Advent Giving Quest - Week 1 Report & Week 2 Plan

Advent has begun!! This past week, on the evenings we were home to eat dinner together, we began reading through a Family Advent book the kids received last year from St. Nicholas. It had great short readings with thoughts about Advent and even tied in with our giving plan for the season!

On Monday, my mom, my kids and I put together quite a few packages to give out during Advent. We put the Candy Cane story onto candy canes, M&M nativity story on individual M&M packages, taped quarters into cards, and packaged candles and body lotion sets.

Jacob enjoyed "reading" books while we were putting together our gifts.

Abigail had fun taping all of the quarters on the cards:Isaiah joined us for a while helping out too!Mom and I finished up the preparation of all the gifts, as my kids got a little side-tracked!

Here's our completed packages ready to give away! We divided up the packages between me and my mom and put them in our cars so we would have them throughout the week.

Throughout this past week, we were able to bless quite a few people with Random Acts of Christmas Kindness! Here's a few pictures of our actions:

My mom gave away a package at the post office:

and the bank:

On Monday, Isaiah went to Walmart with me for groceries and he asked our checkout clerk what her favorite gum was, then we gave it to her with a card when we left. It made all of us smile :-)

We met my mom at a few laundrymats on Tuesday and each of my children were able to give away a card with $1.50 in quarters taped to it to six different individuals.

They all loved giving them away!!

Their school is doing a drive to collect items for a local association to help less fortunate children and the SPCA. Each of my kids were able to donate a bag full each of items for this cause.

Abigail decided to give a few more things the next day of her own toys.

Isaiah gave our checkout teller at World Market a Candy Cane with the story on Wednesday.

My mom gave gifts at Texas Roadhouse, Stockyards restaurant, United, Outback, home Bug Sprayer, and our hair dresser. She also bought coffee for a Salvation Army bell ringer at United.

It was a VERY successful week of Random Acts of Christmas Kindness!

Week 2 of Advent Giving Quest Plan:

This Thursday is December 8th, the Feast of Immaculate Conception, so my children have the day off from school. We are going to use this opportunity to get started early with giving that day! We are planning on delivered donuts to a firehouse and then bringing candy canes, m&ms, and small gifts to a few nursing homes.

We are also planning on Saturday to go to the mall (after picking up mylar balloons at the dollar store) to handout balloons to children shopping with their parents, putting Christmas books at the children's play area, handing out coupons for free food at Chick-fil-a (I bought these at a silent auction), & handing out Candy Cane & M&Ms with their stories.

As the opportunities arise, we also plan on:

Grocery Store - buy a gift card and hand it to the person checking out behind me.

Grocery Store - buy a package of gum & give it to the checkout clerk

Grocery Store - buy a coffee or hot chocolate & give it to the Salvation Army bell ringer when leaving the store

Restaurants - hand out coupons that I have or small gift cards before leaving restaurant

Restaurants - Leave a small gift for waiter/waitress

Drive-Thru Restaurant - pay for person behind me in line

Have a wonderful week of Giving!!!

Week One of Advent - Giving Quest

I took this picture today after church - I love my happy kids!!!

Last night, we began to get out our Christmas decorations - they all had fun helping me decorate and playing with everything!

As I mentioned in my last blog post, we are planning an Advent season full of giving. We have been printing labels and cutting today, thanks to Colby and Abigail. Tomorrow, my mom is coming over and together with my kids we are going to put together some of the things we will be giving away.

Our first Random Act of Kindness is planned for this coming Tuesday afternoon. Tomorrow, we are going to put quarters on the four corners of the card below.

Then, on Tuesday, we will take these cards to a local laundrymat or two and hand them out to people there. I hope there's going to be lots of people washing their clothes after the Thanksgiving break so each of my kids can bless at least one person! I know $1 will not even pay for a load to be washed or dried, but hopefully it WILL bless that person's day & my child's heart in giving something away.

Here's a few other projects we will be assembling tomorrow:

We will be attaching the Christmas story printed below to M&M candy wrappers. I found this story through pintrest and it led me to this site.

We will also be attaching the Legend of the Candy Cane story below to candy canes. I found this cute printable thru pintrest too & it led me to this site.

We are going to hand out the M&Ms and the candy canes at nursing homes and the mall later this month.

I've planned two specific givings each week of Advent. I will be highlighting our plans here each week. I also have a list of other things we can do during the week, depending on where we are. I will have the small cards to explain what we are doing in my purse so I can hand these out as we do something!

These things are:
Grocery Store - buy a gift card and hand it to the person checking out behind me.
Grocery Store - buy a package of gum & give it to the checkout clerk
Grocery Store - buy a coffee or hot chocolate & give it to the Salvation Army bell ringer when leaving the store
Restaurants - hand out coupons that I have or small gift cards before leaving restaurant
Restaurants - Leave a small gift for waiter/waitress
Drive-Thru Restaurant - pay for person behind me in line

Next week, I'll report back with our progress of this week & give the coming week's plan! I hope you will join us on this Advent Giving Quest! Let me know what you and your family have done or are planning on doing!!

Advent Plan - Random Acts of Kindness

This Advent, I am planning on performing Random Acts of Kindness with my children. I have been searching the internet and Pintrest to find neat ideas. I thought I would compile my list here & would love to add any ideas you may have!

I found this great post about this family's experience with Advent Random Acts of Kindness for last year and am modeling our plan after their's. I ordered cards to put with each of our gifts from Cardstore.com when they had their awesome 80% off sale a few weeks ago :-)

On the inside of the card it says:

"Random Acts of Christmas Kindness - You'ved Been RACK'ed"

"This Advent, we are celebrating the true meaning of Christmas by performing Random Acts of Kindness. You are a child of God and we pray you find His blessings this Christmas season."

Here's another blog post I found with lots of great ideas - it was a woman celebrating her 38th birthday by doing 38 Random Acts of Kindness!

During the Advent & Christmas season, it is easy to be self-centered. I hope by blessing others with these random acts of kindness, my children will focus more on how we can help and give to others, rather than what they want to receive for Christmas.

Ideas:

Taping coins on vending machines - toys, snacks, or sodas

Single dollars in toy aisle of dollar store

Candy canes at ATM machines

Hand out $5 Starbucks gift cards at mall

Coloring books & crayons in a waiting room

Donate items to food bank, homeless shelter, etc.

Hand out mylar balloons to children shopping with their parents at mall

Handwritten letter to old friend or family member

Buy gift card at checkout of grocery store & give it to person behind you before leaving

Give gift card or coupon to table at restaurant (good way to use freebie or discount coupons for restaurants)

Read a story to children at book store or library

In drive thru line, pay for person's meal behind you (give cashier the card to give to them)

Make a meal (double your evening's recipe) for a friend or loved one

Giving someone on the street corner a bag with bottled water & granola bars
Take a set of holiday books & leave at the mall play area
Get an angel from an angel tree & buy the needs & wants for the child or person in need
Buy hot cocoa or coffee for a Salvation Army bell ringer
Buy a package of gum or mints for checkout clerk at grocery or convenience clerk
Hand out flowers to random people
Leave a basket of Christmas gifts on doorstep of family in need
Leave note & candy canes on cars in parking lots
Take a bunch of quarters to the laundromat & give them away
Take a roll of pennies or other coins & drop them all over a playground for kids to find

People to bless with small gifts:

Mailman

Firemen

Police Officers

Teachers - school, Sunday school, coaches, activity leaders, etc.

Health care professionals

Waiter/waitress

Service people working outside (hot donuts!)

Nursing Homes - gifts, cards or caroling

Neighbors

Small gift ideas:

coffee

small amt gift cards

cookies or candy

caroling

food

Here's a few blog posts with good ideas for small gifts:30 Neighbor Gift Ideas and Gifts from Your Kitchen

So, this is our plan!!! We will begin Monday, November 28th, the 2nd day of Advent. To keep us accountable, I am planning on blogging as I can on our progress! I am also wanting to get a tree where we could tie to it all of the blessings and random acts of kindness that we have done throughout the season. I am copying this blog by also planning to pray during our evening prayers for the people that we met or blessed that day.

I invite you to join with us in this project! Please comment with additional ideas of things you can do or have done. Have fun spreading the love of Christ with others!

Peanut Butter Power Balls

A few years ago, I was searching the internet to find ideas to pack for the kid's lunch. I came across the recipe for Peanut Butter Power Balls. They quickly became a favorite for my kid's for lunch, snack or anytime!

Here's the original recipe:
1 c peanut butter
1/2 c non-fat milk powder or soy protein powder
1/2 c raisins or chocolate chips
1/4 c honey
Graham cracker crumbs

I've amended it to:
1 c creamy peanut butter
1/2 c non-fat milk powder
1/4 c mini chocolate chips
1/4 c quick cooking oats
1/4 c honey
1 t flaxseed meal
Graham cracker crumbs

Mix all ingredients except graham cracker crumbs in large bowl. Shape mixture into 1-inch balls. Roll in crumbs & refrigerate or freeze.

I usually make this recipe times 5, so I can use an entire 40 oz jar of peanut butter! It makes enough to fill a large tupperware to keep in the fridge & the remaining in a ziploc in the freezer. We just made them this morning & it made 85 balls.
I usually get everything mixed up & then whichever of my kids are around, they help me roll them in the graham cracker crumbs. It's a fun activity & great snack!

Five Little Pumpkins

Five Little Pumpkins sitting on a gate,

The first one said, "Oh my, it's getting late!"

The second one said, "There are witches in the air."

The third one said, "But we don't care"

The fourth one said, "Let's run and run and run"

The fifth one said, I'm ready for some fun!"

OO went the wind and out went the light

and the Five Little Pumpkins rolled out of sight.

Online Savings from an Amarillo Mama

For the past year and a half, I have been trying to save money where I can. The internet is an amazing resource in this project. I've attempted to compile everything I've learned on this journey so you can join me!!

For a lot of what I'm going to share with you, if you want to take advantage of them, please click on the links here. Then, if you sign up for accounts & make a purchase with the different sites, we both might receive referral/signup credits. So, please go through the links!

I have found many blogging moms who list great deals daily for shopping, how to use coupons at various stores to save, codes for diaper rewards, and many other great tips. You can sign up to receive their new posts through email, google reader, facebook or just check online.

I recommend that you sign up for a new email address when you sign up for accounts on any of these sites or send off for samples. (like gmail, yahoo, etc) - That way possible email won't clog up your personal email address.

Some of my Favorite Blogs to Save:

On each of these sites, they post quite a few times a day with free samples, sweepstakes, coupons, store guides to coupons, diaper codes, alerts about markdowns at different sites, discount and free shipping codes to various sites, redbox codes for free rentals, etc. Most of them also host giveaways. Some of them also list info about meal planning, craft ideas, parenting and ideas about faith.

I follow a few of these on facebook, so I can quickly see if I want to go to their site and take advantage of a deal. Sometimes they have the same deals posted, but other times they're different.

Hip2Save - Not Your Grandma's Coupon Site - This is my favorite site to check! She also believes in giving back to the community and others in need, which I love.

For the Mommas

Common Sense With Money

Crazy Coupon Mommy

Faithful Provisions

The Thrifty Mama

There are MANY other sites like these above that list some of the same deals, as well as others!:
Balancing Beauty and Bedlam, She Saved, Surviving the Stores, Fashion Sense for Mom, Hoosier Homemade, Penny Pinchin' Mom, I go BOGO, Keeping the Kingdom First, Moms Need to Know, Mrs. Moneysaver, Passion for Savings, Coupon Cravings, Sisterly Savings, Happy Clippings, etc.

There are always discounts and freebies to make photo gifts or print pictures! Don't ever pay full price. I've been able to stock up on future birthday and Christmas presents on many different items at a greatly reduced price.

Online Shopping:
Before shopping for anything online, check these sites to see where you can get a percentage of your purchase price back. They also have coupon codes where you can save even more. The % back that you receive changes, as they feature different stores each day & change the amount you will get back.

ShopatHome - I have received $105 since Sept 2010! They send you a check each month when you have at least $20 in your account. For example, recently they were giving 10% back at Gap, and Payless Shoes was 8%. We will each get $5 when you make your first purchase through their site within 30 days of signing up.

Ebates - I have received $395 since Aug 2010!!! They pay every quarter, as long as you have at least $5.01 in your account. For example, recently Gap online was giving 10% & Snapfish was giving 20%! We will each get $5 when you make your first purchase through their site within 30 days of signing up.

Upromise - This one saves $ for kid's college. I have saved $766 since 2002!! You enter your credit cards into your account. Then, when you shop through their site to other online sites you receive % back for college. You can also link your Albertson's & CVS cards to receive more savings. Another way to save $ through Upromise is to apply for one of their credit cards & a % of all purchases goes into your child's account. The great thing is anyone who will sign up can save for your child, like grandparents, etc. When you have enough $ saved, you can start a 529 plan for your child.

Discover Card - If you have a discover card, I would also recommend you check through their shop discover link on their site. It works the same way as ebates & shopathome, but you have to use your discover card when you check out & the % you get back goes into your cashback bonus amount, which is redeemable at any time. One of the best %s they have right now is for the Groupon site - 15%! (Ebates only gives 6%). My mom actually got a Discover Card just for her Groupon purchases :-) The positive about the % back from Discover Card is after your monthly bill is paid, you can redeem your % back immediately - credit your account balance, transfer to a bank account and other ways.

Websites Featuring Different Discounted Items:
I have found quite a few sites that showcase different products at a greatly reduced price, each product for a short period of time. Most of these have referral & signup bonuses too!

Here are some of my favorites:

Target - Target's website features around 5 daily deals that always ship for free.

Jasmere - on this site, they feature one thing each day or so. The price of the item goes down with each person who purchases. The final price is what everyone pays. I've gotten a few neat gifts with this site!

Zulily - this site features many different children's clothing, shoes, accessories, toys, and a few maternity and nursing mini-stores of different brands - at a discounted price. They have really, really cute items! If you are considering checking it out, please leave a comment or email so I can send you a referral email.

The Mini Social - this site features different children's clothing & accessories at discounted prices.

Totsy - this site also features children's items. If you sign up, they will send you an email with the items they are showcasing for the day & at times they run free shipping.

Heartsy - this site features homemade items, like etsy.

Moolala

Plum District

Savemore

Deal Pulp

My Habit - This is amazon's daily deal site. Their items always ship for free.

Living Social - sometimes they have local deals

HauteLook - This site features all different items for children & adults.

Rue La La - this site features mostly adult clothing & items.

Swirl by DailyCandy - this site features mostly adult clothing & accessories.

There are many, many more!!

Sites for Amarillo 1/2 off Gift Certificates to Restaurants & Retail

Groupon - They feature different local and internet businesses for usually 1/2 off. I've purchased deals for: Macaroni Joe's, Belmar Bakery, and much more! Like I mention above, go through ebates or shopdiscover before clicking on groupon to save even more!

Restaurants:

Amarillo.com Daily Deals - They post deals for local restaurants & retail businesses. They are usually available for a few days before changing. Recently, I've gotten a deal through this site for D'Vine Wines & for 575 Pizzeria!

These sites have been active in the past, but haven't run any specials lately: Thrifty Thursdays, Deals on Dining, Tasty Tuesdays,Half Off Gift Cards, Hometown Half Off

Sites That Feature 50+% off Gift Certificates - Items Change Daily

These sites feature businesses in various cities across the US. But hidden within some are online offers too! You just have to find them - sometimes some of the blogs to save I listed above will list all of the offers & where to find the online offers. You can set one city that closest to you as your city, but look through the other cities to find possible online deals.

Eversave - Similar to Groupon, with daily savings in different cities. I've purchased a few deals from them. The most recent is one I used to purchase our Christmas cards. It was $25 for $75 to picaboo.com. I had $24 in save rewards from referrals and sharing deals after purchasing. So, I got it for $1!!! After purchasing a deal, if you share it through email or facebook, etc they automatically put $2 in your save reward account to use on future deals.

Tippr - Similar to the others. I've purchased one deal from Tippr for 4 movie ticket vouchers, including IMAX or 3D movies - it was $20, redeemable through fandango ($56 value). You'll get a $5 credit for signing & I'll get $5 when you make your 1st purchase.

Buy With Me - Similar to the others.

Seize the Deal - Amarillo is listed for local daily deals. But you can also shop the other cities!

Coupons:

Using coupons can really save a lot of money. I get some coupons out of the Sunday newspaper, but there are also quite a few sites where you can just print the coupons that you want.
Coupons.com

Smartsource

Redplum

Health Esavers

Target - When I know I'm going to Target, I always check on the Blogs to Save to figure great deal scenarios before I go. This usually involves using quite a few coupons. At Target, they will accept one manufacturer coupon and one Target coupon on the same item! You can also sign up to get a weekly text with a link to more coupons. The checker just has to scan your phone at checkout. Recently, I purchased a jumbo pack of Huggies diapers, original price of $8.99- but I used a manufacturer coupon for $2.50 & a Target coupon for $2, so I only paid $4.49! You can also apply for a Target credit card that automatically gives you 5% off of every purchase.
Here's a deal I got recently: Curel lotion was on sale for $2.99. Target was running a promotion if you buy 2 of the various Curel lotions, you get a $5 Gift Card for use on a future transaction. I printed online 2 $1 off coupons, so I paid $4 and received a $5 Gift Card!
Mambo Sprouts

Great sites to enter Giveaways & see Reviews for Children's Products:

Busy Working Mama (I won a giveaway on this site before!)

Classy Mommy

Real Moms Real Views

Natural Baby Goods

Songberries

Simple Mom Reviews

My 365 to Size 5

Mommy Mandy

Cool Baby Kid

Vanilla Joy (she also posts a lot of neat crafting ideas!)

Momma Told Me

HSUper Parents

Usually the blogs who do giveaways first review the product & then give one away. So, it's a great way to learn about new products for kids that some of our local stores don't carry.

A Few More Sites to Checkout:

Amazon.com is offering a program called Amazon Mom where anyone can get a free 3 month membership to Amazon Prime, which gives you free 2-day shipping. You can earn additional months by purchasing $25 of products from the amazon baby store. It also qualifies you for 30% off subscribe & save diapers. You do not have to be a mom to qualify, as you can choose family member (be an aunt, uncle, etc). This will really come in handy with Christmas coming!

I also shop the site 6pm.com for great deals on shoes. But make sure & go through ebates (2.5% back) or shopathome (4% back) before purchasing!

Before checking out of various online stores I search at Retail Me Not to see if I can find a coupon code for free shipping, or an additional amount off.

The Graveyard Mall is a site that has lots of discounted items.

The Plastic Jungle - a website where you can sell, buy, exchange or donate gift cards. You can purchase gift cards for up to 30% off of their value, and you can sell your unwanted gift cards for up to 92% of their value.

Reward Programs:

Huggies Diapers - There are codes in every huggies diaper and wipes package. You enter these online & then redeem them for prizes. On a lot of the blogs to save sites they list other codes you can enter along with your diaper codes. If you haven't joined this & would like to, please let me know & I'll send you an email referral so I can earn extra points!

Pampers Diapers - The Gift to Grow program reward codes are found in every pampers diaper & wipes package. Enter them online & then redeem them for prizes. Extra codes are also shared on some of the blogs to save sites!

Disney Movie Rewards - The reward codes can be found in Disney dvds/blue-rays, as well as Disney movie theater ticket stubs. Also, the blogs to save sometimes have extra codes to enter. You can redeem your points for prizes. If you would like to join this & haven't already, please leave a comment or email so I can send you a referral email, as I'll get extra points for the referral!

The End

Wow - that's a lot of information! I hope you've enjoyed reading through this post. If you have any sites or ideas to add, please email me or leave a comment so I can add it to this post! As I said before, please click on the links from this post so I might get a referral bonus. Thanks!

Happy deal hunting!

Jacob is 12 months old!!!

Jacob turned 1 year old June 2nd!!
You are 17 lbs, 15 ozs (less than 3%) and 30 inches (50%)

You are wearing size 2-3 diapers & 6-12 month & 12-18 month clothes

You are nursing 4 times a day, and eating food with 3 of those meals. I've started weaning you by taking away one nursing a day this week... not your favorite thing!! Most days you like baby food, but you're also enjoying "real" food.

This past month or so, you've finally gotten into a great sleeping schedule! You go to sleep between 8-9pm and wake up between 7-9am. You are taking 2 good naps a day.

You light up when you see your brothers and sister. They LOVE you!

You love music & try to "sing" along.

I've seen you take 2 little steps, but not since then. You are a quick crawler. You are able to stand up without holding on for quite a while. I bet you'll be walking in the next few weeks!

We celebrated your birthday Saturday, June 4th. Unfortunately, you began running a fever (the first time in your life) on Friday. I took you to the doctor Monday & you had an ear infection.

You can sign: more, please & finished
You can say: mama, dada, bubba, and starting to say dog

Happy 1st Birthday Happy Boy!!