I love Influenster

A while back I signed up to be a part of an awesome program that allows me to sample new products in exchange for me writing reviews on said product and I'm loving it! So far I've just gotten two small sample boxes (called voxboxes), but there are larger ones to qualify for. (I'm hoping to get the next one!) The first sample I got was of some mouth wash. The second was for these awesome Dr. Scholl's Active Series insoles.

They are so nice and comfy and are bresthing new life into my old running shoes! As some of you may know I have plantar fasciitis in my left foot, so exercising is sometimes a painful experience, but not anymore. These things are the best I've tried (and I've tried many insoles). I would recommend them to anyone suffering from foot pain or that are just thinking about giving insoles a try!

If you want to become part of Influenster, let me know and I'll send you an invite!

Free Samples and Coupons from Motts for Tots

I just signed up to recieve a free sample and coupons (usually high value) from Motts, through the website Vocal Point. Click the link below for your own sample!

http://www.vocalpoint.com/mottsfortots

not quite extreme

Most people by now (at least those with a TV) have heard of the TLC show "Extreme Couponing" where each episode features some shoppers using coupons to leave stores with carts overflowing with product that they paid little or nothing for. I actually haven't seen a full episode of it, but some of the stuff people were coming home with just churned my stomach! Does anyone really need 150 Butterfingers even if they are free? Don't get me wrong, I love free stuff and would not pass up a free candy bar. But is it really in our families best interest to have so much junk stored up? Which brings me to that verse "do not store up your treasures where moths and rust destroy".... can those people really use all that stuff before it goes bad? Yes, I know some of them donate what they don't use, but still it seems a bit much to me.

Anyhoo, I'm getting away from my point of this post. I've been couponing out of necessity for probably as long as Josh and I have been married and about a year ago I started following the blog Thrifty NW Mom and she always posts these amazing deals that she and other readers are getting on items using coupons. Her blog is also where I learned about the TLC show. She gives examples of combining coupons with sales and other coupons to get the best deals on things you buy everyday. So, I decided to give it a try. Slowly but surely I was finding better and better deals. Then this week my sister sent me some of her Albertson's doublers (coupons that double the value of a manufacturers coupon up to $1) and I combined them with some other coupons and sales and this is what I came home with....

• 2 boxes Honey Nut Chex on sale for $1.88 each ($3.76)- printable coupon $1 off 2 boxes combined with the Albertson's doubler= $.88 each!
• 2 bottles of Sierra Mist on sale for $1.67 each ($3.34)- $.75 coupon off our Little Cesar's Pizza box combined with the doubler and a $.40 off peelie coupon (the ones stuck onto the products)= $.72 per bottle!
• Tub of sour cream on sale for $2- $.40 off manufacturers coupon from the newspaper insert combined with a doubler = $1.20 <-not the best deal but I needed some.
• Oral-B toothbrush on clearance for $1.49-$1.50 coupon from paper insert = -$.01 <- made $ off that one!

I am loving how much this is saving me! Being part of the coupon savy blogging community has really helped me get the best deals on the things I'm going to buy anyways (not 150 butterfingers LOL) and that helps me be able to do more with less for my family. Which in turn gives me more to bless others with. Which makes happy. It's stewardship people! (I'm not yelling just really excited)

Have you had any really good deals lately? Also, on a slightly different note... would you follow a local couponing/ deal finding blog? As far as I know there isn't one for Bellingham or any of Whatcom/Skagit counties and I've thought about starting up my own. Good idea? Bad idea? Let me know?

Pacific Science Center

Space Needle on a beautiful Seattle day

On Monday March 7th we took a little field trip down to Seattle for Pacific Science Center's  Free Freddy's Monday event. The first 1000 people get in totally free thanks to a donation from the Fred Meyer Fund. We packed a sack lunch, so the only thing we had to pay for all day was parking and some souvenirs for the kids. Because of that we opted to park in the onsite garage, $10 for 3 hours. There is cheaper parking in downtown Seattle, but we went for convenience since it was the only expense of the day.

Butterfly on Josh

My favorite exhibit was the butterfly house. It was so neat to see all the different kinds of butterflies and I even had one hanging out on my shoulder for a while. Then the one in the pic above decided he liked Josh's orange shirt and rode around with him for a bit. If you'd like to see more pics, check out my mom's album on Facebook.

Naked Mole Rats

The boys' favorite part of the whole day was spraying the water cannons outside, but their favorite indoors exhibits were the dinosaurs and insects. There were lots of live insects in terrariums. We were hoping to see the bee colony they have, but I guess that wasn't on display since bees are dormant this time of year. The dinosaurs were all animatronic replicas as well as some skeletal bone displays and other fossil replicas.

Oh no! A dinosaur!

Elizabeth really liked the Butterflies and the toddler play area. There were a lot of moms with infants there on this particular day, so she didn't get to play in the toddler area as much as she wanted to since the babies were crawling all over and she just wanted to run.

There is one more free day the first Monday of April and you should check it out. Our kids have never been to the Science Center before and it's been about 10 years since Josh and I went and it's definitely a family favorite now. We're thinking about going back when this exhibit comes to Seattle!

Let's go on a picnic!

It is sheer coincidence that today, National Picnic Day, I am posting about this recent find, but very fitting... So here it goes!

I have been wanting a picnic basket for some time now. Probably since a certain child busted the handles off of the one my parents had bought me when I was in HS. I've dropped hints, shopped around, looked at Goodwill. But everyone I found was either a weird size, had flimsy handles, cost way too much or was broken so badly it was good for nothing but decoration. Until the other day. Went to Goodwill and found this lovely gem....

The only thing wrong with it is a little bit of the decorative wood trim is chipped, but what you can't make out in this photo is that little red tag there says $1.99!!! Sturdy handles, big space, durable wood and a great price!

It fits my fancy enamel thrift store plates very nicely (although the charger plates are a bit too big), if we are doing a picnic for two or it can hold a big stack of paper plates and plastic cups if we're doing something for the whole family. I can't wait to start using it! I can envision so many special moments using this little basket!