Cheryl's Cookbook is Being Given Away in a Drawing on America's Grandma Website

America's Grandma Kay Swatkowski has a drawing giveaway for Cheryl's new cookbook if you leave a recipe on Kay's site - http://www.americangrandma.com/2011/12/29/soups-on-cookbook-giveaway/

Leave a recipe as a comment to win...

 (This is a great marketing tool that Kay Swatkowski is using.  Good job Kay.  Kay is my good friend and writing student.  Look around on her blog!

- http://www.americangrandma.com/2011/12/29/soups-on-cookbook-giveaway/

Mom's 2012 New Year's Resolutions One Month Later

January 1st: “My children and I will learn Modern Hebrew this year.”
February 1st: “My children and I will weekly eat one dozen bagels with lox.”

January 1st: “I will get the kids the pet they’ve always wanted.”
February 1st: “I will buy a collar and a leash for my chia plant.”

January 1st: “I will make only home-made yogurt from only organic ingredients.”
February 1st: “I will allow my children only two Gogurts in their mouth at a time.”

January 1st: "I will take my children to a museum once a month."
February 1st: "I will show my kids where I ate super chili dogs in high school.”

January 1st: "I will make sure my children eat multi-grain fiber filled items at each meal."
February 1st: "I will store my bag of Krispy Kreme doughnuts next to a bottle of Metamucil.”

January 1st: "I will feature a Van Gogh each month on our coffee table."
February 1st: "I will fill up our Van at The Stop and Go.”

January 1st: "We will never eat food in the car in 2012."
February 1st: "We will quit using our gas grill in the car in 2012."

Not me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to MyCharmingKids; her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.  Click here

No! Not Me! I am not thinking about these things on this December Monday

No! Not Me!...while everyone is rushing through the doors chasing bargains the day after Thanksgiving, this mommy is thinking about how can she recover from a broken hip in time for Christmas Eve.

No! Not Me!...while everyone else is taking three months to find the most popular toy, this mommy is still trying to remember where she hid last year’s most popular toy.

No! Not Me!...while everyone is taking pictures at the kids' church Christmas musical, this mommy hopes they don’t take one of her because she’s wearing two different colors of shoes (the dog has hidden one of each).

No! Not Me!...while everyone else is sporting those great red Santa hats, this mommy remembers wearing one last year and causing a multiple car fender bender because she was mistaken for a stoplight.

No! Not Me!...while everyone else is using the Advent calendar to count down to Christmas, this mommy is counting down to December 26 (and the full body mud spa treatment she promised herself).

No! Not Me!...while everyone else is wearing Christmas sweaters, this mommy knows that they actually make you look like a mobile Christmas bulletin board.

No! Not Me!...while everyone is trading fruit cakes, if this mommy says yes to one more Christmas party where they are yodeling Jingle Bells, she's going to become a fruitcake.

No! Not Me!..while everyone is opening presents Christmas Eve, this mommy is wondering if anyone will notice that to hide the taste, she basted the burned turkey with green jello.

No! Not Me!...while everyone else knows Santa is real, this mommy knows he isn't, but if he was, he'd be in charge of cleaning up the wrapping paper.  

Check out my new cookbook for real:  Creative Slow Cooker Meals by Cheryl Moeller

  Not Me’s!

Jazz for Cows, Who Would have Thought....

Book Review - "Baby Saves Christmas" by Cheryl Moeller and Melissa Moeller Briggs

 A book review by Read On Read Now
 
A story of simple Christmas joys, "Baby Saves Christmas" by Cheryl Moeller and Melissa Moeller Briggs will fill children and their families with hope as many face a financially difficult Christmas season.

Charmingly told from the point of view of grandma and grandpa's small dog Baby, the story begins as these grandparents face the reality that they will not have enough money to buy their grandchildren Christmas gifts. With all 21 grandchildren coming for Christmas, they try to hold on to their faith that God will provide what they need. Eventually they find that with a little creativity and the help of their family, friends and a special Baby, they can give their grandchildren the best Christmas ever. Click here to read on.

Not Me! Monday!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to MyCharmingKids; her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.  Click here


Not me!  I don't know about you but I don't have a large family and here's some ways to know if you do or not...



Not me!  The combined mileage on my cars is 1,000,000 miles (and I haven’t left my suburb in seven years).

Not me!  No one invites us over for Sunday dinner (unless it’s for a fast).

Not me!  I have a laundromat in my basement (it’s open all night and I still can’t find an empty machine).

Not me!  Holidays are always at my house (Santa has to use a “wide load” sleigh and 16 reindeer to haul everything down to me).

Not me!  My monthly grocery store receipt is 4 figures (the commodities market rallies every time I go shopping).

Not me!  I am happy to get my oldest daughter's hand-me-downs.

Not me !  As long as I book it by the fourth of July, I am guaranteed a reserved table at my favorite restaurant for my whole family for Valentine’s Day.

Not me!  I use a whole box of oatmeal to make breakfast (and that’s for the younger kids and newborns).

Not me !  My driveway looks like a used car lot (my husband, Bob, wears a plaid sport coat and has to check with his manager before handing me the keys).

  Not Me’s!

ELF-SERVE not Self-serve - What Mommy is thinking about in December…

ELF-SERVE



What Mommy is thinking about in December…
...while everyone is rushing through the doors chasing bargains the day after Thanksgiving, mommy is thinking about how can she recover from a broken hip in time for Christmas Eve.

...while everyone else is taking three months to find the most popular toy, mommy is still trying to remember where she hid last year’s most popular toy.

...while everyone is taking pictures at the kids' church Christmas musical, mommy hopes they don’t take one of her because she’s wearing two different colors of shoes (the dog has hidden one of each).

...while everyone else is sporting those great red Santa hats, mommy remembers wearing one last year and causing a multiple car fender bender because she was mistaken for a stoplight.

...while everyone else is using the Advent calendar to count down to Christmas, mommy is counting down to December 26 (and the full body mud spa treatment she promised herself).

...while everyone else is wearing Christmas sweaters, mommy knows that they actually make you look like a mobile Christmas bulletin board.

...while everyone is trading fruit cakes, if mommy says yes to one more Christmas party where they are yodeling Jingle Bells, she's going to become a fruitcake.

...while everyone is opening presents Christmas Eve, mommy is wondering if anyone will notice that to hide the taste, she basted the burned turkey with green jello.

...while everyone else knows Santa is real, mommy knows he isn't, but if he was, he'd be in charge of cleaning up the wrapping paper.

Have a Merry Celebration of Christ’s Birth!




Want to read a great Christmas story to your children or grandchildren?

Check out Baby Saves Christmas by Cheryl Moeller and Melissa Moeller Briggs, Juvenile ficition that you won't want to put down!

(illustrated by Susan R. Smith)

Buy here today.
http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Saves-Christmas-ebook/dp/B005XPAVLA/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1323987934&sr=1-1

The Night Before Christmas According to Mom

Twas the night before Christmas,
And all through the house,
The children were sleeping,
Even my spouse.

I was searching for the stockings, I looked under a chair,
But under the cushion found rippled potato chips there.

The children had not wanted to go to their beds,
As visions of Easy Bake Ovens danced in their heads,
Exhausted I closed my eyes and soon fell asleep,
Till rudely awakened by the sounds of BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!



The relatives made it here hurray after all,
Now it would truly be a complete Christmas ball,
The children were awakened, and with them hubby Steve,
by Grandpa Alexander and Grandma Eve.

As the hot cocoa that night so generously flowed,
I noticed something under the sink that seemed rather old,
It was the stockings I had sought for hidden inside a container.
Only they had been used last week as a handy spaghetti strainer.

Free Holiday Gifts Frugal Frugal Frugal

FREE
25 Days of Free Holiday Music at Amazon.com.
Visit Amazon.com every day through Christmas, and you’ll find a new piece of holiday music to download for free.
(Aditional place to go on Amazon to download free holiday music.)

 Also, FREE Christmas Country Music - use this free code
You can download 10 country holiday songs free on iTunes. You’ll need to use promo code “RJ699FX49WN4” to get the deal, but it’ll load automatically if iTunes is already installed on your computer & you click through from the People Country Special site. The code expires on December 31, 2011. Here are the songs:

• Randy Travis, O Holy Night
• Steel Magnolia, It’s Christmas Time
• Phil Vassar, What Child Is This
• Skaggs Family, Christmas Time’s A Coming
• Joey + Rory, Remember Me
• Carter’s Chord, Up On The House Top
• Jacob Lyda, Tis the Season To Be Lonesome
• Mandy Barnett, This Time of Year
• Attwater, All I Want For Christmas Is You
• Andy Gibson, The Christmas Song
• You can download 10 country holiday songs free on iTunes.

Not Me! Monday!

 Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to MyCharmingKids; her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.  Click here

NOT me.  I did not lock us out of the house last night.  And, I had not just checked and made sure every other door was closed and locked shut.  

It was going to be a perfect Christmas childhood memory.  I drove the kids through our neighborhood looking at Christmas lights, listening to Christmas music, and eating Christmas snacks.  It was a perfect moment until we got back home to find no, not me, not a locked house.

Not me!  I did not have the wrong keys with!  I did not have every avenue into the house locked up tight!  I did not.  I did not.

I did not try to pry a front window open that was unlocked.  Not me to the sound of cracking glass!

I did not think of breaking a window.  Not me!  Not during the coldest night of the winter!  

Not me!  I did not finally figure out the lock was not that tight on my own room's window and push with a baseball bat on the window frame while standing on my grandson's new motorized army preschool jeep.  I did not scare the neighbors.  Not me!

I did not think I would not have a Not Me for this week, knowing full well that I could not go a week much less a day without having a Not Me! experience.

  Not Me’s!

Free Holidays Gift From Shutterfly

‎101 FREE 4x6 prints on Shutterly. Enter promo code at checkout
J5D4-3AA0-1U0S-GXMPRS unitl December 12.
You can get 101 of 1 print or 101 different prints. You pay for shipping unless your order is over $50. 101 Free Shutterly Prints Click Here

Free Holiday Gift

Free completely Free
CVS: Free 8×10 Kodak Photo Collage (Facebook offer)
Click on the “Like” button on the Kodak Facebook Page to get print a coupon for a free 8×10 Photo Collage at CVS or two other pharmacies (Drug Mart and Bartell Pharmacies).

You can print this at the Kodak Picture Kiosk. Up to $6.99 value and no shipping as you will be picking it up in store.
This coupon is good through December 11, 2011.

Free or Nearly Free Holiday Gifts Frugal Frugal Frugal

Artscow.com Print Deal
We just did this (50 free prints) with our son and daughter-in-law's wedding pictures.  We are going to get 50 a month for the newlyweds until we have all 250 pictures from their wedding.  The first batch for last month has already arrived and they are beautiful!  We got the matte finish.  The happy newlyweds were delighted with the quality.  I think postage was about $7 for 50 4x6 prints.  We are glad we took advantage of this opportunity.
This is ongoing.  We are going to get 50 prints a month every month until we have the ones we want.

Artscow.com also have a special of free shipping until December 9 on orders over $15 which is a good deal, except of course these prints are free so they would not qualify.  But here is the code if you want to try it on something   FREESHIP15  (Expires December 9, 2011)

Also, at any given point you can only use one code at a time on artscow.com

Here are some more details:  Click here

Terms and Conditions for Free 1200 Prints.

Terms and Conditions for Free 1200 Prints.

Details of this promotion:

1. Offer applies to new registrants only
2. Please use the credits between the start time and expire time
3. 100 free 4x6 and 50 free 5x7 print credits can be used per month.
4. The decision of ArtsCow.com on all matters or queries concerning the Promotion shall be final.
5. One use per household. *Only the first new register can entitle to enjoy this promotion offer in the network place.
6. Promotion details may change at any time without notice
7. Valid on orders placed and shipped within the globe only
8. Shipping fees are not included
9. All credits issued will not be deleted except repeated registrants
10. ArtsCow.com reserves the right to terminate this offer at any time without notice

How to use the free photo prints and other photo gift credits:

1. Login your ArtsCow account
2. Create a new album
3. Upload your photos to the album
4. Place the photo prints order
5. The free photo print credits will be auto applied.
6. Enter Billing/Shipping Information.
7. Check out by Paypal or Credit Card.

Frugal Free for Holiday Christmas Shopping Lunch or Dinner - Subways offer Several 6 inch Subs during December for $2

From Subway!

December is Customer Appreciation Month at SUBWAY® restaurants! We’re thanking our customers for being such big fans by offering the regular 6-inch Cold Cut Combo or Meatball Marinara for just $2 each! This special offer is only available during December - so hurry in! Prices and Participation may vary. US only. Prices Higher in Alaska and Hawaii. Additional charge for Extras. Plus taxes where applicable. Click here

This Christmas... Give Jesus

This Christmas... Give Jesus.

As Advent begins... We shall deeply miss this year not receiving our advent calendar from our friend and seminary professor/mentor Dr. Harold Burgess.  He was a great writer and speaker.  

They always sent their Christmas greeting at the end of November with an advent calendar.
This year we approach advent with expectation and waiting that we will see Dr. B again in heaven some day. http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/kentucky/obituary.aspx?n=harold-william-burgess&pid=149815274 

This Christmas... Give Jesus.

This Christmas... Give Jesus

The Search for Our Advent Calendar: 

We went in search of an Advent Calendar for our family devotions this month.  Little did we know we were on almost an uphill search something akin to the geographical exploration of Dr. Livingston in southern and central Africa in the mid 1880s.  We could only find advent calendars with windows that opened to chocolate reindeer, red and green gummy worms, and Bart Simpson. 

Dr. Livingston believed the Nile River source was in the wrong spot.  But, many other things he was right about.  Regardless of the good he did with his map making, his heart eventually changed to an eternal perspective.  Dr. Livingston's life changed and he began to see his exploration for the purpose not of making maps, but making disciples. It was when he went on his Zambezi expedition that his spirit turned from the good to the Best. 

Not that we don't like chocolate and gummy worms, but we wanted an Advent calendar where every window opened to Scripture and then finally on December 24th to Jesus!

Our long expedition ended when we finally found several possibilities at Christian bookstores, Hallmark Stores, and Hallmark brands at Walgreens (including one that also featured chocolate pieces).

Go out today and find your's.  Then, thank the stores that carry Christian Advent calendars and buy several extras for friends and family.

This Christmas... Give Jesus

This Christmas... Give Jesus

Bad News (Greed)...  Good News (Jesus)

Bad News... Greed is an Insatiable Monster/Good News...  Being Thankful to Jesus is the Answer

Bad News:  Greed is the jealous hunger to obtain more than we need at any cost.

Good News:  The Biblical cure for greed is a life of continual thanksgiving to God.

Bad News:  Greed will never allow you to know true peace or contentment.

Good News:  Jesus tells us to focus on all we have been given rather than all we lack.

Bad News:  Enough is never enough when greed infects you.  Greed is ultimately based on a lack of faith in God's provision.

Good News   Jesus says He is more than enough, so acknowledge and trust that.

Bad News:   Greed is driven by the lie that the things of the world can satisfy our hearts.

Good News   Thanksgiving to Jesus sets us free to enjoy all we have without comparison or complaint.

 This Christmas...  Give Jesus

(Jesus said to them) "Watch out! Be on guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." Luke 12:15

Free or Nearly Free Christmas Gifts

Help! Mom's Stuck on Spin Cycle and four of the Moellers' other Kindle books are only $0.99 cents.  If you don't have a Kindle Reader you can get a free app on your PC or iphone.  Also, you can gift someone a gift card on amazon.com for as low as $0.99 and they will email it for free to your recipient.  So, then your friend or family member can use it to buy anything on Kindle or Amazon, including the Moeller's Kindle books.  So, even $1 could buy a Kindle book and $4 could buy 4 Kindle books. Click here

Everyone is a mom or has had a mom, so this Kindle book of Cheryl's comedy is sure to make  everyone laugh. Click here

                                               Click here for Moeller's $0.99 cents Kindle books

                                           Click here for Moeller's $0.99 cents Kindle books

Free or Nearly Free Holiday Gifts Frugal Frugal Frugal

Free or Nearly Free Holiday Gifts Frugal Frugal Frugal

New FREE offer starting today - Free or nearly free - get $10 off ($10 off code is WCUD-7EU7-J205-ET4A9D) any item including sale items. A magnet for $5 is now free. Photo books, calendars, etc. would only be $1. Browse on their their site. You have to pay for shipping, unless you order more than $50 then it is free. But at these prices your total will not be $50. :) $10 off code is WCUD-7EU7-J205-ET4A9D Until December 7, but start now some of these projects take a little time to do but are well worth your efforts. http://www.shutterfly.com/