My first attempt at learning how to coupon

If you remember from my New Year's resolutions, one thing I wanted to attempt to do is learn to live more frugally. One of the ways that I am trying to do this is by learning how to use coupons. We live near a CVS. I never shopped there, until I started looking into couponing. I was blown away with the fact that people were spending hardly anything and getting loads of goodies. So, I figured I'd give it a whirl. I used some coupons and Extra Care Bucks (which can essentially be used to buy stuff on a future trip) that I already had. This was my first buy.

I paid a total of eight dollars out of pocket, BUT I received five dollars in Extra Care Bucks back. This brings down the actual total to THREE dollars! Considering that the Dove body wash is usually around six dollars alone, this is not too bad!

P.S. Would you check out one of my kitties, Scout, in the background? I don't know if those of you who own cats have the same issue, but my cats are always sooooo nosy about everything I bring home. They rub against my shopping bags, and they have to smell every new smell that they possibly can. It's really cute!

We are ready for Spring

Over here, we are so looking forward to spring time. Despite the cold temperatures, we have been trying to go outside everyday. We like to inspect our flowers to see how much they have grown. We lay down on the grass and let the new blades tickle our hands. The breeze brushes by our cheeks as we swing on the swings. We find left over acorns and make a pile of them for the family of squirrels that live nearby. Stray sticks become drumstick or microphones. Our nature bucket is filled with small rocks that are extra sparkly or slightly pink. We are ready for warm temperatures. Come on, Spring!

The Last Snow?

Today we woke up to a bit of snow on the ground. For the area we live in, it is unusual for this time of year. We've had a hard winter, and everyone is sick of snow at this point. Well......almost everyone.

I had one happy little camper this morning, when he looked out the window. He wanted to go out and play immediately. But we had tumbling class. I knew this was the type of snow that wouldn't stick aroud. So I promised him that after class, we would go out if there was still snow.

There was just enough for throwing a couple of snowballs and making lots of footprints. Of course, there was still plenty to eat. In the kiddo's book, that is the most important thing.

Rainy day activity: Making colored pasta

The past couple of days, Logan has been getting in some of his two year old molars. He hasn't been sleeping well at night, and he hasn't really been napping during the day. Around four every afternoon, he starts to get overtired. Sometimes he gets a bit grumpy; other times he gets extremely hyper.

So I decided to do this project with him to keep him entertained and to stop him from trying to throw his toys down the stairs for the fifth time. I googled "how to dye pasta" and a million websites came up. Everyone of them has the same basic idea. Gather your ingredients. (The rubbing alcohol is not shown, because I was too lazy to go get it. I used the hand sanitizer by the sink instead).

Would you look at this kid? He has no idea what we will be doing, but he can tell it is going to be awesome!

In each plastic baggie, put a couple of drops of food coloring and a couple squirts of hand sanitizer. If you have a kid that might be tempted to sample some of the pasta, you might want to forgo the activity. Or not add the sanitizer. If you chose to add nothing, the dye will come off on the child's hands if they get at all wet. I have also seen versions that use vinegar, so that might be another alternative. Add some pasta and seal the bag. Hand it over to the kiddo to shake to their heart's content.

Next put it on a pan with paper towel over it to dry. The hand sanitizer version dried pretty quickly for me. I believe it was about a half an hour. Then repeat to make as many colors as you so desire.

Finally once it was dry I put it into Logan's sensory bin and let him play with it for a while. Remember, this type of stuff needs to be supervised play. Even while I am supervising, Logan tries to sometimes dump the whole thing out! I actually have another idea for this alphabet pasta, so stay tuned for another post in the future.

This was SIMPLE and fun. I imagine it would work just as well for rice. It lasted just enough time to keep the peanut occupied until dinner time and even for a little while after. I think I might love this small, colorful, alphabet pasta.

I'm sharing at:

28 months

Dear Logan,

Today you are 28 months old. You are amazing. People must wonder why I am always talking  about you. Those people have obviously never met you.  And it is their loss, because they have no idea what they are missing.

You love to perform and have an audience. I say that one day when you are a famous actor you will support me in my old age, but I am really only joking. You can do whatever you want in your life, but currently if you had to chose I'm guessing it would be something where you had a captive adoring audience, much like you already do. Whether it is singing along with songs or making silly faces in the mirror, you get giddy when you know people are watching and laughing along with you.

My silly boy, your energy and spirit are contagious. I hope no matter how old you are, that you never lose your love for life. It is spectacular. Just like you.

Love always and forever,

Mama

Wordless Wednesday: Almost spring

Ice painting

I did this activity many moons ago when Logan was a baby. I actually believe that it was one of his first arts and craft experiences. I decided to revisit again as the weather started turning nicer these past couple of days.

First I filled up an empty icecube tray. I used washable kid's paint in some and food coloring in others. (Just remember: that food coloring sometimes stains skin, so I wouldn't recommend you use this unless you don't mind some extra scrubbing). Then I filled it with water.

The first time around, I didn't use straws. It was a hot summer day and I wanted it to be more of a sensory experience. This time since little hands get cold, I added the straws. He still managed to find a way to get paint all over his hands.

I like this activity because it is an open ended activity.

While arts and crafts are cute, this is something that he could take and run with it if he liked.

Which he did.