Menu Plan Monday

I can't believe it's only Saturday and I already have my menu planning done for this coming week. I also got all my shopping & errands done this morning, so I feel like I'm already ahead. Usually, I'm always running behind, so it's a nice feeling of accomplishment! Hopefully I can continue to stay ahead and finish some tasks I've had on my list for awhile to complete. I hope you all have a wonderful week! :)

Sunday: Tacos w/ all the Fixings, Beans & Rice

Monday: Pork Chops, Baked Potatoes, Rice & Corn

Tuesday: Spaghetti & Meatballs, Salad & Garlic Bread (never made it last week)

Wednesday: Bacon Sandwiches & Tomato Soup

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Eating Out.....Headed to Disneyland! :):):)

Saturday: Disneyland

Sunday: Eating Out-Headed back home

Baby Einstein DVD's

I went to Toys-R-Us today to get some pretty good deals they had going on. I was able to get 4 Baby Einstein DVD's at $14.99 each. They have a door buster deal going on for Friday & Saturday only: Buy 1 DVD get 1 free. I then had 4-$5.00 off coupons, making each Baby Einstein DVD only $2.50 each. My little Jeremiah just loves these movies and I couldn't pass up this great deal! :)

Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches......YUMMY!

Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches are one of my family's favorite meals! I made them tonight for dinner and they were absolutely delicious! If you haven't made them before, I recommend that you try this recipe. You can add or subtract whatever ingredients to your liking. My husband doesn't like bell pepper or onions, so I just make his separately from mine. He loves mushrooms, so I just add mushrooms & cheese to his. I did the whole works on mine because that's how I love it!

If you try this recipe, let me know what you think? I'm always open to suggestions or new recipes! :)

3 Packs of Basil Seeds

When you sign up for an email newsletter HERE they will send you an email with an address to send them a Self Addressed Stamped Envelope to get your free Seeds.

The email states, ”You will get a variety package that includes 3 garden size packets: 1 each of Classic Genovese, Dark Purple Opal, and Lemon Basil, a package valued at $7.50!”

Thanks, A Thrifty Mom!

Free Plant Markers

Garden Freebie: When you sign up here you can get free Garden markers that are weather resistant!

Thanks, A Thrifty Mom!

Starting Our 1st Garden

I have been wanting to start our own garden for the past couple of years, but I never got around to doing it. Now that my boys are getting older, I thought it would be a great time to start! Not only would it be a learning experience for my kids, but they are so excited to help me and eat the fruits & veggies we produce. Maybe this will be my way of getting them to eat more veggies. Hmmmmmm......we will see about that one! :)


Preston & Noah were anxious to water the plants with their new watering cans. The only problem was, we didn't plant the plants yet. :) It was very bright outside......what a beautiful day it was!


The boys were helping me by bringing the plants over to me so I can plant them.

They were putting soil in the pots for mommy. My big helpers!

The funny part is, they were having so much fun doing this for me!

My cute little guys.

Noah got tired and went in the house, but Preston continued to help me the whole time. He even got a chair to get more comfortable.

Preston was just as excited as I was to get this garden going. He amazed me by how much he wanted to help and be by my side the whole time.

This is just the beginning of all the plants we planted. I know I will have to re-plant some when they grow to be much bigger, but in the meantime, this is what I had to start off with.

I have an area on my side yard that I want to clear out with all the weeds and overgrown plants coming from my neighbors yard. My hubby will build me some raised plantar boxes so we can plant seeds for other fruits & vegetables that wouldn't grow so well in pots. Hopefully we can accomplish this by next weekend because I'm anxious to get this all completed and get started.

This is going to be so much fun! The best part is, the kids have that excitement and want to help me. Not only will I be teaching them about the whole process of how a garden grows and all the hard work involved, it will also be teaching them how grateful we should be for the food God has provided for us.

I planted: Tomatoes (cherry & beefsteak), green bell pepper, red bell pepper, small pumpkins, crookneck squash, summer squash, jalapeno pepper, cilantro, peppermint, basil & parsley.

I have a lot more I want to plant once I get my raised beds done. I will update you once I have it completed. Wish us luck for a prosperous garden! :)

Menu Plan Monday

I skipped menu planning last week because my sister-in-law & nephew came to visit us all week I wasn't sure what we had going on. We had a great visit and I was bummed they had to leave to go back home already.

Now, I'm back to menu planning this week. They had some great sales on meat this week!

Sunday: Tacos w/ all the fixings

Monday: Fillet Mignon Steak (my husband will be happy), Salad & Garlic Bread

Tuesday: Turkey Burgers, Tator Tots & Fresh Fruit

Wednesday: Pork Chops, Baked Potatoes & Rice

Thursday: Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches

Friday: Spaghetti & Meatballs, Salad & Corn

Saturday: Homemade Pizza

Plain to Cute

I'm attending my Daycare Association Home Tour tomorrow morning and I was in charge of getting Donations from local business'. We wanted to give out little gifts to show our appreciation to our Home Daycare Providers in the Central Valley. I was surprised to see how many donations I received and I'm excited to see how our event will turn out tomorrow!

I needed small little gift bags to put the gift cards in, but the bags were just so plain looking. I took out my Cricut Expression and made some cute Daisy's to add a little flair to the bags. Look how cute they turned out!

My Deals This Week

I have been so busy these past few weeks, I haven't done much coupon shopping lately up until today. I have to say...."I definitely missed it!" I love coupon shopping, especially when I get products we use either free or almost free. I love seeing what my totals come to after all my coupons & savings. It's such a great feeling knowing how much money I am saving for my family, especially knowing I would buy most of these products with or without coupons anyway.

My Walmart Trip:

I ONLY spent $2.11 w/ tax for all these items after coupons.

Cetaphil-$5.47 (I had 4-$5.00 off coupons) so I only paid .47 each

Wardley Fish Food-$1.51 (I had 4-$2.00 off coupons) so I got them for FREE, plus I got back .49 towards my purchase.

My Target Trip:

I only spent a total of $9.58 for all these items......Awesome huh?

*Johnson's Soap Buddy Bar-.99 each- I had a $1.00 off coupon for any Johnson & Johnson Bath products and I stacked it with a $2.50 off Catalina coupon I received back from Target during one of my previous purchases, therefore making all 3 free plus .50 overage I got put towards my bill.

*Softsoap Ensemble Refill Soap-$2.49 each (They had $2.00 off peelie coupons on each bottle making them only .49 each. I got a total of 8. We will be playing outside all summer so we will be doing lots of hand washing, so I thought I might as well stock up for this price! :)

*Dial Hand Soap-$1.37 each-I had (4) $1.00 off Target coupons and I stacked them with (4) .35 cents off mfg. coupons making them only .02 each after coupons.

*Magnetix-$2.48 each. These were originally priced at $9.99 and they got marked down to only $2.48. I ended up buying two different kinds and I thought I would hold on to them for gifts in the future. You never know when a special occasion arises!

As you can see, taking a little extra time clipping coupons can definitely make your dollar stretch a lot farther!

Preston's 4th Birthday Party

I can't believe my son Preston just turned 4 years old on Sunday. Where has the time gone? Seriously? He is getting to be such a big boy now. I love the age he is at now, but I also miss my baby! We took Preston to John's Incredible Pizza to celebrate his birthday on Saturday with family and a few close friends. He had such a blast. I don't think his smile ever went away from his face that whole day. He was so excited to turn 4! He originally wanted Thomas The Train theme, but then he changed it to Mickey Mouse (I think it was because of coming back from Disneyland) at the last minute.

Preston with his huge Mickey Mouse balloon on our way to John's Incredible Pizza.

O.K.....so my cupcakes do not look exactly like Mickey Mouse, but close, right?!?! LOL

Mommy scored big points because Preston LOVED them! :)

This was Preston's cupcake with his number 4 candle to light.

Preston was making his wish before he blew out his birthday candle.

Preston Blowing out his candle.

My cute little family.

Me and my sweet boys.

Nana with two very happy boys with chocolate all over their faces.

Nana with the birthday boy.

Great Grandma Rhodes with a very happy birthday boy that can't stop smiling.

Preston with his Aunt Sandee and cousin Micah.

Jeremiah LOVES his Nana!

Preston loves his Aunt Laurie & Uncle John.

Preston loves his Aunt Lindsay.

Our dear friends John & Laurie. Thank you for celebrating Preston's birthday with us and making it so special. We love you guys!

Our dear friends Matt & Lindsay. Thank you for celebrating Preston's birthday with us and making it so special. We love you guys!

Preston & Noah got to ride the train. Preston loves all different kinds of trains & he is the biggest Thomas The Train fan.

It was so cute to see their facial expressions during there train ride. They smiled the whole time!

They absolutely LOVED the frog ride. Just look at those smiling faces! :-)

Noah's expression is just PRICELESS!!!

I love this one..........Preston & Noah kept looking at each other with such excitement. They wanted to share the joy with each other.

Preston had such a great time. Our family & dear friends helped make his day so special!

Although Preston had a great time at John's Incredible Pizza, he just couldn't wait to go home and open his gifts.

Jeremiah almost fits in this gift bag. He was having fun playing with it. My cute little guy!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Since I had so much fun decorating cookies for St. Patrick's Day last Saturday at my friend Carrie's house, I wanted to do it again. This time, I invited my friends to come and decorate cookies with me and we all had a great time today. My kids were so excited when they saw the cookies that mommy had decorated for them.

I think this may be a new tradition I might start doing for each Holiday. I didn't realize how much fun it is to decorate cookies. I know my cookies are not professional looking by all means, but practice makes perfect eventually, right?!?! :-)

My mom (Becky) decorating her cookies.

My friend Lindsay. She is super talented decorating cookies & she loves baking too!

My sister-in-law Sandee is here visiting us from Hatcreek. It was fun having her here with us to join in the fun! :)

This was the first time she has ever decorated sugar cookies. They turned out cute!

My friend Laurie was gracious enough to lend her home for our cookie decorating party. She loves baking as well and she does a lot of cookie decorating during the holidays.

Here is a pic. of my cookies I finished decorating. I think they turned out cute! My kids love them and that's all that matters, since it was for them. :)