving Your Neighbors

June 5th, 2008

Experiment: Can blueberry muffins help score us some new friends?

Experiment Taken From: Notebook Entry 03.27.08

Materials Needed: Please see little momma & company for specific directions on how to complete this experiment. I did add a little special ingredient of my own this time to the mix and that was some freshly grated lemon zest and one squeeze of a lemon into the batter. It just added a little hint of something in the background, but didn’t overpower that yummy blueberry taste! This ingredient is completely optional, but added a very fresh flavor to our muffins.

Results: I have been very inspired by Monica, at The Homespun Heart, and her wonderful intentions of being thoughtful and kind to their neighbors. When our new neighbors moved in next door, we wanted to welcome them in the kind of way that we would hope that we would have been welcomed into the neighborhood. What says welcome better than a big batch of blueberry muffins?

While I baked muffins, Ethan worked very carefully on a card for the new family. It had a picture of their house on the front and then a picture of our house inside. He invited them to “come over to our house sometime,” which was so sweet and sincere that sometimes I can’t help but kiss him.

He helped me make the surprise delivery and he was as proud as he could be! It was a great moment for both of us and a wonderful way to teach him how to share in some good old-fashioned hospitality.

Conclusion: The neighbors were so touched by our gesture, which made me very happy! It also was a fun thing for Ethan and I to do this project together.

I would have to say that this concluded another fabulous notebook experiment! I am hoping that I have started a movement of neighborly love- check out Keeping the Kingdom First and how they shared their love with their neighbors after reading my little tweets about my baking day. Her daughter is older and she was able to keep her occupied with this task and hopefully she has sealed herself a brand new friendship.

In this high-tech day and age, I was wondering if you know your neighbors? What kind of a relationship do you have with the people on your street? This is something I am trying to work on, but I find it can be very difficult to connect with others because everyone is so busy. How do you make those connections?

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Posted in Amy's Notebook | 30 Comments »

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