Sunday Cupcakes.

Today was my kind of day. It was low key and relaxing. I took a nap with the kids and then fixed these fabulous tasting cupcakes thanks to Mrs. Betty Crocker.
Mini #1 and I survived a quick trip to Wal Mart to pick up a few things and I'm telling you it seemed as though everyone in the surrounding tri state area was there. We could not get down some of the aisles because of all the carts and people.
There is snow in the forecast so everyone scurries to Wal Mart around here to stock up on bread and milk..you know just in case they're stuck indoors for a month. It drives me NUTS to have to go to the grocery store when snow is coming.
We live on the edge when it comes to bread and milk, but DIAPERS...we HAVE to have diapers in the house.
We enjoyed temperatures in the 60s all weekend and are now expecting 10 inches with sleet/ice on Tuesday. UGH! I hope my next vacation involves a beach, a book, and a chair.
I hope your Monday is nothing short of marvelous.
Talk to you soon!

What do you buy from Sam's Club?

That seems to be the question of the week. Apparently, I go to Sam's more than the average shopper. That would be at least once a week so if I was all organized then I would have a fancy shopping list made into a spreadsheet with my regular items listed and categorized by aisles so I could check them off, but that's just not my style so I usually end up making multiple trips. It's a good thing you can get discounted gas at Sam's. There's my first item. Buy your gas at Sam's Club. It's usually $0.05 cheaper than surrounding gas stations.

We've purchased high quality furniture, jewelry, household items, and dinner from Sam's. They currently have a SWEET yellow diamond ring that I LOVE stalking every time I browse by the jewelry counter. It's more than I paid for my car!!!!
I looked at a pair of ear rings for a year before finally getting them. Then I lost one the first time I wore them! I retraced every one of my steps and found it the next day. (in the dishwasher!) Can we say lucky?

I don't usually buy my clothes there, but today there was a "special buy" that I couldn't pass up for spring.
Check out these cute Izod cardigans.


So here's the run down on my regular Sam's items:
*Hamburger meat. Get it in a 5-7 lb package and freeze it in 1 lb portions. I don't know if it's really a great deal from the grocery store, but I like having it in my freezer without having to buy meat every week.
*boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins. Again, I just like having it on hand.
*Shredded cheese. I repackage it and freeze it 1 quart freezer bags.
*Taco seasoning. It's good to have for a quick taco dinner or to use in soups.
*baby wipes. They're thick and soft. Each package has a reclosable opening so they're convenient to keep in the car for wiping up messes.
*Diced tomatoes and cans of rotel.
*Wet Swiffer wipes
*Lysol-save a spray bottle and fill it up over and over. It's a one stop shop for cleaning house.
*Paper plates
*eggs
*Rotisserie chicken and baby back ribs--I usually fix twice baked potatoes with them for a yummy, quick meal.

Here's what I have learned NOT to buy from Sam's club.
*Milk--I've blogged about my issue with their milk here. It spills.
*Most Produce and prewashed lettuce. We end up wasting most of it unless I find someone to split it with. I did buy the cutie oranges today because they are GOOD, easy to peel, and we'll eat those up fast.
*Member's mark gummy vitamins--they stick together and are next to impossible to get out of the container.
*Items that can be purchased with a coupon at another store. Speaking of coupons...did you know printable coupons can be printed from Target's website and used with a manufacturer coupon? NICE, huh?

The occasional treats:

*CANDY! In bulk! yes, please!
*Boneless bbq wings
*Southwest egg rolls--oh.my.word! They are so good!
*White cheese dip and chips

So there's my Sam's run down. What do you buy from Sam's?

Boys Will Be Boys.

We finally got about 4 inches of snow so schools have been closed. We've also been dealing with ear infections, stomach bugs, and sinus infections which have led to cabin fever.
Here's what's been going on in our house since we've been stuck indoors.

We've been playing basketball.


Reaching and Grabbing.



Climbing on furniture.


Knocking over furniture.


And being rambunctious.


If we have to spend one more day inside then I'm going to go broke.

Pants on the Ground.

Yesterday was one of those days where I needed a diet coke fountain machine right next to my chair so we headed to McDonald's for a quick lunch before the Upward basketball game.
(This story will not be new to some of you, but I keep getting tickled every time I think about it). Today the humor was over my immediate reactions and thoughts regarding the pants on the ground.
You see, I don't check the laundry for loose articles of clothing so I shouldn't have been surprised or mortified when Mini #1 removed an extra pair of freshly laundered, truck covered underwear out from his pants in the middle of McDonalds.
That might have been OK, but this went down behind my back as I was placing our order. All of a sudden I felt him pulling on my shirt tail and saying MOMMA, MOMMA. I told him to wait a minute since I was trying to pay.
When I turned around I immediately recognized the light blue underwear and the crowd shaped in a semi circle around us. Of course they were shaped in a semi circle. He must have needed the space to dance a jig in order to work the underwear out of his pant leg or maybe he just pulled it from the top. Either way I wanted to pretend it wasn't there, but there we were stuck between a rock and a hard place. I stuffed them in my purse and announced "well, I guess all the laundry didn't get put away did it?" Then I asked Mini #1 if he had anything else stashed up his pant leg. I sure didn't want any of my articles of clothing making an appearance.
Even after the embarrassment of shoving underwear in my purse, I'm still not going to take the time to inspect every pair of pants before putting them away so I'll just be better prepared with my response when it happens again. We might, however, find a new place to eat.

Snow Ice Cream

Well..the kids are in school. So far we've only seen a mere dusting of snow on our lawn. Maybe the weatherman will get it right this afternoon with his 1-3 inch prediction. I sure hope so.
I have to say it was pretty watching it snow during my morning commute this morning. I happened to be on the phone with my mom when I noticed how big the flakes were that were coming down. I've never seen such big, chunky flakes before. I kept telling her how pretty they were and then I just started laughing!
ONLY IN ARKANSAS can you get behind a chicken truck and confuse the feathers for snow flakes!
For the record, it was snowing too!
I'm posting Paula Deen's recipe for snow ice cream for those of you lucky dogs who are out playing in it today. I've never made it with condensed milk before so I might have to give this a try.

8 cups of snow
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla

You know the rest...
Hopefully I can post my own snow ice cream pictures before the end of the week.
Happy Monday.