E-Mealz Works For Me!

Hello. Wow it has been a while since my last post! I have an excellent new find to share. Special thanks to Amanda Young and Melissa Bailey for sharing this with me. It is called e-mealz! Ok, it is an online meal planning service. You pay a quarterly (every 3 months) amount of $15 and they give you, each week, a meal plan with recipes, grocery list and all. The grocery list is great because, depending on what store you choose on their site, their weekly plans are based on what's on sale. To view a sample menu go here:

http://e-mealz.com/options.shtml

I have been a member for two weeks now, and I can tell you this is really great. This has saved me HOURS of meal planning every 2 weeks. Keep in mind that this is only a dinner meal plan service. I am really big on coupons, and those of you who clip coupons know, that most coupons are for cleaning products, lunch stuff and snacks. I hardly see any coupons for dinner items. So this works for me. I signed up for the Wal-Mart meal plan, and the average weekly grocery cost on my plan is $75.

What I love the most is the grocery list. It has the prices all marked for you. So what I do is, price check at Aldi for my items on my list first, then go to Wal-Mart for the rest.

If you decide to sign up, click the link below. Remember to mention you heard about this from me; so I will get a commission. ~Thanks. And if you do indeed sign up, use the coupon code "Dave" and save either 15% or 30%, I can't remember exactly.

Some Fantastical Finds For You!

I have the most creative hair accessory find for you! And this creative gal just so happens to be my brilliant sister-in-law, Aimee. I all but want to poke myself in the eye when I look around at a "sea" of children and see all the same hair bows and accessories. ((Although Aimee can also make a fantastic "original" hair bow--for a remarkably low price)) If you are looking for something different she is the one to turn to. Her creative originality is second to none!! I know of what I speak!! Check out some of her work in the picture below (taken by yours truly) of some great hair pieces she made for my daughter Tori. Aimee has a "blog-you-can-buy-from" coming soon. Check back for a link!

Click on the picture to view it larger!!
Another find is Candice Lawhorn's Mark site. Right now they have free shipping on any order over $25. You just enter promo code MARKFS25 at checkout. Amazing deals here. And also FREE mark Flat Eyeliner Brush (a $6 value) with purchase of two select mark makeup products & FREE Mark hook up connector with purchase of ANY 2 mark hook up products!
Check it out here:
http://clawhorn.mymarkstore.com/

Birmingham Area Summer Activity Ideas

Last year, I printed out a summer itinerary for all my mom's. With dates, times and places of all the things I was doing with my kids over the summer. I even included a short description, price and address, phone number, and web address for each activity. It was a huge success, so much that a few of my Mom's have been asking me for my 2010 Summer itinerary since Christmas!

I have worked my booty off, but I finally have it done! So, below are some of my Birmingham area plans. Even if you don't live here, I am sure you may be able to steal a few ideas and see if there are similar things to do in your neck of the woods.

Note: if you are one of my Mom's who was promised a real copy of my itinerary, please check your emails, or I may already have one printed for you.

We are alos doing fun activities at the Rainwater house with the kids this summer. Like ,Growing pickles (Thanks Aunt Aimee), Make and float your own boat in the kiddie pool, ice cream for lunch day, Power wheel and bike car wash, water balloon fight and much more. If you need instructions for any of these ideas, please comment your email below.

Oak Mountain petting barn & wildlife center. The zoo is too darn expensive now a days, so we go here instead. $3 per adult and $1 per kid (to get into Oak mountain, the barn is free after that). My kids seem to like this better anyway, cause we can actually pet the animals. DON'T let your kids chase after the peacocks! The Oak Mountain people don't like that. You can even purchase a little bag of feed ($1) and let your kids feed the animals. The treetop trail is great too! For more info and directions go to:

http://www.alapark.com/OakMountain/


Ruffner Mountain Nature Center
Just minutes from downtown, with over 11 miles of easy to moderate hiking trails and special programs, this 1,000 acre urban forested wildlife habitat with overlooks, mining exhibits, and native animals, truly is "The Nature of the City".
WEB: http://www.ruffnermountain.org

Children's Theatre
They are showing Goldimlocks And The Three Bears this summer!
WEB: http://www.BCT123.org

Toy Story 3 comes out this summer! One June 18th to be exact.


Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum
Take an hour long train ride through the forests of Shelby County.
WEB: http://www.hodrrm.org

Rickwood Caverns State Park Cave Tour, Train ride and swimming pool. Rickwood Caverns in western Blount County contains some of the most massive and fascinating underground formations in the state. Year-round camping and hiking. Swimming in summer. Park open year-round. 9am- Sundown.
WEB: http://www.alapark.com/parks/park.cfm?parkid=10

Alabama Adventure
WEB: http://www.alabamaadventure.com

Aldridge Botanical Gardens
WEB: http://www.aldridgegardens.com
After years of meticulous planning, the first phase of Aldridge Gardens has opened. Aldridge Gardens features hydrangeas and other native plants and attracts interest worldwide to the central Alabama area. The 30-acre botanical garden has a seven-acre lake in the middle of the property with a walking trail around it, and its first garden is laden with many different varieties of hydrangeas. The signature flower of Aldridge Gardens is the Snowflake Hydrangea, a lush white flower developed and propagated by noted nurseryman Eddie Aldridge.

The Water Course
Education activity and tour for kids on Alabama's Power. This looks like great fun! Check out their site!
WEB: http://www.alabamapower.com/education

Alabama Sports Hall Of Fame
From Paul "Bear" Bryant to Jesse Owens to Willie Mays, the memorabilia and memories of Alabama's sports heroes are enshrined at this hall of fame. Renowned throughout the country as one of the most attractive state showcases of its type, this three-story, 30,000 square-foot structure features a 75-seat Bryant-Jordan Theater, over 4,000 pieces of spectacular memorabilia, six life size dioramas and interactive audio-visual touch-screens. Located at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex.
WEB: http://www.ashof.org

Ave Maria Grotto
For half a century, Brother Joseph Zoettl used stones, bricks, marbles, tiles, pipe, shells and more to create more than 125 miniature replicas of world-famous buildings and sacred sites such as the ancient city of Jerusalem, St. Peter's Basilica, the leaning tower of Pisa, and the hanging gardens of Babylon. The Grotto is located in a 4-acre landscaped park on the grounds of Alabama's only Benedictine Abbey with church and monastery and is listed in the National Register of Historic Sites.
WEB: http://www.avemariagrotto.com

Southern Museum of Flight/Ala. Aviation Hall of Fame
Explore the miracle of flying! Take off to the Southern Museum of Flight where visitors can view eight decades of aviation history through, aircraft, models, and memorabilia of some of the greatest aviation pioneers of all time.
WEB: http://www.southernmuseumofflight.org/

American Village
Bring your imagination and sense of adventure to the Revolutionary "New" American Village! Offering new programs, buildings, and facilities for private events. A classroom...a stage and theater...a museum of ideas...the American Village is a laboratory where visitors recreate the great American experiment in liberty and self- government. This Colonial style village is set on 113 rural acres in the center of the state, just minutes from Birmingham. Costumed historical interpreters guide visitors on a trip back in time to rediscover the story of American' s journey for liberty and independence.
WEB: http://www.americanvillage.org

Brierfield Ironworks
Crumbling brick ruins are all that remain of the Brierfield Ironworks, which were destroyed in raid by Union army cavalry in March 1865. Special events include a reenactment of the Civil War raid, music festival, country craft fairs, and holiday events.
WEB: http://www.brierfieldironworks.com

Southern Environment Center
Filled to the brim with interactive exhibits, fun trash art work, and information displays, the Environmental Center at Birmingham-Southern College is a fun way to learn about our environment.
WEB: http://www.myecoscapes.org

Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park
The old Tannehill Ironworks and a large collection of 19th century cabins give visitors a glimpse into the life lived by Alabamians in the 1800s at Tannehill Historical State Park. The park has 200 improved camp sites and a train for kids. The Iron & Steel Museum of Alabama is a southeastern regional interpretive center on 19th century iron making technology featuring both belt driven machines of the 1800s and tools and products of the times.The third weekend of each month, from March through November, shoppers and swappers come from far and near to Tannehill Trade Days in search of tools, clothing, jewelry, knives, furniture and other treasures.
WEB: http://www.tannehill.org

Mc Wane Center
This summer:Families won’t want to miss The Adventures of MR. POTATO HEAD, a new interactive traveling exhibit that features the much-loved MR. POTATO HEAD character will lead young visitors and parents on a number of fun and educational adventures. From trips to outer space to jungle safaris and archaeological digs, each activity will provide children with engaging learning experiences.
WEB: http://www.mcwane.org

Coupons Galore!

Hi ya mama's! Look my first official blog! I thought that I would start with coupons. I am a coupon clipping addict. Really. I look forward to the paper every Sunday morning, cause I see it as someone tossing $200 at the end of my drive. Don't subscribe to the Sunday paper? Find those coupons here:

http://supercouponing.coupontom.com/coupons/browse
(Just click on the dates on the left hand side, you can also look up coupons here)

Also here are a few good sites for coupon printing:

http://print.coupons.com/couponweb/Offers.aspx?pid=14473&zid=wd29&nid=10&bid=alk041519041547770c0f66010

http://coupons.redplum.com/offers/default.aspx?Id=SuperCouponing&DefaultZipCode

http://coupons2.smartsource.com/smartsource/index.jsp?Link=HN5AQVPNACWBU

Add coupons to your store reward card sites: (Yea! You CAN do that!)

http://www.cellfire.com/affiliate/fullpage.php?cf_tlc=cxl


http://shortcuts.com/


http://tv.catalinamarketing.com/


Also, something else I do is go to the websites of the brands I always use and register with them and sometimes they send me coupons in the mail.

All these awesome coupons will be useless unless you use them (duh). And I have always found it difficult to organize my coupons so I can clearly see them until very recently. Here is a picture of my coupon book:

Here is what you need:

A binder
Plastic Baseball card (sleeves) pages
Plastic Labels (I used my label maker)

I recommend getting a binder with the pockets on the front and back (inside) covers to hold large coupons and sales ads. A bonus with a binder is you have a hard surface to check off your list with.

I didn't add directions, cause I think this is all pretty self-explanatory. But if you find yourself lost, feel free to email me.

**Check back next week for my summer itinerary. What is that? You ask. It is my list of awesome activities to do with the kids over the summer. It may give you ideas.