Back it up!

http://www.bloggled.com/

Back up your blog for FREE!! (for one any more costs) I think I would DIE if I somehow deleted or lost my blog. Especially since it has taken place of my journals and scrap books at the moment. So, I use bloggled to back it up and keep it stored in case of a horrible accident happening.

Just wanted to share...

Some good places I have been finding information, deals, and coupons...

http://hip2save.blogspot.com/

http://www.couponmom.com/

this one is a friend, not all she blogs is specifically for Cedar Park area...
http://cedarparkdeals.blogspot.com/

Please share your knowledge with us too...

So, we are off to a good start with this whole coupon thing. We have not had our first "meeting" (lol) yet, but, Mary and I got some HUGE deals today! I will not share the specifics, as they are already over, but I was thinking that when we do all find fantastic deals, share them with the rest of us so that we can benefit, also. There are a lot of "secret" coupons online!! Did any of you know that Target has webcoupons that you use in the store? Oh yeah, they do!!! And you can combine them with mfg coupons!!!!!!!

Share those great deals and happy shopping!

Helpful Hint...

So, Mary and I are trying out this whole coupon thing, so we are doing lots of research. One interesting tip I just found is that Target's coupon policy apparently allows you to use (1) Target coupon + (1) mfg coupon per item!!

Also, here is a tip for CVS...

Once you are ready to checkout always put your coupons in this order-
• First give them the 4/20 store coupon since your total could go lower then $20 after manufacturer and additional store coupons.

• Next give all your CVS product coupons

• Then give the manufacturers coupons

• Last give your Extra care Bucks

Save Save Save

I was just wondering what all you moms out there do to save money?

Recently I have been trying to make a few changes in effort to save. At the beginning of the year I stopped eating lunch out. We used to hit a kid friendly food place probably once a week. This has been surprisingly difficult.

Also, I am giving up my swifering. It's definitley more expensive, thanks to my husband for pointing out the actually cost per mopping, so I bought a mop and used it for the first time yesterday.

We used to leave our computer on 24/7 but now I make sure to turn it off every night and again surprisingly sometimes it doesn't come back on till after mid day. Unfortunetly that savings is hard to see.

And as Alisa mentioned we are going to start cutting coupons and watching sales. I think we are both on the fence about maybe doing the grocery game.

So, I am really interested!! What do you do? I could use some help and ideas in my efforts to save!

Hi fellow mommies!

I am trying the "ADSENSE" program thru google. If you are unfamiliar with the program, basically I get paid for putting ads on my blogs, if readers click on them. I will let you all know if it works and if it is something I would recommend. If the ads start to really bother you, please email me and let me know. (If several people are really annoyed, I will remove it. The LAST thing I want is for you to stop coming here because you are bothered by some ads...it's not worth it!) If you have a second, click on the ads...so I get paid! lol If it works well, and any of you start it, I will click on yours, too! So, happy clicking!

Great sites and giveaways!

Check out Coco Bonbons. It has adorable kids clothes that are really unique. They have a great sale going on right now! You can also visit Ladybug Soup for awesome giveways!

I am new to things like this, but I am going to try to start posting lots of great sites like this for great products and giveaways!

Mary, Natalie and I are also going to start clipping coupons and searching for great deals! We will share with all of you!

Lesson about love/service

I saw this on a blog the other day and I thought it was a cute idea. Since it's almost Valentine's day, I decided to use this idea in our Family Home Evening lesson last night. We read a couple of scripture verses about how God wants us to love one another and serve one another. Then we each took a turn standing on a red paper heart (I just used construction paper) while the rest of the family members each said something that they loved about that person. I also cut out some smaller paper hearts and put them in a basket. These hearts were to be used whenever one of us did something to love or serve another family member. For example, if you make up a family members bed for them, then you leave a paper heart behind. Or the hearts can be used to write or draw messages on for a family member. Anyway, it was a short, interactive lesson (which is so important for Lily) and went over well. Just thought I'd share.

Meals

What do all of you give your kids to eat? Especially the ones under 5. My kids eat pretty well, but I have to admit, I get lazy when it comes to meals. I do not have a good diet, I find it really hard to sit down and eat, so I find the easiest, fastest things I can. Tye loves peanut butter/ jelly sandwiches, and Kenadie loves chicken nuggets. So, that is what their lunches usually are, and supper is usually a pasta or rice dish. Do any of you have easy, healthy food ideas that you give your little ones??

Operation Playtime.

Unplug Your Play!

I am honored to be a part of Operation Playtime, 12 days of play , exploration and not a battery in sight! The goal isn't to banish the video games or battery powered trucks forever, just to find a balance and make sure that every child gets some good old fashion unplugged play!

All the fun starts January 20th !

I saw this on a blog I read called No Time for Flash Cards. It's a lofty goal but what the heck I will try to have more balance. It's definitely more work. Try it with me! 

I found this on Yahoo

5 Habits for a Happy Couple (from someone who was on the brink of ending their marriage)


Daily Habit #1: Talk to Each Other

Happily married couples typically say their relationships work better when they can sit down and gab one-on-one, like thinking, feeling adults. But who's got time for that? Actually, anybody who sleeps at night, if you follow the lead of Julie and Thom and their nightly visits to their "igloo."

"It all started one winter night years ago, when Julie had had a really bad day," says Thom, 33, a marketing director in Columbus, Ohio. "We were huddled under the covers of our bed, and Julie was describing how all the people who made her day miserable were 'bad polar bears' and how she didn't want any of the bad polar bears coming into the bedroom and how the bed was our refuge from them. You realize how embarrassing it is to admit this, right? Anyway, that's when we started calling the bed the igloo."

"The igloo is a place to retreat to," says Julie, 31. "It's our little sanctuary; only nice things happen in the igloo."

Eventually Julie and Thom began holding a powwow in the igloo at the end of every day, making a nightly excursion that Julie says has become a vital part of their five-year relationship.

"It's funny, because I always thought that when you lived with somebody, you'd automatically know everything that was going on," she says. "But we find that if we don't take that time to connect with each other, it's really easy for life to get in the way. The igloo offers one of the few times in the day where there's not a whole heck of a lot else going on, so you're able to focus on each other in a deeper way."

Daily Habit #2: Flirt

Most couples realize that getting intimate every night isn't possible, let alone a worthy goal. Indeed, a 1994 University of Chicago survey of Americans' physical intimacy habits found that only about a third of adults have physical intimacy more than once a week.

That doesn't mean, though, that you can't at least talk sensually every day, and that's the approach that Ed and Stephanie have taken in the more than six years they've been together.

"It's funny," says Ed, a 33-year-old San Francisco cab driver, "because we know plenty of couples who fight, a lot, about how often they have physical intimacy. The wife's upset because all he ever wants to do is get intimate. But this has never really been a problem with us, and I think it has a lot do with the fact that we're always talking sensually to each other."

"Absolutely," says Stephanie, a 32-year-old massage therapist. "We're always complimenting each other, tossing out fantasies, telling each other we're appealing. He gets to feel like he can have sensual feelings, and I feel like I don't have to have physical intimacy all the time to appear attractive.

Let's put it this way: The way I see it, physical intimacy is like chocolate cake. After five days of eating chocolate cake, even chocolate cake doesn't taste that great."

"Right," Ed says, "but after five days of talking about chocolate cake, that cake tastes really good."

Daily Habit #3: Get Stupid Together

Bob and Angie are ashamed to admit that the daily ritual that brings such joy to their 12-year marriage is none other than reality TV. That's right. They lived and died with "Survivor." They've adopted "Big Brother." "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" They do.

"Honestly, I think we just need to be dumb for a while," says Bob, 37, a shoe designer for Reebok in Boston. "We're both very into our careers. And when you're at work, with any job there's going to be a certain amount of professional stress. You like to come home sometimes and, for that lousy hour or whatever, kick back and relax."

Or as Angie, 36, a marketing executive, says, "Life is serious enough, isn't it? Sometimes you need to do something stupid. And if you can't be stupid with your husband, who can you be stupid with?"

Daily Habit #4: Declare Your Independence

So hold on, then: Is domestic joy found in partners smothering each other in obsessive daily rituals?

Hardly. In fact, Tessina says that sleepwalking through a series of hollow routines (although probably an apt description of your day job) is worse for your relationship than having no routines at all. The solution, she says, is to also make a daily habit of getting away from each other.

The point, naturally, is not to make space for each other in that I-can't-wait-to-get-away-from-you sort of way but to pursue your own hobbies and interests. It's a distinction that Joe tried hard to make to Lori during their delicate pre-engagement negotiations four years ago.

These days, Lori and Joe are practically poster children for the power of independence. Joe, who works for a nonprofit agency, spends his nights taking painting classes, building youth centers, and recording his guitar sessions. Lori, a college professor, spends hers directing community-theater musicals and indulging in trashy movies on cable television, a passion that Joe (go figure) doesn't seem to share.

"It all brings a freshness to our relationship because we both continue to grow as people," Joe says.

Daily Habit #5: Share a Spiritual Moment

In another University of Chicago survey, this one of married couples, 75 percent of the Americans who pray with their spouses reported that their marriages are "very happy" (compared to 57 percent of those who don't). Those who pray together are also more likely to say they respect each other and discuss their relationship together.

Not to say that prayer is a cure for all that ails you. But whether they're talking about a simple grace at dinnertime or some soul-searching meditation, couples routinely say that a shared spiritual life helps keep them close. And as Doug and Beth say, even couples who are on different sides of the theological fence can benefit from praying together daily.

"We have been married for seven years, but praying together is something we didn't start doing until about a year ago," says Doug, a 32-year-old Salt Lake City biochemist. "In the past, whenever we faced big decisions, we'd have discussion after discussion about them, but we'd never really come to a resolution."

"I soon found that praying together brings out a real sense of selflessness and humility," Doug says. "When you're praying for each other, not yourself, you're focused together and speaking from the heart on a whole different level. I would never have predicted this for us, but it really works."

"As bad as any problem may seem at that moment," agrees Beth, "prayer always helps us see beyond it. It doesn't have to be a long-drawn-out scripture reading, just a few minutes a day. When we pray, it brings another level of honesty to our conversations. I think it's the most intimate thing you can do with another person."

Now they pray together every night, once the "urchins" are in bed, which puts them in the company of the 32 percent of American married couples who say they pray together regularly. It also puts them in the company of Julie and Thom, when the other couple isn't holed up in their igloo, of course.

"It's pretty short and not at all scripted," says Julie about their giving thanks before each meal. "We just join hands and let it rip. Whether we're asking for forgiveness or giving thanks, saying it out loud holds a lot of power.

"Besides, regardless of religion or spiritual preference, I think that most marriages require a ton of faith," Julie sums up. "You've got to believe that somehow the two of you are going to make it through things. You've got to believe that you're being blessed with this person. And even if the power we feel just comes from the strength of our love, even if we don't believe that it's God who is helping us, I still think that it's good to acknowledge that there's a force between the two of us that's helping us out."

I thought this was pretty neat. They do not mention children, but if you have a good, solid, happy marriage, it is a lot easier to deal with stresses of raising children!

Note to Self

1. When you are sick and want to nap when your children are supposedly napping, make sure that the Sharpie Permanent Markers are put up.
2. Frizz Ease Moisture Barrier Firm Hold Hairspray will take Sharpie off walls and doors.

Old Navy

Go to Old Navy!!! For 4 days, they have an extra 50% off all clearance! If you shop online, use code EXTRA50 and watch your total go WAY down!! I shared this with several people already, and they have let me know they went and loaded up!

Happy shopping!

how old is old enough???

Got a question for you ladies. How old is old enough to let your children play outside by themselves. Especially in the front yard. I have friends in my neighborhood who let their four year olds play outside together unattended. But I just don't feel comfortable with it....

Vacation ideas

Anybody have some good, inexpensive vacation ideas? My parents are going to watch the kids for a week this summer, and we are trying to come up with some ideas on places to go.

Potty training update...

So my update is that there is no update. Hope everyone else is doing better with their little ones! Tye is not having it!

children and guns

I know this is more of a boy thing but I wanted to know what if any of you have taught your children about guns. Avery went to a birthday party for a friend (a boy). He had lots of play guns and some of the kids were running around shooting each other. Avery joined in.
I've heard moms say that there is no way getting around guns with boys because even if you do not buy toy guns they'll end up using a stick or their fingers. (which Avery did when she got home) I believe that's true, they find a way.
What concerns me is when you can not tell the difference between real and fake guns. And kids don't understand the concept that there is a difference. And a majority of American's own a gun, especially here in Texas. So what do you do?

Potty Training Woes

I first want to thank Mary for having a link to this blog in her personal blog and the wonderful things I've been able to read about. I'm also grateful that I was invited to join so that I can participate fully.

I've been potty training my 3 1/2 year-old son and things went quickly thanks to the advice and help from family, friends, and a book recommended to me called Toilet Training in Less Than a Day. Then things started going backwards. Encouragement, rewards, and everything else that we tried seemed to have no effect as my son refused to even acknowledge that he needed to go potty (or had gone). The hope that he would transition out of "night-time underwear" (ie Pull-Ups) within a few months is dying quickly each time that he refuses to go to the bathroom first thing in the morning. I even have a hard time convincing him to change out of his dirty Pull-Ups and have had to resort to a rule stating that there is no breakfast or drinks until he does so. The low point came the day he insisted he watch his Elmo Potty movie twice in a row and then refused to use the toilet even once for the next two and a half days insisting that he'd had an accident like they talked about in the movie. While things have gotten a little better, it's an uphill battle (with my son everything is a battle right now) and it threatens to roll back to the bottom at a moments notice. In fact, the only time he wants to use the toilet is the 3 times (yes 3) in a row he insists he needs to go at bed time. What can we do?

Oh so obvious...

Ok, one of the doctors just said this, and it makes so much sense!

Store poison control number in your cell phone!

Maybe I am the only one, but every time the pedi asks me if I have emergency numbers posted, I say yes, and I am totally lying. So, now, since my cell phone might as well be an extra appendage, I am going to store all those handy numbers.

I also have not updated my ICE numbers, you may want to do that, too, if you need to!
(In Case of Emergency...ICE, authorities are able to look up ICE on your phone and immediately call you emergency contact).

Home remedies

Share some of your home remedies with us!

The Doctors

I like the show the Doctors, and if I am lucky and my kids are napping at that time, I get to watch it. They just talked about some home remedies that I thought were worth sharing.

Bee sting: NEVER USE TWEEZERS (I did not know that.) Use a credit card to scrape the area to get out the stinger. Wrap bacon (raw) on it to take out poison.

Pink eye/ eye infection: breast milk (well, if you are lactating!)

Planter's Wart: Old nail polish; cover entire area, wait a few days, and take off polish by picking at it and wart comes off, too! Little boy said it tickled when his mom did it!

Fever: Soak rag in egg whites, wrap foot, put sock on, go to bed, fever in reduced very quickly

Diaper rash: breast milk/ liquid antacid

Just thought I would share!

12 is too many!

Today I went though all our toys we own. This is actually not the first time I have done this this year. I hate to admit that probably 6 months ago I gave a ton of toys to some friends and also to our church nursery. And still Avery had 12 baby dolls, thanks to grandmas, which is a whole other issue. In my opinion 12 is too many. She picked half to keep and we are giving away the other half. Any of you know of a good place I can take Avery to donate her baby dolls? I was actually hoping for a place that she can actually physically give the dolls to either less fortunate or ill little girls. 

If I can't find a place, do any of your little girls need a baby doll??

preschool and parties?

I hate to be a scrooge but this has been bugging me and I don't know if this is how it is suppose to be or not. I kind of feel like I am the only parent who finds it to be ridiculous and honestly am ANNOYED.

Here's the thing. I signed up to be a room mom for Avery's preschool class to discover that we were going to be party planners. For some reason I guess I thought we'd be helping in other ways. So, we planned a fall party the week of Halloween...took cute picture on the play ground, moved to the class room and had four stations with a snack, game, and two crafts. The other room mom's did most of the work, not because I wasn't willing but because well...they just did. Since then we had two teachers birthdays and cupcakes for Thanksgiving. (thank goodness the other room moms agreed to not do another party or what they were calling a "feast") Now they are planning a Christmas Party in which they are asking for everyone to give $5 for a gift to the teachers and a wrapped book for a exchange. Oh, and last week I just sent $8 to school for a Christmas keepsake they are making in class.

To the point. I am paying a hefty sum of money to have Avery attend 8 hours of preschool a week. I think all the extra fluff (or parties) are totally unnecessary. Do I keep my mouth shut and go along (be a sheep) with the rest of the class? I also can't decide if I am just being sour and a little annoyed at the other room moms for taking over all the responsibilities. I finally told them, in a nice way, they could be the two room moms and I'd help only if they wanted or needed me to(haven't heard from them since). Are all preschools like this with parties and stuff?

Fun

I wanted to share this about me. This is my daughter. As you can see she is loving and wants to have fun. But, she can also make a mess. Please disregard the messy house in the background. I was trying to straighten up that day but the kids kept doing funny stuff so i just forgot about cleaning and pulled out the camera! Enjoy!

Bekah is always wanting to do everything that her brother does. She got her chance this evening. Her brother let her wear his baseball uniform. She was so cute!




But after this cute moment, we had disaster!



They loaded the bath tub and decided the toys needed a bath. I got to them just in time. Bekah was in the tub and turned the water on. Not everything was soaked, just a few things. Her pillow was also in there, she had taken it out when she realized that she did a big no-no! I think she even had the hand soap! I just had to get the camera!

The Woman GOD expects me to be.

I have been reading the posts about what we are "expected" to be. First off, I want to point out that I am not an LDS member. I say this only because I just want you all to realize that as a woman, mother, wife, etc., I am no different. I have been working on a Bible study with several other women in my church that focuses on the Proverbs 31 woman. Before I began this study I thought that in order for me to be "right" I had to do everything she did all of the time. This is so NOT true! Yes, she purchased a field, she made her clothes (and very beautiful I might add), she was involved in charities, she was never idle, blah, blah, blah! But one thing that stands out to me is that she feared the Lord. Not a fear that means "AHHH I am so scared!" but reverence. No where in this passage does it say that she did all of these things daily! The most important thing in her life was her relationship with her Lord, her Heavenly Father.
As women, whether we work outside the home or work inside the home (that includes raising children, cleaning house, keeping our sanity), we need to remember that we are "fearfully and wonderfully made!" Each of us have different "seasons" in our life. My season right now is trying to juggle working, keeping my home happy, and guiding my strong-willed 3 year old daughter into the woman that God intends her to be. Your seasons are different than mine. But we were all made by a God that makes only glorious creations! OK...my point? This is what God has placed in our path for right now. In a year or two it may change, but for now, we get to watch our children go through potty training, runny noses, food in the hair, and poo on the walls. All the while being thankful that they are creative, curious, loving, and energetic. We are so blessed as mothers!