Tuesday, March 20th is the first day of Spring! Hooray! Go and celebrate with a FREE Bloomin’ Onion from Outback Steakhouse!
Here’s what you need to do! Tell your server that you’re there to “Bloom Into Spring”. That’s it!
There are other coupons on their site also!
Happy Spring!
Don’t pay full price!!! Kids grow in leaps and bounds, why pay full price when they just grow out of them within a few months?! I found this site this morning http://kidsconsignmentsales.com/. You choose your state and it gives the current sales coming up! In fact, I thought I knew about all the sales in my area. Low and behold, there’s another one, really close to my home. There are lots of sale starting soon for spring & summer clothes. I’m heading to one this afternoon! I love these types of sales and I hope you can get some good buys in your area too!
Head over to Crayola’s site to download FREE Disney Coloring pages!
At last check they had:
Fairies, Mickey Mouse, Pirates of the Caribbean, Cars, Toy Story & Princesses!
Here’s the site!
http://www.crayola.com/free-coloring-pages/disney/
Happy Coloring!
If you are currently expecting a new baby or are a mom with a child who has not been potty trained, you may have considered the many choices in diapers for your baby. Perhaps you have compared name brand to generic, or plan to purchase whichever diapers happen to be on sale when you need to make a purchase, but there is another option you may wish to explore. More moms than ever are choosing to use cloth diapers for their infants.
The number one reason for choosing cloth diapers over disposables is price. While it is assuredly less expensive to buy a single box of newborn diapers than it is to purchase enough cloth diapers to get a working system going, in just a short time cloth diapers pay for themselves. The average cost of a single diaper is $0.35. It is estimated that normal babies go through 6,000 diapers through their first two years of life. That totals $2,100 in disposable diaper costs alone. Factoring in other variables, such as disposable wipes and rash creams, may put the two-year disposable diapering cost over $2,500 per child.
The average cost of a cloth diaper is $10, but several less expensive diapers can be found. The traditional cloth diapers that must be secured with pins and tucked inside rubber bloomers are the least expensive option, but they are more prone to leaks than the new diapering systems that use pocket inserts or the ease of all-in-one functionality. The most expensive cloth diapering systems may cost around $16 each, but these are adjustable, washable models that may last through several children. Like disposables, these diapering systems have several sizes, but typically children only require them in small, medium and large from birth to toilet training. It is recommended that at least 36 small diapers, 30 medium diapers and 24 large diapers are purchased to keep an ample supply through wash cycles. Even at their most expensive, a total cost for cloth diapers is $1440. The cost of laundering diapers, even at a high-end estimate of $123 annually, does not close the gap in price between cloth and disposables. Cloth diapering systems use cloth baby wipes, and infants are less likely to develop rashes in cloth diapers. This eliminates the additional costs involved with disposable diapers, saving over $800.
Another factor that encourages moms to choose cloth is the environmental impact of disposable diapers. While disposables may offer a certain amount of convenience to busy parents, they pose a definite imposition on the earth. It may take up to 500 years for a single disposable diaper to biodegrade. This is merely an estimate–not one diaper of the millions that have been used has broken down to this day. Disposable diapers are the third most common consumer waste products in landfills today, and they represent up to 50 percent of the household waste of homes with a baby. For earth-conscious moms, cloth diapers offer a superb, reusable alternative to wasteful disposables. They are a perfect way to save money and reduce environmental impact at once.
Holly Adams from Coupon Croc contributed this post. On CouponCroc.co.uk, you can find the best coupons on everything you need to go green.
For once my Monday Motivation is not about cleaning or working, but about showing hospitality and sharing our experience making maple syrup. This week on one of the homeschool yahoo groups someone posted about a maple syrup event that was a great children’s activity especially for homeschoolers, however, it was with a cost. I know how much homeschoolers watch their budgets, after all I am one! So without too much thought I posted inviting interested families to our house for a FREE homeschool activity to see what we have done to make our own maple syrup this year. After I hit send, I was like, “Oh-oh, what have I done?” I wasn’t expecting much response and about four families responded. Therefore, we’ll be getting ready for our guests this week, as I thought hot chocolate and homemade cookies were in order to go along with the children learning about where maple syrup comes from and how it is made.
The catch is we got snow and it is colder so the sap may not be running this week, but we’ll wait and see. Someone said it was going to hit the 50’s by mid-week, which will be perfect and muddy. It should be fun to meet new people and share what the Lord has blessed us with here with our maple trees and space.
This week’s motivation is to share our home and maple syrup adventure with other homeschooling families. Hopefully blessing them by helping them save money on an outing and to show them if we can do it so can they!
The Rest of Our Maple Syrup Story
Obviously we are not done tapping our trees or collecting sap, nevertheless, I thought it was time to show the rest of our maple syrup adventure or what we have recorded so far. We’ve had a few mishaps and bumps in the road and may not get as much sap as we had hoped. 
You see, we have had wind blow our bags off, we have had them fall off due to being too heavy and we have had certain family members dump our maple syrup down the drain thinking it was water in the pot! Yeah, that’s what I said. This happened two different times by two different people and I am like, “Can’t you ask first? We are making syrup!?” Talk about aggravating, to say the least. Both individuals were apologetic and felt bad, but accidents happen…..still, just ask!
Our Tapping Adventure Continues
Drilling.
The younger ones wanted to try too.
The tap is in. We were not very happy about the sap dripping out below the tap, but that was rectified once we got the drill boring the right way!
The bags were put on the little metal hangers and set on the taps.
The day we put them up the sap was running fast. This is what we got within the first couple of hours.
Then by late afternoon, look what we had!
We improvised when we ran out of metal hangers and use a milk jug and wire.
This pot was full of sap and you have to boil it down to almost nothing.
Then we filtered the sap to get dirt and any other unwanted particles out of the syrup.
Baby wanted in on the action too.
Not a lot of syrup and by the time we had bottle it (sorry no picture of that!) we only got a quart out of 3-4 bags of sap. It wasn’t as thick as we would have liked, so it should have been boiled more. We know that for the next batch we do, as we are living and learning as we go along.
Spring is Coming!
I found this great deal for vegetable gardening and it all starts with a bumper sticker. A bumper sticker? Yes. Use this link to the left and get your free bumper sticker! When you put your information in you’ll receive an email to confirm your email address. THEN, you’ll get a promo code for 53% off “Seeds of the Month Club“.
Some background – Mike the Gardner Enterprises is located in NJ. Mike is a 3rd generation home vegetable gardner and author. Mike has been featured in many publications around the world with articles and tips, including ABC & NBC.
Mike also has a podcast, blog and can be found on Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, LinkedIN, Pinterest, & Google +.
“Seeds of the Month Club” – According to their website. “All seeds are non-gmo, open pollinated heirloom varieties that have been tested for a germination rate of 90% and higher. ”
“You receive 8 packs of seeds your first month and 4 packages each month thereafter. With a 30 day money back guarantee.”
With the 53% off it cost $15.06 for the year! I signed up, so we’ll see what it’s like. Granted, I don’t know what kind of seeds I’ll receive monthly. It’s still a great deal!
Happy Growing!
Hurry! Head to your itunes store and download – Encyclopedia Britannica Kids – US Presidents app for FREE, it’s usually 2.99! This offer expires Monday the 20th at Midnight EST!
Great app, I’m learning a lot myself! It has all the Presidents, when you select a President it gives you their dates in office, who was/is the Vice President, First Lady, when their birthday was/is, and fun facts!
In addition, there is a section of “Did you know?”. At the bottom of the screen, select menu and you are able to hear and see the words to “Hail to the Chief”. There is also a quiz section to test your knowledge.
It’s available for your iPhone and iPad. I checked Andriod and didn’t see this specific app, but did see other apps for US Presidents.
Enjoy!
**(When I downloaded these apps they were free, I cannot guarantee if they started charging a fee.) **
SKEE-BALL!!! I love skee-ball. We live near the east coast and head to the beach every year. After a day on the beach, we find an arcade and play skee-ball. Now, we don’t have to wait for the summer. Currently, it’s snowing and we are playing Skee-Ball in the house.
This app is only compatible for an iPad. You gain points by playing skee-ball and then you get to pick out “prizes” to spend your tickets on. This is a good one for the whole family.
SIMON’S CAT IN “PURRFECT PITCH” – If your not familiar with Simon’s Cat Cartoons. Simon’s Cat is drawn by Simon Tofield an English Animator, who can draw a cat’s temperament “purrfectly”.
This app is available for the itouch, iPhone and iPad. With this one you play the piano, but when you hit the key the cat meows. It’s really funny. Funny Quick Story – My daughter and I were waiting in line to see Santa in December and I brought along my iTouch. She started playing Simon’s Cat and the people around us started laughing. All you heard was meowing. (I guess you had to be there;-)). There are options of “Free Play, Challenge, and Play Back”. Lots of fun!
RIO THE MOVIE COLORING WITH BLU – Remember this movie? We enjoyed it and downloaded it.
This app is available for iPad, iPhone and iTouch.
You color. It’s that simple. Choose one of two birds and the background. The color pallet is at the bottom on the screen and your off and coloring! When you done you can save it and email, post it to Facebook or print it!
OK! Get your cats ready for a frenzy! I got an email earlier this week from Friskies about an app for Cats. I haven’t tried it on mine yet, they are currently sleeping (surprise, surprise). Here it is!
It’s CAT FISHING 2 BY FRISKIES –
So, you start it up and let your cat go. The fish start swimming around and your cat taps them and gets a score. The more fish you cat taps the harder the game gets. There are 3 levels and you can post their score to Facebook or the “World-Wide Leader Board”.
It’s again only available for iPhones, iTouch and iPads.
Let your kitties in on the fun too! 
Free Lego Club Magazine Subscription!
I’m always looking for ways to save on toys and games. Sometimes it’s not always easy. I’m big on buying stuff on sale or clearance and saving it for a rainy day or holiday. I was super excited about an email I got this morning! I LOVE coupons and use them regularly.
Go and check out www.hasbro.com/fun . They have great coupons for Playdough, Transformers, Baby Alive, Elmo and more! In addition, they have a daily game for 6 to 13 year olds, are giving away Hasbro toys & games every hour until the end February. AND – they have a daily deal. Today’s was a Baby Alive for 50% off! I unfortunately missed it, but I signed up to get the daily email for a heads up!
