thequeenofthecastle's commentsComments On: EverythingArticles Blogs Journals Photos created by: Everyonethequeenofthecastle Rainy Day Activities - Blog Entry17 Aug 2009 01:06 PM We've been stuck in the house a lot of this summer because it's been a record hot summer with the majority of the day being close to or even over 100 degrees outside. We've discovered a lot of fun things to do inside the house to stay out of the heat. Today we spent the whole day playing Christmas in August. I put on Christmas music and grabbed some colorful socks and filled them with little toys from around the house and hung the on the door knobs. We also wrapped little toys from the toy box and put them under our tree... which ended up being my vacuum cleaner wrapped in christmas lights from the garage. We even made Christmas cookies and decorated them with leftover valentines red sprinkles I had from clearance shopping my grocery store. It has been a fun day "stuck inside" with my little ones. Things to Do with Tennis Balls - Blog Entry15 Aug 2009 08:08 AM These are great tips. I found a random tennis ball the other day that mysteriously showed up in our non-tennis playing house. Now I have a use for it. Another good tip for a stubborn jar lid is a wide rubber band. Just slip it on the lid and it gives you a better grip so you can usually pop it open a lot easier. Inventive and Frugal Play - Blog Entry15 Aug 2009 08:01 AM I love the idea of using those cards in the magazine as pretend mail. Brilliant! The first thing I do with a new mag is pull all of those out because they annoy me when I'm flipping through, but I never thought of using them that way. Thanks! Cheaper Beverages - Blog Entry11 Aug 2009 04:58 PM I love making my coffee with a little bit of sweetened condensed milk. It makes the coffee sweet and creamy and you can use milk instead of half and half to fill out the coffee so in the end it's much cheaper... and DELICIOUS! A New Wardrobe for Free - Blog Entry11 Aug 2009 04:52 PM I've found too that my weight fluxes all over the place, like many women I know. Sometimes something that looked horrible on me a year ago (too big/ too small) looks surprisingly good on me now. I guess there is sometimes even a silver lining to that extra winter weight. :) How to Spend Less on Toys 2 - Blog Entry04 Aug 2009 09:54 AM I love this series of articles. My husband and I are very commited to limiting the number of toys and being very intentional about the longevity of our toys. It's an uphill battle with well intending family members, great deals at the thrift store that are hard to pass up and of course the kids themselves asking for them. But I think you have some great points. We rotate toys, trade toys, and just let the kids get bored enough to get creative. It's amazing what happens when you LET your children become bored. Their imagination sparks and they started to create new things from old things and see everything in new ways. Stretch Out Your Kids Clothing - Blog Entry25 Jun 2009 07:18 PM I'm obsessed with felt and felt creations. If you buy very inexpensive felt in the craft section of a store like walmart, you can cut out cute flowers, hearts, cars... etc.. and sew them over stains on a shirt. The nice thing about felt is that is doesn't fray, so you don't have to try and turn any of the edges under. Just make sure that the felt washes okay, but I've had great luck so far with the eco felt that is acrylic/made with plastic bottles. Qualities that Will Get You More Money - Blog Entry25 Jun 2009 07:05 PM I second STBridgit. We all need to find contentment in our lives, because it really will allude most people no matter how much they have or don't have in terms of material possesions. Contentment is a choice. We can focus our attention on what we want, or we can find peace and graditude in what we have. When I find myself being discontent, I stop and immediatly ask myself to name at least 10 things in my life I am grateful for. I have never walked away with only ten. Early Sexual Activity in Children and Teens Linked to TV Viewing - Blog Entry19 Jun 2009 07:17 AM * correction - I told you the wrong book. I started looking closer at it and that was not the right one. The book my father mentioned was Consuming Kids by Susan Linn. I think that's the correct one. Sorry about that. Early Sexual Activity in Children and Teens Linked to TV Viewing - Blog Entry19 Jun 2009 07:00 AM Amen! I am so disheartened by some of the mature and inappropriate themes that sneak into even the "kid" shows on television. Without sounding like a conspiracy theory paranoid parent, I believe this is actually intentional in many cases. From a marketing perspective the sooner that marketing groups can push our children prematurely into adolescence, the sooner they can remove us from the picture and have full access to our children to sell them products. The insecurity and vanity of the teen years are a perfect marketing tool and the parental voice of reason stands in the way of making our children into some of the best consumers out there. My father has a masters in education and is currently a teacher as a prestigious private school. I say that to say I trust his judgement. He recently mentioned the book "Consumed" by BR Barber, to me. I have yet to read it, but it sounds very interesting on the subject. |
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