Cereal Box Prizes for Grown-Ups!

I've read recent studies that say that consuming sugar substitutes actually causes weight gain, the theory being that your body isn't tricked by the fake sugar, and therefore sends you overwhelming cravings for the real thing.  I'm not sure if the studies are based on junk science or if they're valid, but most of the time I would much rather have a little sugar than a little Splenda. 

That being said, both Jeffrey and I used to drink diet soda all the time;  if I'm going to have sugar, I don't want it in liquid calories, thank you!  But we decided to cut back on the non-sugar products.  This summer we made a successful shift to drinking unsweetened iced tea, and almost every work day we filled up our FlyLady stainless steel thermoses and took them to work.  I use an iced tea maker, because it makes 3 quarts in a very short time with very little effort on my part.  But what tea to use?  I really like Bigelow Constant Comment Tea as a hot drink - but not so much as iced tea.  Then I found the perfect tea.  And it comes with a prize in every box!

I've collected Wade miniature figurines for awhile, and I was delighted to see that our local Walmart now stocks Red Rose tea- which comes with a Wade figurine in each box of 100 teabags!  Here's a picture of my Wade Noah's ark with all the animals.  Jeffrey got me the ark for Christmas after I'd collected the animals. 

The current promotion features figurines representing each month of the year.  I have a March leprechaun, an August sand pail, and an September scarecrow.  I love the detail on the tiny little statues, and I've been lucky not to get any duplicates so far. And I love opening up a fresh box of tea to see my new prize!