Christmas gift basket ideas!

It's never too early to start! Actually I feel like I am starting pretty late this year. I have a list made for almost everyone, but I haven't started buying yet! Anyway I wanted to share an idea for Christmas baskets for my workplace and my husband's office. Normally I would make goodies for everyone but this year I may not be up to it...I really knocked myself out last year! Plus at the holidays most people get tired of eating tons and tons of cookies and I wanted to do something that would last longer. So I decided to fill up baskets with useful and practical things that we need around the workplace. Here are some of my ideas:

nice pens (such as gel pens)
extra-soft Kleenex (we only have those rough industrial ones at my workplace!)
gum
Lifesavers wintergreen mints
mini packs of pretzels, peanuts
candy
mini Sharpie pens
individual servings of cereal or Cup o' noodles
flavored powdered coffee creamer

Plus I might throw in a few home baked goodies if I get the time! I'm going to try to work as many CVS deals as I can between now and then, the rest I'll probably get at Sam's club.

FREE Veggie Tales movie showing!

On August 1 at 10AM, catch the FREE  first screening of the new Veggie Tales "Minnesota Cuke: the Search for Noah's Umbrella!"  Details and a trailer for the movie are here:

http://www.wordfm.com/eventsinfo/default.aspx?id=10331

Random act of kindness:

Here's something nice you can do for your mail carrier and garbage collectors: when it's hot out in the summer, have a cold water bottle or Gatorade ready for them when they come! They really appreciate it and you will probably get more attentive service from them, too!

I still got it!

Total out of pocket at CVS today (2 transactions) : $1.17!!!

FREE kids movies!

I just read this article about free kids movies in the Post Gazette today! The run on Tuesday mornings at 11AM at the South Side Works all summer long! This will be fun on those hot summer days! (And a dip in the fountain to cool off afterward!) Here's the article:

Many theaters have discounted nights or promotions these days, but the SouthSide Works Cinema will show eight movies this summer for free. As part of its Kids Summer Film Fest, the theater will screen these movies on Tuesdays at 11 a.m.:
June 16: "E.T."
June 23: "Kung Fu Panda."
June 30: "The Tale of Despereaux."
July 7: "Coraline."
July 14: "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa."
July 21: "Paul Blart: Mall Cop."
July 28: "Hotel for Dogs."
Aug. 4: "Monsters vs. Aliens."
Seating is limited and awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. Go to http://www.southsideworks.com for details.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09162/976505-60.stm#ixzz0I8kKlBVD&C

Menu Plan Monday

I haven't done MPM for a while, but here goes! In the spring, I plan our meals around which days are going to be cool (soups, ect) and warm days (grilling!).

Monday: Vegetarian tortillas, salad
Tuesday: leftovers
Wednesday: Black bean salad wraps, canned tomato soup
Thursday: at baseball game!
Friday: Carrot macaroni 'n cheese (substituting pureed carrots for all the cream sauce - should be interesting!)
Saturday: Spicy turkey burgers on the grill, veggie sticks
Sunday: leftovers

Cute baby gift

\What do you give someone for their third baby? They probably have enough clothes, gear, toys, ect. I am giving my husband's coworker this cute little canvas bin stocked with diapers! I got a great deal on the Huggies using my coupons, and the bin was $7 at Wal-Mart. I use a ton of these at home for storing socks, toys, onesies, ect. Of course I'm going to bake some home-made cookies to go with it!