Download free Just Popping Through Valentine’s Day printables from Our Best Bites.
Download a free Valentine’s Rolo Rocket Favors printables from Shindig Parties.
Download a free Blowing Kisses Your Way printable from The Mother Huddle.
Summer Bucket List
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Rice Krispie Hearts
Myra from My Blessed Life shows how you how quickly and easily make Rice Krispie Hearts for Valentine’s Day.
Shared Feb 6, 2012
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Keeping Your Toddler Creatively Occupied Without Buying More Toys
Keeping Your Toddler Creatively Occupied Without Buying More Toys
Guest post by Amber from Click. Pray. Love.
Do you have a 12-18 month old child? Have you found it challenging to come up with age-appropriate activities for them to do at home that don’t require the purchase of another toy? If so, I have a few ideas and a challenge to share with you.
First, consider a few of the developmental milestones for a 12-18 month old:
- Walks independently
- Stacks objects
- Knocks objects down
- Pulls objects apart
- Puts objects in and dumps them out of containers
- Hold objects in one hand while manipulating them with the other
Now, here comes the challenge: How many objects can you find in your home that will encourage your child to accomplish or build on those milestones? Here are a few ideas:
- clothes pins
- liquid coffee creamer containers
- muffin tin
- retractable tape measure
- magnets
- food boxes
- dry pasta
- plastic vacuum hose
- balls
- tape
- bundt pan
- plastic flip top lids
Some Practical Suggestions
- Make an Activity Box – Fill a box with various objects allowing your child to explore the box while teaching him/her how to stir, stack, pour, etc.
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Work on opening/closing flip top lids. You can also teach them how to thread a ribbon through the opening of flip top lids.
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Play-doh – Make Play-doh balls and other shapes for your child. Have them place each one in an egg carton or other container. Give them cookie cutters and begin teaching them how to make their own shapes
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Box Fun – Keep various size boxes (i.e. cereal, rice, cracker, cream cheese, soap box, etc.). Stack the boxes inside one another allowing your child to pull out each one and attempt to place each one back inside another box.
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Plastic vacuum Hose – Do you have any balls that will fit inside? If so, try holding the hose up and dropping the ball from top to bottom. You’ll be surprised how quickly your 12-18 month will begin doing this independently. You could also use a paper towel roll.
Fill muffin tins with small objects – Cover each tin with tape or a lid allowing your child to discover what’s in each tin.
The list could go on and on, but hopefully these ideas will help get your creative juices flowing. Just remember to look at each object in your house and ask, “How could I use this to create a fun, safe, learning experience for my child?”
Amber is a Physical Therapist turned stay-at-home-mom to her son Bennett. She enjoys photography, wants to begin sewing, and is often thinking about the next fun activity to do with her family. You can join her quest of finding the Divine among the daily at Click.Pray.Love.
10 Weekly Goals
Last week’s goals:
Family/Mothering Goals
1. Finish reading In Grandma’s Attic aloud to the children.
2. Take Kathrynne out on a mother-daughter date for her birthday.
3. Write a love note to Jesse.Personal Goals
4. Finish reading Try Giving Yourself Away, Blue Like Playdough, and Against All Odds.
5. Complete week 4 of the Couch to 5K program.Home Management
6. Finish two more weeks of pages for my Project Life album.
7. Finish knitting the Squidge dishcloth.8. Make Homemade Rice Milk.
Business Goals
9. Finish writing an article for AllYou.comand MomLifeToday.com.
10. Fly to VA to appear on the 700 Club.
This week’s goals:
Family/Mothering Goals
1. Read at least 5 chapters each from In Grandma’s Attic and Corrie Ten Boom aloud to the children.
2. Write letters to one of our Compassion children.
3. Write a love note to Jesse.
Personal Goals
4. Finish reading 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess, A Symphony in the Dark, An Organized Heart, and Thunder Dog.
5. Complete week 5 of the Couch to 5K program.
6. Write two handwritten notes.
Home Management
7. Go through house from top to bottom and clear out clutter {I’ll be blogging some of this and encouraging you to join me!}.
8. Start Andalutheean Knitted Dishcloth.
9. Make Homemade Rice Milk.
Business Goals
10. Finish writing article for MomLifeToday.com.
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.
Shared Feb 4, 2012
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Freezer Cooking in an Hour: Black Bean Brownies, Frito Chili Pie, and the Grain-Free Waffle Flop
Freezer Cooking in an Hour: Black Bean Brownies, Frito Chili Pie, and the Grain-Free Waffle Flop
I took an hour yesterday evening to do some cooking for the freezer. I was anxious to try the Black Bean Brownies because I was just very curious to see how they turned out.
Most of my family members were quite skeptical of them and one even turned up their nose and wouldn’t touch them, but most of us declared them quite yummy. If you knew they had black beans in them, you could faintly taste them, but I doubt you’d figure it out if you didn’t know. You’d probably just think they were a really fudgy, light brownie.
I also made a big batch of Frito Chili Pie–well, the Chili part minus the Fritos. (We’ll add those in once we pull it out from the freezer.) I substituted kidney beans for the pinto beans (because that’s what I had on hand) and it ended up turning out quite yummy.
Unfortunately, the Grain-Free Waffles weren’t quite as successful. I did substitute almond milk for the yogurt, so that could have been some of the issue. But they tasted icky (well, they certainly didn’t taste anything like normal waffles!) and the batter got all stuck on the waffle maker. So stuck, in fact, that it took me a good 20 minutes to get the thing cleaned up after my attempt to make the recipe.
Oh well, you can’t hit a home run with every recipe experimentation! 🙂
Did you have any recipe successes or failures this week?
Super Savings Saturday: Dillon’s Mega Event & Produce Stock-up
I went to Dillon’s earlier this week and bought all of the above for $10.40. See the full details and coupon match-ups here.
And then Jesse took the leftover grocery cash for January and did a big produce stock-up.
Would you like to know what the best deals and coupon match-ups are for your local stores? Be sure to check out the Store Deals section of our site where we post the best deals and coupon match-ups each week for over 100 different stores across the country. You can sign up to receive the top deals in your email inbox each week as soon as they are posted!
Did you snag any great deals or bargains this week or save money in other ways? If so, be sure to post about them on your blog and leave your link below. Please remember that this weekly round-up is to share deals you personally got and/or money you were able to save this week. In order to keep this weekly round-up focused on helping and inspiring others in their efforts to save money, links which have little-to-no content other than promoting affiliate links, etc. will be deleted. Also, to make it easy for everyone to navigate quickly through the links, your link must link directly to your Super Savings Saturday post.
File Cabinet Makeover: How Color Changed My Life!
Guest post by Kathy of Cornerstone Confessions.
This week I looked at my file cabinet and decided it was time for a redo. A few years ago I had set out to organize our papers, yet afterwards, I was still the only one who could find things. My hubby would come to me and say, “Where is that paper about…” and inevitably I’d have to stop what I was doing to go find it.
So this week I decided it was time for an overhaul. While I really didn’t change file names much this go round, I simply decided to add color.
The result: my hubby quickly glanced at the made-over files and very quickly knew where to find everything.
Success!
Now let me explain. First of all, I did not find putting those paper inserts into the tabs very appealing. So instead, I used a Word template to create and print color coded return address labels which I then stuck over the plastic tabs. This was so much easier!
Secondly, we have two drawers: one drawer is a reference drawer and one drawer is a working drawer.
In our reference drawer we have files for our manuals and product information as well as other resources such as articles we cut out of magazines that we may want to refer to again.
In our reference drawer, each tab is color coded according to type: pink is for my blog ideas, green for anything having to do with home life, yellow for children topics, red for hobby topics, orange for travel, and so on. We then have all our product manuals and receipts grouped and filed alphabetically using a blue label.
In our working drawer, we have all that other stuff. At the front of the working drawer is our go-to files. These files are labeled in pink and include things such as address labels, bills, and stamps. For our receipts and ink to recycle, we also have a Ziploc bag inside the file folder. When it comes time to sort through receipts at the end of the month, we just pull out the bag. If it’s time to take our ink to recycle at Staples, we just pull out the bag and we’re ready to go.
Behind our go-to files are our auto, finance, home and insurance files, all now color coded of course. Even our personal records are then color coded by name. Since each of my children are already color coded in other areas of their life I just carried their colors over to their files. Now anytime Goose needs to find his high school diploma or latest medical records he knows right where to look — the red labels.
Ahhh…life is getting so much better! Not only that, my file cabinet now looks joyful…if you can say that about a file cabinet. Now, the next question is whether or not my hubby could find the cleaning supplies if I organized them by color. Hmm….
Kathy Gossen is a servant of Christ, wife, mom, musician, and author of Cornerstone Confessions. She enjoys spending time with her husband Goose, and their 2 precious little girls as well as reading, blogging, playing the piano, and pursuing life as a developing domestic diva drawing on the divine.
Do-It-Yourself: Cupcake Liner “Be Mine” Topiary
Looking for a really fun, easy Valentine’s Day project? Try making a Cupcake Liner “Be Mine” Valentines Topiary.
Shared Feb 3, 2012
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Good Reads: Blue Like Play Dough, Try Giving Yourself Away, Against All Odds
Good Reads: Blue Like Play Dough, Try Giving Yourself Away, Against All Odds
Blue Like Play Dough — I loved Tricia’s candor in this book on motherhood. She doesn’t pretend to have it altogether or to have it all figured out, but just shares encouragement from her own journey from her years as a young single mom to now being a mom of three teens. You’ll be blessed, inspired, challenged, and encouraged through her stories and insights. 
Try Giving Yourself Away — My mom picked up this book at a thrift store a number of months ago and loaned it to me awhile back. I finally had a chance to read it yesterday as I was flying back from VA and was so motivated to look for and take advantage of opportunities to bless others in simple, practical ways. Just taking a few minutes to drop an email or pick up the phone or say an encouraging word to someone can often mean a great deal–and you’ll likely find that you’re blessed in seeking to be a blessing! 
Against All Odds — While I thought the play-by-plays of martial arts competitions got a little monotonous, overall, this book was an interesting and encouraging read. Chuck has experienced many, many setbacks in life and, instead of being discouraged and disheartened, he’s turned them into comebacks.
Have you read any good books recently?
7 Tips for Pulling Out of a Slump
Feeling unmotivated or overwhelmed with life today? I’m over at MomLifeToday sharing 7 tips for pulling out of a slump:
After the holidays have come and gone and the New Year’s resolve has worn thin, it’s easy to find yourself in a slump. You feel lethargic, unmotivated, and in a rut.
Here are seven tips to help you restore your energy and zest for life again:
1. Do Something
Sometimes, the best remedy for pulling out of a slump is just to get up and do something. Set the timer for 10 minutes and go organize a drawer, or fold a load of laundry, or clean the kitchen.
Just getting up and getting busy will usually help you shake off some of the feelings of sluggishness. And many times, when the timer goes off after 10 minutes, you’ve forgotten how unmotivated you were and have fresh inspiration to tackle other projects.
What are your best tips and advice for pulling out of a slump? I’d love to hear!
OVER-SPENDING EVERY SINGLE MONTH?Grab these FREE Budgeting Sheets!
Click here to download!
Reader Tip: Using Listia to Shop for Free
Jane emailed in the following tip:
I recently came across Listia, an online auction site that uses points instead of money.
Listia works very much like Ebay, but you bid on auctions with points instead of money. You can earn points by posting things that you want to give away, and spend those points on things other people are giving away. Some auctions include free shipping or free local pick-up, while others charge for shipping.
As a buyer, Listia is very cool. I earned 600 points in the first half-hour just by signing up, watching a tutorial video, and listing an item for sale. There are many other offers you can do to get more points — like signing up for (and then immediately canceling) the free trial for Lumosity, or signing up for Spotify, which I’ve been meaning to do anyway.
If you are a parent or teacher, there are lots of items with free shipping that you can win for around 100 points, such as stickers and other small rewards.
For an extra 100 points, you can sign up here.
(Note: The links in this post are referral links. Read my disclosure policy here.)
Do-It-Yourself: Celery Stamped Rose Valentine’s Day Cards
Thrice The Sprice shows you how to make homemade celery stamped rose Valentine’s Day cards. How cute is that?!
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.
Our current shoe organizational system
When the girls were little, we’d just keep their few pairs of shoes at the top of their dresser. It worked well for a few years.
But last year I realized that this set-up was no longer working: the girls have gotten older and their shoe collection has grown, too. Instead of a few pairs neatly lined up in the top dresser drawer, it had turned into a bunch of shoes stuffed to overflowing in the top dresser drawer. And trying to find matching pairs in the jumbled mess of shoes was becoming increasingly more time-consuming.
I could have pared down on the shoes they have, but both of my girls aren’t quite the minimalists that I am so I don’t want to try and stuff them into a mold they were not cut out for. So instead, we tried an over-the-door shoe organizer.
Much to my delight, we discovered that it was the perfect solution right now. Not only can we see all of the shoes at a glance–making it easy to get the pair they are looking for–but we can also tell instantly whether a shoe from one pair is missing.
Best of all, the over-the-door shoe organizer utilizes dead space, frees up their top dresser drawer, and is out of sight much of the time. Plus, so long as the shoes are returned to their proper slots, we don’t have mismatched shoes strewn about the house!
The only drawback is that the girls can’t reach some of the shoes right now and will often have to ask me to help them get a pair down or put a pair away. However, it sure beats having to dig through a bunch of shoes in the top dresser drawer to find a matching pair!
How do you organize shoes at your house? I’d love to hear!
We Paid Cash!:: Braces
Guest Post by Liz from Wonder Woman I’m Not.
Braces are a dreaded necessary for many of us parents with pre-teen to teenage children. Fortunately our older child didn’t require them — but we knew early on that our younger child would need them.
Our daughter recently had her braces put on and I’m happy to say that we were able to pay for them with cash. Our ability to do so was the result of advanced planning, research and taking advantage of several programs.
Here’s what we did…
Start early:
Our daughter started to see an orthodontist when she was six (at our dentist’s recommendation). By starting early, we were able to proactively correct a problem without surgery or additional appliances adding to our bill. Most orthodontists do not charge for the preliminary appointments.
Get a second opinion:
We switched orthodontists half way through the preliminary treatment. Our first orthodontist wanted to start the braces before she lost all her baby teeth plus he wanted to remove four permanent teeth. Our current orthodontist is more conservative about removing teeth and advised us to wait. He would have put them on early but then it would cost us twice as much because they would have been on twice as long.
Research pricing:
Initially we went to the orthodontist closest to our house. Once we decided to switch we decided to make price as well as quality one of the key points. By asking around, I found a high-quality dental complex that offered supplemental insurance in addition to cheaper prices.
Pay Cash:
This orthodontist offered a 10% savings if we paid cash. If this isn’t offered up front I would definitely ask for it. By paying cash we saved a little over $300!!
Flexible spending:
If your employer offers this option I would encourage you to use it. However keep in mind that if you don’t use it, you lose it. Money goes into the flexible account pre-tax so you will have a tax savings that you wouldn’t normally have unless your medical bills are large enough to claim on your taxes. Your savings would depend on the tax bracket you are in but could be 20% or more of your cost.
Here’s the final breakdown of what we spent:
Initial Cost =$6,100
Insurance Paid = $1,100
Insurance Group Disc = $460
Supplementary Insurance = $1,410
10% Cash Discount = $ 315
Total Out of Pocket- $2,815
I had about half stuck back in an ‘unexpected’ fund that I used for the down payment. I requested reimbursement immediately from my flexible spending account and used that money to pay the balance. I did make sure to replace the money from the ‘unexpected’ fund once I received the second reimbursement from our flexible spending.
Every time I see that shiny smile, I’m relieved to know that it’s all paid for!
In addition to being a wife and mother, Liz works outside the home and blogs at Wonder Woman I’m Not — a home management blog for the busy woman striving to find balance in their lives.
Shared Feb 2, 2012
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Synovate: Free full-sized samples and paid survey opportunities
Synovate: Free full-sized samples and paid survey opportunities
Synovate is currently accepting new members into their program. If you’re accepted you’ll have the opportunity to try full-sized products as well as take paid surveys.
Lori from Moms By Heart says:
Synovate sign up is FREE and you’ll get great paying survey and product testing opportunities each month. This one is famous for frequently giving free full size products! Most recently I’ve tested diapers (got a full pack for FREE), baby lotion and toothpaste (got three tubes!).
See more free paid survey and product testing companies you can sign up with here.
(Note: The links in this post are my referral links. Read my disclosure policy here.)