FamilyFun is one of my all-time favorite magazines to find fun things to do with my children.  Every issue has great crafts and ideas for kid fun.  

Until July 4 (so ACT FAST!) you can order a full year of FamilyFun for only $5!  You can usually find a subscription for $10, so this is a fantastic bargain. 

Each issue is packed with simple crafts, holiday ideas and simple recipes for kids to try. This is one of those magazines that is worth saving, just so you can look back and find more crafts when you hit a dry patch. It is also great for giving you ideas of gifts your kids can make throughout the year.

The deal ends Saturday, July 4, so head on over to Amazon and get your $5 subscription!

My 7yo has been saving money for over 6 months so that he could buy a Star Wars Clone Wars Ultimate Light Saber.  He finally saved enough and was able to buy it this past week.

For a light saber geek (like I guess my boy is) this is a great toy.  It comes with tons of parts that can be assembled multliple ways to create custom light sabers. There are different color chips, as well as different grips.  At the same time, there are a LOT of parts! I realized after he brought it home that I would have to find some sort of bin or basket for him to keep all the parts in or I would find pieces of it scattered throughout the house.  I’m afraid that even with a bin, I’ll find pieces scattered throughout the house.

He has had fun the last few days creating his own light saber and modifying it on the fly. I think for a child that already has a few light sabers, this would be a nice addition to their collection. 

Many of you will be taking 3 and 4 day weekends to celebrate.  Earlier this week, our friendly neighbor to the north, Canada, celebrated their own Canada Day.  So, I’ve decided to give Moms Love Shopping podcast the week off to celebrate, too.

Don’t worry, the podcast WILL be back!  You’ll be too busy racking up on holiday sales, shooting fireworks and grilling burgers to listen this week anyway.  Then you’ll spend all week recovering and playing catch up (or hiding those new shoes) to miss me. 

If you do happen to get some free time and need some shopping therapy, rent or buy Confessions of a Shopaholic to get your shopping buzz while you relax.  Or, if you haven’t listened to last week’s show, Shopaholic Confessions – Show #54, (shame on you!) get caught up and find out who the true shopaholic in MY family is.  I was surprised!

I’ll talk to you next week.  Have a wonderful holiday weekend and be safe.
‘chele

P.S.
Don’t forget to have fun shopping!

But, if you haven’t requested four coupons yet, you still have time! Until September, you can go on Fridays and ask them to send you a coupon for a FREE candy bar.  And, let me tell you, I really needed chocolate this week!

Are you getting ready for a new school year of making lunches? You might want to check out Organic Valley Organic 1% Lowfat Single Serve Milk, 8-Ounce Aseptic Cartons (Pack of 24) for those lunch boxes! My oldest loves these single serve milks.

Hmmm, there’s not much else worth noting this week!  Maybe this is why I haven’t bothered to check it out lately. Even the shoes aren’t interesting.  I’ll start watching next month for holiday deals.

I found Popsicle Mighty Minis one day in the store, and have bought at least a box every grocery trip since! Not only are they smaller than a full-size Popsicle, but they have a little gelatin included so they melt slower than a traditional Popsicle.

My 2yo can eat an entire one before a drip rolls down her hand! 

Popsicle has a few different kinds that include the gelatin, and I think we’ve tried them all by now.  My boys like the Ice Age ones – but their favorite are the SuperHero Popsicles.  No gelatin, but lots of dark colors!

Cool off with a Popsicle today! 

Well, I looked and looked.  I finally settled on this breast pump by Playtex.  It’s actually called a Playtex Nursing Necessities Petite Double Electric Breast Pump.  It is accurately named, it’s not real big, and you can single or double pump with it.  It became my new best friend! 

The great thing about the Playtex Nursing Necessities Petite Double Electric Breast Pump is it is REALLY easy to use.  I just looked through the "Getting Started Guide" and knew how to use my pump.  In the guide they also have a chart that I put on my fridge telling me how long you can store your breast milk in various places.  You will not have to be a brain sergoun to use this and you also get some bottles and accessories to get started with.  And of course, the best thing about the Playtex Nursing Necessities Petite Double Electric Breast Pump is  the price…very reasonable!!

Here’s the 411 you need to maximize your savings:

Exclusive 8% Discount for Moms Love Shopping Readers -
This discount can be used for anything on the site, has no minimum order amount and has no expiration date. The code MUST be entered at checkout to receive the discount. The coupon code for 8% off is: momsloveshopping

FREE Beach Bag Offer -
Any order over $100 will receive a free beach bag. No coupons necessary, one bag per household, and it CAN be used with the discount code. Offer expires July 5, 2009. Read more on the beach bag offer here.

Double Sweet Offer -
Yes! In case you missed it… You CAN combine the offers! So if you order over $100 before the July 5th, you will receive 8% off AND a free beach bag. How awesome is that?

P.S.
Are you melting yet? Boy, am I EVER! Down in my neck of the woods (Texas) the local bank’s thermometer said the temperature was 108°F! How hot is it in your hometown?

If you’ve never heard of a cross blog conversation, it’s when two bloggers correspond with each other, each from their own blog. I’m excited about the opportunity to ask Jendi some of my burning questions and I will attempt to dazzle her with my own answers!

Jendi began our conversation by asking the following questions:

“How much time do you spend online in an average day? Do you spend more time online shopping or doing blog related things?”

First of all, that’s a heck of a loaded question!

I probably spend more time online than a lot of moms because I also work a full time business from home. If it weren’t for that factor, and I truly spent all that time shopping online, I’d need to check myself into the nearest Shopaholics Anonymous, ASAP! But, I digress… to be completely honest, I’d say I spend an average of 8 – 10 hours online daily. Yikes!

The second question is a bit tougher to answer. It’s virtually impossible to NOT shop online these days… or at least ‘window shop’ online. I am constantly distracted by lovely things when online while I’m working, blogging, surfing or just catching up on my friend’s blogs.

For instance, just this morning, I responded to a comment on my personal blog and clicked on over to my friend Nell’s blog to see what she’s been up to lately while I drank my coffee and waited for the dryer to catch up with the washing machine. Nell distracted me with a post about the lack of adorable baby boy fashion and some great sites she found with drool-worthy items. I had to check it out, because I’ve been grumbling forever about the tiny selection of boy’s clothing to myself and publicly here at Moms Love Shopping, as well. (Um, I don’t even have baby boys anymore!)

I would like to spend more time productively blogging, but I’ll need to learn to control my internet window shopping to do it.

Here are my questions for Jendi:

1. What was your interest in becoming a blogging intern at Profitable Mommy Blogging? I noticed that you were already blogging on your own blog for two years before accepting the position.
2. What are the distractions that keep you from spending as much time as you’d like blogging and how do you avoid them?

You can find her answers at Jendi’s Profitable Mommy Blogging Column.

I confess that I haven’t thought much about Michael Jackson in the years since high school — and a quick look at my music collection showed that I don’t even own any of his music. I headed over to Amazon this morning to check out what was available for Michael Jackson and was pretty amazed to see that there 446 songs of his available for download! I read that many major retailers (even online)sold out of his music overnight — but downloads are always available.

I didn’t buy Thriller this morning, but I did buy The Way You Make Me Feel and Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’.

What are your favorite Michael Jackson songs?

I’ve received my 4 coupons and I even shared them with my kids   I won’t tell if you decide to keep all that chocolate for yourself, though!

My sister came up for a visit and I invited my grandmother, mother and my sister to my house to watch it with me.  The only thing better than a movie about shopping is inviting some gals over to squeal and squirm about someone else’s misadventures in shopping!

We all loved the movie so much, we decided to chit chat about our own shopping confessions for this week’s episode.  My mother and sister join me as guests and I was surprised to learn who the TRUE SHOPAHOLIC in my family is! 

P.S.
You won’t believe this unless you listen, but Reba McEntire actually made an appearance in this episdode!

I think this is great, anyone that has at least one child knows what it is like to get out for the day or during feeding time.  It might look like you are moving or something because of all the EXTRAS you need to take with you "just in case".  With the Munchkin Formula Dispenser , at least you will not have to take the whole can of formula with you when you go.  So, like most people these days, if you have a baby that drinks formula and you like easy to use, convenient products, this should be at the top of your list!

So, Betty Crocker came out with these little wonders, actually Warm Delights.  All you need is some water and a microwave.  Mix the water and cake mix in the little bowl it all comes in, squeeze some of the flavored syrup on top and microwave 1 minute and 15 seconds on high.  If you like a little extra punch with your dessert you can put a couple of scoops of ice cream on top.  It is wonderful!  My personal favorite is Betty Crocker Warm Delights, Molten Chocolate Cake, 3.35-Ounce Bowls (Pack of 16) with vanilla ice cream on it.  The best part is, it is not too much and for once, it’s ok to eat the WHOLE CAKE by yourself!!

So when I needed more dish soap, I went through my coupons and found some for Dawn.  Now, I know, "Name brand is more costly", but I don’t cut corners in some areas (unless I really need to).  So I decided to try this Dawn Plus Hand Renewal with Vitamin E, pomegranate splash.  I opened the bottle a couple of nights ago and let me tell you, I’m hooked.  My dishes are clean, I like the smell and my hands do NOT feel like "dishpan hands"!  So, for those of you that use a lot of lotion and don’t seem to get over the last sink full or even a few dishes before there’s more, this may be the answer to your red cracked knuckles!

P.S.
At the bottom of the page for Dawn Plus Hand Renewal with Vitamin E there’s also a chance to get a coupon for $1.00 off this product and other coupons as well!

When out & about, I love the fact that a Jamba Juice opened up near my house so I can swing by and enjoy a yummy Blackberry Bliss or an Aloha Pineapple smoothie. Click HERE for a coupon to buy one / get one free so you can share with a friend. The coupon is valid until July 12, 2009.

You can also follow them on Twitter (JambaBananaman) and on Facebook to receive discount codes & special offers.

My coupon is printed, and my sis & I will enjoy a Jamba Juice smoothie this weekend when we run errands. How about you??

FREE Super Saving Shipping also applies (within restrictions), so you can add up the savings even more!

We received the Britax Marathon Convertible Car Seat in “Cowmooflage” as a gift for Lydia and have been thrilled with the seat. (You have to click through just to see how cute that cover is!)

The seat is comfortable, and the seat is nicely padded. The cover is very soft, and wipes clean easily. We don’t struggle with the straps, but they hold her very securely.

Britax has always been rated very high in safety tests, and I like knowing our daughter is safely secure in the back seat when we’re running around town.

They don’t run sales often on Britax Car Seats, so if you’re in the market, I’d jump on this deal!

My oldest has read every single one, and both boys listen to the audio books over and over again. No matter how many times they listen to the stories, they still laugh uproariously at the antics of Hank and his buddies.

The books are funny, and have some slightly suspenseful parts, but nothing that is inappropriate for young children. A few books have a little bit of romance, but again, nothing inappropriate. They are good, clean fun.

I think they’re the perfect summer read – and a great series to get a child started with.

It is chock full of fun facts about famous women, history about various things, rules for games and tons of great activities.

This is the 2nd book by the same authors (the first was The Daring Book for Girls) I read the first one, and didn’t think Andrea Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz could create a 2nd that was as good as the first. I was wrong! I had so much fun going through this book, reading about fun activities, and even sharing it with my boys (while it’s written for girls, so many of the activities are perfect for kids — regardless of their gender.)

In the spirit of the book, I threw down a double dare over at my personal blog. If you play along, you might win an Amazon gift certificate & be able to buy this great book for yourself!

Amazon has one of their amazing deals on Kashi products right now. From a limited selection, you can use the code KASHNTRL to save 25%, and then use their Subscribe & Save option to save another 15%. I am able to buy 6 boxes of my yummy cereal for $2.50/box.

$2.50 is my upper threshold for cereal these days, so that deal means my pantry will be stocked with my favorite cereal. Nobody else in my family likes it, so I know it’ll last! (unlike Cap’n Crunch!)

You can change or cancel Subscribe & Save options at any time – so if you decide you don’t need monthly or quarterly shipments, you can change it after the first shipment is sent.

So, if you’re like me and don’t subscribe to premium channels, this is your weekend to watch movies without any rental fees (or waiting for the dvd to show up in your mailbox.)

Check out this post at Free Preview TV for all the details. If you don’t subscribe to DirecTV, check out that site to see when your cable provider will offer free specials! They have pretty much every cable company in the US covered!

Maybe Father’s Day could be spent in the living room, watching movies and drinking cold drinks?

You know you’d like to get him something nice, but maybe an expensive gift isn’t in the budget. These six frugal ideas for a special father are sure to make the father in your family feel loved and appreciated.

1. Let the children make him a T-shirt with their hand prints on it.
This craft is quite easy and your children will love the opportunity to make a mess just for Dad! Purchase fabric paints in Dad’s favorite colors and a new 100% cotton T-shirt for each child to decorate. Put the fabric paint on a disposable plate and then have the children place their hands on the shirt. Follow washing instructions after the paint has dried. You may want to have the children sign and date the shirt so Dad can see how much the children have grown.

2. Support Dad’s dreams by opening up a “dream fund” for him.
You don’t have to fill the entire fund up immediately, but you can add a little here and there every year to help him make his dream item a reality. Maybe you could save change in a decorative coin bank or contribute as little as $5.00 a month. Before long there will be a good sized amount in the account and he’ll be well on his way to getting that dream tool or new big screen TV.

3. Purchase a small ad in your local newspaper.
Many newspapers will run special advertisements for major holidays, and that would include Father’s Day. Run your own ad to let Dad know how much he means to you and how much you love him. Just remember to put his name on the ad & purchase that day’s paper (just in case he doesn’t get his own that day) or someone else’s dad might think the ad is for them!

4. Give Dad a gift card specifically for his next gas robbery fill up.
Gasoline prices change every day – and generally not in the most beneficial way for your wallet. Not only is this gift practical, it will also let him keep that much money in his pocket for the week. He can either put the money that he saves into his dream fund or splurge and take Mom out to dinner one night!

5. Dress up Dad’s grillin’ habit & poke some fun!
If he’s like most men, he has an uncontrollable urge to grill. Get him an awesome barbeque apron to celebrate his manliness. You could even get a solid color apron and decorate it yourself with those wonderful fabric paints the kids used on his shirts to write “Kiss the Cook” or “Never Trust a Skinny Cook.” Throw in some cool grilling toys just for fun!

6. Plan an outing for the entire family to enjoy on Father’s Day.
This might be something as simple as a picnic in the park to something more elaborate like an entire day of fishing or hiking with him. Whatever his favorite activity is – sports, tinkering, card games, or just watching TV – do that activity with him. He’ll appreciate it more than you contributing to his cheesy tie collection!

I hope these six frugal ideas for Father’s Day have helped inspire some creative ideas of your own. Remember, as long as you let Dad know you love him, he’s sure to be happy.

Kids can take part in workshops and learn more about archery, shooting, fishing, hiking, birding, animal identification and more! The workshops run every 1/2 hour from noon until 6 on Saturdays and Sundays. They also run workshops from 3PM until 7PM on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

When kids participate in the workshops, and take part in additional activites (like shooting a bb gun or casting off a fishing line), they earn collectible pins (which look great pinned on my boys’ hats!)

Every weekend they also offer a different free craft. This weekend, kids can make a plaster animal track and next weekend they’ll make keychains.

Bass Pro Shops set up an area for free photos that look like your child is on the front the magazine Field & Stream! They take the picture, then give you a card to download the picture in a few days. (Notice my oldest up to the left?)

At some locations, they set up a kayak pool to allow visitors 12 & older to test their kayaking skills. My husband tried one out on Sunday, and only fell in the water once.

It really made for a fun afternoon for the entire family, and my boys are hoping to return this weekend. I highly recommend trying it out!

Once you enter the code, you’ll be prompted to download the information. While it is important to get an attorney’s help with something as important as your will, this is a great way to get started and have all the information necessary before you visit an attorney.

Updating our will has been on my to-do list since our youngest was born. This offer has moved it up the list, and I hope to get it finalized before the end of summer. What about you? Is your will current? Or do you have one yet?

How much more mom friendly could a swimsuit be?

This week I’m joined by Sara Wolf, co-founder of HydroChic. When my conversation with Sara was over, I was actually looking forward to planning a trip to a water park, the beach, the city pool or even our own back yard in a swimsuit again!

Are you inspired as well? Visit Sara at HydroChic.com and drop her an email or send her a quick tweet at Twitter @hydrochic!

Click below to eavesdrop on our conversation:
(It’s OK, we give you permission)

I have received 3 of the coupons I’ve requested so far, and am waiting for my 4th. They arrive in the mail on a postcard – so be sure you don’t throw it out with your junk mail!

They give out only 250,000 coupons each Friday, so don’t put off heading over there to request your coupon!

In the summer, I love frozen Snickers bars   The fact that the Snickers are free makes the treat that much sweeter.

This gun is over 3 feet long, and breaks down into 2 separate guns if you so desire. It comes with 10 darts — which are specific to this gun, so you can’t use other Nerf darts. You can buy more darts, but they’re just under $1/each! (Nerf Streamline Darts 10 Pack)

I can’t begin to tell you how excited my son was to receive this gun. He’s talked about it for months, and was so happy when it landed on our doorstep. He & his 8yo brother worked together to get it unpacked (can’t have any toys these days unless they’re wrapped with a billion metal ties!) Then, they worked to get the Nerf N-Strike Longshot assembled and began to play.

It didn’t take long for Nate to let me know that while it looked really cool, and he really liked it . . . it didn’t shoot darts. A careful look at the gun showed that the darts were getting jammed and chewed up by the gun before they could leave the barrel.

I read online about some tips on how to load the clip, and we tried to load the darts so they were flush against the back of the clip, with the small hole pointing down. This did help, but only 1 out of 3 darts shot. Those that did shoot, quickly became ripped apart by the gun.

I wrote to Hasbro’s customer service late that night and by the next morning I had a reply. They were sending out a replacement right away and were very sorry that the gun had been a disappointment so far. I was very pleased with their quick response and fair resolution.

The new gun arrived this afternoon, and Nate decided to wait for his dad before opening this one and putting it together. He is hoping that this one works better, and I am too! I will update you once he’s had a chance to play with the replacement!

You’ll have to fill out a form (found at the Sears website) and wait for them to mail you the Sears Reward.  You can spend the Reward Cash from June 30, 2009 until October 30, 2009.

This is great for Father’s Day, or for any guy out there that could use some new clothes!  I know my husband could use some new pants and shirts for work, and I plan on using this deal to get $100 worth of clothes for only $50.

Sure! Unless…

You hid your ONE MILLION DOLLAR LIFE SAVINGS in the old one!

Oops! Sorry, Mom!

Read the entire story here: 
Search for mattress containing $1M life savings

Yeah, I didn’t think people really still did this either.  Not long ago, my mother and her siblings bought my grandmother a new bed.  I wonder what happened to the old one?  Maybe I should ask? 

Will you check with your parents/grandparents in the future before throwing out their mattress?  If you’ve lost faith in the banking system and now you are resorting to the old standby of stuffing money in your mattress, what would you do in this situation?

Arby’s is giving away free food all summer on Wednesdays!  STL Mommy has a list of all the offers, so you can find out when your favorites might be free.

Sign up for their Extras program and get coupons and special deals delivered right to your email inbox.

Enjoy lunch!