esskayelle

coupons :: are totally worth the trouble

so i've been doing this little thing called couponing for the past year or so. 

it has totally changed the way i shop.  i am so grateful that i can save so much money, allowing me to spend as much time as possible at home with my babies.

this is not the best deal out there...but today, at our local grocery store, i bought all of this:

7 boxes of cheerios
4 bags of chex mix
16 boxes of green giant frozen veggies
4 boxes of betty crocker cake mix
5 cans of betty crocker frosting
2 bags of gold medal flour
4 packs of pillsbury refrigerated cookies
2 boxes of go-gurt
1 bag of red potatoes
6 boxes of betty crocker brownie mix

for a GRAND TOTAL of... ~$7.00

i have found, that yes, it takes a lot of work to gather all your coupons and figure which transactions you want to do when.  but that, "high" of post-couponing in combination with the money saved, is totally worth it. 

without coupons or a preferred card, i would have spent well over $100.

here are my go to sites for couponing:
www.mashupmom.com
www.jillcataldo.com
www.thriftynorthwestmom.com

fellow couponers, please let me know if you have any other sites that are good to go to.

that's mine :: an easy way to label kid's bottles

once a week, d needs lunch at school and e needs lunch and a sippy cup.  which means i need to provide three cups in one day.  whenever anything is sent to school, it needs to be labeled, or i might as well just say good-bye to 'em.

i saw those fancy drink bottle labels in the back of my parent's magazine and thought, genius.

but i never bought it.

i just made a poor man's version, and i'm going to share it with you, in case you want to save a few pennies too!

materials:
thick rubberband {usually found wrapped around broccoli florets or the like}
permanent marker

wrap the rubber-band around the bottle, inside out, so that the PLU code is not seen.  and write your child's name.

that's it!  you can go ahead and wash the bottle with the rubber-band on, or take it off as you please.  i haven't tested it in the dishwasher, but if you have, let me know how it goes!

you can also use those thick "live strong" like bracelets too.  turn them inside out and write on the plain side.  this i have dish-washed, i recommend removing the bracelets before sticking into the dishwasher, or else the marker fades.

for the following example, i have used both sides of the bracelet, one child's name is on the inside, and the other child's name is on the outside.   you never know when that will come in handy.

hopefully, with these labels, now you'll know whose is whose.

handwriting :: a trick to train little hands around letters

d is at the ripe age of emergent reading and writing.  it is marvelous to witness, and i find myself experience the same awe as i had when she started to talk in real sentences.  

to encourage her ability to write letters, i bought this poster at the local teacher's store for $1.50, i also laminated it, knowing that grubby hands were going to be all over it.

then my neighbor shared with me some methods in letter writing that she used in her former first grade classroom.  so the wheels in my clunky brain started to whirl.

i grabbed some puffy paint.


and traced each letter very carefully...good thing i laminated the poster, bc cleaning mistakes with wet paint were a cinch to wipe away.

waited overnight to dry, hung at a kid friendly height on the wall, and viola!

this morning discovery was a hit with both kids...and continues to be!

this little finger used to be so much chubbier...*sigh*

while d is tracing the letters, i try to make sure that she follows the number order labeled on the poster.  then, it become like a game for her. 

well, there you have it!  a helpful tool to stimulate proper handwriting with the little guys.  hope this comes in handy for you and your home. 

pesky puzzles :: a storage solution for puzzles

my kids are into puzzles.  i really dislike that the puzzles come in boxes that are way too big for the pieces that hold them.  in my little two bedroom condo, i need to maximize storage in any way that i can.  that is why i use the following method to store our puzzles.  i don't know where i picked it up, but i used this puzzle storage method in my classrooms when i taught...so it's been a while.

for this example, i will use a recent garage sale find.

materials necessary :: zipper baggie and scissors {i have found that for the smaller puzzles, the 1 quart freezer bags work best}

cut the face of the box lid off of the box

put all of the puzzle pieces into the baggie and position the cut lid cover over the pieces, so that the puzzle picture can be seen clearly through the baggie.

close the baggie, and store in a box of other puzzle baggies for easy puzzle access. 

there you have it, an easy way to reference your puzzles, without taking up a lot of space.  i have found that it is also an easy way for little hands to clean the puzzles up when they are finished.  to make it even better for little guys the sliding zipper bags are a better bet.  however, this is what i had on hand, so i didn't bother with getting another kind of baggie. 

it's in the bag :: a quick earth friendly snack bag

most every night, when all is quiet...i sit in front of my computer and try my best to catch up on blogs.  there is so much good stuff out there.  i am inspired to do a million and one projects...

that is why i started a list, to slow me down.  but that's another entry.

i saw this entry on how to make cloth snack bags, and thought, wow that's easy, i'm going to make that, TONIGHT!

and that's what i did last night.  this is the easiest project in the world to undertake, it only took 20 minutes max, to make two.  i just grabbed some scrap fabric and whipped these two bags up in a flash.

 

they are so easy to make bc they have no real closure.  they close like the old school sandwich bags we used when we were kids.  {opened flap below}

filled with crackers, ready for little hands to enjoy.

they passed the upside-down shake test. 

i like how they kinda prop open for easy access.  as seen below from our first use today while eating a picnic lunch at the zoo.  
the best part is that they are super easy to clean.  just stick it in the wash.  no worries about chemicals from oilcloth or vinyl covered cloth.  i love when people share their how-to's. 

go here for the tutorial on how to make these nifty baggies.  i like her comments, she's my kinda girl. 

photo ops, take them up when you can!

the weather dropped to a lovely upper 60's/low 70's. 

so we packed up the car, and headed out to the zoo.  :)

I LOVE THE ZOO!  :)

after a picnic lunch, the kids decided to run like crazy around the lawn.  fine by me!  gets them nice and tired for their afternoon nap.  ahhh.

as i was relaxing on the picnic blanket, i looked straight ahead to see a beautiful lawn, clean of geese poo, and a great view of the fountain.  hmm...will the kids cooperate if i ask them to take some pictures?  can't hurt to try!  boy am i glad i did.  which reminds me, and hopefully encourages you, take up those photo ops, even if the kids are dirty, clothes don't match, and hair's a mess.  you never know how great they'll be, until you try!

upon leaving the house, i was in serious debate with myself about whether i should take, what i have named my "big camera" the SLR, or the "little camera" the point and shoot.  i left mr. big camera at home.  man, i knew i'd regret it.  oh well, the photo op was still worth the while.  :)

mommy starts to act crazy to get them to smile.  another tip, do what you can, it's totally worth the humiliation!

    

don't throw out that dress! :: a girl's dress that has lasted 3+ years

dillan was given an amazingly cute oilily dress for her first birthday by a dear family friend.  we have used it every year of her life since then!  what once was a very cute dress, has turned into a very cute tunic top.  most dresses only last me a couple of years, due to the sleeve restrictions, but this particular dress seems to fit like a charm even 3 years later!  i get endless compliments on this particular dress due to the crisp white linen paired with an incredible embroidered design. 

so before you throw out your little girl's dress, think about how it might look as a top, over a long sleeve t in the colder weather, paired with jeans or leggings.  or better yet, when buying presents for your friends' kids, think how it might grow with them over time.  ;)

{taken 10.2007 :: d@about 2 years}

{taken 06.2010 :: d@4 years}

a baby bathtub i'd buy.

this is what we used to bathe dillan and evan as infants:

not exactly, but pretty much this.  a $6 sponge thing that we stuck in the bathroom sink.  we did this for a good almost 5 months? 

so when i saw this:

 
i was immediately sold.

the best part is that it opens up for easy drying and storage.  plus, it's thin!  so baby can fit in the sink longer.  awesome.  go puj for acting on your instinct and creating an awesome product.

{how to make a hooter hider}

unfortunately, i never got around to writing out the instructions for this low-cost project, but prudent baby did!  find it here.

the best way to pick a melon...

this idea came about on a twitter post from my cuz, won.

in my experience, this is what i have found to be the best way to pick a melon...

{watermelon}
    :by sight:

the stripes should be less distinguishable, if they  are very clear white and green, that means it has been picked too early. 
the bottom of the fruit, where it rests on the ground, should be yellow, not white. 
i tend to believe that if the spot on the bottom is larger, it has sat longer on the vine to ripen.
the stem...i try to look for a larger, curlier stem, (or the biggest circle) this also means it' been on the vine longer to ripen.

    :by sound:

thump the fruit, you should hear a nice hollow sound.  nice and deep. 
if it's a high pitch, it's no good.

{cantaloupe and honey dew} 
    :by sight:

i do the same thing as the watermelon, look where it has rested on the ground, and see if it's a  larger "spot"   
the stem size, i try to find the largest circle, for the same reasons above

    :by sound:

i hear that you're supposed to hear a rattling sound, but i still go by the hollow thump.

    :by smell:

this is the BEST way, smelling the melon at room temperature, you can smell the sweetness   of the melon.  if you can, it's a winner.  if you can't don't bother.

hope you enjoy these last days of summer with a nice juicy melon!  no doubt, it's THE BEST