Target's markdown cheat sheet

This cheat sheet tells me that the Christmas clearance at the Target by the gym should be at 90% on Monday--others stores by Tuesday.  I may check tomorrow just to be sure.  ;)  Granted it says Christmas doesn't always follow this rule of thumb but it's good information to know!  You can find the link to this information here or you can view it below......

Weekly Mark Downs

Monday: Electronics, Kids clothing and stationary (Cards, gift wrapping paper, etc.).
Tuesday: Domestics, women’s clothing, pets and Market (food items,etc).
Wednesday: men’s clothing, toys, lawn & garden, health and beauty items.
Thursday: House wares, lingerie, sporting goods, shoes, music, DVDs, books and luggage.
Friday: Auto, cosmetics, hardware, and jewelry.

Here’s the secret to finding all the great deals.  There are many that are now in the aisles, but the end caps are loaded with them and marked very clearly with big red signs.  I shop the perimeter of the store and check all the end caps.

The other thing to remember is that the Clearance is really well marked with a red sticker.  There are also codes on the sticker letting you know what percentage off it might be.  you will see the date, the amount, and you will also see another # like 15 or 30 and that is the percent off.  The other thing that I have noticed, but never asked to have it completely verified, is if the price ends in a 4  like $3.74 that is the lowest it will go.  Before that it should end with an 8 like $5.98.  So watch all the #’s on the item.

Use the in store scanners to check everything.  Some things get put in clearance on accident others just might not be marked yet.  So take things to the scanners.

Holiday Mark Down Schedule

All holidays except Christmas follow the 3-3-2 rule:
The first 3 days after the holiday are 50% off.
The next 3 days are 75% off.
The next 2 days are 90%.
After that it goes to salvage.

Valentines 3-3-2

Easter 3-3-2

4th of July 3-3-2 (since it’s always on July 4, the schedule stays the same)
July 5 = 50% off
July 8 = 75% off
July 10 = 90% off

Halloween (since it’s always on Oct. 31, the schedule stays the same)
Nov 1st = 50% off
Nov 4th = 75% off
Nov 7th = 90% off

Thanksgiving 3-3-2

Christmas

Varies--usually 50% then 70/75% and then 90%

Do you "sneak" healthy food into your family meals?

This may sound like an odd question but it came up at dinner last night.  I had made this spaghetti bake and Evan says "what healthy things did you sneak into it?  Is there zucchini instead of pasta or something?"  I said--"uh nothing--it's high fat cheese, regular pasta etc.  I start "sneaking the healthy in" next week".  LOL  I don't ever sneak it in--I will tell Evan we are having a Hungry Girl meal for dinner and once he's eaten it and said it's good (which has been almost 100% of the time) I will tell him what made it "healthy".  I wouldn't call that sneaking it but her--whatever works right?

Here are 2 of my go to sites for healthy meals http://www.hungry-girl.com/ and http://www.skinnytaste.com/.  There are a ton of others out there but those are where most of our meals come from.

Target has their Christmas stuff marked 70% off!

I was just in Target and they have finally marked their Christmas stuff to 70% off. They will likely go to 90% Sunday or Monday but I expect things to be pretty picked over by then. Make sure to pick up things you always need year round like tissue paper and scotch tape. They have a ton of colored and white tissue paper and the 3 packs of Scotch tape are now just .90! I bought 2 packs of the regular tape and 2 of the gift wrap tape. :). I also got cups, napkins and plates for next year's Christmas eve party-great time to get those things too! There were a ton of things I wanted to get but I didn't "need" them but if they are still there when it gets marked to 90%.....

What do you do with Christmas cards?

I put some of them on my fridge in plastic frames to look at the whole year!  Not every card we get will fit of course but I do have a method to my madness.  What do you do with yours?

During

After

They work fast!

In the 3 hours I was at the gym and running one errand the guys took down all of our old gutters and put up bright and shiny new ones!  The good news is since they are done Brody will get a nap today! YAY!  (way too much noise yesterday for Brody to nap)

Yep they are new!  And they look bigger which I guess is good! 

Shiny and new

From the 2nd floor looking at the porch overhang

Same spot yesterday with the old gutters

FREE!

Walgreen's has a code that is live until 12/31 for 25 FREE 4x6 prints.  If you go to the store to pick it up you will pay ZERO!  The code is PRINTNOW.  I just placed my order of my pictures of our Christmas decorations.  For those that don't know this will be a post later when I get to packing up the Christmas stuff but every year I take pictures of where things are in the house so I can quickly duplicate them the next year.  I label the boxes by room and if I can print the pictures beforehand like this I will pop the pictures into the respective boxes.  ;)  It's a sickness I know.

A new roof in 8 hours!

Today we had a new roof put on our house.  We kept waiting for a hail storm or something to get a new one from our insurance company but the hail storms seemed to hit about 5 miles away instead.  Oh well.  Our roof is almost 20 years old and had at least one leak that we knew of--couple that with the fact that our home inspector in 2002 said the roof wasn't going to last more than a few years.....it was time to get a new roof.  These guys showed up at 8am and left around 4pm--you would never have known they were here except the fact that the new roof looks awesome!  ;)  Tomorrow they come back to install new gutters!

Parts of the old roof

A guy up on the roof in the very beginning

Many guys on the roof now--lol

All done!

This is the small "roof" over the porch.  Sorry about the screen in the picture but you can see the color/pattern of the shingles.

White house is done!

I knew Travis would finish the Lego White House today and he did....about an hour after he got home from hockey camp.  LOL

Fake snow in a jar

I forgot to post these the other day but I found this idea on Pinterest--shocking I know.  The only things you need are a mason jar (or two or three etc), Epsom salts and some votive candles.  THAT'S IT!  Clearly you can see how to assemble this but it looks awesome.  The salt really looks like snow!  I had them on our front steps for the party on Christmas Eve and I thought they looked really cute.  I am going to keep an eye out on Freecycle etc for more jars over the next year so I can line the whole walkway with them next year.

Lego machine

Travis is a Lego building machine.  He built this Star Wars ship and this Space Shuttle in about 90 minutes after getting home from hockey camp.  Then he started working on the White House which he is still working on.  I expect it to be finished tomorrow.  ;)

The kids had a BLAST in the playroom

Or so it seems by the aftermath from the Christmas Eve party.  This is what the playroom looked like when I went down there today to start cleaning up.

It looked like an actual tornado touched down.  There were Legos EVERYWHERE and train track pieces EVERYWHERE too!  After about a solid hour of Evan and I cleaning up (with Brody's "help") it looked like this:

WHEW!  That is MUCH better!  No more parties for awhile now.......just kidding.  ;)

15th Annual Christmas Eve Party

We had about 80 people at our party last night. A good time was had by all I think and I'm still cleaning up! There was a ton of food and somehow it was all eaten! That was a first--normally I have leftover Costco frozen apps etc but not this year! I was so busy cooking and chatting I didn't take even one picture. :(. Complete bummer--next year I need to ask someone to take pictures for me apparently. We made some fun new apps and desserts that didn't turn out 1/2 bad! Here's to next year! :)

Another truffle

I have to tell you I have tasted all of the truffles so far and this one is MY FAVORITE!  I used the recipe you can find here except that I used a whole container of chocolate chip cookies and a bag of milk chocolate chips for the dipping part of the project.  OMG THEY ARE SOOOOO GOOD!  If you are coming over on Christmas Eve you may have a chance to have one.....assuming I don't finish them all first.  ;)

Holiday "songfest" at school

Brody and I went to the "Songfest" at Travis' school this morning.  I had to miss my class at the gym but these are the moments that you do that for....right?  ;)  He clearly knew the 1st song in the 1st video but not so much of the 2nd one.  lol  Brody had fun for about the first 30 min--singing and dancing along.

This is the greeting I got when he saw us there.....

Brody finishing up his milk ;)

Clapping along!

Oreo truffles x 2

Yesterday I decided to make some Oreo truffles for the Christmas Eve party.  You can find the recipe here.  They were pretty easy to make but the dipping in chocolate part was a little tricky and time consuming.  The ones with the white chocolate have double stuff Oreos inside and the ones with the semi-sweet chocolate have golden Oreos on the inside.  I taste tested both of them and they are GOOD.  I had these at the cookie exchange that was Sunday and I am tempted to make them as well.  I didn't have the pudding on hand yesterday or I would've done so.  ;)  Enjoy!

More tasty treats!

I have finished two more treats for the Christmas Eve party that is fast approaching....

I made Buckeyes for the first time ever. You can find the recipe here.

And then I tried my hand at another new recipe for Peppermint Bark.  You can find the recipe for that here.  I can tell you that I sampled a piece while breaking it up and it does taste as good as it looks.

I wonder what treats I will make tomorrow.  Maybe tomorrow will be a cleaning day.  ;)

Worst......aunt....ever

I'm not sure how but I lost track of the date lately and missed Paxson's 1st birthday completely.  I knew it was around now and I thought it was coming up but found out today when "talking" to him that I missed it.  I was holding him saying he was a big "almost one year old" and Mandy says....."he is one--it was on Friday"......UGH!!!!  I have a perpetual calendar in the kitchen with birthdays on it but clearly I haven't looked at it much with the bustle of the upcoming holiday.  Sorry Paxson.....this is my public apology for missing your birthday.......I LOVE YOU!

Pay it forward update---7 days until Christmas!

Here is the running tally-the new ones are in bold

Dec 1- Paid for the person behind me at the drive through
Dec 2- Left quarters taped to the ball machine at Old Navy
Dec 3- Gave money to the Salvation Army bucket guy and a small hot coffee.  He loved it.  :)
Dec 4- Took carts in at the grocery store for them
Dec 5- Gave the lady at the post office a lottery scratch off ticket (she was shocked)
Dec 6- Pushed in a line of carts at Target--the guy that does this was speechless when I got inside
Dec 7- A lady at Harris Teeter yesterday was trying to decide if this bread was any good.  she asked me if I'd had it....which I haven't but I gave her one of my $1.50 coupons so we each paid .99!  She was floored and must have thanked me 10 times--I said "hey for less than a dollar it can stink right?"  And for the record the bread was GOOD.  Here is a link to the bread.  :)
Dec 8- Gave the 2 guys pushing carts in at Wegmans some handwarmers-it was COLD that day
Dec 9- Became a "helping hooker"--not really but you can read about it here.  Basically the website http://www.rantsfrommommyland.com/ decided to try and help people in need this holiday season by pairing people up for gift card donations.  You email them at HelpingHookers@RantsFromMommyLand.com and say you want to help.  They will email you the name and address of someone in need and then you send them a gift card or gift cards!  How easy is that?
Dec 10- Donated $5 to the Juvenile Diabetes Association that was doing a raffle at the Jingle Jam yesterday--we won a kids toy basket and will be donating most if not all of it to charity one day in the next week.
Dec 11-Put  money in the Salvation Army bucket
Dec 12- Gave a $1 scratch off ticket to the guy at Harris Teeter
Dec 13- Donated the raffle basket to Toys for Tots via the local fire station--Travis wasn't too sure--lol
Dec 14- Bought a $1 key tag for the person behind me at Wendy's.  I wrote about them here and the money goes to charity as well so it's a win-win.
Dec 15- Paid for the person behind me at the drive through
Dec 16th- Sent donuts into school for the staff
Dec 17th-  Large donation to Purple Heart this morning-mainly toys, clothes and bed items

I'm terrible about taking pictures.....but here is the gift basket we dropped off on the 13th

Need a "Happy Napper" for someone on your list?

I just got this one for Brody.  $8.99 with free shipping!  They are normally $24.99+ so this is a great deal.  It looks like the cow is the cheapest but if you don't have a picky kid to shop for......this one is going in the "future gift bucket" for Brody!  :)

Mmmmmm crack

That is what we call this lovely concoction.

You just CAN'T stop eating it!  I just made batch #1 for my cookie exchange this weekend.  The second batch will be made later today and I think I will be making some for the Christmas Eve party too.

The basic idea for the recipe can be found here.  I use white sugar instead of brown and don't add the nuts but trust me....it's DELICIOUS!

Want a good price? Check out when is the best time.....

In full swing--with recipe links!

Party planning is in full swing these days.....10 days until Christmas Eve!  I have started spreading my dry goods out on the dining room table by recipe to have a better visual of what I still need etc.  I will more than likely add to the menu but right now this is what we will be having:

Hot chicken salad with baguettes
Meatballs in the grape jelly/chili sauce
Chicken nuggets for the kids (or adults-lol)
Pb&j sushi- RECIPE
Pull apart wreath- RECIPE
Garlic chicken puffs- RECIPE
Cheddar bacon ranch pull apart- RECIPE
Buffalo chicken dip/Fritos- RECIPE
Artichoke dip
Garlic garlic dip from Tastefully Simple
Guacamole/Salsa
Veggies/Dip
Homemade boursin cheese/block cheese and crackers- RECIPE
Hot chocolate bar with fixins- RECIPE
Santa hat brownies- RECIPE
Oreo truffle balls- RECIPE
Snowman donuts- RECIPE
Hungry Girl peppermint fudge- RECIPE
No bake cookies (my favorite!)- RECIPE
Cupcakes
Gingerbread cake?

Ingredients and their recipes....

A close up of two of the recipes

Goofing off in Leesburg

After the Jingle Jam ended on Saturday the boys and I took a quick stroll around Leesburg.  They both LOVED going into the hobby store and staring at the model trains.  Brody could have stood their for HOURS!  Thankfully the guy turned off the train so we could say good bye to it--if the train had been running when we left we may have had a tantrum on our hands.  ;)  Then I attempted to get the kids to sit in Santa's sleigh that they had set up. Of course Travis was more than happy to cooperate but not Brody....oh well maybe next year!

At the Hobby shop

5 minutes later and they haven't moved

In Santa's sleigh

Brody was in the sleigh for 1/2 a second and I missed it

Brody playing the piano at Mr. Cal's house

"Pay it forward"

Here is the running tally-the new ones are in bold

Dec 1- Paid for the person behind me at the drive through
Dec 2- Left quarters taped to the ball machine at Old Navy
Dec 3- Gave money to the Salvation Army bucket guy and a small hot coffee.  He loved it.  :)
Dec 4- Took carts in at the grocery store for them
Dec 5- Gave the lady at the post office a lottery scratch off ticket (she was shocked)
Dec 6- Pushed in a line of carts at Target--the guy that does this was speechless when I got inside
Dec 7- A lady at Harris Teeter yesterday was trying to decide if this bread was any good.  she asked me if I'd had it....which I haven't but I gave her one of my $1.50 coupons so we each paid .99!  She was floored and must have thanked me 10 times--I said "hey for less than a dollar it can stink right?"  And for the record the bread was GOOD.  Here is a link to the bread.  :)
Dec 8- Gave the 2 guys pushing carts in at Wegmans some handwarmers-it was COLD that day
Dec 9- Became a "helping hooker"--not really but you can read about it here.  Basically the website http://www.rantsfrommommyland.com/ decided to try and help people in need this holiday season by pairing people up for gift card donations.  You email them at HelpingHookers@RantsFromMommyLand.com and say you want to help.  They will email you the name and address of someone in need and then you send them a gift card or gift cards!  How easy is that?
Dec 10- Donated $5 to the Juvenile Diabetes Association that was doing a raffle at the Jingle Jam yesterday--we won a kids toy basket and will be donating most if not all of it to charity one day in the next week.

My gift cards ready to be mailed!

Dancing at the Jingle Jam

Brody didn't like how dark it was in the theater today so it was convenient to have this semi-empty room right there for the kids to run around and dance in.  :)  (well Travis mostly danced in this clip and Brody slammed the door in my face--lol)

Big party coming up?

The key is to stay organized.  Most of you may know we have a huge Christmas Eve party every year.  Some years we have 40 people total and others 70+.  This requires a lot of food, drink and organization to make sure it all goes off without a hitch.  At about this time I have made a few lists on my iPhone so I have them ALL THE TIME.  One list is the "things to get at the store for the party" list and the other is simply the list of items I plan on making.  The list can and will change of course but if I am at the store today and marshmallows are on sale I will grab them today since they are on my list.  A few days before the party I will get whatever I haven't picked up from my list.  My fridge currently looks like this:

The things in this picture are ingredients for various dishes and they all have notes taped to them for what dish they go to.  This keeps me from grabbing the cheese for something else and not adding it back to my list.  It might seem silly to some but it works for me.  ;)  I also have 4 grocery bags full of dry ingredients in my dining room that are part of the insanity as well.  lol  On the day of the party I also put out all of the dishes on the table and label them with with is going in them so if people come early to help they know where things go!  Hopefully more tips to come soon!

Santa's Portable North Pole

If you haven't done this yet...you should.  ;)  It's 100% free and personalized and I know last year Travis was riveted to it. (I wanted to link the video but the file is too big)   It takes maybe 5 minutes to finish and you get a link immediately with your video.  I always add the pictures it asks for too.  Here is the link.  Fill it out today!

If you have a kid in diapers.....

Then this deal is for YOU!  Today and tomorrow only Toys R Us and Babies R Us are selling the Santa Huggies diapers for $5!  They usually retail between $12-$13.  What makes this deal even sweeter is there is a $2 off coupon INSIDE the package.  (I read this on a blog this am and sure enough....)  There were 4 packages of size 5's this morning at my local TRU but a lady swooped in and grabbed 2 before I got to that section.  I grabbed the last 2 and opened them up for the coupons.  ;)  So I got each pack for $3!  That is .14 per diaper!  I normally pay about .25 per diaper at Costco for comparison.  Am I tempted to head over to Babies R Us later today and see if they have any left?  You bet I'm tempted!  Do the diapers look a little silly?  Yes but for the price...who cares?  lol

Resolutions...did you keep them?

I know that the year isn't over yet but I was thinking about it the other day.....here is my list from my post back in January:  I have put my "answers" in bold on how I've done with these resolutions.  I wonder what my list for this year will look like.....

2011 New Year's Resolutions

Here they are!

1. To lose 20 additional pounds.  I've lost 32 so far this year!
2. Keep going to the gym 5-7 times a week.  Yep--still 5-7 times a week!
3. Try new classes at the gym. (I have already done this!)  Tried 3 new classes this year that have become regular classes for me.  :)
4. Keep up with this blog.  I would say YEP!
5. Scrapbook once a week and hopefully finish 2009 and 1/2 of 2010.  Once a week stopped when the basement/my scrap space was flooded but I am currently working on fall of 2010 so I have made this goal!
6. Cut out all red meat and pork.  YEP and YEP!
7. Try to be a great wife, mother and friend!  I think I am.  :)

"Pay it forward" update

I have failed on getting any pictures--I will do better with that (I hope) but here is my tally so far.  Some things are no cost and the others are VERY little cost--you can do any of these easy things as well and make someones day!

Dec 1- Paid for the person behind me at the drive through
Dec 2- Left quarters taped to the ball machine at Old Navy
Dec 3- Gave money to the Salvation Army bucket guy and a small hot coffee.  He loved it.  :)
Dec 4- Took carts in at the grocery store for them
Dec 5- Gave the lady at the post office a lottery scratch off ticket (she was shocked)
Dec 6- Pushed in a line of carts at Target--the guy that does this was speechless when I got inside
Dec 7- A lady at Harris Teeter yesterday was trying to decide if this bread was any good.  she asked me if I'd had it....which I haven't but I gave her one of my $1.50 coupons so we each paid .99!  She was floored and must have thanked me 10 times--I said "hey for less than a dollar it can stink right?"  And for the record the bread was GOOD.  Here is a link to the bread.  :)

So that is where we stand right now.  I will update the list next week sometime.  I hope to find new things to do--must get to googling that.  ;)

Sue is a genius

Anyone that can get Brody to smile for the camera is a genius in my eyes.  My friend Sue Dudek is a photographer and she took some pictures of the boys last weekend at The Freeman House in Vienna.  Travis smiles on command and does whatever poses are asked of him but Brody.....not so much.  Somehow she got him to smile a few times for some great pictures!  If you need to get pictures taken for family portraits, new babies, birthdays, senior portraits etc.... let Sue be your photographer!  Here is the link to her page on Facebook.  Make sure to capture those once in a life time moments with Sue!

This looks like the cover of an album--lol

Those eyes are going to break some hearts!

Brody on the move with a mischievous smirk

My boys

Some great advice

The part about the peanut butter speaks to me.  I have a HUGE problem with eating peanut butter from the jar with a spoon.  Sometimes there are 3 or 4 spoons in the sink from doing so.  I am putting a sign on our peanut butter that reads "Dear Mommy-if you are making Travis or Brody a pb&j go ahead and open me but if not--STAY AWAY!"  lol

Snowman craft!

Here is the finished product:--isn't it CUTE?

What do you need?  One large craft block, one small, some white lights (with white strands), mod podge, hot glue gun and some black and orange construction paper!

The first thing I did was stuff the lights into the blocks.  My blocks had holes already cut out but I know some don't come that way.

Then I had to glue them together with some hot glue and get those &*^% stickers off the front and back of the blocks.  Thankfully a few minutes with the hair dryer and they peeled right off.  Now the eyes and the mouth were patterned with a quarter and the buttons were with a scrapbooking tool but the end of a paper towel roll would work too.  I used mod podge to glue all of the pieces on and there we have it!  I am thinking of finding him a small hat and a scarf too.  ;)