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.

Eat.Drink.Save Money.

$25 Restaurant gift certificates for only $2? Yes please.
Here's your chance to go back to one of your favorite restaurants or try somewhere new.
Must. act. fast: Offer through tomorrow only
Go here to find participating restaurants around you.

Back to Reality.

The halls are officially undecked. To be completely honest, they were 100% undecked the day after Christmas. A bit scroogy, huh?
The truth is I am overwhelmed by STUFF and there is STUFF everywhere in my house so the seasonal items had to go. Plus there is a trip for us coming up soon so I had to get out from underneath all this STUFF to find my bags. It took multiple trips to Target to get it all properly put away in the attic. I took my people on one of those Target trips. Do you shop the day after Christmas? I love to get new things for the next year. The Commander wants to put up outdoor lights next year so we went on a mission to find the perfect Christmas lights at 50% off.
OHHH, I forgot how he doesn't do anything small. In my opinion, we should have enough lights to light up our street. Next year we very well could be the Griswalds of the neighborhood. We shall see. Anyway, all of his outdoor lighting was used to fill up my last empty tote so that meant a trip back to Target for more totes.
...NEVER FUN FOR ME.
Is picking out totes stressful for anyone else or is this just another one of my OCD/neurotic ways? I can stand there for 30 minutes staring and comparing. Will this one be big enough? I wonder if two smaller ones would fit my items better? Maybe I should just buy a few of these large ones and get rid of some of the smaller ones. Then that might be too hard to get in and out of the attic. I like the ones with the latches and handles. They cost more. It is really worth paying more for a latch and handle? It is just a tote after all.
WHEW! My sensible self realizes this is not normal! That's 30 minutes in the Target storage aisle that I can't get back. I should have moved to the kitchen aisle after 5minutes for a more enjoyable shopping experience.
I did pick up three drawer organizers. Two of my drawers are happy now. I had mismatched containers in them that served no real purpose except to collect junk.
The new ones are MUCH better. They've given my drawers a fresh start anyway. I'm sure they will have collected just as much junk by this time next year...just being honest.
I am giving myself a pat on the back for the jump start on my New Year's resolution--GET ORGANIZED! Have you got any tips for the car? That seems to be my weak spot.
The passenger seat is also used as my filing cabinet. People don't always enjoy shuffling though preschool papers, bills, and mail to take a ride with me.
I don't really want something to hang over the seat, but I'm diggin this right now.

Although something like this in the back seat might be nice for some of my paperwork.

You'd think I could just pull the papers out of the car every time I get out, but that's just not my style. It's all I can do to get myself and the kids out of the car. We're usually running about 5-10 min behind so maybe that could be another resolution...leave 10 minutes earlier.