Giveaway Winner

So . . . I entered my first giveaway . . . the Cheerios one (posted below), and I won! A new freshwater pearl bracelet.

So . . . I'm trying another giveaway. This one is for silicone baking pans, which I have never tried. Here is the link for the new giveaway!

Cinna Heaven . . .

Among all things "heavenly" to me are fresh cinnamon rolls. My dealings with cinnamon rolls usually go as far as popping open a can of Pillsbury cinnamon rolls. Watching the food network semi-frequently, I see Paula Deen and other cooks make homemade cinnamon rolls, I get all inspired, but then when I look-up the recipe I always get intimidated with the--waiting for the dough to rise (twice) and all the kneading. Fortunately, I found a recipe that lets the bread maker do half of the work for you. In THIS RECIPE You put the dough ingredients in the bread maker and let it do it's magic. I even put my bread maker on a time delay so that my dough would be ready when I woke up this morning. After cautiously peeking in the bread maker to find my dough rasied and ready, I rolled it out, put in the filling--let them rise again, and they cooked in 15 min. to gooey perfection. I made the icing recpie as written, but I'm not a huge fan of cream cheese icing. Next time--and there will be a next time--I will just make a conf. sugar icing. I would have taken a picture, but I lent out my camera. Next time PHOTOS!

Cheerios/Fake Ginger Giveaway

Here is a link to Fake Ginger . . . my new favorite blog's . . . first giveaway. Cheerios is giving away freshwater pearl necklaces to raise awareness about cholesterol.

Sign-up for this giveaway HERE.

A Chip off the Ol' Block

So most of you know by now that I am a compulsive organizer. Weeelllllll--it seems as though Avery has picked up this very noble trait. I swear I did not move these toys! I was sitting on the couch reading this morning (no church for us today since Avery is running a fever), and Avery started yelling. I looked up to find her toy food, chicken nuggets (chin-chin), hamburger buns, tomato slices, and cookies (tookie) organized two by two on the chair. Fever or not, an organizer by heart. I love it!

Garnier, Huggies, and Orbit, oh my!

Today I did the weekly "deals" shopping alone, without Avery or Bryan. Avery was running a fever this morning, so none of us went to church. Bryan, thankfully, agreed to let me sneak out during her morning nap to do my couponing alone. It was nice not to have to feel rushed or to be juggling coupons and Avery trying to climb out of a cart. Here's my loot:

Walgreens:

• 12 Garnier Fruitis Shampoo/Conditioner/Stylers (on sale for 2.99)--used $2 EasySaver & $1/1 for each
• 6 packs Orbit Gum--used 3/.99 EasySaver
• 1 South Beach Meal Bar--clearance price .50
  

I divided up these transactions into 3 transactions, using the meal bar and gum for fillers (since the coupons technically made a profit of .01 on the Garnier products.

Total @ Walgreens (including tax) $5.31

Target:

• 3- 184 ct. Huggies Gentle Care wipes--used $5.00/1 coupon for each
• 1 adorable onesie pjs for friend's shower--$1.48 (not pictured . . . I don't want them to see it before I give it to them)
  

Total @ Target (including tax) $5.81

CVS:

• 4 Garnier Haircolor--on sale 2/$10 & buy $10 get $5 ECB, used $2/1 coupon on each
  
• 4 Herbal Essence Shampoo/Conditioners--on sale for $2.88 & $1 ECB, used $3/2 coupon for 4
  
• 1 pkg make-up brushes clearance price $2.17
• 2 Maybelline Dream Matte Mouse Foundation--clearance price $2.37, used $2/1 coupon on each
  

I did three transactions, to roll my ECBs.

Total @ CVS (including tax) $1.74 & 19.98 ECB--BUT got $14.00 ECB back

Grand total out-of-pocket spending (including tax) $12.86
Total (before all coupons, clearance, EBCs, & tax) $128.61
Total Savings--$115.75 (90%) YEAH!!!!!!!!

Pigtails and the Dora tent

Having plenty of activities for Avery to do is getting tough. All of us are getting a little sick of the cold weather. I'm ready to go to the park, take a walk, play out in the grass . . . . winter is getting so old. At any rate, we have started rotating some of Avery's toys so she doesn't have the same toys available everyday (a little variety never hurt anyone). Avery's newest love is
her Dora tent, a quick pop-up portable tent with an attaching tunnel. She likes to hang out in the tent, put her "haha" (monkey) in the tent, and then ask you "haha?" She loved playing peek-a-boo with the camera hiding in the tent as well. Spring--come and rescue us from monotony!

Enjoying the Heating Vents

Avery has come to enjoy standing on our heater vents when the heat kicks on. I would describe how this effects her hair, but pictures say it all!