Whisk Together shows you how to make this homemade Inside-Out Reversible Bag.
Do you have a fun and frugal DIY idea to share? I’d love to hear about it! Read the submission guidelines and submit it here.
Summer Bucket List
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16 Ways to Become More Content
If you’re struggling to be content with your lot in life right now, here are 16 ways I have found have helped me cultivate contentment and a love for the life I have been given:
1. Go On a Spending Fast
Challenge yourself to stop spending money for a period of time — whether that’s a day, a week, a month, or longer. {Well, start small if this is a brand-new idea to you!} You’ll likely find that you begin to have a whole new appreciation for what you already have… and you’ll realize that you spend a lot more money than you need to.
2. Stay Home More
It’s pretty much always true that the less you shop, the less you buy. Stay out of the stores and you won’t be tempted to purchase things you didn’t know you needed in the first place!
3. Learn How to Do It Yourself
There’s a lot of fulfillment that comes from DIY projects, especially when they are saving you money! Challenge yourself to try at least one new DIY idea every month.
4. Surround Yourself With Frugal People
In Stop Acting Rich, the author says that the people you surround yourself with often have a great influence on your spending habits. So make some frugal friends and spend a lot of time hanging out with them. Even if you’re not a very frugal person yourself, I’m guessing it will rub off on you at least a little!
Psst! You should consider starting a Frugal Friends group.
5. Make a Gratitude List
It’s easy to focus on the hard and difficult things in life, but you’ll enjoy life a lot more if you challenge yourself to focus on your blessings, instead. Write down three things you’re thankful for every morning when you wake up or every evening when you go to bed. You just might be amazed at how it changes your whole perspective on life!
6. Eat From the Pantry
Every few months, declare a week of eating from the pantry and freezer. This will encourage you to think outside the box, be creative with what you have, and help some of that extra food that’s been at the bottom of the freezer and the back of your cupboard not go to waste.
7. Make Do Instead of Buying New
When you think that you need to buy a replacement or just something new altogether, see how long you can make do without it. I’ve sometimes gone for years without replacing something that I once that was a must-have!
8. Serve the Less Fortunate
Want a reality check on how fantastic your life is? Go on a mission trip to a third-world country. Or just go volunteer at a homeless shelter or soup kitchen.
9. Shop Your Closet
When you feel like you “don’t have anything to wear”, shop your closet before going shopping at the mall. Challenge yourself to discover some new outfit combinations that you hadn’t come up with before.
10. Plant a Garden
There’s nothing quite as fulfilling as back-breaking gardening work that results in a bountiful crop of food!
11. Take Up a Handwork Skill
I find handwork to be relaxing and cathartic. Plus, it’s a great way to keep your hands busy while having conversations with friends or watching a movie with your family.
12. Try a New From-Scratch Recipe Every Week
Make a goal to try a new recipe every single week. Not only is it fun — and it helps change up your usual cooking repertoire! — but you also might find some great from scratch recipes for things you typically buy pre-packaged.
13. Practice the One In, One Out Rule
Whenever you get something new, make a habit of also getting rid of something you no longer need or use. This will help keep some of the clutter at bay and will also help remind you how blessed you are!
14. Don’t Watch TV or Read Magazines
If you can’t tune out the advertising on TV and in magazines, just turn it off and cancel your magazine subscriptions. It’s just not worth it. Plus, I’ve found that you can get a whole lot more done if you don’t watch much TV! 🙂
15. Take the 100 Things Challenge
Could you simplify your life by having 100 things or less? I really want to try this sometime!
16. Read Blogs and Books on Simple Living
Anne from Modern Mrs. Darcy made a great point on her blog in early 2012. She talked about how you should read blogs that are on topics related to areas of your life you want to improve in. I love that!
So if you want to become more content, read blogs and books that are going to encourage you toward simple living and contentment. I personally love and recommend Ann Voskamp (just the pictures alone will make you feel more calm and content!) and MomAdvice (her knitting, reading, and baking inspires me!).
What tips and suggestions do you have to add to this list? I’d love to hear! (And if you have a blog or book suggestion on the topic of simple living, please tell us!)
We Paid Cash: A New Car for my Husband
A testimony from Shelley
Recently, we were able to save up and pay cash for my husband’s new dream car, a 2012 Subaru Impreza Limited Sport hatchback that gets 36mpg.
We were married in 1997 and in 1999 we bought a house for $135,000, a brand new car for $13,000 (12% interest through the dealer) and a Trendwest timeshare for $10,000 (financed through Trendwest at 12% interest). We also found out we were pregnant that year!
After our first baby came, I went back to work part-time (3 days a week) as an assistant manager at Bath and Body Works at the mall, and my husband was a fireman. Things were tight! Somehow it always worked out.
I wish someone would have told me 12% was a really bad deal…and come to find out you can buy timeshares on the secondhand market for 50-70% off! Live and learn, right?
During this time, I was determined to make our new house look half way decent. Through trial and error, I taught myself how to slipcover. Slowly it turned into a business for me. By the time my baby turned one, I quit my job at Bath and Body Works to stay home and sew a few slipcovers a month. This was 12 years ago.
My business grew and we were able to pay off the cars, the basement, and the house in June 2009 (ten years after we purchased the house). About 6 months after we paid off the house, we bought a small cabin about an hour from our house. We were able to get it for $65,000. It took us 2 years and 3 months to pay it off.
During this time, we also remodeled it paying cash as we went ($10,000 total) for a new deck, roof, windows, sinks, as well as light fixtures, paint, water line, grading, insulation and furnishings.
We bought 90% of the building and remodeling materials off KSL.com (like craigslist) and from ReStore, saving us a lot of money. We were able to buy the shingles, decking, and handrail at at least 50% off.
We paid off the cabin in in March of 2012. Once that was paid for, we started saving as fast as we could to buy my husband a new car.
We knew we were on a limited time-frame because his Hyundai Senata was the one we bought brand new in 1999. It now had 230,000 miles on it with a missing hubcap, and cracked windshield. The check engine light was always on, and the hood latch was broken and wired shut!
Ten days ago, my husband flew to Jackson Hole, WY from SLC on a buddy pass with a cashiers check for $22,000 to buy his new car from an individual off KSL.com. The car had 3,000 miles on it and had all the options he wanted — including the tinted windows.
We saved $1,900 buying it with 3,000 miles on it from an individual and not a dealer. We used $14,000 from my slipcover work (it took me 8 months to save that up) and $8,000 that my husband had in his car account (he’d been putting about $300 a month into this account every month for the past 3 years).
I knew it wasn’t the end of the world if we had to finance part of the car (if his car broke down before we had enough saved) but it was our dream come true to pay CASH!! We have been really good about paying things off, but we want to become proactive and pay cash instead!
Shelley is a wife and mother of three boys; ages 12 years, 10 years, and 8 years. She has her own home based business sewing custom slipcovers that she started 12 years ago. She loves going on trips, shopping second hand stores, running, doing projects, and hanging out with the family.
Have you saved up and paid cash for something — large or small? Submit your story for possible publication here.
Ask the Readers: Do cloth diapers really save you money?
Today’s question is from Alexa:
Do cloth diapers really save you money? If so, which brands/styles do you recommend? -Alexa
Do you have a question you’d like to ask Money Saving Mom® readers? Read the submission guidelines and submit it here.
Are you tired, exhausted, and overwhelmed today?
Feeling weary, burned out, and just plain worn down today? I wrote a post over on The Better Mom that you need to read. It’s on 10 Practical Ways to Stay Energized as a Mom.
Most of these tips are applicable to anyone — even if you’re not a mom. By the way, some of you are going to think I’m crazy for #10, but I dare you to try it! 🙂
Top 9 Apps That Will Save (and Make) You Money
Recently, one of my readers asked for some recommendations on apps that will save and make you money. I posted this question on the Money Saving Mom Facebook Page, and based upon the input I received there, I’ve put together a list of the top 10 apps that will save and make you money:
1. ShopKick
Download the free Shopkick app and get mobile coupons plus rewards for walking into stores. Here’s what they say about it:
We’re all familiar with traditional reward programs. Shopkick is a shopping rewards program that’s, well, more rewarding. No plastic cards, no confusing rules, no extra steps. You just do what you love doing anyway—walking into your favorite stores like Target, Macy’s, Best Buy, Crate&Barrel, Old Navy, Toys”R”Us, Exxon and Mobil convenience stores, and more—and you automatically rack up über-versatile points called “kicks.” No applications to fill out, and no purchase required. That’s right—you just walk in with your smartphone and instantly earn kicks.
Right now, you can get a free $2 Target gift card, too. Details here.
2. Jingit
Jingit is a newer income-earning program that pays you to watch ads online. You can also earn money for downloading the mobile app, scanning items at Walmart, and answering a couple of questions.
To get paid, you just register for a Jingit Visa Debit Card (costs $3 from your Jingit balance to request it) and then add cash for your online Jingit balance to the Visa card. There is an earning limit of $15 per week. When you initially join, you’ll have a lower earning limit but this can be raised to $15 by inviting friends to join.
See a more in-depth explanation of Jingit here.
3. Ibotta
Have you checked out the new iBotta app? It’s another way to earn, similar to Jingit. Unlike Jingit, though, it requires a product purchase to earn the money.
However, the payout is high and it’s really simple to do. Just sign up for iBotta and download the free app. Choose any of the products that you plan to buy at the store and click on the earning opportunities and watch the videos, take the quick surveys, or read the information to add the cash to your account.
Purchase the product at an approved retailer (make sure you’re buying it when it’s on a great sale and using a coupon, too!) Take a picture of your receipt when you get home and your cash will be added to your account. You can transfer your cash to your Paypal account whenever you want to cash out.
4. RetailMeNot
The free RetailMeNot app allows you to browse all the best coupons available, get deal alerts while shopping at your favorite malls, and find thousands of online and in-store coupons. Always consult the RetailMeNot app or site before making a purchase in-store or online to see if there’s a coupon can you use to save some extra money.
5. SwagbucksTV App
Earn money for watching videos on your phone. You’ll earn 2 Swagbucks for every 5 videos watched. There’s a limit of 50 Swagbucks per day that you can earn per device, but that can add up quickly. This app is also available for Android.
6. Old Navy SnapAppy
Like to shop atDownload Old Navy’s free SnapAppy app and then take pictures of Old Navy logos to win free things. I pulled up Old Navy logos online and snapped shots of them and won a coupon for a pair of free Old Navy Flip Flops plus a $5 off any at Old Navy coupon (no minimum!).
7. Gas Buddy
Gas Buddy is a free app that allows you to find the least expensive gas in your area. You can also locate gas stations near you and see their current prices.
Dawna said: “I use Gas Buddy all the time. If I know I have enough gas to get me to my destination 30 miles away and gas is ten cents cheaper a gallon there, I’m on it!”
9. ShopSavvy
ShopSavvy is a free app that allows you to scan any barcode of any item and find the lowest online or local prices. Andrea said: “I have installed a barcode scanner on my smartphone. When shopping in a store I always scan the barcode to see if it is cheaper online. Last week I found a pair of shoes in a store for 60 dollars. I scanned the barcode and was able to find them at Amazon for 42 dollars with free shipping. The money I save using the barcode app almost pays for the Smartphone!”
10. Price-Matching
This isn’t an app, per se, but I had to mention this because it’s a fantastic way to use your smartphone to save money. Before checking out at any store that price-matches (such as Walmart or Target), always check your phone to see if you can find a lower price somewhere.
Lisa said: “I had to buy my son a graphing calculator for school the next day. The cheapest in our area was at Best Buy. While in line I looked up the exact calculator in amazon and showed them my phone. They matched the price and I saved $26!”
What are your favorite apps to save and earn money? Tell us about them in the comments!
Shared Jan 8, 2013
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Q&A: Help! How do we stop spending more than $1,000 per month on groceries?
Q&A: Help! How do we stop spending more than $1,000 per month on groceries?
Carrie contacted me through the Money Saving Mom® Facebook Page with the following question:
HELP!! I’m failing my family at staying within our grocery budget. I know all the things I’m “supposed” to be doing, and I’m just not approaching it in a logical, orderly enough way to accomplish these things.
Will you help me by reviewing the “basics” – reminding me of what I should be doing, and perhaps showing me some things I’m missing?
I know I should clip coupons more. I forget.
I know I should buy sales more. I forget.
I know I should stay away from brand names. I’m picky.
I know I shouldn’t buy “extras.” I’m lazy.
I’ve tried carrying a calculator with me through the store. I get overwhelmed.I *do* make a menu.
I *do* make a list from the menu.
I *do* look at what we already have in the house so as not to duplicate.
I *do* shop Costco to save on bulk items.
I have downloaded the Safeway app to receive extra savings.But I invariably go over budget on groceries every month. We are a family of 5 (one child being an infant) and we budget $700/month ($350/paycheck) for groceries, yet I usually end up spending closer to $1,000.
This is ridiculous! I’m better than this! I shouldn’t be having this problem. What are some practical steps I can be doing to help get on top of this and be proactive from the front end so I’m not squeezing to make ends meet every two weeks?? -Carrie
First off, Carrie, please don’t beat yourself up, okay? Do you know how many people have never even considered having a grocery budget or menu-planning? You’re already doing a lot, so cut yourself some slack and be encouraged that you are doing some things. And doing something is always better than doing nothing.
After reading your email a few times and contemplating it, here are my thoughts on some action steps you could take to start finding success in lowering your grocery budget:
1. Stop Telling Yourself You Can’t
As I encouraged people to do in 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life, you’ve got to remove the word “can’t” from your vocabulary. If you tell yourself that you can’t, than you will believe that you can’t. When you believe that you can’t, then you invariably won’t.
It’s totally okay to deliberately decide, “I am not going to focus on lowering my grocery bill because I need to focus my energies on X.” Or to purposefully commit to keeping your grocery bill as is (or even raising it) because you want to support local farms or buy fair trade products or you are choosing to eat all organic as a family.
None of these things involve “can’t”, they involve choice. There’s a big difference there.
2. Aim to Lower Your Grocery Bill By 1-3% Every Month
Instead of trying to overhaul your grocery bill overnight, set a goal to lower your grocery bill by 1-3% every month. While this might not seem like this will make much of an impact, over time, your savings will really start to add up. And, by doing it gradually, it will seem a lot less overwhelming and doable.
3. Analyze What You’re Spending that $1,000 Per Month On
Gather up your receipts from the past few shopping trips, if you have them, and take a good look at where that $1,000 is going. What are the areas where you’re spending the most? Right off the bat, you might realize you’re spending an exorbitant amount on meat or diapers or produce.
Whichever area is the biggest spending culprit is the area I recommend that you focus your energies on lowering.
4. Pick One Money-Saving Technique to Focus on Per Month
Rather than trying to work on a bunch of different areas of your grocery budget, just focus on one specific and realistic money-saving technique per month. Use the analysis you did in step #3 to decide which area to focus on first.
For instance, maybe you are spending a lot on produce. For the next month, plan your meals around the few different fruits and vegetables that are in season and on sale that month. Focus on this money-saving technique only for a month.
Don’t worry about that long list of other ideas you come up with when you’re reading frugal blogs. You can add those things to an ongoing list of money-saving ideas you want to implement, but only worry about adding one new thing each month.
The next month, if you’re feeling comfortable with that focus area, add in something else, like shopping with cash or planning meals that use less expensive ingredients.
5. Don’t Compare Yourself to Other Bloggers or People You See on “Extreme Couponing”
Finally, it’s easy to become discouraged when you see savings of like 80 to 100% on blogs or the Extreme Couponing show. You can feel like you just don’t measure up because you’re over there working really hard and only seeing 30% savings.
Don’t compare yourself to anyone else but yourself — unless you want to end up feeling discouraged. You can only do what you can do. Plus, I promise that those folks who are highlighting their amazing 99% savings shopping trips are not seeing those kinds of savings every single shopping trip.
What advice do the rest of you have for Carrie? I’ve love to hear!
For step-by-step help in lowering your grocery budget, be sure to check out my 31 Days to a Better Grocery Budget series.
Shared Jan 8, 2013
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One thing that will make a remarkable difference in your goal-setting success…
One thing that will make a remarkable difference in your goal-setting success…
I’m over on MomLife today talking about the importance of goal-setting. And I’m sharing one of the key ways to follow through with your goals.
What do you think that key thing is? Head on over to MomLife to read more.
Reader Tip: Inexpensive Cell Phone Data Packages with Ting.com
Lonni emailed in the following tip:
I work from home doing graphic design, with two young boys (3 and 1). My husband and I weren’t necessarily looking to cut our cell phone costs, but we wanted to switch to a plan where I could access email while I was away from home. We looked at the major carriers, but a data plan just simply was not an option on our current budget.
We searched around until we found a great low-cost cell phone carrier called Ting.com. They offer pay-as-you-go, no contract (and no fees to cancel), and “pay for what you use” cell phone plans. They also allow you to create an a la carte plan based on the amount of text, data, minutes you’d like to use.
So far, we’ve been able to use all the bells and whistles of a smartphone while paying LESS than we paid for a minutes-only plan with our other carrier. It’s truly amazing and so nice to know I can cancel my plan at any time if needed without penalty.
Shared Jan 7, 2013
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52 Different Ways to Save at Least $100 This Year: Bake Your Own Bread (Week #1)
52 Different Ways to Save at Least $100 This Year: Bake Your Own Bread (Week #1)
Every Monday in 2013, I’ll be sharing a different way you can save $100 this year. If you do all of these things, you’ll be able to save over $5,000 this year alone! Many of these things will likely be things you’re already doing, but hopefully all of you will pick up at least a few new ideas or some inspiration from this series.
Week #1: Bake Your Own Bread
There’s something about the smell of homemade bread wafting through your house. Not only does it smell so welcoming, but fresh-from-the-oven bread is beyond delicious! Best of all, you can save over $100 per year by making your own homemade bread!
I love to use my homemade bread machine to mix up the dough for homemade bread. It makes it so simple — and it takes less than five minutes to measure and dump all the ingredients into the machine and clean up the little bit of mess you made.
What If You Don’t Have a Bread Machine?
If you don’t have a bread machine, don’t go out and spend a bunch of money on one. Instead, ask around and see if any of your friends have a bread machine they aren’t using that you could borrow. Or check area garage sales, Craigslist, or thrift stores.
You can also use a KitchenAid or Bosch to mix the dough. Or, you can just do it the old-fashioned way and just knead it by hand — but that does make it more time-consuming.
How Much Can You Save By Making Your Own Homemade Bread?
Kristen from The Frugal Girl did a very thorough investigation into how much it you’ll save by making your own homemade bread. She estimated that you’ll save at least $0.50 per loaf if you typically buy the very cheapest bread on the market (that typically sells for $0.99 per loaf). However, if you typically buy a little bit higher quality bread (that usually retails for $2-$3 per loaf, than you’re going to be saving $1.50 to $2.50 per loaf.
So, if you usually buy 2 loaves of bread each week, that’s a savings of $156 to $260 per year. And if you make all of your own homemade breads, such as cinnamon rolls, pita pockets, breadsticks, rolls, and more, you’re going to save even more!
My Favorite Simple & Easy Homemade Bread Recipes
My Favorite Homemade Bread Recipe
Do you make your own homemade bread? What are some of your favorite homemade bread recipes?
OVER-SPENDING EVERY SINGLE MONTH?Grab these FREE Budgeting Sheets!
Click here to download!
10 Goals For This Week
Have you set goals for this week yet? If not, what are you waiting for? Start by setting just a few small and simple goals, write them down, and work on them a little bit every day.
Here’s my list of goals for this week:
Family/Marriage/Mothering Goals
1. Play a game with the girls.
2. Write a love note to Jesse.
3. Weekend trip with Jesse for our 10 year anniversary!
Personal Goals
4. Memorize Romans 1:1-4.
5. Extra rest and liquids to help me recover from the flu.
6. Finish reading For the Children’s Sake, Lead Your Family Like Jesus, A Woman’s Place: A Novel
Homemaking Goals
7. Do the Freezer Cooking in an Hour session.
8. Finish 25 rows of the scarf for Kathrynne (I finish Kaitlynn’s scarf a few weeks ago and am now working on a matching scarf for Kathrynne.)
Business Goals
9. Work on the second round of edits for chapters 4, 5, and 6 of my next book.
10. Finish two guest posts for other sites.
How did you do on last week’s goals? What are your goals for this week? I’d love to have you share your progress on last week’s goals and your goals for this coming week in the comments. Of, if you’ve blogged about it, leave your direct link below. Let’s cheer each other on to live purposeful and productive lives!
You can download a free customizable weekly goal-planning sheet here.
This week’s really, really simple menu
Silas, Kaitlynn, and I are recovering from the flu and Jesse and I are leaving on a weekend trip in a few days and the kids are staying with Grandma and Grandpa, so this week’s menu (for those days that we’re home) is super simple and easy:
Breakfasts
Oatmeal, Cereal, Eggs, and/or Fruit
Lunches
Mac & Cheese, fruit
Chicken Noodle Soup, crackers, veggies
Snack-y lunch
Cheese quesadillas, carrot sticks
Leftovers x 2Snacks
Fruit/veggies
PopcornFreezer Cooking in an Hour (stay tuned on Thursday when I’ll share a play-by-play on how this goes!)
Homemade Freezer Biscuits
Banana Oatmeal Muffins
Taco Meat
Crockpot Apple Butter (I bought two big boxes of apples on a special a few months ago and froze some of them so I’m going to try using them in this recipe. We’ll see how it works with frozen apples!)Dinners
Fend For Yourself (since I was sick — I think they had Cheese Quesadillas and soup that my friend brought over. Honestly, I was so out of it on yesterday that I’m not even sure!)
Chicken Noodle Soup, bread, fruit/veggies
Easy Crockpot Chicken Fajitas, fruit
Slow Cooker Fiesta Chicken Soup, biscuits, fruit/veggies
Chili Tortilla Bake, fruit
What’s on your menu this week? Share details and/or your link to your menu plan in the comments.
5 Ways to Improve Your Health AND Save Money
Looking for a few easy ways to improve your health without breaking the bank? Keep reading for 5 simple, frugal ways to do just that!
Guest post from Pam.
The start of another New Year is the perfect time to make healthy changes in your life. Most of us start a new year feeling optimistic and ready for a change.
I know thousands of us will include “eating better” and “getting in shape” as some of our New Year’s Resolutions. However, a tight budget may make those resolutions seem difficult to achieve.
To help you out, I’ve compiled five ways you can improve your health and save money!
1. Look for gym deals.
January is the perfect time to join a gym. Most gyms are offering great sign up deals to cash in on the New Year “get fit” resolution.
In addition to traditional gyms, check out your local YMCA, fitness studios, and personal trainers. You might also look into joining with a friend – often a gym will give you a 2-for-1 discount if you just ask.
2. Eat in season.
Just because it’s not the middle of summer when the garden is full of produce doesn’t mean you can’t find seasonal food to enjoy.
When you visit the grocery store, look to see what is on sale in the produce department. Those items are most likely your seasonal ones, and will typically be the best price.
Look for winter markets – more and more cities are starting to add them to entice those of us who love the summer farmer’s market for our produce. Not sure what is local for your area? Check out this great guide.
3. Plan a Menu.
Once you start spending more on those organic food items, it becomes even more important to use them up! Menu planning is a great way to ensure you are only buying what you need (thus saving money).
However, don’t just plan out your dinners. Think about snack foods or breakfast items you can make early in the week and then enjoy all week long.
Plan menus that use that local and seasonal produce. Check your grocery ads to see what is on sale to help you create your menu plan.
4. Use those scraps.
Use up all the food you buy – if you’ve paid good money on that organic, free-range chicken and organic celery, it just makes sense to use the bones and scraps to make delicious chicken stock – it’s healthier and easy in the crock pot.
Have some heels from your loaf of bread? Make bread crumbs. Try to think like our ancestors and find ways to use all the little bits of leftovers. You’ll eat better and save money!
5. Set a savings/health goal.
Set a goal for yourself to find one area where you can save money and improve your health. Don’t overwhelm yourself by trying to do it all at once. Then, when you accomplish one, go ahead and try another.
Some great examples of simple goals: change your coffee routine – learn how to make a delicious coffee at home versus going out; make your own yogurt; start using one homemade “green” cleaner versus the store bought version.
The list could go on and on, but by making one change at a time, you’ll consistently be saving money and taking a small step towards better health.
Pam Howard is a Certified Holistic Health Coach located in Noblesville, IN. She works with busy moms (and others) to help them create a balanced, healthy, vibrant life.
FREE DOWNLOAD: 60 Meals To Help You Avoid Takeout!
Meal time just got so much easier!
Shared Jan 5, 2013
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A Peek Into Our Week: A train trip to Kansas City, Legoland, New Year’s Eve, snow, and sickness
A Peek Into Our Week: A train trip to Kansas City, Legoland, New Year’s Eve, snow, and sickness
By popular demand, I’m bringing back the A Peek Into Our Week feature on Saturdays — to give you a little behind-the-scenes look into what’s gone on in our household each week.
It snowed this week — and it stayed cold enough that the snow actually stayed on the ground a little! My kids were so excited to play in it, even if it was freezing cold.
Above, they found some tracks in the snow. So we spent some time that day researching various animal tracks on the internet and discussing the difference in the way animals leave tracks based upon whether they hop or walk on all fours. I then assigned Kathrynne the project of coming up with a hypothesis for what kind of animal it was, how it was walking (hopping or walking on all fours), and had her draw the tracks and her hypothesis.
This intertwining of our life with our learning is one of the parts of homeschooling that I just absolutely love — and the kids do, too! In addition, I’m pretty sure that they all end up getting a lot more out of it than if I were just reading textbooks alone.
Kaitlynn is turning into quite the little fashionista and I typically get a chuckle every morning when I see what she’s picked to wear. She’s definitely got her own style going and I don’t think she gets an iota of it from me. 🙂 Here, I think she may be trying to color block.
Oh and don’t miss the high heels. She wears them also every single day!
Our family gift for Christmas was a train trip to Kansas City. We’ve never ridden a train before — outside of something like the train ride at Silver Dollar City — and our kids have been asking us if we could take a family trip via train. Convinced by this guest post on riding the train, we booked our tickets for a train trip to Kansas City and got up at 2 a.m. to get to the train station for the train to leave at 3:30 a.m.
I’m not sure that we fell in love with the whole train trip experience, but our kids had an absolutely blast… especially because we went to Legoland while in Kansas City.
Apparently, we weren’t the only people who had the idea of going to Legoland! 😉
But waiting in line was worth it because we all really enjoyed ourselves. It’s always wonderful when every single person in the family thinks the trip was a home run success!
They had a karaoke area at Legoland complete with live mics and a choice of songs. Kaitlynn, of course, made a bee line for this.
Kathrynne and I were laughing talking about how different Kaitlynn is than the two of us. For sure, Kathrynne and I would never volunteer or be excited about doing karaoke in front of all sorts of people we don’t know at Legoland! 🙂
After our long Legoland excursion, we spent some time walking around Crowne Center and then headed to A Street Car Named Desire for dinner. Here’s three of our very tuckered out party.
It was fun to eat in a streetcar, but our excitement was a little hampered by the couples at a table really close to us who were performing acupuncture at their table. I kid you not, two of the folks at the table had four long needles sticking out of each of their wrists! It was definitely something I’ve not quite ever seen in a restaurant before!
It didn’t take long before both Silas and Kaitlynn completely crashed at dinner! The train left Kansas City at midnight and we made it back home around 5 a.m. It was a little exhausting but so much fun!
We celebrated New Year’s Eve by going on a double date with Jesse’s sister and her husband while Grandma and Grandpa babysat (the double date at a nice restaurant was a Christmas present from Jesse’s parents). It was a wonderful way to close out the year!
2013 has had a bit of a rocky beginning, but that’s life sometimes. Silas came down with a high fever on Wednesday evening and I spent the next two days pretty near glued to his side trying to comfort him and nurse him back to health. He started showing signs of improvement on Friday just in time for me to come down with it.
And now I feel even more sorry for him because this flu is nasty! At the same time, though, I’m grateful that it’s just the flu… there are many worse things in life to be dealing with than a high fever and achy body.
How was your week? Did anything interesting or exciting happen at your house? Tell us about it!
Shared Jan 5, 2013
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Freebies in My Mailbox: Betty Crocker, Nivea, Caress, and Herbal Essence
Freebies in My Mailbox: Betty Crocker, Nivea, Caress, and Herbal Essence
Here are the freebies I’ve gotten in the mail over the past week:
Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix
Nivea Body Wash
Caress Body Wash
Coupon for a free 1.7-oz bottle of Herbal Essence
What freebies have arrived in your mailbox this week?
By the way, if you want to start getting great freebies in your mailbox, just start signing up for the freebies I post every day that interest you. Within 4-6 weeks, your mailbox will start filling up with great freebies!