$10 off $30 - Bath and Body Works

Do you need to buy a Mother's Day gift?
Go here for a $10 off a $30 purchase at Bath and Body Works.

Happy President's Day - a President's Day Song for You.

My son has worked very hard to learn the names of all 44 U.S. Presidents. I promised to put him on mom's web page if he could learn them all. He is 5 and a big ham so that was incentive enough for him to learn this little song.

So I hope you will enjoy this little video and if you would like to learn the names of the Presidents, I've included the words.

The 44 Presidents Song


Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison,
Monroe, Adams, Jackson, VanBuren,
William Henry Harrison, Tyler, Polk and Taylor,
Filmore, Pierce, Buchanan.


Lincoln, Johnson, Grant, Hayes,
Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland, Harrison,
Cleveland, McKinley, Teddy Roosevelt,
Taft and Woodrow Wilson.


Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, FDR,
Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, LBJ,
Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan,
Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama.


If you would like some free coloring sheets for President's Day check out my posts here and here.

Happy 200th Birthday President Lincoln!

Today we are celebrating the 200th birthday of President Abraham Lincoln.  If you would like a coloring picture of President Abraham Lincoln, here are a few good sites to check.

Crayola coloring page   - this is a very nice picture of Lincoln!

Lincoln and Log Cabin

More Lincoln Sheets:  Here,  here,   here and here.

Lincoln pages with various scenes from Lincoln's life here.

Some Civil War coloring pictures are here.

Lots of great coloring pages here including the Lincoln Memorial.

Are you getting ready for President's Day next week?

Here are some good President's Day Coloring sheets and activities.

Here is a coloring book you can print with the first 43 presidents.

Here is a coloring picture of President Obama you can add to the book.

My 5  year old son has been working on learning the names of the Presidents and I promised him that if he would learn them all I would post a video of him singing them for you.   He has worked hard to learn this and so here it is for you!

If you would like to learn the names of the 44 Presidents, here are the words to the song.

The 44 Presidents Song

Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison,

Monroe, Adams, Jackson, VanBuren,

William Henry Harrison, Tyler, Polk and Taylor,

Filmore, Pierce, Buchanan.

Lincoln, Johnson, Grant, Hayes,

Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland, Harrison,

Cleveland, McKinley, Teddy Roosevelt,

Taft and Woodrow Wilson.

Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, FDR,

Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, LBJ,

Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan,

Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama.

It works pretty well if you sing it in a peppy way.  My son like to shout it out when he gets to "William Henry Harrison" and also at "FDR" and "LBJ".  To make the last line work you have to add an extra beat.  It works if you slow the last line down a lot and start on the same note you ended with on "Reagan".  

I think for the first time in my life I can say the Presidents.  I'm actually surprised how easily we learned them this way!

If you know any good resources for President's Day, share them with us in the comments below.

Free Activities on MLK Day - Indianapolis

If you're looking for something to do today,  there are some great free options.  Go here to read my post.

Free Activities on MLK Day

There are quite a few Free Activities available in Indianapolis, on Monday, January 19, 2009, for Martin Luther King Day. I will give you a list with links of the activities that I know about. If you know any that I missed please let me know!

White River State Park:

Go here for a press release from them.

Bring 1 can of food for Gleaners Food Bank for free admission to each activity. If you want Free Imax and Free State Museum Tickets, bring 2 cans of food.

The following activities at Park attractions will be taking place on MLK Day:

• The Indianapolis Zoo: Visitors can enjoy a dolphin show and visit the polar bears and the new brown bear cubs – perfect for winter. And then warm up by visiting the meerkats in the deserts building.

• Victory Field: Come by the home of the Indianapolis Indians between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. for various activities, including an autograph signing with Rowdie, the Indians mascot.

• NCAA Hall of Champions: Although still under renovations, NCAA will open its doors to serve cookies and hot chocolate, as well as hand out free passes for visitors to return when the Hall officially opens in February. An autograph signing with Jason Singleton, former basketball player from Ohio State University, will take place from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. And J.J. Jumper, the NCAA mascot, will make an appearance from 2:30-4:30 p.m.

• The Indiana State Museum: The museum will premiere its new exhibit titled “Shadow and Substance: African-American Images from The Burns Archive.”

• The IMAX Theater: Take a trip to the mountains with a sneak preview of “The Alps,” coming to the theater later this year.

• Eiteljorg Museum: Visitors can immerse themselves in the Native American and Western cultures with the museum’s many exhibits.

The Park will also offer complimentary parking on MLK Day. Visitors may park in the underground garage located off Washington Street in front of the Indiana State Museum, in the parking lots at the Indianapolis Zoo and Victory Field, and in the lot across from Victory Field next to the Visitor’s Center.

Thanks to At Geist.com for this information.

Other Free Activities;

The Children's Museum of Indianapolis.

Turkey Noodle Soup

If you have a leftover turkey carcass from your Christmas dinner, you can make a great big pot of Turkey Noodle Soup.  Go here to check out the step by step recipe and photos.

Merry Christmas!

(Christmas 2007)

I hope you have all had a very nice Christmas.

If you know of any great sales happening tomorrow or this weekend, please leave a comment and let us all know.

12 Free Days of Christmas in Indy

Wednesday, Dec. 24

On the 12th FREE day of Christmas in Indy, The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis gives to you … the unforgettable experience of Jolly Days. Enjoy traditional holiday favorites such as the Yule Slide, Jingles the Jolly Bear and visits with Santa (and since this is Christmas Eve, it’s a chance to have Santa fill those last-minute orders). The Snow Castle provides a toddler-size version of the Yule Slide. Try your ice-fishing skills or visit the Cookie Café to warm up your imagination with lots of cookie fun! Free parking.

Here are some more upcoming free days at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis:

Free Days:
December 24, 2008 — Christmas Eve (10 a.m. – 2 p.m.)
January 19, 2009 — MLK Day
February 16, 2009 — Presidents Day
April 26, 2009 — El Dia de Los Niños

Go here to read more.

12 Free Days of Christmas in Indy

Monday, Dec. 22 On the 10th FREE day of Christmas in Indy, the Indiana State Museum gives to you … a trip through the imaginary town of Celebration Crossing aboard the "Santa Claus Express" train. The kiddies can visit with Santa in his cozy home for photo or stop by his workshop, while the adults reminisce of holidays past while looking at the moving figurines in the replicated L.S. Ayres store windows. To Read more about the 12 Free Days of Christmas in Indy go here. To find out more about the Indiana State Museum go here.

12 Free Days of Christmas in Indy

Don't forget about the free activities going on until Christmas!  Here are a few highlights for the next few days.

Friday, Dec. 19 On the seventh FREE day of Christmas in Indy, the Indiana Historical Society gives to you … a stroll through the “Holidays in the Heartland” display, where you’ll enjoy vignettes about Indiana Santas, holiday food traditions, Christmas tree decorations past and present, and winters in the Midwest. Anyone who has seen the classic film, “A Christmas Story,” will remember the infamous leg lamp. You can buy one just like it at the Basile History Market, along with all kinds of made-in-Indiana products. Free parking.

Saturday, Dec. 20 On the eighth FREE day of Christmas in Indy, the Indiana Medical History Museum gives to you … a tour of the nation’s oldest surviving pathology laboratory (1-3 p.m.). Home to many interesting specimens, the building originally provided physicians in the late 1800s with state-of-the-art facilities to study mental and nervous disorders. Today, the museum uses its more than 15,000 artifacts to educate visitors about the developments that have made today’s advanced medical treatments possible. If you would like to read more go here.

Cracker Barrel 50% off Christmas Sale

We went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast this morning with my parents and found they were having a great sale on their Christmas items.  There were many nice items for 50% and 60% off.   

There were also some non-Christmas clothing items that were 70% off.

My poor dad - he thought he was going to get to go out to eat and here we had him shopping. He's a good sport though and even carried the bags.

We went to the Cracker Barrel right off I-65 in Southport.  You might want to call your local store to find out if they have the same sale before you go there.

You can find your local store here.

12 Free Days of Christmas in Indy

Tuesday, Dec. 16 On the fourth FREE day of Christmas in Indy, the James Whitcomb Riley Museum Home gives to you … the opportunity to see inside the home of Indiana’s most beloved poet, James Whitcomb Riley, dressed up in its holiday splendor. Located in downtown’s historic Lockerbie Square neighborhood, Riley resided here for 23 years and produced many of his more than 1,000 poems, including “Little Orphan Annie,” while living in the home.  Also, stop by the Indianapolis Artsgarden, adjacent to Circle Centre mall, for the Mistletoe Music Festival, a showcase of local bands and choirs performing holiday favorites. Free parking. For More about the 12 Free Days of Christmas go Here.

Saturday Deals and Events - Indianapolis 12/13/08

Don't forget that today starts the 12 Free Days of Christmas in Indy with Free Admission to the Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum.  You can read my post about it here.

If you haven't started giving away free $10 Restaurant.com Gift Certificates, go here to find out how.

And somehow, I never left the Thrifty Thursday post,  so if you have any great sales you know about this weekend please leave it here in the comments.

Feed It Forward - Give Free Restaurant Gift Certificates

Here is a great program offered by Restaurants.com.   You can give your family and friends $10 Restaurant.com gift certificates - for FREE!  

Go on the Feed It Forward website and do a simple registration (no credit card needed).  You then enter up to 3 email addresses and the recipient will receive a personal message from you and a free $10 Restaurants.com Gift Certificate.  

The recipient can then go onto the Restaurant.com website and choose from thousands of restaurants and redeem the certificate.

You can give away 3 free gift certificates every day until Christmas!

Here is some information taken directly from the Restaurants.com website.

As the nation’s leading website for restaurants and restaurant gift certificates, Restaurant.com connects restaurant seekers and food lovers to savings at more than 9,000 restaurants nationwide. Restaurant.com’s Feed It Forward™ will donate $30 million in free restaurant gift certificates – over 30 days – and allow you to treat friends, family, and colleagues —anyone deserving—to savings on a great meal out. When you Feed It Forward™, you have the opportunity, every day for 30 days, to enrich lives by giving the gift of meals and memories. Now until Christmas, you simply choose whom to give to, and we take care of the rest. Each person that receives a gift through the giving site can help Feed it Forward™, by giving free restaurant gift certificates to others.

To give away some free gift certificates go here.

12 Free Days of Christmas in Indy

This Saturday, Dec. 13th, is the first of the 12 Free Days of Christmas in Indy.  There are some great things to do this year.  Here are a few of the highlights from the first few days.  For a complete list you can go here.

Saturday, Dec. 13 On the first FREE day of Christmas in Indy, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum gives to you … an up-close view of Indy’s auto racing history and heritage, including the Indianapolis 500. For the race fan in your family, this is indeed a holiday treat. This National Historic Landmark has approximately 75 cars on display at all times, including the 1911 race-winning Marmon "Wasp." An extensive trophy collection, including the famed Borg-Warner Trophy with winning drivers’ faces sculpted into the side, and other artifacts are also on display. Free parking.

Tuesday, Dec. 16 On the fourth FREE day of Christmas in Indy, the James Whitcomb Riley Museum Home gives to you … the opportunity to see inside the home of Indiana’s most beloved poet, James Whitcomb Riley, dressed up in its holiday splendor. Located in downtown’s historic Lockerbie Square neighborhood, Riley resided here for 23 years and produced many of his more than 1,000 poems, including “Little Orphan Annie,” while living in the home.  Also, stop by the Indianapolis Artsgarden, adjacent to Circle Centre mall, for the Mistletoe Music Festival, a showcase of local bands and choirs performing holiday favorites. Free parking.

Do you use Ebates?

If you are planning to shop online this Christmas, have you been using Ebates?  I found out about this program last year through Money Saving Mom and have found it to be a good way to get back a little of what I spend.

You get a cash back rebate for the things you purchase online.  One of my favorite stores - Macy's is now getting an 8% rebate!  The amount varies from store to store and is easily found on the website.

You can sign up for an Ebates account here  and you will get $5 credited to your account.  You only need to enter an email address and set a password to join - there is no credit card needed. 

Here is an excerpt from the website to tell you how you get your "Big Fat Check" 

"Every three months Ebates sends to its members the Cash Back that they have earned, provided that the member has earned at least $5.01 in Cash Back Rewards.  If the member has earned less than $5.01 Cash Back, Ebates will carry the member’s money over to the next check. Bonus Rewards do not count toward the $5.01 minimum."

Ebates is also a great place to find free shipping deals and % off deals.  You simply go through the website and it redirects you to your favorite online store.  It attaches a "tracking #" to your shopping and you will see the rebate in your account in a few days.  

I am expecting my "Big Fat Check" for over $30 this month for shopping I was doing anyway!

Also, they have a few great promotions going on now!  They have a big list of stores that are giving double rebates! And I was able to get an extra $10 rebate just for making an online purchase. 

You can read Here to find out why "Daniel Boone" and I are staying home and doing our shopping online!

Black Friday

After 10+ years as a manager in the retail industry, and working countless Black Fridays.  I have no real desire to run on out today to the Black Friday Madness!  But unfortunately, I do have a few things I need to get to complete the now, almost finished, Living Room remodel. We have spent the past week painting, getting "new" furniture and a new TV ( a real spurge after almost 16 years with the same one!). 

So, out I go with 2 kids into the craziness for a few tubes of flexible caulk, some toggle bolts and a masonry drill bit so that I can finish the new laminate flooring tonight.

I hope to post later this week - maybe with a picture or 2, and show you our new room!   

If you've found any great deals in the Indy area, feel free to leave a comment with the information.

If you haven't gone to CVS this week, there are some great money makers.  Check out Money Saving Mom's post for a list.  

Mall Madness? Online Shopping Bliss!

Are you planning to do some shopping this holiday season?  I have quite a bit of my shopping done already but I made a trip out to the mall yesterday to pick-up 2 things that were on sale.  I thought that I could get the items cheaper by actually going to Macy's (rather that making the purchase online) because I had a coupon from a mailer for $10 off a $25 purchase.  

An hour or so later, I was leaving the mall promising myself and my 5 year old not to step back inside until December 26th.  The mall was already crazy busy and I did not save more by going there with my coupon, because the 2 items I wanted did not qualify for the coupon.

I would actually have gotten a better deal if I would have just purchased the items online a few days ago!  UGH!  I do not want to go back to that busy, stuff and people filled mall for a long time.  So, I have now decided that the rest of my Christmas shopping will be online as much as possible.  

Going to the mall was not actually fun, because I go with a 5 year old who thinks he's Daniel Boone and must hide from the Indians in the forest (of clothing racks) and also with a 1 year old in a stroller - which now does not fit through the aisles because they are jam packed with stuff and with people carrying tons of shopping bags.

Here is how I could have saved money, time and my sanity by buying my new Shark Steam Mop from the Macy's online store.

Macy's ad price was $79.99 both online or in store.  A few days ago I had a code for free shipping online (now expired).  So, if I had ordered my mop online, the price would have been the same and no shipping and I would have used no gas nor would I have bought McDonalds for lunch!  Plus, it would have qualified for an 8% cash back rebate from Ebates - so here's the breakdown.

In Store:

79.99 + tax = $85.59 (+ McDonalds ($6.00), crazy mall, fussy 5 year old, parked way far from door and gas)   Total = $91.59

Online:

79.99 + tax + free shipping = $85.59 - % cash rebate (12.27) =  $73.32

I don't want to tempt you to spend $ you haven't already planning to spend this Christmas, but I would encourage you to consider checking online for the prices of the things you are already planning to buy and see if you could save time, money and your own sanity by doing some online shopping.

And -if you are planning to shop online I suggest you sign-up for Ebates.   Ebates is a free website that gives you money back for things you buy online.  This month, I am expecting a check for over $30.69 from Ebates.  

Ebates has a lot of bonus deals going on right now because of the holidays.  First you get a $5.00 bonus just for signing up and then a $10 bonus when you make your first purchase.  Also, many of the stores featured on Ebates are now offering double % rebates (usually Macy's is a 4% rebate and now it is 8%).

You will get your bonus $ sent to you in the form of a check, after make a purchase through Ebates and you've earned at least $5.01 in purchase rebates.   If you are going to make holiday or other purchases online why not get some of the $ back?  

Signing up is easy and when you want to shop online you just go to the Ebates website and click on the store where you want to shop.  You can also look on Ebates to see if there are any special deals or coupons too (like free shipping codes).

Ebates simply adds a tracking code and then opens the store's website and you shop and purchase directly from the store's website.  Your account is credited the rebate amount in a few days.  It's that easy!  I wish I would have figured this out sooner!

I

Veteran's Day

Today is Veteran's Day, so I'd like to give a very special Thank You to the Servicemen and women of the Military Forces! And to the families of those who serve our country - Thank You for your sacrifice also!

One way to tell the soldiers that we appreciate their hard work and sacrifice is to send them a postcard. You can send one for free thanks to LetsSayThanks.com  and it is easy too. Just click on the link below. You choose the postcard for many that have been created by children. You can choose from several nice prewritten messages or write your own and then click to send. Xerox takes care of the rest!