Back to School shopping Check list

Des Moines Register contacted me, about how  I save money during tax free weekend in Iowa, I am happy to share with you a lovely conversation I had with Mackenzie, from the Des Moines Register, truly a fun conversation, lots of great tips are in her article, by none other than my self and another blogger from the Des Moines Area as well!

There are some really great ways to save money this month, I love spending money this month because there are some great deals that I can only get in August, Stock up and save!

Read about what was said in this conversation, and to view the whole article.

Learn more about Tax-free weekend go here

Here are my go-to things I get for during Tax-Free weekend and why:

Underwear: They almost never go on sale, but usually, I can get a buy one get one half, or they are just reasonable. My price point is about $2-$4 per pair of underwear.

Socks: Same thing, but I get just the fall/ spring socks, not the heavy socks that you would wear in the Winter.

Jeans: Can you see the pattern? I stock up on the essentials, The things that never go on sale.

Clearance items are a huge way of saving, I am always looking for the next size up for kiddo's, the next season's pants, and jeans. I will also look at clearance racks for shoes, especially for kids, like gym shoes, or dress shoes.


Happy Saving! or in this case Happy Shopping!

Thank you Des Moines Register, and a big shout out to Mackenzie, she did an amazing job with the article!

Adventureland day trip tips

Summer is almost over! I can't believe it, and I thought I would share how I use my Adventureland pass this summer!

For the past4 consecutive years of owning a season pass for the whole family, I feel like I have a pretty good handle on how to make a day trip to Adventure land worth your time.

Kids and Adventureland go together very well, Adventureland does a great job of keeping the park clean, the kids happy and most of all entertained.

you know those days that you love, that live in your memory for the whole year, until next time you can have the same experience? yup those happen in June for our family Here is what I like to do:

We love to go on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday to the park. We start the day with our regular morning routine, then head to the park at opening. I like to get into the parking lot about 10 minutes before the gates open (9:50.) That's in a perfect world, usually, we are good if we get there sometime before 11!

From the main gates, the train ride, and the carousel are next. Depending on how busy it is we go towards the left where all the rides are, not down main street. and do all those rides first. However there is NO SHADE or very little shade, so if it's hot we by pass this group of rides.

Here are some of my quick tips:

If it's raining there is the arcade that is actually really reasonable, we love the air hockey game, for .50 cents it's worth waiting out the rain, also the G-Force is in the arcade, and it's one of my kids favorite rides, and no it doesn't cost anything to ride it.

There is enough variety of rides that my children never feel like they are waiting on a sibling, Adventureland laid their rides out perfectly, for example, my older kids can ride the bumper cars while my youngest ride the trucks, I have eyes on both of them.

I consider Adventureland a two-day thing: one trip just rides, in June usually. The other trip is spent at the water park lots of time spent there in July.

I LOVE THE WATER PARK, yes it does take you about 20 minutes from the time you park your car to the time you walk across the park to get to the waterpark. Here is my view on this: Yes I would love for season pass holders to have access to parking by the water park, until that day happens, I am happy that I am getting my steps in for the day, and I make it fun, by walking by our favorite rides, and saying yes you can ride that 1 ride, on the way to the waterpark that is your favorite ride aka tilt-a-whril.

AdventureBay has a big sandpit for kids, it's awesome to play in!

Water Park Prep: I don't mind the changing rooms at AdventureBay, but there are only two spots for family restrooms, we Change at home, wear our swimming suits to the park, with a simple change of clothes for the way back. We are usually dressed in our swimming suits, and a cover up, I like wearing shorts and a shirt, and just bring underwear to change into- keeping it simple and real!

I am not a huge fan of bringing tons of stuff into the park, So that means on a water park day I bring a towel for all of us to use, it's usually one that I don't love, so then when we are done drying off I donate the towel to the Animal Rescue league bin by the gift shop. It's a win for everyone!

Lazy River and sandpit

I also love the Sand Bar/pit, but I always forget to bring sand box toys, so we usually cover up our legs in the sand and then wash the sand off and then get into the lazy river that we all love to swim in, my Kindergartener can swim in it with out floaties.

The clear tubes you can rent and they can be used in the lazy river and the wave pool, both of which are really fun and relaxing. Season pass holders can rent them free with a $5 deposit that you get back when you return the tubes.

Water park nerves: I have three kids, that all want to do something different at the waterpark, I have the safety on my mind and it's not a break for me when it's just me and my 8yr, 5yr, and 3yr old. We stick mostly to the pirate pool, and the wave pool. Then if my kids are awesome like they are, I let the older kids play in the Kokomo Cove play area, and watch them as close as I can while the youngest and I play at the splash pad. I love the waterpark for this reason: there are always life guards on duty, and if you tell the life guard your situation, and it's not crazy busy (weekdays) they will be another set of eyes for you when you can't always watch them like a hawk.

I am not a park foodie, I don't mind the food, but if I am trying to feed my whole family I am usually the one to suggest Culvers across the street from Adventureland, Otherwise, I pack a lunch or better yet we leave the park when everyone gets hungry,

The Main Street Cafe gives pass holders a 10% discount on food, so I like to fill up our drinks there, hey every little bit helps to save some money.



Things you may not have realized
Parking is $10. If you have a season pass it's free. 
Adventureland has the longest running magic show in the nation, Way to go Ben Ulin! and it's worth seeing, my kids love it and he is quite humorous for the adults as well.

Want a Season pass for next summer? Adventureland usually puts the season passes on sale in December (Christmas presents from Grandma.) So look for that on their website in December. usually, they are about $30 off the regular price.

Whats for dinner? Menu planning is worth the time!!

Summer is always a great time to just eat whatever for supper and not worry about the timing issues. When school starts up (which I dread for lots of reasons) you are a slave to a schedule, that is if you are me it is... Bedtime is like a ticking time bomb at our house... I need to know what we are having for supper that morning or the whole evening goes downhill fast.

With Menue Planning,  When I am able to plan a good week or dare I say a month of good meals that are family-friendly usually we save more money and my time is spent better in ways that can enrich my life.

Where do I Begin?

I like two methods: 1 start where you are, and give your self permission to be flexible.
why am I meal planning?  and What is my goal?

How to implement the Why you are menu planning:

1. How am I going to remember the meals that I have planned out?

2. How am I going to implement meal planning and follow through?

3. Do I like prep work, Or how much of a cook do I want to be? 

4. How much time do I have to get dinner on the table each day?

These 4 questions are so important for a good menu, once you know those answers to these 4 questions, then you can start menu planning.

I have two ways that work the best for my family,

Option 1 (great for procrastinators)

Menu plan week to week

build your menu around what is on sale.

Use the sales and adds that are current for this week when you go grocery shopping to help you buy meat, produce dairy, and perishable items that are on sale from your local grocery store.

 For example, if Chicken is on sale I will have at least 3 meals of chicken that week. I will sometimes roast two chickens so I have one to eat for supper and the other chicken to shred for quesadillas. I will also decide what to do for lunches and breakfast, but I don't worry too much about those meals because cereal and muffins are not that hard to plan for. I really love this blog for all their amazing easy recipes

When planning for a week of dinners, I write it down on a post-it note and have it in the fridge for the week, that way it's an easy reminder. I will often make one trip to the store the day after the add hits, so I have time to see what's on sale and what I need for the week. super simple, and my go-to when I don't have a plan like Option 2.

Get this free template here

Option 2 (great if you have a plan and a trying to stockpile good deals on groceries.) 

Monthly menu planning is fun... (I can't lie, I have to tell myself this because if I don't I won't get my monthly menu plan going.)

You will want a good foundation to start with if you have a freezer, and storage space this may be the way to go.

For a month of dinners, I use a cheap calendar. (you know the ones that you get in the mail, or are at the dollar store.) Or I print them like this one from simply unscripted

I start by labeling each day of the week a category for dinner: Monday-Pizza, Tuesday-Mexican, Wednesday-Italian,  Thursday-Meatless, Friday- Grill, Saturday-Comfort food, Sunday- quick and easy.  These categories make it easy to plan each day of the week instead of saying hmm... what should we have on this Tuesday, also My family likes knowing that it's Friday pizza night! Wha Who! It makes your life easier having a label for each day of the week. That is why you are only going to have some type of spaghetti once or twice a night in a month... and so on. does your family get tired of spaghetti too because you make it too often?

 Then I plug in what I think my family will eat, and then make notes for when I need to go the store for an item. it's really that simple!

Tips for doing a Monthly meal plan

When I first started I spent a good hour looking through my cook book, or Pinterest to see what sounds good for supper, I still do but more as a free time thing than for meal planning.  So give yourself a good hour to plan, make yourself a good snack, and plan during a quiet time when you can focus and not be interrupted. I have even prayed to my father in heaven to help me plan, and those months always seem to go smoother.

Some of my great meals are the ones that I can make from memory, like a chili dinner, or a pork chop dinner, and casseroles. I like to keep things simple.
I use a menu planning software called Cook'n, I like it, but I usually find that a cheap calendar works just as well, especially if you are not "a cook that has to have a recipe" and just wants to have supper on the table.

Stock up on items you use often when they are on sale, this helps save a lot when menu planning, I know that I can use Pasta Sauce in lots of other ways than just pasta sauce. so.... I have about 30 jars stored because I got them on sale for half the cost. I like to stock up on about 25-50 items per year so about 1 item per week that I know will last for at least 6 months.

My favorite way to meal plan is to always have a couple oops meals, you know the nights when your not feeling like cooking, or getting dinner on the table, that is when I have frozen pizza or everything I need to make a soup, or a salad, or even mac and cheese for the kiddos. Those meals come in handy, but don't make it a crutch!

If you like to cook, use your kitchen tools, that will also help with knowing what you want to cook and what you have time for... don't underestimate the power of your mixer and food processor!

Here is a link that I thought was also helpful and full of great advice!


If you are wanting a good footing on how menu planning works, MomsByHeart.Net has some amazing blog posts.


I would love to learn how you get supper on the table, are you the family where you are like- let's go out every night and now you need to "figure it out" been there-done that lots of times!

What is your reason for or your WHY you want to start or keep doing Menue planning?

What is Strategic Shopping and why you should be doing it!

Want to go grocery shopping? Yup, me neither. You go, get your essentials without a list, and $200 later you come home with everything but what you went in to get in the first place. We have all been there. So.. there has got to be a better way right? Yes, and companies know it, that’s why there are all these little tricks to help you save your money at THE STORE!

To beat the marketing game as consumers we need to play along and take small victories when they come. This game is called Strategic Shopping, it’s a real thing, grocery stores and supermarkets (WalMart in particular) knows it really well.  Here are some tips to help you save money next time you're at the grocery store

Know your Store’s add and buy what’s on sale. Lots of times Hy-Vee and other grocery stores have a weekly sales ad. Hy-Vee in the Des Moines area the add drops on Tuesday, I like to grocery shop on Monday and/or Thursday. To be more particular, Hy-Vee has the best items on sale at the beginning of the month, and then at the end, the middle part of the month they usually are not filled with great rock bottom prices. Keep an eye on those “hot deals” sometimes the only reason why they are a “hot deal” is because they have a bunch of that product that they need to sale, it’s not really a discount.

Shop with a list but be flexible, I am a total advocate for sticking to a list, but often times I go grocery shopping and deviate from my list slightly, let me give you a great example: I see this pork loin on sale for half the cost it normally is (in Iowa we can get pork at a good price,) it’s not on my list but that’s a better deal than the pork chops I was going to get. So I get the pork loin and cut them into chops, better yet I make the meat department cut up the loin for me so I don’t have too. Sometimes a general item of 2lbs of white meat than 2 lbs of boneless chicken breasts can save you loads of money. So always be on the lookout for deals that are

worth buying, and that you can substitute.

Look High look low… all too often the manufacturers will pay the grocery store for prime real estate for their product placement, usually at eye level. Cereal is a great example, all the popular more expensive items are in plain sight, where the same item but in store brand is at the bottom. (often times the store brand is made by the same manufacturer.) So I ask myself am I really willing to pay X brand name for prime real estate when I could get the same product for at least 10% cheaper?

Same product, different locations I love tortillas for easy dinner solutions, which one do I buy?There are only like 40 different kinds, the answer is NOT THE ONES THAT ARE REFRIGERATED. You are paying for the cost of them to refrigerate them… go with the ones that are just on the shelf, the same thing with bagels. While we are on locations, know where your deals are kept, for us Hy-Vee Prairie Trail always has baskets at the front with discounted items, sometimes it’s laundry detergent at a rock bottom price, but I have been able to get a bunch of staples like brand name cereal, and artisan noodles at a rock bottom price.

Same product but Different packaging is always a great game changer, I am always wondering why they had to change the packaging up, My mommy saving senses are in active mode: sometimes it’s a way for you to get less and pay more like a standard cake mix, they lower the price 10 cents, but you get half the cake mix! Yes, really manufacturers will do that and call it a new item. I get annoyed by this often.I get a different brand and off I go.

Another great example was when I was looking for Multigrain Tortilla Chips, guess what? All tortilla chips are multi grain because they use corn, corn is a grain. So don’t pay extra for those “healthy” multigrain chips, when I saw that the ingredients were the same, same size, “healthy marketed bag” was $2.00 more! OUCH!!!! Pay attention to the details, and what you are really buying.

Just doing these small things have saved me on average $20 every grocery store visit, Or in a better light, that is how I can spend $20 extra at Memory Bound, or on other art supplies! Hah it's always fun when I feel like can save $20 and spend it on my art addiction!

How to cook once and eat 4 times from one cooking session.

I HATE COOKING EVERY DAY! Wait what? Really? Yes really, I would much rather be in my art studio dreaming up my next watercolor project. And who has time for cooking a meal every single day… I get burned out on it! SOOO I don’t. I Cheat. And no one knows about it… sometimes my kids are so hungry and they say so are you going to feed us sometime tonight…. (laser eyes from their mother beams at them) at which point I say if your that hungry make some mac and cheese, but we are having some chicken and _________ to go with our chicken, and supper will be ready in about 30 mins.

MY Friends, it’s all about the prep work… I feel like I have this down to a complete science. (but I am sure someone has found an easier way to prep) if so send that info my way.  

Grocery shopping Tuesday morning at Hy-Vee can feel like a magical place. They usually have meat markdowns up to 70% off, that’s when I feel like a scavenger for the best deals on chicken. No joke, I have gotten a 5lb bag of marinated boneless chicken for $5 all I have to do is sous vide these chicken breasts and add a side to my chicken and dinner is done. It’s that simple. Although those opportunities don’t happen all the time here is what I really do:

When whole chickens are a sale, (about every other month I buy about 4-6 chickens. I know that will get us through the next sale. (this way I am never buying chicken at the full price)

Since I don’t want to waste valuable freezer space with a whole chicken I plan that day or the day after to roast the 4-6 chicken, usually a morning or afternoon… but that’s ok, it’s saving me money and time later.  I usually add some spices, I like to do a rub with Italian seasoning on the inside of the skin to penetrate to the meat.  When I take out the chicken and let it cool I discard the skin, which means all the spices would go with it, and I don’t want that.

Note that since I have gotten a Sous Vide, I use that too for an alternative for roasting.

After I am done roasting the chicken I save the last chicken for supper that night, after all I have been roasting all afternoon the house smells like I am a fabulous cook, and everyone especially my dog wants some chicken.

I shred the chicken. I use it for bbq chicken, or for bbq chicken pizza, stews, soups, chicken pot pie, a creamy tortellini casserole, or I use it for salads. After all the chicken is shredded I place about 2-3 cups of shredded chicken into a bag and have about 4 -6 bags of shredded chicken ready to go… and that is one way I save time in the kitchen.

If you are like me and are like there is no way you are getting me to debone a chicken, DONT I have yet to see it worth my time… or if I do debone a chicken it’s after the cooking process, because I really don’t like handling the raw meat aspect of any cooking.

I BUY BONELESS CHICKEN BREASTS when I am on the hunt for Chicken. I will buy sometimes 20lbs of this good stuff. The time savings is in the prep work of freezing. I like to season with a rub and then freeze the chicken breasts, if you have a Sous Vide then it’s all ready to go if not, thawing it and then roasting or grilling it is a snap.  Usually, an extra hour is worth getting 5 meals ready to go is worth it. DO not put a marinade or salad dressing in the bag before you freeze it, it doesn’t taste good and it’s not great for the meat. Stick with just seasoning. That way when you are ready to grill or roast all you do is get it thawed onto a pan and into the heat! Super simple stuff!

I like preparing my chicken this way because I don’t have to think about what is for supper, if I already know what is ready to go in my freezer, I just need some forethought as to what I want to make for supper that morning so I can get it out of my freezer.

Utilize your kitchen for the best Chicken

If you have a convect oven please use the convect roast option while roasting your chicken, you will be glad you did, it does an amazing job with making the outside chicken crispy and the inside of the chicken tender and moist, it’s my new best friend when it comes to roasting a chicken.

Sous vide and chicken were a match made in heaven! Seriously it’s changed the way I view cooking chicken. I love sous vide chicken for a roasted preparation but without the crunchy skin which can be done by searing the chicken, but who has time for that when sous vide is enough to make your pallet happy with the moist tenderness it brings to the table?

How 2 B A SAHM: Crunch those numbers!

Once you know that this SAHM thing could be for you how do you logistically make this work?

If you knew that you wanted to be a SAHM before you started a family you would save money… kids are expensive, the more money you can save the better your life will be. Since no family I know had $20,000 in a bank account when they became a SAHM I will guess that you are trying to crunch the numbers and see how it works for so many mothers to stay at home with one income.

The one thing that SAHMS have in common is they budget really well, I think SAHMS can be a great example to the finance industry, and we are.

So what my husband and I do is we look at our cost of living, (mortgage, utilities, insurance,) all the not fun stuff that we have to live on. Then we calculate what a good number for clothing and cell phone and my craft/art supplies are, that expense is also included in our total budget number. Then we see how much extra money we have left over and we live within our means with one income. It’s as simple and complicated as that.

It’s simple because numbers never lie, it’s so hard because: Ouch you mean we only have $300 left over for everything else that might happen this month? I hope and pray our vehicles and health are good. (Thank god that for the most part, we don't’ have added expenses.) That extra $300 that we didn't spend goes into a savings account.

The reality is that for SAHMS, we like to stretch our dollar as far as possible. We love going out to eat as long as the food is worth the money, which most times I don’t think it is. We use our god given common sense to manage our household, we research the crap out of things, and then we lay awake sometimes at night wondering what we would do with an extra $500. That’s the reality, but I love it and I wouldn't want it any other way. (btw, we just got back from Disney World because we finally managed to save enough, so there is fun to be had, it’s all on perspective.)

If you are accustomed to having two incomes and need to condense it to one income you may have to cut back some expenditures. It’s a sacrifice, that as a couple you have to decide. For us, we sacrificed cable, my beloved Sirius XM for a couple years, and a bigger house and a nicer/better/bigger vehicle. My thoughts on the house is this: the more room you have the more you have to clean and the more stuff you have to deal with… it’ just goes with the territory I can only clean so much... so a smaller house is better for our family.

My point: is that becoming a SAHM is a sacrifice, but all the silver and gold in the world can’t replace the nurturing power that a mom has on her child, if there is a will there is a way. I can’t tell you how many times my husband has come home and said he got a small raise in the middle of the year. The universe is on your side when it comes to finances. I will say that your husband will be able to do his job better when he doesn’t have to worry about his kids because they are in your capable hands, (that’s where raises can come into play.)

I don’t know all the tips to budgeting money, this is what has worked well for us, I have another post that will be added soon about how to contribute to the family as a SAHM and the flip side to having a SAHM in my next blog post.

I would love to hear about how you were able to become a SAHM and how you work with your finances to live the life you love! Leave a comment below.

E-A-S-Y Washi tape thank you note cards

Michaels has a pack of 8 silver foiled thank you cards for $2.50 I love the texture to these not cards, they are already cut and folded for you, and the pack comes with envelopes!

Michaels also has washi tape that coordinates 6-10washi tape rolls in a tube for $10.99 I bought 3 tubes and felt giddy!

The thank you note card set went to a dear friend that is having a baby. I plan on making a set of these for family and friends. You never seem to have enough Thankyou cards right?

The short and sweet of these cards: cut the tape close to the end of the card, make sure your colors and patterns coordinate, and mix big patterns with small patterns and you got a really nice set of cards! No glue or extra tools to use!

Perfect Pretty Princess Puffs!

Let's get baking: Snow days are the P-E-F-E-C-T excuse to be in the kitchen with your kids right? these Meringues are a fun way to introduce meringue techniques to your budding baker!

Pretty Princess Puffs Adapted by the Pink Princess cookbook by Barbara Beery

3 Egg Whites
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar (don't forget this)
1/2 tsp vanilla
and sprinkles to top your "puff"

YOU NEED STAND MIXER FOR THIS RECIPE!

Preheat oven to 250

I taught my daughter to separate the egg whites, I did two, she did one. (we wasted one egg.)

Whip egg whites in your stand mixer on high until small peaks form (about5-7 minutes,)
Then turn your mixer onto a slow mode, add sugar slowly a tablespoon at a time, add cream of tartar, & vanilla.

Spoon about 2 Tablespoons for each cookie onto a cookie sheet that is lined with parchment paper or foil about 1/2 an inch apart from each other. Then add your sprinkles

Place cookie sheets on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 1 hour. Turn off the oven and let them stay in the oven for another 10 min.

Remove the cookies from the oven and place on a cooling rack.

Store in an airtight container

My savings tip: This is a great recipe to use up some of your eggs that might expire soon, with eggs at a good price point, the cost of this recipe for all the ingredients is less than $1 to make! You could make a bunch of cookies for a tiny amount of money. Or once you know that the cost to make these is minimal, you may think twice not spending $5-$10 for a small package of these meringues at the store! I overstock on my eggs all the time, it's hard to beat the price point of eggs with the nutritional value that eggs have.

If you are looking for a perfect Princess cookbook for your budding baker Gibbs Smith, Publisher has a great line of cookbooks, Pink Princess Cookbook or Fairy Princess Cookbook both are a go-to cookbook for her and me!

This blog is an amazon affiliate, when you click on links and buy you are supporting me and my blog

Your boys are missing out on this!

Monster trucks? Markers? painter's Tape? and some paper.... Yes! I made art monster truck jam. It was a fun activity that my boys really enjoyed!

It's been in the works for awhile, I just needed some white paper on a roll, (butcher paper) I got mine from staples for about $10, The monster Trucks came from the Hot Wheel section at Target, and we had markers that I had bought during back to school season for like $.30

The prep:
Tape a good length of paper to the floor, I think our paper was about 3 feet long

Tape your kid's color choice of marker to a monster truck using painters tape, we found three trucks, so we used red, blue, and black. I loved using the pipsqueaks markers, they are shorter than regular markers, making it the perfect size for the monster truck, We also used regular markers, it's not a big deal to use either.

I used washable markers, so if the trucks did go off the paper it was an easy to clean up.

Afterward, use this paper as wrapping paper! or cut it up into shapes and use it as collage art!

My savings tip for this activity, buy extra school supplies late July, you will be glad you did, I always buy like 5-7 more packages or markers and crayons. They make some nice unexpected gifts, for example, your daughter was invited to 7 other girls birthday parties for this school year, (those presents can get really expensive,) pair some markers and crayons to a nice activity book, you have a perfect present for the birthday girl/boy!

Colorful fun for your winter blahs

I remember taking a workshop that was all about sensory play, and that is where my love for tactile play comes in, I love playing with my kids in the sensory table! So I have a fun, colorful idea for you!

Say it with me: WATER BEADS! Yes! They are so much fun, that water beads are rated as a #1 best seller for kids toys on Amazon... if you haven't tried these you are missing out on some really fun times with your kids.

For a tub of water beads I put in about half of the bag, so 4 oz.

For $3.50, I have something that will entertain all my kids from 2-yrs through 8-yrs old! I add bowls, kitchen utensils, and sometimes plastic animals or tractors to the sensory bin and let them play! they have fun, and it makes me smile when I hear their giggles!






From the Manufacturer:

WHAT TO DO WITH WATER BEADS

1. Sensory Water Beads
Sensory play is what water beads are best at. Kids of all ages love the feel and look of them. They are so enticing! Colorful, smooth, squishy, cool… Really, there’s not much more you need to do with water beads than have a bowl full of them to plunge your hands into and hold and squish them.
Water beads seem like magic to kids because the beads start out so tiny and grow within a few hours. Just watching the beads change is a fun activity for younger kids. 

32 Activities we love to do besides TV that you can do now!

TV is my go to babysitter these days. It's Mid February and all the new toys from Christmas is wearing off, and it's just blah around here.

SO....... to cure the blah's and save some money while entertaining kiddo's:

I have some simple ways to get those toys out and get us playing with each other.

I have a wide mouth mason jar that is filled with sticks that have activities on them...

 I call it get a stick. Lots of times in my house I say no more tv get a stick and do it. It works wonders.  I have adapted these sticks from the busy books, made for kids and toddlers, and preschoolers. I also used ideas from the Artful Parent.

I decided that it was best to start of easy, I will post more Stick ideas as the season rolls on.

Easy ones:
Observe Nature: this is an open ended as you would like, A good 10 min. outside session, or a walk around the neighborhood. Then we talk about it, I will ask questions, to get them to think about what we saw. I won't take my toddler out if the temp or wind chill is under 35. So we observe from our window, this works really well when it's snowing!

Play with Plastic/stuffed Animals: We have so much fun, making zoo's, making habitat out of blankets, or just using them to act out what they do.

Sing songs: sing, just sing, we love the Hokey Pokey, It's a small world, all the preschool songs, it's a fun time at our house when we sing. (I do not play the piano, this is all just us, or the help with Alexa from my Amazon tap)

Clean a Bathroom I love when they pick this one...

Play with bubbles in the bathtub




Play dress up with big dresses, or old Halloween costumes.... I can't seem to get rid of the costumes.

Which then leads to.......
acting a play, or a song, or a movie.

Imagination play

Play Farm: My boys love when we get out our toy tractors, animals, and other imaginative toys out to play farm, really the sky is open and it's really fun to see their imaginations come to life while we play!

Play with Doll stuff

Create with Jix

Make a paper bag puppet

Create a Lego city

Create a Lego Zoo

Play Restaurant: We have some Melissa and Doug toys that we love to play restaurant with, they play restaurant for hours, they even make up a menu, and set up a table it's so fun to watch!

Create a book from magazine pictures, have a bunch of magazines laying around, make a book from the pictures!

Look at Cook Books, I love the idea of my kids learning about cooking, what better way then to let them read some cookbooks. We love the Downtown BookWorks cookbooks My blog post here was inspired by this activity

Create with blocks, We also create towers, castles, habitats from our imagination add some plastic animals, the sky is the limit!

Play with Melissa and Doug toys:  I have a box filled with Melissa and Doug toys that my kids adore, they get super excited to play with them and they have a ton of fun playing with these simple wooded toys!

Have a dance Party

Build a train track: Who can build the longest, who can build a the curvy roads, who can build one the fastest.

Play with Stuff animals: vet clinic, animal rescue, pets, let their imagination run wild!

Make your own music, use what you have.... the sky's the limit

Play with puppets, and put on a show.

Play princess and prince

Sensory Table

Water Beads: You can find them most places that sell floral crafts.
Play with beans in a sensory Table we like to add tractors and animals to this
Water in the Sensory Table simple and fun it's very open ended to what you can do!
Play with colored rice dump and pour is fun!





Play HopScotch

Shoot Nerf guns at a cup pyramid: We love red solo cups for this, build a pyramid, of cups and let the shooting begin, for added fun add some Lego guys at the top and sides, and have fun! We love hearing the cups fall down onto our hardwood floors. we like 10-20ish cups. Any more than that is to long to build the pyramid. Here is a link to help you be inspired

20 Item pick up, we each pick up 20 things. Whomever gets done first gets a piece of candy. (this is adapted from the Fly Lady)

Play a board game, WE LOVE SUSPEND and Jenga!

Play Just Dance, We LOVE DISNEY JUST DANCE ok, this does involve some tv, but totally worth it, it's a good work out!

Des Moines Area passes I swear by

I (my family) have been members to the Science Center, Blank Park Zoo, and AdventureLand for three years/seasons. A main reason is because of my husbands work schedule it's not always easy to go on one big vacation, so we get passes to do family things.  Here's some of the perks and reasons I love having passes, or memberships:

Science Center of Iowa

I love their exhibits, and the imax theater.  On Wednesday you can get a half off Imax admission in the afternoon to see an Imax documentary, For members it's like $2.50 for an Imax movie This is also available to nonmembers too! but I think it's  (It's worth seeing every movie they have)  I like that I can bring in my own lunch and not have to buy food from the Sci Cafe, however it does seem that every time we are there I use my membership to get %10 off from the Sci Cafe because I am always forgetting something (aka pop.) The science center is my go to place on a cold winter's day, or on a hot summer day. I much prefer to go during the winter months and for me with two small kids at home and one in Elementary it's worth it!

Our favorite thing to do there is the Small discoveries, and what we call the lego rocket room, we spend all day in those two rooms. they have big blocks, a bubble area to make huge life size bubbles, a pretend kitchen where you can cook your own food, a food market area for children, a ball run. Up stairs is where you could find all the big kid, and more toddler things to do, they have balls that float on air, rockets you make and launch, a lego race way, and a huge ball wall that is amazing!

I have often met friends at the Science Center, which is a great place for an indoor playdate!


Blank Park Zoo

I love Blank Park Zoo for the chance to get out of my house and walk around and see animals with my children. It's a beautiful zoo. I love it for small kids, it's a perfect place to go for 3 hours and then leave. Our favorite part is always the fish feeding and the Sea Lions. I always leave feeling like it was a good time, For my boys is like an adventure playground! Everything is a new adventure even if it's been the 10th time we have visited the zoo this year.




Adventureland

Yes I take my three kiddo's and their cousins (6 kids totally with just me) and yes I am exhausted by the end of the day.... But totally 100% worth it! I got a secret about Adventureland..... It's not that bad in June on a Tuesday and Wednesday. So we spend most of our early vacation break at Adventureland. There have been times that we have had the wave pool to our selves because no one goes to adventureland in June... Seriously what's up with that?

Yes the water park is where we spend most of our time at Adventureland. We use the family bathrooms to change and usually we don't have to wait to long to change, they have 3 family bathrooms that I know off.  I have yet to buy a pool pass to our local pool, since Adventureland is really the only place that my kids wants to go and on a good day I can drive and get there in 15 Minutes.

Summer is hot, and if you know where your going, you can be in the shade about 75% of the time, there were only a couple days this summer that we went to Adventureland that It was to hot and unbearable.

I really do love their rides, I just really love the water park Adventure Bay more!

I also love that they discount their season tickets in December for Christmas Presents, it makes worth your money to get your pass in December, If you go to Adventureland 3 times it pays for it's self, and Parking is included!

I hope that this blog post helps you see the value in some of these passes. By far these three places are the places I have made lots of memories with my family and friends and I am grateful for the chance to use them!

Kids are off to school lets get Craftsy

Our friends at Craftsy are having a sale this weekend. ALL of their online classes are under $20 — Friday through Sunday. *This promotion ends Sunday, September 25, at 11:59 pm MT. Select classes are not eligible, including those from our partner The Great Courses®

If you are looking for a good class they have it all, Water color, knitting, crochet, paper crafting, wood working, and even gardening! this Sale is worth looking at. If you need some good classes here are some of my reviews

Really if you are looking ahead for Christmas and want to make something for Christmas presents, Take a Craftsy class that's on sale, you will be glad you did. on my Home made Christmas gift giving list is Caramel, Card sets, and other food gifts (we really like food at our house.) 

The Art of Caramel (perfect for the holiday gift giving season that's coming up)
Make the most of your food processor
The Perfect Cupcake (great for all)
21 wild tecniques with your paper crafting supplies
Water color tecniques with Mary Murphy (my favorite water color class so far)
Better Water color sketches with Angela Fehr

If you want to get to know what Craftsy is all about, I like their free classes, cheek them out here

I would love to know what classes you want to take, I love the idea that I have access to classes when ever I want, when I want. NO "going" to a class, or making "time" for it, it's available anytime I want. And yes I like to create at 5 am, I don't know why but that is my sweet spot for creating and learning... something about my house being quiet, and peaceful before school. I know I' m a crazy person!