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Enjoy Your Holidays with PEEPS®!

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Celebrate Holiday with Peeps My kids always look forward to seeing what PEEPS® will have in the stores during the holiday seasons,  For Winter, PEEPS® is offering Christmas trees, Gingerbread Men, Snowmen, and more!  For the Minion fans, PEEPS® is offering those as well! As a special treat, my kids love adding a fun shaped marshmallow PEEPS® to their hot cocoa when they come in from playing outside.  This makes the season all the more fun!  Check out all the goodies that the PEEPS® company is offering! peeps Through December 31, you can use code SWEETINGS15  on the PEEPS & Company® website to save 20% off your next purchase, no minimum required!  Here are some of the goodies that you will find:

  • PEEPS® Large Banana Crème Flavored Minion: PEEPS® introduces a new banana crème flavored marshmallow in honor of the beloved Minions characters. Three varieties of the individually packed large Minions include the likeness of Kevin, Stuart and Bob – stars of the Minions movie available on DVD this holiday season. Available only for a limited time!
  • PEEPS® Vanilla Crème Chicks Pop: Fans can celebrate holiday traditions with these four classic Vanilla Crème flavored marshmallow Chicks on a stick.
  • PEEPS® Marshmallow Minions: To celebrate the DVD release of the Minions Movie, PEEPS® created a Minion-shaped marshmallow reflecting their fun PEEPSONALITY®. The original marshmallow Minions are sure to please admirers of all ages. Available for a limited time only!
  • PEEPS® Candy Cane Flavored Marshmallow Chicks: Those who prefer their Candy Canes chicks without the chocolate can indulge in the peppermint-goodness of Candy Cane favored chicks!
  • PEEPS® Large Marshmallow Snowmen: Large, fluffy PEEPS® Brand Snowmen are fun to eat and to share! Available in one count stocking-stuffer size packages, and three count share size.
  • PEEPS® Gingerbread-Flavored Marshmallow Gingerbread Men: Now you can get the gingerbread flavor you crave all year long in something other than a cookie with PEEPS® gingerbread flavored marshmallow gingerbread men.
  • PEEPS® Marshmallow Trees: It wouldn’t be the holiday season without seeing a Christmas tree! Enjoy green PEEPS® tree-shaped marshmallow decorated with red, yellow and blue garland and topped with a star.
  • PEEPS® Marshmallow Snowmen: PEEPS® traditional sized snowmen! PEEPS® Marshmallow Snowmen are adorned with a top hat and candy cane decorations with a nostalgic look.
  • PEEPS® Chocolate Mousse-Flavored Marshmallow Reindeer: These reindeer shaped marshmallow PEEPS® are chocolate-mousse flavored and oh so delicious!
  • PEEPS® Holiday Pop: This delicious marshmallow flavored pop comes with four assorted Chicks representing the holiday colors: green, red and white.

Guess what!?  One lucky reader will win their own PEEPS® prize pack!  Fill out the Rafflecopter below for your chance:

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PEEPS® and PEEPS & COMPANY® provided me with the information, samples and discount code for the post. All opinions are my own.

End of the Year Cleanout!

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This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Goodwill of North Georgia for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.

End of the Year Cleanout Tips

Every year as we get closer to Christmas, I start a major purge of our unwanted or unused clothing, shoes, toys, and other random things.  With company coming and gifts arriving soon, we need to make some room!  It’s amazing how much unused things we can have sitting around the house!  Getting rid of things we aren’t using is a great way to get the kids preparing for Christmas. 20151202_163349_resized

I clean out my kids closets and drawers at least twice a year during the changing of the seasons.  Anything outgrown or that I’m tired of seeing automatically gets put in the donate box.  Then I evaluate what we have left and slim down the selection from there.  We find it helpful to always have a donate box handy throughout the year.  Typically it’s sitting in the garage.  The kids know if something doesn’t fit and it can’t be handed down to a sibling to put it in the box.  You can always move all the clothes to one end of the closet and as it gets worn, move it to the other end.  Anything that doesn’t get worn can be donated. Today is purge day at our house.  My husband has taken the kids out of the house for a bit so I can tackle the toys without hearing complaints.  The purging goes much more smoothly if they don’t see everything that is going away.  Sometimes we will send the kids with Grandma so we can tackle the clutter together.  It’s nearly impossible to do a thorough clean and purge with 5 kids underfoot!  We hit the toy areas hard and box them up before the kids realize what is missing.  99 percent of the time they never ask about the toys because it’s things that they haven’t played with in a while anyway. 20151202_163315_resized

Did you know that you can take your unwanted toys, clothes, and household items to your  local Goodwill of North Georgia store and get a tax receipt?  At our local Goodwill here in north Georgia, all we do is pull up and the employees will help us get everything right out of the car and grab our receipt.  I like knowing that someone else can use the things that we no longer need. The benefit of taking your unwanted items to Goodwill is also knowing that they help put people to work. Goodwill is celebrating their 90th birthday by helping thousands of men and women who face barriers that make it difficult for them to find work and earn a paycheck to support their families. Sometimes it’s lack of training or education, limited job skills, or a disability. Through the support of donors and shoppers like you, we overcome those barriers. Goodwill gives people the tools they need to find a job, which allows them to support themselves and their families. Check out all the Donation Locations and find one near you!

Are you getting ready for a winter purge?  Leave a comment and share about your experiences.

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Review & Giveaway: Women Are Scary

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As a Family Christian blogger, I’ve been able to review and read lots of great books lately.  One that particularly peaked my interested was one called Women Are Scary.

Many of us women are actually scared to talk to or get to know other women.  Myself included.  We put particular women in our circle on a pedestal and think that we will never be able to compare with them.  We think that they must have it all together, meanwhile, I’m barely treading water.  We are often scared to talk to each other out of fear of rejection or even fear of someone getting to know the real us.

I’ve actually had women tell me that they thought I had everything all together when they first met me.  They think because I have a blog, 5 kids, homeschool, etc that I somehow have it all together.  Once you peel back the layers and get to know me, you’ll realize that I’m just as broken as the next person.  I know I do that with other women as well – think that because they always have makeup on and look put together that somehow they have figured out the secrets to life.

In Women Are Scary, Melanie Dale talks about friendships between women and how to make the best of them.  I laughed out loud several times in the book as she discusses the “bases” to getting to know someone.  A lot of time we are hesitant to let people in out of fear.  The book lives up to the tag line – The Totally Awkward Adventure of Finding Mom Friends.

If you are a struggling mom, I recommend you check out this book.  I learned a lot about myself and how I relate to others through it and will definitely be re-reading again soon.

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Information and giveaway provided by Family Christian.  All opinions are my own.

Meal Plan Monday

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It’s Monday again, already!  I don’t know about the rest of yall, but I’m tired of thanksgiving leftovers!  Time to make some real food again!  Here’s what we are eating this week:

Monday: Grilled Chicken, brown rice, broccoli

Tuesday: Spaghetti

Wednesday: Black Bean Burritos

Thursday: Pork Chops, brussel sprouts, quinoa

Friday: Dinner out

Saturday: Chicken nugget salad

Sunday: Chicken Quesadillas

What are you making this week?

Thanksgiving Turkey Sun Catchers

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Thanksgiving Turkey Suncatchers

Thanksgiving is just days away and we are cleaning, prepping, and trying to keep the kids busy so they won’t mess up the house.  I was looking for some fun ideas to take up time and decorate the house and found these Thanksgiving Turkey Sun Catchers on the Dixie Crystals Kids in the Kitchen website.

After a quick trip to the dollar store to grab some tissue paper, we set right to work making our sun catchers.

Thanksgiving Suncatchers Process

For starters, I gave each child a piece of wax paper and taped it to the table so they would stay in place.  Next we made the decoupage glue.  Note that the recipe listed on their site gave us a TON of glue.  Unless you are making these for a classroom, I recommend halving or even quartering the recipe so you don’t end up with too much.

Decoupage Glue:

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup Dixie Crystals Extra Fine Granulated Sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
  • 1 1/2 cups water

Next, “paint” the glue on half of your wax paper.  Tear the tissue paper in strips and lay on the glue.  My kids had fun making their own designs with the tissue paper so that their turkeys were unique.  Once you have glued down the tissue paper on half of your wax paper, apply glue to the top of your tissue paper and fold over the rest of the wax paper on top.  Smooth it out to rid it of air bubbles.  Now set it aside to dry completely.  We did ours before nap and then put them outside to dry so we can finish after nap.

Turkey Suncatcher

Next we folded the wax paper in half and I drew the feathers so the kids could cut them out.  Then we added a body, beak, and eyes and hung them up in the window!  They look great with the light shining through!

For more great craft ideas for Thanksgiving, visit Dixie Crystals Kids in the Kitchen website.

This is a sponsored post by Dixie Crystals.  

What Are My Kids Getting For Christmas?

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Christmas Gifting

I’ve had a number of you ask what my kids are getting for Christmas.  This went over so well last year that once again we’ve decided this year to go with this poem:

Something you want,

Something you need,

Something to wear,

Something to read.

This has really simplified Christmas for us and has given me a goal when I shop.  The kids really think about what they want instead of putting everything they see on the list.

Here’s the start of our Christmas for 2015.  Blanks will be filled in once they are figured out 🙂

12 year old girl:

9 year old boy:

6 year old girl:

4 year old girl:

Baby Boy:

Stockings: Stickers, new coloring books, new crayons, and ????

Santa doesn’t visit our home.  We’ve asked him to deliver our gifts to needy children instead.  We take the kids every year to buy gifts for the people in need so we can play Santa to others.  We absolutely love doing that and the kids look forward to shopping for others each year!

What are your kiddos getting this year?  Any fun traditions?

Stone Mountain Christmas 2015

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Stone mountain 1

Oh how I love this time of the year!  The lights, smells, and crisp fall air here in Georgia mean that Christmas is right around the corner.  One of our favorite places to visit during the Christmastime is Stone Mountain Park for their Stone Mountain Christmas.  They offer so many fun things to do with your park admission including:

      • Experience Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas 4-D, a hilarious adventure featured in 3-D with added in-theater effects that will transport you back to the Ice Age.
      • All aboard the Singalong Train to hear your favorite Christmas tunes as well as the heartwarming story of the first Christmas in The Gift.
      • Wander through the Wonderland Walkway, a dazzling tunnel of lights guiding you to the Snow Angel® Palace, where you can have your picture taken with beautiful Snow Angel and her Toy Soldiers.
      • Enjoy great holiday shopping that includes hand blown glass ornaments, homemade fudge, unique toys and seasonal apparel.

Stone Mountain Christmas 2

We went recently and really enjoyed ourselves.  The singalong train is probably my favorite.  Getting to snuggle next to your loved ones and sing Christmas carols.  Hearing the true story of Christmas was the highlight of the evening.  My kids loved seeing some of their favorite characters and listening to all the plays and skits.  We also took some time to decorate cookies.  The kids loved that!  Lastly, we had to make sure to take a photo of baby boy and I under the mistletoe.  Can’t get enough of kisses from him!

For more information on Stone Mountain Christmas, visit their website.

Meal Plan Monday

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Oh it’s meal planning time again.  Today’s meal plan has taken me a while to make.  I’m just not feeling it today.  I’m tired!  Busy but fun weekend!  Here goes on the meal plan:

Monday: Thai chicken, salad, brown rice

Tuesday: Poppyseed Chicken, broccoli

Wednesday: Spaghetti and meatballs

Thursday: BLTs

Friday: Dinner out

Saturday: Taco Pie 

Sunday: Crock Pot Quesidillas

Christmas Gift Ideas for Law Enforcement Officers

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Christmas Gift Ideas for Law Enforcement Officers

The other day I had a reader email me and ask about ideas for her law enforcement officer husband for Christmas.  My husband has been in law enforcement for about 11 years now so he has definitely developed a list of his favorite items.  I got with him today and compiled a list of his favorite things to share with you all.  I hope you enjoy this list of Christmas gifts for Law Enforcement Officers.

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  1. Quiqlite – This is a little flashlight that clips nicely to his collar and allows him to see paperwork in the dark.  It is perfect for the fall and winter months when it gets dark so early!  He has the one that has a blue light as well as the white light
  2. J5 Tactical V1-Pro Flashlight – Another great flashlight option.
  3. Cool Cop – This is such a great idea!  It’s a system that hooks to the air conditioning in their patrol car and then hooks to their vest to keep them cool in the summer months!  Here in Georgia, it gets pretty toasty in the summer!
  4. Buddy Kit – The Buddy Kit is a compact, versatile individual first aid kit that offers both MOLLE/PALS – style connectors to attach to a vest or body armor and an upper or lower mounted 2.25” belt loop attachment to secure the kit in the high or low position on a duty belt, all in one carrying platform.  This has saved many lives in our area!
  5. KA-BAR Law Enforcement Knife – This fits right on his duty belt with the sheath (sold separate). The Law Enforcement Knife was designed to be used as a “last option” knife. In extreme close quarters encounters where a suspect is attempting to take an officer’s handgun, or the officer cannot access his/her handgun, the knife is available. Designed as an “off hand” knife that draws like a pistol, the reversible sheath can be worn on either the right or left side of the officer’s pant belt.
  6. Law Enforcement Car Seat Organizer – My husband is all about being super organized at work.  He can’t stand not being able to find what he needs.  A nice car seat organizer that attaches to the passenger seat is one of his must-have items.
  7. Hatch Specialist All-Weather Shooting/Duty Glove – Designed specifically for all-weather handgun use, this glove is an essential piece of equipment for all men and women of Law Enforcement. The palm is made of Synsi-feel™ synthetic leather, which provides excellent grip and accurate feel.
  8. And lastly, my husband says when in doubt, more guns and ammo are always an option!

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If you’re looking for shift ideas, check out our Law Enforcement Appreciation bags.  They are always a great hit.

Do you love an officer?  What would you add to this list?

Is Amazon Prime Worth It?

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Is Amazon Prime Worth It

One of the questions I get asked most is this:

Is Amazon Prime worth the expense?Capture

My answer?  YES!  Or at least for my family it’s worth it.  I know $99 is a lot, especially in this day, but every year I fork it over.  It works out to be just $8.25 a month.  Totally worth it.

Why?

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1. Free 2 day shipping:  This comes in handy.  A LOT.  For example – Kids announce that they have a birthday party to go to.  In 2 days.  Your present closet is empty and you don’t feel like dragging the kids to the store since you know they will beg for presents as well.  the $15 gift ends up costing you $50 by the time everyone gets a little surprise.  I am all about making my life easier and not dragging 5 kids to the store.  Plus if you need something the next day (Whoops! Forgot that birthday gift!), they will overnight it for only $3.99!

2. Gas money saved:  Let’s face it.  Gas is EXPENSIVE!  A 10 minute drive to the local store adds up!  Instead just click, click, click, and it’s at your door!

3. Instant Video: You get a TON of movies and tv series for FREE!  I just finished watching all of the Army Wives episodes during my hubby’s night shifts.  We cancelled our Netflix account and just use this!

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4. Kindle Library: You get to pick a book to read for FREE every month from the Kindle Lending Library!  Many popular titles, too

5. Fed-Ex/UPS man: You know you have the hots for him.  Give him more excuses to stop by saying he has a package for you. Totally kidding.  My UPS man is old.  Cute for an old guy, though!

6. Amazon Mom: I buy a lot of my diapers on Amazon.  Again, convenience.  Lugging a giant box of pampers plus a case of pullups around the store while dragging 4 kids is not my idea of fun.  Instead, they show up on my doorstep.  Amazon Mom is free to join and you’ll get additional percentages off select baby items.

7. Secrecy: If you ever buy some things that you’d rather your kids not announce to the store, this is an easy way to get it and not have to pay shipping.  You know, like your 4 year old yelling to the entire store “MOM!  What is K-Y” or your 8 year old asking why you’re getting a pregnancy test.   Not that it has happened to me before or anything.  Just sayin’.

8. Free Photo Storage: Your membership now includes Prime Photos: free storage in Amazon Cloud Drive for your entire photo collection. It’s like having a virtual album of every one of your photos that you can access at any time, no matter which device you use!

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9. Prime Music: With Prime Music, you can listen ad-free to over a million songs from top artists like Taylor Swift, Daft Punk, Kanye West, Bruno Mars, Blake Shelton, Katy Perry, The Rolling Stones, Lady Antebellum, Bruce Springsteen and Madonna. And they’ll be adding more music all the time.

How about ya’ll?  Do you love or hate Amazon Prime? Haven’t given it a try yet?  No problem!  Try Amazon Prime with a 30-Day Free Trial.  You can cancel it before the end and pay nothing!

Know someone that loves Amazon? You can also Give the Gift of Amazon Prime

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