Friends, I just wanted to give you an update and let you know what has been going on. I apologize for my lack of deals but over the last week my husband has gone to Pittsburgh and Iowa (the whole family went to that one) for fellowship interviews. He apparently got sick while in Pittsburgh and brought it home. So, he has been really sick (he even took 3 sick days last week-he does not take sick days!). Than, we had our 1st grader home at the end of last week with a 103.7 fever (which Wes had as well). Both are still getting over this virus and now I am starting to feel terrible and over the last hour my 2 year old has developed a fever. I hope you are all avoiding the seasonal sicknesses! I am hoping to get up and feeling better so I can get some deals and stuff up here later this afternoon. I especially want to get the Grocery match ups done if I can. So for this morning, I am going to take a nap and hope this massive headaches leaves!!

FYI, My friend Angela posted the following on Facebook:

This is for all my SLC friends. The Osh Kosh store in Draper is going out of business on the 30th of Sept. There are some great deals (some not so great too), plus you can go to their website and get a coupon for even more savings! Check it out, I would be surprised if you can leave the store empty-handed!

Thanks to those that entered my newest giveaway for a Nature Valley National Parks Project Package! I used Random.org to choose a winner and it came up with #61. So APRIL won with the comment that said...
subscribe via email left on September 19, 2010 2:55 PM


I have emailed the winner and April has 2 days to get back to me or I will have to choose a new winner.

I told you all here that I am going to be reviewing something from the CSN Store websites. And I told you all here that I ordered a couple things: a Sassafras Kid's Pretzel Making Kit, and a Sassafras Kid's Pizza Party Baking Kit. And guess what?! Just because I needed them, and because the CSN Store websites have just about everything, I also added a set of 4 Mr Clean Magic Erasers that I needed!

Well, last night my family had a family night activity and made the Pretzels. Before I tell you about the item itself, let me tell you a couple things about the CSN Store. First, ordering was quick and easy. Second, the items came QUICKLY! I was really impressed by that! My Mr Clean Magic Erasers were here the 2nd day after ordering, and the 2 kits were here the next day. It was so quick! I was very happy with the ease of ordering and the quick delivery!

That being said, let me tell you about the Sassafras Kid's Pretzel Making Kit. It is not an overstatement to say my kids LOVED it and I thought it was a ton of fun! What a great activity to do as a family! We were able to make our own "homemade" pretzels in a quick easy way thanks to this awesome kit.  There are a few things you have to have at home (like butter, water, baking soda and a mixing bowl), but other than those few things, everything else in in the kit. It made organizing this fun activity SOOO easy and we loved working on it together! ( I should mention that my husband and I did this with all four of our kids ages 2, 4, 6, and 7) Check out our adventure through pictures:

First, look at all the great stuff that came in the package:

In case you cannot see what is all there, it has nutrition facts, directions to make pretzels, measuring cup, wooden spoon, cookie sheet, pretzel mix, salt, frosting mix, cheese sauce, yeast, and the fought over apron. Look how cute that thing was:

We let the kids do the mixing:

Then I helped with the messy hand kneading:

After rising for a half hour we made balls of the dough and rolled them into long "snakes" to make shapes out of:

Each kid made their own pretzel snakes then shaped their pretzel however they wanted it on their own (ok actually I helped the 2 year old make her pretzel shaped pretzel after she rolled out the snake...)

The shapes above include 2 pretzel shaped pretzels, a W for Wes (my husband) and a B for Beckee (me).

And the shapes in that one are the ones the kids made.  A for Army, a heart for E Dawg, a moon shape for Sugar pup, and a pretzel for Cat.  While they cooked we made the chocolate frosting and opened up the cheese sauce:

When they came out they smelled SOOOO good.  And they looked pretty good too:

Are you hungry yet?  I know I was and boy did I enjoy my pretzel!!  See:

So, are you wondering what the kids thought? This should tell you:

Overall, we thought this was a fun project as a family and we loved having a treat at the end!! I highly recommend this product and I getting it through the CSN Store website was quick and easy! You should check it out here! We cannot wait to try out our pizza party making kit!!!

Have you entered my VERY LOW ENTRY newest giveaway for a Nature Valley National Parks Project Package?! If not you should enter! Today is the last day to enter!!!

I LOVE the package I got! It is a fantastic prize with many ways to win amd VERY low entries right now (right now only 77). Please go enter here.

I am not sure whether I have postd about this before, but in case not, I thought you might want to know that you can head over here to request a free sample of new CINNABON CREAM OF WHEAT!!! How yummy does that sound?!

Have you entered my VERY LOW ENTRY newest giveaway for a Nature Valley National Parks Project Package?! If not you should enter! I LOVE the package I got! It is a fantastic prize with many ways to win amd VERY low entries right now (only 47). Please go enter here.

Click here and register. If you are one of the first 16000 to do so, you will get a fantastic coupon for Buy one Get one free Wholly Guacamole. I love BOGO coupons, and these are YUMMY!

Thanks Money Saving Mom.

Remember, as with EVERY Friday, today is Mega Swagbucks day! That means more chances to earn more Swagbucks! So, makes sure to use Swagbucks for all your searching needs today!

If you have not joined yet, click on my referral link here and start earning Swagbucks with me! This is a GREAT time to join-with Mega Swagbucks going on today!! As an FYI, I have gotten $110 in Amazon Gift cards so far and I 1087 Swagbucks left, which is enough to get another $10 in Amazon gift cards with 187 Swagbucks left (450=$5 Amazon card).

If you are new to Swagbucks, please read my explaination of Swagbucks here. And my explaination of the changes to Swagbucks here.

I cannot believe I never posted this review on my blog!! I only posted it on the Modernmom.com website. So, let me tell you about this! As a Modernmom.com insider, this summer I was offered the chance to try and review a wonderful product called the VTech MobiGo. On August 11 I wrote the following quick review of it:

We opened up our VTech MobiGo yesterday and it has been very popular. It says it is for ages 3-8 years old, and I have 4 kids ages 7, 6, 4, and 2. Even the 2 year old LOVES it! I cannot believe how great the games are and how much fun my kids are having learning on the MobiGo. When my husband came home and saw them playing on it he wanted to try it out as well. He and I waited until bedtime to take our turns, but we were impressed! The kids can learn so much and get fun practice in math and spelling and I LOVE that it has the QWERTY board on it! What a fantastic learning toy! I am glad we got the chance to try it out, but it would be well worth the cost to purchase it! I highly recommend it!

Can I add that in the past month of play with it, my kids have not tired of it! It is still the most popular item to fight over here! Granted, the older 2 kids (ages 6 & 7) have essentially mastered almost all the games, but the 2 younger kids still learn more each time they pick it up. The math blaster game is still teaching all the kids. I have as yet, not hooked the MobiGo up to the laptop to try to connect.

I just wanted to let you know about this fantastic product. If you are looking for a great learning toy for your young kids, I HIGHLY recommend this product.

***Please note that I did receive a VTech MobiGo free of charge from Modernmom.com to try and review. All opinions are my own however.***

Well, a day late is better than never!! Here are the Grocery deals around town!
List of my favorite Omaha grocery deals this week:

Hyvee

• 3 lb roll of 80% lean fresh ground beef $4.98 (makes it $1.66/lb)
• Fritos, Cheetos, Fritos Dip or Rold Gold Pretzels 7.75-16 oz $1.99
• Sara Lee or Earthgrains bread, Bagels or Buns $1.88 (I have seen the Sara Lee on much better sale, but this is pretty good for the Earthgrains bread)
• Hy-Vee 6 ct applesauce 3/$4
• Sierra Mist 2 L $1 each but there is an in ad  BOGO coupon, so you can get 2/$1 using that
• Roma Tomatoes $.99/lb
• Fresh Green Beans $.99/lb
• Farmland Jumbo Franks $.99
• Lynden Farms Frozen Potatoes 32oz $1.18
• Anderson Erickson Yogurt 10/$5
• Midwest Counrty Fare Cherry Pie Filling 21 oz $1.47
• Hy Vee 4 ct Fruit or Fruit and gel 2/$3
• Hy-Vee Canned Premium CHunk Chicken Breast 5 oz $1.28
• ***There is currently a Catalina where if you buy 10 participating General Mills Products, you will get a $5 catalina (basically that is like a $5 off coupon for your next Hy-Vee purchae).***

In addition to the regular sale, Hy-vee is also running a 4-Day sale running this week, Wednesday September 15 through Saturday September 18 that includes the following deals:

• 3 lb bag Jonathan Apples $.98
• 2 ct bakery fresh french bread $1

AND in addition to those sales, Hy-Vee is running a 2-Day $1 Sale Friday September 17 through Saturday September 18 Sale that includes:

• Half Gallon Hy-Vee OJ $1
• Dole Classic Salad or Coleslaw 2/$1
• Hy-Vee 12 or 16 oz pasta 2/$1
• Wonder Classic bread of buns $1
• Little Debbie Snacks $1
• 12 oz Hy Vee Cottage Cheese $1
• Russet Potatoes 5 lb bag $1
• Coke, Pepsi or 7-Up products 2 Liters $1

No Frills Fresh

• Our Family Chili or Kidney Beans 15 oz $.48
• Our Family Canned Tomatoes 14.5 oz $.48
• Skinner Pasta 12-16 oz $.88
• Cottonelle Ultra Bath Tissue 12 Double rolls $4.88 (limit 3)
• Canned Tomato sauce 8 oz $.29

Bag N Save

• Campbells' Chicken Noodle or Tomato soup 10 oz $.39 (limit 12)
• Peaches $.99/lb
• Tyson Fresh Boneless Chicken Breast or Tenders $1.69/lb
• Cucumbers 2/$1
• Fresh Sliced or whole white mushrooms 8 oz pkg 2/$3
• Kitchen Basics Chicken Stock 32 oz 2/$5
• Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks (included roll ups and fruit by foot) $1.69 (with in ad coupon)
• General Mills Cereals (10.7 oz Trix, 11.8 oz Cocoa Puffs, 12 oz Golden Grahams, 11.5 oz Lucky Charms, or 9 ox Multi Grain Cheerios) $1.69 (with in ad Coupon)
• Totinos Party Pizza $.69 (with in ad coupon)
• Green Giant Vegetables Boil in Bag 7-10 oz $.99 (with in ad coupon)
• Oroweat 100% Whole Wheat, 12 Grain or Buttermilk Bread $1.99

In addition to their weekly sale, Bag N Save is running a 3-day sale from Friday September 17 through Sunday September 19 that includes the following:

• Oscar Mayer Hot Dogs $.99 Limit 5 (beef & cheese not included)

Baker's (Remember their sales are almost always WITH card)

• Kroger Frozen Vegetables 12 oz $.88
• Pepsi 2 Liters $.88
• Tyson IFF Boneless skinless chicken breast or tenderloin 2.5 lb bag $6.48

Aldi

• Milk Gallons $1.79
• Hummus 8 oz $1.69
• Red or Green Grapes $.74/lb
• Canteloupe $.89 each
• Mangos $.49 each

Super Saver

• Always Save 64 oz Apple Juice $.99
• Always Save Weiners $.68
• Always Save 12 oz Bacon $2.48
• Always Save gelatin 4/$1
• Pepsi Products 24 packs $5.98

Fareway

• Silk Soy Milk $2.88
• Necterines $.99/lb

***Remember that I generally just price match at Walmart as much as I can rather than go to all the stores separately! I LOVE being able to do that. You can also pricematch at Target, but I find it easier to pricematch at Walmart.

Have you entered my newest giveaway for a Nature Valley National Parks Project Package?! If not you should enter! I LOVE the package I got! It is a fantastic prize with many ways to win amd VERY low entries right now (only 28). Please go enter here.

I always jump at the chance to get a freebie-but I am particularly fast when it involves chocolate!!! Go here to Ginnero's website to request a free sample of their chocolate!!

Thanks Sweet Pennie from Heaven.

I got this freebie the other day and thought it was gone so did not post it, but as it turns out, it is still available! Yeah!! Get a friend's email address all ready, then go here and fill out the form with your information and your friend's email and name and both you and your friend will get a FREE tub of Cottenelle Fresh wipes! YES! I am excited about this one-I used my sister as my friend and I hope she gets her tub!

Has anyone entered codes at Huggies Enjoy the Ride lately and noticed that there is now an offer code box at the bottom? Well, TODAY, if you have any codes from wipes or diapers to enter, you should!! Then in the offer code box enter 76320755 and you will get DOUBLE points!!! I wish I had not entered codes yesterday!!!

Thanks Cuckoo for Coupon Deals.

This is so lazy of me, but I wanted to tell you about a whole bunch of freebies I have seen the last day or so, then I got an email from one of the blogs I really like that has most of them included in a new post. So rather that write out all the new freebies and find all the links, let me just refer you to this post at Cuckoo for Coupon Deals to check out the freebies. And check out the rest of her blog while you are there. It is one of the deals blogs I recently discovered and really like!

The first 15,000 people to go here and request it will get a FREE Soy Joy Banana bar.

Thanks Mojo Savings.

There are more deals out there today, but I need to get ready for my birthday lunch and then run some birthday errands! I hope you will all forgive me for taking hte rest of the day off! Please post any great deals you find on the Facebook wall or in a comment. Thanks for being readers of my blog!!

Here are 3 new Huggies Enjoy The Ride Rewards codes worth 5 points each:

• BJKFTDXKFHCDPGB
• BJKNGQJRMBQRPGB
• BJNZKHMLTMXDPGB

Go enter your codes here.

Thanks Mojo Savings.

I have mentioned before how one of the best ways to get free coupons is to contact the companies directly with either a compliment or a complaint (a sincere one). I email companies often to let them know I like or appreciate their products. I have to be pretty upset to email a company with a complaint, and that does not happen as often these days. Usually if I am disappointed with a product but not angry, I do not emails. But I realize now that is a mistake.

Let me tell you about what happened last week. I have a 2-year-old daughter that is lactose intolerant. Luckily, She LOVES Silk Very Vanilla Soy milk so she gets her nutrients from that mostly. Occasionally we have bought other brands and flavors of soy & Almond milks. She (and I) have liked them all. However, recently, our Walmart stopped selling Silk's Very Vanilla, and I had coupons for Silk, so I bought their regular vanilla flavor thinking it could not possibly be that different. Boy was I wrong! It was terrible and my child refused to drink it (she rarely NEVER refuses her milk and often begs for more). So, I tried it and it was awful. To say the least we did not like it. I thought "Oh well, I guess we won't buy that again." And was ready to leave it at that. (Well, after I called and complained at Walmart enough that they now carry the Very Vanilla again I was ready to leave it at that).

Well, my husband one day said "Beckee, look at the package-it has a money back guarantee that says to email them if you do not like it. You should just email." It was a fantastic idea so I did it. All I said int he email was that I love the Very Vanilla and was surprised to find we did not like the vanilla at all and that I just wanted to follow up since there was a guarantee. Well I got an email back from them on Friday saying they were sorry I did not like their product, and they hoped we would try another product, and they were sending me 2 free product coupons to replace the 2 I bought and did not like! I could not have been happier!

My point? Even if you do not HATE a product or feel angry about it, it is always worth email the company to let them know what your experience with their product was. Even if all you say is that you expected more of the product. Whatever your real opinion of a product is after trying it, it is worth a couple minutes to email the company and let them know what you thought-often it really pays off!

I need to warn you before I start this post that it is about a website I LOVE and adore, but is pretty specifically for items related to LDS church resources. So, I apologize to those readers that are not interested in this, but SOOO many people have asked me about this site recently that I just decided to post about it for reference. Please use it if you can, and just ignore this post if you are uninterested.

Sugardoodle.net is the most awesome website/resource for LDS teachers/leaders (well, after LDS.org anyway). Sugardoodle has activity ideas for youth, activity days, it has lesson helps for just about everyone, and really just a lot of great ideas, The idea around this site is that people submit their ideas or items they have used in their lessons or activities for others to see and use if they want to. You can also share your ideas and things you use and come up with. I always feel famous by association whenever I see posts from people I know! It is truly a fantastic, FREE resource for LDS church related everything! Go check it out here to see if it might be helpful to you in your calling! I use it often for mine!