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My $4 Walgreens Trip!

Everything pictured cost me less than $4!

Here's what I did:

First transaction:

2 x Aussie products = $5.98

- $2 manufacturer's coupon

Total: $3.98 and I got $2 Register Rewards

Second transaction:

2 x 409 products = $5.00

- $1 manufacturer's coupon

- $2 RR from first transaction

Total: $2.00 and I got $2 Register Rewards

Third Transaction:

2 x Esensia hair care products = $5.99 (B1G1 sale this week)

- $2 RR from 2nd transaction

Total: $3.99 and I'm sending in the rebate form attached to the product to get the $5.99 product price back!

So, I spent $9.97 and will get $5.99 back in the mail for a total of $3.98!

Let's Save Some Money!

I just signed up for what looks to be a great source of coupons, as well as promising deals and freebie alerts. It took a little bit of time to sign up due to sorting through all of their offers but the home page looks really easy to navigate. With how busy life is, anything that makes saving money a little easier is a good thing in my book!

Sign up here!

True Story: 19 lb. baby born!!

Okay, I will never complain about my little 6 and 6-1/2 pound babies again. My 7 month old is only 13 pounds! I can't imagine a 19 lb. 2 oz. baby!

I thought I would pass this along to you all to share a bit of a perspective check!

Check out the story here.

Thursday: Apples

Click here to read my plan to help keep my 20-month-old entertained during the day!

Reading: I couldn't find a book at the library that I liked about apples so I got a couple about this week's color - red: The Red Truck, Red: Colors in the Natural World

Color/Glue/Stickers: Apple coloring page, I also plan to draw a picture of a tree and then let Bubba stick some red circle stickers on for the apples, pointing out that apples grow in trees

Activities: I'll give bubba a scrubber and a bowl of water and show him how to scrub clean the apples - then we'll eat them!, we'll also be eating applesauce and drinking apple juice today

A is for Autumn!

As you know, yesterday was the first day of Autumn! I love this time of year when the weather turns cool and crisp and the leaves start changing colors! I'm looking forward to sweatshirts and football and apple cider and pumpkins and ... well, I could keep going, but I think you get my point.

Since our theme this week's themes start with the letter A, I thought it perfect to incorporate Autumn into our lesson plans.

Today is a bright, sunny day so I plan to walk with the kiddos to the park. Along the way, we'll look for some leaves of different colors and Bubba can collect them in the paper bag that we'll bring. When we get home, I'll put his leaves between two pieces of wax paper, iron the paper under a towel, and hang his collage of leaves on the patio door. There's a great tutorial for making wax paper leaf presses here.

The rest of the week, he can see the light filter through the window around his leaves and it gives me a great platform to explain a bit about the seasons! I'll post a picture of our creation later this week.

Match the Letters

As each week's theme includes a letter, I have made a set of letters from construction paper for Bubba to match.

To make the letters:
I traced upper-case letters onto 3 different sheets of colored construction paper. You could do more colors if you would like. I just don't want to overwhelm Bubba right at the start. Then I cut out the letters. I covered each of my letters with masking tape for added durability (it helps to make your letters a small enough size to fit on a piece of masking tape).

I would recommend setting aside some time to do several letters of the alphabet at once. This will save both time and construction paper!

You could also make this matching game with shapes or numbers.

Autumn Leaves Soap tutorial

I came across this tutorial showing how to make the soaps above and had to share!
What a great way to decorate a bathroom for the season! These would also make a great gift for a Fall-loving friend. Or, if you're so inclined, a great way to motivate the little ones to wash their hands!

Now for the hard part - I just need to find the time to make them... If you do, please let me know how they turn out!

Free craft ebook!

Here's another free ebook offer!

The book includes 24 quick and easy knitting patterns. Now, I've never been able to get the knack of knitting but wanted to offer this to those of you who do knit!

Click here to sign up!

Wednesday: Airplanes!

Click here to read my plan to help keep my 20-month-old entertained during the day!

Reading: The Airplane Ride, The Airplane Alphabet Book, The Big Book of Airplanes


Color/Glue/Stickers: Airplane coloring page (point out how the plane is in the sky - if you have star stickers, this would be a great picture to stick them to!)


Activities: Paper airplanes to fly (click here to learn how to fold airplanes), we got the video "Elmo's Shapes and Colors" from the library so we'll be watching that to do some reinforcement in those areas, learn/review what an airplane "says"

Free eCookbook!

Click here to sign up to get a free cookbook!

This ebook comes pack with 27 secret Restaurant Copycat recipes. Now you can make your favorites at home!

Tuesday: Alligators

Click here to read my plan to help keep my 20-month-old entertained during the day!

Reading: Fun Facts About Alligators, Alligators, Alligator Alphabet

Color/Glue/Stickers: Alligator coloring page (count the teeth!)

Activities: Alligators live in water - show the difference between cold water and warm water in two bowls; this is a great outside activity that can involve cups and spoons to play with in the water

FREE Music Downloads at Amazon!

Click here to see a list of over 1200 songs you can download for free!

Thanks, Thrifty Mama!

Bag n Save Deals!

Having a toddler in the house, we tend to go through a lot of juice. This week at Bag n Save, Old Orchard apple juice blends are on sale for $.99 each! I price matched these on my trip to Walmart but if you want a better selection of flavors, it's best to head to Bag n Save.

I also saw in the Sunday paper that tuna is on sale at Bag n Save for $.49 a can! Time to stock up!

Frugal, Fun, and EASY Wall Art!

These cute wall hanging are a quick and easy cover for a wall in any room. Would you believe that just a couple of months ago, these were hanging in my lavendar-colored dining room? And that they actually matched?

To make these beauties, I used an 8" x 8" canvas from the local arts and crafts store. I centered the canvas, face down, on a piece of 12" x 12" scrapbooking paper. I then "wrapped" the canvas, making my corners like I do when I wrap a square gift, and taped them down on the back. I added a light-weight picture hook and viola! Easy, quick and affordable - I think I paid about $2 for each hanging.

The great thing is that these can change so easily as your decor changes! Just take off the old paper and cover with the new!

Homemade by Jill has a great post here about how you can make beautiful wall hangings easily and affordably! To make hers, you'll need painters' canvas, Mod Podge, a picture hook, and some tissue paper. I've heard you can use wrapping paper and fabric to make these as well. I'm thinking that fabric will be the way to go for the ones that I want to hang in our bathroom.

Cranium Games for just $2!

Think Christmas or birthday gifts!

My Frugal Adventures posts here about how you can get three different Cranium games at Target for just $2 each! I'm definitely adding these to the list for the next trip to Target.

Great site for free resources!

I've subscribed to Homeschool Freebie of the Day's emails for some time now.

Each week, on Sunday or Monday, you will receive a list of the week's freebies. I've found some really helpful ebooks to download for free - on things like crafts, manners, cooking, housekeeping, budgeting, and more! I look through the list each Monday and note the days that offer things of interest to me and then check back that day to get the items.

Go here to check them out!

Menu Plan Monday

Monday - BLT's (to use up some of the tomatoes from our garden!), watermelon, chips
Tuesday - Chicken Fried Rice
Wednesday - Crockpot Red Beans and rice, applesauce
Thursday - Homemade pizza to share with an inlaw recovering from surgery
Friday - BBQ pork ribs in the crockpot, potato wedges, green beans

This Week's Themes

Click here to read about my plan to help keep my 20-month-old entertained during the day!

Letter of the week: Aa
Color of the week: Red

Number of the week: 1

Shape of the week: Circle

Bible Verse of the week: Gen. 1:1

Daily Themes:

Monday - Ant

Tuesday - Alligator

Wednesday - Airplane

Thursday - Apples

Friday - Review

Monday: Ants!

Click here to read my plan to help keep my 20-month-old entertained during the day!

Today's theme is a fun one!


Reading: I Saw An Ant on the Railroad Track by Joshua Prince, Find Anthony Ant by Lorna and Graham Philpot


Color/Glue/Stickers: Ant coloring page


Activities: Watch the movie "Antz", Make ants from egg cartons and pipe cleaners and count the legs

How to Keep My Little One Busy?

The Problem: Bubba is bored
I have been noticing for a few weeks now that our Bubba, almost 20 months old, seems to be getting bored during the day. With how crazy our lives have been after the arrival of his baby sister 6 months ago and dealing with her reflux and severe food intolerances, any kind of organized activities have been out of the picture. A couple of weeks ago, I sat down to brainstorm what exactly I was wanting to do. And I came up with a "plan"!

Easy fix, right? Wrong.
As I began my research and brainstorming, I immediately became overwhelmed. I looked for a toddler curriculum that I could purchase that would provide me with the lesson plans and activities in an easy to follow format. I couldn't find anything that seemed easy to follow and was as broad as what I'm wanting - something that covers reading, science, numbers, colors... everything! If I did find such a curriculum, it was definitely out of our price range.

So, I thought to come up with my own lesson plans - and again became very overwhelmed. There is SO much information out there! How would I ever able to pare it all down to something that was manageable for me? With two little ones, I definitely don't have hours and hours each week to put into planning and organizing activities and lessons for our Bubba.

What I'm wanting
I don't want to say that we are necessarily starting school with Bubba, but I do want to start giving him a more rounded experience in our reading and in the activities we do so that he can be learning new things. I want to make his days interesting and open his eyes to more of the world. He is a quick learner and has a great memory and really seems to enjoy new challenges. I also want to start working with him more consistently with his shapes, colors, and numbers.

And I want all of this to be easy for me to plan and prepare, without having to put a lot of time into it.

What I found
After several hours of searching the internet and reading the books that we have here and the ones that I had checked out from the library, I decided to come up with something on my own.

What I Plan To Do:
Each Monday, I plan to post my themes for the week. Right now, those will include:

- A Letter for the week
- A Color for the week
- A Number for the week
- A Shape for the week
- A Bible verse for the week
- A Theme for each day of the week

Then each day, I will post what my plan for the day is to incorporate books and activities along the themes I have chosen. You will have to bear with me as I am new at all of this, too! This blog will be a tool I can use for myself, too - to keep me from getting overwhelmed with all the great ideas I'm coming across!

Are you feeling overwhelmed too?
I want to share what I'm trying to do with other moms who also might feel overwhelmed with the prospect of teaching and entertaining their toddlers! The beauty of my plan (or what I think to be a beauty of it!) is that it can be used over and over each year with differently aged toddlers and preschoolers. I provide the framework and it can be customized as necessary.

More Frugal Fun!

This time of year is a great one to look for clearanced office supplies. With school back in session now, stores are trying to get rid of all the leftover supplies from the Back to School shopping rush.

I recommend keeping your eyes out for stickie Post It notes. I gave a stack of posties to Bubba and he loved taking them off the stack and sticking them different places. It was a great learning experience for him as he could see where they would or wouldn't stick. And he loved sticking them wherever he could - especially all over himself!

Entertainment for $1.00!

I found this bobble-head puppy in the $1.00 section at Target. We stuck it to the dashboard of our car on our last car trip and or Bubba got quite the kick out of it. There were several times during the drive that he was starting to get antsy in his seat. I would just have to point out the bobble-head and he would be content for a little while to just watch the puppy bobble away on the dashboard. Just long enough to get us to our next stop - or even to lull him to sleep for a nap!
When we got back from our trip and took the puppy off the dashboard, Bubba actually asked for him the next time we got in the car! So, now we have a bobble-head on our dashboard - a great entertainment for long trips or just trips around town!

That was definitely a dollar well invested!

$4.99 Sleepytime Elmo DVD!

Click here to find out how to get a copy of Sleepytime Songs and Stories from Sesame Street DVDs for just $4.99 shipped!

Thanks, My Frugal Adventures!

Book Review

I don’t know about your little one, but my Bubba loves books. It’s my plan to highlight on this blog some of the books that he seems to especially enjoy.

Bubba’s favorite books tend to be those with a catchy rhyming rhythm to them. A fun read that we recently found at the library is Elizabeth Garnton Scanlon’s “A Sock Is A Pocket For Your Toes”. This book has beautiful illustrations and walks through a day with several young children as they point out all the “pockets” they encounter. When we brought this book home, it was Bubba’s only request for several days. I think we both have to have had it memorized for how many times I read it!

Amazon has this book here.

Huge Consignment Sale

If you have a Take2 consignment event in your area, it’s definitely worth taking the time to check it out. The Take2 sales are full of kids and infants clothes, toys, furniture, bikes – you name it! Anything to do with children is there. Even maternity clothes! I like to go on Saturdays when most things are marked at half price. Last year, I went and got our Bubba clothes for the whole year for under $50!

I’ve heard that these are good places to sell the clothes your kids have outgrown, as well!
These sales only take place once or twice a year so be sure to mark your calendars (or sign up for email updates on their website)!

Check to see if there’s a location near you here.

Quick and Easy Color Chart

With all the remodeling that we’ve done to our house, my family has made many a trip to our local Home Depot store. The last time I was there, I picked up a few of the paint swatches for the Disney brand paint. These samples are in the shape of Mickey Mouse heads which makes them extra fun!

When we got home, I taped 9 different colored samples (I tried to stick mainly with primaries) on one side of a piece of cardstock in rows of three. Then I covered both sides with contact paper for durability.

Our Bubba loves looking at his color chart and trying to remember the names of the different colors. The project took me about 10 minutes to put together and has already provided entertainment for the little guy several different times!

NOTE: This is a great way to entertain toddlers while they’re getting their diapers changed! Our Bubba is pretty anti-diaper changes so we keep his color chart at the changing table.

Get a FREE Cookie at Mrs. Fields!

My Frugal Adventures posts here about how Mrs. Field’s is giving out FREE chocolate chip cookies on October 1st!

I don’t know about you but, free and chocolate are a couple of my favorite words!

And Then He Ate His Broccoli

The age old question: How do I get my toddler to eat his … ? You fill in the blank.

We were pondering this question when one meal, on a whim when we were out eating fast food, I put the chicken bites that our Bubba wasn’t eating into my empty ‘frypod’. You know, the cardboard holder that your French fries comes in at Burger King? Next thing I knew – he had eaten every last piece of his chicken!

Now, when we go out to eat, we always ask for an extra pod – just for our little guy!

This works really well on car rides, too, because he can easily hold the frypod while eating its contents, whether it’s crackers, fruit snacks, or chicken fingers!

Hey, kids are just like adults – marketing matters!