More Free Chick-fil-a!!

This special has been extended for the month of March!!! I'm so bummed that I've missed it so far and that I'll be gone next Thurday morning. If you didn't catch my post in February you can read it below:


FREE Breakfast! That's right, this morning I had a free breakfast. Chick-fil-a is running a "box top" promotion in the month of February. If you live in Knoxville you can claim your free breakfast on Thursday mornings by bringing in any cereal box top. I know other cities do this in the month of February so check your local Chick-fil-a restaurants. In Knoxville the restaurants will donate the box tops for education to local Knox County Elementary schools! This morning the featured breakfast was a chicken sandwich, but it's my understanding it will be different every week.

I do love Chick-fil-a for other reasons! They are a great place to eat with toddlers. I would actually rather go in at a Chick-fil-a then go through the drive through (like all other fast food places). If you go up to the counter with your little ones they will offer to bring your food to your table. For every kiddo they will give you a disposable place mat that you can just lay thier food out on. If you don't see any placemats on thier high chairs just ask them, they probably have them behind the counter.

I also use to think to myself, "Who can really eat a 12 count chicken nugget meal?" Well, now that I have a little one with me I usually get the 12 count value meal and I eat the normal 8 and Ethan gets 4. At most Chick-fil-a restaurants there is also a person who comes around to bus the tables of your trash.

My favorite location in Knoxville is Turkey Creek. For some reason I think they are a tad bit more accomidating, although I haven't had a bad expeirence at Bearden Hill, they might just offer to do less for you.

All in all I give Chick-fil-A 5 Stars for toddler friendliness and an extra gold star for FREE breakfast!

Old Navy

So I like clothes, but I love cheap good looking clothes! That's where Old Navy comes in. I already knew to shop their sales and my friend Betsy gets killer deals on her boys clothes from their website. My husband also loves (and looks good in) all of thier mens polos and he even bought a nice wool jacket there this winter. I also in addicted to their simple, cheap, but durable flip flops (I already bought my two pairs for this season).

It even got better this morning because read over on a the diaper diaries that Old Navy puts out a weekly online flyer. In this flyer are "hidden" deals like 5,10,15, and 20% off an in-store purchase and get this, even $50-75 off of $100 purchase! To find them you have to scroll your mouse over the pictures and find places that your arrow to turn in to a clickable finger. The coupons go quick, by the time I checked there were only %off coupons left. If you want the 20% off coupon (and it is still available) watch for the green banner in the upper right hand box to scroll by and then click on it. I will be checking back every week in hopes that I get $100 worth of clothes for $25! You can even subscribe to the flyer down on the bottom left hand side and when you do you get an online coupon emailed to you. Happy Shopping!

My son eats soup!

So my son picked out this can of soup at the store a few weeks ago. He is all about the movie Cars so I indulged his request and as he was eating his first bowl of soup I noticed that he was also eating the few carrots that were included in this chicken noodle soup. Ah ha! I thought. I have since made him this soup with a half of a can of mixed veggies and a half a can of chicken breast. He loves it! He eats most of the vegetables (he still picks out the green beans) and most of the chicken along with the noodles. The great thing about these noodles is that they are perfect for little toddler hands. The are flat and about nickel sized so they are also easy to scoop with a spoon.

Simple Mom

Betsy sent me a link last week to one of the coolest blogs/websites I have come across in a long time. Originally she sent it to me for her simplification ideas. Couldn't we all use a bit more simplification in our lives? Well, after probably 2 hours (and 10-20 tabs) I have found so many cool things on her site I just had to share it. Here are a few of the highlights:

• She has a book club and 2 of the 6 books for this year are ones that I have mentioned here on this blog as must-reads. I have posted a link to the book club on the right=>
• The thought of having a home management notebook really is just a brilliant idea. Big shot executives have planners, why do we think as housewives we would need any less? I have a planner for work, and honestly I never thought to use it for all parts of my life. Even if I thought of it I didn't execute that plan well until last week. It is still a work in progress but I'm getting there.
  
• The Daily Docket! I love planning out my day the night before and especially highlighting the Three Most Important Tasks. Identifying these and actually writing down what I want to get done at work everyday (and the times they should be done by) really keep me focused and at the end of the day I have accomplished so much more.
• I have to admit I am not a very good housewife. I don't really notice that things need dusting or mopping for that matter. But with my new Weekly Home Management checklist I know where to start. I have also started reading the Fly Lady's book and I think this will fit right in.
• Simple mom has also introduced me to the idea of storing all of my online recipes in one place. Tonight I made a del.icio.us cook book. Delicious is a social bookmarking site that allows you to keep all of your internet bookmarks in a web-based location so you can access them from anywhere in the world. This didn't seem so cool to me until I thought about it in light of all of my favorite online recipes. I have been looking for a way to purge my Everyday food collection because it is such a hassle to search through. Since all of thier recipes are online I can now save my favorites to delicious and pass on the magazines to someone else.
• Online menu planning is also a great idea. You know how I feel about my google calendar, it is great! What about using it to plan your weekly or monthly menu? Genius! Here is a picture of my google calendar with all of my options shown:
  The items shown in brown are my meals for next week!
  

Not all of the posts on simplemom are original (some are pulled in from other sites) but I continue to get inspiration from this collection of tips and tricks of being a mom, house manager, and wife.

Enjoy!

Good Reads

This site is so cool! Not only can you make a "wish list" for the books that you want to read, but you can also see what all your friends are reading too. This site has really helped my not buy books that I want to read in the future. Instead I just add them on to my "to read" shelf and they are saved forever. I love getting email updates of what my other friends are reading too.

Recently my friend Allison posted a list on her blog of all the books she read in the last year. I can't remember all the books I read last year so I just went on Good Reads and sorted my "read" shelf by date.

Contour Changing Pad

We have used this changing pad on top of our changing table since Ethan was born, but last week I discovered a new use for this pad. While packing late at night for an upcoming vacation Ethan started crying. I thought this was odd....until I got upstairs. We had our first case of a stomach bug. Yuk! Well while I cleaned up his bed I laid him on the changing table and he just curled up in a little ball. We then moved the pad to the floor of the bathroom where Ethan and I spent the night. It worked great! It was just like a little portable bed. Who knew?

I do have to admit I have never used the straps that come with this pad. We also have the boppy changing pad cover on it which makes it very soft.

The Average Millionaire

According to Dave Ramsey the average millionaire reads one non-fiction book a month! This month I will focus on some of the great non-fiction books I think you should read in 2009.

I've already reviewed

• Becoming the Woman of His Dreams
• Last Child in the Woods

Soon I will post reviews on

• The Purpose Driven Life
• The Total Money Makeover
  

This year I will be reading

• Sink Reflections
• Sheparding a Child's Heart
• Being a Great Mom, Raising Great Kids
• For Women Only
• Prayer
• The Love Dare
  

Do you have a book that you think we should read? Send me your review and I'll post it here. Happy reading!