Target Toy Coupons

What a deal! If you are like me and haven't started any Christmas shopping at all yet, then you might be able to use these coupons. I found a couple of 50% off coupons for toys my kids put on their Christmas lists, like the Littlest Pet Shop and $5 off an Easy Bake Oven. Yippee!

Here's the link to the coupons. Target Toy Coupons

You can select the coupons you want and print them out at home. There are 32 pages of coupons, which include everything from toys to food to household items.

**Note -- Some of the coupons expire TODAY (11/24/10) but others are good until the middle of December.

I came across these coupons on another blog I follow that has coupons and hot deals: A Little of This, A Little of That.

Happy shopping to you!

Homemade Pizza

One of the most fun meals my family has made in a while is our own homemade pizzas. I made my own pizza dough for the first time and it was surprisingly simple. It turned out to be just as tasty as any pre-made dough I have bought.

The best part was when the kids helped mix up the dough and roll out their own pizzas. We made little individual pizzas so they could add their own toppings. This works well for us since we have one veggie lover and one cheese & sausage pizza connoisseur.

I found this recipe on a cooking blog called Anna Maria Volpi: A Passion for Cooking. 

Basic Pizza Dough

1 tbs. active dry yeast or 1 oz. brewer's yeast

1 1/2 c. warm water

3 1/2 c. flour

1 tbs. extra virgin olive oil

pinch of salt

There are pictures and steps on the original website, but basically you just activate the yeast in warm water for 5 minutes, then add the yeast, olive oil and salt to the flour. Mix together, knead and form a ball. Place the ball of dough in a bowl covered with a towel in a warm place. Let the dough rise for 1 1/2 - 2 hours. Then punch down the dough, roll it out on a flour surface, and top it with your favorite pizza toppings. I baked our pizzas for about 15 minutes in a 400 degree oven. 

Home Improvements + Kids = Fun

That's right, doing home improvements with your kids can be fun. Believe it or not!

I decided to tackle our small half bathroom near our family room. It was in dire need of a paint job. The kids and I head off to Home Depot to find paint and supplies.

This may be hard to believe but -- they were actually helpful when it came to painting. There is only one little streak of paint on the wooden molding that gives an indication that a four-year-old and six-year-old were part of our paint crew.

This post is participating in Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday. 

Photo Gallery (by Emily)

Maybe Emily will grow up to be a photographer. At least once a week I'll pick up the camera to upload pictures and find an interesting array of photos that have the tell-tale signature style of a 6-year-old photo enthusiast.

Here's a photo gallery of her recent "work." Note the Halloween theme. I'm sure I'll be getting a call from a fancy-shmancy New York City art gallery any day now. 

Portrait of the artist -- 
She must have enlisted the help of her assistant (aka little brother Mason) for this one. 

Day 7 of the All About Me in 30 Days meme asks for a photo that makes me smile. This one of Emily definitely qualifies. 

All About Me in 30 Days - Day 6

Day 6: 20 of My Favorite Things

My first thought was that my favorite things are my family and God, but then I realized that they are not things -- duh! I had to debate whether to take this literally as "things" or just aspects of my life that I love. I decided to go with actual things, not people or places (the other types of nouns).

Twenty of my favorite things, in no particular order. I feel like I've left out some meaningful things but this is what I can think of at the moment. Coming up with 20 favorite things is not as easy as it sounds!

1. My bed (Sleep number! Yeah!)
2. Books
3. My computer
4. My family photo albums
5. Internet
6. Facebook
7. Decaf coffee
8. Costco Combo Pizza

9. Diet Coke
10. Music
11. My pink, fluffy bathrobe
12. My wedding photos
13. My kids' scrapbooks
14. McMenamin's cheeseburgers
15. Comfy warm-up pants
16. My bike
17. Sagelands Cabernet
18. My Dodge Caravan
19. DVR

20. My wedding ring

All About Me in 30 Days - Day 5

Favorite Quote:


Serenity Prayer


God grant me the serenity 
to accept the things I cannot change; 
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.


(So this is actually a prayer, not a quote but it is a wonderful one to remember in tough situations.) 

All About Me in 30 Days - Day 3 & 4

Okay, I'm already behind on my All About Me in 30 Days meme. No surprise there.

Day 3 asks what my favorite t.v. program is. That leads me to the other post I'm behind on: The Biggest Loser Challenge.

The Biggest Loser is one of my favorite shows and I started my own weight loss challenge. I've only lost 1 lb. in the past two weeks so I haven't been feeling inspired to write about it. I'm hoping that next week I will have better news to report when I write about The Biggest Loser Challenge Week 6.

My other favorite t.v. program used to be Grey's Anatomy (which I still enjoy) but has been usurped by Parenthood.

Day 4 asks what is my favorite book. My all-time favorite book, which I would highly recommend is Jane Eyre by Charolette Bronte.

All About Me in 30 Days - Day 2

Yesterday I started All About Me in 30 Days. The second day topic is my favorite movie.

I love to watch movies. My husband and I used to have "movie night" every Friday, but now that we have expanded from just a couple to a whole houseful we don't get to watch movies together much anymore.

With that said, if I'm picking a favorite movie I've got to go all the way back to a couple of 80's classics. Well, I can't choose one but I'll narrow it down to two great movies: Dead Poet's Society and Field of Dreams.

I can watch both of these movies over and over again. They both are fun and entertaining to watch but they also inspire me to think outside the box about life.

All About Me in 30 Days

Thirty days, thirty facts -- all about yours truly. 

I follow a cute blog called Simply Stacie and she is doing this 30 day meme. I thought, what the heck? It'll give me something to write about for the next month anyway, right? Each day has a different topic. 

• Day 1 – your favorite song
• Day 2 – your favorite movie
• Day 3 – your favorite television program
• Day 4 – your favorite book
• Day 5 – your favorite quote
• Day 6 – 20 of my favorite things
• Day 7 – a photo that makes you happy
• Day 8 – a photo that makes you angry/sad
• Day 9 – a photo you took
• Day 10 – a photo taken over 10 years ago of you
• Day 11 – a photo of you recently
• Day 12 – something you are OCD about
• Day 13 – a fictional book
• Day 14 – a non-fictional book
• Day 15 – your dream house
• Day 16 – a song that makes you cry (or nearly)
• Day 17 – an art piece (drawing, sculpture, painting, etc)
• Day 18 – your wedding/future wedding/past wedding
• Day 19 – a talent of yours
• Day 20 – a hobby of yours
• Day 21 – a recipe
• Day 22 – a website
• Day 23 – a youtube video
• Day 24 – where I live
• Day 25 – your day, in great detail
• Day 26 – your week, in great detail
• Day 27 – my worst habit
• Day 28 – what’s in my handbag/purse
• Day 29 – hopes,dreams, plans for the next 365 days
• Day 30 – a dream for the future beyond the next year

Let's see if I can keep it up. Here goes Day 1!

My favorite song: Make Me Whole, by Amel Larrieux. Here's a link to the lyrics. 

My husband and I danced to this song at our wedding and it brings back warm fuzzy memories. 

It's hard to pick a truly favorite song; it depends on my mood but this one is a song that I love. 

Pumpkin Patch

Pumpkins, doughnuts, pony rides! Oh my!

We made our annual trip to Fir Pointe Farms pumpkin patch. I've got to say that this year was our best pumpkin patch trip yet -- nice weather, no tantrums, good friends, family, yummy food, and lots of
fun.

The pumpkin patch is always a great photo opportunity. It's not easy to get three kids to look at the camera and smile. In fact, it was pretty much impossible this day, as you can see.

A little better...

Not quite...

Almost got it...

This is as close as I'm gonna get.  I still have to teach Ryan to
look at the camera and smile.