Free Kids Meals at Qdoba

Celebrate the 4th of July this weekend with free kids meals at Qdoba! Kids 12 and under will receive a free kids meal with the purchase of an adult entree. No coupon necessary, expires July 5th.
Thanks Heidi!

My First Vlog Review!

SheSpeaks sent me a package of Rubbermaid Premier storage containers to review. I thought I would attempt a video review, my first ever vlog experience! Don't laugh, I'm an amateur. ;-) Click through to my blog if you can't see the video.

I like the look of the Rubbermaid Premier containers. They are clear with a stylish little design on them. It's neat that the lids and containers snap together, as I showed in the video. The fact that they are BPA-free, stain-resistant, and microwave, dishwasher, and freezer-safe makes these containers a great product.

SheSpeaks and Rubbermaid sent me this product to review. All opinions are my own.

Life With 5 Kids Under 7

What is it like having five kids under the age of seven? Extremely busy! How are we adjusting? We're still trying to find our new groove, and so far I've been doing lots of baby-holding and not much house-cleaning (or blogging, you may have noticed)! But this time will pass quickly and I'll never have it back again, so I'm trying to enjoy it and not worry about the house. We have some wonderful friends who have helped us with meals, for which our whole family is so very thankful. :-)

When our hands are busy with the baby, Ted and I have found ourselves delegating more to the older kids. This season of life has brought new responsibilities and more independence for them. They are not losing their chance to be kids, but they're growing and entering a new phase that provides an opportunity to be contributing members of the family, not that they weren't before, but it is even more important now and they can take a certain pride in that.

One thing that's been nice is that I have two baby-holders this time around that I haven't had in the past. When F was born two years ago, my oldest, H, was still four years old, and although she enjoyed holding the baby, she couldn't quite be trusted to be left for more than a few seconds. This time, H is 6 1/2 and G is 5 1/2, and both girls have been a huge help. If I need to throw in a load of laundry or make lunch, one of them can usually be counted on to hold baby J, even if she starts fussing a little. H is great at "shushing" her and she stays calm even when she gets spit-up on! G is especially patient and the fussing doesn't seem to bother her at all. She sings to her, rocks gently and talks to her, helping her to find her pacifier. "Don't worry, mama," she'll say, "I've got her, you just finish. She's fine with me." (Click through to my blog to see the cute video of G and J below--it's short).

So what is our house like with five kids so close in age? Loud. Messy. Crazy. Chaotic. Busy. Fun. Full of love. We are loving it and we wouldn't change a thing!

Vote For Carrie!

Carrie from Pocket Your Dollars is trying to get her own TV show on the Oprah Winfrey Network. She'd like to do a competitive reality show about helping regular people learn how to get out of debt. Her idea is to have two families complete weekly challenges while learning how to maintain a budget and live within their means to pay off debt. I think it's a great idea, but time is running out since voting closes on July 3rd! To vote for her, just click here and click on the green "vote" button under her video. You won't see her vote total go up right away because the votes are refreshed every 15 minutes or so.

There are a lot of entries, but do we really need another traditional talk show, cooking show, or fashion show? Carrie's show would be about teaching people important skills that a lot of people in our country need, and I know she would make it fun, too. You can vote as many times as you'd like, so if you can take a quick minute to click here and vote, that would be great! And if you can click and vote 10 times (or more!), that would be AWESOME! Let's watch together as Carrie's vote total goes up! It has doubled since yesterday, and it would be great if we could double it again by tomorrow. She has 10,000 votes now.

Walmart Free Sampling Event

Most Walmart locations will be holding a FREE Kraft Independence Day sampling event on July 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, from 11 am - 4 pm. Search for a participating location near you here. Here are some of the new products you can expect to sample:

• Oscar Mayer Angus Hot Dogs
• Kool-Aid Fun Fizz
• Crystal Light Pure
• Dentyne Pure
• Oreo Fudge Cremes
• Jello Mousse
• 100 Calorie Cheese Bites
• Ritz Munchables Pretzel Thins

Helicopter Mom

I don't generally think of myself as a "helicopter mom" (one who hovers over her children 24/7), but I am protective of my girls, so others might think of me as one. Yes, I make them sit in the back seat and buckle up. Yes, I make them wear helmets when riding their bikes or scooters. No, I won't yet let them cross the street without supervision. Hey, just the fact that I have chosen to homeschool my kids might make some people think I am overprotective.

When we go to the park, I don't hover over them, but I do try to keep a watchful eye. I can't yet imagine allowing them to go to the park by themselves. I walked about 7 blocks to school everyday when I was H's age, but I can't imagine letting her walk to school alone right now. We live in a different world than when I was growing up. Though there surely were "scary" people back then, it seems like there are more now, or maybe we are just more aware (or I'm just paranoid!).

There is a little girl who lives down the block and across the street from us. She is G's age, 5 years old. We had noticed her riding her bike up and down the sidewalk on her side of the street, and she would occasionally stop right across the street from our house and watch our girls play in our front yard. "Mommy, there's a little girl over there! Can she come and play with us?" We walked across the street to talk to her (she was shy and didn't say much), and then walked down the street to her house to ask her parents if she could come over and play. They said that she had been talking about "the bunch of girls across the street" and wanting to play with them, but that when you are 5 years old, across the street might as well be across the world because you aren't allowed to go there! So true these days! My girls have the same rules, they can ride their bikes up and down the sidewalk on our side of the street, so I understood. But now that I have introduced myself, the little girl's parents let her come across the street whenever they see our girls outside, and all the girls happily ride their bikes and scooters up and down the sidewalk (I had to apologize to some older neighbors who almost got run over by little girls while trying to get their mail!).

Are you a helicopter mom? How have you loosened the reins and given your kids more independence? What age do you think is appropriate for crossing the street alone or going to the park alone? Please leave a comment, I really want to know!

Evenflo and JuiceBoxJungle sponsored me to write this post and talk about what child safety means to me and my family. Evenflo has just released the Momentum 65 DLX Convertible Car Seat, with features that help make safety, installation and use as easy as possible for parents.

Roundy's Matchups (Copps, PNS, Rainbow)

Roundy's stores (Copps, Pick 'n Save, and Rainbow) double 5 coupons up to $1 per $25 order every Wednesday and now they are doubling on Saturdays, too! There are several deals this week, so here are some printable coupon matches to help you make your list. Check your coupon stash to see if you can find more matches. For printing tips, click here.

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$0.50/ea: Yoplait Original or Whips! Yogurt 4-6 oz
$0.50/6 Yoplait Yogurt cups
$0.40/6 Yoplait Yogurt cups
As low as $0.33 each ADC
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8/$20: Kellogg's Cereal, Bars, Fruit Snacks, Pop-Tarts, Eggo Syrup, Cheez-It Crackers
Buy 8 Boxes of Keebler Cookies or Crackers and Get a Coupon on Your Register Receipt for 2 Gallons of Milk FREE (up to $3.00 per gallon)
$1.00/2 Kellogg's Cereals
**Hopefully stores have pulled the recalled boxes, but make sure you don't buy ones with use by dates between March 2011 and June 2011 with a KN.
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$1.28/ea: Oscar Mayer Meat Franks (with in-ad coupon, limit 2)
$1/2 here
$0.28 each ADC
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$6.88/ea: Johnsonville Brats or Italian Sausage (with in-ad coupon, limit 1)
$0.55/1 here
$5.78 ADC
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$3.50/ea: Johnsonville Cooked Sausage Links
$0.55/1 here
$2.40 ADC
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$6.99/ea: Johnsonville Summer Sausage
$0.55/1 here
$5.89 ADC
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$2.00/ea: Oscar Mayer Deli Creations
$1/1 here and here
FREE ADC!
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$1.19/ea: Betty Crocker Suddenly Salad
$0.50/2 Suddenly Salad
$0.69 each ADC
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$2.50/ea: Blue Bunny Ice Cream
$1/1 here
$0.50 ADC
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$3.00/ea: Litehouse Dressing, Vegetable Dip, or Cole Slaw Dressing
$1.00/2 Litehouse Products
$2 each ADC
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$2.00/ea: Country Crock
$0.40/1 here
$1.20 ADC
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$2.00/ea: Dannon 4-6 pk. Activia
$0.50/1 pack of Activia
$1 ADC
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$2.50/ea: Vlasic Pickles
$0.55/1 Vlasic Pickles
$1.40 ADC
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$1.00/ea: Knorr Pasta or Rice Sides
$1/3 here
$1 for 3 or $0.33 each ADC
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$14.98/ea: Huggies Mega Diapers
$3/1 Huggies Snug & Dry 60 ct or more
$11.98
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$3.33/ea: Playtex Sport Tampons
$1/1 here
$1.33 ADC
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$1.88/ea: Nexcare Bandages or Tapes
$1/1 Nexcare product
Better than FREE ADC!
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$3.50/ea: Tums Antacids
$1/1 here
$1.50 ADC
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$3.00/ea: Garnier Fructis Shampoo, Conditioner, or Styling Products
$1/1 here
$1 ADC
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$3.50/ea: Dove Shampoo, Conditioner, or Styling Products
$5.49 Dove Body Wash
$3.50 Dove Body Mist or Dove Deodorant
Buy $15 worth of Dove or Degree products, get $5 OYNO catalina
$2/1 Deodorant or Body Mist
$1/1 Dove Men+Care
$1/1 Degree Women Deodorant
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