{create your own 5 pack}

Yes, on lobotoME.com you can get a 5 pack of our best selling note pads, but what if you want something different? Wish you could get the Fit ME to help you get into shape? Maybe you don't travel so you'd give up the Pack ME... Or maybe you just want to throw in a Bite ME or two for your Obsessive Cullen Disorder?

Now, and until the end of the year, you can make your own 5 pack! Use code MY5PACK at checkout when you purchase 5 note pads for a 20% discount!! Mix and match to get the pads you want. OR pick 5 for stocking stuffers.

Maybe Aunt Sally & Aunt Patti would love the Feed ME, but mom needs the Fit ME to motivate her to hit the gym. And your cousin loves to travel so Pack ME would be perfect... Then throw in a ME pad for yourself! Perfect!

Whether your shopping Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, or Cyber Monday, you can't go wrong with lobotoME!

{giving thanks & the best cranberry recipe ever}

This year has been such an incredible roller coaster ride, that I don't even know where to start. Rather than reliving it all, I'll just start with now. I'm so excited that I'm spending the entire week with the kids and most of that week at my parents' house. The bonus there is that I don't have to compete with our Baskin Robbins for my husband's attention! It's also great because while my mom visits a lot (thank goodness!), I don't get to see my dad as much. AND we have extended family coming as well. I just love the holidays and all the craziness it brings.

My only goal for this next week is to watch my food intake! Yes, I believe that you should enjoy Thanksgiving dinner and that there is no room for calorie counting at that table. However, I still need to have limits! Especially since our Thanksgiving involves at least two family dinners and two football games. With all the changes in the last year, my eating/exercise has not been as well maintained as I would like. So, we'll take it one week at a time. This week my goals are simple. One piece of pumpkin pie, with whipped cream (because I'm human). Shakeology for breakfast everyday. Watch the carbs. Workout everyday. Probably Turbo Fire. And ChaLean Extreme. And maybe I'll crash a Zumba class with some friends back home here.

Now for the best cranberry salad recipe ever. I make this for every pot luck/Thanksgiving dinner we are invited to. It's from my Great Grandmother, but it's not a family secret! I pass out the recipe to anyone who will take it. Nothing would make me more happy than to have the entire country eating this next Thursday!! Seriously, just try it.

1 lb. cranberries - ground up (we use a mini-Cuisinart)
2 C. sugar
1 small can crushed pineapple
Mix the above together and set for one hour
Then add:
1 C. chopped celery
1 C. chopped apple
1 C. chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts, whatever)
1 box red jello dissolved in 1 C. hot water (we use cranberry jello if we can find it. Cherry works too)
Chill till set

The great thing about this is you can make it the day before Thanksgiving and keep it in the fridge. One less thing to worry about on Thursday! At Thanksgiving dinner I will pour this on my turkey and eat them together. And I've been known to eat a small bowl of it by itself for a snack. We've also made it with Splenda to cut the calories. It has a slightly different consistency, but still tastes yummy!!

image from here

{biteME}

If you are familiar with our products, then you already know about our amazing BiteME pads. These are a must-have as we are only DAYS away from the premiere of Breaking Dawn!!! In honor of the fourth Twilight movie, we're offering a special discount on these note pads -- $4 OFF!! Enter discount code BITEME4 at checkout!

Be sure to get a few extra for the Twilight fan in your life. These make great stocking stuffers! Offer good till the end of the month!

Is anyone else dying to know what the wedding dress will look like?

{money lessons}

This past weekend our neighborhood had its annual yard sale. For some reason, this annual event is ALWAYS on the same day as opening weekend for deer hunting. I never thought that would effect my schedule!! Growing up with a dad from Peru, deer hunting was never part of my life. Apparently this is unusual for those of us raised in South Texas, or maybe anywhere in Texas? Regardless, my husband was unavailable so I had to do it all myself. On the bright side, it was great motivation to clear out a lot of stuff. I did however miss my kids' last soccer game. Now, let's remember that they are three and there will be a lot more sports in their future. They were pretty excited to show me their medals, and they had a great time with Aunt Ashley (my cousin) and Matt (her boyfriend). They did much better that morning than I did in the cold, unable to drink anything because bathroom breaks would be impossible, but I digress.

When I got back to the house and finished counting our earnings, my daughter was obsessed with the stack of ones. She kept begging me to give her money. I told her that since they are three years old, her and her brother could each have $3 to take to Walgreens. So, they jumped in the wagon for the ~.25 mile walk. On the way, we talked about what they might buy, and I warned them that $3 wasn't much, but they still went straight for the biggest toys they could find. Once I explained that those were too big and expensive, my son immediately zeroed in on the hot wheel type cars. When he found out he could get 3 for his $3 he was done shopping. My daughter was so much harder! She could get a book, or some flash cards, or a small toy. But then we found it. A bug catching kit! It had a little cuppy thing to catch the flying bugs, some ladybug tweezers to catch the crawling ones, and a little mesh box to keep them in (temporarily). Perfect!

When it came time to pay, we were blessed to get my favorite checkout woman who is always so sweet to us. She rang them up separately, gave them their own bag and showed them where to get their change. I did try to rush them through a little since a line was forming. The gentleman behind us did not seem impressed with how well my kiddos were handling their money!

The best part is that they both got change which I'm putting in their piggy banks. First deposits! I think we'll have to do this a few times a year, and eventually they'll understand about the change collecting in there. As an accountant, this whole process was very exciting to me. I especially loved how excited they got when they received their $3 and put it in their pocket. So cute!

Side note -- I love walking with the twins in their wagon. Since they're facing each other, they have the best conversations!

image from here

{current obsessions}

I pinned this, which is quite frankly laughable. I don't know how to sew. How can I convince my grandmother to make this for me??

I am obsessed with this idea. I would put one on my cat, but he's an indoor cat who spends most of his time hiding from my twins. I would end up with pictures of the stuff under my bed. Wait. That might be interesting...

I love this for a kid's birthday cake. But only if Baskin Robbins cakes aren't available of course!!

Today we got another spaghetti squash and more sweet potatoes from our CSA. I'm saving the spaghetti squash for Saturday since my husband will be hunting. He's not as big a fan as I am!

I really don't understand why I don't own this. Other than the fact that I live in Houston where today's high was in the 80s.

Image from here.