Things I've Learned So Far

Today marks three weeks as a Work At Home Mom. (I can say "Work at Home" because my business is really taking off!) I LOVE it. Love being here with the kids, being here when Jeff comes home, not driving the bypass EVERYDAY to go sit in a cubicle...

Here are a few things I've learned in my adventure thus far:

- The cartoons on PBS are really good - and really educational! We slimmed down our cable package which knocked out our previous favorites Noggin and Sprout. I was worried we'd have a three year old tyrant on our hands but he hasn't even noticed. And now instead of watching Dora and Wow! Wow! Wubbzy 24/7, we watch a few hours of PBS kids then move on to other things. Riley loves "Super Why". (My personal fav is Martha Speaks).

- Aldi's Food is really good. To be honest, Aldi's has kind of scared me in the past. Some of them can be dirty and I wasn't so trusting of the food quality. But on the forum at Hot Coupon World someone posted that her father works for a tomato processing company and that Aldi's has some of the strictest canning requirements out of many grocery stores. They buit a new Aldi's in Goshen so I gave it a try and was very impressed! The staff was incredibly nice and helpful (which is something I cannot say for other grocery stores in the area...MEIJER). It was clean, organized and easy to find stuff. I spent about $80 and came out with a ton of stuff! The meat was excellent quality, milk was really cheap ($1.88 a gallon compared to over $3 that I normally pay!!) and I could eat the frozen stir fry mixes every single day. YUM.

- Play-Dough is easier to get out of the carpet than I thought it would be. Let it dry then scrape it up. You can also dab a little laundry detergent on it and it scrubs up. Riley can play with the stuff for HOURS.

- We have too much stuff. Really looking forward to the garage sale season. They are big around my area because we live around so many subdivisions. I normally HATE garage sales, but I'm already getting stuff ready. I actually have the TIME to do it now instead of waiting until the last minute because I was always at work.

- Routines are so important. The first week or so (okay, the first three weeks...) I found that i can spend lots of time doing nothing. Then I look up and it's 2 pm. Where did my day go?? So now I'm going to try to get up, dressed and start getting things done. Right now dishes are done, one load of laundry is done and I'm showered and dressed. All this was done before noon! Success! Flylady here I come!

Sharing the Love

Career Conference for Mary Kay was this past weekend and it was A-MAZ-ING! I learned so much and am ready to take off with my career.

One of the perks of career conference was the free stuff! But here's the best part....I'm passing the goodies on to YOU!

I'm holding 3 drawings on Saturday April 4th for the following products:

Inspired by ethereal layers of sky, a sparkling ocean and a silky beach, the luminous blue, brown and green shades of Mary Kay® Mineral Eye Color come in a single square pan, custom fit for the Mary Kay® Compact.

Our Hawaiian Sunset Lip Gloss is also limited edition! You’ll love the extraordinary iridescent, sparkling finish. You'll get this along with the....

Tahitian Gold Eyeliner! It goes on so smoothly and compliments any eye color...one of my favorites! I wear it daily!

Last, but definitely not least is our Eau de Toilette Lotion in Sparkling Honeysuckle. It will give you long lasting moisture and leave a light, yummy fragrance!

They can be YOURS! No obligation or purchase necessary. Just leave me a comment or email me at bethanyrudd@comcast.net by 5 pm on Saturday, April 4th.

Maybe we'll keep her after all...

Meet Sadie.

We got her from a pet store shortly after we got married. Sadie and I have mutual feelings for each other - none of which include love. She hates me and I don't exactly like something that I have to clean up it's poop and it shows me no affection whatsoever. But I recently found something that makes me dislike Sadie a little less...


Introducing the Breeze Cat litter box from Tidy Cats. It's amazing. Doesn't stink, so easy to clean, and she can't track this litter all over the floor!! I strongly encourage any cat owner to get more information about it here.

(I'm not paid by Tidy Cat...just passing along some great information. However if they are looking for a spokesperson, I'm available!)

En Garde!

And the sibling rivalry begins...

I loooooove the Target Dollar Spot. I found these foam swords and brought one home for my little man. He LOVED it! Jeff was a little upset that he didn't get one too (after all, how are they suppose to have fights if Jeff doesn't have a sword?) We visited my niece and nephew - whom also loved the swords. So I went back and nearly wiped them out! I had to look funny with a cart full of foam swords...oh well!

Beautiful - even as she's about to be beheaded by her brother.

Touche mommy!

More Savings!

Right now, Meijer has lysol prodcuts 1/2 off. You can get coupons for up to a dollar off - which makes their products less than a dollar a piece! I use the lysol wipes for EVERYTHING, so I stocked up! If you don't keep your coupons from the newspapers, you can print the coupons here.

(I hesitated to post this because of a customer service issue I had with Meijer. The manager made it up to me, so now they are worthy of a post on the Mighty B's blog!)

Little Bits of PB and Chocolate Goodness

I found this recipe in my Food and Family magazine I get from Kraft Foods every few months. I thought I would make them for my Mary Kay meeting tonight. (It's a big recognition celebration - in which I am going to be recognized! But more about that later!) I couldn't resist posting it.

<-- Actual picture of MY baked goods! Okay, so it's the pic form the website...but mine didn't look too far off from that!

Peanut Butter Cheesecake Brownie Babies
Prep Time: 20 min Total Time: 50 min Makes: 20 servings, 1 brownie each

What You Need!

1 pkg. (19 to 21 oz.) brownie mix (13x9-inch pan size)
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1-1/2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping
20 maraschino cherries

Make It!

HEAT oven to 350ºF.
PREPARE brownie batter as directed on package. Spoon into 20 paper-lined muffin cups.
BEAT cream cheese, sugar, egg, peanut butter and vanilla with mixer until blended. Spoon 1 rounded Tbsp. into center of batter in each cup, pressing down slightly into batter. Bake 30 min. or until centers are set. Cool.
SERVE topped with COOL WHIP and cherries

My Favorite R #2

The cutest Red-headed baby you will ever see.

Jeff's mom and sister both have beautiful naturally red hair (and so does my nephew Carter!). So when we found out we were having a girl, my mother-in-law said numerous times that she hopes she had red hair. I didn't mind either way, but since Jeff and I both have dark brown hair, we didn't think it would happen! We were suprised when she came out with a head full of red hair!

Brenna Nicole (or Brenna Sue, Brenna May, Bren, or, how Riley says it 'Brenma') is the sweetest baby. She is hilarious when she laughs. She gets all excited and kicks both legs, pumps both arms and snorts. Our little piggy. :-)

She thoroughly enjoys her food - especially getting a hold of it and smearing it EVERYWHERE. I don't remember Riley doing that...

Brenna, Brenna Little Star

Do you know how loved you are?

By your mom and by your dad,

When you're happy, when you're sad;

Brenna, Brenna little star,

Do you know how loved you are?

(I used to sing this to Riley, now I sing it to her too. Being a mom is the best.)

Let Me Help You Mom

The other day I was laminating the Spring Look Book to use during classes. Brenna 'helped' me organize the pages. Thanks sweet girl!

Super Savings!

If you live near a CVS, this week they have Huggies on sale for $9.99. Go to www.thegrocerygame.com and click on 'coupons'. Where it says, "Print free coupons" click on page one - there you will find a $5 coupon for Huggies! Making them $4.99 a pack! (this is just for the cuddleweave variety - but there is an additional $3 coupon on the very last page if you keep scrolling, just in case you don't use the cuddleweave!)

Wanted to quickly pass that along!

Adventures in Home Making

As of today, I am now a Stay at Home Mom and full time Mary Kay Beauty Consultant. Lots of emotions about this leap - but mostly just incredible joy.

I'm out of the boat and ready to walk.

Couponing

I've always been fascinated by people who can go into a store and buy $100 worth of groceries for $20. I found a free 'couponing' e-class and signed up right away! I've already picked up some great tips...join at this website.


Have any great money saving tips? I'd love to hear them!

My Favorite "R"'s

A while back, the ever-so-cute Micah Bruner challenged me to list my favorite things that start with an "R". I've been going over and over the list trying to think of things besides the obvious and I've come up with quite a few! So I'm going to try and list them over the next few days...

R #1

Riley Rudd - my favorite double R! He is the sweetest, funniest, smartest little boy and I'm so proud that he calls me "Mommy".

So Funny You'll Wet Yourself