MelissaStuff

Get $40 worth of flowers for just $17! I know Christmas just ended, but it will be Valentines Day before you know it.

I think when we left off I was crying. Crying about my screaming baby. And about the way the trip wasn’t anything like I expected. I thought it would be a vacation. You know, you remember what those are like – sleeping in, laughing, having fun, eating out, relaxing showers, maybe a massage. Instead it was MORE work than home. Now there were dishes for 10 instead of 4. There was laundry but no hamper and no basket so it had to be dealt with immediately. There wasn’t enough hot water for more than 2 or 3 people to shower at a time, so even that was rationed. There were only two small tvs – one in the living area and one in my parent’s room so my boys couldn’t play the Wii like we had planned . . . or easily watch a movie . . . at least not while the adults were doing anything but sleeping! You would think I would know better. I’m a mother of three boys. I have tried taking a baby on vacation before. We did a family trip this summer that was more of a workout than a vacation. But

Some of you may remember me mentioning Thabo – our sweet friend from South Africa who we have “adopted” into our extended family. He is now 22 years old, seriously dating a young lady he is interested in marrying and looking to start his studies in the university near him. One of the things he needs most is a laptop. We committed to get him one and are planning to send it with a mission team from our church who leaves for South Africa in just a few weeks. We have set aside the money for it, but we would still like to get the best deal possible. So, here’s the deal. I want you to tell me the best price you can find for a laptop. For each deal (and link) you post, you will be entered to win a FREE photobook from Picaboo ! Alright, I’m ready . . . let the bargains roll!

  I’m sure some of you noticed that my posts about our trip just stopped. There was a reason for that – actually several reasons for that. #1 – It’s hard to type and hold a baby. It’s hard to do anything and hold a baby actually. #2 – I can’t think when a baby is screaming. #3 – In the rare moments when said baby was sleeping – between screaming – my oldest child needed breathing treatments for his asthma. #4 – 7 adults, one teen, one preteen, two preschoolers and a baby in one house is chaos to the nth degree. #5 – After several days of all of this, I wasn’t feeling so well. #6 – I didn’t want to dampen your holiday spirit with all of my drama. But now that it’s all over and we are home. Praise Jesus we are home! I will gladly catch you up on all the shenanigans of the second half of our trip. My parents missed their plane on Wednesday out of Dallas. No biggie as they got on the next plane out, except for the fact that it put them driving that treacherous pass in t

Showcased by Oprah, Ambajam is an adorable and cuddly line of children’s clothing, blankets and accessories. Today you can get $30 worth of merchandise from Ambajam for just $15. Plus, you can choose to donate 5% of your purchase amount to any qualified local school or preschool – including Christian and private schools.

$20 for $40 Worth of Pampers Diapers from Diapers.com Hurry! This one will go fast.

Now that Christmas is over, our minds move to the end of the year. Many people do a lot of last minute giving in order to get the tax write-off. If you are one of them, I have a great opportunity for you.     I’ve mentioned Reece’s Rainbow before – their goal is to raise support for families to bring home special needs babies, specifically Down Syndrome children. I love their tag line: “ Because every family deserves the blessing of a child with Down’s Syndrome . . .” Their Christmas wish was to have at least $1,000 in each child’s adoption account. Some of the children are very close. Some of them are not. Every penny donated counts. Some of these children are just barely short of their goal with just three days left. Jayson is one of them: Jayson – 13 months Jayson has $849.45 in his account . . . that’s just $150.55 short of the $1,000 goal. I would love to see us put him over the edge before midnight on December 31st. Would you please consider giving towards t

I know this is a long shot compared to some of the blog giveaways we run, but you never know. All you have to do to win is enter your own cupcake recipe !!

You can’t get my attention much quicker than putting FREE and Chik-fil-A in the same sentence! Reserve your FREE spicy Chik-fil-A chicken biscuit right now before they run out.

If you still have your $20 credit from RueLaLa , you can get a FREE Kindle, laptop, Ipad, etc. cover. Even without the credit, Ruelala is a good deal!

My birthday is January 4, and I just got an email from Starbucks letting me know that I will be getting a coupon for a FREE drink in the mail between now and then. How? I’m a member of the Starbucks Rewards program . If you use a registered gift card for your purchases, you earn FREE drinks and save money! Starbucks isn’t a very economical choice, but if it’s your guilty pleasure like it is mine then this is the way to go. Each time you use your registered card, you earn stars. As you accrue stars, you achieve different reward levels. Register and you get: A FREE drink on your birthday 2 FREE hours of Wi-fi each day Reach 5 stars (Green Level) and you get: Everything in the first level Free Beverage Customization (no charge for syrups, soy milk, etc.) Free Refills on Brewed Coffee Free Beverage with Whole Bean Purchase Free Trial Offers Reach 30 stars (Gold Level) and you get: Everything in the first two levels F

Go to any Amazon MP3 page and click on the “Redeem a gift card . . .” link. Enter the code GIVEMP3S and $2 will be added to your account. Thanks, Free Snatcher !

I just got $5 credit for Amazon’s Video on Demand – which you can watch through Tivo if you have it – for FREE!! All you have to do is link your Amazon account to your Twitter . It will post a message to your Twitter account stating that you just earned a $5 credit. Get it now – and enjoy a movie for FREE during your downtime.

The last two FREE holiday downloads on Amazon have been “ You’re Here” by Francesca Battistelli and “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” by BarlowGirl . I just went and downloaded them for myself . . . make sure you do too. There are 25 FREE song downloads and you can download everything but the last three days worth.

Lilluxe has girl’s shoes on sale for $8.25 – with the 20% off discount for being their friend on Facebook and FREE shipping, the shoes are really just $6.60 !

Great sale just to say Merry Christmas to all of you – Ragamuffin Beauties is offering 50% off EVERYTHING in their store from now through Christmas with the discount code – MERRYCHRISTMAS! That means this adorable key fob is just $2.50!!!   Or all 3 of these pieces together are just $12.50!

Winners of the 5 - $20 gift cards to Main Event . . . SFetrow Kelley My Kids’ Mom The McBs Wisconsin Rapids As soon as I get a confirmation email from each of them, I’ll get their gift cards right out!

Hurry, this deal is only good until midnight tonight. But Eversave is offering $5 off your first purchase of any of their deals, plus you get $5 FREE for signing up. So basically if you are a new customer you get $10 off your first purchase if you make it by midnight tonight. Even if you aren’t going to buy anything today, you should sign up and get the FREE $5 credit to use at a later time. Then if you do make a se the code FIRSTBUY to get the additional $5 off any of these deals. You could get the Knork deal for just $15 . . . or the PixelModa deal for FREE! Today's Save: Knork Today's Save:$25 for $55 coupon code toward "cutting-edge" flatware from Knork.net Expires 02:59 PM - Dec 25, 2010 Bonus Save: PixelModa $10 for $20 worth of fashion-forward watches at PixelMODA.com Expires 02:59 AM - Dec 22, 2010

Sorry, I know I had some people concerned because i didn’t post that I had arrived. I did post it on Twitter , so if you want to follow me over there you’ll get some more minute by minute details of this craziness. We did finally arrive at the house yesterday. I won’t post any pictures yet because my brother wants the rest of the family to see it in person for themselves first, and they won’t arrive until tomorrow. There were a couple of glitches along the way. We met Joey and Colt at the airport, but the vehicle reservation we had got jacked up so we paid an exorbitant fee to just get a vehicle for 24 hours to get us from Durango to the house here in Ouray. The boys are actually on their way to return it to a nearby city right now. With the luggage unloaded we can use one vehicle at least if we don’t all go anywhere until my parent’s come tomorrow with an additional vehicle. I think it’s all a ploy to force us to spend time together, personally. The pass from Durango to Ouray is

Deals like this don’t come along often:   $15 for $30 Worth of Beautiful Holiday Flowers and Gifts from ProFlowers.com

Free sample of Vaseline® lotion Get free trash bags from GLAD® Coupon for free coffee or tea from Borders® Free Sleep Number® travel pillow Free Coffee mate® Coupons: $0.70 off Kellogg's Raisin Bran Cereal $7.00 off any (1) NicoDerm CQ $7.00 off NicoDerm CQ with SmartControl™ $0.70 off Kellogg's Special K Cinnamon Pecan $0.70 off Kellogg's Corn Flakes Simply Cinnamon $1.50 off POND'S cream, towelette, or cleanser $1.50 off TWO packages Kellogg's Cereals $0.50 off Kellogg's Cinnabon™ Cereal $0.70 off Kellogg's FiberPlus™ Cereal $1.00 off WONKA Candy Canes $3.00 off any Similac Infant Formula $2.00 off TWO packages Kellogg's Crispix Cereals $2.00 off TWO Kellogg's Krispies Cereals Buy One get One Free bag of BUTTERFINGER Snackerz $1.00 off California Pizza Kitchen Get one Caesar bistro™ FREE when you buy two cesar Cellfire coupons for Kroger and Kroger

GREAT deal at Vistaprint right now . . . 90% off their winter clearance items and FREE shipping! Check it out , it would be the perfect place to get your 2011 calendar or thank you cards for all those Christmas gifts you are about to get.

Print this while you can . I recently used this coupon to get FREE travel Robitussin travel doses.

Merry Christmas! Adpages is partnering with MelissaStuff to offer 5 of you a $20 gift card to Main Event . . . just in time to enjoy it over the Christmas holidays. Please sign up here to receive Adpages daily deal and then leave a comment telling me you did! That’s it. I’m just going for simplicity here. FIVE of you will win so this is an easy giveaway to enter and win. I will be drawing at midnight tomorrow, December 21st!!

Haven’t had much time for deals . . . can’t even explain how crazy some of this trip has been already. BUT I did want to mention that some stores will begin clearancing their Christmas items even before Christmas! For example, last year I hit Joann’s just a few days before Christmas and most of their holiday decorations including Christmas aprons and their train villages were already 75% off and they had additional items for 60% and 70% off. Let me know what you find. I won’t be able to do any clearance shopping until after December 28th so I’ll have to live vicariously through you!

If you forgot someone or just haven’t finished your shopping, this is a great last minute gift. Give a one year subscription to Disney’s Family Fun magazine for just $5 !!! This is an instant voucher so your gift will be ready to go immediately.

Maybe it’s a bit silly, but I am thankful that after 7 years of marriage, I still miss my hubby after just one or two days! He truly is my best friend and the buddy that I would choose to take with me on all of my adventures . . . except scrapbooking and probably shopping. We drove all day today. I was worried this morning because Weston’s eyes were really nasty. Called our pediatrician’s office. Paid extra for an after hours call since it was Sunday. Only reached a random nurse that knew nothing about our family  and who wasn’t helpful. She just said that they couldn’t help me if they couldn’t see the child. Why is there is an answering service if this is going to be their pat answer? Just put it on your voicemail and save some money!! Anyway, we went on with our trip and tried my mother’s advice – she was an ophthalmic nurse for 10 years. She advised to clean it well and using clean hands apply over the counter antibiotic cream to his eyes. I did it at bedtime last night and agai

The Good: We managed to fit EVERYTHING in the vehicle, except the camera which is why there are no pictures with this post. I spent an entire day with my brother and my nieces. We arrived safe and sound in Amarillo. None of the items packed on top of the vehicle fell off.   The Bad: It took us over 4 hours to travel the first approximately 100 miles. We stopped no less than 4 times to adjust the straps and tarp holding down the luggage on top of the vehicle. Finally we removed the tarp all together. The inside of the SUV feels a bit like sardines in a can. My laptop Wi-Fi isn’t working so no blogging from the road. The best nap Weston had today was passed out in my arms at the dinner table. The Ugly: Weston has a cold . . . and possibly a fever. Gunky eyes are getting worse and I don’t know what to do. Where do you find a doctor on the road? Is it concerning enough to even go to the trouble? HELP! Due to said cold, Wes

No brother and vehicle yet so I’ll post while I wait . . . and not mention that he’s already late. I don’t do late very well, but we’re really not in a hurry today. LOVE this!   I have several pairs of Agoo baby legs that are made well and SUPER cute. They are usually $10 each, but right now on Lilluxe you can get them for $5 each. They are also still offering their 20% off and FREE shipping so you can actually get them for $4 shipped right to your door!! And don’t let having a boy stop you . . . my baby rocks his baby legs!!!! Here’s how: 1. Sign up for Lilluxe . 2. Shop the Agoo baby leggings sale – they have individual pairs for $5 ($4 after discount), sets of 2 for $10 ($8 after discount) and water bottle/baby legs combos for $16.50 ($12.15 after discount). 3. Add what you want to the cart, then use the code LUXEHOLIDAY20 . 4. Your total should be 20% off and FREE shipping. Discount is good until 12/31, but the Agoo baby legs are only on sale for a couple more

Okay, time to drag myself out of bed and into clothes so we can hit the road. Our goal is 10 a.m. departure, I’ll let you know if we make it and if all of the stuff its in the vehicle!!

Okay here’s another one of those deals . . . sign up now at Eversave (before January 1st) and recieve $5 FREE in your account to use on any deal! Usually deals come along that are completely FREE after the $5 gift, or you can use it to further discount some of the great stuff they are offering right now. Today's Save: Amici Accessories Today's Save:$15 for $30 worth of feminine, cutting-edge accessories at AmiciAccessories.com Expires 02:59 AM - Dec 21, 2010 Bonus Save: Enchanted Florist Today's Save:$25 for $50 worth of beautiful blooms, fruit baskets and chocolates from Enchanted Florist Expires 02:59 AM - Dec 21, 2010 Bonus Save: Scout Collection Today's Save:$25 for $50 worth of kid-friendly, organic apparel from ScoutCollection.com Expires

I don’t think I even need to sell this for most of you . . . Mi Chula’s is great! $10 for $20 worth of food at Mi Chula's. . Groupon returning customers can use this link. Hurry before this sells out! I’m grabbing mine right now.

If you are looking for a gift for that hard-to-shop-for teen or young adult, this product might just be the solution. Fan Frames are sports-themed digital frames that can be used to show a slideshow of 3x4 digital images or a digital calendar and clock. Right now, you can get one of these frames for just $38.94 if you become a friend of Fan Frames on Facebook . Select the “Shop Now” tab and add your choice of frames to your virtual shopping cart. At that point, you will then see the price reflect the additional discount – making the total less than $39. You can’t beat that price for a quality digital frame of any kind.

Barnes & Noble is one of the stores offering FREE Shipping today. Some of their Christmas items are already on sale, including The Original Christmas Classics Gift Set which is marked down to only $16.49 (45% off). In order to get FREE Shipping use code D9X9T7R . Remember, FREE shipping is only valid through today, 12/17. If you shop through Ebates to get 8% cash back (plus $5 for new members), too!

If you have a party coming up any time in the next year, you need to drop by the “Friends of the Inn” thrift store on 380 in McKinney. They received a large shipment of party favors and supplies and are selling the packages for just a quarter a piece!!! Get stocked up and help support the only homeless shelter in Collin County. Friends of The Inn Thrift Store 103 E. University Dr. McKinney, TX 75071 (972) 547-5567

Here are some of the stores that are offering FREE shipping today: 1-800-Flowers – XMAS15 to get 15% off 1-800-Baskets – BSKT20OFF to get 20% off Aeropostale - $10 off $100 with coupon code 10HOLIDAY, free shipping on orders of $100 or more Barnes and Noble - 12 Days of Deals! Use code: D9X9T7R for free shipping Borders - 40% off 1 item with coupon code: BCR1936M Build-a-Bear - $10 off $30 with coupon code: 95486 or $5 off $10 w/coupon code: 95421 Disney - $5 off $25 when you sign up for their emails Entertainment Coupon Book - $19.99 for the 1st, $15 for additional Kodak – SHIP30 for 30% off Kohl’s Leapfrog – WINTER20 for 20% off Restaurant.com – PRESENT for 80% off Sears - $5 off $50 with code SNOW There are many more stores participating, so comment and let us know if your favorite store is offering FREE shipping but didn’t make this list.

If not, today is the day to get it. FREE Shipping on your book with guaranteed delivery by Christmas ! First book is $19.99 and any additional books are just $15 , so it’s even better if you buy more than one or go in together with a friend to place your order.