Buy 2, Get 1 Free on Dr. Seuss Learning Library at Borders

To celebrate the launch of the new PBS series, The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That, Borders is extending a special "Buy 2, Get 1 Free" offer on select books in the Dr. Seuss Learning Library. Through October 25th, enter the code CATLEARN at checkout to receive the discount when shopping online. The offer is available in stores as well.

These books have always been among my favorites, and we have a number of them in our library already. I'm planning to add a few new ones during the sale, including Wish for a Fish and A Whale of a Tale to tie in with our ocean unit.

25% Off All Orders Over $100 at Endless

Now through September 9th, take 25% off your entire order at Endless.com with a purchase of $100 or more by entering the code FRIENDS25 at checkout.

The following brands are excluded from the offer: ASICS, Brooks, Callaway, Dansko, ECCO, FitFlop, Fossil, FRYE, Giuseppe Zanotti, Hunter, Marc By Marc Jacobs, Michael By Michael Kors, Mizuno Running, New Balance, Patagonia, Polo Ralph Lauren, Prince, Reebok, Skechers, Stuart Weitzman, The North Face, To Boot New York, Wilson, Bulova, ESQ by Movado, Citizen, Seiko, Bulova, Caravelle by Bulova and Pulsar.

Also remember that you can use Amazon gift cards earned on Swagbucks to pay for purchases at Endless, too. In the three months I've been using Swagbucks as my search engine, I've earned about a dozen $5 gift cards to Amazon - that's nice shoe money!

$5 Admission to Orlando Science Center This Sunday

This Sunday, August 29th, the Orlando Science Center will be offering all-day admission for only $5. What a great chance to check out OSC if you've never been there and make a return visit to check out their new exhibits. If you like what you see, OSC annual passes are a great deal as well since there are so many homeschooling opportunities there. Last I checked, OSC passholders had reciprocal privileges at the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Daytona Beach.

Magic Tree House Boxed Set only $8.77 at Amazon

If you have a big Magic Tree House fan in the house like I do, check out this great deal currently available at Amazon. Currently, the boxed set that includes the first four books in the Magic Tree House series is on sale for only $8.77 (regular price is $15.96) and is eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping with an order totaling $25 or more.

The set includes the following books:

1. Dinosaurs Before Dark
2. The Knight at Dawn
3. Mummies in the Morning
4. Pirates Past Noon

In case you're not familiar with the Magic Tree House series, these are great first chapter books, taking kids on adventures throughout time and around the world with main characters Jack and Annie. Noah is steadily working his way through the entire series, and we plan to use them as the central point in our history and geography studies this year.

Our Goodies from the Scholastic Sale

Of course, I had to share pictures of our haul from the Scholastic sale. This is what we crammed into three bags with the exception of about four or five things the kids already made off with . . . total was $20 since we added a $5 software game.

Scholastic Books Fairs Warehouse Sale

For all the local homeschool mama's, run - don't walk - the Scholastic Book Fairs Warehouse Sale currently going on at their location in Lake Mary. The sale, which started yesterday, continues until 7PM tonight and from 8AM to 4PM on Saturday.

The bulk of the items are priced at $5 per (you-fill-it) bag, with a separate section having individual items ranging to 50 - 80% off. Some items are damaged or missing parts, so you definitely have to pick through to find those in the best condition. But overall, it was well worth $5/bag to be able to answer "yes, yes, yes" every time my kids asked "Can we get this?" They have declared it to be the "best day ever" and are anxiously waiting for me to come downstairs and help them sort through all their new finds.

Special Offer at Spark for Homeschooling in Heels Readers!

Through the end of September, the wonderful folks at Spark Enrichment Center are extending a very special offer to Homeschooling in Heels readers - purchase any one class and get another one free. Here's what you do:

1. Sign up to follow Homeschooling in Heels blog.

2. Like the Homeschooling in Heels page on Facebook.

3. Call over to Spark to sign up for your classes, and be sure to tell them that Homeschooling in Heels sent you!

Check out Spark's fall schedule here or on their website. If you take advantage of this offer, we'd love to hear about your Spark experience! Please comment back on this post or on the Facebook page to let us know which classes you enjoyed.

Adorable Pencil Desk and Chair only $17.40 at Amazon Today

Saw this adorable desk and chair on sale and had to share. How cute would this be in any classroom??? It looks to be on the smallish size, and in reading the reviews, people seem to love it but admit that it works best for preschool / kindy aged kids. It's on sale today for only $17.40 and ships for free with Amazon Prime or an order totaling $25 or more.

Shoe Sale Saturday - Something to Keep Me Running

Moving on to something a little more practical, I finally ordered new running shoes. I don't even want to tell you how many miles were on the old ones, and if I'm going to start running again, new shoes are definitely in order. But before you start thinking I choose my running shoes based on looks, please know that it's only a coincidence that they're cute and pink. Most of my former running shoes have been pretty hideous looking, so I'm excited about these!

They should arrive on Tuesday - free 2-day shipping courtesy of Endless, and they ship back for free if I don't love them. I've never bought running shoes online before, but since I've worn Asics for years, I thought I'd give it a try. The biggest selling point for me was the $30 I knocked off the price by using the Amazon gift cards I earned through SwagBucks (Endless is owned by Amazon).

If you haven't signed up for Swagbucks yet, it's a great way to earn prizes (such as Amazon gift cards) by searching online (which you already do anyway). Make Swagbucks your homepage, and search through them instead of another search engine. If you decide to sign up, please consider doing so through my referral link so we can both earn points (and shoes!)

Shoe Shopping Savings at DSW!!!

So here's pair number two from yesterday's birthday outing. My mom and I visited DSW in Sanford for a little shoe shopping, only to find out that they're in the process of closing the store. Of course, I was sad to hear they were closing . . . but happy that meant an extra 30% off all clearance prices. Two of the pairs I purchased were on clearance for 30% off, so the extra 30% off make them a fantastic deal! Any local shoe lovers who want to shop the sale should make it quick. They'll be closed by July 16th, if not before.

Great Organic Deals at Publix This Week

Recently, I've come to love coupon blogs that pull together all the great deals at places I shop. And while I have no intention of trying to do the same, I still like to share super deals when I find them. Here are some great deals on organic products I found at Publix today:

- True North Nut Clusters on sale 2/$5 plus on-shelf coupons for $1 off each bag. I couldn't resist stocking up and bought four bags, which ended up costing me only $6!

- Muir Glen Pasta Sauce is buy one, get one free plus selected jars have a coupon for $2 off 2. They're normally $3.59 each, and I got 4 for around $5!

- Swanson's Organic Vegetable Broth is on sale 2 for $5 plus on-shelf coupons for $ .75 off each one. I bought 2 for about $3.50 (they're normally that much each).

Almond Breeze is still on sale for $2.59 (although the on-shelf coupons are gone this week), and they have bags of organic brown rice for only $ .99.

Sneaky Savings

I'm enjoying finding ways to save on doing the thinks we love - like eating out. We are fortunate to have many great vegetarian and veg-friendly restaurants in the area, with our favorites including Ethos Vegan Kitchen, Dandelion Cafe, Infusion Tea, Cafe 118 and B3 (Bikes, Beans & Bordeaux). Of course, I'm on all their e-mail newsletter lists and love receiving updates along with the occasional coupon (Infusion and B3 have the best coupons!)

Other than an occasional trip to Season 52 or Amura, I can't remember the last time we ate at a chain restaurant. I love supporting small, family-owned places, and I've found that these types of restaurants are doing more to keep eating out affordable. At all the veg places listed above, along with our favorite local Italian place - TerraMia (which is definitely not veg but has some good options) - the kids and I can generally eat lunch for $20. I can imagine lunch for three at Panera or Crispers would cost at least as much, and the qualify of food doesn't compare.

Since I don't cook on Sundays, we often find ourselves at Harmoni, a local market, bistro and wine bar that tries to "Go Local" as much as possible. In addition to supporting the local food movement, we love to take advantage of family night, which includes free kids meals.

We've also been using Orlando Sentinel's Dining Deals and Restaurant.com to buy discounted gift certificates. I prefer Restaurant.com because you download and print the certificates yourself (rather than waiting for them to come in the mail). In browsing their website recently, I noticed that they had Cafe 118 gift certificates available.

My husband's new business includes a Rewards Mall where we can buy from tons of popular retailers, including - you guessed it - Restaurant.com and receive rewards points to spend on future purchases. When ordering through his site, I was excited to see that we also got a 20% discount on the certificates. I ended up buying $100 in gift certificates for $32!

If you use Restaurant.com at all, please consider ordering from his site. All you need to do is create a free account, and you'll recieve the 20% off plus rewards points on your next purchase!

Happy Birthday, Grandma

Today was my mom's birthday, and even though we're having a celebration on Sunday, we wanted to make sure we got to see her on her big day. So, we met for lunch after our hula hooping workshop to give her a gift and the cards the kids had made.

We're big card "makers" (as opposed to card "buyers"), and I've learned a fun little trick for this. Both kids love to create lots of wonderful art - and they can't bear to part with any of it. So, I've started pulling our their completed projects to make our cards - fold it in half, write a message inside and you're done!

The card-making process has definitely been simplified, and I know the kids' masterpieces will definitely be enjoyed so much more this way than they will at the bottom of the artwork stack. This also keeps "the stack" much smaller, which is always an added bonus!

I Just Saved $62 On My Groceries!

Yes, this is one of those posts that has absolutely nothing to do with homeschooling. At least if I'd taken the kids to the store, I could have educated them on the art of snagging unbelievable deals. But this was serious shopping, and sometimes serious shopping is best done alone.

So let me start by revealing that I've never been a coupon girl. I like the idea of them, and if I can find one for a store or restaurant I like, I'll definitely use it. But when it came to groceries, there never seemed to be coupons for the products I actually used.

Recently, however, I've noticed many of the natural foods manufacturers running sales and offering coupons, and Publix has had their own specials for these products as well. In fact, it was their great buy one, get one free specials that inspired me to start purchasing extra items every week to donate to a food pantry.

So, I started using a random coupon here or there . . . and then I found this wonderful blog. At Fiddledeedee, Sarah shares "strategic shopping" tips and provides weekly lists of in-store specials at local supermarkets. Then, she pairs each special with links to additional coupons for that product.

For example, I noticed that Post Trail Mix cereal was buy one, get one free and decided to get two boxes for my food pantry collection. The normal price for two boxes would have been $8.40, but I could get them both for $4.20 with the Publix sale. Then, using the link on the blog, I printed a coupon for $2 off one box and ended up paying $2.20 for two boxes! I think you can actually take this one step further and actually use another $2 off coupon for the second "free" box, but hey, I'm just learning.

The total savings on my receipt - including manufacturer's coupons, in-store savings and advertised specials - was $62.52. The 30% savings was definitely worth the few minutes it took me to plan my purchases and print the coupons. I love that she has lots of information on Publix, since that's where I do most of my shopping, and that she posts organic deals every Friday.

Some extra deals not listed on the blog that were a nice surprise:

• The buy one, get one free on Ragu pasta sauce included their organic sauces ($2.59 for 2, and that's without even printing the coupon - didn't know it included organic before I got there).

• Muir Glen soups had a $1 off coupon on every can (only $1.19/can with the coupon).

• True North nut clusters are still on sale 2 for $5.

Happy shopping!