Free Movie Tickets from General Mills

It's been a little while since I posted on the blog. I've been concentrating on getting my doula business going and have let this slide for a little too long. So to get this going again, here's a an easy way to earn a few movie tickets.

For a limited time (11/08/2012 – 12/06/2013) you can receive a free movie ticket when you purchase two specially marked packages of General Mills

Once you have your codes in hand, head over to the e-Movie Cash site and enter your codes. You'll be able to print your ticket right away. If you're not ready run out to the store just yet or tend to drag your feet once you've purchased your items, don't worry, you have until December 6, 2013 to enter your codes. Obviously, with my tendancy towards the more natural products, I'd purchase the Cheerios but there are other ones to choose from as well.

 

I'm giving away 2 free movie tickes as part of this post compliments of General Mills, so if you are interested, post it in the comments or post on facebook. Winner will be contacted and you will recieve your package in the mail!







Disclosure: The information, products and General Mills gift pack were provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark.

Dorset Cereal $1.99 at Kroger

Photo Credit: http://www.dorsetcereals.co.uk/

Hey there! If you like quality cereals, here's a deal for you. Right now at Kroger you can pick up Dorset Cereal products for just $1.99. Here's how:

Kroger regular price:                $4.99
Sale price with Kroger Card:    $2.99
Coupon:                                   $1/1
_______________
Total:                                       $1.99

That's a savings of 60%! This sale goes through the first week of March so stock up while you can. You can find the coupons here. You can only print 2 per computer so you may want to use as many computers as you can to stock up on this deal because I don't think you'll find them this cheap for awhile!

Amazon.com $2 off mp3 code

Every month Amazon.com puts out 100 mp3 albums for $5 a piece. They range from older titles to new releases. I always end up finding at least one title I like.



100 Albums for $5

 Of course $5 isn't bad for a great album, but $3 is better. Sooo....here's a code for $2 off an mp3 purchase on Amazon.com: FALLMP3S. Oh! While you're there, check out some of the great free samplers and albums they have available for download. Enjoy!

Who Doesn't Love FREE Family Fun? Smithsonian Magazine's Museum Day

Ok, admittedly I seemed to drop off the internet for awhile, but summer turned out to be so much busier than I anticipated. I apologize for the silence. I hope this helps to make up for it:

It seemed like everything my kids wanted to do this summer cost money. After the summer fun, came school supplies. Thank goodness for such great sale prices (I stocked up on enough crayons, glue, & markers to last through next year)! Hold on- not done spending yet! I still needed to buy school clothes which gets pricey once your kids start drifting over to junior's sizes. Oh! Don't forget lunch and snack items! Soooo, after all that outflow of cash, I feel like I need a break and some kind of "Replenish Mom's Wallet" fundraiser...maybe a magazine sale like at school ;) In all seriousness, I'm not complaining. I knew that having children would get costly.

The kids are back in school and by the time they get home, get homework done, and eat dinner it's almost time for bed. Since our real quality time revolves around the weekends we want to make the most of the two days we have together. Needless to say when I heard about Smithsonian Magazine's Museum Day, I had to check it out. It turns out that hundreds of Museums throughout the country are going to be free this Saturday, September 24, 2011. I'm in Virginia and I counted 55 in my state alone. There are art, history, and children's museums just to name a few. I did recognize a few free museums, but one of the museums I saw was $15 a ticket, so for my family of 4 that's a savings of up to $60. Getting your tickets is easy, just go to the Smithsonian Magazine's Museum Day website. Click Find A Museum to decide which one you want to visit. Then head over to Ticket Information and enter your information. They'll email you a ticket for 2 for the museum of your choice.

I know a good deal when I see one and you should too.  Whether your wallet is in as much need of a fundraiser as mine or you just want to grab an opportunity for some quality time with your loved ones, get your tickets and go have some fun!

Oh! Here are some FYIs from their website:

• Offer is valid only on Saturday, September 24, 2011. (Exceptions for Museum Day museums closed on Saturdays).
• Ticket must be presented for free general admission to one venue and is good for two people. *Not valid for special exhibits, parking, IMAX film screenings or for use with any other offers.
• One Museum Day Ticket per household, per valid email address. Museum Day Ticket will be collected upon entry.
• Museums and cultural venues participate in Museum Day voluntarily. *Smithsonian magazine encourages museum visitation, but is not responsible for individual museum content or participation.
• If museum reaches capacity, museum has right to limit the number of guests until space becomes available.

Summer Reading Programs For Kids

Summer vacation is beating down the back door. This means that my kids will soon be driving each other crazy out of boredom and I'll be consumed with trying to keep them busy without breaking the bank. I think they have realized we aren't going to do everything they want to do. I have realized that they aren't going to love everything I am going to do with them. That's okay. We'll find a happy medium.

One thing I don't compromise on is reading time. The way I see it is that most kids aren't going to busy themselves with any kind of reviewing or prep work for the next school year (unless required of course) so it's up to us to ensure that they are still learning something over the summer months. Last year I made a summer reading log for each of my kids. I had one reader and one that was still being read to so the set up for each was different.

For the reader:

We came up with a list of people in history that we wanted her to learn about. We had her pick 15 or so that also interested her. Then she just had to answer a set of questions for each and put it in paragraph form.  This got her reading, learning about history, and practicing her writing skills. To put it together I just used a simple folder with brads.

For the Pre-Reader:

Obviously, since my other child wasn't yet reading, the set up for this reading log is different. I just made a form that we could fill in with the titles of the book. The rest of the pages in her folder were blank. Instead of answering questions, she had to draw a picture of something from the book. Her picture also had to include the title of the book. I also had her tell me about her picture so that I could include a caption (this proves handy when you have forgotten what the heck the picture is supposed to be of!).This is a great way to help with reading comprehension and writing skills. She got to color so that was a bonus for her and I got to keep her "bound" book as a keepsake.

"Herbert Horatio and his friend

played table tennis and one

day he said it doesn't

matter about being rich"

My kids weren't overly excited about the idea of this at first so we made a contest out of it. You can choose to encourage them in whatever way you'd like, but the way we did it was that whoever read the most books would get to go to a family dinner at the restaurant of their choice at the end of the summer. Since I could read a book a night with my younger child, I made the younger one read 3 books for every 1 for the older. This evened things up a bit.  A great way to celebrate the accomplishments of both (or all as the case may be), let the other child(ren) pick the dessert or an appetizer.

This is just one way to keep your kids reading during the summer months. Another great idea is to sign up for summer reading programs at you local library or at bookstores like Barnes & Noble, Borders, or Waldenbooks. Here are the links to the ones I've found online. If there isn't one in your area, just make your own.

Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Program for Elementary Age Children

Borders/Borders Express/Waldenbooks Summer Reading Program for Ages 12 and Under and Prize List

Ultimately, it doesn't matter how you do it-just get your kids to read!



Photo Credit: Barnes & Noble

Photo Credit: Borders

Roozt.com 1/2 Price Gift Card

Between now at Midnight (EST) Friday, Pick up a $20 gift card to Roozt.com for only $10. They are always putting great items for a variety of causes up for grabs as daily deals. Check them out. It's worth a look.




Photo Credit: Roozt.com

Low or No Cost Summer Movies For Kids

I don't know about you, but I'm already trying to figure out what I'm going to do with my kids this summer. Of course I'm looking forward to outdoor fun, but when temperatures soar, I imagine I'll want to head indoors. I found some great deals at area movie theatres. Many theatres do a low or no cost summer movie program for kids. I've listed only a handful here, feel free to add any i have missed in the comments section if you know of others.

Here's a sample of some of the movies you may see (varies by theatre):

Despicable Me
Diary Of A Wimpy Kid
How To Train Your Dragon
Kung Fu Panda
Marmaduke
Megamind
Ramona & Beezus
Yogi Bear
+ More!

Bow-Tie Cinemas:
June 21-August 17
10am (Check your local theatre for dates & showtimes)
FREE

Carmike Cinemas:
Thursdays starting June 9
$1/movie

Cinemark Theatres:
10 Shows for $5 or $1/movie
Check your local theatre for dates & showtimes

Regal Cinemas:
Tuesdays & Wednesdays @ 10am
$1/movie