We survived last week and are onto a much better week now. My cold sores are just about gone, hubby’s poison ivy is still around unfortunately - he has another dr. apointment tomorrow, the kids ended up fighting off their colds and never got really sick. The baby? I have no idea what position she is in now - she is getting so big it is kind of hard to tell. I am getting most kicks up high, but that could still mean her butt is down and feet are up… or she could have flipped - I really can’t tell. I have an appointment tomorrow so maybe she will be able to tell. If not, we are most likely having this baby in a week and a half - EEK! I had moms at preschool yesterday telling me how awful c-section recovery is. UGH. Why do people tell you these things? I’m trying to relax about it here, not hear horror stories!

Anyway, all in all things are going better his week.

A couple days ago I answered 15 Menu Planning ?’s on my Menu Mom Blog, that I thought you would enjoy. You can check them out here: www.themenumom.com

Have a great week!
C-

I just found a really fun site! It is called Paper Back Swap (but they do hardbacks and audio books too). If you look on the left and scroll down you will see a blue banner there that you can click to learn all about it yourself. Esentially you list 10 books that you are willing to part with, and you get two free credits to get you started and then every time someone “purchases” one of your books you receive another credit to “buy” a book. You have to ship your books out that are “for sale” obviously, and then when you “buy” books the person “selling” them ships them to you for free. It is a great place to pick up new cookbooks or essentially any book you are looking for.

Have fun!

Do you think I have good cake decorating skills? You can find out here: http://www.themenumom.com/cakes-by-me as well as find out how to win a really cool prize!

I know some of you are thinking what the heck is she talking about? Well, there is an application called Twitter that allows you to update what you are currently doing as well as keep track of what your friends/family are doing. It is just simple one liners that quickly gives an update. I have had friends asking me for almost a year to join and I just didn’t bite the bullet. Finally I gave in.

Anyway, if you scroll down a bit, on the left you will see a green box that says “what am I doing”. That is my twitter box. You can keep even more up to date on my day to day crazy life if you feel so inclined. And… if you already have a Twitter account (or want to open one - it is free) you can follow me on there as well (and I can in turn follow you!). See the little link on the bottom of my twitter box to head to the site.

Fun times! We’ll see how good I do at keeping it up to date.

C-

For new members - or old members who didn’t know… I just wanted to remind you that I do have another blog at www.themenumom.com Sometimes I post the same message there that I post here, but lots of times it is different if you want to periodically take a look. Enjoy!

I have a ton of brownie mixes from a sale awhile back, and was trying to figure out what to make (besides plain brownies) and came across this site. I thought you might enjoy it as well.
http://www.aaa-recipes.com/browniemix/brown.html
We’re going to try the Chocolate Brownie Pudding Cake tonight.

I just found a fun site to visit - Instructables. They have user submitted instructions on how to make… well.. just about anything! But the fun comes (in my mind) when you click on the food link. See if you can find the Rubic’s Cube Cake (my hubby would love that!). Anyway, go take a look and post in the comments what your favorite was - there are definitely some creative people out there!

First off, wow, what a beautiful day it is out! I hope you are having some great spring weather as well. Here it is 84 degrees and just beautiful. We just spent several hours in the garden (and hubby is still out there planting his peppers) but Dane and I were getting hot and decided to come in. So far we have raspberries, strawberries, broccoli, radish, cauliflower, lettuce, rhubarb, blueberries and hot peppers planted. Hopefully we’ll get to the rest soon. (and hopefully they will all grow…) This is only our 2nd year gardening, so I guess we’ll see! We love it though! Gives us a great reason to spend some quality time as a family outside. We live in a farming community, so the farmers are also out planting their field corn and soybeans. Our 4 acres (contracted out) will have soybeans this year - it rotates each year.

Has anyone got their tax rebate check yet? I hear if you have direct deposit most can expect payments in May. YEA! We were at the grocery store, in the “big town” yesterday (about an hour away) and they had big signs on their windows saying that if you put your rebate check into a gift card at their store they will give you an extra 10%. I know a lot of stores are doing this, so maybe it is a thought if you want your groceries paid for for awhile, or if you have a big home improvement project or such. I think I heard Sears and Home Depot are doing similar (although check with your local store, don’t hold me to that…)

Speaking of the grocery store… the reason we went the hour to go to the grocery store was because of the huge sale I found. The store is Jewel-Osco if you happen to have one (I think it is the same company as Albertson’s?) Anyway… through my local ad, and The Grocery Game (www.thegrocerygame.com - I love that site! You can try it for $1, and if you do, I would be honored if you use my e-mail as your referral christine@dinewithoutwhine.com) ANYWAY… through the ad and the site I was able to find some great deals. They have General Mills cereal on sale for 10/$10 (if you buy 10) but wait it gets better… In the cereal aisle they had coupons for $.75 off 2 boxes of cereal. So we got 20 boxes of cereal at $.67! Try to beat that! Then they have similar deals for microwave popcorn, granola bars, and fruit snacks. I also picked up a few other sales items and some basic items we needed such as produce and bread. Grand total.. read for this? We got 106 items for $115! Total amount saved - $198. I know gas is expensive, so I generally don’t travel an hour to go to the grocery store… but for that deal? Totally worth it! I love deals like that! Anyway, now that morning sickness is pretty much gone… I have been having fun with The Grocery Game and Refund Cents. www.dinewithoutwhine.com/refundcents swiping deals here and there. Our pantry areas will once again soon be re-stocked with great deals! If you have a CVS, you can grab some excellent deals there too - once again check out The Grocery Game with help.

Well, I guess I better go get cleaned up and ready to pick up the boys from school.

C-

Has spring arrived at your house yet? The weather has been such a tease here! One day we had 80 degrees, and now a couple days later it is freezing with a bit or snow. My poor plants in the garden aren’t going to know what to think! Opposed to planting the rest of my garden just yet.. I have decided to stay inside for a bit and get some spring cleaning done! Yuck, I know not the most enjoyable task. However, my friend Susanne, the Hillbilly Housewife, has put together a guide to make your spring cleaning quick, easy and maybe even enjoyable! At least if you’re like me, you’ll enjoy the end results at least. Head on over and check it out:
www.dinewithoutwhine.com/SpringClean

She walks you through cleaning your home room by room and she’s even included some great checklists to help you stay organized and on track. Go take a peek and you’ll be done with your cleaning before you even know it!

www.dinewithoutwhine.com/SpringClean

Christine

If you’re bored… because I know it has been kind of boring lately here on this blog… Head over to www.trafficjam.com This is a great new site featuring all kinds of fun blogs. You just might find a new favorite to add to your list!