Back for more...

Last week I posted about the great value pack I got for $5.97. I LOVED the tea in it so much that I decided to go back and get two more sine the tea alone would have been close to that price. Not to mentioned my son was sick yesterday and the all fruit freezies got eaten up. So if you're looking for the deal here is what it looks like in the package. They were right at the front of the store as soon as you walk in.

Sneak Peek

I do design work for Created With Paper, a Canadian online paper craft site that sells monthly kits. This is the Jackson Lodge Garden Collection from College Press that will be released June 1st! Here are some cards I made with it...

My hometown...making headlines

Well Thunder Bay has made the National News! My dad called yesterday asking if we had any water in our basement (after 10 days of rain and a huge thunder storm the night before).  Then he proceeded to tell me our city is in a state of emergency...I had no idea! I only left the house briefly to run to the grocery store. Here I sat completely oblivious to the ciaos around me. Flooded basements, parks, yards, parking lots, and lots of road closures due to wash outs.

 These are the falls, they don't normally look like this!

 There was one car that was driving along and the road collapsed beneath them and then another car drove on top of them. Everyone was sent to hospital.

And our watsewater treatment plant is flooded too, so we're asked not to use water excessively. Check out our local news if you want to see more!  (or the national link above)

Good habits are hard to find...

Why is it that bad habits are so easy to fall back into where good habits are so hard to get back into.  I'm talking about eating and exercise.  

For eight years I religiously went to the gym five days a week. Since my oldest was 4 months old. (before that I was a regular at step classes, baseball, you name it) When I got pregnant this last time, I was working full time and used those two factors as a reason to have a break, well 6 months of the pregnancy, plus 5 months with the baby equals almost a year of getting out of the routine of making it to the gym each day. 

Add to that, the fact that I've fallen back into the habit of eating more calories than I should and at times that I shouldn't...snacking in the evening etc. So I'm just not getting this baby weight off.

Well today I called and registered the kids for Adventure Camp at the gym where I frequented for those 8 years, and the guy at the front desk recognized me and mentioned that he hasn't seen me for a while. 

Now part of that is because I switched gyms.  When I went back to work I picked a gym that was plush and pricey, but close to my office and I was great at going to the gym everyday at lunch. I still have a membership there but they don't take babies at the daycare until 6 months...so I'm close to being able to go there. Just a few more weeks, but at that point the kids will be out of school two weeks later and that gym's daycare is too expensive to take the three of them. I'm also nervous about taking the baby to the daycare, she's at the "making strange" stage and I feel like she'd just cry the entire time. But a lot of these factors are just making it easier for me to find excuses to not get back into shape.

I've started back at volleyball and I walk the kids to school, but it's not the same intensity as an hour on the bike etc.  So that's me getting it out there, admitting that I need a change maybe the first step in finding a solution...stay tuned :)

Volunteering...

Spent a few hours this evening in a trailer selling ticket's for St. John Ambulance's Spring into Summer draw.  I use to work there and I was amazed at how generous others were with their time as they volunteered to sell tickets for us.  So today I took my son (age 8), to volunteer with me.  I think it's good, now that he's old enough, to teach him about volunteering. We sold at least 50 tickets, it was really busy so the time flew by.  Tomorrow I'll go back again in the morning but with my daughter (age 6).

Kite festival tomorrow, hope it's nice out, calling for rain :(

Steel-cut oats

If you love steel-cut oats, but don't have the time to always make them, you should really give the instant ones a try. They're actually very good, and there doesn't seem to be anything bad added to the ingredients.  I get the pc blue menu ones.  Then I add blueberries, walnuts, coconut and brown sugar. Yum! Healthy, but huge calories...this bowl is probably 800 calories, which is a lot for breakfast!

  

There is a neat story behind the bowl too..my husband and I celebrated our 8th anniversary last year and the traditional gift was pottery, so I bought tickets to a charity event which was homemade soup served in your choice of a handmade pottery bowl that you get to keep. It was perfect. Something different to do, a healthy meal, matched the theme of our anniversary and supported a good cause.

Now speaking of yummy things...I have to point out this girl's site, I love Oh How She Glows, she sells amazing granola bars that are sold out the day she posts them and her blog always has healthy recipes..check this out!

Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookie Pota’Dough Dip! Vegan, Gluten-Free, Bean-free, Soy-free, and optionally Nut-free.

Another good deal!

I hardly ever shop at Walmart, but I needed some eggs, and Walmart had local eggs on sale and I was right by there so I walked over to get them, when I came across this great deal...it was a bag full of the following..

 

Four Welch's

and Four Fruitsations Ice bars...

 

Now the best part, the price, regular value for all these items is $16.97..but the price for buying the pack, $5.97! And they are all healthy items!

Soccer Season

The Kids have started Soccer again, it seems to be going well. They play on the same night but at different times, so we end up being there for the whole night. But it works better than going 4 nights a week for an hour each. Tomorrow may get rained out, the weather forecast says Thunder Storms!

Sunday night chit chat!

I bought this purse today. It will double as a diaper bag.  I'm not one for purses and I know why, I need one that's fun! When I saw this I knew it was perfect for me! It reminds me of Scrapbooking paper and it's made from Recycled Pop Bottles..

...and it has birds on it! :) It was at winners for $30 (Reg Retail $59) I bought it with a gift card that the kids got me for mother's day.

Reading?


Blogs...I've been jumping around to see all the great Secret Sister Swap posts! SO FUN :)

Watching?

Season Finales: Survivor, Grey's Anatomy, Big Bang Theory...everything is coming to and end!

Listening to?
Quiet.. In a house with three kids that couldn't go out on this rainy day...quiet is perfect!



Cooking/Baking?

Tried these cookies last night, and they are quiet good, I wanted the in-laws came for tea and I wanted something Gluten free for my Mother-In-Law so I baked these, and they turned out very nice. They called for 2 cups of Chocolate Chips, but I cut that in half and added 1 Cup of walnuts.

Happy you accomplished this week?

Made a few cards, I will take pictures and post when I have all of them done.

Looking forward to next week?

The Kite Festival on Sunday!

Thankful for today?

A few hours to go shopping by myself for new clothes, nothing fits well since the baby was born, it will take some effort to get back to a size 7! So it was nice to get some things I can wear until then. The best part about shopping is it's a social event, in a small town like this (not that small 100,000) you always run into people you know at the stores!

Secret Sister Swap!

I have the best Secret Sister, Virna!

A Huge Thank You to my Secret Sister for putting together the most amazing, most beautiful and personalised package with wonderful handmade items, treats, and natural cosmetics.  You can see my SSS Virna in the photo on the right (in black). She doesn't have a blog so she included a photo, so glad she did!

Here is the first lot...owls, owls and more owls!!! Oh how I LOVE them. And three YUMMY packages of chocolates...I'm surprised these lasted long enough to be photographed!

This was so incredibility thoughtful, she made three sweet owls one for each of my children! My kids loved them, so much so that I could barely get them to part with them long enough to take these photos!

This is a gorgeous coffee cup cozy, I love the colours, the design Virna is one talented lady!























 She was SO thoughtful, I had blogged a link to a video on how to make these cute pin cushions, and this was probably the biggest surprise of all, it was the first thing I noticed when I opened the box and I was in awe...how did she know? how did she get one? Then as I opened the box further I realized she made it..FOR ME! How special! I will use it to hold my embroidery needles that I use to sew on cards.








Some Burt's Bees products...I  really appreciate all natural products!

Handmade cads...*swoon*, now as someone who makes cards I know the love and attention that goes into each one, so I love to receive work from other crafters, these cards are so classic and elegant. Inspiration for my next cards, reminds me how much I love stamping!

and I love the special details, like lined matching envelopes...

and stamped front envelopes..

and last but not least, a handmade tote bag, that is the cutest owl fabric!

So thank you so much to Virna who brightened my day with this absolutely amazing gift! And thank you to Carla for organizing it!  It was such a fun process from start to finish, I loved putting my sister's package together and seeing some of the other SSS posts on their blogs, what fun!

$68 in book from chapters for $10!

I always buy deals as I see them. Believe it or not some of these I will even put away until Christmas! I was searching for something to go with my daughter's birthday present for tomorrow's class party. A little boy turning 6. Well this robots book does the trick! Regular $24.95 hardcover with lots of flaps and pull outs the more I look at it the more I think I should go back for the other two!

Th Elmo book is a press the buttons for music with the story regular sale price was $10.. Clearance $2

The two board books for kids have magic picture changing pages. (a pull and push play book).

And the novel is for my teenage niece who hopes to go to Hollywood herself!

All in all pretty good!

First time coupon'ing

This all cost $23.15. I had a coupon for everything except the cinnamon and mustard. Those were two things we just needed. My total savings was $13.19. The coupons came from websaver.ca and a kraft magazine that came in the mail.  Everything I had a coupon for was also on sale so my discount is actually even greater than $13.19.

Plus I had a coupon for a bonus 5,000 pc points and the cereal has a coupon for a free item ( like juice that we buy for $3.27 and the box only cost me $1.50). A lot of the items aren't normal things we buy but certainly some things the kids will love for a treat when we're out at soccer etc.

Secret Sister Swap

So I can reveal my SSS, organized by Carla, and thanks so much to her for organizing this, I had so much fun putting my gift together for Little Lamb Wants to Be Debt Free  and she just received her package! Here is what I put together for her...she loves to run, watch what she spends, and has two rabbits, Dallen and Chloe. Also in the tin are some chocolates, lip balm, my favourite recipe and a bunny bookmark to go with her new book, Earn Spend Save.