Fun & Easy Snack

This week in "Mommy School" we are studying dinosaurs.  Somewhere in my quest to find activities for this week I came across a great snack idea that can be adapted for any theme.  Sorry there are no pics - I didn't even think of it until the kids were done eating them.

Take a piece of bread and toast it.  As soon as it comes out, top with one slice of cheese.  The warm bread will slightly melt the cheese, if you prefer it melted a bit more pop it in the microwave for a few seconds.  Use a cookie cutter to cut out the shape of your choice.

We cut out dinosaur shapes and my oldest loved it.  My youngest isn't a fan of cheese so he peeled the cheese off and just ate the toast.  I will probably do this again with different shapes and just use jelly for my youngest.

Mommy School and a Dollar Store Find

As of today, my oldest is officially a preschool graduate.  He informed me a few weeks ago though that this summer we would be doing "Mommy School" every day.  This is something he started one day when he was sick and we needed something to fill the day as he was really missing his friends from school.  We've done it every day since that he is out of school.

Since I'm normally doing it only one day at a time, I usually just grab his Highlights High Five magazine and and pick a few activities out of it since he rarely looks at the magazine.  If we've used up the current issue I print something off the internet or pull out a school project he didn't have time to finish.

Seeing as this is a whole summer, my usual plan just won't work.  Mommy School is going to be based loosely off his school schedule he had this year since he loves that routine.  The only main difference is that we will have a "field trip" almost every day as mommy needs out of the house.


I've created a theme for each week and I'm doing my best to incorporate some educational items, therapy, and fun into each day.  I was searching the dollar store this week for some fun surprises and found out they have some homeschool type workbooks.  I was able to pick up a few to use in Mommy School and I even found one that will work for my almost two year old. 


They also had a ton of school related items such as charts, rewards, stickers, etc.  I'm able to supplement our school at a fraction of the cost of what I thought it would cost.


My other major resource for school is the library.  I've lined up books and movies based on our theme each week.


We will see how this goes.  I plan to update in a few weeks and let you know if we are still doing Mommy School.  I think he will benefit from the routine and I'm hoping it will keep us from going crazy each day.

Preparing for a Tornado

I'm currently sitting in my basement waiting for a storm to pass by.  It looks like the worst of it will not hit us but just an hour down the road was hit hard. 

As I was preparing to head to the basement, it dawned on me that many people do not know what to do in a tornado.  I happen to live in an area where tornadoes are a bit too common. 

Growing up my family did not have a good place to use as a storm shelter in our house.  The people behind us had a basement though and would leave the back door unlocked any time there was a threat of a tornado.  For this reason, my parents always had us sleep with our shoes by our bed when there was a possibility of bad weather.

My husband thinks I'm crazy because every time there is a tornado threat I make everyone get their shoes on.  I realize we have a basement now but having gone through a tornado that caused some damage to my house, I know how hard it can be to find what you need in the aftermath.  Wouldn't you rather have a safe pair of shoes on instead of walking through debris in bare feet?  So, my first tip is to find your shoes.

In this wonderful day and age of technology, I also suggest charging your electronics (cell phone, laptop, etc) if weather is supposed to get bad that day.  It really helps in keeping in contact with others and you never know when you will get a chance to charge electronics again.  I spent most of my evening tonight on Facebook and Twitter getting up to the date news from news outlets and friends.  As an added bonus, it was kind of fun to get to bond with others over such a stressful event.  

I also suggest having a few flashlights and candles nearby.  Make sure the batteries work and/or that you have spares near by. 

Finally, to keep my kids entertained I also bring snacks and a few toys or games to our storm shelter. Anything that helps them take their mind off what is going on is a huge help.

By the way, round one has passed us now and we are safe and sound.  There was a beautiful double rainbow after it all passed.  If you have any tips to share on how you prepare for a tornado, please share them with others in the comments section.

Quick Tip: Save on Soap

Apparently this is a widely known tip but it was new to me so I thought I would share it with all of you.  To reduce the amount of pump soap used, wrap a rubber band around the pump.  This will allow you to only use about a half of a pump at a time instead of a full pump. 

That is more than enough soap for washing your hands and now your pump soap will last twice as long.

Extreme Couponing Thoughts

The internet is all a buzz with thoughts and reactions to the new TLC show Extreme Couponing that debuted last night.  I finally had a chance this morning to watch last night's two episodes and I felt the need to share my two cents.

First, I think the next show TLC should come up with is Extreme Couponing: Hoarders Edition. It irked me to no end that these people had entire grocery stores sitting in their house and they continued to buy.  One lady kept bugging her husband to put more mustard in the cart because she could get it for 39 cents each. He then commented that they don't even eat mustard and she said she tends to forget things like that when couponing.  

I would have been ok with them wiping the shelf clean if they showed her donating the mustard to charity.  Instead, I'm sure she added it to her stockpile. She was going for the thrill of the hunt instead of the practicality of buying something like 60 bottles of mustard.

Second, people said they dedicated their entire day to couponing so they could save money for their family.  Yes, you can save money but if you do not need the massive amounts you are buying, are you really saving money?  You can put your time and talents towards other things to help save money too.

I'm not knocking couponing at all.  I am a couponer and love a good sale, I'm just stating that you need to be realistic with the amount of time you spend on it and how much you buy.  If you find an amazing sale and you know you will not use it all then I suggest donating it to charity.  In fact, I keep an area in my pantry that is just for charity and everything in that area was bought for probably a quarter or less.

I will continue to watch the show as I think it is interesting but I want everyone to know, this is not reality.  Most of us couponers are not this obsessed and you can save money for your family without spending your entire week trying to do it.

Jewelry Tip

I rarely wear jewelry but sometimes I like to have a trendy piece or two for those rare occasions when I get out of the house without kids.  In my search for affordable pieces, I've discovered the Juniors section at most department stores usually has better prices.  

When I'm buying trendy, I'm not looking for the highest quality because I know the trend probably won't last that long, therefore I can get away with a cheaper purchase.  The Juniors section tends to fit this description perfectly.  I came across this by accident but now it is the first place I look when I want new jewelry.

New Giveaways Up

Over on my review blog I have two giveaways currently going on.  First is for Yoplait Delights.  The second one is geared towards kids and is for Yoplait Kids.  Click the links in order to win, comments left on this post will not be eligible.