We had a big weekend here at the Beckee's Deals house. we had to parties that I need to tell you about. the first we had last Friday Night. I was able to do this party through MommyParties sponsored by Oral-B Stages, Oral-B/Crest Pro-Health FOR ME and it was a blast!

Before I tell you about the party, let me tell you a bit about Oral-B Stages, Oral-B/Crest Pro-Health FOR ME.


Oral-B/Crest Pro-Health FOR ME sort of picks up where the Stages collections cuts off and is geared toward the "tweens". It is (this is a quote from their website) "the first-ever complete collection of oral care products for kids 8-12, with rinse, brush, floss, and toothpaste made just for them. Soon, they’ll be brushing and rinsing for fun. Seriously."


Now, Let me tell you about the Party!! The sponsors sent me a party pack that included the following:

• (11) Toothbrushes. Some were Oral-B Stage III Brushes, others were Pro-Health FOR ME Brushes
• (11) total flossers: Some were Oral-B Stages Flossers and some were Pro-Health FOR ME Floss Picks
• (11) Pro-Health FOR ME Paste
• (11) Cars II Gummy Vitamins samples
• (11) Balloons
• (11) Popcorn boxes for guests
• (11) Guest Gift Bags
• (3) Pro-Health FOR ME Rinse
• (1) Disney’s Cars II Movie DVD
• Recipe & Activity Ideas
• Cars II Playdate Invites

I was asked to have a Cars 2 viewing party and given some fun activities and great prizes to hand out (as you can see from the list above. I took the bags they provided and put together little (well big really) bags for the kids to take home with them. I had 18 kids come so I had to go get a few more of the items to make sure everyone got a goodie bag.
When everyone got here, we played a game that was sent in my party pack about what promotes Healthy teeth and what is not good for your teeth. It want well and we talked a bit about the items provided by Oral B and Crest that they would be taking home.

Then it was on to the movie. I set up a "movie theater" in my living room with a concession stand in the kitchen and dining room. We ate pizza for dinner and had lots of junk food (I told them to make sure to go home and use their new Oral B/Crest goodies to clean their teeth!)

It was a BLAST! I think everyone had a great time and they loved, LOVED their goodie bags! It was nice to be able to send them home with something useful and fun (and BIG-full size tooth paste and toothbrushes and flossers!!) I took some creative pictures to share with you so as not to show all my friends kids faces on my public blog. There is also a video of MY kids from RIGHT after their friends left. They are talking about what they cannot wait to try! Here are the pictures:
I love having fun activities like this at my house! Thank you again MommyParties, Oral-B Stages, and Oral-B/Crest Pro-Health FOR ME!!

***Disclosure: I was provided the above mentioned party pack free of charge. I was asked to give the party and write a blog post about it in return. I was not compensated in any other way for this party or this post!***

Here are my favorite deals in Omaha grocery this week:

Hyvee

• Cool Whip Whipped Topping 8oz select varities $.69 (limit 2)
• Hy Vee All Purpose Flour 5 lb (bleached or unbleached) $.99
• Pepsi Product 12 packs 4/$10 (which is $2.50 each, this price is with in ad coupon)
• Midwest Country Fare Granulated Sugar 4 lb $1.99
• Coke Product 12 packs 4/$11 ($2.75 each, price is with in ad coupon)
• Amana 100% Natural Beef Bone IN Standing Rib Roast $7.99/lb (Cheaper option at Super Saver)
• Brings Mild Yellow Onions 3 lb bag $1.49
• Hy Vee Bread Dough  (frozen, white bread, 2 lb) $1.68

In addition to their regular week long special, HyVee also has a 2 Day Sale Thursday 12/15-Friday 12/16 that includes the following:

• Hormel Always Tender Pork Loin $1.99/lb (limit 2)
• Hy Vee half gallon $.99 (limit 2)
• Tony's Frozen Pizzas $.69
• 7Up Products 6 pack bottles (16.9 fl oz) $1.88 (limit 4)

No Frills Fresh
Some of these prices are good only at the Baker's Square Location at 132nd and Center. I will make those prices with *

• 16 oz Roberts Sour Cream $.98*
• 8 lb bag of Navel Oranges or Texas Red Grapefruit $3.99 (Stocking stuffers?!)*
• Our Family Large Eggs 18 ct $1.78*
• 7Up or Dr Pepper Product 2L $.88*
• Rhodes Dinner or Sweet rolls 24-36 count or 34.5 oz-48 oz $3.29
• Marie Callendar Pies $4.48
• Avocados $.77 each

Bag N Save
***Note that the Bag N Save ad goes from 12/14-12/24!***

• Farmland Bone in Spiral Hams (Hickory or Honey) $1.59/lb (limit 2) (Note that Bakers has an even cheaper option!!)
• Clementines Tangerines 5 lb box $3.99
• Standing Rib Roast $7.88/lb
• Crystal Farms Cheese 8 oz 2/$3
• Coke Product 12 packs 4/$11 ($2.75 each, but must buy 4 to get this price)
• 7Up and Dr Pepper Product 12 packs 3/$7 (only $2.34 each!!)
• Sirloin Tip Roast $2.99/lb

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

• Cook's Whole Ham, smoked and bone in $1.19/lb
• Kroger Value Russet Potatoes 10 lb bag $1.99
• Various Quaker cereals, cookies, and granola bars are on sale 4/$10 and when you buy 4, you get a free Gallon of Baker's Milk
• Rib Eye Roasts of Steaks $7.99/lb

Aldi

• Sweet Potatoes $.33/lb (sold in 3 lb bag for $.99)
• Fresh Pineapple $.99 each

Super Saver

• Mr Dell's Hash Browns Assorted 24-32 Oz $1.77
• Jumbo Russet Potatoes 8 lb bag $1.66
• Best Choice Frozen Turkey 10-22 lb average $.87/lb
• Bone In Angus Beef Standing Rib Roast (bone in ) $6.48
• Fresh Washington Pears $.77/lb
• Best Choice Butter 1 lb $1.88
• Philadelphia Cream Cheese $.98

Fareway

• Land O Lakes 100% Orange Juice or Tru Moo Chocolate Milk Gallon $2.99
• 7Up and Dr Pepper Product 12 packs 3/$7 (only $2.34 each!!) (With in ad coupon)
• Swanson Chicken or Beef Broth 14.5 oz can 2/$1
• Nabisco Crackers 7-10 oz box $1.88
• Full Bag of Cookies $6.99 (36-48 count)
• Kraft shredded or chunk cheese 7-9.6 oz 3/$5 ($1.67 ish each)

***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.

I have told you so many times before about how much I LOVE CiCi's Pizza for an inexpensive YUMMY family dinner! Well, Cici's has a promotion going on throughout the rest of this month (Dec 2011). They want to Thank their guests for choosing to eat there!

On November 21st, CiCi’s kicked off its annual “Thank You” Campaign and you can participate by taking part in a variety of activities that will allow you to say “thanks” to special people in your life and community; as well as, possibly winning some great prizes for yourself and them along the way!

How can you participate in CiCi’s Thank You Campaign?

1• If you have not done so already, make sure to sign up for CiCi’s Pizza Perks. After you sign up, you will receive a BOGO buffet coupon and emails of future deals and events going on at CiCi’s.

2• Visit CiCi’s Facebook page then keep your eye out! During the rest of the month of December CiCi’s will be posting a variety of contests and trivia questions with opportunities to win prizes. Prizes will include, CiCi’s merchandise, gift cards and buffet cards.

And guess what else?! The wonderful people over at CiCi’s gave me 6 “free buffet” gift cards to give away.
What Can you win?

I have 6 FREE Buffets to give away thansk to Cici's! Since it is no fun to go alone, I will give them away in pairs. SO, 3 lucky Beckee's Deals readers will each win 2 FREE Buffet cards!! Yum!! Please enter below on the Rafflecopter form.

Today is the last day to enter to win the whole line of CeraVe skincare products! It is good stuff!! Go enter now!!

WOW! Did you know that today is Domino's Global Pizza Day? Why, you ask, is this important for me to know? Well, because that means that Domino's Pizzas ordered online today are 50% off!! I am typing this as I enjoy my late lunch of Domino's pizza! Go check out the details on their facebook page here. Oh and FYI-MAKE SURE you turn off your pop up blocker before you try to order or it will not work-took me forever to figure that out! :)

One of my favorite things about Thanksgiving is the leftovers! I love figuring out different way sto use them in new exciting recipes. I usually do a turkey noodle soup and a turkey pot pie, but then I am a little stuck on what else to do with the Turkey. So, I was excited when I heard that Hellmann's is holding a Hellmann's® Turkey Challenge!! Check out what it is (as they have described it on their website:

Hellmann's has all kinds of ideas to make turkey dinners more delicious. Each week, we'll spotlight one of our most popular turkey recipes. But are there other recipes you'll like even more?

The Hellmann's Turkey Challenge gives you a chance to tell us. Each week, two Hellmann's® recipes will challenge the spotlighted turkey recipe for your vote. You can even vote as many times as you like.

I love that I can try different spotlighted recipes and try them out! YUM! Go check it out and vote for your favorite!!

By way of disclosure: I was entered for a chance to win a Hellmann's® prize package in exchange for this post. No monetary exchange took place.

Well, here I am in Chicago...

Wes is at his conference and Chicago is living up to its name...it is a WINDY city today!

So, I am chilling inside for a bit and thought I would write a quick post or two. What to know something really funny? Look:

Ignore the mess, but notice that they gave us 2 double beds rather than the King size bed we were supposed to have...funny...they say they will move us to a King room today. Here's to hoping they really will!

A couple weeks ago I asked whether you were CeraVe's biggest fan. (If you did not read that post you should go check it out and read all about their contest...videos for the contest will go up on December 1st for you to vote on-that is next week!!)

Since posting about that contest to find CeraVe's biggest fan, I was sent their entire line to try out myself.

What is it?

I was sent:

• CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser
• CeraVe Foaming Facial Cleanser
• CeraVe Facial Moisturizing AM with SPF
• CeraVe Facial Moisturizing PM
• CeraVe Moisturizing Lotion
• CeraVe Moisturizing Cream

According to their website:

The CeraVe Skincare line includes six elegant, yet affordable formulations, making it an ideal choice for your daily skincare regimen.
All CeraVe Skincare products provide the benefits of unique, patented MVE® delivery technology and are formulated with essential ceramides and other skin-nurturing and protective ingredients—including vital humectants and emollients—to replenish and retain needed moisture.
MVE is a registered trademark of Healthpoint, Ltd., and used under license

What did I think?

Well, as mentioned recently on this blog, I am not a fan of face washing as I always feel like there crap all over my face after I am done washing it. Sometimes it feels greasy, or filmy, or just like I have some sort of thick foundation on my face. Also, I have pretty sensitive skin, so I often break out more with facial cleaners (break out into zits sometimes, but usually into rashes-ugly rashes).
For the purpose of this review, I wanted to make sure to give these products a good test so I have been using them for the past week.
The first time I opened the products up I noticed they were not full of overwhelming scents. In fact they are basically scent free. Sometimes I like scented lotions, but sometimes they really just distract from the lotion for me. Especially if they are scented and the scent conflicts with my perfume or my shampoo or whatever other scented items I have on. These products could be worn without any scent conflicts.
I first tried the Moisturizing Lotion first. I Loved how they both felt on my hands. I felt like my dry hands were soaking it in. I have nasty scar on my left hand caused many years ago by a steam burn between my thumb and my pointer finger:

It is an ugly little imperfection that I can usually ignore, but as the weather turns and my skin gets dry, that scar really grates on my nerves. It gets more and more dry, and most lotions don't really help the scar. It remains dry and nasty. However, this lotion made my scar feel soft over about 90% of it (There is still a stubborn part that just always feels rough). I was amazed how well it worked on that. The Moisturizing Cream works equally well.
That being said, lets talk about the part that was a real test for me-the facial cleansers. As I mentioned, I am not usually a fan of facial cleansers or lotions at all. I first tried the Foaming Facial Cleanser on my face. If I am going to us a cleanser, I am a big fan of foaming ones, I feel like I can see them working. When I put it on my face, it felt...well just good. Not greasy, or slimy, or filmy, just good. In fact it felt really high quality. I felt like I was using top of the line skin care that would make my skin heal...it almost felt medical grade (in a very great way). I really felt like I could feel it healing and cleaning my skin.

The best part for me was that after I washed it off, it did not leave any kind of a thick, filmy feeling. My face simply felt clean! When I used the Hydrating Cleanser it had a similar effect.

I was worried that the Facial Moisturizing Lotions (AM & PM) might feel weird on my face since I don't out much lotion on my face, but found them to feel, like the other products, just good! My skin felt like it was being pampered and healed and I really liked it.

Often when I find a product I like, the cost of it makes me think twice about whether I can afford to use it. That is not the case here! The entire line of CeraVe products retails for a suggested price of $79 and is available in many drugstores (You can find locations near you by checking the store locater on the left side of the CeraVe website) That is a great price for this whole line!

What can you win?

One Lucky Beckee's Deals winner will win the same thing I was send to review-that's right, the ENTIRE line of CeraVe products (Suggested Retail Price $79):

• CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser
• CeraVe Foaming Facial Cleanser
• CeraVe Facial Moisturizing AM with SPF
• CeraVe Facial Moisturizing PM
• CeraVe Moisturizing Lotion
• CeraVe Moisturizing Cream

Please enter to win using the Rafflecopter form below (If you are having trouble seeing the rafflecopter form or are seeing the wrong form, refresh this post by clicking on the POST title and it should refresh and show the correct form).



As it says in the Rafflecopter form "Please note that the giveaway will end on 12/9 at 12:01 AM EASTERN time. That means you have until 11:01 PM on 12/8 Central time to get in entries. Please note that winner will be picked at random by Rafflecopter after the giveaway ends! Also, Facebook is not affiliated with this giveaway and cannot be held responsible for it in any way."

**By Way of disclosure, I did receive CeraVe® products to review as well as a set of products to give away to a reader in exchange for my upcoming review and for sharing this information. No other compensation was given and all opinions I share are always my own!**

Have you seen my newest giveaway? I am giving away a pack of Carmex lotions and creams!! Check out my review and enter the giveaway here! Giveaway ends tomorrow night so enter quick!

Thanks to Chex and MyGetTogether, I was able to have a Chex "Mix-change" party last Saturday! It was a twist up on the usual holiday cookie exchange parties!

Though I invited a lot of people, few were able to make it (darn holiday season is so busy)! Those of us there had a great time though and tried LOTS of different kinds of Chex Mix. Let me share some of the pictures from the party with you, but first may I recommend that you go check out the Chex Mix recipes here. I tried all 5 of the ones listed there for my party (plus a few more), and I liked all of them! See the pictures of them below!!

Here are a few pictures of the party (Please note that for some reason when I uploaded them they all went out of order and will not work right...sorry):


I loved this party and it gave me the opportunity to tell lots of friends about all the options for Chex Mix you can use through this holiday season! I LOVE that Chex Mix ix so versatile! You really can do so much with it! Do you have a favorite Chex Mix recipe you could share? PLEASE leave it as a comment if you do! I would love, LOVE to try your recipes!!

Thanks to Chex and MyGetTogether for allowing me to host such a fun party!