Under Construction!

UPDATE: I'm about 1/3 of the way through going back over my previous posts and giving them all labels to better organize my entries. School was closed again today and Miss Allison has asked for some computer time...probably a good thing since my eyes are starting to get a little sore. Hopefully I get this task done before the days out.

I was featured on "Tip Junkie" yesterday so if you are new to my blog, Welcome! I'm glad you stopped by! I'm changing things around a little so if you can't find what you are looking for, please stop back. My little blog is under a little construction. I'm in the process of making it more user friendly so you can easily find what you came here to find!

Have Fun!

Pin It

A Sweet Healthy Treat!

Have you tried any of the 100 Calorie Snacks that are on the market right now? There are SO many out there these days. Everyone seems to be making them...Keebler, Nabisco, Hostess, South Beach, Pepperidge Farm, General Mills and even Hershey's chocolate. I could sit here and go on and on with the list of companies that want to get in the action. Apparently it's what the consumer wants. Even though they are more expensive (probably because the portions are individually packaged), I buy them. Actually they aren't that bad if you get them on sale. If you have a coupon for them, then it's a double savings.

Anyway, this is my new favorite for when I want something sweet. It is stamped $3.99 on the box but they were on sale at Target last week for $2.99.

First, let me say. I am not much of a strawberry person. My ice cream of choice is vanilla as well as my milkshake of choice. If I could have any cake, it would be white cake with white icing. Are you thinking how could that be with her colorful exciting personality? ;) Don't get me wrong, I like chocolate but in it's true form. I can bite the head off a chocolate bunny and not feel the least bit guilty. Give me Reese's Peanut Butter cups and I'll be your friend for life! How do you think Curtis won me over?!? Yup! He brought me a Reese's 4 pack!

Come to think about it, the only strawberry desserts that I enjoy are strawberry shortcake and that pretzel salad dessert with pretzels on the bottom, cream cheese filling and then topped with strawberry jello with strawberries on top. Truth be told there. I eat the strawberry jello first to get it out of the way so I can enjoy the rest. I know. I'm odd but you probably have already figured that out!

Anyway, my point (as long and drawn out as it may be) is that these Hostess strawberry cakes are yummy! So much in fact, they are my new favorite! It's just the right taste to cure my sweet tooth!

The only problem is that they haven't been all that easy to find....I'm guessing that I'm not the only one who loves them! The only place I have found them is at Target. Wednesday must be when they come in and restock them because both times I was there on a Wednesday, the display was full. They have them on an end cap at the registers. Be sure and get yourself a box. You won't regret it!

Have Fun! Pin It

Pick Me Jill! Pick Me!

One of my favorite bloggers, Jill from "Controlling my Chaos," is having a contest. You remember her. She's the one who shared the awesome artwork that I used for Allison's Halloween treat toppers for her treats for her classmates. Yes. That's her! Well now she has made adorable Valentine's for her daughters to give out at school. Click here to go see them but come back and read the rest of my blog post.

Anyway, she is going to make them for 3 lucky readers! Isn't that cool? All you have to do to enter is post a picture of your child and their name on your blog and link back to her.

Okay Jill! Here's my Allison and I'm sitting here in my chair waving my hand in the air yelling "PICK ME! PICK ME!"

Okay. Now I'm stopping because I think I've scared the cats!

Seriously Jill! I could really use these Valentines. After all, I am the head party parent and have so much more to do than the other parents who just have to get Valentines for their child to hand out. I ALSO have to do a craft, find a game, plan a snack and a beverage and do treat bags...for their kids!

Yes. I volunteered for all of this and love mostly every minute of it but as you can see I'm not above begging!

Have Fun! Pin It

Target Dollar Spot Goodies!

I dropped Allison off at school this morning and had a half an hour to kill before the bank opened. I needed 4 things so I stopped at Target because you all know I'm not a fan that other store. Well let me tell you! I had not been there in a few weeks. I know. I know. That is hard to believe because if you didn't know this before about me, you will know this now....I could live in Target! I'm not kidding. I LOVE that place!

Anyway. Their "Dollar Spot" was stocked to the ceiling! Okay. Maybe not the ceiling but it was overflowing with all sorts of fun and cute things.

Now let me explain something to you about their dollar spot. It is not a good place to visit if you want to keep your money in your wallet. It sucks you in and makes you spend way more than you intended to when you walked in the place...especially when it's newly stocked.

To be honest with all of you, I think they should rename the "Dollar Spot" to "Target Crack." I'm serious! It's like a drug. It draws you in by making you feel good with all it's fun, pretty and cheap items. It makes you spend your money that probably needed to go to the electric company. That doesn't matter though, because you know the next time you visit Target, you will be drawn to that corner of the store. You will find yourself scouring the isles to find what your next fix will be!

See. Now do you believe me that it should be called "Target Crack?"

Okay. Moving right along...I usually allow myself to buy a maximum of $3 of Target crack but today was different. Oh. I forgot to mention that not all things are $1 in their "Dollar Spot." I know the name is a little misleading but some of the items are $2.50.

Anyway. Here's my score! I don't know if it's the pink, red or hearts but today's loot makes me very happy! I did go over my allowance of $3 and spent $10 but a girl has to break the rules every once in a while, doesn't she?

I picked up a roll of Valentine's Day paper, a Valentine's Day gift bag, a 4 x 6 frame, a pink metal mailbox and a pair of Valentine's Day socks for Allison. These items were all a $1.00. I also bought for $2.50 each . . . a two pack of kitchen towels and pink heart ice cube trays.

Here's a close-up of the mini pinkmail box. It is adorable! I have been collecting stuff to redo Allison's room for quite some time. I plan on embellishing this up a little bit and putting it on a shelf in her room so I can leave her little notes now and again.

Have Fun!

Pin It

It's All in The Bag!

I'm linking up with the blog "Rocks in My Dryer" this week for her weekly "works for me Wednesday" feature she does every Wednesday. Several hundred bloggers gather there every Wednesday to share a "what works for them" tip. I have to be careful when I visit her blog on Wednesdays because it's a time sucker. There are so many great tips shared that I find myself saving a ton of them and spending way more time on the computer than planned. I think I may play beat the clock and set a timer to give myself so much time when I visit today.

My tip this week is probably something most Moms already do but I'm sharing it anyway. Several months ago, I decided that I was tired of carrying a huge purse so I could get everything in there that I needed for the day...and it also made for a messy purse when I needed to find something. I started carrying a tote bag. One that I had gotten free with purchase from Lancome cosmetics. It did the job okay but it wasn't the right size and I didn't like being a walking billboard.

So I set off to find me the perfect tote bag. Yes, that's right. Frugal Cindi was going to buy a pretty tote bag. Yes. I have several in the closet that was free with some promotional logo on the front...after all everyone gives them out! But that's not what I wanted. I decided that I was worth a pretty classy bag and I was going to find myself the perfect one...and I did!

I found her on Etsy from Janine King Designs.
Yes. She's a her. Only something this pretty could be a her!

Can I tell you that I just LOVE this bag?!?

It has held up so well and I carry it every day! The workmanship is beautiful. It's nice and big and has three different size pockets inside that are very roomy. The straps are long and hang on my shoulder at the perfect length. I also love that it has a strong zipper. Some that I looked at didn't. I didn't like the idea that anyone could see into it or grab anything out of it. I have it hanging on a hook in the picture so you could see it but I don't usually hang it. I carry a lot in it and I don't want to put the added weight on the straps. I'm sure it would be fine since it's so strongly made but I'd rather not hang it too much. It sits next to me at my desk at work on top of the paper shredder.

As you can see it holds a ton! These are the items I am currently carrying in it: my red folder which houses my important papers that I need to deal with currently, a large white envelope with papers I need to fill out, another large envelope with Girl Scout Cookie order sheets and stuff (which by the way we are selling and I will ship to my friends in the continental United States for free if they order 6 or more boxes), a BeautiControl Product Guide, my Home Interiors candle sheet for taking orders, my organizer (that I've customized and can't live without), a zippered pouch (which hold those little things you or a desperate friend may need at a moments notice), a little Tupperware mini midget with vitamins in it (for those days I forgot to take them at home), packets of Crystal Light to flavor my bottled water when I want something sweet, my TomTom (because you can't leave it in your vehicle and fits nicely in one of the side pockets) and a pen (because the 10 in my purse may not be enough)!

I just looked at Janine King's website and she's running a sale! Check out the Madison French Blue one. I gave that to my Mom for Christmas because she commented on mine a couple of times. It so pretty and $5 less expensive than I paid for it.

And before you ask, I do not know Janine and I am not paid for this post. I just LOVE the tote and like sharing what I like with all of you!

Have Fun!

Pin It

The Moms Tie One On!

A couple of months ago my best friend, Susan and I started what we call "Mom's Craft Night Out" for us and a bunch of our family and friends. You can read more about it and our first get together here.

We skipped the month of December because we felt it would just be too busy with all the stuff Moms get added to their to do lists that month.

This past Sunday we resumed our planned time away from our family and responsibilities to get together and have some fun! We relaxed, laughed, crafted, reminisced and tied one on!

Now, now. You better not be thinking that we sat around and got sloshed! This group of Mothers would be more likely to be at the front of MADD to prevent people from "tieing one on" in an effort to protect their children. When I said "tie one on," I meant that literally.

I was inspired by The Nester whose blog the Nesting Place I love! She makes these cute Ragamuffin Garlands out of all sorts of materials. I took her concept and put it around a heart wreath and our "Ragamuffin Heart Wreaths" were born!

Here's the sample. Isn't it cute?

You can click on it for a better view.

Here are some of the fabrics I picked out for the wreaths.

My wreath is made out of the top fabric.

I had picked this fabric up last year around Valentine's Day because I loved it and I'm so glad that I found a use for it.

Here's a another view. It was so hard to get a picture of it's true color.

Here's a close-up. We used the fabric cut in strips of about 1/2 inch wide by 6 1/4 inch long. You just put it around one piece of the grapevine wreath and tie it off. Some of the wreaths are tight but you can pry it apart enough with a flat head screwdriver to get a corner of the fabric in between the vine. Then use tweezers to pull it through. After we put the fabric around the whole wreath and filled in areas that we thought needed it, we added red and hot pink satin ribbon for an added pop of color. These were so easy and so fun!

Busy, busy, busy.

We had one future Mother with us this month. Her parents went to the Pittsburgh Penguins game and one of the Moms were watching her. We made this one exception to the "no kid rule" and she did an excellent job making her wreath and was well behaved! I also have to mention that these two were our Pittsburgh Steeler fans. The last big playoff game before the Super Bowl to see who was going to the Super Bowl was that evening. Yes. The Steelers won and they are going to the Super Bowl! Go Team!
Our two generation gals!

Sisters-in-law.

It's coming along beautifully.

Almost to the end...Yippee!

"I love craft night! What are we doing next month?"


This month's group with our finished projects. Left to right are: Nettie, Marissa, Dawn, Susan C., Susan D., Sandy and Me with my wreath that blends in with my shirt!

If any of you make a "Ragamuffin Heart Wreath" please be sure and drop me an email with pictures. I would love to see how yours turned out!

Go see more Valentine ideas at...

Have Fun! Pin It

I'm NOT Alone!

I get up every morning very early. It's MY time to get some things accomplished in peace. I read my email. Read a couple of blogs. Do a load of laundry. Watch the news. Make Allison's lunch for school. Pack my work bag and if I'm inspired and have time, I post on my blog.

One morning last week, I was busy on the computer reading some blogs when I felt like I was being watched.

I turned around to find this:

She was being so quiet but I could tell I was not alone.

She was just sitting there watching me as if to say "Mom, my brother and I need food but I don't want to bother you in your peaceful morning."

or was she thinking...

"There's that female that things she's the queen in this house! They may have named me Princess but I'm the QUEEN!"

I would like to believe that she was being sweet and letting me have my quiet time. However, I personally think that female cats are a little *itchy. It's just my opinion but I have talked to several people that agree with me.

In all honesty though, Princess is a nice cat and I'm glad that we have her.

Even though her fur drives me nuts, she makes Allison happy and that's all that matters to me.

On a side note, we had our second "Mom's Craft Night Out" last night so be sure to check back tomorrow. We had lots of fun and I love how our project turned out!

Have Fun!

Pin It

Where DOES She Come Up with This Stuff?

Allison has a fascination with Bigfoot right now. I don't know where it started but she wants/needs to know more. She actually wants to catch one. She searches through her dictionaries, reference books and where ever she can find her answers. I just let her go on her search for knowledge.

About 10 minutes ago she asked if she could go on google. I said "yes."

She came back to Curtis and I saying that Bigfoot is most active in Winter.

We just looked at each other and asked her how she knew that.

She said, "I googled it." "I asked what time of year are Bigfoot most active and it said at night and since Winter has the longest nights, they are most active in Winter." (by the way, google didn't say Winter had the longest nights...she knew that and came to this conclusion on her own)

Curtis and I again looked at each other with confusion of how she knows stuff like this at 7 years of age!!

We then asked her how she spelled "active" and her reply was "a-c-t-i-v-e" ...that's pretty good when it hasn't been a spelling word and it could have come out a-k-t-i-v."

I went over to the computer and sure enough this is what she typed in..."what time of year are bigfoot most active?"

Wow! There are some days we just scratch our heads in wonder?

Have Fun! Pin It

Brrrrrrr!!! & Awwww!!!

I know some parts of the country have it worse but this is what we woke up to today!

I took the pic of the television so it's not that clear but I think you can make it out.

They say is hasn't been this cold here since January of 1994!

My neighbor two doors down called and she has no water. We are guessing her pipes are frozen and Curtis is on his way over to help.

I usually turn the furnace down at night but I didn't last night. Our living room is the coldest room in the house and Allison wanted to camp out in there last night so I wanted to be sure and keep it warm for her.

Thank goodness or we may not have water either!

Thursday night I got home late from work and went straight up to bed. When I peeked in on Allison this is what I saw!

Miss Princess kitty sneaks in her room after she goes to bed and sleeps with her. I wish she would cover Allison up when she kicks the covers off of herself! And yes, Allison's night shirt is on backwards. She had herself tucked when Daddy got upstairs to kiss her good night so he didn't notice.

Have Fun! Pin It

My Saturday So Far!

I'm having trouble getting things crossed off of my "To Do" list today.

I can't seem to get motivated to do my chores.

You see there's a beautiful thing happening outside today and I keep going to the window and door to look out. I feel like a kid in a candy store!

It's just beautiful!

This is the view from my front door.

Here is a close-up of one of the trees in the woods beside us. I just love how the snow lays on the branches as if it's hugging each one of them.

Here is my front walk to the parking lot. I don't know if you can really see how high the snow is on either side of the walk. I think we have about 8 inches right now. The front porch and the walk have been shoveled 6 times today...4 by me, 1 by our service & 1 by our neighbor. I'm sure there will be more since it's supposed to go on until 6 A.M. tomorrow morning. :)

We are the end unit in a row of townhouses. Ours is the last one in by the woods. We love it here. It's so quiet and secluded. I only wish it was bigger and we had more space (but that's another post.) Anyway, we all park our cars in front of our units but not last night. We knew this snow was coming so we all parked on the opposite side of the lot. We do this in preparation for the snow plow. When we hear him start plowing on our side, we all run out and start to clean our cars so we can move them back to in front of our units and then he plows that side. This was a feat today! I think there is more than 8 inches of snow out there! It really wasn't so bad doing it today even with all that snow. All of our neighbors help each other. It makes it go so much faster. As you can see, we moved them all back over there. We know he'll be back. He'll come back to plow the next however many inches that are still coming!

Look at all that snow on the bush that I hate that I am taking out this Spring!
LOL! I say "I" like I'm really going to take it out myself!

Have Fun!

Pin It

Back to Normal!

Our life gets back to normal today. Well...our normal.

Allison goes back to school today and I go back to work after 3 days off.

Did I get everything done that I wanted to get done in those 3 days? Heck no! I never do! I plan too much and set the bar too high.

This year I'm aiming for a year that brings me peace. Last year was kind of rough. We had a curve ball thrown at us. I ended up spending most of the year adjusting to the curve ball and dealing with how to handle it. It exhausted me. I'm sure getting older doesn't help either.

So this is a new year with new goals and a new approach on how I'm going to obtain the things I want for this year. I want peace. I want normalcy. I want change. I realize that I'm in control of this so I'm going for it this year. I'm going to plan my work and work my plan. I'm going to take it one day at a time. I'm sure life will happen and I will get off track but I will find my way back! I need to for my own sanity!

In thinking about normalcy in this family, I find it kind of funny. Check out the pic. This is our cat's house. Allison decorated it. Seriously friends. Who decorates a cat's house? My daughter does! Whew! I have a big job ahead of me if I'm going to get this family back to normal!

Have Fun! Pin It

Good Bye & a Thought for the New Year!

It's time to say good bye to Christmas 2008. We are taking down our tree today.

Well. What's left of it....no thanks to my fur kids who have knocked down as many ornaments as they can and pulled the strands of beads off the bottom section. I guess that's what to be expected when you have pets. Things can't be perfect!

As I'm waiting for the family to get up, I am admiring the tree once more before it's packed up in a box for next Christmas. I just LOVE that Allison put the ornaments on the tree this year. As I've said previously, I have enough ornaments for 5 trees so they all don't get to hang on the tree. One particular set of ornaments that I've enjoyed this year is my bell ornaments made out of beads. My Dad's sister, my Aunt Edith, made them and I am lucky enough to own a dozen or so of them. They are so pretty. I took a picture of one of them so I could share it with you. I'm sure it would look prettier if the lights on the tree were lit and the flash on the camera were off.....BUT one of the cats knocked the plug out of the wall yesterday and it doesn't light up anymore!

Anyway, she made them in all colors. I have red, green, silver, gold, pearl & blue. They are all trimmed in pearl, gold & silver. They are just gorgeous on the tree. I wish I could have her teach me how to make them but she passed away when I was 5 months pregnant with Allison. Maybe I'll try to find the instructions on the web. Wish me luck!

After taking down the tree, I'll begin to put all of my focus on the New Year. I've been making some notes one what my goals are for the year. As usual, my list is too long. I need to prioritize what is important to me and start there. When I look at my list, the one thing that jumps out at me is change. That might just be my word for the New Year. I'll get back to all of you on that!

Have Fun! Pin It

Soft Skin Give-A-Way!

A little over a month ago I posted about two new finds that will help with my dry Winter skin. I usually don't do product reviews but I was amazed by both of the lotions. You can read the post here if you missed it.

As a result of that post I was contacted about the history of the Vaseline Clinical Therapy lotion. It's a very interesting story about a lady named Petal in Kodiak, Alaska. She was asked to use and "prescribe" it to anyone she thought would need it. Click here to read about Petal yourself. You can also click here to see some of the residents of Kodiak and their experience with Vaseline Clinical Therapy lotion.

So. Are you wondering why I am posting about a lotion again? I know. I don't like repetitive posts on blogs either BUT LET ME TELL YOU!!!! This lotion needs another post! My skin is in love with it! Usually by this time in our Winter season, my elbows are dry and snag the inside of the sleeves of my shirts, my hands are so dry that the corners of my thumbs crack and bleed and my legs are so scaly you would think that I was a fish and not a human!

Not any more! My skin is hydrated and so soft! Almost as smooth as a baby's butt....well okay not that smooth but you know what I am trying to say. :) They claim this lotion is as close as you can get to a prescription lotion. I believe it! It seriously heals your damaged and dry skin and you don't have to apply it over and over and over again for it to work. It really is a miracle for those of us with dry skin and it's not greasy!

Also because of my previous post I was given the opportunity to "prescribe" it to family and friends that I thought might like it too. Wow! What a response I got! They love it too! I didn't even get to keep a bottle of it for myself! Some of their comments were...."it makes my legs so soft" "even if I miss a day, it still works" "it's amazing" "it's not greasy at all" "it's such a light fragrance" and the comments go on and on.

Now for the good stuff. If you go to their website, you can print a $1.00 off coupon AND you can also enter to win an 8 day Alaska Rail/Sea/Air adventure for 4! Wait! Maybe I shouldn't tell you about that. My dream vacation has always been to go to Alaska so if I tell you to enter the sweeps, you'll lessen my chances! Oh what the heck! Go ahead and enter but can I be one of your 4 if you win? Please?

Oh and there's more! I'll prescribe one lucky blog reader a bottle of Vaseline Clinical Therapy Lotion from me. All you have to do is go watch the videos and leave a comment on my blog telling me which one you liked the most. If you want another entry, post about my give-a-way on your blog and come back here and link me to your blog and your name goes in twice.

Please make sure I know how to get in touch with you so if you win, I'll be able to contact you so I can get your prize to you. It would be a shame if I had to keep your bottle for myself! I'll keep this contest open for a week. I'll draw a name sometime on January 10th and post the winner then.

Good Luck!

Have Fun! Pin It

Out with a Bang!

I'm off to work in a few minutes but I wanted to stop by to report that we sent 2008 out with a bang!

We had our traditional New Year's Eve feast. Curtis and I crashed on the couch and the recliner and Miss Allison stayed up and watched the movie "Elf." If you are wondering if she made it to midnight, my answer is YES! That wasn't my plan for her but Curtis and I fell asleep and I woke up about 11:30 p.m. and figured that I might as well let her stay up for the last half hour. We watched the ball drop in New York City and then off to bed she went! She is such a trooper. I wonder what time she will awake today???

I posted my favorite appetizer on my food blog this morning so be sure to stop by over there when you are done with this entry. The link is over there. -------->

Here is Allison with our "picnic on the coffee table" spread. She sets up the whole thing. This year she even did a table centerpiece....she is SO my daughter! We usually have the same thing but this year I added a couple new items. We had pepperoni and cheese with crackers (I just buy a mini Gibson tray from the grocery store), shrimp cocktail, veggies with ranch dip, chicken spread with crackers (recipe on my food blog), potato chips and dip (Allison's favorite), potato skins (Curtis's favorite), jalapeno poppers, mozzarella sticks (which I left in the oven about a minute too long and the cheese started to come out!) and Shirley Temples.

Here is a close-up of Allison's centerpiece. It's a mini tree decorated with a silver pipe cleaner star, mini candy canes and "snowballs." She made me take this picture...."so you can post it on your blog, Mom." Again....she is SO my daughter!

I hope you all had as much fun and togetherness bringing in the New Year as we did. I'll be back tomorrow with a look into my goals for the New Year!

Have Fun! Pin It