Mom's Tuesday Tips

What are your mommy tips? 

tip: (noun) a useful hint or idea; a basic, practical fact

money saving, time saving, family bonding... whatever you have found to be a blessing as a mom & want to pass along to others. I invite you to share...

Here is my tip for the week.... 

• Have a favorite clothing store? Be sure to sign up for their emails & mailing list! Most stores will keep you updated on sales & send coupons often. Also, if you know which store you are headed to on your next shopping trip be sure to Google search coupons before you head out... chances are you'll find something you could use. One of my favorite stores to get my work clothes at is New York & Company. This weekend I got a $35 dress shirt, two $18 basic 1/4 length sleeve V-necks, & a pair of $17 dressy flip flops for $50 dollars! I knew they were having a President's Day sale on the basic shirts (buy one get one 1/2 off). I Googled coupons before I left & found a "spend $75, get $30 off coupon". I saved $39 dollars. Not too bad! I also received a coupon when I checked out to spend $30 & get $15 off on my next visit. I'll be heading back for accessories soon :) 

I hear there is a fancy little widget called Mr. Linky that makes these blog carnivals a lot easier to share links. Unfortunately, I do not have access to Mr. Linky (yet). SO, if you decide to share a tip please either leave your tip in the comments or if you decide to host a Mom's Tuesday Tips on your blog please leave your post link in the comments so everyone can benefit from your tips as well. Thanks! 

PS- hi ho, hi ho... it's off to work I go :)

Mom's Tuesday Tips

This is my 50th blog... can somebody say YAY! My original intent was to have a nice place to come & keep track of memories for the kids as well as keep the grandparents & long distance family & friends in the loop. That is still the goal. However, in the process I have learned that this blogging thing is like therapy for me. It's my new hobby :) OK, maybe more that a mere hobby. Stephen's new nickname for me is "blogaholic". Sure the kids will have a place to come when they get older & reminisce (I seriously need to figure out how to back this thing up on my hard-drive) BUT I've also traveled through blog world & realized that there are so many other opportunities that come along with this blogging thing. So w/o further ado...

In honor of my decision to go back to work full time AND go back to school I introduce...

I need your help people. Seriously! My life is about to get pretty darn CrAzY. I know I have family & friends that read this & I have my faithful followers (all 6 of you ;)...) in blog world. But this non-domesticated "but trying really hard to become domesticated" mom needs your help. 

ANY mom , whether she is a working mom or a stay at home mom (which by the way, as far as I'm concerned is still considered a "working" mom), has her hands full & can use as much help as she can get. I know this blog carnival won't be as flashy & fun as most... I just hope that it will not only be helpful to me, but to you as well.

So what are your mommy tips? 

tip: (noun) a useful hint or idea; a basic, practical fact

money saving, time saving, family bonding... whatever you have found to be a blessing as a mom & want to pass along to others. I invite you to share...

Here goes... my 1st 

• We have instituted family date night. On Friday night SOMEONE goes out on a date. We take turns taking the older girls out (me & Maddy/ Stephen & Liv  & visa versa) It's nice to spend individual time with the girls... BUT we will also have mommy/daddy date nights so the girls can see that we love to spend time together as a couple as well. When you have a busy house full it can be easy not give as much individual time as you want... so having the schedule guarantees it. Its also a nice way to celebrate our family. The dates don't have to be expensive either. Here are some free date night ideas: Mickey Ds playland, reading books at Barnes & Noble, game night, take a walk & talk, bike riding, go to the mall & window shop,  crafts... what I've found is that it really doesn't matter what we do they just LOVE the alone time w/ us! 

• To save $ I make a WEEKLY menu before I go grocery shopping. The weekly menu helps b/c I can check the grocery sales & make my menu around the sales. I can also look at the weeks activities & plan around them.

• Here's a good "2 day dinner" idea:

Roast (a 3 pound roast works for us) 

Day 1: Roast w/ carrots & potatoes (slower cooker.. LOVE it!) 

Day 2: Roast tacos (shred the left over roast & mix w/ a little taco seasoning. Heat CORN tortilla in a little olive oil on the stovetop, eat the roast on the warm tortillas w/ fresh chopped cilantro, lime juice (roll the lime on the counter hard w/ your hand before you slice- somehow makes it juicier), salsa, shredded cheese & sour cream... YUMMY- This is a Linda specialty) 

• Subscribe to a fun online magazine... Oh, I know just the one, My friend Carmen just so happens to have one (how convenient) .... Check out Fresh Wind Here

• When things seem to get really hectic in the house & you really need a break just pull out the duct tape, tape the kids up & lock them in the closet. It works every time!... Um, OK, unfortunately that is considered child abuse... never-mind, scratch that last one 

OK, your turn! Watcha got? 

PS- despite all this blogging, Mom's Tuesday Tips logo making, lebanese food eating, clean sweep video editing & sock folding I've been doing lately ... I seriously am still looking for a job! Please say a little prayer... I know the right one is out there for me, daggonit! 

Fashion Drama

I usually try to let the girls dress themselves the way they like w/o  having too much input. The oldest babe is at the age now, & has been for awhile, where this isn't even an issue... as long as there is nothing showing I'm happy. When they are younger it's a bit more of a challenge. Their little creative minds come up w/ the craziest concoctions out of their closets. The middle babe has been to church with some pretty interesting outfits. She also has a tendency to get attached to particular items of clothing. Her latest fashion infatuation is her new pink Barbie boots. Mom bought them for her before Christmas & she has worn them just about every day. 

A friend of mine bought her some brown leggings for her birthday & she's pretty hooked on those too.

These latest 2 trends are not so bad. I can live w/ brown leggings & cute pink boots (even w/ her new sweat-suit & dresses). The trend before these... not so much! Take a look at the pic & guess which item of clothing it was...

Yes, you guessed right... the hideous black ski mask. Wearing it into places, including church, wasn't good enough... she had to sport it inside too. Oh the funny looks we got... & imagine the hat heads. She's over that now. I'm sure that has nothing to do with the fact that it was "accidently" misplaced.... 

The oldest babe on the other hand is my self proclaimed tomboy. However, recently she has begun to care a little more about how she looks & takes time to put things together. I guess that comes with the pre-teen package. We had to go the other day to take back an outfit that we got her for Christmas. It didn't fit. So we were on the hunt for the perfect pair of "skinny" jeans. Apparently this is the newest thing. Our short shopping trip turned into quite an ordeal.  3 stores, 4 trips to the dressings room w/ heaping loads & 3 1/2 hours later she found the perfect outfit...

 So as you can see. I've had quite a bit of fashion drama here lately. How's my fashion you may ask... Well I'm just happy that I can fit into SOME of my pre-preggo jeans. The oldest babe told me the other day on our shopping trip.. "mom, you dress cool... for a mom". Hmmm, still trying to figure that one out. When I do, I'll let you know.

Thanksgiving Weekend

What a great holiday weekend!

Thanksgiving was nice. We all went down to my aunt's house to celebrate. Great food & fun family time. 

I did the Black Friday thing this year... first year for that. Getting up at 4:00a after being up until 1:00a w/ a crying baby was not the highlight of the weekend... However, it was worth it b/c I ended up saving a lot of money. My mom got up w/ me. We hit Wal-mart, Target and Bed, Bath & Beyond. I think I was home by 8:00a- not too bad. 

Saturday was my hubby's birthday- the BIG 3-0! :0) We started the day by heading to the tree farm. We got rid of our artificial tree last year b/c it started to rust. We decided instead of buying another we'd begin a new Christmas tradition... the real tree experience. We had a great time at the farm. We started out with a hay-ride out to the field... 

It didn't take long until we found the perfect one....

I've got lots of video footage that I'm going to turn into a mini video. The hubby has been editing the family videos for long enough... he is going to teach me how to do it. :0) It may not seem like such a difficult task but he has a bunch of professional equipment & software that he uses to do it. (In addition to the editing he does for the church he has a side video editing business) I've been wanting to learn for awhile. I tried the goofy tutorials but I can't learn like that so he is going to walk me through it. Our Christmas Tree outing will be my first project. I'll post as soon as it's complete... Hopefully it will be finished by Christmas :0) I'm so excited to learn! 

Once we got home we rested a bit before heading out for a birthday dinner. Little did the hubby know... I planned a surprise birthday dinner for him @ Famous Dave's. Surprise!!! It was almost a complete surprise... but thanks to the middle babe he figured out something was going on...  Lil stinker. I had to buy some time before we got to the restaurant so we stopped at Michael's (had to pick up a Christmas gift). I went into the restroom to call Famous Dave's. I asked them to let the party know we would be there soon. The middle babe overheard the conversation & realized we were having a surprise party for daddy. I made her promise not to say anything... silly me! As soon as we got out of the bathroom she tells the hubby "mommy has  a surprise that I can't tell you about. It's a secret." ARGH! O'well... the dinner was really special though. We had a good time hanging out w/ friends... & somehow I didn't manage to take a single pic. Who knows how that happened!?!? :( 

Today was a big day for the youngest babe! She went to Bible Babies (our churches nursery) for the 1st time. She did a great job. They called me out of service when it was time for her to eat. (She took a bottle last night for the 1st time!... but I didn't have time to pump this morning) So anyway I sat in the "nursing corner" & overheard them singing sweet songs to the babies... laughing & playing w/ them. I'm so thankful for the sweet ladies that work in there. I'm glad she did well, now I can enjoy my service while she enjoys her own little service.  

Once we got home from church we started decorating the Christmas tree. It's not completely finished but it will be over the next couple of days. I love it! 

So anyway, that sums up my Thanksgiving weekend. Everyone back to school & work tomorrow. This is week 6 for me so I will be headed to the office either Wed. or Thurs. for a meeting w/ my bosses to catch up on things. Can't believe it's already that time! We've been working on getting the baby on a good schedule. That adventure will require a blog of it's own... in due time. 

Til then... please pray for our patience & endurance :0) I think I can, I think I can, I think I can