Nothing Says "Desperate for Free Food" like Seven People Dressed Like Cows

What more can I say? If you say "free food" to me, I ask "What do I have to do to get it?" I wonder how many of you knew that July 11th was Chik-fil-A Cow Appreciation day? We didn't until I happened to take the Littles there last Wednesday to play in the playland ('cuz it's hotter than Shnell out, dontcha know?) So, they had a pile of cow headbands sitting on the counter and told us that if you wore the headband in on Friday you'd get a free entree and if you dressed entirely like a cow, you got a free combo meal! Woo-hoo! When you have seven kids, these free things can really add up, so we decided to be cows for a day! Unfortunately, Ren was in San Diego teaching a class and Hannah is still on her vacation in Oregon, but the rest of us set to work to successfully carry out Operation Bovine Transformation! We cut out paper spots and stapled them to our clothes (I've always been a fan of the stapler for my quick sewing needs like hemming pants and applying cow spots.) We blackened up our noses, put on our cow headbands and headed off to Chik-fil-A! I wasn't a bit surprised to see some friends of ours from church all dressed up like cows (they have nine kids) -- when you have a large family, you learn creative ways to feed them cheaply. The kids were amazed at how much food we got when EVERYBODY ordered a combo meal! (Usually, we order two or maybe three combo meals and share the fries and drinks.) But we had SEVEN fries, SEVEN sandwiches, and SEVEN drinks -- all for free! It makes my frugal, penny pinching heart sigh with happiness just to think about it! Here's a few snapshots of our Cow Appreciation dinner...




I have also made a groundbreaking discovery in this process: The reason why cows are not attractive is because they moo. If you'll notice, my kids are all MOOING in the above pictures. The mooing face is just not an attractive face in my opinion. But the cheeeeese face, oh yes, much nicer looking (I am utilizing the modified cheeeeese face because I couldn't bring myself to moo). Did you ever see a mouse that wasn't cute? It's because of the cheeeeese face. I'm glad I could do my part in researching this all important topic. So I'll take this moment to thank Chik-fil-A for spurring me to new intellectual heights and for feeding my family for free! What a deal! THANKS CHIK-FIL-A!