I'm on TV!!! (sound of Mike Wazowski from Monsters Inc.)

Ok, I'm not as ecstatic as Mike Wazowski from Monsters Inc., but it was kindof fun to see myself on the tube today. All those years behind the scenes and now I'm in front of the camera. Click here for the story.

The basic gist is that even if you haven't planned a big trip, you can still make spring break special. I'm most excited about our ventures to Chattanooga for the special behind the scenes events at the TN Aquarium and Ruby Falls. I'll post about our experiences in the next couple of days.

But there are also ways to save locally at some of my kids' favorite locations:

• Chuck E. Cheese: With a close vote between Bounce USA and Chuck E. Cheese, the big mouse won out today. I used a coupon from the paper to purchase 160 tokens for $25. I can spread these out to last us three trips. I played the ticket blaster game online before going to earn 30 free tickets for each child. Having 90 extra tickets gave us lots more options. Finally, I saved the most money by not eating lunch there; we arrived at 10:00 and left by 11:30.
• Bounce USA: If we have time this week, we'll be heading to Bounce USA (our favorite bounce house because of more options for the toddlers). They also offer lots of B1G1 coupons.
• Children's Museum of Oak Ridge: From Thursday, March 17 through Tuesday, March 22, the Children's Museum and AMSE will have FREE admission. This is huge! Both places will probably be crowded, but we will likely take advantage of this offer.
• Strike n Spare: Wednesdays are the best day to go bowling with the kids because it's dollar game day. If all four of us bowl two games, this saves us $14.16. With the $12 voucher I got from Half Off Depot for $6 awhile back, we can all have a day out for a bargain. Make sure you ask for the ramp assist and the bumper guards that can be programmed to go up for the kids and down for the adults. However, Bobby likes to remind me I would be a MUCH better bowler with the bumpers!

For a few more options, check out this blog on Knoxmoms. Where are you going this week and how do you plan to save?

Free Holiday Events and Activities for Kids in Knoxville

As I've previously mentioned, a group of local Knoxville bloggers have teamed up this holiday season to bring you all sorts of ways to save effort, time, and money. Today's post comes from Ali at Knoxmoms. It's a very extensive list of activities--most of which are FREE.

We'll be doing the Festival of Lights at the Cove and Santa at the library; we'll see about the others. One parade she did not mention is the Karns Christmas parade on Saturday, December 4 at 10am along Oak Ridge Highway. Anyone can participate; you just show up at the Ingles parking lot by 9am. Our son will be in it with the Chung-Do Black Belt Academy.

If you missed some of the other holiday posts, here are links:

• Frugalissa Finds: Black Friday Tips
• Knoxville on a Dime: Online Holiday Shopping

And look for posts from these bloggers in the near future:

Coupon Katie, Coupon Mommie, Couponing in Critical Times,Coupons Are Money, Frugally Farming Family,Knoxville Mamabelle, Sharing Savings with You, and myself.

Green Halloween

Though I'm writing all the time online, I admit I get a little giddy when I see my work in print. Something you can hold, flip, and give to someone else at the park. So I was excited to pick up the Knoxmoms October magazine yesterday, which features, among others, my article: "Green Halloween." It has tips for how to go green and save green this holiday.

Go here to view a copy online or find out where you can get this free publication: http://www.knoxmoms.com/magazine. I always get mine at the library.

If you haven't heard of Knoxmoms, where have you been the past three years?! I consider it our town's go-to place for LOCAL information.

FIND THINGS TO DO: The datebook is full of family-friendly activities, and can easily be searched by dates.

SIGN UP FOR THE WEEKLY E-NEWSLETTER: I look forward to the weekly E-newsletter on Thursdays that gives exclusive deals, contest news, hot topics, and Ali's (head mom) pick of things to do.

TALK TO OTHER MOMS: Join the parent community and make friends, upload photos and videos, start discussions and more. I've become quite active on the message board. I'm "bluefrog" of course.

SAVE SOME DOUGH: Download coupons, sell old baby stuff and plan your weekly menu with the recipe database. It's all on MomShop.

Thank you, Ali, for all that you do for our community!

Blogging on Knoxmoms

Hi all,

I'm sorry I haven't had much new for you to enjoy lately. I've been tied up in various projects and I've begun blogging regularly for Knoxmoms.com. The Momshare portion has a lot of great subjects on it. Today alone, I've posted:

• about my dog eating chocolate
• the wonderful green product I found on sale that I used to clean up after my dog eating chocolate
• why today was a great day to save money at CVS
• the most important item to bring to the park
• where kids can milk a real cow
• and my "brilliant find"--Glasslock storage containers

If you get a chance, check it out and leave a comment if you're so inspired. I'll be back; I promise!

Great Knoxmoms Contests

The great contests from Knoxmoms.com just seem to keep on coming. If you haven't signed up for the weekly e-newsletter, I'd highly recommend it. You get the scoop on all the latest deals, events, and contests around town. Here are a few of my favorites this week.

So They Think They Can Dance?

You have til 9:30am on Wednesday, June 16 to upload a video of your kids dancing--preferably doing the twist. Click here to follow instructions. This is to promote the Secret City Festival this Friday and Saturday in Oak Ridge. We've gone several years and have always enjoyed it. Check it out! To see my video submission, scroll to the bottom of this post. Brooke was not in the mood to dance! By entering you could win:

1 x Grand Prize Pack Includes:
• Secret City Festival Chubby Checker (6/19) or Daryl Stuermer – Genesis Rewired (6/18) Concert Double Pass (your choice)
• American Museum of Science and Energy Family Membership and Goody Bag.
• Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge Family Pass
• Secret City Scenic Excursion Train Family Pass

2 x Second Place Prize: One of two double passes to a Secret City Festival concert.

Win a Family Splash & Play Pass:

You could win a family four pack of passes to Splash Country and Dollywood--valued at $332.60! Just follow the instructions here through your Facebook to enter. I think I did everything right. Fingers crossed; not sure when contest ends.

Cute Daddy Photo Contest:

And of course I couldn't resist entering this contest where you get to share a picture of your hubby and your child/ren. It's not the most flattering for either, but I couldn't resist posting the one above from Halloween. When I told him we were going to a party in costume, he grabbed our son's hat from Dr. Seuss Day. Click here to follow the instructions to enter. A winner of four tickets to the Knoxville Zoo and a $25 Target gift card will be announced on Monday, June 28.

Good luck, and if you win anything, leave a comment!

The Back-up Plan--Review

First of all, I want to thank Knoxmoms for coordinating an event where I could get a Moms Night Out for FREE. Though Jennifer Lopez's new movie, The Back-up Plan, was not on my must-see list, who can argue with free? 35 attendees were also treated to a drink, popcorn, and a BPA-free sippy cup. I am grateful to have been among them.

However, honestly, I wasn't too impressed with the movie. It had its moments of laughter but was a pretty standard Hollywood cookie-cutter flick. They poked fun at the typical parts of pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting with few original ideas to get a laugh. They explored the scary parts of becoming parents including the financial commitment. And they mocked natural childbirth and breast feeding. Having had three natural births, I had to roll my eyes at their interpretation of it. Drums, frantic screaming, women swaying in the background--where do they get this stuff?

One of the Knoxmoms talking about it afterwards put her finger on it: "The creators of this movie must not like being parents; so much was negative; how sad for their kids." In the movie, there's a father of three who describes parenthood as "aweful, aweful, aweful, aweful...and then an amazing, magical moment. Then back to aweful, aweful."

I'll admit I like hearing other parents struggle with parenthood because it is hard, but I would argue "aweful" isn't an accurate description. I'd describe it more like a see-saw. I've found raising kids is a constant balance of changing poopy diapers / soothing away a boo boo with kisses; reprimanding defiant behavior / snuggling up with a favorite bed-time story; refereeing over a coveted toy / instilling values when they're not looking. Up and down, up and down, but everyone should be having fun--ok, most of the time.

So Hollywood, if you can make a movie like that, then I'll give you a standing ovation. As for this film, if you really want to see it, wait for the free codes at Red Box and rent it then.

What did you think of the movie?

Women Today Expo

This afternoon I decided to check out the Women Today Expo at the Knoxville Convention Center, and I'm glad I did. It's continuing one more day and it might rain part of tomorrow; so grab a girlfriend and go.

The Belleza Salon & Spa booth is just to your right as you enter. If you'd like one of their highly discounted services, I'd reserve your spot first and then check out the other booths. When I arrived, the next haircut slots available were two hours out, but a 10 minute chair massage for $10 was available within 20 minutes. Sign me up!

In the meantime, I roamed the floor. Make sure you grab a sample of Milo's iced tea. I was pleasantly surprised that the sweet tea was not overly sweet. As a GRITS (girl raised in the South), I know my tea and learning that it has no preservatives and is high in antioxidants makes it a product I'll consider.

A few booths down, I saw my friend Allison, a teacher and mother of three with one on the way. She was serving samples of chicken with various spice rubs for BKW Seasonings. I didn't get the connection until she introduced me to her brother, mother, and father who run this Knoxville based company. I love to support local (especially friends and family-owned businesses) and the rubs were delicious.

Food City had yummy chicken salad samples. Papa Johns was giving away pizza but I didn't want to stand in line. The Knoxmoms booth was cute, but this trip was about ME; the kids were left behind with Dad. I must have signed up for 10 different raffles for everything from Tim McGraw tickets to gift baskets. As for freebies, I scored a few pens, jar openers, chapstick, tape measures, and frisbees.

My favorite booths were ones with a wheel to spin. I liked spinning even more than what I'd win. At the Covenant Health booth, I got so excited to see "mystery prize." I chose their cloth bag which is a good size and quality. I also spun a wheel at the East Tennessee Clean Fuels booth, which promotes things like biofuels and electric cars. Clean energy is a cause near and dear to our hearts (my husband works in solar power technology), but I was bummed that I only answered 2 out of 3 questions correctly. "How much of our country's coal is imported?" Among 4 choices, I chose 65-75%, but it's 60%. I think she should have given that one to me.

The funniest product was a wire head and back massager. It looked like a whisk that had broken free. I'm sure some find it soothing, but it just tickled me. Only when I got home to blog did I realize that XTRM Services is a green company. For my massage, I needed deep tissue, and for that, Beth at Belleza came through. Maybe it's because she's also a mom or maybe she knew it had been ages since my last massage, but she really worked my knots and gave me a couple extra minutes. She confessed I was the tightest customer she'd had all day. Yeah, I'm not surprised. The massage came with a $10 discount off future services.

When she asked if I did yoga, I had to respond, "I did when I was pregnant" but not since then. Why did I make my health a priority then and not now? It took coming to an event focused on women to remind me that there are certain areas of my life that need some more focus. Yes, I think I'll make starting a yoga class a priority.

Unfortunately, I missed the headliners on stage or fashion shows, but if you check the schedule, you could plan around those. Tickets are $10 for adults, but you could save $2 a ticket buying them at Food City.

I ended my adventure with free Italian ice at Rita's in Market Square. It was just a one-day promotion (first day of spring), but if you want free Ben & Jerry's, it's free cone day on Tuesday.

What did you like best at the expo?

Ten Ways to Save Thousands of Dollars

It's always nice to see your name and writing in print. Getting paid for it is even better. Thanks to Knoxmoms, I've accomplished both this month. Check out my article: "Ten Ways to Save Thousands of Dollars," which gives tips for saving cash on big ticket items.

Knoxmoms is a wonderful on-line community for mothers of all ages in Knoxville, TN. I'm honored to be a part of it. This free monthly magazine is well distributed around Knoxville, especially in kid-friendly venues. I recommend picking one up for car line. Let me know what you think.

A Christmas Tree Story

I wrote the following for the December issue of Knoxmoms magazine and thought you might enjoy it. If you'd like to read the entire magazine online, click here through the end of December.

Our oldest son Bobby had just turned two when we decided to cut our family’s first Christmas tree. Little did we know that this outing would not only start a family tradition but be the source of a developmental break-through for our son.

By age two, many kids are chatter boxes. Not Bobby. At his two-year check-up, the doctor was shocked he hadn’t even said Momma yet and ordered him to be tested by a speech therapist. I knew he was comprehending; he just wasn’t verbalizing.

That all changed the day we went to cut our own Christmas tree at White Pine Acres, a backyard tree farm in Karns. He loved running up and down the rows of trees and delighted in choosing “the best tree on the lot.” He watched Dad intently as he sawed, hauled, wrapped, and tied the tree to the roof of our car. On the way home Bobby cried out, “Tree…roof…Daddy’s car.” For weeks later, he eagerly recounted this experience with those same words. A light bulb had gone off and he was now on his way to becoming the loquacious child he is today.

The next three years we carried on this tradition at the Bluebird Christmas Tree Farm, since lack of rainfall had impacted White Pine Acres significantly.(Tip: This year White Pine Acres does have a few trees). Bluebird is located in Heiskell, TN, just 20 minutes from downtown Knoxville. Most trees cost $40 with a few exceptions. We like that there’s a good variety of trees including spruce, cypress, pine, and Fraser firs and that they provide free hot chocolate and cider. For other local tree farm locations, click here.

If you’re one of the 45 million American families who bring a real Christmas tree into your home each year, here are a few tips from the pros. As soon as you get the tree home, cut one-quarter inch off the base of the trunk. Keep the tree outdoors, standing in a container of water, protected from the wind and sun until you’re ready to decorate. This will help the tree retain its moisture. Before bringing the tree into your home and placing it in a stand, make another fresh cut and immediately fill the stand with water. Trees are VERY thirsty. They may drink between two pints to a gallon of water a day. Check the stand daily and supply fresh water as needed, never allowing water levels to drop below the bottom of the trunk. A healthy tree will last longer and drop fewer needles.

For our family, hunting for the perfect tree on a farm is as much fun as decorating it and a close second to opening the gifts underneath it. It’s also a tradition that reminds me how quickly the kids are growing up. Last year I couldn’t help but smile listening to Bobby, our tree connoisseur, exclaim, “Look at this one! It’s gorgeous! This one is perfect!”

Enjoy the video. By the way, we went back to Bluebird this year and got "the best tree on the lot!" Sorry, folks! ;-)