Zoodles Review/Giveaway:CLOSED

I had never heard of Zoodles before this review.  My son really likes to play some games on the computer, but it is really hard with an impatient 3 year old (and an impatient Mommy) to filter through the entire internet for fun educational games.  We have games we like at PBS Kids, Nick Jr., and Fisher Price.  If he wants to play one there is no problem, but if he wants to go from a Curious George game to a Go Diego Go game we have a problem.  He can’t go from website to website.  Zoodles puts a ton of fun, educational games all on one screen.  There is a menu page that has them all right there.  Page after page of them are waiting for you and your child to select from with bouncing from site to site.

When Zoodles is open on your computer it goes to full screen mode and even the taskbar is not seen.  This keeps your kid from being able to click on other content.  When Zoodles is up, they can only play on Zoodles and access games and videos that the expert panel of educators have selected.  It is so cool.  Zoodles also tracks which games or videos your child goes to and how long the play.  They keep track of those statistics so you can see at a glance what your child has been doing and which educational games they prefer.  Zoodles also has parental controls.  You can choose the categories you want emphasized.  There are Life Skills, Science, Reading, Math, and Social Science.  If you think your child needs to work on their math more, go to the parental controls and up the percentage of math you want featured.  Your child will now have a different set of options in their toy box.  There will be more games and learning videos that emphasize math now.  All games are age appropriate.  When you first go to Zoodles you enter your child’s name and age.

Do you want to know one of the best things about Zoodles?  It is a free service!  That’s right, free.  They do have membership plans that eliminate ads.  The prices vary on how long you want to sign up for, but are very reasonable and get as low as $5 a month.  When you first sign up with Zoodles you will get the premium membership for 14 days to test it out and see how you like it.

Now for the giveaway!  Since Zoodles is a free service, this giveaway is for 6 month premium membership (valued at $39.95).  The wonderful people at Zoodles have offered to give away 5 free memberships!!  Holy Cow!!  I was given a free 6 month premium membership to try out the extra services that the premium membership allows and I really like it.  The free service is great, too.  I strongly encourage you to go to the site and check it out.  It is a really great site with awesome features and I can’t believe I didn’t think of it.  Back to the giveaway.  Enter in the form below for your chance to win one of FIVE premium 6 month memberships!

This giveaway has ended.  

The winners are: Debbie W., Glenn W., Jessica T., Aimee A., and Rochelle C.

They will have 3 days to respond to redeem their prize.  If not, a new winner will be selected.

Disclosure: I did receive a complimentary 6 month premium membership to be able to review the service honestly.  I really like this service and the fact that I received this membership has not effected my review of this service.  I did not get any compensation for this review.  Zoodles had no influence or editing authority of this review.  This is a free service, and if I would have known about it I would have showcased it without the giveaway.  It is that cool!

Credit Card Concept

‘Tis the season for some serious shopping.  I know that there are a lot of you that have really had great results with only paying for things with cash.  That just does not work for me.  I can blow cash and have no idea where it went.  I NEVER have cash, you can ask my husband.  I use my debit card for everything.  It holds me accountable.  I know that there is a trail for everything I buy that my husband can see.  It makes me think twice.  :-)  I do not want my son to think that a card is some form of “magic money” or that you don’t really pay for things.  Daddy uses only cash, but Mommy uses the debit card.  To a young child, it might be difficult to understand that they do the same thing.  I also want my son to know about being responsible with his money.  I have told you before about how we use old wallets and play store.  This is how I incorporated learning about debit cards into our play time.

I take some play money, let’s say $10 and I lay it on the shelf on the other side of the room from where we are playing store.  I tell him that the money is in the bank over on the other side of town.  I tell him how much money is in the bank.  We play store as usual, but when ever we swipe the card to buy something, I tell him how much it is (let’s say $3).  After we check out, we go to the other side where the money is to be the bank people.  We take out the $3 we spent buying things at the store.  I remind him of the exact items we bought at the store and how much they were as we are taking the money.  We count out the remaining money.  Then I tell him, “Now we have $7 to buy the things we need.”  I tell him that whenever we use the card to buy things, there are people that work at the bank that go ahead and take the money out of our bank for us.  I try to emphasize that whenever we use the card, we are spending our money.  He really seems to understand it when we play this game.

I love doing this because it is fun learning.  He is learning social skills about shopping and about different jobs people have.  He learns math skills about what things cost, counting money, and the base for addition and subtraction.  This play time activity really sharpens his reasoning and cognitive skills, plus it teaches him an important lesson about money.  Try it.

What is the most you have ever spent on one single item for one person on Christmas?

Happy Thanksgiving!

I just want to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!

I am thankful for my Savior, my husband, my children. 

This year I have a new thing to be thankful for...all of the wonderful people that read and support my blog. 

Thank you! 

Have a blessed day and enjoy time with your family and friends!

GOOG 411

My husband went to a Technology conference for work and came home and told me about this service.  Google has been offering it for a while, but for some reason it hasn’t caught on.  I do not know why.  I use this A LOT!  Google offers a free “411” information service.  You know, like the one your cell phone company charges you for.  Of course airtime usage/fees apply if you are on your cell phone.  I have this on my speed dial, that is how much I use it. 

Here is one of the best examples of how I use it.  My in-laws were on vacation when they found out a very close friend of theirs lost a family member.  My mother-in-law called me to ask me if I could place an order for flowers to be delivered for the visitation with their condolences on it.  The visitation was going to be in 2 days.  Well when my mother-in-law called me, I was at a play date at the park.  She wanted the order to be placed before noon.  I told her I could get it done, no problem.  I called GOOG 411 and got listings for local florists (and connected to the businesses for free).  I talked to a few places and placed an order for the flowers.  I got it all done in a matter of about 10 minutes and while my kids played on the playground.  I didn’t need a phonebook and I did not get charged out the wazoo for information assistance.

This is the perfect tool for Christmas shopping.  Picture it: you are out shopping for presents.  The store you are at doesn’t have Zhu Zhu Pets (or whatever gift you have to have), you want to know if another store has one before you load up the kids and drive across town.  Just call GOOG 411 and get through to the store.  Now if you can actually get a person to go and look for you, that is a different thing all together.

To use GOOG 411 all you have to do is call 800-466-4411.  That is the numeric version for 800-GOOG-411.  Here is the link to more information about it.  I will repeat that if you use this from your cell, you will be charged for airtime as per your agreement.  You will not get charged any additional fees for calling this number or for being connected to the business.  This service only works for businesses, you cannot search personal listings with it.  Oh and just in case the FTC is wondering why I am writing this, I LOVE this service and use it almost daily.  I am not getting paid for this.  Heck, Google has no idea who I am.  According to them Kimberly Young is a brilliant scientist.  :-)

K’NEX Sesame Street Collection Review

I am a member of Team Mom.  It is a group of moms that blog who review items and share the results of the reviews.  I just became a member this past month.  I received a K’NEX product to review through Team Mom.  They sent me K’NEX Sesame Street Collection Police Car Building Set.  This set is part of the Sesame Street Collection that has 4 total sets: Ice Cream Truck Building Set, Police Car Building Set, 1-2-3 Brownstone Building Set, and Police Station Building Set.  All of the sets are designed to coordinate with each other so you can build a neighborhood.  I was really excited to do this review.  My son has K’NEX in his preschool classroom.  I was anxious to see K’NEX in person. 

                   

The set came and the first thing I noticed was the neat Play & Learn activity sheet.  The sheet has educational and fun activities for preschoolers and parents.  Included were pictures of different ways to build the set, other than the featured way.  The blocks are large and chunky, perfect for my little guy’s hands.  His little sister liked to play with them, too.  The blocks are very easy to put together and take apart.  We had so much fun building it and then building it different ways.  Here is how it looked when we did it like it is featured and the different ways he came up with putting it together.

K’NEX Sesame Street Neighborhood Collection are designed for 2-5 year olds.  As moms I think we all know the importance of the developmental benefits that good learning toys can bring.  They support development of hand-eye coordination, encourage imaginative play, and cognitive skills. 

                  

This set was really great and we had (are still having) a ton of fun with it.  I saw it while doing some early Christmas shopping at Wal-Mart and it is only $9.99!  That is a great price for a present.  It can also be purchased at Target and Toys “R” Us.  If you have a little one in your life (2-5 yrs) that you need a good gift for, without a BIG price, you should seriously look into this.  It really is a great toy!  My only problem with it is that the blocks are so easy to put together and take apart, that sometimes the blocks don’t stay together that well.  When my three year old uses the pieces that have wheels built on them to make a new vehicle the blocks don’t stay together very well.  A rough 3 year old pushing a vehicle while on his hands and knees will put a lot of force on that vehicle.  It is not really K’NEX fault, though.  The blocks need to have the ability to be removed from each other easily, so this is just a side effect of that.  But as a mom that has to hear her son yell over and over that it keeps breaking while he is playing with it, I wish it stayed together better.  It really is a great product and I have already recommended it to a few real life friends a gift suggestions.  You should check it out for yourself.  Click here to see more.

There is a neat contest going on from K’NEX as well.  It is a video contest (find official rules here) in which you can win $1,000 of K’NEX Building Sets.

I hope this review might help with some shopping ideas for gift giving.  It really is a great product and we are enjoying it a lot!

Disclosure: I did receive this set complimentary to ensure a thorough review.  I was not compensated nor was I required to publish my review. Being provided with a free set did not sway my opinion or effect my review of the product.  You guys know me. :-)

“I Spy” Jar

The holidays are coming.  This week is Thanksgiving.  Can you believe it?  For a lot of people the holidays mean travel time.  Many people , including myself, take road trips instead of flying.  We do it because we carry too much junk with us that make it almost impossible to fly (car seats, luggage, portable crib, etc.).  No matter why you choose to do it, traveling with kids at any age can be stressful.  Here is a time passer for the kids.

First you will need a jar.  I used a pickle jar because it was all I had, but a peanut butter jar works the best.  It is light and plastic, because who wants glass shards in their car?  Then you will need some bird seed.  The smaller the better.  We had a wild bird seed mix and it worked just fine.  Lastly, you will need some stuff.  Yeah, I know..stuff?  Could I be more specific?  Well, it can be anything.  I bought a bag of bug party favors at the dollar store.  You can use fun shaped erasers.  You can grab just random things around your house that are small (like a marble, an old key, a paper clip, etc.).  Anything small and easily recognizable will be perfect.
                     

Put a little bit of bird seed in the jar, then put a few items in.  Cover those items with more bird seed.  Put some more items in and cover those with bird seed, too.  Continue this process until the jar is almost full.  You will want to leave about an inch or two of empty space. 

                   

Give the jar to your kids in the car.  Ask them what they can find in the jar without opening it.  If you are doing this with curious young kids, I suggest gluing the lid on with hot glue or super glue.  You don’t want your car full of bird seed.  For older kids you can make a list of what you put in the jar and they will have to cross off the items as they find them.  It won’t take long for your kids to discover different ways to shake and turn the jar to show new items. 

This is a great learning tool as well.  Kids will have to learn to manipulate the jar to move the seeds how they would like.  It is physics and science at their best, but the kids don’t know it.  They just get caught up in the fun of finding the objects.  Try it.

What is the longest road trip you have ever taken?

Skin MD Natural Review/Giveaway

When I was approached by Skin MD Natural to review their product, I was about to just delete the email (honestly).  I took a second to just briefly scan their website.  I looked at the claims saying it forms a protective barrier on the skin to protect it from harmful irritants and chemicals, and the words “glove in a bottle.”  Didn’t really seem like anything I would use or like.  I never remember to put lotion on before bed, heck I don’t even put on moisturizer on my face 90% of the time.  Then I saw one word...eczema.  If you are a mom of a child that has/had eczema, you know why I stopped. 

Every winter my son has an eczema flare up on his legs and belly.  It is not extreme, but it has been bad enough that he would scream when he got into a bath with absolutely no soap in it because it hurt his skin.  So let’s just say I emailed them back and begged agreed to review Skin MD Natural.  I got sent a bottle just when the temperature started to dip.  I noticed a few rough spots of skin on my son’s legs, the first sign that eczema is about to rear it’s head.  I got the bottle a few days earlier, and quickly opened it to put on my son.  The next day, I noticed the same rough patches on my daughter...Oh No!

So we have been using Skin MD Natural for about a month.  Last week, the rough spots on my son were gone.  The same spots on my daughter vanished the week before.  Now Skin MD Natural does NOT claim to cure eczema, and I am not claiming it either.  I used their lotion when I first saw the signs on a child with a history of mild eczema.  The continued use of the lotion has stopped the escalation of symptoms and even reversed some symptoms.  We have kept using the lotion and will continue to use it throughout the rest of the cold season.  I will be a Skin MD Natural customer for quite a while.  I got this first bottle free, but will be buying more with my own hard earned money.  Oh, and by the way, they sent me a small sample of Skin MD Natural + Sunscreen for face, body, and hands.  I put it on my face one morning after noticing some red, irritated, flakey patches around my nose.  I noticed an immediate difference that day on my entire face.  I have been rationing the 3 small sample packets they sent me for the past 3 weeks.  I told you before that I don’t remember moisturizer or care enough to use it, but for three weeks I have been diligently using this on my face and noticed a big difference!  I can’t even begin to tell you how honest my feelings are about this product.  Half of the time I think Suave is too expensive to use on myself, but I am going to pay $25 for the one I use on my face and $18 for the one for my kids.  That is how much this cheap mom likes this stuff!

Learn more about it by visiting their website.  You can even find out if there are stores near you that carry it, so you will not have to pay shipping costs.  You can read testimonials and see amazing before and after shots.  This product is really great, and to think I was just going to delete the email and not give it a second thought.

Now for you to try it yourself.  Skin MD Natural is offering a bottle to one of you!  Just complete the form below.  This giveaway will end on Wednesday, November 25th at noon CST.  The winner will be notified by email and have 3 days to claim their prize or a new winner will be selected.
This giveaway has ended.  The winner is Kim C.!  Thank you to everyone who entered!

Disclosure: I did receive a free bottle from Skin MD Natural so I could provide an honest review.  My opinion was not swayed by the fact that it was free.  I was not compensated for this review or any space on my site.  The fact that Skin MD Natural is sponsoring this giveaway did not effect my opinions one bit for this review.  The fact that my son is not having an eczema flare up is what gave this product it’s rave review! 

“Thank You” Photocards

There are about to be a ton of promotions out for photo cards.  Most people take this opportunity to use them for Christmas cards.  I love getting photo cards from people at Christmas and we will be sending out some as well. 

Try this neat twist on the photo card, though.  Get some printed up that are just pictures of your family, or the kids, without the holiday greetings or scenery.  Add some text to it (if you are able to) that says Thank You.  If you can’t insert text onto the photo card, you will be able to write it on it, so no big deal.  Use these cards all year long and especially after Christmas to thank friends and family for their generosity. 

This is a great way to teach children respect, manners, and gratitude.  The tradition of thank you notes is really starting to fade and we are very guilty of it at our house, as well.  I will be doing this, to have something on hand to give out.  Plus, what mom doesn’t want to give out pictures of her super cute kids?  And truthfully, anyone that has given you a gift or helped you in a way that you give them a thank you card, they would appreciate a special card with pictures.

I timed this post to be able to tell you about an awesome offer that my friend Heather at Freebies 4 Mom is hosting.  She has teamed up with SeeHere and they are offering her readers 50 FREE photo cards!  Free – no service fees, no handling or convenience fees, and no shipping fees!  This is a true freebie.  Here is the link to her post about it.  This post has the link to See Here and the promotional code to use.  Now you can make those thank you cards (or regular Christmas cards) for free.  Be creative and have fun!  You can use the promotion for different cards.  You can make 20 thank you cards, 20 Christmas cards, and 10 thinking of you cards.  As I understand the promotion, you do not have to get 50 of the same photo card.  So shake it up a bit and get something new.  Try it.

Update: Here is my Thank You card.  Turned out super cute!  Thank you Heather!!!

No Time For Flash Cards

Today I have a craft project on No Time For Flash Cards.  I love this site.  Allie is a former teacher and now stays at home with her young son.  She does the neatest craft projects perfect for toddlers and preschoolers.  The best part is that the posts almost always tie into books she recommends.  She utilizes her experience as a teacher and helps us teach and occupy our little ones.  I am a follower of her site and even have the button on my sidebar.  That is how much I love it!  Speaking of my sidebar, check out my other favorite blogs if you have time.  You can check out Allie's awesome site No Time For Flash Cards by clicking here, too.  I am so not worthy to be on it, but Allie's morning sickness has made her delirious and she has subsequently lowered her standards. :-)

Homemade Moon Sand

The title of this is “Homemade Moon Sand”, but what I made was more like mud.  It was my fault, though.  I will tell you more about that in a second.  I searched the internet to find a recipe for moon sand, because I am too cheap to pay $7-20 for a sand in a Rubbermaid container.  I was ecstatic when I found it.  I have been thinking about making it for a month now.  Maybe my expectations were just a little too high.

Here is what you need: 6 cups of play sand, 3 cups of cornstarch, and 1 1/2 cups of water.  {The picture shows 2 boxes of cornstarch, but one 16 oz. box has a little over 3 cups and will be plenty.}

 

Mix the cornstarch and play sand together.  Then add the water.  Now I was told on the internet that you could make it colored by adding Kool Aid to the sand and cornstarch before adding the water.  My son picked green...didn’t work well at all.  Do you know what you get with brown sand and green Kool Aid mix?  You get the color of baby poop.  Yes, I said it, baby poop!  If you are going to try this, I suggest purple (grape) or red (cherry), something that will overpower the brown sand more than green.

  

My son was stirring the mixture as I was adding the water.  I made the mistake of thinking it looked too dry, so I added more water.  I would not suggest this.  I made Moon Mud.  I was soooo very disappointed, but my son wasn’t.  He said it was even more fun than the Moon Sand at his preschool.  I put it on a cookie sheet and let him play with it.  He had a ton of fun!  The cornstarch in the mixture made it easy to play with and kept it together pretty well.

 

After a few days, the Moon Mud became more like Moon Sand, because it will dry out a little.  You will need to keep it in an airtight container and freshen it with water every now and then.  The more my son plays with it, the less disappointed I am with the outcome of the mixture.  It wasn’t a smashing success like the Gooey Geyser Goo, but it was a success none the less.  I would suggest you try it, but don’t add extra water (my son liked the extra water version better, though) and use different Kool Aid to color.  This was a lot cheaper than buying the actual moon sand and it cost me about $4 to make a whole batch.  The pictures above of my son playing with it on a cookie sheet is only about 1/3 of a batch.  So you are getting a good price for your money.  To make it look really good (but increases the cost) use Crayola Colored Play Sand instead of trying to color regular sand with Kool Aid.  Try it.

This post was linked with others on Friday Favorites at Daily Dwelling and Works For Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family.

Jiffy Lube and M.O.M.

Well, they are finally starting to smarten up.  By they, I am talking about the automotive industry.  Long gone are the days when you changed your own oil at your house, or you batted your eyes at your husband and told him that he needed to work on the car.  There are single moms out there that manage so much, let alone performing car maintenance, too.  Working moms or stay at home moms don’t have the time either.  Heck, dads don’t have the time!  Women take their own cars in to get oil changes and other maintenance services.  The industry is finally talking to women about our cars.

Shell Lubricants has a website called Motor Oil Matters (M.O.M.).  It is a neat site with quick answers to frequently asked questions like, “What is considered severe driving?”  I don’t know about you, but I know squat about the engine and always feel like I am getting conned about things when I go to get even an oil change.  This site tells you some things you need to know.  It also has a fun little quiz you can take to test your oil knowledge.  Check out Motor Oil Matters to get all the info you need to take care of your engine. 

Speaking of taking care of your engine and getting oil changes.  When your to do list is the entire page and you have your kids along for the ride, you need to get things done fast!  When getting an oil change, you don’t want to just take your vehicle anywhere.  I like to take my minivan to a place I can trust.  After all, I am going to have this thing for a long time. 

Did you know the average age of a vehicle on the road is over 9 years old?  That makes regular maintenance even more important. 

Jiffy Lube is one of the places I trust and have always trusted.  They are fast, courteous, knowledgeable, and do a great job, in my opinion.  And no, I am not getting paid to say this.  I feel comfortable there and don’t feel like I am getting pressured to to buy the “extras” like I do at some places.  I will be the first to admit that they are not the cheapest around and I wish they were not as expensive as they are, but in this case I do believe you get what you pay for. 

Don’t believe me?  Well you will just have to try Jiffy Lube yourself, then.  That’s right, it’s a giveaway.  Two winners will be selected to receive a $35 Jiffy Lube gift card.  That should cover all or most of the cost for an oil change.  Just fill out the form below for entry.  If you go to Motor Oil Matters and take the short quiz, share your score for a bonus entry.  The scores will not be published.  
There will be 2 winners selected by Random.org.  The winners will have 3 days to respond after being notified by email, or new winners will be selected.  This giveaway will end at NOON on Friday, November 20th. 

This Giveaway is closed.  The 2 winners are Crystal B. and Marybeth W.  Congratulations!  Check your inbox for my email.

Disclosure: Shell Lubricants and MotorOilMatters.org are supplying the $35 gift cards.  I did not receive anything for this review or giveaway.  This post is all my honest opinion and has nothing to do with the fact that they sponsored this giveaway.  You guys know me by now and know that I will tell it like it is.

“DON’T DO” Coupons

We all gave our moms that coupon book for Mother’s Day.  You know the one that had coupons for a back rub, or washing the dishes.  Now you can make some more coupons...you know I love coupons!  This time make them for your kids.  Try this new way to reward your children.

Every time your kids do something that needs rewarding give them a “DON’T DO” coupon.  How you want to give them out is up to you.  The coupons are redeemable to NOT do a chore.  They can present them to you in leiu of doing a chore, like making their bed.  Make sure you make them valid for one use, or your sneaky kids will get around it.  You know they will.  :-)  Another tip is make sure it is a chore that can go without getting done this one time without making a big disruption in how you run the house.  If it is for taking out the trash, but it is trash day...you won’t get the trash gone until next week.  You could always do the chore, but isn’t that why we had kids in the first place?  He-he.

This is a great way to reward your kids without shelling out any more money and it is something they will actually like to get.  It is a win-win for all!  Try it.

What chore did you hate to do the most when you were a kid?

Bambalina’s Creations Giveaway

I started this blog to support moms by sharing tips, ideas, and just other things that come up (along with trying to get some new ideas for my own home).  In the short time I have had this site, I have really made some neat friends online.  I have had the opportunity to try new products and sometimes offer a chance for you to try them as well.  Now I have a chance to introduce you to some products while supporting a mom-based business. 
I ran across Bambalina’s Creations on Etsy.com and thought the hair accessories were so cute.  I had to order some for my daughter.  I did, and they are even cuter in person.  I was so impressed with their cuteness, quality, and low price, that I contacted Natalie and asked her if she would be willing to sponsor a giveaway on this site.  Natalie graciously agreed and I am so excited that she did!  These things are absolutely adorable!  I bought these sets for my daughter.  I have tried over and over to get a picture of her with them in her hair, but she will not stay still long enough.  All of the pictures have been a complete blur.  So here are just the clips.

See what I mean?  Aren’t they just so stinking cute?!? 

Here is where the fun part comes in.  Bambalina's Creations is giving away some clips to you.  Got to Bambalina’s Creations page on Etsy.com and tell us which 2 sets of Clippies, Bows, Little Felts, or Flowers you would like, and they could be yours. 
Even if you don’t win the giveaway, you will be amazed by the great prices Bambalina’s Creations offers, you might just have to get a cutie hair accessory or two just in time for the holiday pictures.  I love supporting mom-based businesses!
This giveaway is closed.  Thank you to everyone that entered.  The winner generated by Random.org was #53 Liz W.  She has been notified by email.  The winner has 3 days to respond or a new winner will be selected.  Just go to Bambalina's Creations and pick out your favorites and fill out the form below.  Please put the actual item’s name, so we will know which ones to send if you are the winner. 

Disclosure: I did not receive anything to review or any compensation from Bambalina’s Creations.  As stated in the post, I purchased items from her on my own and approached her about hosting a giveaway.  I wanted moms I know to be able to see these cute things and Bambalina’s Creations was generous enough to offer a prize to one of the entrants of this giveaway.

Political Toss Up, I mean Through

Do you have political signs in your yard from the recent elections?  Do you have those yard signs for lawn care or tree service (like we do from our inland hurricane in May)?  This sign below had a big crack in the middle of it.  You can repurpose those into a fun game for the whole family. 

 

Cut a hole in the middle of the sign.  You can use a plate or a large mixing bowl to trace around.  Then paint the sign however you like.  Since it is for outside, I would use a clear spray paint or sealer to keep the paint on.

 

Stick the sign in your yard and boom, a perfect bean bag toss game or ball toss game.  Ours is a ball toss game. 

 

This can be used year around, as well.  In the winter we will throw snowballs through it.  In the summer we can squirt water guns or throw water balloons through it.  My new favorite idea was inspired by my son sticking his face through it while we were playing.  The idea is that I can convince everyone that a fun game would be to stick your face in the hole while we throw wet sponges and try to hit you in the face.  Sounds like fun to me.  I am thinking the hubby will not volunteer for this version.  It should be a lot of fun all year around and it didn’t cost a thing.  Man, I love being cheap frugal.

This post was linked with others on Friday Favorites at Hoosier Homemade.

Ministry of Garlic & Onions

Today's tip comes from my old dear friend from my high school, Crystal.  You might remember a previous tip she sent in, the pizza box idea for artwork.  Crystal is a busy homeschooling mom of 4, so this tip has extra value.  It is always nice to that ace in the hole, and this just might be yours.

Crystal wrote this:

I've borrowed this from a book I read as a young bride- The Ministry of Garlic & Onions!  We all have those days- it's 5pm, hubby is on his way home and you don't have a clue what's for dinner.  I can't answer that question for you, but a can help you create a pleasant aroma for him to walk into!  Saute garlic and onions in some butter, it will create a homey feel & aroma that has never ceased to put my sweet husband in a good mood as he waits for whatever I decide to throw together!

That fact that Crystal sometimes uses this in her busy day and recommends it to others makes me think that this might be something I should really look into.  Maybe it is something you might want to look into, as well.  Try it.

What food takes you to your "happy place" with just the smell of it?

Leafy Labyrinth

I live where Fall is beautiful, as you know from last week’s post with the leaf placemats.  We tried to enjoy all of the beautiful colors of Autumn until it rained for a week solid and all the leaves came off the trees.  Boo-hoo.  They are now just lying on the ground.  Now is the time when you just rake some leaves into a pile and tell the kids to have at it.  Normally I would, but a recent field trip to the local pumpkin patch made me think again.  They advertised a cornfield maze.  Well my son had seen a cornfield maze on Curious George (his absolute favorite show) and was extremely excited about it.  We got to the pumpkin patch and the maze was so intricate (sponsored by a local motorcycle dealership to be in the shape of their logo) that you actually had to have a guide and were strongly advised not to stray.  My son kept wanting to try different paths and I freaked out and told him he had to stay with me and the group. 

 

Now is where I try to make up for that disappointing experience and have some fun.  I raked a maze out of the leaves that covered my front lawn.  I made branches and turns all over the place along with paths that led to dead ends.  He was so excited!  He went through and would proclaim he took the wrong path.  He would backtrack and try another way.  It took him about 2 minutes to get completely through the maze (even with his silliness), but he loved it.  He then went through it again.  Then again running as fast as he could.  Then again hopping on one foot (well for some of it).  Then again taking his sister through it.  That just led to his frustration.  I tried to explain that Sissy does not understand that she can’t walk through the leaves.  He decided mazes were no for babies at that point and went through it again.  We had a great time outside and got some real hands on puzzle skills using logic and reasoning.  If you live where you can do this, it is a lot of fun!  Try it.

This post is linked with others on Worked For Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family.