Franklin folks: Half off Jump!Zone Coupon coming soon

Good news!  August 23rd & 24th, Qponday will be offering a great coupon - $14 dollars worth of fun at the Jump!Zone for only $7 dollars (50% Savings).  My kids LOVE this place! 

Just go to the Qponday website and join their free daily e-mail of great vendors around town.

Operation Christmas Child Update

Last month, I posted here about our commitment to make 4 shoeboxes for the Operation Christmas Child project in November.  I'm so excited about our growing stockpile!  Everywhere we go, we're always on the look out for inexpensive or FREE items to put in the boxes.

Here's a picture of the items we've collected so far.  FREE soaps and pens from hotels, Happy Meal toys from Chickfila, Hardee's and McDonald's, and other cheap items.

So far we've spent less than $10 on all of this!!

It's such a JOY to give!

Staycation is over!

We're back!  We've actually been back for a few days but my folks have been in town so it's been fun and full spending time with them.  Chris & I had a fabulous staycation in Nashville....the only down side is - it wasn't long enough! 

We crammed so much into our 48 hours away.....it was heavenly.  Getting away even for an overnight is so needed in marriage.  Deep conversation.  Starbucks.  Bubble tea.  Beautiful hotel.  Outback.  Inception.  Swimming together at a water park and acting like newlyweds again.  Did I mention we both bit the bullet and got iPhones?  Some people go on a cruise or go to London (which would've been our first choice if we had the funds) but we chose to upgrade to iPhones!  And surprisingly, our monthly bill won't be much more than what we've been paying.  And I could only text and make calls on my Sprint Rumor phone....now the options are endless! 

Here's to another full week ahead.  Bare with me as I start slowly posting deals again.

Weekend fun!

Hope everyone had a wonderful July 4th weekend!  We spent lots of time at the pool and enjoyed a family cookout, fireworks and shopping this past weekend.  Our internet was out for 2 days so I'm just now catching-up.

ENJOY your week!

Family Fun Day

Today was such a FUN family day!  We took the kids (5 yr & 2.5 yr) to our local Carmike for the first time ever!  So thankful they both did incredible!  They were pretty glued to the screen - Toy Story 3 is fabulous!  Lots of adult humor!  Then we enjoyed dinner at McAlister's Deli and used a B1G1 half off coupon at a new yogurt shop (Yogurt World) for our Friday night treat.  And as I mentioned here, my sweet family was so gracious to go with me to Publix and Target to hit some GREAT deals! 

Home again, home again jiggity jig!

Fabulous weekend in Chattanooga with the fam!  Tent camping can be a bit challenging with a 2.5 year old but the kids were troopers.  They look like they have the chicken pox but alas it's just a million bug bites!  Fun times!

PS-We still can't post pics of "Thunder" until the adoption is finalized.  And I promised Chris I wouldn't post any pics of him until he approves!  :)

Going offline again!

Faithful followers.....

I'll be offline again for the next few days enjoying a getaway with my 3 loves!  My hubby's wish is to go camping for Father's Day so we're heading to Chattanooga! 

I promise to post pics and more deals when we return.

Wishing you a relaxing weekend!

Fitness Fun for the Whole Family

Weight Watchers has some great tips for incorporating fitness into everyday activities!

Check them out here.

snackpicks: Cute Flip Flops Snack Idea

Yum!  Here's a FUN, CREATIVE snack idea from snackpicks!  Enjoy making these adorable flip flops snack with your kids this summer.  Still trying to think of a healthier version of this!

Seize the Summer Countdown!

I'm a little behind posting this but wanted to share these great activities you can do with your children through the summer.

What is Seize the Summer Countdown?
Thriving Family has compiled easy-to-do ideas that will help you enjoy the summer with your children while teaching them biblical principles. Print out the entire list and put it on the refrigerator or near your family calendar. The goal is to empower you to help your family thrive spiritually — while you have fun!

I can't wait to do these with the kids!  Thanks, Faithful Provisions!

Here's today's activity:

4	Help your children make a page for the letter A in their creation scrapbook.

Sweet Tales from the Campground

Our less than 24 hour camping adventure was wonderful!  We stayed at the Countryside Resort in Lebanon, TN.  It's mostly an RV park with some tent sites.  The owners were super friendly, the tent sites were under beautiful big trees, the pool was the highlight and the bathrooms were the CLEANEST campground bathhouses I've ever been in (I grew up camping so I've been in A LOT!).  The only disappointment was the playground....it was pretty run down and consisted of 2 swings and monkey bars.  All in all, we can't wait to go back!

*Thunder (our foster son) isn't pictured but he had a ball and although he's only 2.5 years old, he was a trooper and slept great in the tent. 

Going offline for a family camping adventure!

 The Byers are going camping!  We used some of our tax return money to invest in an INCREDIBLE six man tent and have decided to break it in this weekend!  So thankful to have a friend house/dog sit for us.  We won't even be gone 24 hours but just the thought of getting away is so refreshing!  The campground has a pool and playground for the kids.  Just praying the weather cooperates!

I'll be offline for a few days but please feel free to email any deals you find to frugaladee@gmail.com and I'll post them when I return.

ENJOY your Memorial weekend!

Family Pizza and Movie Night

Happy Friday!  This afternoon, we had a house showing so we went out for a late afternoon yogurt treat at Sweet CeCe's and then enjoyed Domino's pizza and watched "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" tonight.  I love family nights at home!

Chris gave me a gift card for Mother's Day to Third Coast Pottery so Britain and I had fun painting pieces last week.  We picked them up this afternoon and I was super excited about the way my YOU ARE SPECIAL plate turned out.  Chris was the special person that got it for dinner tonight!  You never know who might get it next!

Total spent:
Domino's-2 medium pizzas $8.72 (They're running a lunch special for a medium pizza $3.99 from 11-3PM so we picked ours up around 1PM and then heated them up at dinner to get the deal.)
Sweet Cece's-$7.67 (We got one free on our punch card so we saved $4)
2 Redbox movies: $2.19
Kroger-Salad and a drink $5.48
TOTAL Family Night In $24.06

Typically, we eat out on Friday nights and spend around $25 plus ice cream or yogurt for dessert which usually totals $30+.  Not a huge savings tonight but it was fun to change it up and stay at home!

*FREE* Bowling for Kids in the Nashville area

Sign your child up here (18 or younger) for a FREE game of bowling every day April 15 - August 31st for all youth that sign up. No strings attached.

IncredaBOWL is offered at:
Cumberland Lanes (I-24 and Haywood Lane)
Franklin Family Entertainment Center (I-65 and Hwy 96)
Tusculum Lanes (Nolensville Rd near Bell Rd)

Nashville Shores

Summer time is upon us!  I'm always look for fun things to do with the kids on the weekends.  Nashville Shores waterpark opens this weekend.  Right now, they're offering season passes for only $59.99 per pass (which is $40 off the regular price!).  Or you can buy a daily pass online at the kid's price of $21.99 + tax.  Children 2 and younger are FREE.

We've never taken the kids before so I'm interested in hearing from those of you who are local.  They just added a wave pool and lazy river but I don't know if this is a good age to take the kids (ages 5 and 2).  Outside food is not permitted so it could get pricey if we plan a day trip there.  Thoughts?

Red Apple Smiles

I saw this super cute recipe for Apple Smiles in Britain's Highlights magazine. Looking forward to trying these with the kids this weekend.

You'll need:

1 red apple
Cream Cheese
Mini-marshmallows

1.  Wash apple, core and cut into thin slices.
2.  Spread cream cheese on one side of each apple slice.
3.  Add a row of mini-marshmallows to half of the apple slices.  Top with the remaining apple slices.

ENJOY!

Keane "Night Train"

I love it when a planned "sneak" attack actually happens!  This morning after 5AM bootcamp, I made a Walmart run (my least favorite place...I had to greet the greeter this morning!), to get the new Keane "Night Train" CD that released today (Chris told me a few weeks ago it was releasing today so I put it on my calendar and haven't forgetten!).  Two sweet cashiers went hunting in the back for it since it hadn't hit the shelves yet.  I thought for sure I would leave empty handed but to my surprise, I got a copy for $10!  I was literally jumping up and down and thanking the lady telling her how much I appreciated her help because I wanted to surprise my husband with it.  She looked me over (me: no make-up, gym clothes and disshovled) and said, "Honey, you don't look old enough to be married.  I thought you were 16!"  HAHA!  I graciously thanked her and announced that I'll be celebrating my 34th later this year!

I wrote a little love note and had Brit deliver the package to her Daddy after breakfast.  It was so fun surprising Chris with it!  He told me he totally forgot it was coming out today.  Sadly, he doesn't have a CD player in his Comcast van so he quickly loaded it on his iPod before he left for work.  Which means, I get to enjoy the CD all day!   Loving it!  We saw Keane a few years ago at the Ryman and they were incredible!

Love that I could bless him in such a small way.  He works so hard and faithfully for our family, enduring long, back breaking work and only complains that he doesn't get to see his family much.

Saturday fun!

Yesterday was wonderfully busy and full so I chose to have a "date night" with Chris at home last night (after the kids were in bed) rather than spending my last few hours of our weekend together (since he works on Sundays) blogging. 

The kids and I had a fun morning Saturday at the Franklin Farmer's Market with some sweet friends we haven't seen in awhile (Linda and Presley).  It was fun looking around and buying a few things....fresh strawberries, honey (for our allergies) and honey sticks and beautiful, fresh flowers.  Then we hung at their new place for awhile and afterward, had a sweet treat together at Merridee's...our favorite bakery!