Alphabet Fun

I am so thankful for Pinterest when it comes to finding educational activities and games for my two little ones, especially on rainy days when their energy level is high and I need something fast to keep them happy and entertained.  That's where I found this activity, pinned right onto my board "Kids Activities" (you can follow me on Pinterest here!).  This pin is originally from The Stay-at-Home-Mom Survival Guide and they have tons of activities on their website that I plan to try out very soon with my two guys!

My three year old is so into the alphabet - the song, the letters, the sounds, everything! I kid you not when I tell you that he started asking us to watch "Alphabet Write".  Never heard of it? Neither had we! So, I went to youtube and typed in Alphabet Write and my search returned videos of people writing out the alphabet.  I showed it to him, and in his sweet little voice he said, "That's right, Mommy!" He then watched video after video of people writing out the alphabet.  So when it was raining one day and I needed a quick activity for him, I knew this one would be a winner!

I love activities where I have all the materials right on hand.  This activity was simple - all I needed was a piece of construction paper, paint, and a cotton swab.  I wrote out the alphabet using a black marker and let him use the cotton swab dipped in paint to trace my letters.  He loved this activity and would ask me questions about each letter as he was tracing them. 

"What comes after A, Mommy? That's right! B! B is for ball.  What else is B for?" I love that he loves to learn.  I admire his intelligence and his curiosity and I hope his love of learning continues to grow and I continue to help it do so. 

 

After we got done with the painting activity we read one of our favorite books, The Mixed Up Alphabet. Even little brother enjoyed story time. We finished up our activity with lunch and I used cookie cutters to make letter sandwiches.  Walker got to pick out his letters and as you can see he picked A, B, C, D - he's a simple man ;)  This was a fun lesson for us and Walker has already asked to paint his letters again.  Looks like we have found another great activity thanks to Pinterest!

 

 

 

Frugal Friday - Meet My Favorite App: Viggle

Frugal Friday is the perfect follow up to Thrifty Thursday, don't you think?! :)  I want to tell you guys about my FAVORITE app - Viggle.  Viggle is a free app for Apple iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and Android Devices.  All you have to do is go into the app when you are watching your favorite television shows and "check in" using Viggle's technology that samples the audio from your television and checks you into the show you are watching.  The great thing about this app is that each show you check into gives you points and these points can be redeemed for great prizes.  Plus, everyone watches TV so why not get things for free just for watching your favorite shows?!

Viggle also gives users the opportunity to earn extra points by checking into sponsored shows that offer check-in bonuses.  Viggle also offers Viggle LIVE on certain shows which is a trivia game users can play while watching the show and earn even more Viggle points when they answer questions correctly. 

So what can you get with your Viggle points? I have seen gift cards to Amazon, Sephora, Lowe's, Home Depot, Best Buy, Starbucks, Target, and items ranging from Apple TV to cruises! My family has enjoyed Home Depot, Lowe's, and Best Buy gift cards. 

I am all about saving money and earning rewards and this app is a great way to do just that.  Don't worry, it even picks up Caillou and Curious George - Momma tested! :)

What is your favorite rewards program? 

Thrifty Thursday

I can remember my mother making me go to yard sales with her and I can remember the eye rolls and attitude I gave her on Saturday mornings when she wanted me to get up early with her and drive around from yard sale to yard sale.  Now as an adult and mother myself I love getting up early on Saturday mornings and going "hunting". And yes, I typically drag my boys along with me.  At this point they love it because they get prizes at each stop but I know the eye rolls are on their way. It's not just Saturdays that I enjoy bargain shopping.  I love finding bargains anywhere any day.  My favorite stores are TJ Maxx, HomeGoods, and Ross and I also love the thrift store and I can (and normally do) spend hours in there.  Here are a few of the bargains I found last week:

Walker has always loved to read.  Unfortunately he has outgrown the library of books we have collected at yard sales (my favorite place to stock up on books!) and it's not exactly yard sale season (but that all changes this weekend! eeeek!) BUT luckily the thrift store is a great place to find books.  We found these three books at the thrift store last week.  The first book is a Lift A Flap On the Farm book.  Walker loves these Lift A Flap books and I do too because they are educational.  This particular book teaches names of animals, colors, and opposites.  This book was in great shape.  The pages were still stiff and shiny and the flaps had not been raised. This particular book is currently selling on Amazon.com for $17.95. My bargain price was $1.99 - SCORE! We also scored a storybook collection of Disney Pixar stories for my three year old Buzz Lightyear Enthusiast for $1.99 and The Little Engine That Could, one of this momma's childhood favorites, for $0.39. 

 

I also found some super cute clothes for the boys.  I know a lot of people do not like to buy used clothes and that's okay - there are still lots of great bargains to find at the thrift store.  These swimsuits were too cute (and cheap) to pass up.  The first pair are from Crazy 8 and are baby blue with navy sea turtles and they cost $0.99.  The second pair are the brand Greendog and are navy with skulls on them.  These would typically not be our style but in addition to loving books and Buzz Lightyear, my little man loves pirates.  Talk about being all boy! These were the perfect balance between cool for him and preppy cutesy for mom.  AND....they were $0.79 so I could not pass them up.

Below: Red, White, and Blue Garanimals shorts $0.79

These are going to be perfect for Wyatt to wear on the Fourth of July.

Below: Old Navy $1.49



Below: Circo $0.99



Below: Kitestrings $0.99



Below: No Brand Listed but aren't they cute?! $0.59



Below: The Children's Place $1.49



So here's all my goodies from last week's thrift store trip.  I think I did pretty well but just how well did I do???



 

$11.89!!!!!

 

I would call that a successful trip to the thrift store!

 

Here's some tips for how to have a successful thrift store experience:

1. Take your time - The thrift store is a big place and can seem overwhelming.  Take your time and really look.  The aisles are chaotic and unorganized - don't be afraid to touch things and move things around.  You never know what could be behind something or under something else. 
2. Bring Hand Sanitizer
3. Triple check EVERYTHING - From books to lamps to clothes you want to check everything and then check it again.  Books can look great from the outside but can have pages missing, tears in pages, and marks throughout.  It's important to look through the book for these things.  Make sure that electronics work.  Most of the time they will have TV's plugged in but other items may just say "Works" on the tag.  Ask them if you can plug them in to double check.  Make sure to triple check clothing.  Look for stains, holes, and fading.  Hold the items up in the light and run your hand along the seams to check for tears. 
4. If you see something you want, put it in your buggy right away. If you decide you do not want it later, you can always take it out of your buggy but if you are three aisles away and you decide to go back for it someone may have already snatched it up.
5. If something says SOLD and you really want it, check with a worker.  There have been quite a few times that a piece of furniture or a big toy says SOLD and I checked with the worker and after some investigating the item was able to be re-tagged and sold.  Buyers are given a certain amount of days to pick their items up and if they do not pick them up they can be sold.
6. Be Patient - You may go to the thrift store and come out with nothing.  Keep going! Just because you do not find something on one trip does not mean you won't come up with a car full the next time. 

 

 

What is your favorite bargain shopping secret? Please share!

A quick trip back to Facebook Land

I deactivated my personal Facebook page about a week ago for lots of different reasons and I haven't missed it one bit.  Until today. It may be because my husband left this morning to go out of town and I am already feeling a little lonely or it may be because that is my only source of adult contact throughout the day and those "likes" or comments, sad as it may be, make me feel connected.  So today, against my better judgment, I entered my email and password and ventured back to Facebook Land.

I instantly found myself scrolling through my newsfeed and felt my heart sink at some of the posts.  In the span of about ten minutes I was angry, hurt, happy, and annoyed.  Some of the posts made me laugh and some had me "sssh-ing" my three year old so I could read a political rant that I knew would lead me to factcheck.org.  What was I doing??? This was a mistake.  I should not have made the trip back to Facebook Land.  I can honestly say that not having a personal Facebook has made a world of difference in my life.  While I do feel less connected and do miss my "friends" and their posts, it has me asking (in my best Carrie Bradshaw voice), does Facebook keep us connected or keep us from connecting?

Being without Facebook has made me aware of a lot of things.  One of the most important things I have learned about myself is how much I used it to reinforce beliefs about myself.  A few weeks ago my son turned one and I threw his party together at the last minute.  I had some Mommy guilt about that but when I saw just how cute it turned out, the Mommy guilt went away and I gave myself a pat on the back as I uploaded pictures of the super cute table and decorations to Facebook.  I waited and waited for my "friends" to hit the like button and tell me just how cute it turned out.  When I didn't get the comments I was expecting I actually said to my husband, "Maybe it's not really cute because nobody commented on it on Facebook."  That's when I knew that I was relying too heavily on the approval of my Facebook friends.  This is just one example.  I could give you a whole list but this was my Ah-Ha! Moment. 

I wish I could say that I am a confident mom who doesn't care what anyone thinks about me, my children, my life, or my parenting.  It's just simply not true at this point.  I hope that as I get older and gain confidence as a woman and mother I will not need the approval of others as much.  I believe I am on the road to that and deleting Facebook was just the first step.  I am making it a personal goal for myself to reach out more to people and develop real relationships rather than simply Facebook friendships. 

Join me in my goal! I challenge you to personally reach out to someone today.

Walker's Valentines 2013

Last year was Walker's first year in preschool and I was so excited when Valentine's Day rolled around and I was able to flex my creative muscles and come up with an unique idea his two year old peers would surely remember forever! :)  Thanks to Pinterest, I was able to find lots of great ideas and ended up settling on these cute little glow sticks. 

This year I knew I had to step it up.  I had set the bar for myself! I knew early on exactly what I wanted to do - another great Pinterest find! I decided to create these fun little pails filled with sour gummy worms.  I looked everywhere for these little pails.  I visited all the local craft stores and finally found ONE pail at Michael's.  When I saw that it was almost $3 for ONE pail, I realized I needed a backup plan! Back to Pinterest I went but unfortunately I did not find anything that I liked as much as the Hooked on You pails.  That's when I remembered my trip to Target a couple of weeks prior.  I had seen the cutest little wooden instruments in the dollar section and thought to myself that they sure would make a cute present.  It just so happened that we had gotten the boys pictures taken for Valentine's Day and Walker's valentines cards had his picture along with the quote, "All you need is LOVE". Ding, ding, ding!!! All you need is Love by The Beatles! It was a light bulb moment I tell ya!

I went to Target the next day and the instruments were all gone.  I called my husband who was working out of town and asked him to find the nearest Target and make his way there after work.  I was a Momma on a mission! I drove 30 minutes to another Target and hit the jackpot! They had TONS of the instruments.  I was so excited that I ended up buying 15 for Walker's class valentines and 15 for his teachers to use in the classroom. 

The instruments came in clear bags and were labeled, which I really liked, and I considered leaving them like that and tying his valentine onto them that way but then they would not all be uniform in size.  I decided to take them all out of their original bag, put them in cellophane bags and tie his valentine onto them that way.  Here is the final product...

 

I LOVE them! I thought they turned out so stinkin' cute and I was so proud that this was an idea that I thought of myself - no Pinterest required ;)  Now that's not to say that Pinterest will not be consulted next Valentine's Day and the next and the next.  :)  

 

What do YOU think about these musical Valentines?