Saturday, March 27, 2010

A Summary & A Winner

Great tips for eating out! You can see some ideas here in the original post; here are some ideas left in the comments:

~Eat dessert at home for a fraction of what it would cost you in a restaurant.
~Eat with Grandparents--they usually pick up the tab =).
~Buy the 20 piece nuggets from McD's or the $5 pizza from Little Caesars.
~Don't feed the kids--leave them with Granny & go out on a hot date =).
~Order from the dollar menu, eat Mexican, & split adult sized meals between your kids.
~Use websites to let you in on deals around town.

Some "Kids Eat Free" deals (check with your location before planning an outing):

~Dennys (Tues. & Sat.)
~McAllisters (5-8 pm)
~Sticky Fingers (Sun. thru Thurs.)
~TGI Fridays (Tues.)
~Moes (differs with locations)
~Dickey's (Sun.)
~Chick-fil-A (differs with locations)
~Firehouse (Sun. & Wed.)

Some "Kids Eat Cheap" deals (again, check with your location before budgeting):

~Applebees (Tues.)
~Mutts (buffet)
~Salsaritas (differs with locations)
~Zaxby's (differs with locations)

Some helpful resources:

~
Buddys Lot (membership fee applies)
~
Restaurant.com
~If you're on
Facebook, there is a group called "Where kids eat FREE in Greenville, SC"



And, for the winner . . .

random.org chose the 12th commenter.


That's YOU!

Congrats!


And thanks for all who participated! You're no longer considered lurkers.

I'm feelin' the love!

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Here's What I Don't Get...

. . . I know you're out there. You stop me randomly to laugh about things I've written. I know you're reading -- you're lurkers.

Is it that you don't like Chick-fil-A?

Comment here.

Show me some love & win free stuff!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Birthday Advice

Today is our little "Buddy's" 1st birthday! Here was Ella Grace's advice to him yesterday:

"Buddy, I can't believe you are almost 1 and you can't even hold your own juice cup! Or say 'Sissy!' Or walk!"

"Let me tell you, Buddy, here's all you need to know -- You need to know how to open presents!"

~~~~~~~

Don't forget to enter to win free food!!

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

How We Eat @ McD's for $10

Before we had kids, we joked that we'd never introduce them to McDonalds! Ha! Of course, there are days we need a quick lunch and Mickey D's is the answer. I have, however, figured out how to do it inexpensively. Thought I'd let you in on my technique:

4 cheeseburgers/no onions
4 yogurt parfaits
1 iced tea (split 4 ways)

Total = $9 + applicable taxes


Yes, the first few times we ate this way there were complaints about not getting a toy. The parfait solves a lot of that as my kids think they're getting dessert! The threat to go get back into the car and eat at home solved the rest of it for me.


Other ways we eat out are pretty obvious:


~We eat at places where kids eat free.
~We use coupons.
~We rarely order drinks; the kids usually take their cups full of milk or juice and Eric and I opt for free water.
~We've recently discovered that instead of ordering three kid's meals from the kid's menu, we can order an adult sized entree and split it between the three girls. This usually turns out cheaper.
~We often can be found eating at a Mexican Restaurant -- the kids get chips & salsa, both to keep them busy and to fill their tummies a bit -- we order a la carte for them and, again, usually end up eating cheaper than if we'd bought from the kid's menu.

Any other suggestions??

Leave a comment with a suggestion and be entered to win a Chick-fil-A calendar filled with free food and coupons good in 2010! Contest ends Friday, March 26th @ midnight!

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Snaggletooth

The Toothfairy will make her first appearance at our house tonight! Ella Grace pulled her first tooth today--all on her own!

She's so proud of her new smile!

Friday, March 5, 2010

Embellished Jeans

The last few weeks of winter weather are upon us here in sunny SC! As we round out the season, I need the girl's jeans to last just a little longer. They're okay as far as wear, but, apparently, we're feeding them well -- we're struggling with length. Came up with a pretty cute solution:





Monday, March 1, 2010

February = Failure

You've probably guessed, since I'm a little late posting this, that my February goal was not met! With good reason, at least I think it's a good reason! We've decided that it's time to bunk the girls! We haven't purchased a bunk bed yet, and it followed reason to me that I shouldn't purchase "decorative items" since it's hard for me to picture what the room will look like when their current beds are removed and replaced with bunks! We have been shopping around and have our choices narrowed. February's goal will reappear another month, I'm sure!

Onto March -- two smaller goals to make up for my failure! One is the garage! We have saved for several months to purchase a shed to go in our back yard! It is set to be delivered this week and our goal is to clean out the garage, moving much of what is currently there to the shed.

The second is to update the pictures that hang in our living room. I know -- that shouldn't count as an entire goal, but it's one of those little things that I keep meaning to get around to . . . well, in March 2010 I will get around to it! We did after all get some great family pictures made this year...
Will check back with photos at the end of the month!