It has been a crazy summer for us. To start the weather has really had me down and in a funk. I have tried really hard to bring myself out of it lately. The weather is finally warming up a bit so that helps, but we are still out numbering rainy days to sunny, warm ones. So in my efforts to try and keep those active boys of mine busy, I am cutting my internet time and TV time. I was finding that in my "funk" of a mood I was doing more internet searching and TV/ movie time with the kids awake than I should have. So all day today I have been telling myself (sometimes out loud!) that its not about me! Sounds silly I know but lately I need that out loud reminder to keep my focus on my kids and realize that they are only young once and the way that I teach them is through my actions.

Yesterday was another kind of cloudy wet morning so I decided to make play dough for the kids to play with. I am not a fun mom who lets her kids play with play dough a lot, even though we have hard wood floors its just stresses me out. So I dug around and found a play dough recipe that I thought I would try. I have tried many others in the past and none that I have been too fond of. They were either too watery, too sticky, or just didn't stick together very well. This is the easiest one I think I have found and I LOVE it!! So just in case you would like to try it here is the recipe:
2 Cups of flour
1 tablespoon of oil
1/2 cup of salt
3/4 cup of water

Mix that all together and store in an airtight container or ziploc bag. I did need to add a little bit more water to make it managable. But once I got it mixed together at the right consistency it was wonderful. I did add a little food coloring too, just to make it a little more fun. I would suggest adding it before you start mixing it together.

I hope your kids have fun with this new play dough recipe, I know mine did! I really like using edible stuff because of the 18 month olds habbit of putting everything in his mouth!! So it was nice to not have to worry about what he was ingesting because it was basically flour and water!

My new venture in life...

Over the past 6 weeks I have been taking a sewing class. I started to get interested when a friend of mine was talking about it. My mother tried to teach me when I was younger but like everything else she wanted to teach me I was not interested. So now that I am in my 30's I decided it was time to learn. Not knowing a thing about sewing or how to work a machine, I went into the class with a blank slate. BUT now that the class is almost over I am LOVING it!!! I am so excited to venture out into making different projects. The class was very basic, but using those basic skills I can do other things.

This class has allowed me to broader my internet searching. I recently learned that you can make your own "Ziploc" bags! So I have been in search of something called a PUL (polyurethane liner). That search took a few days and many, many websites. I eventually came upon this web site that started with a women who was making her own diapers and slings before her first child was born. She then started making them for some friends who told other friends about them and her business was born. How thrifty is that!?

That got me thinking, about what I could make and try to sell over the internet. I am not that good yet but I hope with a little more playing around with my sewing machine that I can learn and get good enough to sell my things. I am now wishing I had learned to sew when my first child was born, so I could have made cloth diapers to use. But now that our youngest is already 18 months and we don't plan on having anymore I am not sure its worth it to switch to cloth since he will be potty trained in about a year.

This past week my husband and I went shopping for a sewing machine. The friend of mine that got me thinking about taking the class suggested we look at Sears, I never would have thought to look there for a sewing machine. So we went there and at first all I saw were about 4 machines and they were all way more expensive than I wanted to spend. We were trying to find one under $200. My husband used to work there and so he saw a guy that he worked with and they were talking and he asked if we needed help, we said no (as we usually do!). The Sears worker then said that there were more machines on the other side of the shelf. So we walked over there and sure enough there were more! He also pointed out that there was a machine that was an open box item, but it was a really nice machine. We looked at it and realized that it was a $250 machine on sale for $225, but because it was an open box it was marked down to $99! I was so amazed!!! We were able to get a $250 machine for $99, God really knew that was where we needed to be He blessed us with the right purchase. I am so thankful, I love my machine! Originally I was looking at a Brother machine for $229 but I wasn't really sure I wanted to spend that much and so I had to think about it. The machine I bought was a Kenmore (which gets wonderful reviews), I realized that when buying a Brother or a Singer you are paying for the name not the type of performance the machine will give.

I am so excited about where this new venture will take me. I am excited about how much money this could save my family, especially living on a very tight budget. With my son starting preschool and taking his lunch a few days a week I am excited to make my own "Ziploc" bags and save money there. I am also excited about trying to make pj's for my boys. I made the 4 year old a quilt this past week. Its nothing special but its flannel and cozy and soft. I don't think its too bad for my first one.

Being thrifty doesn't mean you can't be cool too!

Rain, rain go away!!!!

Today was the third day in a row that we have had dreary rainy weather, and my boys are going crazy! We have been unable to get outside, so finding things to do inside that will entertain both of them has been a challenge. My task yesterday was searching the internet for ideas for craft projects and places that we could go in our area that have free or cheap things to do. I got some help from my August edition of Parents magazine. They had an article on boredom busters, I was able to find a lot of information from them. I found out that my area has a lot of parks that do story times and nature walks. I also found a few web sites that have craft ideas that will keep them busy.

One craft idea that I found was getting wooden letters and letting my 4 year old paint them and while he is painting them we can talk about what sounds they make and what words they make. I thought that was a wonderful idea and then we can use them to help teach my toddler his letters. We haven't done that activity yet but I am hoping to do it in the near future.
I also found some web sites that have printable worksheets or coloring pages for them to do. My 4 year old really loves to do mazes and dot to dots, so that is perfect, instead of spending $8.00 on a book at the store I can print the pages off at home and he has endless fun! Some of the web sites I looked at were: www.Familyfun.com; www.education.com; and www.kaboose.com; all of those had a tun of things that would keep my kids busy for a long time. I also really enjoy letting the 4 year old go to www.pbskidsgo.org, he loves those shows and likes to play the games. There was one web site that sends out a weekly newsletter with craft ideas and recipes you can sign up for free and they send it to you in your email, that one is: www.kidscraftweekly.com. I was totally amazed at how much information I was able to get in just a few hours of internet searching!

So today since it was raining and we were supposed to go swimming with some friends (the second time we tried!), I decided to try one of the craft ideas. Its called Oobleck! My kids loved it! And the best part was it was SUPER easy to clean up and not toxic so the toddler could eat it and I didn't have to worry. The recipie was so easy to make:

1 cup of water
a couple of drops of food coloring (what ever color you want)
2 cups of corn starch

You add the water and food coloring and then slowly add the corn starch. Stir with a spoon until it gets to hard and then use your hands to finish mixing it up. My 4 year old played with it for at least 20 minutes (he never stays with anything that long!) and the toddler played for at least ten minutes. This was the easiest thing to clean up, even if you get it on your clothes just take a damp rag and wipe if off. I got some on my shirt and thought I was going to have to change my clothes but it just wiped right off! A wet wash cloth and the table was clean, no kidding!!!!
I hope this has given you some ideas to stear off the boredom in wet summer weather. I know I now have at least a few ideas to keep in mind if we get bored.