There are many reasons for a pizza night at our house. We love pizza for Friday movie nights and my 12-year old son feels pizza is a must when he’s watching the collage football games.  My favorite time for a pizza night is when I have a busy day!  Nothing is easier that making a Papa Murphy’s take ‘n’ bake pizza for dinner.  Add the fact that I can save money with the Papa Murphy’s Dinner Circle email and text club and I am even happier.  When you sign up for the the Papa Murphy’s Dinner Circle email and text club they will send you money saving offers straight to your email or phone.

I usually plan ahead and order my pizza and sides online.  I love how I can customize my pizza however I want.  If I want to remove the artichoke hearts from the Chicken Bacon Artichoke I can, it’s just a simple click of a button.   Their website is super easy to use and customizing a half and half pizza is a breeze too.  You don’t have to order a head of time, but I like how quick and easy it makes picking up my pizza on those busy days.

I schedule a pick up time for when I know I will be done with my errands and I swing by just before I head home. Once home, I keep everything in the refrigerator until it’s time to bake.

I enjoy the fact that I can also pick up a pre-made salad. The Italian salad is my personal fave, I love that is has pepperoni and olives in it.

Dinner is a breeze!  We cook our pizzas and pull the salad out of the fridge.  We get a fresh, quality dinner in very little time and there are no complaints because everyone loves pizza.

It is great that Papa Murphy’s also offers several different options when it comes to the crust, we got the thin crust Chicken Bacon Artichoke Pizza (without artichokes) and it was really good.

We end the meal with the Papa Murphy’s Cowboy Cookies.  These are cookies filled with Oatmeal, Coconut, White Chocolate Chips and Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips.  They are so good!  We just bake them while we eat dinner and they are ready to go by the time we are done. Yum!

Make sure you sign up for the Papa Murphy’s Dinner Circle so you too and save money on pizza night at your house. Signing up is easy and you can choose to receive savings via text or email (or both).  I love saving money and I love pizza nights when I don’t have to do the majority of the planning and cooking, it’s a fun night off.  Plan a pizza night soon, they are the best!

The post Have a Papa Murphy’s Pizza Night & Save appeared first on Gather Lemons.

I love strolling through the aisles of IKEA any time of the year, but my favorite time is during the holidays.  IKEA carries so many fun products for Christmas and at great prices too!  Plus, there is a $25 off $150 purchase printable coupon you can use through 12/24.  I thought it would be fun to share with you a bunch of photos of the IKEA Winter (Vinter) 2016 Collection.   Check out all the glassware, tins, decor, food, ornaments and more!   Enjoy!

These glasses are so pretty.  They come in a couple different shapes and sizes.  These ones are only $2.99 each.    I’d fill mine with Sparkling Cider.  They would be great to even let the kids drink out of, I remember being able to drink out of “fancy” glasses during the holidays.

These chalkboard tins would be perfect for gifting homemade holiday treats.

These 3-packs of canisters would be great for treats too.

These reindeer were super cute, the photo doesn’t do them justice.

These stars are stunning!  They would look really pretty hanging in a room with the lights out.   These were only $11.99 each.

Fun holiday aprons for kids and adults.  Once again, the prices are super!  The kids aprons are only $4.99.

Advent calendars with chocolate!  I remember having these as a kid.

Hey!  You could pour this Spiced Apple drink in the fancy glasses I mentioned above.

Holiday napkins that match many of the other holiday items.

Holiday door mats.  I love the round one.

Oh my goodness, I got stuck in the ribbon, tag and gift wrap section for a long time.   So many cute things!

Huge containers of glitter, or as the Swedish like to call it “Crushed Glass”, these were $2.99.

More fun boxes for gifting, I love the windows so you can see what’s inside.

12-packs of patterned gift bags for $3.99.   Their prints are always so fun.

This set of 24 gift bags would make such a fun advent activity.  You could fill them with treats and a fun activity to do each day before Christmas.   They come with number stickers so you can use them for that very reason, or you can just use them as gift bags.

3-packs of Washi tape for Christmas.

Every year I love the IKEA gift wrap designs, they are so much fun.   This pattern could even be used year round.

Oh my goodness, the gnome gift wrap is adorable!   I already have like 12 rolls of wrapping paper that I picked up on clearance at Target, but I had to get a roll of this.

Here is a close-up of the cuteness.

I bought the red paper with the trees too.   It went well with the gnomes.

I’m sort of wishing I would have picked up the black with polka dots too.

HUGE rolls of gift wrap for $6.99.

This tree is so simple, but I love it!

More of the gorgeous stars, they are intricate and so pretty.

Here is a peek at some of the specialty ornaments, they have a ton of different ones.

I thought this ornament stand was pretty nifty.   It is only $3.99.

You will also find some new toys and other items.   I plan to dress up this mirror that I picked up for only $2.99.  Stay tuned for the results sometime next week.

Do you love shopping IKEA?  I’d love to hear about some of your favorite products.

The post IKEA Christmas & Winter 2016 appeared first on Gather Lemons.

Every few months I share 10 of my favorite things, and here are 10 things I am loving right now.   I would love for you to leave a comment and tell me some things you are loving right now.   It’s always fun to find new things to love!   Here are my favorite things for the month of October:

Dear Lillie When I Saw You Handmade Oversized Wood Sign – I have been wanting this Dear Lillie oversized handmade wood sign since I saw it for the first time.  The sign is usually only available once every couple of months or so and they sell out quickly.  Each month I would hover over the “buy now” button, because the cost was holding me back.   Until one day I finally told myself “do it” and I am so glad I did.  I adore it!  It makes me smile every time I walk past it in our bedroom.  It’s gorgeous!  I am 100% pleased with my purchase and I even plan on buying more items in the future.  I really like the idea of the monthly clubs.

One True Loves Audiobook – I have been listening to audiobooks a little more frequently and I really enjoyed listening to One True Loves.  I actually started out reading the book and would switch t0 the audiobook while driving in the car.  It turns out with this particular book I much enjoyed the audio version rather than reading the book myself.   I actually looked forward to folding laundry so I could listen some more.

Star Wars Cookie Cutters – When fall finally rolls around the first thing I feel like doing is baking.  Once my son finds out I am baking cookies he always asks if we can make sugar cookies with our Star Wars cookie cutters. These cookie cutters work really well and I love how easy it is the press the Star Wars image into each cookie.  If you have a Star Wars fan in your home, I highly recommend these. We have owned these for years. We love them so much we have bought every set they’ve released.

Costco Travel for Rental Cars – I pretty much exclusively use Costco Travel for booking my rental cars.  It is so easy to use and their prices are excellent.   You can check the prices of all the competitors and the types of cars at one time.   Once you book your car, you can check back and see if the rates go lower (they often do!).   If you see a cheaper rate, book the new car and cancel your old reservation online.  It is super easy!   I love the ease of it and I love the savings!   I recently got the base rate of an Intermediate SUV in Florida for only $15.86 per day (for 4 days). This price is before taxes, but it is an AMAZING deal!  My best deal ever was the base rate of only $4 a day for an Intermediate Car in San Diego, my total with tax was only $37.26 for 3 days.  The prices will always vary by location and availability, but keep checking often because the prices always fluctuate.

Hyatt Visa – Can you tell I’m ready to go on a vacation?  First rental cars, now Hyatt Visa.  Both my husband and I signed up for this card because of the incredible bonus they were offering.   If you spend $1000 in the first 3 months you will get 2 FREE nights at a Hyatt hotel ANYWHERE in ANY category.   We use our cards for our everyday expenses and pay them off each month so we never incur interest (I need to get that important part in there).   We plan to go to Paris next year, so we both will be using our credits to stay at the PARK HYATT PARIS-VENDÔME, which starts around $639 a night. Crazy, right? Between the 2 of us we’ll get 4 FREE nights with the value of $2500.   There are other great perks, like a free hotel stay on your card anniversary.

Cricut – I have been crafting like crazy with my Cricut Explore Air and I just love how easy this machine is to use.  I have had different craft cutting machine for over 10 years and I love how far they have come.  The Cricut I have is so easy to use and I know I keep saying this but I adore the fact it’s wireless.  My new favorite thing to work with is the Gold Adhesive Foil.

Private Selections Ice Cream (Kroger) – If you have a Kroger family store, you need to try their Private Selections brand of ice cream. It is the best! My personal favorite is the Sea Salt Caramel Truffle. Yum!

Target Dollar Spot (Bullseye’s Playground) – Years a go I used to just walk right by the Target Dollar Spot, but I can’t do that anymore.   I love the changes they have made in the last year and I always find something fun.  I love that I can find inexpensive items to decorate for holidays or to put gifts together.   Their buyers are GOOD!  I love it all!

Chip & Joanna Gaines – I adore these two!  It seems like everything they touch turns to gold and I love that they seem so down to earth and worthy of all the good that comes their way.  I’d love to visit Magnolia Market someday (my husband has a business trip to Texas next year, maybe I can tag along).  I pre-ordered their audiobook The Magnolia Story and I can’t wait to listen to it.

Panera Ancient Grain & Arugula Salad with Chicken – I usually find something I like at Panera and stick with it until I get tired of it. My new fave is the Ancient Grain & Arugula Salad with Chicken. This salad with a baguette is yummy!

The post My Favorite Things (October 2016) appeared first on Gather Lemons.

Fall means football and we love it! We enjoy watching the Friday night high school football games and the Saturday college games too.

If you have a child that plays football you know they often have long grueling practices. Make sure you stock up on POWERADE to help them stay hydrated and power through those practices.

POWERADE is not only great for the athletes, but us spectators too!

My son is probably the biggest football fan in our family.  He loves making signs and taking them to the game to cheer on his favorite team.   We came up with this fun pennant that he can use on to cheer and wave his team on to victory.   It’s super easy to make, here is what you need:

• Thick Posterboard
• Letter cut-0uts or Stickers (I used my Cricut to cut out my letters)
• Glue
• Dowel
• Duck Tape

Cut a triangular pennant shape out of the posterboard.   Cut out letters or attach stickers to the pennant.  I cut out “Go Team” with my Cricut.  Cut the dowel to about 16 inches long.  Use Duck Tape to attach the dowel onto the back of the pennant.  You are done and ready to cheer on your team!

In addition to watching our high school team we like to watch our favorite college team too.  I love that Saturdays aren’t only about the game, they are also about connecting with family and friends and food…lots and lots of great food!   Here are some fun football viewing party ideas to inspire you to throw your own football party soon.

Throw some bright yellow napkins in a bucket and label them “Penalty Flags”,  this is a simple and fun way to add a little football flair to your party.

Inexpensive pom poms make great table decorations and you can easily find them in a bunch of different colors to match your teams colors.

I love the festive football tablecloth I found at Walmart, it made a great base for my football themed table.  When it comes to the food and drink, I like to raise some of the fare up by using tiered trays and cake stands.

The portion in the back that holds all the Coca-Cola and POWERADE was made using a white shelf I already had on hand and I raised it up by using 2 boxes of pasta from my pantry.  I just covered the boxes in green cardstock so you couldn’t tell they were boxes of pasta.  I’m all about using stuff you have around the house!

Here is our hot dog condiment station.  I put different condiments in small metal pails and placed them on a tiered spice rack that I borrowed from my craft room. This pails work well for a potato bar too, which is another great food option.

Guests can load up their hot dogs with ketchup, mustard, cheese, onions, relish and bacon.

No party is complete without cupcakes!  I love that I can make the cupcakes the night before and then just frost them the day of the party.  Adding fun football cake toppers is a cheap and easy way to continue the football theme.

Popcorn is a must for our family when it comes to football games.  I love serving popcorn in these single-serve containers, it helps prevent popcorn from getting all over the place when you have it in one big bowl.  Coca-Cola is a classic party drink.  I love that their are so many varieties to make everyone happy, including Coke Zero and the classic Coca-Cola.

Banners are such a fun and simple way to decorate for parties.   I bought this plain silver glittery banner awhile back and I have used it for so many parties.    To customize it for whatever type of party we are having I use my Cricut to cut out letters and attach them to the banner.  I’ll admit sparkly silver banners probably don’t scream football, but every party needs a little sparkle, right?

When it comes to the table decorations you can even use actual footballs you have around your house.   You don’t need to spend a ton of money on decorations, I like to save my money for the drinks, food and fun little finishing touches.

If you plan on hosting a football party check out NotSoFastMom.com for even more tips and make sure you stop by Walmart to pick up Coca-Cola and POWERADE to score extra points with your party guests and your football playing kids.

Let’s hear about your favorite high school or college team, will you be going to a game this season or watching it on TV?

The post Football Party Ideas & Kids’ Pennant Craft appeared first on Gather Lemons.

Every few months I share 10 of my favorite things.  Here are 10 things I am loving right now.   I would love for you to leave a comment and tell me some things you are loving now too.   It’s always fun to find new things to love!   Here are my favorite things for the month of July:

Trader Joe’s Toffee Chips – The Trader Joe’s Toffee Chips are heavenly!   The box comes with both milk chocolate and dark chocolate.   I have to make sure I only pick them up once in awhile, because they are addictive.

MalloMe Marshmallow Roasting Sticks – My daughter was having a S’mores party for her 16th birthday and we were in need of some new marshmallow roasting sticks.   I ordered these MalloMe Marshmallow Roasting Sticks from Amazon and we love them!   They are telescoping and they come with a storage bag.  I highly recommend these!   Check them at Amazon they get great reviews.

H.O.L.Y. by Florida Georgia Line – H.O.L.Y  by Florida Georgia Line is my current favorite song, followed closely by 80s Mercedes by Maren Morris. I was able to download the whole Maren Morris album for FREE because it is part of Prime Music. I am still loving Amazon Prime Music and use the service nearly every single day.  I am an Apple user, but I prefer Amazon Music over iTunes!

Overdrive  Media Console – You know I love to read and I love that I can download ebooks instantly from our library with the Overdrive App.   I love how easy it is to use and the huge selection of books there are to choose from!   I finally bought both my youngest Kindle readers so they too have have the ease of downloading books for free.   Since most of the books we get from the library  are now ebooks there are no more late fees!  (Yes, I was one of those people who would often accrue late fees).

Underwater by Marisa Reichardt – Both my daughter and I read Underwater by Marisa Reichardt and we loved it!  The writing is beautiful.  I usually prefer my books without foul language and this had some, but I still highly recommend it.   It takes a tough topic and addresses it with such hope.   It’s a great one for teens! (P.S. This is one of the books I checked out with the Overdrive Media Console)

Corner Bakery Cafe – We got our very first Corner Bakery Cafe here in Washington and I am loving it!  There are so many different items on the menu that I want to try.  It’s right next to Target so that’s a plus too!

The Haunted Mansion Crossbody Pouchette by Dooney & Bourke – I splurged!  I was in need a small purse that I could take with me on day trips that had enough room for my phone and a few other items.   I saw this The Haunted Mansion Crossbody Pouchette by Dooney & Bourke and I knew it would be perfect.   I love how it is Disney, but it is very subtle.

Disneyland 60th Anniversary iPhone 6 Case – Looking at my phone case makes me smile!  I picked this up on our most recent trip to Disneyland and I adore it.

Old Flowers – I love old flowers!  That sounds weird, huh?   My daughter works at a flower shop and each week she gets to bring home the flower that are too old to sell.   They still have 3-4 days left of beauty and I love having them around the house.

Pineapple Easy Slicer and De-Corer – I have been finding pineapples on sale for $1.99 lately so I have been picking some up every week.   I love how easy it is the cut, peel and core the pineapple with this handy Pineapple Slicer and De-corer.   I highly recommend this one!   If you love pineapple as much as I do you may want to try some of our favorite pineapple recipes:

• Tropical Pineapple-Raspberry Slushie
• Pineapple Mango Salsa
• Homemade Pineapple Dole Whip

What are you loving right now?

The post My Favorite Things (July 2016) appeared first on Gather Lemons.

Summer is here but that doesn’t mean learning needs to take a back seat.   We love to keep our kids learning and entertained with STEM-based toys and projects during the summer months.    In fact, the very first week of summer my son spent a week attending  a Robotics Camp put on by our local high school.   He spent the week in a team of four building a robot and then the last day of the camp his team got the chance to battle other teams and their  robots.   He had a ton of fun and learned lots!

My son was thrilled to keep building at home with the Hexbug – VEX Robotics Robotic Arm.   He was excited to built the robotic arm and was happy to point out that the robots they built at the camp used VEX Robotics parts too.

My son is 11 years old and he was able to assemble the this STEM-based kit all on his own.  This kit pays special attention to important scientific principals like gear reductions and power transfer through the robotic arm’s intricate gearing techniques.   I love the fact that my son kept entertained while building the Robotic Arm and learned some things during the process too.

The Robotic Arm is hand powered and can pick up and relocate items with precision because their are four different ways the robot can move.   The whole crane can also rotate 360 degrees.

I love the fact that you can build the Robotic Arm, but you an also go online to get the instructions to build 2 alternative projects like a chopper and a scorpion.

You can keep your kids learning and entertained this summer with the Hexbug – VEX Robotics Robotic Arm from Best Buy.   We can wholeheartedly recommend this one.

The post STEM-based Play with Hexbug VEX Robotics Robotic Arm appeared first on Gather Lemons.

My laundry room was in need of a fresh coat and paint and some new organization, I previously used to use this room to store all my craft supplies, but now I have an office/craft room so I can now use the laundry room as just a laundry room.   The room itself was in serious need of some new paint because a lot of traffic goes through the laundry room heading out to the garage so the walls get scuffed up easily.  I headed to the Olympic Paints and Stains Color Center exclusively at Lowe’s to find a color that I loved.    

Choosing a color was a lot of fun because the floor in the laundry room is fairly neutral so I could go any direction I wanted.  I was even able to see how a paint color would look before I headed to Lowe’s by uploading a photo of my room to the Olympic® Paint Visualizer tool.   With just a few clicks you can give your room a digital makeover with any Olympic Paint color.  It’s fun to play, check it out!

Once I narrowed down my color choice to three colors I headed to Lowe’s for some samples.  I have learned my lesson to always buy paint samples in order to test them in the room.   There are so many variables that determine what the paint will look like in a room.   The Olympic Paints samples are a reasonably priced so you can buy 2 or 3.   I  love having the samples because they can be used for other painting projects around my home too.

Did you know Lowe’s has a Paint Pledge Program that allows you to paint with confidence.   Lowe’s will do whatever it takes to help you find the perfect paint, they will even refund customers who are dissatisfied with their paint for any reason, as long as you return the paint in its original container within 30 days.  This offer is valid on interior and exterior liquid paint purchases 4/3/16-8/9/16

Kichler Lighting (Lowe’s)  /   Laundry Room sign (Hobby Lobby)  /  Metal Basket (Skalny)  /  Laundry Detergent (Mrs. Meyer’s)

I decided to go with Blue Lullaby that I found at the Olympic Paints and Stains Color Center exclusively at Lowe’s.   I am so pleased with the end results.   I adore the Olympic Paints Blue Lullaby color!    Here is a peek at the finished room:

I added a laundry sorter in the brushed bronze that goes well with the knobs and hooks already in the room.  I love the wooden “laundry room” sign I found at Hobby Lobby.

I added some wire and wooden baskets for storage.

One of my favorite features of this room is the organizational wall we built so our kids can store their backpacks and coats.

Each person has a magnetic area where they can hang important paper or their chore charts.

I keep walking into the room to admire the pretty blue color, I just can’t get enough of it!  Kind of makes we want to do a load of laundry.   I think to finish off the room I will end up painting the cupboards white.  This is something I have never done before, but I am looking forward to tacking the project this summer.

Do you have a room you want to makeover this summer.  I recommend heading to the Olympic Paints and Stains Color Center exclusively at Lowe’s or use the Olympic® Paint Visualizer tool.  It’s fun to get a peek at what a room in your home will look like with a brand new color.

You can follow Olympic Paints and Stains at the following places to stay on top of the latest home and color inspiration:

• Olympic Website
• Olympic Facebook
• Olympic Twitter
• Olympic Instagram
• Olympic Pinterest

The post Laundry Room Makeover with Olympic Paints #Bringonthecolor appeared first on Gather Lemons.

My 3 oldest boys have moved out and onto different states for college or different countries for a mission.   With 3 kids gone we now have 2 empty rooms that we get to repurpose and redo.  We knew we wanted to turn one of the rooms into an office/craft space for me (Maybe WE is the wrong word, I know that’s what I wanted to do with one of the rooms).  We decided to turn the second bedroom into an exercise room.   We can finally take the treadmill and power tower out of the garage!  I’m not sure why I am so excited to have a room specifically for exercising, I don’t even like to exercise that much.  I think a bright fun room might make exercising more enjoyable.

The first step in re-doing the room is to re-paint, so we stopped by the Olympic Paints and Stains Color Center exclusively at Lowe’s for some color inspiration.  We usually tend to go with neutrals or pastels when we paint and we figured this time around we’d go for something a little more bold.   Well, one wall is going to be bold, the other three are going to be grey.   We can’t go bold all at once, that would just be crazy!   Originally we were thinking about a bright yellow, but once I saw the fun blue shade of Bellflower I knew that would be a great way to brighten up the room.   We figured we could do some accent colors in yellow.

The Olympic Paints and Stains Color Center at Lowe’s is a great resource for inspiration, whether you are looking for light pastels to darker shades, the new Olympic Paints and Stains Color Center has the right shade for everyone.   They even have a helpful guide that shows the different type of finishes from flat to high gloss.   You can view the color inspiration for your room or project  in 3 different ways:

• Color (with the  the paint chips)
• Lifestyle (lifestyle brochures)
• Project (room and project brochures)

I love that even the paint chips are inspirational!  You will find a photo of a room and suggestions for trim and accent colors on the back of each paint chip card.    I am in love with the Kingston Aqua color and I am already planning my next project with that color in mind.

Yellow cabinet (Target)  /  Inspirational Wall Art (Etsy)  /  Yoga Mat (Incline Fit)  /  Kettleball (Go Fit)  /  Towel (Reebok)

You can follow Olympic Paints and Stains at the following places to stay on top of the latest home and color inspiration:

• Olympic Website
• Olympic Facebook
• Olympic Twitter
• Olympic Instagram
• Olympic Pinterest

What room in your home is is in need of a fresh coat of paint?   Do you have a color in mind?

The post Updating Rooms in our House with Olympic Paints & Stains at Lowe’s appeared first on Gather Lemons.

With the spring cleaning season fast approaching, planning ahead is key to make tackling a deep-clean of the whole house just a little bit easier and Viva®, Scott®, Cottonelle® can help you tackle your spring cleaning and make sure you are stocked up on all the necessities for your home.

I’ve already got a jump on spring cleaning at our house, we’ve totally clean our son’s room from top to bottom and now I am tackling the pantry.  Our pantry is in dire need of cleaning and organizing.

I started by stopping at Walmart to pick up some much needed supplies like Viva paper towels and Scott bath tissue. We have company coming over soon so I want to make sure we are stocked-up.

Next to get down to the cleaning I made a homemade all purpose cleaner with lemon.  I love the smell of lemon, it makes everthing smell fresh and clean.  Here are the ingredients so you can make your own homemade cleaner too.

• 2 cups hot water
• 1/8 cup white vinegar
• 1 TBSP baking soda
• 1 TBSP lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a glass bowl, mix and then pour into a spray bottle.   This cleaner will work great on many of your kitchen surfaces like counters, appliances, shelves and glass.   Do not use the cleaner on your wood cabinets, you will want a cleaner specifically made for wood.

Viva Towels clean more than just spills, you can also use them to tackle some of the cleaning projects in your home. I used the Viva Vantage towels to scrub down the wire shelves in my pantry and also to clean out the pantry storage bins. Since the Viva Vantage towels have a scrubby texture, like a terrycloth, they were great for tackling the cleaning in my pantry.

Once everything was clean, I wanted to make sure that the pantry stayed organized.  I labeled all of our bins and containers so we know what exactly goes inside each one.

I love how organized everything is now!  I know longer have to spend a long time seaching for the olive oil because I know it can be found in the oil and vinegar bin.   Happy day!   Now I just have to train my kids to put things where they belong and I will be set!

You can find great deals on all Viva, Cottonelle and Scott products at your local Walmart.  You can also shop online for all your favorite Kimberly-Clark brands to help you clean for spring.    For more spring cleaning ideas check out my Pinterest boards.

The post Spring Cleaning: Cleaning & Organizing the Pantry appeared first on Gather Lemons.

Amazon Prime Music –  Amazon Prime Music comes free when you sign up for Amazon Prime. My main reason for signing up for Amazon Prime was the 2-day shipping feature with no minimum purchase but I have found out I use Amazon Prime Music on a daily basis. There are millions of songs, and the majority of my recent purchases have all be FREE with the service. I have stopped using iTunes and exclusively use Amazon Prime music. I love it! If you aren’t an Amazon Prime member you can try out the Amazon Prime Music service FREE for 30 days (you will get all of the Amazon Prime benefits with the free trial. Here is a peek at some of the songs I downloaded that were all FREE with Amazon Prime Music (I lean towards country music by the way – my Dad is so proud!).

• Beautiful Drug – Zac Brown Band
• Burning House – Cam
• Honey, I’m Good. – Andy Grammar
• Heartbeat – Carrie Underwood
• Hello – Adele

The list could be really long! I hear a song I like on the radio, I go to add it to my music library and find out it’s free with Amazon Prime.

Fix by Chris Lane – My current favorite song is Fix by Chris Lane.   It’s upbeat and fun!   This one wasn’t a free one from Amazon prime, but I was able to purchase it for free with the $1 credits I earned from choosing a slower shipping rate thanks to  Amazon Prime.

Wet Brush – We picked up the Wet Hair Brush to help comb through all the tangles that show up in my daughter’s long hair.  It works like a dream.  She is very pleased with it.  I like it because I no longer have to nag my teenage daughter to comb her hair.

Cafe Rio – We lived in Utah for 3 years and became slightly addicted to Cafe Rio. For those that aren’t familiar with Cafe Rio (I’m sorry!) it is a fresh mexican restaurant where they make their own homemade tortillas and serve the best sweet pork ever. You must try their Creamy Tomatillo Dressing. A Cafe Rio finally opened up here in Washington last year (an hour from our home) and now we even have one 5 miles from my house and we are thrilled. Many date nights will be spent at Cafe Rio from now on.

Homemade Canned Pickles – Every time I pull a jar of homemade pickles out of the fridge I smile.  Seriously!  It’s weird that a single jar of pickles can remind me of so many happy memories, but they do.  First, the pickle recipe was given to me by my grandma.  She was an amazing gardener, cook and all around amazing person.  The very first time I canned pickles I went over to my Grandma’s house so she could teach me.  The last batch of pickles I canned was with my mom and my sister and we had so much fun that day.  My mom passed away in November and I am so thankful for that day we had together canning the pickles.  Not to mention the pickle recipe rocks!  The pickles are flavorful and nice and crisp.   The pickles are pretty much a staple in my son’s lunch every day.  I canned enough to last me a year and that makes me happy too.

Tfal AirBake Nonstick Pizza Pan – I love that this AirBake Nonstick Pizza Pan ensures that the entire pizza crust is crispy. It works well with both homemade pizza and frozen pizza. Love it!

Mikasa Bowls (Costco) – I picked up the 6-pack of colorful Mikasa bowls at Costco and I love them. The colors make me happy and they are the perfect size. I loved them so much I even picked up a set as a gift. The regular Costco price is $19.99, but I have seen them on sale for $14.99 two different times now.

Costco Coupon Match-Ups – I have been doing a lot of shopping at Costco lately and I love the Costco Coupon Mailer match-ups list that Melody from This Beautiful Frugal Life life puts together. They are so handy! She gives you the cost breakdown and lets you know if it is a good deal based on prices at regular grocery stores.  I use her list every time a new set of coupons comes out. Make sure you check out her match-up list for the organic coupons Costco has right now.

The Little Potato Company – I found these cute Dynamic Duo creamer potatoes from The Little Potato Company at Costco and figured I’d give them a try. Our whole family loves them! They skin on them isn’t super thick and they have the perfect texture. We actually had these for dinner three times this week. We simply used this recipe for Ultimate Roasted Potatoes. We even fried up some of the leftovers for breakfast the next day. They have tons of recipes I their website, so I look forward to trying them in different ways too.

Emails from my Son – My son Levi is currently serving a mission in Tahiti for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Every Monday he gets time to write home via email and those emails are the highlight of my week.  He is currently serving on a small island in Tahiti called Takapoto (pictured below).

Feel free to leave a comment and let me know what some of your favorite things are right now.

The post My Favorite Things (February 2016) appeared first on Gather Lemons.

I was going through the documents on my Google Drive when I came across this little gem.   My son loves football, he loves to play it, he loves to watch it and he loves to talk about it.  Players, positions, teams, he loves it all.  We have a “no TV” rule at our house on Sundays which means he doesn’t watch the NFL football games on Sunday, but he often records the games and watches them the next day with his dad.  This week he was up at 4:00 a.m. in order to watch the Superbowl on Monday before school.

Anyway, to help his cause, and maybe avoid the early Monday morning routine, he decided to write a letter to the NFL to see if he could get the games switched to Saturday.  I’m pretty sure he thought he’d have a better chance convincing the NFL to change the games to Saturday than convincing his parents he could watch TV on Sunday.  Here at our house, we like to keep our Sunday’s “nice and calm”.

The post My Son’s Letter to the NFL appeared first on Gather Lemons.

Department 56 Glass Icicle Ornaments – We were gifted these Department 56 Glass Icicle Ornaments several years ago and I love taking them out every year and hanging them on our tree. They are gorgeous! I love the way the lights reflect on the glass. They come packaged nice too, so if you are looking for a gift for someone that is hard to buy for these would be perfect.

Screamin Sicilian Frozen Pizza – I never knew frozen pizza could be so good.  I tried a sample of the Screamin Sicilian Frozen Pizza at the grocery store and now I am hooked.  Their pizza’s come in lots of varieties and I haven’t found one that I don’t love. These are a little pricey, but they are so worth it.  When I find them on sale, I stock up!

Pizza Peel – I own this Kitchen Supply 14-Inch x 16-Inch Aluminum Pizza Peel with Wood Handle and I love it.   I prefer to cook my pizzas directly on the oven rack it because it makes it more crisp.  It’s annoying trying to balance the pizza on a small pancake turner.

Weiman Stainless Steel Cleaning Wipes – Several months ago we bought a stainless steel dishwasher and I asked you all on Facebook what works best to keep the stainless steel clean.  Many of you raved about the Weiman Stainless Steel Cleaner Wipes and I have to agree.  They work great!  No more fingerprints and streaks on our dishwasher.

Chase Disney Visa – I have always loved my Disney Visa because I get back a percentage of my purchases back in points that I can use on our Disney vacations.  I love it even more now because they came out with cool Star Wars versions of the card.  I am now a proud carrier of a Visa card with Darth Vader on the front.  The perks of this card have benefited up greatly, we’ve been able to pay a large chunk of our vacations, meals and tickets to both Disneyland and Disney World.

HP Instant Ink – I recently received an HP Printer and signed up for HP Instant Ink.   When I signed up I had no idea how fabulous this service would be and how much I would really love it!   We have been doing a lot of printing here for school projects, programs, Christmas gifts, decor and more.   I love that for a small monthly fee I get all the printer ink delivered to me (at no extra cost).  I never run out, I never have to run to the store and I can print in black and white or color cause it all cost the same.    The printer know when I get low and a new ink cartridge arrives before I run out.

Trader Joe’s –  We had a Trader Joe’s open near our house about 6 months ago.  It’s so nice having one so close to home!  I love that Trader Joe’s brings in different merchandise for every season.  I especially love the things you can find right now because I love peppermint and chocolate together and the combo is everywhere.   I especially love these Mini Peppermint Waffle Cookies.

Sander’s Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramels – – These are divine! They sell them at Costco in big containers which is awesome. The last time I was at Costco they had an instant rebate. I picked up several for Christmas gifts. If you haven’t had these yet, give them a try.

Progressive Magnetic Measuring Spoons – I have never been so excited about measuring spoons before I received these Progressive Magnetic Measuring Spoons (Stainless Steel). I really do love them! I love that they have a measuring spoon on either end, this allows me to use one end for wet ingredients and one end for dry. They fit together nicely and are magnetic so that stay together too.

Free Printable Artwork – I love all the FREE printables you can find on the internet.   I just recently printed a few FREE Christmas printable to display around my house.   I am grateful for all the talented people that share their work with us.   Here are a few of my favorite printable that I have found (there are so many more).   If you are looking for more FREE printables, follow my FREE Printables Pinterest board cause I pin lots of them

• We Lived Happily Ever After (Christmas chalkboard printables)
• Sass & Peril (Christmas gift tags)
• 36th Avenue (Kitchen printables)
• J & A and Company (Bathroom printables
• All Things Bright & Beautiful (LDS Conference quotes)

The post My Favorite Things (December 2015) appeared first on Gather Lemons.

I’m sharing an easy step-by-step plan for changing the oil in your own car. It’s easier than you may think!

I have 3 boys who will be leaving home soon, they will be heading off to college and moving out on their own. It’s kind of scary as a mom letting your kids leave, you wonder if you taught them all of the things they need to know. One of those things we have tried to teach our kids is the basics of car maintenance. We’ve stressed the fact that if they keep up with the maintenance on their cars they will last them much longer. We’ve taught them how the check the fluids, change the tires and recently we’ve taught them how to change their own oil.

When you change your own oil you can ensure that your car is getting the best oil and it even saves you some money. Changing your oil isn’t as complicated as it sounds. I’m sharing all the steps with you so you can change your own oil too.  Please use standard safety procedures when changing your oil. You should always refer to your own car’s manual before changing your oil

Before you get started you want to gather up the following tools and items:

• Ratchet with socket
• Oil filter socket or wrenches (if necessary)
• Funnel
• Drain pan
• Gloves
• Rag/Paper Towels

Before you head to the store to purchase the oil and oil filter you will want to find out the type of oil your car needs. Many cars with have the type of oil printed on the oil cap. If yours isn’t printed on top of your oil cap you can use your auto manual to figure out the type and amount of oil you will need. You will also want to look of the type of oil filter your car requires.

Step 1: Head to the store to purchase the oil and oil filter.  I purchased Pennzoil Platinum full synthetic motor oil at Walmart,  it is a high-quality oil that has been specially designed to give your engine complete protection.  It helps with better fuel economy and provides excellent performance in extreme temperatures, which will be helpful with the cold winter months coming up.   You will find the Pennzoil oil in the auto car department on the aisle with the oils.

Step 2: In most cases you will need to raise the front of your car with ramps or a jack and jack stands.   Always put blocks on the back tires of the car to prevent rolling. Fortunately my car sits high enough off the ground that we did not need to raise it up.

Step 3:  Remove your oil cap, get under your car and remove the oil plug so you can drain the oil.    You will want to have a drain pan ready and I also recommend having some cardboard or a mat in case there are any spills.   It’s a good idea to be wearing gloves while doing this.

Step 4:  Remove the oil filter.    When replacing the oil filter you will want to add a little oil inside the oil filter and also add some oil around the ring.  This will make sure the oil filter goes on easily and doesn’t crack.

Step 5:  Once the oil has completed drained put the screw/plug back in and fill with new oil.   Make sure you check your manual for the amount you should add, you do not want to overfill.

Step 6:  On level ground, check the oil level with the dip stick.  The oil mark should be in the “safe” zone marked on the stick.  Too much or too little oil is not good for the engine.

Step 7:  Your final step will be to dispose of the oil.   You never  want to dispose of the oil down the drain, in the trash or in your yard.  Most part stores will properly dispose of old engine oil for you.

You are ready to go!   Do you change your own motor oil?

The post DIY Oil Change with Pennzoil appeared first on Gather Lemons.

Our family of 7 headed to Sea World San Diego for a day of fun. My husband and I have been to Sea World before but we have never gone with our kids so it would be a new adventure for all of our kids. The weather was great and the crowds were low. We went the last week of August when the majority of California schools are back in session.

As soon as you enter the park there are areas where you can touch and feel the fish.

My boys where quite fond of the cleaner fish.   These fish nibble plant and animal matter off solid surfaces like rocks.

They also nibble stuff off your hands.    I was not brave enough to stick my hand in that tank, but my boys loved every minute of it.

We found lots of opportunity to hold sea life throughout the park.   Here we had the chance to hand sea stars.

We also got the chance to pet stingray, which were kind of slimy.

We chose to pay $5 to feed the stingray.    This was a lot of fun!

Sea World is probably most known for their shows!    The dolphin show was probably my favorite.

We also saw the One World show in the Shamu Stadium.   Before the show started they had all the military personnel stand up and be recognized.   Sea World has a program called Waves of Honor where they offer complimentary admission to all active duty military members.   How awesome is that?

The shows are fun because they train the animals to splash and splash they do!!

If you don’t want to get wet make sure you avoid the seating with the words “Soak Zone”, but really getting soaked is all part of the fun.

We sat in the first and second rows and got drenched!!

One of our favorite exhibits was the shark exhibit. It was fun to ride an escalator through the shark tank. It was super cool!

My daughter loved watching the turtles.

You will find Sea World also has some great rides. We rode the Manta rollercoaster which was an awesome roller coaster, it was smooth and fast. The loading process was a little lacking, they just let everyone go for whatever spot they wanted so our family wasn’t able to sit together.

I really liked that all the rides really fit the theme of the park. This fun water ride is a perfect example.

We were thrilled to see that they were offering a FREE concert series for Summer while we were there and we got to see Fighting Gravity.

Sea World also has a section for littles ones with rides and a water play area.   We don’t have kids this small anymore, but it looked like a great area.

Our family had a fun day at Sea World San Diego.   If we end up in San Diego again we look forward to visiting Aquatica by Sea World, my daughter visited this park in Orlando with her friend and she loved it.  It was her favorite day of the entire vacation she took with them.

The regular rate for adults is $89 (as of 9/9/15), but you can always check their site for specials. We were able to buy the extra tickets we needed for only $50 each because they were having a special where you could pay a reduced rate if you visited Monday-Friday. That was a super deal. Through October 31, 2015 they are offering a FREE childs ticket with every adult ticket purchased.

The post Our Day at Sea World San Diego appeared first on Gather Lemons.

I was sent the George Foreman Contact Roaster so I could give it a try and share my thoughts with you.   I’ll be honest before I even took it out of the box I was thinking that I wasn’t sure I needed another appliance in my kitchen, but my mind has been changed with just one use!!  Now that I’ve used it twice I can see my using it on a regular basis   I love that that foods cook much quicker in the Contact Roaster than they do in my slow cooker.   I don’t always plan my meals early enough in the day to get the slow cooker going so this contact roaster saves the day!

With the George Foreman Contact Roaster you can discover the magic of 360° Cooking!   The Contact Roaster heats and seals from all sides to make food moist and delicious.  This convenient appliance can take the place of a roaster, a slow cooker, and even a large oven.  I used it to cook a whole chicken, I simply rubbed the chicken with butter and seasoning, closed the lid and let the roaster do the cooking.   When it was finished, I was very pleased with how it turned out, the skin came out golden and crispy and the meat was moist and delicious.

Like most George Foreman appliances the Contact Roaster has a sloped interior that is great for removing excess fat from meat.   It includes a convenient drip tray too.  The George Foreman Contant Roaster is versatile, because it also includes a pan that you place on the inside of the roaster to cook veggies and other side dishes.

I made some roasted red potatoes with the Contact Roaster.    Another thing I love about the Contact Roaster comes in handy on hot days when you don’t want to heat up your oven.

This roaster comes with a really nice (and fairly thick) cookbook to help you plan your meals and get the most out of the roaster.

I love the style of the cookbook, each recipe includes a nice large photo and easy to read instructions.

Here is a peek at the chicken and potatoes I cooked for dinner with the George Foreman Contact Roaster.  YUM!

Overall, I am pretty impressed with the George Foreman Contact Roaster, it makes cooking dinner a breeze and I plan on using it at least a couple times a week.  Clean up is a breeze because the nonstick interior wipes clean easily and the removable baking pan and drip tray are dishwasher-safe.   I also love the fact that they’ve included a handy cord wrap on the back.

I am a Spectrum Brands Power Blogger, I was compensated for sharing this information with you.   All thoughts and opinions are honest and true.

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