For the special Bride and Groom to be we will be giving away a My Publisher’s Hardcover Photo Book! Three stories will be chosen by us here at Lil Duck Duck so our readers will then vote for their favorite story.

We have a sample here in our hands and this is truly bookstore-quality printing – and we are not easily impressed as we hold a high standard when it comes to photo printing . Think what a special memories book this will be for your photos from your dates, to highlight your wedding preparation photos, ring shopping or use it for your honeymoon photos!

MyPublisher is a leading photo book company who offers high quality printing of your customized photos and text at a surprisingly low price – hardcover photo books start at just $29.80 – which makes them affordable for your wedding photo keepsakes.

Not just for wedding, engagement or honeymoon memories, customizing a photo book is a wonderful gift for family keepsakes and delightful for a new mom for a baby gift! Easy to complete online with fast download and with creative layouts (over 250 layouts and customizable fonts) that will highlight your photos, you will be pleased with this special photo book to hold your memories for years to come.

So, we want to hear from the engaged couple …post your Engagement Story or Marriage Proposal Story below in the comments section (don’t make it too lengthy ). Tell us how your groom proposed to you recently. Your stories will be accepted until midnight on the 31st of March. Then we will choose three of your stories for our readers to vote (for the next week) as to who will win the MyPublisher hardcover Photo Book giveaway!

If you are the Maid of Honor, Matron of Honor, Best Man, Groomsmen or Flower Girl or Ring Bearer for the coming wedding, tell the special couple to tell us their engagement story and they just might be the winner of this keepsake photo book! Be sure to also check out our Photo Save The Date Cards & Photo Engagement Announcements.

The best part about using E-Mealz menu plan is less stress and time for me in planning, shopping and fixing the food for my family. At first I thought, “Ok, I’ll be paying for the convenience, but it is worth the $1.25 a week to simplify my life.” Well, yes, that has proven true – but here is the big surprise… E-Mealz is saving me MAJOR money on groceries. Compared to last year’s grocery bills, I have saved over $150 in just 2 months using their menu plans. Now given the cost of $10 for the subscription, that is good practical dollar and sense savings!

Meal Plan Options

Weekly meal plans based on your grocery store sales…provided with a complete aisle-by-aisle grocery list. Just print and go! Each one of these plans represents hours of planning, shopping and recipe testing for only $5 a month! Choose which is best for you. All of these plans are designed with your whole family in mind, even the plans created for weight management! You choose the store… we provide the plan each week!
To see a SAMPLE and find out more about a particular plan, click on the name of the meal plan when you go to the site. The current list has choices for Regular Family Meal Plans serves 7 meals for 4 – 6 people or Regular Meal Plans for Two serves 5 meals for 2 people, and ever expanding (check your area for your stores) list of stores they offer are: Aldi, Kroger, Publix, Wal-Mart and any store PLUS menus for Vegetarian, Low Carb, Low Fat and Points System.

Try E-Mealz for a month and see how helpful this is for you in saving time and money. I’m glad I did.

Also check out our other posts on further ways to save on the food bill.

Ok, I’ll admit it, I hate meal planning. Oh, I’ve tried many plans and systems over the years and nothing has worked …until this easy to use plan. I have been using E-Mealz for awhile now and it not only works well for us, it is saving me money as well as time and aggravation.

Why does E-Mealz work? It is easily adaptable for our likes or dislikes, has very simple recipes printed right on the same page with the meal plan, uses the weekly sales from the grocery store of my choice to save money and prints out the meal plans for the week as well as the grocery list for easy shopping. The only thing I have to do is the shopping and preparing…and eating.

I print out the weekly plan, cross out a meal not to our liking or it makes me think of our favorite ground beef dish instead of theirs, easily cross reference the items to cross off the grocery list and add my items on the side. The simple recipes are kid-friendly, quick and easy to fix.

Did I mention there are also fruits and vegetables included in the plan? You choose the diet specific meal plan and the grocery store for your zip code and you will see savings on your grocery bill. I have definitely been saving more than my careful shopping was before using E-Mealz and there are more saving tips on the web site.

Try E-Mealz for a month and see how helpful this is for you in saving time and money. I’m glad I did.

Also check out our other posts on further ways to save on the food bill.

1. For baby boys – our Blue & Brown Collage Photo Birth Announcement
2. For baby girls: Love, Joy & Wonder – Girl Square Birth Announcement – generally ordered as a folded card, but also available as a double-sided flat flip card.
3. For twins: Green Photo Twin Boy & Girl Birth Announcement – popular every month, this is often ordered for two girls or two boys as well, though and even work for triplets .
4. It’s the time of year to get engaged, apparently, as our photo save the date cards have been very popular lately. One of the favorites is our Custom Colored Save The Date Photo Card, which we do in every color combination you can imagine, and then some (see the additional images at the bottom of the page for some ideas).
5. Black & white wedding colors are big this year, so our classic favorite is still a top seller (also available in sepia & color): Black & White Photo Save The Date Card



6. A continuation of the black & white theme, our Black & White Five Photo Wedding Thank You is very popular, although other colors of this design are creeping up there too.
7. Available in any set of colors you wish, our classic square folded wedding photo thank you card is still also a top seller.
8. Birthday invitations are still the #1 item around here, starting with our 50th Birthday Party Collage Photo Invitation design, especially this turquoise design variation, which has been done for all ages from 1 to 90 and can be customized to any colors you wish.
9. The Chocolate Squares Birthday Invitation, available in blue & pink as well as custom colors, is our #1 seller for ages 1-5, and is also available in an adult birthday invitation design option.
10. Polka dots, along with black, pink & white, are in this year, we have many variations on this theme, from a 1st birthday princess, to a 13th twin dance party, to a 50th birthday party & more, and you can customize this to suit any party .
11. With the addition of Grandma Duck as one of our designers, she has been busily creating many designs, including the expansion of our baby shower invitation design line. She finds that the most popular design for baby showers is the Jungle Animal Baby Shower Invitation & its many variations, followed closely by the Stitched Flowers Ultrasound Photo Shower Invitation for girls & boys.
12. Our Christening thank you cards are always a hit, especially the Purple Butterfly Baptism Thank You Card for girls and the Brown & Blue Polka Dot Christening Photo Card for baby boys.
13. Birthday thank you cards are also fun, with the top sellers this month being our Prince Photo Thank You Card (we also have one for princesses) & the Pink & Brown Three Photo Polka Dotted Thank You for girls.

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I checked out the link for Cozi and was favorably impressed. From the web site samples it does appear that they have accomplished their goal to provide a one-stop “organizing solution” for the entire family.

The technology could very well be the key in getting your older children to actually use the planner – wouldn’t that make life so much easier! The color coding of multiple family members and being able to see all the schedules at once earns my attention .

We encourage you to take a quick tour and view all the features. You can try Cozi for free and see how the features work for you and your family. Sometimes you find solutions when you least expect it!

Some further information regarding this planning software:

Cozi makes life easier, less stressful and more fun for busy families. Cozi helps you centralize “all things family” including your calendars, shopping lists, reminders, and even your digital photos. Cozi even provides a simple way to send quick messages to family members and a journal feature.

It is the only software service that is family-ready and addresses all the needs of the modern active family. Cozi is dedicated to organization for the family so the families have more time to spend on doing things they love.

Cozi’s software was most recently highlighted as the “must have calendar for the family” at the Consumer Electronics Show and as a valuable Web 2.0 resource for busy families.

Let us know how it works for you and your family, would love to hear how it “works in action”!