Am I getting it back???

I think I might be!  I am talking about couponing.  Before we moved in December, I had at least 1 transaction a week where I spent less than I saved (by pretty decent amounts).  Since the move, I have not been able to get my grocery trips and coupons to work out right.  It was really starting to get on my nerves and I was starting to wonder if it was the area or if I was loosing my skill.  Anyway, my trip to Publix this evening made me reconsider my though process.  I purchased...

• 10 boxes of Morningstar Farms meatless entrees
• 2 boxes of Kellogg's Crunchy Nut cereal
• 1 jar of Barilla pasta sauce
• 1 bottle of Lysol multi-purpose

I spent a total of $15 and saved $43!!!  I am super excited that I may actually be getting back into the groove!  We will see what happens next week :-)

Anyone want biscuits???

We absolutely love biscuits...I mean, who doesn't!?!?  The only problem is that I refuse to buy canned biscuits simply because I can make them for cheaper myself...but, who really has time in the morning to make homemade biscuits.  I know I don't!  So, when I saw this recipe from Mommy Octopus, I knew I had to try it.  So, yesterday I spent a few minutes making Freezer Biscuits.  That was the best idea!!  We baked some of them this morning and they were so tasty!  This is definitely going to be a staple at our house!  Thanks Mommy Octopus for such a great and easy recipe!

Finally found some help for my daughter's hair!

So, for those of you who don't know, my children are biracial.  My daughter has the most beautiful curly hair that I have ever seen.  However, it's so difficult to manage, especially for someone who knows nothing about hair!  My hair has always been pretty easy to manage since it's fairly straight and fairly "normal."  Well, I was using just regular baby shampoo on her hair for the longest time until I noticed that she had this dry, frizzy patch in the back of her hair.  I used detangler, I wet it, I washed it...nothing seemed to be helping.  It was getting to the point that I felt as though I was damaging her hair because I almost had to tear it to comb it.  I finally started researching hair products and I found Mixed Chicks.  Initially I didn't want to purchase the products because they were so expensive and I was used to buying my hair products on sale for super cheap.  I ended up giving in and purchasing the 4 pack (shampoo, conditioner, leave-in conditioner and detangler).  I have to say, it was the best purchase that I have made in a long time!  My daughter's hair was immediately easier to manage.  It's to the point now that after washing and conditioning her hair, I can comb her hair with little to no tangles.  I am no longer hearing her cry when I am doing her hair.  Mixed Chicks has been such a life-saver!  I just recently had to purchase more products from Mixed Chicks because we had some of our bags stolen and our Mixed Chicks was in one of the bags.  Before I purchased more products, I decided to try over the counter stuff to see if I could get by without spending as much money.  Well, after numerous different conditioners and more money than I anticipated, I purchased more Mixed Chicks....nothing compares!  Mixed Chicks will have my business for a long time!!

All opinions are my own and no compensation has been received.

Children's Advil

So, my 2 year old daughter wakes up on last Wednesday screaming her head off.  I mean, the scream that makes a mom think that she is dying!  I go running into her room and she has her head looking up at the ceiling and she is sitting on her knees in her bed.  She starts screaming, "Mom, I can't move my head, I can't move my head!"  Turns out that she has a "kink" in her neck (or as my family calls it a "crick").  I don't know if I should say luckily but my son had one when he was around the same age so we had an idea of what to do.  We moved her to the sofa so that she could get comfortable and we put the heating pad on her neck (which we later found out was a bad idea).  Thanks to Smiley360, we had Children's Advil on hand to give to her and boy did we use it!  We had to give her Advil almost every 6 hours on the dot so that she could feel the least bit normal.  She ended up fighting with the pain and difficulty moving for 3 days before she got back to normal.  I was so thankful that we had the Advil though because otherwise we would have had to go to the store scrambling for something to give her.

 Children’s Advil® is the #1 Selling Children’s Fever Brand.** Nothing reduces a fever faster* or keeps it down longer than Children’s Advil®^†. You can feel confident knowing that Children’s Advil® is both safe and effective when used as directed. 

It is important to remember:

• Always read and keep the cartons for complete warnings and information on Infants’ Advil® and Children’s Advil® products
• Only use the dosing device that comes packaged with the medicine
• Use as directed

You can find your own coupon for Children's Advil by signing up here on the Children's Advil website. 

I received a sample of Children's Advil from Smiley360 in exchange for my review of the product and to share my opinion with others.  All opinions are my own and no other compensation has been received.

My kids favorite Christmas gift....

is the LeapPad!!  Who would have known.  They actually had a Gameboy and a DS prior to us purchasing the LeapPads and we wanted to get them something on the same level.  We considered everything from the new 3DS to Leapfrog Explorer to the V-tech Innotab.  We really leaned toward the more educational options so that took the DS out of the equation.  Then we were just left to decide between the LeapPad, Explorer and Innotab.  After lots of research we decided on the the LeapPad.  Our main reasons were the reviews that we read about the Innotab and LeapPad and also the idea that the LeapPad was fairly new (which hindered the Explorer).  Not to mention that the LeapPad was to be sold to our children by saying that they are toddlers versions of Ipads.  They LOVE their dads Ipad so they were ecstatic when they were told about the LeapPads.

Now that they children have had some time to play with them, I wanted to give my own personal review.  They LeapPad offers so many learning opportunities.  The kids can play games, read/listen to books, sing songs, take pictures, paint among other things.

My daughter was actually the first of my children to show interest in her LeapPad on Christmas day.  She's 2 but she is very smart.  She took her LeapPad and went into her tent and played with it for 30 minutes or more before we heard anything from her.  She absolutely loves the Pet game.  She gets to take care of her own pet by cleaning it, playing with it and feeding it, all while learning.  For instance, she has to write letters to show love to the pet.  She also loves the book reading and music.  She already knows some words to some of the songs.

My 4 year old son did not show any interest in his LeapPad until a few hours later.  He noticed that his sister kept playing with hers and that I think that peaked his interest.  He also started out playing the Pet game and he loves it as well.  However, we purchased the Cars game for the Explorer (which can be used on the LeapPad) and that's what he likes to play.  It has all the well know Cars characters and they help teach the children while making it fun.  He also loves the songs on the LeapPad and he loves to sing along.

Overall, I am thoroughly impressed with the LeapPad.  Leapfrog has yet to let me down!  This is an amazing learning tool that keeps the kids attention while teaching them fundamentals.  Not to mention, they have all the well known characters that children love in the games.  Knowing what I know now, I would absolutely purchase the LeapPad again.  We are already trying to determine which games we will be buying for them next!

All opinions are my own and no compensation has been received.

CarMD...my husband is in love!!

I finally received our new CarMD in the mail the other day and my husband couldn't wait to open it.  He has been wanting an OBD scanner for a LONG time but I couldn't see paying that much money for something that he would rarely use.  Then, I was offered the opportunity to purchase the CarMD at a discounted rate and I was over the moon. 

This has been so easy to use.  It's pretty much plug and play.  I registered for the website prior to using the CarMD and I have to admit that was my last interaction with the device.  My husband refuses to let me use it :-)  So, after he "tested" the Jeep, here is what he had to say...

A lot of the other reviews say that CarMD has a lot of hype but is just another OBD scanner. This is true to an advanced user such as a ASE certified mechanic or an advanced do it yourself mechanic. However, for the average consumer the simplicity of the two button design and easy to read led/screen take a lot of the complexity out of vehicle diagnostics. This coupled with the intuitive web based interface make it very easy for anyone to understand the specific issues and overall health of their vehicle. I have used this on my personal vehicle to ensure it stays in top "physical" condition. I am considering upgrading to the premium membership to gain access to the latest recalls and technical service bulletins. That way I will be armed with all the necessary information to maintain my vehicle for the duration of my ownership. Please consider giving this as a gift to that someone who you have difficulty buying for or that "expert" mechanic in your family.

As you can see, he has been well pleased.  I am so grateful to BzzAgent for giving us the opportunity to test a CarMD.  It has definitely made my husband happy this Christmas!!  If you want to surprise your husband with a CarMD for Christmas, try this link for $30 off your purchase! 

I received a CarMD device from BzzAgent at a discounted rate in exchange for my review of the product.  All opinions are my own and no other compensation has been received.

Kroger's The Truly Awesome Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies = YUM!

BzzAgent recently gave me the opportunity to try Kroger's new Truly Awesome Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Needless to say, I was super excited because I have a horrible sweet tooth.  I HAVE to have something sweet every day or I feel as though my day in incomplete.  The cookies happened to arrive when we were getting ready to go out of town so I tossed the cookies in the bags with all the other snacks.

Jonathan and I were the first to try the new cookies and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised!  I have tried lots of store brand items and I am usually not too happy with the taste.  Store brand items just do not taste the same to me so I am always hesitant to buy them.  After trying these cookies, I have to say that I would be totally okay with buying these cookies on a regular basis.

These cookies were so buttery and you could not take a bite without get some chocolate chips.  Jonathan and I had a hard time stopping once we started eating them.  As a matter of fact, I am pretty sure that we finished the first box in one sitting and that's a little sad because these cookies were huge!  I have to admit that I was put off at first because I love chewy cookies and with the first bite I could tell that these were not chewy.  However, they tasted so good that I completely lost the thoughts about the texture!  I would definitely recommend trying these cookies the next time you are shopping at Kroger (or any of their chain of stores) because you will not be disappointed!!

Thanks BzzAgent for giving me the opportunity to try these cookies!!