Be a Part of Something Wonderful!

If you have followed my blog for a while, you know that I have donated to Operation Christmas Child for several years and really have a passion for this ministry. We look at our children who appear to have everything and get tons of gifts for Christmas. Now, think of the thousands of children around the world who have nothing! Could you imagine the looks on those children's faces when they are given a shoebox full of toys and goodies that you made for them? What an amazing blessing you could be in their life. Not only do they get a box full of goodies, they get presented with the True Meaning of Christmas!

Below is a video of how it all works so you have a better idea.

I would love for you to help me in this endeavor to send these love filled shoeboxes to kids. All you have to do is fill an average shoebox or shoebox sized box and mail it to:

Samaritan’s Purse
Operation Christmas Child

801 Bamboo Road
Boone, NC 28607

If you would like more information on what to donate, you can visit their site at http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/occ/.

Barnum & Bailey Circus!

So, my little ones and I went to the circus last night and loved it!  My youngest (8 months) loved the beginning with all the action.  There were circus characters all over the rink in all their bright colors and moving all around.  Definitely entertaining for him.  My oldest (almost 4) loved the elephants and the big metal cages with the two guys.  He said, "Mommy, someday I can do that because I'm a Superhero!"  It was too cute!

The thing I missed the most in this year's circus compared to last years was the motorcyclists in the big sphere.  That was one of the coolest things I have ever seen and I was really bummed that wasn't in this year's performance.  I feel like there was a bit less dramatic activities in this circus compared to previous years.

I did love the new act with the bouncing feet and the neon glow in the dark people.  That was pretty neat to watch.  I also love watching the tigers.  I think one of these years, they are going to paw him a little too hard!  One of them really gave him a good whap from what I could see.  I'm sure he is used to that.  My house cats do that to me but those guys were MUCH bigger!

I got some great pictures that I hope to get up very soon.  If you haven't gotten tickets to the circus yet, there is still time!  It is definitely worth going to see and taking your little ones.  They will enjoy it for sure!

Betty Crocker Fan Fare

Betty Crocker has posted some amazing sounding recipes to share with you.  You can check these out at Betty Crocker FanFare.

These popcorn recipes sound amazing.  I love relaxing in the evenings with seasoned popcorn and a good movie.  I am definitely going to try some of these great popcorn flavors and probably a lot of the other featured recipes as well.

Disclosure:  This information was received from Betty Crocker through MyBlogSpark.

Circus Giveaway

If you are interested in winning tickets to the show, here is your chance!  I have a family 4-pack of tickets to giveaway to one lucky reader.  All you have to do is fill out the form below.  You must be a follower of my blog and the give away only last for 24 hours so hurry!  Tell all your friends and family about their chance to win!

The tickets the winner receives will be for Thursday, opening night.

Congrats to Tara H. for winning the tickets!

Ringling Brothers & Barnum and Bailey Circus in STL!

We are so excited in our house to go and see the circus!  There is nothing more fun than watching all the activities that go on at the circus.  Below is a picture of some of the characters you can check out at the circus.  Don't they just look like a lot of fun?!

Go and meet Tabayara, a magnificent animal trainer, 2 amazing strongmen, brothers who tackle the Twin Turbines of Steel, the human fuse shoot himself across the arena, and share a little laughter with Clown Alley.

Your little ones and you are sure to enjoy this year's show!  Like always, there is a discount code so you can get your tickets for a cheaper rate: 11MOMFC.  This will save you $4 off each ticket you purchase.

The show times are as follows:

Thursday, October 13 at 7pm

Friday, October 14 at 10:30am or 7pm

Saturday, October 15 at 1pm or 5pm

Sunday, October 16 at 12pm, or 4pm

Which one will you attend?

Sam's Club Pink Promotion Giveaway!

In honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, beginning September 19th, Sam's stores will be carrying pink packaging on participating General Mills products.  For 5 years, General Mills has partnered with Susan G. Komen for the Cure.  As usual, they will be donating $2 million to Komen to fund research & support education & outreach projects.

You can help by purchasing specially marked boxes of your favorite General Mills products and decide how 1/2 of that contribution will be donated by voting at PinkTogether.com until April 15, 2012.

The $2 million will be divided between two Komen programs:

*Treatment & Assistance Program - helping women get the care they need even when they can't afford it.

*Prevention Research - helps spread information and education to prevent breast cancer.

You choose where you want the donations to go between those 2!  Both are very necessary and cheritable programs.

Of course I am also going to help one of my readers with their purchase of the awesome General Mills products from Sam's Club by giving away a $25 giftcard to Sam's Club.

You must be a follower of MOAM2008 and fill out the form below to enter the giveaway.

Disclosure: The information and gift card(s) have been provided by Sam’s Club and General Mills through MyBlogSpark.


Congrats to Tara H. for winning this giveaway!

Disney on Ice Toy Story 3 Review

Let me just tell you that TOY STORY 3 ON ICE WAS AMAZING!

I think it was for sure the best Disney on Ice production I have been to yet.  Usually when we go to Disney on Ice, my little guy gets bored about 1/2 way through.  Not this time!  He was entertained through the entire performance.  I'm not sure if it was because this was a show geared more toward boys or if it was because he loves Toy Story.

My little nephew had a blast as well.  He seems to really have a good time and the cousins loved playing with their Buzz Lightyear whirly toys their grandma bought them before the show started.  The pictures you see below were from the show but they really don't do justice to the show itself.  If you haven't gotten your tickets to the show yet, you will want to.  This show is one that you don't want to miss!

If you are going to buy tickets, be sure to use the code:  MOMT3 and you will get $4 off tickets!

 This was Buzz getting dropped into the alien arcade game.  The aliens were very cool looking.  They were one of my favorites at this show.

 Woody and Jessie doing a dance.  I absolutely love to watch ice skating and they make it look so fun and creative!

 Barbie and Ken doing their romance dance.  They really looked like big dancing Barbies to me!  They were also a favorite of mine.  I loved the scene with the 20 or so Barbies that danced together in their neon colored jumpsuits.  Very entertaining!

This was a shot of a lot of the gang that was in the show.  At the end, they all came out and did a dance together.  It was very neat to see them all and hear my little guy name them off as he saw them.

It really was a great show so definitely consider going to see it.  If you live in St. Louis, you have until Sunday to see the show so buy tickets ASAP.  If you don't live in St. Louis, they are going to other cities so check the schedule and see if they are coming to you!

Yoplait Giveaway!

If you have been to the grocery store lately, you may have already seen the pink lids on the Yoplait yogurts canisters.  You may ask what the significance of the pink lids is?  Well, October is breastcancer awareness month and Yoplait, through Save Lids to Save Lives, will donate $.10 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure per lid collected.

There are several collection sites that you can drop off your Yoplait lids at.  Most Schnucks locations have a large pink collection box that you can place your lids in.  You may also mail them to me at

MOAM2008

PO Box 27704

St. Louis, MO 63146

You can also redeem them at Yoplait.com.

If you do not know someone who has been affected by breastcancer, listen to these statistics.  1 in 8 women in the US alone will be diagnosed with breastcancer sometime in their life.  This could be a friend, wife, mother, sister, neighbor, etc. 

My grandmother is a breastcancer survivor so this is something that hits close to home for me.  How about you?  Do you have someone you love affected?

Whether you do or not, it is as simple as saving the lid from your yogurt that could help find a cure for someone.  There is no extra money involved and you could save a life.  If you normally don't eat Yoplait, maybe you could try it out for a few months just to help save a life.  You have until December 31st to send in the lids to Yoplait.  Yoplait will donate up to $2 million.

Since you are going to be going out and buying Yoplait to help out, here is a coupon for $.30 off that you can print.  Remember, most grocery stores will double $.30 coupons so you will really be saving $.60!  There are also coupons for Yoplait yogurt in recent Sunday paper inserts.

Because my readers are awesome and will strive to collect a dozen or more Yoplait lids, Yoplait & MyBlogSpark would like to offer a Yoplait prize pack as seen above.  This prize pack includes:

Two VIP coupons, each valid for one free Yoplait yogurt core cup product

A Yoplait pink lid collection kit

Tote bag

Heart-shaped key holder

Hope Journal

Pen

To be entered into the giveaway, you must be a follower of Mom On A Mission 2008 & fill out the form below.

Disclosure: The Yoplait prize pack, information and coupon have been provided by Yoplait through MyBlogSpark.

Betty Crocker Brownie Giveaway!

 Are you a fan of Betty Crocker?

I sure am!  I love baking from scratch but sometimes there just isn't the time for it.  Betty Crocker is who I turn to when I need a yummy desert really fast.  With the weather starting to cool, there is nothing better than some warm, delicious chocolate to cheer me up!

Betty Crocker now has new Milk Chocolate Traditional Brownie Mix to warm your spirits.  This milk chocolate take of the traditional homemade brownie should make your family's chocolate lover happy.

Betty Crocker & MyBlogSpark has offered one of my readers the Brownie Prize Pack pictured below.  The winner will receive one Betty Crocker^® Milk Chocolate Traditional Brownie mix, Betty Crocker apron, cookie sheet, and mixing spoon.

To be entered to win, you must be a follower of Mom On A Mission 2008 and you must fill out the form below.

WINNER IS CHRISTY G!  CONGRATS CHRISTY!

Disclosure: The product, information and prize pack have been provided by Betty Crocker through MyBlogSpark.

Disney On Ice Toy Story 3

Toy Story 3 is on ice at the Chaifetz Arena very soon!  I am very excited to take my boys to the show!  Are you going?  If you haven't gotten your tickets yet, be sure to do so by using code:  MOMT3 which will save you $4 off the ticket price.

I know you don't want to miss the fun from Toy Story 3 and some great things from Toy Story 1 & 2.  Who is your favorite character?  Mine is Buzz.  My little guy loves Woody.

Feel free to order your tickets via this link and remember to enter your discount code!

Disney on Ice Coming to St. Louis!

Disney on Ice is coming to town and presenting Disney Pixar's Toy Story 3!  My little guy is excited to see this show.  Buzz will be the talk of the town for sure!

Here are the details:

Chaifetz Arena

Sept. 22-25

Tickets available at MetroTix

Use discount code: MOM to get discounted tickets

Show times:

Thurs., Sept. 22 @ 7pm

Fri., Sept 23 @ 7pm

Sat., Sept 24 @ 11am, 3pm, 7pm

Sun., Sept 25 @ 12pm, 4pm

Stay tuned for more information to come!

Kroger Cart Buster Savings Event

 Kroger grocery stores is having a cart buster savings event.  July 31st through August 17th, there is storewide savings in every department.  Tons of brands in over 100 categories from:

• General Mills
• Pepsi
• Unilever
• Heinz
• Mars
• Wrigley
• & Kimberly Clark

Some of the brands that are participating are:

• Honey Nut Cheerios
• Yoplait
• Pillsbury
• Pepsi
• Doritos
• Gatorade
• Smart Ones
• Ore-Ida
• Cottonelle
• Viva
• Breyer's
• Axe
• Snickers
• Pedigree
• & Orbit

You can find these great savings at all the Kroger family stores such as:

• Kroger
• Ralphs
• King Scoopers
• City Market
• Dillons
• Smith's
• Fry's
• QFC
• Baker's
• Owen's
• Jay C Food Stores
• Hilander
• Gerbes
• Food4Less
• Fred Meyer
• Pay Less Supermarkets
• & Scott's Food & Pharmacy

To encourage you to shop at one of these fabulous Kroger Family stores, I have a $25 giftcard to offer you.  This will be a 24 hour giveaway only so be sure to enter quickly by filling out the form below.  There will only be one chance to win this time so get in your entry!

Disclosure: The Kroger gift card, information, and giveaway have been provided by Kroger and General Mills through MyBlogSpark.

Alison M. is the winner of this giveaway.  Congrats!

5 Tips from Betty Crocker

Hopefully you are all enjoying summer.  With the kids back in school, you moms may be feeling a little different about summer.  Betty Crocker & Erica Domesek from P.S.-I made this, would like to offer you several tips to making the rest of summer even greater!
Tip #1:  Pie Lovin'

Try Mini S'mores Hand Pies which has everything great about a s'mores in one.  It has crunchy graham cracker, melted chocolate, gooey marshmallows all wrapped in a pie pocket for easy eating.

Repurpose old pie pans by making them into multi-wick candles.  Set short wicks in a pie dish & pour candle wax into the dish.  You can add your own scents and colors to make the candle new and unique to you.

Tip #2:  Spice It Up

Try fresh Sriracha Refrigerator Pickles has a hot, Thai inspired sauce that spices up the average refrigerator pickle.  The best part is there is no canning needed!

Use bold, colorful beaded trim and ribbons to make a great summer inspired necklace for yourself or someone special.

Tip #3:  Move Over, Meat

Try a vegetarian alternative to meat like the Monster Veggie Burger.  It is loaded with fresh vegetables and chickpeas, making veggies the most important thing on your plate.

Use veggies as name tag holders for a meal get together.  Cut the veggies in half and hollow them out.  Cut out paper tags and put the guests names on them, then slice and opening on the top of the veggie to slip in the name tag for the display. 

Tip #4:  Backyard Green Grocer

Try making some Green Garden Fries with fresh veggies from your own garden or a local Farmer's Market.  You will oven fry them and then dip them in a delicious Greek yogurt dipping sauce.

After you plant the seeds in your garden, cut out the flower or produce pictures from the seed packets and decoupage them onto plain notecards.  This will create a cute collage(s).

Tip #5:  Switch Up the 'Wich

Try a new twist to the original sandwich comfort food with the Greek Grilled Cheese Taco.  For this you would use grilled Greek halloumi cheese & fresh veggies & herbs stuffed in a flour tortilla.

There is a new, fun way to serve up food for the family.  Use a frisbee or flying disc and line it with a colorful bandana.  Arrange sandwiches and other tasty snacks on the disc and serve them to the family.

These are just 5 of the 10 great Betty Crocker tips that were available at their website here.  You can also get more great tips from Erica here. 

The information in this post was provided by Betty Crocker, Erica Domesek and MyBlogSpark.

Winners from Past 2 Giveaways!

WOW, what a crazy last month it has been for me.  I have had internet off and on and many of my other electronics are still not working properly.  That and my kids have kept me super busy!  I know I am really behind on announcing winners for my giveaways so I am hoping to catch up right now and then offer you a new one very soon.

For the Cascade Giveaway:

Winners of the $15 Walmart Giftcard is:

Karalin L

Winner of the 5 Cascade Trial Packs are:

Mami2jcn

Alison M.

April T.

Tamara B.

Becky D.

I will send you all emails and request your shipping information.  Congrats to all!

The winner for the $25 Walmart Giftcard is:

Tamara B.

Congrats Tamara!!!  I will email you about your winning.

Walmart Box Tops for Education

Does your child's school have a Box Tops for Education program?  Many schools are now participating in this program.  Basically, whenever you purchase products, look for the ones with the Box Tops for Education logo on them.  Collect these logos and turn them into your child's school.  The school then earns money that will go toward education.  Visit their website here for more information.

Walmart is prepared to make your back-to-school shopping easy.  They offer low prices for the things your kids need as well as 70 participating brands with 4 box tops on them to help support the Box Tops for Education program.

To get you started for your Back-to-School shopping, Walmart, General Mills and MyBlogSpark have provided me with a $25 Walmart giftcard to giveaway.  To enter this giveaway, you must follow my blog as well as fill out the form below.

Disclosure: The information and $25 gift card to Walmart has been provided by Walmart and General Mills through MyBlogSpark.

Cascade Complete

Have you tried the new Cascade Complete All-in-1 ActionPacs?  I have and I love them.  In my house, we have a bad habit of baking something and then leaving the baking dish sit for a day or two.  I love to cook but I hate to clean up the dishes from cooking!  So, obviously, I need something that is able to fight off the nasty dried on messes on my dishes.  I tried the ActionPacs and love them!  They really do work!

I was challenged to bake something and then see how well the ActionPacs worked.  I, of course, forgot to take a picture of my scummy dish so I will come back and put up a before and after picture later.  But, let me tell you, my dish was clean after the wash cycle.

 If you have never seen the gel pacs, they look like the picture above.  They have swirls of different stuck-on food fighting ingredients.  They are actually cool little packs.  I love the no mess thing about them.  I don't have to worry about squeezing too much soap into the dishwasher or getting it all over the place.  I just pop a Pac and I am good to go!

The best part is that you can get them for fairly cheap.  You can try the trial pack for less than $1 from Walmart.  This gives you 3 ActionPacs to try out to see if you will be hooked on them too.  P&G & MyBlogSpark have provided several giveaways for me to offer.  I have a $15 Walmart giftcard & 5 trial packs.  To be entered into the giveaway, you must follow my blog and you must fill out the form below.

Thanks to P&G and MyBlogSpark for providing the Cascade Complete All-in-1 ActionPacs Kit, trial packs & $15 Walmart Gift Card.

Deal-a-Day Websites

Candace Parkson, a web promoter, sent me a link to a website where you can learn more about those Deal-a-Day websites that are promoting all kinds of great deals.  Click here to see how they benefit from you getting a "good" deal.  Thanks Candace!

Pay It Forward Winner

I have read the submissions for the $50 gift card giveaway.  I have chosen Karalin L. to pay if forward to her friend.  Here is her story of how she desires to Pay It Forward:



I have a friend that lost her job earlier this year and she was the main breadwinner and insurance holder. Right at the same time she lost her job, her mother was diagnosed with late-term cancer (bone, I think?). It had already begun to spread to other parts of her body. Sure enough, I just found out this morning that her mother passed away yesterday. My friend feels so stressed and overwhelmed. I would LOVE to help her by filling up her pantry and making her a warm meal. With coupons, I could make that $50 stretch and take at least one minor worry off her plate for a while.

I feel that this is a fabulous way to help someone in our community which was the mission of Pampers for this promotion.  I will have Karalin submit a follow up post for me to keep my readers posted on the results of her good thoughts.

Yoplait Kids Snack Offer

http

 Have you or your children tried the Yoplait Kids yogurt?  My little man actually loves the yogurt.  Here is a great videos to get more information about Yoplait Kids by the author of Mama's Boy, Christine Coppa!

If you liked that video, there are several others that you can check out here:

http://bit.ly/YPKSnackChat1,

http://bit.ly/YPKSnackChat2,

http://bit.ly/YPKSnackChat3,

http://bit.ly/YPKSnackChat4,

http://bit.ly/YPKSnackChat5,

http://bit.ly/YPKSnackChat6,

http://bit.ly/YPKSnackChat7,

http://bit.ly/YPKSnackChat8

Information was provided by Yoplait through MyBlogSpark.

Guest Post - Frugal Tips

Three Frugal Tips That Are Too Simple To Skip

Today's financial climate has inspired many things. With saving money on the forefront of everyone's mind, the internet is swarming with frugal tips and tricks. While some of these helpful hints are less than practical (toilet train your cat, really?), there are several incredibly simple tricks to frugality that can save anyone some extra cash. These three tricks are extremely easy steps you can take to help you save on your household expenses.

Many of us fail to realize just how significant the amount of money we spend on groceries really is each month. For most households, the grocery bill is the largest bill we pay. The easiest way to save money on grocery shopping is by writing a grocery list before you leave for the store. Go through your kitchen and pantry before you leave and write down all of the items that you are out of. Try to devise a meal plan for the week, so that you can go to the store with specific meals in mind. This way you can purchase the items you need for individual meals without forgetting items or getting items you do not need. All too often, we go to the store and buy whatever items we see on the shelves that look appetizing. This often leads to either buying things we do not actually need or want or having duplicate items in our pantry. Each of these situations leads to both a waste of money and a waste of food. The key to cutting back on unnecessary purchases at the store is planning a careful list before you leave and sticking to it. Do not deviate from your list. Also, beware of the store's discount marketing plans. Signs will often say "4 for $4" and people think this means that they must buy four items. Usually this sign means that each item costs one dollar a pop.

Next, cook large dinners in the evening and freeze the leftovers. Cook up a double or triple batch of casserole or pasta and put the remaining food in meal sized tuperware containers. You can then take these pre-cooked meals to work for lunch or serve them again for dinner some time later in the week. Although leftovers are never super popular with the kids, there are things you can do to spice things up a little. Try adding new and fresh side dishes to go alongside the leftover meal. Eating leftovers is a great way to save money and time for the busy professional parent. Eating out is a huge expense. While going out to dinner for a special occasion or celebration can be a lot of fun, it is usually very expensive and not particularly healthy. Eating leftovers can save you a significant amount of dough and a significant amount of time.

Lastly, (and I know this one is going to be less popular) try to eat less meat. Meat is expensive. Cut back on the amount of meat that you eat and notably cut back on your spending. Don't get me wrong. I love eating a delicious steak or a tasty fish filet. But, these dishes can be very pricy. At least once a week, on a day that you would have eaten a meat product, try replacing it with a delicious and inexpensive meatless meal. Pasta dishes, vegetarian chili, and hummus with pitas are all great choices, among dozens and dozens of others. I'm not suggesting that you become a vegetarian (although that probably would save us some money), but sacrificing some of your meaty meals can help you save quite a bit of cash.

Saving money takes a little more effort and a little more forethought. While these tips are not going to give you thousands more in the bank right away, they can help you save little by little. The key to living a frugal life is doing it one small purchase or practice at a time.

Author Bio:
Donna Reish, a freelancer who blogs about best universities, contributed this guest post.  She loves to write education, career, frugal living, finance, health, parenting relating articles. She can be reached via email at: donna.reish13@gmail.com.