Local Sports Teams

Are there any local minor league teams in your area? One of our favorite family activities is catching a local game.

We even discovered that, if we go after the fifth inning, we can enter our local ballpark free of charge. Since the innings can be long for little ones, that is enough time for our kids to get the feel of the game without getting bored.

Are there local teams you support? Do you have any money saving secrets for attending?

-Julie

Washable Training Pants

We are going through the process of potty training our two year old. Before we started potty training, I bought her some washable training pants to help save money and the environment. I have been very pleased with my selection on washable training pants. My daughter has mostly been using Kushies training pants. They are lined with cotton and have a plastic, waterproof exterior to help prevent leaks. One of my favorite things about the training pants is she can feel if she is wet. When using pull-ups, it seems like it is hard for the child to notice that they are wet.

Many people are afraid of cloth diapers and training pants because you have to wash them. Training pants are easy to wash. Just rinse them out when they are soiled and wash them with my next load of laundry. I put vinegar in my downy ball to help take out any odors.

If you are potty training, I hope you will find some washable training pants that work for your child!

-Robin

Do you have a tip to share for Thrifty Thursday? You can find details here. We hope you'll join us! Put your links below!

Car Time Tips

We have several activites in our life that cause us to have to spend a bit of time in the car. It is usually not more than 20-30 minutes of travel time, but that can feel like an eternity to children. Because of this, I wanted to tell you about a wonderful trick that Works For Me.

I keep a basket of travel friendly items in our vehicle. The first thing that goes in is a pencil box filled with appropriate writing utensils for each child. I focus on colored pencils so that their creativity can shine. I add a coloring book and a plain spiral-bound notebook (which I buy 10/$1 or less when the Back To School sales are at their peak) as well. With these simple materials, I can give them words to write, ask them to draw pictures, write stories, solve math problems or make lists - which they love to do, just like their obsessively organized mother - and it can fill time while we're driving or waiting for an appointment. We can also take these into restaurants that do not provide activities and stay busy with some competitive Tic-Tac-Toe games!


I have also gathered some various items, primarily from dollar stores and Target's fabulous Dollar Spot. I get any travel themed items, small workbooks, wipe-off boards, etc. that are quiet activities. These filter in and out and I change them to provide a surprise for the kids now and then.

We also have our trusty GameBoys in this basket. I have a camera bag for each of them and we have their game and the various age-appropriate cartridges that we have collected at garage sales and resale shops. I make them play them with the sound off and they have saved many a meltdown when we hit a traffic delay or are waiting for a late friend. This is the only time they play them, so they stay fresh and fun.

We keep this basket on the floor, snug between their seats so that it could not fly thru the car in the event of an accident.

I hope that this has provided some ideas for you to help with your travel time. Do you have other ideas you would like to share?

-Julie

We hope to see you back here tomorrow for Thrifty Thursday. We would love to hear your favorite money saving ideas!

Frozen Cookie Dough

I have never bought premade frozen or refrigerated cookie dough at the store because it is so expensive. I would have never thought of making cookie dough and freezing it, but one of my friends turned me on to this fantastic trick. I used to make fresh cookies or pick up a bag of oreos to satisfy my cookie craving, but now I make cookie dough and freeze it. I just double a batch of cookies, chocolate chip cookies are our favorite, and spoon one layer of cookies onto a cookie sheet and freeze them. After they get hard, take them off the cookie sheet and place them in labeled Ziploc bags. We take them out a few at a time and bake them on a day that we are already using the oven.

Last year, we baked a few of our frozen cookies in the toaster oven when we were showing our house to sell. The smell of fresh cookies filled the air and prospective buyers could imagine the great smells that would come from their kitchen!

This Christmas, I will be nearing the end of my pregnancy. I am going to plan ahead for guests by premaking cookies and baking them fresh when they arrive. Shh... don't tell, I'm sure they will NOT know the difference.

If you freeze cookie dough instead of buying premade cookie dough you can save time and money.

-Robin

Easy Daysies Review

We were recently approached by Easy Daysies to do a review of their magnetic daily schedules. As soon as I saw them, I knew this system is a perfect fit for my son!

My son thrives on structure and routine. The eco-mom in me appreciates that the magnets are completly reusable and can be changed to fit our schedule each day.

I have organized his school day routine on the magnet board in his room. He is constantly asking "what do I do next?" and this will eliminate that problem and give him a sense of responsibility. I am most excited about his morning routine on the left. He decided to add an additional magnet to mark his progress. The evening schedule is on the right and he will quickly learn what is expected after school, too.

I have already mentioned this system to several friends with special needs children. These kids follow a picture schedule at school and this could help make those easy transitions at home as well. Elaine has also used such adorable graphics and they help the non-reader follow along. The words being beside the picture are helping my early reader become even more fluent. They could make a great addition to any home!

Elaine has many great new products in the works and I would definitely recommend keeping your eye on her site. These would make a great gift for any home or classroom. You can certainly tell they were created by a woman who is both a mother and teacher. They are truly Brilliant!

Easy Daysies is going to sponsor a giveaway here on our blog! Be sure to stay tuned for details on how to enter!

-Julie

Grilling Tips

Summer is grilling time at our house! My husband is the "Grill Master" here and offered to share some of his favorite tips for Menu Plan Monday!

- When making burgers, keep them thin, but compact.
- If you have multiple levels on your grill, cook burgers on the top, moving them to the bottom just to finish them off and create beautiful grill marks.
- For steaks, do the opposite. Begin a steak on the bottom to sear it, then move it to the top to finish.
- With chicken, we usually use barbecue sauce. He marinates the chicken in the sauce and then begins to grill. With new sauce, he adds a second coat to get a nice carmelized coating on the chicken toward the end of grilling.
- One of our grill favorites is corn! Peel back the husk and remove the silk. Pull the husk back up and soak it in the sink filled with water for an hour. Place it on the grill for a wonderful new flavor!
- We also cook lots of veggies - squash, zucchini, eggplant, etc. - on the grill. We got a grill "cage" at our local store and have found this to be the easiest way to keep them under control and to flip them all at once.

If you have any favorite grilling tips, please share!!

-Julie

Please join us on Thursday for Thrifty Thursday! Link your thrifty ideas here and share with everyone!

Happy Sunday!

But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him wiith all thy heart and with all thy soul. Deuteronomy 4:29 KJV