11 Veterans Day Freebies

On this palindrome Veterans Day - 11/11/11 -- there's a thrice-fold reason to thank active military and veterans for their service. Many merchants, restaurants and entertainment facilities have stepped up to the plate with freebies that demonstrate their appreciation. To show his gratitude, Coupon Sherpa compiled a comprehensive list of 35 Veterans Day Freebies.

Here are 11 of the best deals -  Keep in mind you'll usually need to show some form of military identification and should call ahead to make sure your local franchise is participating.

1. Cabela's Outdoor Store
Employee discount of 5% to 50% - Nov. 11 to 12
Applies to: Veterans, active-duty military and reserves, law enforcement, fire and EMS personnel

2. Chili's
Free meal - Nov. 11
Applies to: Active duty and veterans
Chili's is offering a choice of one of six meals on a dine-in-only basis. Beverages and gratuity not included.

3. Denny's
Free Grand Slam breakfast - Nov. 11
Applies to: Active military or veterans
Available only at participating locations.

4. McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurants
Free lunch or dinner entrée - Nov 13
Applies to: Veterans
This is the 13th Annual Veteran's Appreciation Event at McCormick & Schmick's.

5. Grace For Vets
Free car wash - Nov. 11
Applies to: Active duty, veterans and service personnel
Since 2004, thousands of car-wash businesses have participated in this national event, sponsored by Grace For Vets.

6. Hy-Vee
Free breakfast buffet - Nov. 11
Applies to: Active military and veterans
Available at participating Hy-Vee grocery store with in-store dining.

7. Macy's
Use promo code VET15 and receive 10% to 15% off - through Nov. 13
Applies to: Everyone

8. Spaghetti Warehouse
11-cents meal with coupon - Nov. 11
Applies to: Everyone
Like Spaghetti Warehouse on Facebook and get a serving of lasagna, spaghetti and meatballs, or any original recipe spaghetti entree for just 11 cents.

9. SUBWAY
Free six-inch sub - Nov. 11
Applies to: Veterans
SUBWAY restaurants are franchises, so this offer may not be available everywhere.

10. Bed & Breakfasts
Free night's stay - Nov. 11.
Applies to: Active military and veterans and one guest
B&B for Vets is offering veterans a free night's stay at more than 485 participating bed and breakfasts across the US and Canada.

11. Texas Roadhouse
Free lunch - 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Nov. 11
Applies to: Veterans and active duty military
Dine-in only

National Turn Off the TV Week - 10 Ideas For Family Fun

The Novotny family is accepting the challenge once again this year , will you join us? For National Turn off the TV week beginning today April 18th  2011. We are going to unplug the talking boxes in our home and use our time to enjoy a variety of other things as a family.

National Turn off the TV week is an annual campaign to get us to reclaim those lost hours watching talking boxes and take that time to connect with our families, engage in our communities and do things we seem to never have time for.

MOM TIP: Make a plan for the week by creating a list of what you will do each day. Make it Fun. We created a list to help you get started.


10 Alternative TV ideas:

1. Family Game night - Choose a game the entire family can participate in, maybe it's a week long game of monopoly that you play for a set amount of time each night or that game your child received at Christmas you still haven't played.

2. Something New - Make a list of things you would like to learn or would like to teach your children. This can be anything from learning a new card game, crochet, to how to download music to your IPod or teaching your child to tie their shoes.

3. Family Read aloud - Children of all ages love to be read to. Check out a chapter book from the library or grab one off your book shelf that you have been wanting to read to your children and begin a nightly reading time together.

4. Creative Fun - From scrap booking to crafty creations allow the creative side of your family to shine as you do family projects or allow your kids time to just create with left over craft supplies.

5. Kitchen Time - Create a meal together or teach your kids to bake some yummy treats.

6. Volunteer - Choose a Church or Community project that your family can serve together in .

7. Exercise - This is a great time to start a daily /nightly habit of exercising. Start with 20 minutes and add 10 minutes each night to your routine.

8. Plant a Garden - Now is the time to get out and clean up your garden and flower beds. Begin planting so you will have plenty of fresh veggies come summer.

9. Start or finish a project - Begin or finish a project that you have been putting off due to lack of time.

10. Audio Fun - Before the television was invented families sat around a big radio and used their imaginations to picture the fun and adventurous stories that were told over the radio. Why not listen to a book on tape or Cd with your children and allow their imagination to picture what is taking place in the story.


What will you do with your newly reclaimed hours in your day?

Fun April Fools Tricks and Pranks

I found these fun tricks and pranks over at Parenting.com and with only a few more days until April fools I thought we moms might be in need of more ideas.  Be sure to check these ideas and more over at Parenting.com

Breakfast Bait and Switch
Swap out sugar for salt and watch Dad put it in his morning cup of coffee. (Have a second, non-salted cup ready to go though).
For more morning fun, take out cereal bags and put them in mismatching boxes. See how long it takes for everyone to find their favorite cereal.

Backwards Dinner
Serve up a topsy-turvy dinner to throw your kids for a loop: bake meatloaf in a 12-cup muffin tin and frost with mashed potatoes for a "cupcakes" dinner -- bonus if you add food coloring to the spuds. Then toast strips of pound cake for a dessert of "French fries". Don't forget red-tinted frosting for ketchup!

If the Shoe Fits
Bunch up TP and stuff it in the toe of the victim's shoes. They'll wonder why their shoes suddenly don't fit.

DIY Daylight Saving Time
Set all the clocks in the house an hour or two early -- then ease the blow of an early wake-up by taking the kiddos out for breakfast

What do you do to create fun on April fools day?

April Fools Day Family Prank Ideas

 Get Ready to create some fun April fools pranks on your family with these creative ideas

Fauxberry Pie 

From Family Fun

At first glance, a slice of this pie appears to offer something sweet: chocolate filling topped with strawberry whipped cream. But unsuspecting diners are in for a surprise.... It's really a shepherd's pie in disguise! Cocoa, molasses, and barbecue sauce give the meat its chocolaty color, while whipped potatoes infused with beet juice complete the deception. The best part of the prank is that you're also making dinner! 

Click here for recipe

 

Gag Lunch

From Family Fun

April 1st is a day for fooling, so why not make a little mischief this year? Here's an idea for good-humored high jinks that will bring a smile whether you're the trickster or the target.

Can't Un-Ziplock: 

Ingredients:

• Sandwich
• Sandwich bags
• Double-sided scrapbook tape

Directions:

Hungry April fools will be trying hard to wrestle the goods out of one of these special sandwich bags. The reason? The opening is discreetly sealed with a thin line of clear adhesive strip. To set up the prank, zip the bag closed and place a length of double-sided scrapbook tape (we used Zips Ultra Thin Clear Adhesive Lines) on one of the flaps just above the closure. Firmly press the flaps together to make them stick. 

Wormy Apple

Ingredients:

• Apple
• Gummy worm
• Plastic ballpoint pen

Directions:

The creature wiggling out of this apple will make an April Fools' Day lunch both silly and sweet. Use a plastic ballpoint pen, washed and with the ink cartridge removed, to bore a hole in the fruit, then insert a gummy worm. (Don't make it the night before, or the worm may get mushy.) 

Snack Switcheroo

Ingredients:

• Snack bag
• Baby carrots
• Double-sided tap

Directions:

The joke in this snack-sized scheme is let out of the bag as soon as your target realizes the contents don't match the label. Make the switch by carefully opening a snack bag along the top seam. Empty out the original contents and fill the bag with another edible item (we filled a cheese puff bag with baby carrots). Add a playful message such as "April Fools!," then use a strip of double-sided tape to reseal the bag along the seam.

Blue Milk
from: Martha Stewart

Put blue food coloring in the milk the night before April Fools' Day, and watch your childrens' eyes widen in surprise the next morning.

  A Savory Surprise

from: Martha Stewart

A mashed-potatoes-and-gravy sundae is a good gag for the afternoon, when everyone thinks the jokes are over.

More April fool Jokes from Tip Junkie: 

from Tip Junkie

Serve things backward; dessert first or breakfast for dinner.Use large bowls and utensils to eat with.

Stretch Cling Wrap in the doorway of your front door – when the kids come run in from school they bump into it.

Sneak into your victims bathroom and fill their hair-dryer with baby powder. When they turn it on, their head will be pure white just like an old person!

Get a small alarm clock and set it for 3:00 a.m. Put it under the victim’s bed so once it goes off they won’t be able to find it.

Stuff shoes with tissue paper down in the toe so you can’t get them on all the way.

Make good use of a rubber cockroach or spider.

Switch out food in wrappers in your child’s lunch.

Switch out drawers in dresser.

Switch out cereal in cereal boxes for breakfast

8 April Fools Practical Pranks
Kids April Fools Prank Ideas

April Fools' Lunch Labels

From: Family Fun

 

This April Fools', use these free funny labels to "trick" your kids into thinking you made them a caterpillar sandwich from Family Fun.

Click here to get your FREE labels.

April Fools' Prank Cards

From: Family Fun

 

Leave a calling card this April Fools' after you play a prank.  Click here to print your FREE cards.

The end of one holiday can be the beginning of another...

by Leslie Pleasants
24/7 MOMS Home Keeping Editor

The end of Christmas has different effects on everyone. Some go through a depression, some are glad that its finally over with, and some are grateful but happy to move on.

I am one of those that I live for the "Holidays". I love to decorate my home for each holiday. Some people think that I am a little overboard.... but this is one thing that makes me happy. Or you could blame it on my mom. She does the same thing.

People often say to me "Wow, you must spend a lot of money on decorations". I tell them... "No, not really". You see I buy most of them after the holiday has passed when they are on clearance. It was kind of hard at first.... Christmas has come and gone and here I am buying Christmas decorations knowing that I have to wait 10 1/2 months before pulling them out. But when you can get the decorations at 75% off... then they go down to 90% off.... you can almost buy the whole store out and hardly spend anything. I love every time I go to get my Christmas decorations out and I see my NEW bin with my NEW decorations in it. It puts a huge smile on my face. Merry Christmas to me!

But here is another secret.... Those Christmas gifts that go on clearance after Christmas doesn't have to wait till next Christmas. You can buy green for St. Patty's Day and Red for Valentines. I know at Walmart they have red heart ornaments out right now. You can buy some of those when they go on sale and place on a fake tree or hang on your mantle... etc...

Garland, Plates, Drinkware, Wreaths, Red & Green Lights, Candles, Frosting, Sprinkles, Tableclothes, Runners, Cloth Napkins... are just some ideas that you can get for the other holidays. It's a great way to save money and puts you in a festive mood after the BIG Christmas season!

Celebrate Dr. Seuss With Fun

We have all grown up on Dr. Seuss books and now have raised our kids reading them. So why not have a little fun and celebrate Dr. Seuss day with a bit of fun.

Here are some simple ideas we found to help create a simple celebration:

Activity Sheets - Print fun activity sheets to use with one of the following ideas:

- Your meal time place mats.
- Lunch Box notes ( even my teen daughters like when I place things in their lunches).
- School fun, give to your child's teacher to use in the class room.

Click here to download and print your Dr. Seuss activity sheets.





Dr. Seuss inspired recipes - Snacks and treats using Dr. Seuss story themes are fun to eat. Click here to find yummy recipes.





Seussville - Free fun on the web at Seussville - games, printable activities, local event listings and so much more. Click here to go to Seussville.







Dr. Seuss Crafts - Crafts, activities and other fun creative ideas . Click here






Dr. Seuss Cookbook - Filled with fun meal time recipes. Click here to purchase your copy.

Snowman Party - Winter Style

On Monday My children and I will attend our first Snowman party hosted by my tradition junkie friend Valerie. What a FUN idea for a January celebration.

Plan your own Snowman Party and Celebrate Winter with these fun ideas:

Party FUN

- Watch Frosty the Snowman – which can be purchased at www.Amazon.com.

- Play Pin the carrot nose on the Snowman or pin the top hat on the Snowman.

- “Melting Snowball” like Hot Potato…wrap a package in white tissue paper.

-Inside Snowball Fight. Divide the kids into two teams and have them hide behind a “snow fort,” a large cardboard box. Give each team a bucket of snowballs, such as ping pong balls. They must throw them through the other teams fort. If the ball hits the ground before making it inside the fort, it does not count. The team with the most balls inside the other team’s fort, wins

Crafty Snowmen

Beanie Snowman
from: Mom Ready

What do you do with all the single socks which have somehow lost their mates in the dryer? Make a family of snowmen, of course! This craft project uses things found around the house, and is a great boredom buster during the loooong winter holiday break.

Use a variety of sizes to make a Snow Family. The bigger the sock, the bigger the snowman. We used buttons, felt, sequins and feathers, but you can use anything you find around the house.

You can also use colored socks to make other people, gluing branches, pencils, or pipe cleansers on the sides for arms. Green socks make cute Martians, while pink make princesses with a little yellow yarn added for hair. Give your kids a bunch of trim and let their imaginations run wild.

Make sure to take pictures of your two families together for a cute holiday photo.

SUPPLIES
White Tube Sock
Rice
Rubber Bands
A variety of trim for decorations
Glue

INSTRUCTIONS

- Take tube sock and fill the bottom with rice. Secure with a rubber band. The more rice you use the bigger the bottom section of your snow man.

- Repeat the first step two more times to make the middle section and head of the snowman. Make sure not to fill above the cuff of the sock.

- Fold over the top cuff stretching it out a bit to make the snowman's hat.

- Decorate your snowman by gluing on various trim.

CLAY POT SNOWMEN

Written by: Amanda Formaro, FamilyCorner.com

This darling snowman and snowwoman make the perfect couple. All bundled up for a cold winter's day, and so easy, younger kids can make them too!

What You Need:

(For Each Snowman)

• 1- 1 1/2" diameter wooden ball
• 1- 2 1/4" diameter clay pot
• 2 buttons
• gold ribbon
• child's sock
• material or mitten scrap
• white craft or hot glue
• black finetip marker
• small and large paintbrushes
• acrylic paints in white, orange and pink
• clear coat spray

What You Do:

Place newspaper down on work surface. Turn clay pot over and glue wooden ball to bottom of pot. When glue is dry, use large paint brush to paint entire the outside of the clay pot and the entire wooden ball with white paint. Let dry and apply a second coat.
Cut the foot end off of the child's sock. Create a brim by folding up the cuff of the sock, then position the cuff of the sock onto the "head" of the snowman (see photo). Glue the brim in place. Tie a piece of gold ribbon around the top of the hat and fringe the top with scissors. Adjust the fringe edges with your fingers until they look the way you want.
Tie a strip of material or mitten scrap around the neck to fashion a scarf. Glue in place if desired. Glue two buttons to the front of your snowman. With black fine tip marker, dot on eyes and mouth. Use a small paint brush to apply orange paint for a nose and gently dab on a thin amount of pink for the cheeks.

Outdoor Snow Table
from: Martha Stewart

Invite young friends to gather around a table made of snow. Tightly pack snow (wet snow works better than the powdery kind) into two large galvanized tubs, and leave it overnight to harden. Overturn one tub, unmold the snow, and then overturn the second tub on top. (To ease the way, set the frozen tubs inside a garage or a shed for a half hour to warm the snow.) For a seat, use the same trick and a 5-gallon bucket.

From Martha Stewart Living, December 2007

Be sure to serve Snowman Treats...For Yummy ideas check out the 27/7 MOMS recipe ideas by clicking here.

Talk Like A Pirate Day - Rules and Words

Today September 19th is National talk like a pirate day. To join in the fun today I found the rules to talkin' like a Pirate along with a few vocabulary words to begin using to sound like a real pirate. Have fun.

Startin' Rules

• Double up on all your adjectives and you'll be bountifully bombastic with your phrasing. Pirates never speak of "a big ship", they call it a "great, grand ship!" They never say never, they say "No nay ne'er!"
• Drop all your "g"'s when you speak and you'll get words like "rowin'", "sailin'" and "fightin'". Dropping all of your "v"'s will get you words like "ne'er", "e'er" and "o'er".
• Instead of saying "I am", sailors say, "I be". Instead of saying "You are", sailors say, "You be". Instead of saying, "They are", sailors say, "They be". Ne'er speak in anythin' but the present tense!

Vocabulary

• Ahoy: Hey!
• Avast: Stop!
• Aye: Yes
• Black spot: to be 'placin' the black spot' be markin' someone for death.
• Booty: treasure
• Buccanneer: a pirate who be answerin' to no man or blasted government.
• By the Powers!: an exclamation, uttered by Long John Silver in Treasure Island!
• Davy Jones' Locker: the bottom o' the sea, where the souls of dead men lie
• Doubloons: pieces of gold...
• Furner: a ship which be yer own, not one ye steal an' plunder.
• Gentlemen o' fortune: a slightly more positive term fer pirates!
• Go on the account: to embark on a piratical cruise
• Grog: A pirate's favorite drink.
• Jack: a flag or a sailor
• Jolly Roger: the skull and crossbones, the pirate flag!
• Keelhaul: a truly vicious punishment where a scurvy dog be tied to a rope and dragged along the barnacle-encrusted bottom of a ship. They not be survivin' this.
• Landlubber: "Land-lover," someone not used to life onboard a ship.
• Lass: A woman.
• Lily-livered: faint o' heart
• Matey: A shipmate or a friend.
• Me hearty: a friend or shipmate.
• Me: My.
• Pieces o' eight: pieces o' silver which can be cut into eights to be givin' small change.
• Privateer: a pirate officially sanctioned by a national power
• Scallywag: A bad person. A scoundrel.
• Scurvy dog!: a fine insult!
• Shiver me timbers!: an exclamation of surprise, to be shouted most loud.
• Sprogs: raw, untrained recruits
• Squadron: a group of ten or less warships
• Squiffy: a buffoon
• Swaggy: a scurvy cur's ship what ye be intendin' to loot!
• Swashbucklin': fightin' and carousin' on the high seas!
• Sweet trade: the career of piracy
• Thar: The opposite of "here."
• Walk the plank: this one be bloody obvious.
• Yo-ho-ho: Pirate laughter

From : http://www.yarr.org.uk/talk/

Simple Pirate Snacks

Celebrate National Talk like a Pirate day with some simple Pirate snacks.


Chicken nuggets (gold)
Meatballs ( cannon balls)
Golden Treasures ( Mac and cheese)
Fish -n- Chips
Chicken Legs
X Marks the spot ( Cut up refrigerated bread stick dough and make X's top with butter and Parmesan cheese, then bake )
Pirates on a ship ( aunts on a log - Celery with peanut butter topped with raisins, put little paper sails onto toothpicks)
Rootbeer in mugs
Grapes and Melon balls - Cannon Balls
Sword fruit kabobs - create with favorite fruits
Jello - Use blue jello filled with fruit treasure or with gummy fish.

Chocolate coins
Swedish Fish

Pirate Booty snacks.
Gold Fish Crackers

Grandparents Day is coming! It’s September 13th

This summer we took our family road trip to California and visited my Grandparents who have just celebrated their 71st wedding anniversary. What a great afternoon it was listening to them share stories with us about their lives. What amazing family history my children were able to hear as they listened to each story during our visit. I only wish we lived closer so that my children could spend time daily with both their grandparents and great grandparents.

Next Sunday is National Grandparents day - Be sure to Celebrate even if it is from a distance.

History of National Grandparents Day:

The impetus for a National Grandparents Day originated with Marian McQuade, a housewife in Fayette County, West Virginia. Her primary motivation was to champion the cause of lonely elderly in nursing homes. She also hoped to persuade grandchildren to tap the wisdom and heritage their grandparents could provide. President Jimmy Carter, in 1978, proclaimed that National Grandparents Day would be celebrated every year on the first Sunday after Labor Day.

Source: http://www.grandparents-day.com/

Tell a grandparent you know about the great resource found at Grandparents.com

http://www.grandparents.com/gp/home/index.html

Activities and encouragement for grandparents is found here, including the opportunity to find age-appropriate tips and ideas. Advice about relating to grandchildren, with relevance and heart for passing along values and family heritage, is featured.

Grandparents.com has a great page devoted to celebrating Grandparents Day. Check out the songs, poems, crafts, and Grandparents Day quotes.

Grandparents are inspirational and priceless. Cherish them with your children every day. Let your children know how special grandparents are. Help them create something special for their grandparents. If you’re like me, and all of your grandparents have passed on, adopt an older friend or neighbor for the day. There are many grandparents living away from family, and receiving some unexpected gift of time or message would make their day.

Celebrating National Literacy Day

24/7 MOMS will be celebrating International Literacy day all month long with daily book giveaways, ideas to inspire reading in your home and resources. So , stop in daily and celebrate with us.

Frugal Living - Treasures and Memories, Frugal Style

Treasures and Memories, Frugal Style

In her book, “Little Things Long Remembered; Making Your Children Feel Special Every Day”, Susan Newman, PhD, reminds us to stop and do the little things that communicate to our kids that they mean the world to us. She lists nine “Cardinal Rules” in her book, and what follows are hundreds of ways we as parents can make our children feel special. Think about the things you remember from your own childhood. What meant the most to you? Was it expensive gifts and new toys? Or was it the little notes in suitcases and home made birthdays? What is special about this book is that it details ideas for establishing ties in different increments of time, all the while reminding us that “the most precious time we spend, we spend with our children”. According to the author, “Childhood is an adventure to be joined by parents whenever possible.” The little things, says Newman, develop a sense of belonging, build character, and strengthen family ties.

A good friend of mine, Angel Almeyda, is an inspiration to making every day special. Angel shares her knowledge of frugal, healthy living and raising a family with us on her homeschooler blogger site.

Regarding the subject of making everyday special, Angel writes:

Mothers, I hope to inspire you to make every day special for your children. Just little gestures that make them see God's beauty in every day occurrences that make them feel special and loved. It will change your mindset as well!

I let my children drink milk out of fancy tea cups sometimes. I serve meals and snacks occasionally just for them on my best china, the set my great grandmother gave me that were hers. Children are more careful than you'd think when they see that they are given the chance to use something special. And if they were to break I will remember my children and the memories I am making with them than with "stuff of this world".

It doesn't even have to be anything extraordinary. Rainbow sprinkles on their pancakes, a heart made of chocolate chips on their oatmeal. Bread made in a shaped mold. These things mean all the world to children. It is so fun to do these things for them and see their eyes light up!

Sometimes I need to be reminded to let them help. Yes, I could do it myself twice as fast and make 100 times less of a mess, but what memories would that be making? What skills would the children be learning? Is the beauty of the finished product more important that the confidence they have when they make something "themselves"? I learned today that my younger son is an expert potato peeler (which is great because I hate peeling), even though he peels the skins onto the floor. And, my oldest is great at chopping potatoes to put in the pot! Abigail is great at banging measuring cups against her high chair, and that is her favorite place to be when I'm cooking because then she is high enough to see the counter tops and see what I am doing!

I love to search for books at our library to find new recipes and decorating ideas to please my children, husband and any guests who may come into our home. I find lots of fun stuff that way. Mothering, homemaking and being a wife are all processes that involve constant learning, and I aim to improve every day!

You can read more homemaking, homeschooling, and scrumptious cooking ideas (it always smells SO good at her home!) on Angel’s blog: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/angelnavywife

“Treasures and Memories, Frugal Style” Giveaway:

Today's giveaway is "Little Things Long Remembered" book by: Susan Newman.

Learn how to build your child’s family ties and self-esteem in a minute or two...in half an hour...on “sick” days and holidays...and over the weekend almost effortlessly. Everything you need to establish bonds and keep them strong in one small gift book.

Little Things Long Remembered is a parent’s source for 500 easy, no-mess suggestions that prove simple gestures develop into treasured memories of growing up and of you. This classic makes an ideal new baby or house gift.
From the Book:
- Create a “designer” kiss unique to each child.
- Once a week during dinner take a moment to express gratitude that you are a family.
- Turn on music and dance in the kitchen before or after dinner
- Use that lumpy “bowl” made in art class to hold pins or paper clips
To enter for your chance to win, enter your name and email address in the box below you will be signed up for today's giveaway as well as be added to the 24/7 MOMS E-list (if you are not already a 24/7 MOMS subscriber).




Frugal Quote for Thought: “The best inheritance a parent can give to his children is a few minutes of their time each day.”
M. Grundler



Frugal Reading Review:

“Mom, You Make a Difference; Encouraging Reminders from Real Moms”
edited by Elisa Morgan

Poignant and hilarious anecdotes and mom-to-mom encouragement (easily read between diaper changes and carpooling), make this book a must-read. Topics such as “Life’s Irretrievable Moments”, “Windows of Opportunity”, and “The Precious and the Important” support and lighten a mom’s moments. Forty-two moms are waiting in this book, to let you know you’re not alone. They share of their everyday and special moments, from their hearts, as Moms like you. Purchase your copy today at the 24/7 MOMS store.

Upcoming Wednesday: “Wiser Consumer Wednesday"