Sunny Sunday Cleaning #2

I had every intention of cataloging my whirlwind of spring cleaning, but the whirlwind has been more of a snails crawl! The dust bunnies are winning and I see no end in sight!

My modest goal for today & tomorrow is to have ALL the surfaces cleared off & dusted. We'll see how that goes! I have a feeling that I may just be shutting the kids doors & doing a stash -n- dash Saturday afternoon.

I have already put away a ton of stuff in the laundry room, making room for all the stuff that is out & doesn't have a home yet. I also need to get the rest of the Easter stuff put back into storage. The kids just don't want to put the baskets & buckets away yet.

I have 6 days to get the house company ready, I am co-hosting a "Tastefully Simple" party Saturday night. Should be fun, even if it isn't very frugal! A night with the girls is always worthwhile.

My raised garden bed is built & now I am just waiting on my delivery of dirt. Thankfully my brother dug a big hole this week for his foundation, I should be able to steal a dump truck full! The weather is beautiful here, but I'm sure it won't last. I don't dare plant in the ground before Memorial day!

On the "Frugal" front I did not have a great week! I feel like I've spent all the money I've been avoiding spending for the year in the last few days. I can't complain too loudly though, sometimes you just have to break down & spend the money. The Prince needed new baseball spikes, like he wore a 2 1/2 last year, this year he's wearing a 6!!! The toaster kicked, my niece is having a baby so must sew a quilt (buying a little at a time, since I'm still deciding on a pattern), groceries, gasoline, blah blah blah. I did squirrel away some into the EF. That account is growing, so I must be doing something right!

We celebrated Earth Week by planting 7 trees at our local state park, where my sister works. The kids loved it & will insist on visiting there tree ALL SUMMER LONG, I'm sure! We also celebrated Volunteer Recognition Week with a big breakfast at work. We had 29 volunteers recognized in our north county area, it was an impressive turnout. If you volunteer at anything THANK YOU! Your services are truly valuable & valued, it doesn't take much to make a difference in your community. Even the smallest gesture can change someones life for the better.

Dance Recital 2009!

The ballet dance was to "Uptown Girls"






The tap routine was to "Never Go To Work"

They are just so cute it's hard not to laugh at them, but they all got their standing ovation at the end of the evening program!

Happy Birthday kiddos!

My Princess is 5 years old!



My Baby boy is 9!





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Crafty Giveaway!!!

For November I am giving away a 2 sets of Sticklers, 6 Glaze pens and 6 Souffle pens. From Sakura of America, these are the coolest! Your kids will love to use them to personalize their stuff. Notebooks, electronics, books I can think up tons of uses for them.

There are 6 Glaze pens, which have a glossy finish and 6 Souffle pens, which have a matte finish. Both are 3D ink and leave an impression you can feel.

The sticklers are gold & silver outlines you can fill in with the pens. I used one to put a pink and gold star on my cell phone. I also used a heart to embellish a note card.




We had a blast one night with some of the other pens I was sent to sample. We used the Gelly Roll Stardust and the Gelly Roll Metallic pens on black card stock to make signs for football games.



Leave a comment = 1 entry
Blog about my giveaway = 1 entry (leave a comment and link here)

I will choose the winner using a random number generator at Sunday 9PM November 2 EST.



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Some Neat Gift Ideas - You Make Yourself

Affordable Wall Art

Country Soap and Lotion Dispensers

Homemade Bookmarks

Easy to make Hat Organizer

Kids Apron, Chef hat & baking tray

For Girls (but not small ones!) - Button Rings

Almost no sew Tutu

Sweater Mittens New gift, recycled material!

Crochet Dishcloths Who wouldn't love a bundle of colorful dishcloths!

Lots of "free" CDroms lying around??? Check out Make Stuff










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Update on Princess

Apparently our Dr. isn't concerned with the swallowed ball bearing, so my mission is to find someone with a metal detector this weekend & hope it is good enough to detect something inside a person.
I think I might call our insurance company's nurse help line, simply because we got nowhere with our Dr's office (shocking).

I really believe she passed it & we just weren't around (like at school or flushed with out saying something), or she could just be like me & take forever to digest things...


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I am THAT Mom...

I've been reading We are THAT Family for a while know. I just don't see how they are so much different from MY family, does that make us normal...???

Anywho, I just had to add my current THAT Family story to the blog-ishpere. Last week my almost 5 year old daughter swallowed a magnetix ball, ball bearing, metal marble... thingy. I haven't taken her to the ER yet, she isn't blocked up, but my Mom is freaking out about it.

We haven't been able to tell if she has passed it yet. Honestly, I was more afraid of giving her the half dose of mild laxative I gave her the night she swallowed the thing...

So, should I call our idiot DR.? Sorry, hubby still hasn't fixed our Primary Care Physician issue yet... Find someone with a metal detector??? go to the airport??? Find an inner city school??? I didn't read anything about these being dangerous alone, and the real danger is for small toddlers & the magnetic parts... I just don't think this is worthy of freaking out about. IF she were constipated and turning shades of yellow green I'd have her there in a flash, but this doesn't seem to be that HUGE. Or should I be freaking out???

Is it terrible that I just don't want to call this stupid Dr. and explain the whole thing. Like why was she putting this in her mouth??? I don't have a clue, it's not like we encourage her to put random gross things in her mouth. Or why didn't we call the next day? Well, I gave her a laxitive & waited, which would probably have been their orders, or there might be an inhaler perscription... OK sorry tangent.







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From My Google Reader...

Homemaker Barbi has put together an amazing Get Ready for Winter checklist. Seems redundant to do one of my own!!! I'm just going to go over hers & see what I need to Tackle for tomorrows Tackle it Tuesday!!!

This week I will be doing:


1. Pack away summer clothes.

2. Box up summer shoes and sandals.

3. Unpack winter outer wear. We already had to get out the box of hats & gloves for last weeks football game, brrrr!

4. Unpack and wash winter inner wear, such as wool socks, flannel pajamas, sweaters, and robes.

5. Donate adults’ and kids’ old coats, snow pants and boots that are too small to a local shelter or Goodwill. - We will have a coat collection at the Prince's school. I'll just be ready early!

6. Switch to heavyweight pajamas.

I am also ready for my CLR Tackle Now I just need to decide what to clean first!

For the Kids! 2 Fall Leaf Projects for kids.


Don't forget to enter my giveaway You have until October 24th 9PM!






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Halloween to Thanksgiving Ideas

Fall is here! Time to start thinking about Halloween & Thanksgiving, for me that also includes 2 weddings, several anniversaries & birthdays, hunting season and more FOOTBALL!!!

So when I open my email & find a bunch of great tips sitting there just waiting to be passed along I just have to share!


~The start of the upcoming holiday season is upon us with Halloween right around the corner! Between family dinners, parties, costumes, and more, things can really add up! With Americans looking to save money anywhere we can these days- we've got some budget saving decorating ideas (and kid-friendly crafts) that will transition you from Halloween through Thanksgiving. Lisa Kothari, a nationally known party planner, offers up some fabulous ideas for your readers. Below are just some of her ideas; please let me know if you・d like more. Thanks!



Cookie Cutters: The simple pumpkin cookie cutter you chose to create marvelous pumpkin invitations and decorations for your spooky Halloween party can be used at Thanksgiving time to make pumpkin sugar cookies, pumpkin bread, brownies, etc. Pumpkins are as festive at Halloween as they are at Thanksgiving.



Tablecloth: Use an orange tablecloth for your Halloween party table, and then trim it up using brown ribbon and scalloped scissors to create a formal tablecloth for Thanksgiving.



The bales of hay and Indian corn you purchased to make your yard, front porch, door, and even serve as a table centerpiece can all be used during Thanksgiving as well. The items will keep fresh throughout the entire autumn season. You can also use the corn husks to create dolls and puppets for more Thanksgiving decorations or plain fun!



Mini pumpkins and gourds look as festive for Halloween as they will for Thanksgiving. Have the kids draw faces on the small pumpkins, and turkeys on to the gourds.



Any leftover orange balloons can be blown up for Thanksgiving and the kids can either draw with brown magic markers or use other craft materials to create turkey balloons.



Have the kids roll up large orange napkins that you may have used for your Halloween party and create napkin rings using white and black construction paper rings (the Pilgrim colors, of course!)



Did you bob for apples at your Halloween party? Use these apples or some new ones to create Apple Candlestick Holders. Core out the center of the apple to fit a candle snuggly. Older children can carve out patterns on the skin of the apple, or just keep them plain red.



About Lisa Kothari: Kothari is the president and founder of Peppers and Pollywogs, a web-based company that is ・All About Kids・ Parties.・ During the past ten years, Lisa has organized hundreds of creative and unique kids・ parties in Washington, DC, New York City, and Seattle. She believes that no matter the budget or the amount of time a parent has, a great kids・ party can always be planned. Her passion is helping parents achieve this with minimal time and effort. Kothari recently released her book, Dear Peppers and Pollywogs・What Parents Want to Know About Planning Their Kids・ Parties, a must-have manual for all parents. Be sure and visit Peppers and Pollywogs for party tips, advice, and current theme trends.






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Monday Update and POWA

Parade of WEEKLY adventures!

We spent the entire weekend partying! Between our communities Fall Festival, football, the festival's parade and more.



Most of the kids activities were a wash due to the rainy weather, but they still had 2 party jumpers and some carnival games. We only had a small window of fun time on Saturday because of the Prince's football game, but they managed to get filthy and bounce them selves silly!

The parade on Sunday was a huge success, except for the rain again. It had fire departments, cheerleaders, football players (mine!), marching bands, Shriners, horses, even a float! There were prizes, but we didn't ever hear who won them.

I'm not sure what they are raising money for this year, but the last 2 years the committee made sizable donations to the new playground project (my hubby got the grant to get that ball rolling, so we were invested!).

Weekly Menu Plan
Breakfast for dinner, clean out the fridge night, mystery freezer stuff, spaghetti, hot dogs & burgers. No idea what order, depends on the activities!!!

POWA -
Monday

• Work
• scrape more siding at my Mom's
• laundry

Tuesday

• unload truck of lumber for MIL's wheelchair ramp
• The Princess is back to school
  
• paint at Mom's
• Clean children's bedrooms, they are gross

Wednesday

• Work
• Laundry
• Paint at Mom's
• Vacuum
• Clean Bathrooms

Thursday

• Paint at Mom's
• School for Princess
  
• Clean desks
• Vacuum couches, ewww

Friday

• Work
• School for Princess
  
• Paint at Mom's
• Shopping

Saturday

• Football Game - home

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One is Back to School

The Princess doesn't start until Tuesday, but the Prince went back a few days ago.

He started off 3rd grade with a bang! I think his self confidence has grown with football. Just last night he was able to do 6 pushups, first practice he couldn't do one. He got his work done on time in class, and brought home a "tough" book to read for homework. They chose their own books, so I was impressed. I hope he can keep it up, he is very capable and I think his teacher will be very encouraging!

On a garden note - this is my "wild" sunflower! HUGE. (by comparison The Prince is standing next to the flower & in his sneakers he has to be pushing 55 inches tall)

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Our last summer excursion

This is what my kiddos look like while riding a ferry across a lake!!!





The ferry has been there for 195 years, it under went renovation a few years ago. It was a neat thing to do. We were half way to the other side before we could convince them that we were moving!!! The best part, it was fun & only cost a donation. You could even go across without the car just for fun. Next year we might have to do that.

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Wordless Wednesday

Ok so a couple words, they won 26 to 12!!! My baby had half a tackle!


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Wow! Wow ! Wubbzy! DVD Giveaway!

• 

I am thrilled to be giving away a Pre-Release DVD copy of Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! "A Tale of Tails". Wubbzy has been thrilling my kiddos since 2006. It currently airs 40 times a week on Nick Jr. and Noggin. Obviously it is geared towards the preschool set, but my 9 year old seems to like it too (sorry I won't tell your teammates!).

Wubbzy, Widget, and Walden work together to solve everyday problems. Our favorite is when Wubbzy makes a cake "All by himself," but over does it on the baking soda. It's a great lesson in asking for help, working together and following directions. It's also a good lesson for parents to let them do things for themselves once in a while!

This DVD's release date is September 23 and is available from Anchor Bay Entertainment for $16.98. It includes 6 episodes plus 2 bonus episodes, a music video, coloring pages, DVD ring toss, printable activities, birthday party invitations and some sneak peeks.

• A Tale of Tails - Wubbzy has tail issues
• Special Delivery - Wubbzy can't resist opening Walden's package
  
• Widget's Wild Ride - Widget soups up Wubbzy's Derby car
  
• Attack of the 50-Foot Fleegle - Wubbzy doesn't read the manual for his new pet
  
• Come Spy with Me - Wubbzy and Widget spy on Walden
  
• Wubbzy Tells a Whopper - Wubbzy tells a tall tale after breaking Widget's tool
  
• Bonus - Mt. Fizzy-Pop - The gang tries to keep Mt. Fizzy-Pop from erupting
  
• Bonus - Puddle Muddle - Wubbzy can't keep clean for his pictures

To enter:

• Leave a comment here, please leave an email address so I can reach you!
• For an extra entry, blog about the giveaway, leave another comment here and leave the link (and your email)
• The winner will be chosen at random on September 5th 9PM EST.
  

If you don't win this is still a great gift for your preschooler, check it out at Anchor Bay Entertainment. This is a great stocking stuffer one that will amuse them for a while!

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Back to School Shopping

I know some kids are already back to school, but here they make us wait another 2 WEEKS!

My shopping is almost all done. I can't say it's done, because we still need some zip-top bags and a new backpack (think I'm pulling the K & 1st grade one back out, that was still in good shape, 2nd grade bit the dust), but the basic supplies are all here!

The best part is, I didn't spend a fortune. I picked up a few things everytime I went shopping after they started filling shelves with it. Skipping over the glossy sparkly stuff (I only had to buy for the Prince, Princess doesn't need much if anything) I managed to get everything on his list for just under $8. Not bad for all that is there! The most expensive item was the glue sticks, from a MEGA pack, so I still have a bunch at home for me and the Princess to craft with! Between the practically free stuff I picked up at Walgreens, the cheap 5 cent notebooks at Wal-Mart I was able to pick up a few extras for me (like pens).

The biggest difference between 2nd & 3rd grade - matching notebooks & folders, he's a big boy now 3 subjects ~ tear, sigh~ and they had to be the same. Otherwise everything was similar, except he needs an old sock for a dry erase board. I'm ass-uming to learn cursive writing, but I could be wrong.

I felt like I had to save as much as possible on the supplies because clothing is outrageous! My boy is a husky, that usually means big bucks & good luck finding anything in a store (ok rural here remember, I'm an hour away from any mall)... Hopefully football will slim him down enough to avoid that challenge. At least he doesn't need a closet full of new things, that would be bank breaking!

I am also pretty sure that he has a bunch of pants he can still wear. He just needs some new shirts, for some reason my kids can stain things by looking at them! Towards the end of school last year he started wearing a t-shirt EVERYDAY, it was painful. Of course he'd wear jogging pants everyday if he could too, he really is his father's son LOL!

I am trying to get his wardrobe down to a manageable inventory, but the kids has more than I do. Hopefully I can get him down to

• 7 pairs of pants (jeans & khakis)
• 5 dress - polo shirts
• 14 t-shirts (he has at least 50 so this is a biggie, lawn sales, hand-me downs, grandparents)
• 5 PJ sets - 4 of these are on the list, he has outgrown all but 1 pair of feety jammies!
• 5 pair of jogging pants
• 5 Sweat shirts
• 2 Sweaters
• 1 All season jacket - also needs to be purchased, we like the kind with zip outs, they tend to last longer. The last one he had from
  

*Just so I qualify the chunky-ness of my son, he is about 54 inches tall (4feet 6inches) and will be going in the football program at 101 pounds. He has a belly, but he's mostly just a solid little guy. The coach apparently had to weigh him twice couldn't believe it.

I have discovered that we ALL need to up our cardio a little not just him...


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10 Money Rules for Parents to Live By

10 Money Rules for Parents to Live By from Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, September 2008, is a good read!

These are good rules to live by! The best rule would be to live what you want them to. If you tell them they can't have something because you don't have the money right now, but you stop and buy a $5 coffee, it's a mixed message. Also, no one is perfect, and making mistakes is a great learning tool. Let the kids learn the value of a dollar the hard way, earn it. They'll figure out soon that if they spend their $10 on some toy, they won't have it to spend on the $50 video game!


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Frugal Weekend Fun

Or proof that I REALLY do need a new digital camera... This balloon rally & air show was held at a local airport. It was really frugal because we only had to pay $10 to park, but everything else was free. The kids enjoyed the bouncer slide, and the petting zoo, a crazy train ride and watching the planes come in and take off. Of course the purpose is to "Sell" rides, but we really only went over for the evening activities. Balloon Glow and fireworks. My pics of the Glow didn't turn out very well, I should have borrowed my Mom's Kodak EasyShare Z1012 10.1MP Digital Camera with 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom it takes excellent pictures. Especially compared to my 4.0MPs.



I also found a new affiliate network Join Pepperjam Network today! They have a bunch of different advertisers. Check it out.
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Frugal Challenges

My current frugal challenge... Sports. That's my challenge right now. We made it through baseball about $300 poorer. Yikes, figure pictures, registration, new spikes, bat, gloves, helmets, bags for carrying them, treating the team at the snack stand once, game time snacks, lice spray for the helmets in the gear bag (just to be sure). It adds up fast.

Now the Prince is playing midget football. Almost all the equipment is owned by the league, nice!!! So thankfully he can wear his baseball spikes, at least for now, I don't think they'll fit by the time he starts games. He's growing like a weed lately.

You would think in a small community there could be an old equipment exchange or something.

Anyways we just had to spend $20 on undergear for UNDER the uniform. We aren't done, he'll need a long sleeve shirt once it chills down here. Hopefully I'll be able to get that for around $10, but we'll see.

So running total for football $45, & 2 batches of peanut butter bread. Still to come snack stands, lots of travel & the pancake breakfast.

I think I am going to try to organize a pre-season equipment exchange next year. This stuff is hardly worn and they outgrow it like CRAZY! I'm sure I'll get resistance, for such a small town there seem to be a lot of snobbish people who think they are too good for that, at least that's the attitude they put forth. But how can I resist when he is this excited about all his cool uniform stuff!



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Walgreens #1 Super Savings

I made my first real trip to the new Walgreens (WAGS) Thursday. Since it's a new store I don't think they had gotten in everything in their flyer, which made me toss my list... I did get a rain check for the $1.99 domino sugar.
I left with 3 bags, mostly of school stuff. Can't beat a 10 pack of pens for 9 cents! The only thing I grabbed that wasn't on my list was 2 4 packs of dry erase markers for $1.99. The kids are LOVING the dry erase letter boards I got them, so much so the pens that came with them are drying out. Oh darn, the education... LOL!

I also took advantage of the Pert/Sure rebate that was in the coupon flyer this past weekend. Buy $5 worth of Pert & Sure & $5 of school supplies get $5 rebate by mail.

• 2 10 pack pens
• 4 2 packs pink erasers
• 2 10 pack mechanical pencils
• 2 4 pack dry erase markers
• 2 20 pack pens
• 1 4 pack highlighters
• 2 index cards
• 2 packs fill paper
• 2 pencil sharpeners
• 4 10 packs sheet protectors
• 1 6 pack koolaid drinks
• 1 pert plus
• 1 sure deodorant
• 1 degree for men

All for $25.67 after tax. Not too shabby! Most of it was just to stock up. I still have a few things from the list to pick up (they were out of the markers & crayons). They were also out of anything remotely useful in the buy $10 of Kellogg's get $5 in register rewards. I was hoping to stock up on the poptarts, but there wasn't 1 box in the store.

But, I still have the $5 rebate to mail in too! SO my total will be $21.09 figuring in the stamp! Not too bad for my first trip!

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10 Fun Things to do Before Labor Day

10 Fun Things to do Before Labor Day


1. Run under a sprinkler.
~Check! Washing the car was good for a soaking too!!!

2. Sleep outdoors.
~ It hasn't been dry enough to set up the tent outside, maybe I'll set it up in our dinning room!

3. Have a sunrise picnic in the garden.
~We have spontaneous picnics all the time, maybe I need to plan one!

4. Take a spin.
~Not for me... The kids have spun plenty!

5. Ring a bell.
~I'd need to get a bicycle first...

6. Eat most of your meals outdoors.
~Check! We have too, we moved the old dinning room table out on to our screened porch. We are getting a new table from my Grandma, we just have to go get it.

7. Eat a campfire treat—indoors.
~Check! We do s'mores every chance we get.

8. Stay up late for some stargazing.
~ Check! Goes hand in hand with the campfires!

9. Sing campfire songs and tell ghost stories.
~Not sure the kids are ready for creepy campfire stories, they are sensitive buggers!

10. Get a new flag and let it wave!
~Check! We bought a new one for Memorial Day.



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