Finding Freebies

I have had an absolute blast going to my mailbox over 
the past couple of weeks!!! I have friended many freebie 
finders on Facebook.  Today my mailbox was so full of 
great freebies I was surprised the mail lady got it all in 
there!!!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Free-Samples-
2-Fill-Up-Your-Mailbox/117286354980752?


http://www.facebook.com/FreeSamplePage


http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nifty-
Thifty-Savings/121638661204798


They work so hard to find all the great freebies 
out there and we get the benefits! My husband is 
always amazed at how much we get every day in 
the mailbox.


Another of my personal favorite sites is 
www.dealseekingmom.com
She really got me started with the whole saving 
money concept and taught me how to coupon!  
Last year I got most of my daughter's school 
supplies for free or close to it thanks to 
her great posts!  I hope you find some 
great freebies!

Sweet little baby

My little man is such a sweetie.  Every day he tells me what I do that makes his heart happy. :) Today he told me that I make his heart happy when I make him lunch.  I love the sweetness of 4 year olds!

Crocs Are My Faves for Lil Feet

I am SO in love with crocs for my little man's feet! Thomas loves his Go Blue Crocs the best (University of Michigan) but he has just started loving flip flops, too... I love that crocs are anti-microbial, so they don't start smelling bad after they're worn for a couple of months! PLU they are usually a pretty good price and last forever!!! Check these out and let me know what you think...

Graduation Parties

We have Graduation Parties for 4 boys today! Grad parties can get expensive, as everyone is expected to hand over some cash to the grad!  So we are giving McDonald's Gift Cards because we can do a $10 card, which gives them a free meal! They are happy that they got something good even though it wasn't expensive. :)  Do you think that's OK to do? Let me know your ideas...

Another Birthday Dinner

So we're onto Birthday dinner number three for my husband...  He is getting SPOILED this year! Tonight we are going to his parents' house for birthday dinner.  It's nice that Jeremy is getting spoiled this year, usually he puts his birthday on the back burner.  Even though I didn't purchase him anything extravagant, he seems to have enjoyed his birthday more this year!  Not much else for now, pretty laid back day today... Just doing laundry and relaxing!

FREE Things To Do With The Kids

Since we are tight on cash this summer, I have been working hard to find free or almost free things to do with the kids.  We have two great playgrounds in Chelsea that I'm sure my 4 year old would be happy to go to every day, my 12 year old, not so much... So I signed up for www.kidsbowlfree.com They will give you a coupon for one free game of bowling per day per child all summer long.  A lot of the movie theaters around are also doing super cheap movies (mostly on Tuesdays at 10 am) so check your local theater.  We have a "Cheap Seats" movie theater about 20 minutes away from us, where it's $1 per person all week, and Tuesday all day, it's half price.  I've debated getting a zoo membership since the kids both like going to the zoo.  It's a pretty pricey expense up front, and we don't have any zoos SUPER close, so it's about an hour drive each way.  BUT it's just as expensive to pay for one visit for the family as it is to buy a family pass. So as long as we go at least twice in the season, it pays for itself.  On Thursdays evening in downtown Chelsea they have "Sights and Sounds" where they have bands or musicians on every corner and artists and various other great things going on in downtown.  This week there is also a basketball shootoff.  So I'm sure we will be heading out there most Thursdays.  After dark (9:30ish) they also have an outdoor movie showing that shows on the side of the building.  So that's another option.  If you read this and have any other great options for FUN and FREE things to do with kids, I would love the input!

Dinner

I made homemade "boneless chicken wings" (really they were cut up chicken breasts...) with a dry rub and then bbq sauce, and corn on the cob.  The chicken was SO good!  I'm glad I didn't give up and go buy some.  My 4 year old helped me make the cake by tasting it every chance he got! :) Everything turned out really good, and the only things I bought were the cake mix and frosting, and the corn on the cob.
Jerms loved the T-shirt, too bad it had a little bitty hole at the bottom edge of it, so we have to exchange it.  But he doesn't mind...

I'm hoping to get this for Jerms for Father's Day, we got a really nice Weber grill (for free, a left over from someone's garage sale) and it deserves a nice cover.   I guess I could just get a plain black one, but what fun would that be? :)

What I got

I ended up getting Jeremy a really cool t-shirt because I couldn't find the book.  Oh well, when I called to get some ideas, what did he say he wanted? A T-shirt... So at least he got what he wanted. :)
So now I'm off to find a recipe for boneless bbq chicken wings...

Birthday Book

So I'm thinking about getting Jeremy a book for his birthday and this one caught my eye : Die Happy: 499 Things Every Guy's Gotta Do While He Still Can.
I'm hoping I can find it today!

Birthday Shopping

What should I get for my husband's birthday? I know I waited to the very last minute, today is his birthday!!! I'm headed to the store in about an hour to walk aimlessly with my almost 4 year old in tow. I have very little money to spend, so we'll see what I end up with. My son thinks his daddy needs some plaid shorts... Should be an interesting time!

When we get home from shopping, I have to get dinner made (my husband wants chicken wings and carrot cake) and I'm really wishing I could just go buy the stuff, but we'll be making it!

Ever since we bought our house in March, it has been a real life lesson on how to make ends meet and still have fun. I have turned to many blogs to find out how to get things for cheap, or better yet, for free. I joined my local freecycle and will be getting 3 cowboy pictures and a cowboy lamp for my son's room today FOR FREE!! Who knew that was even possible. I'm hopeful that the cowboy stuff is really cool and not terrible... I clip coupons, which helps with the grocery shopping.

The hardest thing has been explaining to my 12 1/2 year old daughter that we do not have money to constantly go shopping. She likes her clothes and shoes and all that. She IS after all, a girl... :)

Wish me luck, I'm off.