I can't believe that it's been four months since I've written anything. I guess I've been busy with life. However, I do have another blog that I am trying to regularly post called pastry and kids. I've gotten into the excitement that is bento box lunches for Kai who started kindergarten last week. It's been an adjustment for every one. I miss him when he's not home, but I have my two littles to keep me entertained.
Little miss Bella is now three years old and quite a character. She is so bright, she likes to pretend that she doesn't know things, but she can count to 10, she knows her colors and the alphabet song. I will be working on letter and number recognition with her next week. She and I will be taking a mommy and me class for the fall. I can't wait, she is so excited too.
Mister Max, has four teeth up top and two on the bottom. He is constantly biting me. He is also working on walking, he can take three steps before falling on his bottom. I think that he will be walking before his first birthday.
Me and the hubby have changed our diet to vegetarian and I have been making classic dishes like Shepherds pie, chili, burgers, and stews with vegetables and tofu quite successfully. When I perfect them, I will share recipes. Until next time, may peace and health be with you.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Thoughts on coupons
I love coupons! They are a great way to save money. I don't care that the cashier sometimes roll their eyes at me or the local pharmacy probably recognizes me as the coupon lady because I save a lot of money using coupons! I have gotten pretty good at the coupon game. Every Sunday I get the paper browse the ads, make a list and clip coupons. I can save anywhere from $20-$60 at the grocery store and $5-$20 or more at the drug stores per trip!
The drug stores are a great place to shop for your essentials such as paper towels, toilet paper, tissues,a few non-perishables, diapers and milk! I have figured out the sale rotation for the sale on diapers so I stock up when the brands I use go on sale. There is usually a coupon or two every week for diapers, plus the cash register reward bucks you get back make the price per package of brand name diaper $7 or less! Once a month I can get a four oz tube of big name tooth paste for 25 cents using coupons!
At CVS, if you bring your own shopping bag and have a green bag tag (initial cost of $.99) you get a quarter back for every use and after four uses you get a dollar coupon back! Can't beat that, free money for caring about the environment!
Speaking of getting cash back for using your own bags, Whole Foods Market gives you back ten cents per bag and you can choose to donate it to a good cause or have it deducted off your bill. I usually donate mine, it's just another easy way to help others when you can. At Target, you get five cents back for every bag you bring. It's a great incentive and helps rid the house of all the unnecessary bags.
You might think that it takes too long to browse and clip coupons, but it really doesn't take more than 30 minutes. I usually sit down with a cup of coffee, scissors, a notebook, pen, store ads and coupons. I do this every Sunday because Jimmy is home and can keep the kids from distracting me. If you want to give it a try and don't want to clip coupons you can load them to your grocery club card via the internet and that takes less than five minutes to do.
So how do I organize all the coupons I clip? Well, after making a list for all the stores that I will visit for the week, I label envelopes for each store and I keep the coupons that I am going to use in them. For the extra coupons, I sort and store in a coupon file that stays in the car.
It is not just about saving money, it has turned out to be a little game for me to see how much I can save. Why would I ever pay full price for an essential when I can usually get it at 20-75% off? I do pay full price for certain things like make up, cologne/perfume and other things, but the savings from groceries allow me to direct my saving toward other necessities or the occasional surprise toys for the kids.
So if you are looking for a way to cut back or save money give coupons and reusable bags a try. I'm waiting for my Sunday paper as I type. Have a great week!
The drug stores are a great place to shop for your essentials such as paper towels, toilet paper, tissues,a few non-perishables, diapers and milk! I have figured out the sale rotation for the sale on diapers so I stock up when the brands I use go on sale. There is usually a coupon or two every week for diapers, plus the cash register reward bucks you get back make the price per package of brand name diaper $7 or less! Once a month I can get a four oz tube of big name tooth paste for 25 cents using coupons!
At CVS, if you bring your own shopping bag and have a green bag tag (initial cost of $.99) you get a quarter back for every use and after four uses you get a dollar coupon back! Can't beat that, free money for caring about the environment!
Speaking of getting cash back for using your own bags, Whole Foods Market gives you back ten cents per bag and you can choose to donate it to a good cause or have it deducted off your bill. I usually donate mine, it's just another easy way to help others when you can. At Target, you get five cents back for every bag you bring. It's a great incentive and helps rid the house of all the unnecessary bags.
You might think that it takes too long to browse and clip coupons, but it really doesn't take more than 30 minutes. I usually sit down with a cup of coffee, scissors, a notebook, pen, store ads and coupons. I do this every Sunday because Jimmy is home and can keep the kids from distracting me. If you want to give it a try and don't want to clip coupons you can load them to your grocery club card via the internet and that takes less than five minutes to do.
So how do I organize all the coupons I clip? Well, after making a list for all the stores that I will visit for the week, I label envelopes for each store and I keep the coupons that I am going to use in them. For the extra coupons, I sort and store in a coupon file that stays in the car.
It is not just about saving money, it has turned out to be a little game for me to see how much I can save. Why would I ever pay full price for an essential when I can usually get it at 20-75% off? I do pay full price for certain things like make up, cologne/perfume and other things, but the savings from groceries allow me to direct my saving toward other necessities or the occasional surprise toys for the kids.
So if you are looking for a way to cut back or save money give coupons and reusable bags a try. I'm waiting for my Sunday paper as I type. Have a great week!
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Play dough and mommy school
This week the kids have been waking up earlier and earlier. I think they are trying to catch some morning time with dad, but Jimmy has been waking up super early so he has been going to work earlier too. That means that I have to find more activities to entertain them with. This week we started "Mommy School" since I'm not taking Kai to preschool for the winter session.
One of the activities was making homemade play dough.(recipe from Martha Stewart)
We added our own twist to it by using Kool-Aid powder for color and scent. I also made some using food coloring and flavor extracts and oils. It was so easy both 2 year old and 4 year old was able to make it all themselves from measuring to mixing. They learned about measurement, counting and color from this exercise. Adding scent gives an extra element for their senses to explore.
Kai told me that he likes "Mommy school" and can't wait to tell his other teacher about his activities. His only complaint is about some of the activities being too easy! I've been working with him from books for pre-school and kindergarten level activities. Since that comment I've been mixing it up by adding all level activities including high school work! The advance work is mostly in the science department. We colored, labeled and learned about parts of a spider. I gave him the picture, read him definitions for parts and asked him to point at the picture where he thought the part was. He got 6 of the 8 parts right!
His love of skeletons have also led us to learn the name of some of our bones (I can't name all 206, so we will start with 30). Which has basically led to our own anatomy class exploring the eyes, brain, tongue, digestive system, skeletal system. He may not completely understand it all but the important thing is that he is learning that everything has a name and purpose. I loved science when I was small too! I remember getting my first chemistry set at 9 years old.
Cooking in the kitchen with me is teaching him a form of chemistry and math. Since I don't work, I can spend time teaching them all sorts of stuff. I am thinking of teaching them a foreign language too. Since none of my kids are in formal education yet, everything we do is just another fun activity. Even 3 month old Max loves books! We have story time everyday and between all the kids it lasts almost two hours!
Kai and Cassia both have the Tag reading system and books which makes reading more fun. Our favorite books right now are Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Walter the Farting Dog Goes on a Cruise, and any book with Thomas the Train.
One of the activities was making homemade play dough.(recipe from Martha Stewart)
We added our own twist to it by using Kool-Aid powder for color and scent. I also made some using food coloring and flavor extracts and oils. It was so easy both 2 year old and 4 year old was able to make it all themselves from measuring to mixing. They learned about measurement, counting and color from this exercise. Adding scent gives an extra element for their senses to explore.
Kai told me that he likes "Mommy school" and can't wait to tell his other teacher about his activities. His only complaint is about some of the activities being too easy! I've been working with him from books for pre-school and kindergarten level activities. Since that comment I've been mixing it up by adding all level activities including high school work! The advance work is mostly in the science department. We colored, labeled and learned about parts of a spider. I gave him the picture, read him definitions for parts and asked him to point at the picture where he thought the part was. He got 6 of the 8 parts right!
His love of skeletons have also led us to learn the name of some of our bones (I can't name all 206, so we will start with 30). Which has basically led to our own anatomy class exploring the eyes, brain, tongue, digestive system, skeletal system. He may not completely understand it all but the important thing is that he is learning that everything has a name and purpose. I loved science when I was small too! I remember getting my first chemistry set at 9 years old.
Cooking in the kitchen with me is teaching him a form of chemistry and math. Since I don't work, I can spend time teaching them all sorts of stuff. I am thinking of teaching them a foreign language too. Since none of my kids are in formal education yet, everything we do is just another fun activity. Even 3 month old Max loves books! We have story time everyday and between all the kids it lasts almost two hours!
Kai and Cassia both have the Tag reading system and books which makes reading more fun. Our favorite books right now are Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Walter the Farting Dog Goes on a Cruise, and any book with Thomas the Train.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Fun: Flashback childhood fun
When I was in first grade we got rewarded every Friday with a fun activity and my favorite was the shaving cream party! The teacher would spray a huge mound of shaving cream on to our desk and we would just have a blast playing with it! Such simple pleasures!
I decided to let my kids experience the fun at home since it's too cold to take them out for some fun and there's not enough snow to bring in for them to play with yet. Here's how much joy a $1 can bring:
Kai said he was Santa and Cassia said, "Me too, Santa!"
The clean up is a breeze, just plop the foamy kids in the tub and the bubbly fun continues! A bonus is the super clean kid's table afterwards!
I decided to let my kids experience the fun at home since it's too cold to take them out for some fun and there's not enough snow to bring in for them to play with yet. Here's how much joy a $1 can bring:
Kai said he was Santa and Cassia said, "Me too, Santa!"
The clean up is a breeze, just plop the foamy kids in the tub and the bubbly fun continues! A bonus is the super clean kid's table afterwards!
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