Find out who your neighbors are...

Just wanted to give my readers a FYI about sexual predators. You should know who is living in your community. A sexual predator could be living next door. I am not telling you this to scare you, unfortunately it's reality. As a mom I feel it's my duty to know. Family Watchdog is a great site to utilize for this public information. Of course you want to think this could never happen to you, well I'm here to tell you it can. I myself am a victim of a sexual predator. He lives 2 miles away and is listed on this site. For the respect of my brother I will not post his profile since this is his father, my ex stepdad. I'm not saying sex offenders can't be rehabilitated, however at this point there is no regulation of personal choice, except incarceration. Family Watchdog is very simple to use, you type in your address and this site gives you a detailed map of sexual offenders in your community. The legend on the side tells you if the offense has been one against a child, rape, sexual battery or other. Click on the colored square and a profile will pop up with a picture, description of offense, alias and address. Check it out and protect you and your family. This happening to one child is too many.

Here are my reasons for caring! My angels Abby and Braden!

Found some great Walmart deals!

Over at Common Sense With Money are some great Walmart deals!

I have heard from other blogs that Dr. Pepper and Pepsi 24 packs are $5, but when I went to my local Walmart they weren't marked. This blog confirms the deal and next time I go I will scan the pepsi to make sure before I buy. $5 is the cheapest you will find a 24 pack and my Hubby is more than addicted to pop!
Some other great deals are for Hidden Valley Ranch, Brownie mix, and White Cloud toilet paper. Thank you Common Sense With Money!

Homeland Deals Week 4-28 to 5-4

Here are the match-ups, these bloggers do a great job every week. Let them know how much you appreciate their time.

Simple Saving Savvy

Coupon Princess Saves You Money!

Video show and tell!

Here is my shopping trip to Homeland this week! I made out like a bandit! By the way I did have to tell the cashier twice that a coupon did not double, which was not a big deal he adjusted it easily. Coupon Princess taught me to befriend the cashiers at my favorite stores. I am on pretty good terms with the cashiers at the 2nd and Santa Fe store, and next time I am going to treat them to a pop of their choice. So anyway watch this video, If you need any help comment on this post and I can help you with any question! Happy couponing!
Here are links to the coupon match-ups!

Mystery Diagnosis!

I stick my tongue to the top of my lip and feel a bump, hmm that's weird. I guess it's a pimple that formed on my lip. Strange place for a pimple. I go inspect this pimple in the mirror and decide I will wait it out, I mean what do you do for a pimple on your lips? The next morning I feel little itchy bumps on the corners of my lips and just outside the corners of my mouth. True to form I run to the mirror again. Oh no it looks just like poison ivy. I am highly allergic to poison ivy and had multiple outbreaks every summer as a kid. So as you can imagine I know my poison ivy bumps! Now I've had poison ivy in some weird places like my eyes and hair, but never my lips. Ugh! Very uncomfortable itchy lips. I ask my hubby to grab my favorite poison ivy treatment, which is a spray called Ivy Dry, it doesn't cure the poison ivy but it does dry it up and make it manageable.
Then my mind changes to how I got it. Well I know how allergic I am to poison ivy, and in the past I have gotten it from air exposure. But that's not good enough I continue to question. Well I just planted my garden, maybe one of the plants I purchase was around it? A little far fetched. My Hubby had a hilarious story, let me tell ya, he came up with this big elaborate story about me kissing another guy and being caught red lipped. Haha very funny :(. Then it came to me, my hubby mulched up a bunch of leaves at my father in laws house, where a known poison ivy village is living near by. That had to be it because I spread the mulched leaves all over my garden. Or so I thought!
Wondering how long the poison ivy will last on my poor itchy lips I turn to the internet. I type in poison ivy on lips. All sorts of things come up, I read one story about an allergic reaction to latex. Well no this is not me I know my poison ivy, plus I hadn't recently been to the dentist to question latex gloves. I move on the the next link where my mystery diagnosis is uncovered! A blog called Silent Rant with the post called "Hooray! It's not herpes!" Haha! I start reading, and the info she shares shocks me...
Here is a quote from Silent Rant: "Do a google search for “mango allergy reaction” and you find some fascinating stuff. The mango tree is in the sumac family, with poison ivy as a relative. So if you happen to have particularly strong reaction to poison ivy, your body senses the oleoresin from the mango skin, thinks it’s poison ivy, says “we’ve seen this before, and this time we’re ready- send in the white blood cell reinforcements” which then go to town on your skin and you’re in for an itchy rash."
I bought a beautiful mango weeks ago and recently made a delicious smoothie concoction! Mango is one of my favorites and in the past I would often buy a Manga Go Go from Jamba Juice. Every once in a while I would get a few poison ivy bumps on my hands. I figured I had smelled it and my body was just reminding me I was very allergic. And the reason I didn't get an outbreak on my lips was because I used a straw when I drank one. When I drank my home made smoothie I slurped it straight from the cup!

Photo credit: Kunkelfruit Wiki
So there you have it! Mango, you are now my arch enemy! Hopefully it will go away soon! Haha!

Great Deal on Laser Tag!

LASER QUEST!!!
Groupon is offering a deal on Laser Tag! You buy four games for $16, the games can be split between kids, but all games have to be used in one visit! The original price is $32, and you can buy up to three deals! Check it out, Laser Quest is so much fun for kids or adults. It would be a great family activity! This deal is for the OKC area but you can click here to check out the Groupon deals in your area! The deal is good for today only April 22nd!

Homeland here we come! 4/21 - 4/27

Alright another week of Homeland deals!!! Here are a few blogs I check for my coupon matchups!


Coupon Princess Saves You Money!

Consumer Queen

Simple Saving Savvy

Does your child do this?

Oh my gosh my son!!! LOL! Braden is almost two and has a hobby of finding holes around the house to stick his toys in! I would never have thought about all the places a hole can be found. For example today he stuck a piece of corn dog in the fire place key hole. Which I cleverly removed with tweezers!
In the hall way we have a closet door that was replaced and the door knob never got put in. Well you guessed it, this is one of his favorite spots!
Oh one of my hubby's maddest moments was the discovery of toys in his computer speakers! He still can't get them out.
We have been doing some renovations and removed a phone line in the wall, but before we could patch it up... this is what we found!

Even with all the irritation,it's a little humerous! Plus how can you stay mad at this sweet face!

Free NBA Thunder car flag!

Must have slipped my mind, but right now you can walk into Homeland wearing any Thunder gear and get a free car flag! You have to ask for it at the checkout! I'm not sure when this ends. I went yesterday and they still had some. GO THUNDER!

In this picture is Rumble, the OKC Thunder Mascot, and my wonderful hubby! If you can't tell we are huge NBA fans!

The easiest way to make MONEY!!!

I have tried a million different rewards sites, SWAGBUCKS by far is the best! All you do is sign up and download the toolbar. The way you make money is by searching with the toolbar. For example when I want to check my facebook I don't go straight there I type facebook in my swagbucks toolbar and click on the link! Swagbucks rewards you periodically for your searches. I get about 40 Swagbucks a day, or more for only 3 or 4 searches! When you hit 450, you can buy a $5 amazon gift card! I like to save them up until I have $25 since amazon offers free shipping on orders of $25 or more. You have no idea how much this helped me at Christmas time. I bet I've made close to $100 in 6 months! Whoohoo, now for the best part, if you refer your friends, Swagbucks matches the points your referral makes!

Sign up here

Contest, Contest, Contest!

Oh man there are a couple of great contest today! I'm gonna give them to you in the order I entered them.

First here is a chance to win a butterfly table and chair set made by Guidecraft! Enter to win at Barefoot Mommies!

2nd is for a 8 GB Ipod touch on The Royal Family! She is introducing the new Personal Assistant App."the Intuition, and one lucky ready will win an Ipod! Whoo hoo, I would love to win this one!


Take a few minutes to enter, and I'll keep you posted on all the contests I find!

Contest around the Blogosphere! April 15th!

I came across a great contest today over at Mommy Goggles! She is spreading the word about a new app called Intuition: Mom's Personal Assistant. To go along with this app is a chance to win an Ipod Touch 8 GB!!! Whoo hoo, I would love to win this! If I did win I would definitely download the Intuition app, it looks like it could really help me organize my busy schedule! Check it out and as always let me know if you win! Good luck!

Free tote bag from Red Gold!

I was just scouring the Blogosphere and came across a great offer for a free tote bag!

All you have to do is register for the Red Gold e-newsletter, enter your upc number off your can, and fill out your mailing address! People have said this is a really nice tote bag. I am hoping for coupons inside!!! I really do use these tote bags, they are great for sending the kids overnight to Mimi's house! I will use one for the next days clothes and one for blanky's and pillows! Another great use for a tote bag is for your swimming adventures, perfect for wet bathing suits, and if it gets stolen at your water park you don't care!

I read this deal on Shopping Frugal, it was my first time to visit this blog and I was really impressed! Check it out!

Oh by the way, if don't have a can of Red Gold tomato's UPC code leave a comment on this post and I will email you one of mine! I only have two cans so the first two people get it! Don't forget to leave your email address, and also write it like this EX: swtypiebeth at cox dot net

Contest around the Blogosphere!

Here is a contest I entered today, and it's from one of my favorite blogs Blommi! The prize is a $25 GC to Macy's! I always find great deals at Macy's and would love to win this one! Especially with money being so tight, I never buy anything for myself these days! Spend a few minutes entering this one and subscribe to Blommi while you are there, it's a great blog!

Free coupon for Kraft Cheesy Explosion Mac N Cheese!

Become a Facebook fan and get a coupon for a free box of Macaroni & Cheese, Cheesy Explosion! This coupon will arrive by mail in 4-6 weeks!

Click here!

Thank you Simple Saving Savvy for the heads up on this deal!

A few contest to enter...

I spend a few minutes a day entering contest. In the last month I have won two contest, a 2pk Country Bobs BBQ sauce and a Charlie and Lola DVD. I know these things aren't huge, but when we see a UPS box outside it's like Christmas for the kids, and well me too! I have won some big things in the past, 2 vado video camera's, $100 GC to Famous Footware, $25 GC to Sams Club, and so much more. The odds of winning a contest on a blog are so much greater than any sweepstakes. I am going to make a commitment to my readers, I will post every contest I enter so you can enter along with me! I bet you will win something within the first month!

Here are two contest I entered today!

Baby's Silkie @ Barefoot Mommies

$50 GC to Chili's @ Mom Spark

Good luck everyone and let me know if you win!

Homeland deals week of 4-7 to 4-13

Easy to find Homeland deals, just hop over to these great blogs:

Simple Saving Savvy

Coupon Princess Saves You Money

Easy enough! Just print out the deals, cut your coupons and head to the store!

Update on my weight loss journey!

I have been able to keep the weight off for the most part. The holidays started me off on some bad eating habits, so I went up about 10lbs, but the good thing is I am aware of it and could get back down if I wanted to. I will be going on the diet again this summer, so I'm not in a huge rush to fix my 10lb problem. I have about 20-25lbs to get to a healthy range for me, about 145-150, I'm 5'6 and weigh 170 right now. I did encounter alot of hair loss after the diet, nothing too noticeable and I did the same thing after I had both of my children. But it went for about 3 or 4months. Otherwise I am totally happy with my results. But I had to change my lifestyle, eating carbs are pretty much out for me, I have found great substitutes like low carb tortillas and whole wheat options. I can have carbs in small quantities without it affecting my weight.
So many people around me have done this diet now, and there are two kinds of people:
1) Those who are committed and have occasional cheat days, usually have great results.
2) Those who try to make the diet fit what they want it to be, they usually cheat everyday or convince themselves a diet coke is ok to have. Those people usually quit after a week.

The HCG diet is what it is, cut and dry, you cannot vary it at all.

I promise if you can stick with it you WILL lose the weight, 30lbs in 30 days no question. But nobody can do it for you and your will power has to be strong. During the diet I kept telling myself I can do anything for 30days, and I was so sick of being overweight.


If you want to read the original post on my weight loss journey click here!

My husband Michael and I on Easter!

Free MaggieMoo sample on April 15th!

Maggie Moo's is offering a free sample of their new MaggieMia's Ice Cream Pizza on April 15th in honor of tax day! And we have a participating location in our area:

1200 12th Ave SE #100, Norman Ok.

Thank you Mommy Snacks for the heads up!

Mary, Mary quite contrary. How does your garden grow?

I know the title of this post is a little bit crazy but the Sesame St. episode we watched this morning was all about Mary, Mary! Anyway, I have always wanted to plant my own garden. I have NO IDEA what I am doing BUT this summer I WILL plant my own garden! I am going to plant tomatoes, cucumbers and maybe strawberries. I have a tiny backyard that is filled with kids toys galore but I think I found a good spot! Now I just need to get started. If you have any tips feel free to pass them my way! Amanda from Simple Saving Savvy just created a post on this subject and I found it very helpful! If any of you are experienced gardeners or just starting out like me let me know. My frugal side is tingling thinking of all the money I will save growing my own tomatoes! I bet they will taste alot better too, yumm!

Free sample of Dove Daily Treatment Conditioner!

Get your free sample here! I really like Dove hair care products, mainly because the smell is amazing.

Frontier City and White Water Bay

Just wanted to remind you the summer season is here! If you are getting a Frontier City and White Water Bay pass you should jump on the deal while the price is still $59.99 ea WYB 4.



Even though my family loves both parks, I'm not sure we will get passes this year, mainly because my husband and I are working like maniacs getting ready to purchase a home. But if you do have time this summer, I definitely think these are worth the money, and your family will have a blast!

Homeland Deals 3-31 to 4-6

I guess I forgot to post this for you all! I've been in Easter land of dying eggs, getting pictures made, and filling baskets! So anyway here are a couple links to get you the coupon match-ups for Homeland!

Simple Saving Savvy

Coupon Princess Saves You Money

Thanks to Amanda and Shannon for their coupon match-ups!

GET WITH IT!

If you are not checking Houseparty.com on a regular basis than get with it! Even if you are not into the couponing, saving money thing, this is an opportunity to host a party with free items supplied to you! You decide what parties interest you and apply. When you apply you fill out a short questionnaire, they send you a confirmation email link you click, and then you wait to see if you are chosen! I have been selected several times, Oscar Mayer party, Wizards of Waverly Place party, Green Works party, Digiorno party (my fave), and so many more!

Here are some parties I have personally applied for recently and you can too:



Red Baron


McDonalds and Shrek


Aquafina

There are several other parties available check here!

Keep an eye out for when new parties are accepting applications, you can also sign up for email updates.

Good luck and let me know if you get accepted to have your own Houseparty!