Blitz Blogging and Freezing Pancakes

Well I'm bummed about how little I've been blogging and how I have all these ideas of what to blog but I never actually do it. So my new plan (I call it "blitz blogging") is that as soon as I have an idea "I want to blog this," I sit down, write a fast little post that gets the basic point across without lots of bells and whistles, and hit "publish." With any luck, I'll post more often and get my ideas out there. Sadly, I might lack links and will definitely lack photos, but I'm hoping it will get me into a routine and I can work up to fancier posts soon.

What do you think?

----------

I thought I'd share something that's been working for me lately. On the weekend, I'll make a batch of pancakes for breakfast (gluten free of course--I use the recipe on Pamela's baking and pancake mix). Usually Hubby and I eat our own things and the kids eat a few pancakes each so I have many leftovers. Then I freeze the extra pancakes and serve them for breakfast to the kids throughout the week (20 to 30 seconds in the microwave).

I can tell you that originally I would "flash freeze" the pancakes on a cookie sheet and then transfer them to a freezer bag, but one time I was lazy and just threw them in the bag. I had no problem separating them to reheat one at a time, so now I skip the cookie sheet step. (Must be all the butter/grease, heehee.)

Then I start all over the next weekend.

The end, freezing pancakes works for me. {This is linked to Works for Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family.}

Washcloths instead of Paper Towels {Works for Me}

We've been pinching pennies lately {like pretty much everyone, right?} and here's how we've been saving money on paper towels. It basically started on Mother's Day when my husband asked what I wanted and I mentioned dish towels, because I'd been running through them faster, using them to dry wet surfaces instead of paper towels.

My husband, genius that he is, bought 2 packages of 12 washcloths. This turned out to be a great idea. Here's why:

-They're cheap! We got ours at Kohl's and each set of 12 was about $4--3 cloths for a dollar, (33 cents each) doesn't get much cheaper than that!

-They're absorbent. They work as well as a paper towel, if not better.

-They're white, so I can throw them in any load of laundry. I don't care if they get discolored in a red or dark load (which they don't, because I use Color Catchers), nor do I care if they get stained by food or 409.

Since I throw them in whatever wash I'm doing that day, we always have clean washcloths. They are stuffed in a kitchen drawer (I'm not much for folding). My husband uses 3 each night when he 409s the counters and table and I use them throughout the day to soak up messes or clean/dry a counter. I'd say we save a bunch of paper towels (and therefore money) this way.

Cheap and easy. {Oh and green, saving those trees!} That's how I like it!

This post will be linked to Works For Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family.

How do you save on paper products?

Image credit.

I Love Cheap Books

My new favorite thing is buying books at Goodwill.

Here's the backstory: my local Borders store went out of business due to the whole bankruptcy thing. That makes me sad for so many reasons. But my favorite thing to do at Borders was buy cheap books. Usually all I would do there was browse the bargain aisles and the dollar bins. After finishing one of my $1 Borders finds recently {see my review here}, I wondered where I could get my next cheap book fix.

Obviously, the library has FREE books. I like the library, really I do. I just got the latest Maeve Binchy novel, Minding Frankie, from the library. Loved it! But there's the whole due date thing. I can renew online even, but you can't renew a book that has a hold on it. And returning books is a pain. And I just love owning books. It's an obsession really.

So with vacation coming up (this was about a month ago), I thought I'd try Goodwill. I've shopped Goodwill before but never really spent any time in their book section. I couldn't believe I found a book I'd been thinking of getting from the library: My Sister's Keeper. It was $2.99, which I thought was a lot for a used paperback, but while I was browsing, a voice over the loudspeaker informed me that all green price stickers were half off that day. I looked at the book in my hands and it had a green sticker. Thus it was a mere $1.49 and I was sold. At the time I also saw 2 Maeve Binchy paperbacks ($1.49 each) but I passed them up--I was being super frugal that day.

Having finished My Sister's Keeper, I decided to head back to Goodwill and try for the Maeve Binchy's. Alas, they were gone. {Lesson learned, strike while the iron is hot!} But while I was browsing, I found and could not pass up 3 classics: The Hobbit, To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Count of Monte Cristo. {Bonus: The Count became a Father's Day gift for Hubby.} Each book was $1.49. LOVE.

So there you have it, my new obsession, buying books at Goodwill. I know that it is more expensive than garage sales* (but without driving all over town) and of course the library (but without due dates), but it Works For Me.

This post will be linked to Works For Me Wednesday and Things I Love Thursday. For obvious reasons.

Where do you go to find cheap books?

*I rarely shop garage sales for two reasons. 1) IBS. Shopping in people's yards and garages doesn't provide me with quick access to restrooms. 2) I rarely carry cash. Recently though, a house on my street had a sale. It was super close to my own bathroom and it was a rare occasion when I had cash. So I wandered over and took a look around. Paperbacks for 25 cents and hardcovers for a dollar. I bought 13 books! Which doesn't help my clutter problem. Maybe it's best I stick with Goodwill. ;-)

These are NOT affiliate links.

Giant Shamrock Cookie

I love St. Patrick's Day. I am 1/8 Irish, Hubby is 1/8 Irish, so our kids are 1/8 Irish. Which doesn't sound like a lot but it's my biggest portion since I'm otherwise a European mutt. Last year I kind of dropped the ball on St. Pat's Day and nearly didn't have a dessert--so here's what I came up with {super easy} at the last minute: a giant shamrock cookie.

I've made giant frosted sugar cookies before--love them--but this was my first time trying a shape (other than, you know, round). I've used both refrigerated Pillsbury dough and sugar cookie mix; this year I'll be using this recipe so it's wheat-free.

I covered a round pizza pan in foil and sprayed it with Pam. I divided the dough into 4 blobs, the first three I shaped into hearts for the leaves and the 4th blob made the stem. This is what it looked like going into the oven. {Bake according to dough directions, though it might take extra long to cook 'cuz it's huge--keep an eye on it.} Depending what dough you use, it will probably expand like mine did. Not quite what I was going for:

No worries, I just trimmed it up with a knife. I frosted it with a can of frosting tinted green with food coloring. Voila:

Super easy, super yummy St. Patrick's Day dessert.

This post will be linked to Tip Me Tuesday, This Week's Cravings {thanks so much for the invite, Tina}, Works for me Wednesday, and Things I Love Thursday. Yummmm!

Division of Labor--Morning Routine

photo credit

There's nothing like being out-of-routine to make you appreciate what a good routine you have going. That was the case yesterday when Hubby had to go to work early so I had to drop L off at preschool. Meanwhile, I've been wanting to do a little series on how Hubby and I divide up housework, childcare etc. We've been married for 12 years and parents for 5, so our routines and responsibilities have changed and evolved. If you've been here before, you know there's a lot that I don't have figured out. But a few things are working, so I thought I'd share. Today I bring you Division of Labor: the Morning Routine edition. Here's how our school mornings usually look:

-

If you're new here and wondering why my 5-year-old is drinking bottles, it's a long story. Suffice it to say, he has a medical condition called Eosinophilic Esophagitis and he gets about half his nutrition these days from elemental formula, which tastes so nasty that he still drinks it from baby bottles. We're working on it. Feel free to follow our journey with the EE tab in my sidebar. To get enough nutrition to power through the school day, he drinks two bottles before he leaves.

-

6:45am

The alarm goes off and Hubby gets up and wakes L. I stumble out of bed toward the bathroom. Hubby fixes 2 bottles for L and a sippy of milk for T (who is hopefully still asleep). Then he's "off duty."

7:00

I emerge and grab clothes for L and help him get dressed while he drinks his bottle, then I doze off in the chair till breakfast. Hubby makes himself breakfast (usually cereal) and eats by the computer.

7:30

I make breakfast for L (dry cereal, yogurt, bananas; occasionally oatmeal or pancakes from the freezer). At some point T wakes up and joins us; I eat too. It's usually during breakfast that I pack L's snack. And Hubby is in the shower getting ready for work.

8:00

Breakfast ends, L gets his 2nd bottle and I make his lunch. Once lunch is packed, I join the kids in the living room and get L's shoes on.

8:20-8:25

Hubby comes out ready to go. As he backs the car out, I help L get his sweatshirt and backpack on, hand him the other stuff he needs to carry and the boys are off to school and work.

-

Hmmm, to look at this written down, it seems like Hubby gets off easy. But actually he has the toughest parts of the job: (1) getting out of bed first and (2) doing the driving and drop-off. If I do drop-off, then in the midst of the above, I have to dress T and myself. Plus, drop-off is kind of a madhouse, so I'm glad to pass that chore to him.;-)

-

I am linking to Works For Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family, because this routine works for me (and the rest of my family, for the moment).

-

How do your kids get ready for school in the morning?

WFMW--What's not working--time management

As I mentioned yesterday, I stink at time management. I need some sort of manual or how-to guide to my life! I would like to play with my kids, have some time to myself, exercise, blog, clean, organize--how do I fit it all in, with my sanity intact? Please share with me your best time management tips, be it general or specific--I need all the help I can get! {Also, if you have a blog post that's relevant, or if you write an organizing-time-managing-type blog, by all means, let me know in the comments!}

((A few months back, I actually shared a time management tip. Can you believe it? It's something that sometimes works for me, when I actually think to do it: setting a time to get the big stuff done.))

So, help me out--what's your best time management tip(s)?!

For more tips (or requests for tips), check out We Are THAT Family.

What's Working for me right now (Top Ten)

So my parents lived with us for most of November. They've now moved into their own house (thank goodness!) but I lost what should've been a big month of holiday planning and progress. So I'm a bit behind. Meanwhile, my daughter is the definition of the Terrible Twos. And L has been out of whack since the grandparents arrived--super sensitive and prone to tantrums (come on, you're 5, get over it!). I'm working on a new mantra of "just love them." Obviously not in the only love them sense, because I still have to feed, clothe and discipline them, but basically love them. So when I can, instead of leaving the room when they throw a fit (and who can blame me?), I try to stay and comfort/distract the wailing child or whatever. Sometimes it works, sometimes the fit continues and I leave. It's a work in progress, I'll let you know how it goes. Meanwhile, here's what has been working for me lately in top-ten-catch-you-up-and-link-to-Amanda-Kristen-and-Jill fashion:

1. Scotch paper cutter. I've coveted these for years but always found them too expensive/overpriced to indulge in this luxury. This year, when I saw it on sale for $3, I bit the bullet. Oh my goodness, spend the money, it is worth it for the savings in time and frustration! {Then the next day Target dropped the price to $2.50 and there's was a $1 off coupon in the paper. Anyway.}

2. Kmart. I've been meaning to write a pro-Kmart post for a while now. They are saving me big bucks on T's clothes (regular everyday price of $3.50 per piece (including jeans!) and sales on 2-piece sets as low as $6, wahoo), but I generally want to give them a shout out for sending their ads in the mail, which helps me catch a bargain. This week, you must go there and buy super soft fluffy pajama sets for $10.99. I bought a set yesterday for my sister (who asked for soft pjs on her wish list) and went back today to get a set for myself and for my BFF whose birthday is at the end of the month. So soft and super cheap!!!

3. Gifts that give more. A bunch of blogs have been highlighting charitable giving this time of year, like Amanda's post about giving a goat etc. Sadly, those are mostly out of my price range (my budget is $15 per gift outside my hubby and kids). But here's what I've managed to do this year: I bought my aunt a pair of earrings ($11, I think) from the Mercy House shop, that funds a new maternity house in Kenya. I bought my mom stationery ($12.95) and my grandma a necklace ($6) through the Hunger Site store (my purchase funded 75 cups of food). And I found a website called Orphans Hope that let me buy a winter jacket ($10) for an orphan in Ukraine on behalf of my sister.

4. Roku. This is a box that somehow hooks up to our internet and lets us stream Netflix instantly to our TV. Every night, Hubby and I watch (part of) a movie or an episode of Intervention after the kids go to bed. Love it! I should also mention that Care Bears To The Rescue has come to my rescue more than once during the daytime (I will not mention, however, that my 2-year-old will grunt for the Roku and point to the show she wants to watch, ahem).

5. Walmart for photo cards. I got an email about a great deal from a website I'd never heard of to get 60 photo cards for $4.90 shipped. Awesome, I thought. Till I went to the website and I tried to make a card and I just couldn't get it figured out (theoretically, you could add as many pictures to a blank card as you wanted, but I could not size the various pictures (I wanted to use 3) so they would fit). So I gave up on the great offer and headed to walmart.com which I've used the last 2 years for cards. I picked a card that was made for 3 pictures, plopped in my photos and within minutes, I'd ordered our cards. 36 cents per card, not bad. {No shipping, I'll pick them up in-store.}

6. Elfing Around. My apologies, I should have done a big post about this last month, so you all could buy an elf in time. Alas. Anyway, it's a website that sells you not just an elf but an experience. I won an elf for L last year in a giveaway and he loved it so much that this year I bought T an elf of her own plus the Year 2 package. So they send you the elf, plus 12 nights of mischief that the elves get into--you stage the elves and in the morning your kids are blown away by all the fun stuff the elf did overnight. Kind of like Elf on the Shelf, but it's so wonderful because the activities, and sometimes even the props, are provided. Awesome! We love our elves. L even brought his elf to speech yesterday and explained to his teacher that "he's not really mine, he belongs to Santa at the North Pole." Precious!!! {Of course, it's kind of a pain to stage elves every night, but most nights it takes 5 minutes or less.}

7. Nesquik. Okay, this is kind of a long story so here are the main bullets--L drinks this nasty formula called Neocate. For 5 years he drank it from baby bottles, then around Halloween he finally switched to cups, but then his volume dropped--he can't/won't drink as much of this foul beverage from a cup--and he needs all the calories. So we started adding Nesquik powder to turn it into chocolate "milk" and his volume has gone back up. It's not a permanent solution (his GI and nutritionist are worried about cross-contamination from the processing plant), but for now, I'm thankful for Nesquik.

8. Sharing bargains. My BFF and I have various websites and blogs we read/subscribe to for bargains, coupons, deals and when we come upon a deal we think the other could benefit from, we call or email to spread the word. This has helped me find some great deals and I hope she would say the same.

9. Bribing for diaper changes. I'm reluctant to even mention this because you know in a couple days it won't work anymore, but for now the way I've started dealing with T's refusal to let me change her diapers, is to give her a pretzel stick. That (so far) is usually enough distraction to let me lay her down and change her pants. Hallelujah, fewer tantrums.

10. Priority mail flat rate boxes. This is how I do out-of-town Christmas gifts. If it fits, it ships. No guessing/wondering about prices plus easy checkout at the post office during this hectic time of year. Last December, I stood in a long postal line, then at my turn I start unloading my bag and tell the guy I have all flat rate--one large, 2 mediums and 2 envelopes (or whatever it was)--he was able to calculate what I owed as I was putting the stuff on the counter. He said it was the easiest transaction (for that many packages) he'd had all day. Heehee. Oh and this year the post office sent me a postcard asking if I wanted them to drop off some flat rate boxes. Yes please! I sent the postcard back in and the other day a pile of boxes showed up at my door. Even easier! (And free of course.)

Wow, this turned out to be a long post! I wasn't compensated for any of these opinions, they're just stuff I like. No affiliate links either. I'm linking to Oh Amanda's Top Ten Tuesday, We are THAT Family's Works for Me Wednesday, and Diaper Diaries' Thing I Love Thursday, for obvious reasons. ;-)

What's working for you these days?! And how do you get your kid to cooperate during diaper changes?!

WFMW--Share Your Wish Lists

Today's themed Works For Me Wednesday is Holiday Tips and Tricks. You know I don't link up to WFMW very often, because I rarely have my act together, I'm not one to be offering How To's. But today I actually have a holiday tip that's been working for years and years and years. Here's the thing, my sisters and parents and I still exchange gifts at Christmas. {In fact, this year, almost everyone is coming to Phoenix so we can open gifts together. Hooyah.} Anyway, we aren't super close and don't live near each other and so even if we know what the other is into, we don't know what they already have. So what should I get them for Christmas?! Starting around Thanksgiving, we email each other our wish lists. Some are long and specific (with links to show what and where to buy), some are short and general; sometimes I get them exactly what they ask for, other times I already have something in mind for someone so I veer off their list. In any case, it's super helpful this time of year. If you are always banging your head against a wall trying to figure out what so-and-so wants for Christmas, just ask for a list. That Works For Me!

Now, as an added bonus, I thought I'd share what's on MY list this year:

-anything Vera Bradley

-8x10 frames for hanging

-Willow Tree figures

-picnic blanket

-seasonal decor

-melamine mixing bowls

-Jane Austen action figure

-the latest Father Tim novel

-Glee soundtrack volume 4

For more tips and tricks (holiday or not), head to We Are THAT Family. And if you link up a tip today, you're entered into a great giveaway. Ho ho ho!

So, what's on your wish list this year?

Celebrating Birthdays as a Mom

In case you hadn't heard, yesterday was my birthday. It was a typical crazy Monday (my hardest day of the week), then we celebrated with a great dinner, pumpkin cheesecake, presents and a movie. I don't know about you, but I find it hard to "celebrate" my birthday now that I'm a mom because I'm so busy being a mom, which involves changing diapers, wiping noses, being at others' beck and call (not to mention driving to preschool, driving to speech, stopping at Whole Foods). Now if you can get away on your birthday, to a spa or a date night with your husband, that's great. Have a wonderful time! But if, like me, you celebrate amongst the chaos, here's my advice for how to enjoy your day.

-Low expectations. If you expect to be treated like Queen for a Day, you will be disappointed. If you expect that it will be a usual day of chaos with some birthday cake thrown in, you'll be able to appreciate the extra perks like your favorite dinner and a movie when the kids are in bed.

-Answer the phone or don't. I don't know about your traditions, but in my family, people call on your birthday. This can be fun, enjoy it! Or it can be annoying. Maybe you'd rather be watching hulu. Or maybe you just had a baby two weeks ago and all they want to do is hear about the wonderful baby (who is keeping you from getting any sleep). If it's the latter, feel free to let the machine get it.

-Feed your kids what they like. Lunch and dinner drive me crazy these days. Even if your kids don't have food issues, why not give them their favorite foods so meal times are ever so slightly more manageable. For my birthday dinner, I chose to get food from Carrabba's--my favorite restaurant and we had a gift card. My kids could have had their usual this and that, but instead I made a frozen pizza. This didn't work as well as I'd hoped, L still hopped up every 5 minutes to scrounge for food, driving Hubby and me kookoo, but I still think it was a good idea.

-Dad home early. With the kids' earlier bedtimes, I knew it would be hard to get takeout, eat, have cake, and open presents without keeping the kids up late. Hubby would have to leave work on time or early. Yesterday, he didn't get out as early as I would've liked, but we rushed through dinner and managed to get everything done and the kids down on time. Maybe I should have titled this Enforce Bedtime. ;-)

-Time management/Plan ahead. If you're a regular reader, you know I suck at time management in general. But I planned ahead for my birthday so I wouldn't need to shower before bed. I picked up the living room on Sunday night so the mess wouldn't drive me crazy. I left myself very few chores and got them done pretty early in the day. Then I was able to watch Project Runway on DVR while L was at preschool and watch Glee on hulu during nap time. Then, once the kids were in bed, I could crash in front of a movie--no shower, no chores.

-Think ahead to after the kids go to bed. The real "gift" of my birthday was once the kids were in bed, I got to pick the movie. The kids are in bed by 8:30 so that leaves enough time for a short movie before Hubby and I get ready for bed around 10:30. It took me a while to choose what to watch, I wanted something I was guaranteed to like, but I had trouble choosing among our old favorites (I've seen them too many times). Finally, I searched instant Netflix and found a Jane Eyre with Orson Welles and Joan Fontaine from 1944. We hadn't seen it before, but I love the story (Jane Eyre is one of my all-time favorite books). Sure enough, it was quite good, though I wore out before the end and we turned it off around 10:00 (we'll finish it tonight or tomorrow).

That's it, that's what I've learned through trial and error over the last few birthdays and it worked for me yesterday. Focus on what you can control (what's for dinner, what kind of cake, what to do after the kids go down) because there's so much you can't.

For more tips and tricks, visit We Are THAT Family.

Tell me, how do you celebrate birthdays now that you're a mom?

WFMW--time management tip

Ever since my second child was born (almost 2 years ago), I've really struggled with time management. I don't know how to juggle housework, playing with the kids, and much needed downtime for me.

I recently (maybe 6 weeks ago) saw a tip, probably on WFMW, where the mom wrote out her To Do List for the day and then scheduled when she'd do each item. At the time I thought "She's crazy!" Actually, I believe my thoughts were more along the lines of "that's nice for her, but I couldn't do that, I never know what my day will be like" etc. {Which is why, I'm sorry to say, I didn't bookmark the post, therefore I have no one to credit. If you know who you are, let me know in the comments!}

Edited to add: I found it! Alicia's Homemaking is where I originally saw this idea. Go read her post here. Thanks!!!

Fast forward to 2 weeks ago.... I don't know how it came about, I guess I had several things to get done the next day, so I scheduled those tasks for 9:00, 10:00 and 11:00 the next morning. Surprisingly, this is the best idea I've had in a long time. As it turns out, I do have pretty predictable mornings--my kids play in the living room while watching tv. All our activities are in the afternoons (other than L going to camp Tuesday and Friday mornings, which doesn't affect my 9, 10, 11 plan). Sometimes we run an errand--which can be scheduled at 9, 10 or 11.

So here's what I've been doing: I take 3 items I want to get done (not including laundry, it doesn't need a time slot since it's just 5 minutes here and there) and I give it a time slot of 9:00, 10:00 or 11:00. Now, in the couple weeks I've been doing this, I've never actually done all 3 tasks right on time. I am extremely lazy and tend to procrastinate, but generally the stuff is getting done! That is HUGE for me!

As an example, here's what today's To Do List looked like:
9:00 shower
10:00 make phone calls
11:00 fold clothes

Okay, so that list looks pretty pathetic. Other examples are: go to Target, get dinner in the crockpot, and blog.

This system spreads out the work (very important to a lazy girl like me)--since each task only takes 15 to 30 minutes, it builds in plenty of time between tasks to play with my kids or take an internet break. It's realistic because I'm not trying to fit 6 tasks into a single morning. It also gives structure to my day. And I don't have to do anything (other than get the kids up, dressed, medicated, and fed) before 9am. I am NOT a morning person.

As I said, it's not a perfect system and I'm still lazy and I still procrastinate. I've had "make phone calls" on my list for 3 days now! But it's still been a huge breakthrough for me. And the days that I closely follow my schedule, feel so good and I've found myself at 1pm feeling productive and with nothing to do but hang out with my kids. Awesome!

For the record, I get more than three things done in a day. As any mom knows, I'm also feeding my kids, cleaning up breakfast, changing diapers, making lunch, changing the laundry, calming a tantrum etc. This new trick should help me find time for the non-daily stuff like cleaning toilets--ooh fun!

The only downside of this system, is that on those days where I'm lazy and let time pass unproductively, I can see exactly where I went off the rails. I know all that could've been accomplished but wasn't. Not a great feeling, but hopefully that's motivation for sticking to my plan the next day.

That's what's working for me these days. Check out lots more ideas at We are THAT Family.

WFMW--Peter Piper Pizza Party

My son turned 5 last week. Five. Years. Old. Where does the time go?! {I'm a little verklempt, talk amongst yourselves, I'll give you a topic: grapenuts are neither grapes nor nuts, discuss.}



Anyway... for once, hubby was on board with the idea of a big party and several of L's classmates had had their parties at Peter Piper Pizza so we decided to go that route for L's first big birthday party ever. The party was last weekend and I have to say, having a birthday party at Peter Piper Pizza worked for me.



As a little background, I think it's tough having a birthday in the summer in Phoenix. I would have loved to have the party at the park. Kids climb on the play equipment, eat a picnic, have cake and a pinata, done. But here in June, it's just Too Darn HOT! Our house is too small for a big gathering (again, can't use the backyard cuz of the heat) so we had to look for other venues.



Peter Piper and Chuck E Cheese are similarly priced. At Chuck's, each guest is either $10 or $14, at Peter's, each guest is either $8 or $10--and the $10 package is similar at both places. (The $8 plan at Peter's I thought had too few tokens per guest, which you could remedy by getting a bulk package of tokens.) We chose Peter for the location (Chuck is farther away). Also, I had a great coupon that if we got the deluxe package ($10 per kid) we'd receive 50 extra tokens and FREE goody bags (normally $2 per bag).



Turns out, the deluxe package had extra perks I didn't even know about, like giving L a t-shirt for all the kids to sign, and all the kids got ice cream.



So, the party. The best thing by far was the waitress assigned to be our "party helper." Since I was basically clueless, she had to guide me through everything. She would ask me what I wanted and I often replied "what do you recommend?" or "how do other people do it?" We made a bunch of decisions at the beginning (kind of overwhelming), like how many and what kinds of pizzas. (You get one pizza per 4 kids and then we ordered more pizzas so the parents could eat too. She recommended a summer special of two pizzas plus tokens for $20. So on top of the 3 pizzas for 12 kids, we ordered 2 summer specials. Yes, this was way too much food.)

Guests arrived and I gave them their tokens and cups for drinks. {An idea I stole from a friend: bring a sharpie so people can write their names to keep track of drinks and token cups.} We planned the pizzas to come out a half hour into the party. In hindsight, I would have waited till all the guests had arrived before cooking the pizzas, so as not to pay for kids who don't show up. So all the kids played games and I stayed by the tables to greet guests. We ate the pizzas then the kids played more, then we did the cake--signing, blowing out candles, eating cake and ice cream. Then kids played and went home.

For the goody bags, I bought four items in our Scooby Doo theme--notepads, stickers, erasers and fruit snacks--and added them to the free Peter Piper bags. Actually, the prepared bags were very nice, they included a coloring page, sunglasses, mini slinky, a sling-shot-type-rocket-thing, and some candy, all in a decorated zip-top bag. I just slid in the Scooby stuff and I was all set.

For the cake, we ordered a half sheet Scooby Doo cake from Target bakery. At 10am the day of the party, my husband picked up the cake at Target and dropped it off at Peter Piper, where they refrigerated it till we needed it during the party.

I would definitely have a party there again, but I've learned some lessons. First, if you aren't sure how many kids are going to show up (which is likely the case because no one RSVPs anymore), postpone cooking the pizzas till everyone has shown up. I didn't want to slow down the party by delaying lunch, but who cares? Everyone is playing games anyway. {An hour into the party, a family (with 3 kids!) still hadn't shown up. I told our helper but her answer was basically that we had paid for them because they'd already made the pizzas. Bad! Luckily, the family arrived 15 minutes later (straight from the ER, poor things) so it worked out for us, but learn my lesson.} Also, at least where 5-year-olds are concerned, they will not eat all their assigned pizzas, so do not order too many extra pizzas. We ended up with 3 entire pizzas left over!!! A pizza takes 15 minutes to cook, so it's okay if you underestimate and have to order more later.

Also, we had all this leftover pizza and no place to put it. They did not offer to refrigerate it for us (maybe we should have asked) so my husband drove it home in the middle of the party (which worked for us because we live 5 minutes away). Because we ate relatively early in the party, we were worried about all those pizzas spoiling. So again, if I were to do it again, we'd eat later in the party and not have to drive the leftovers home before the party ended. {We had already driven the pizzas home by the time the late family arrived, so they missed out on pizza. Boo!}

Okay, that's all I can think of for now. Oh, final cost of the party (keeping in mind we bought way too many extra pizzas), for 12 children and about 12 adults: $192.00 before tip. So not cheap, but it was a large party and we had to do very little work (and no cleanup--woohoo!). That works for me! For more tips and tricks, visit We Are THAT Family. Thanks!

Top 10 Tuesday-- Activities with L

This is (I believe) my first time joining Oh Amanda for Top Ten Tuesday--go over there and check out more Top 10s! I have a big ambition for this summer: to play with my kids. I'm such a slacker mom, there are days where I realize it's almost lunchtime and between housework and internet "breaks" (mostly the latter), I've barely been in the same room with my kids. Bad mommy! So with our schedule a little less frenzied this summer, I have set myself a few goals. The two biggest are (1) every morning that L is not at camp and we don't run an errand, we will spend some time at the kitchen table doing an activity and (2) I will consciously play with T for half an hour a day (most likely split into 2 15-minute sessions). These will also be good times to reinforce what we're doing in speech therapy.

Just to give a little bit of background, my kids spend most of their time in our living room which is a giant play room of toys strewn from one end to the other (that I rarely bother to clean) but things with lots of pieces or things T will destroy are kept out of there (as well as art supplies) and we play with those at the kitchen table. When I think of it. Which hasn't been often enough.

So, thanks to some ideas from the recent Works For Me Wednesday--Mom, I'm Bored edition, I give you the Top 10 activities I can do with L during kitchen-activity-time. (T will be able to join in on some of these activities, for others I'll set her up with something age-appropriate--I'm still working on those ideas.)

1. Puzzles.

2. Playdoh. This is a good one for T to join in on, as long as I'm there to keep her from eating it.

3. Building sets. Lego, Trio, K'nex.

4. Basic art. Coloring, stickers, stamps.

5. Painting. L loves to paint. When I haven't had anything fun to paint on, I've given him a manila folder. I was thinking of maybe making "pet rocks" with paints and googly eyes.

6. Holiday crafts. (I got this idea from WFMW, thank you, Neverbored.) We have two different ornament crafts we didn't get to last Christmas. Also, I have a St. Patrick's Day banner I didn't get around to in March. Perhaps we'll work on a craft that could become Christmas gifts this winter.

7. Pipe cleaners. I got this idea from WFMW (thank you, Lisa) and bought the pipe cleaners at Dollar Tree. I still need ideas for some crafts to do with them.

8. Baking. As easy as making a cake from a box mix or as complicated as cookie cutter cookies. L loves to help bake!

9. Workbooks, puzzle books, activity books, sticker books. We have a nice stash of these and L loves them.

10. Play sets. We're giving L this awesome Mystery Mansion for his birthday next week and we'll play that at the kitchen table (because if we keep it in the living room, T will destroy it in no time flat). I'm so excited to play Scooby Doo with him!!! He has other toy sets that we keep out of the living room that are good for kitchen play too.

Edited to add: Games, how could I forget games?! Kitchen time is great for getting out the board games like Candyland and Cootie.

Also, I'm linking this to Works For Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family, because I think these ideas will work for me and maybe they will work for you too! Check out lots more ideas here.

Alright people, what am I missing? Please help me out with more activity ideas and with ideas to keep T happy at the table with us. Thanks!!!

WFMW--"Mommy, I'm Bored" Edition

I'm looking forward to getting lots of ideas from this "I'm Bored" edition. I've already found great lists here and here --thank you, ladies! I only have a few ideas to contribute.

1. Sponge game. First, for outdoor water fun, we were introduced this game at a recent birthday party and we've adapted it at home. You put water in a bucket on one side of your yard/driveway/porch/park/whatever and you put an empty bucket/bowl on the other side of your yard/whatever. Using a big sponge (like for washing cars), you transport water from the first bucket over to the second bucket/bowl and squeeze the water out of the sponge to fill up the bowl. At parties, this is a competitive event--two teams race to fill up their bowl fastest. In our yard, L is the only one who plays and he's content to just get wet while going back and forth between buckets. (And T likes to mess things up by tipping over the buckets, but that's okay because L loves refilling the bucket with the hose.)

I spent less than $2 setting this game up in our backyard. We use a sand bucket we already owned as bucket #1. And we use the pink basin we got at the hospital when T was born as bucket #2. I did go out and buy an automotive sponge though, because the kitchen sponge we tried first just didn't cut it.

Easy, fun, cheap, wet for hot summer days.

2. Indoor hopscotch. Obviously, Phoenix summers are HOT so we'll be inside a lot and I'll need some boredom-busting ideas. We got this idea from commercials on Nick Jr. See their version here. Rather than printing their stuff and ironing on tranfers etc., I'm thinking of buying a cheap dropcloth (I saw one at Kmart for about $4, can I get it cheaper elsewhere?) and maybe just painting on the squares. Whatever we do, it will be cheap and easy and we'll be able to play hopscotch in our living room. (It would be even cheaper if you had an old sheet to use, the possibilities are endless!)

3. Deer Valley Airport. Hubby took L to this regional airport this weekend. Apparently, there's a restaurant with a great view of the runways. Hubby and L shared an ice cream sundae while watching planes take off, and L had a great time. We'll definitely do this throughout the summer, as a family or just daddy and L. Do you have a small local airport you can visit? I think this is a great, cheap idea.

For lots more boredom-busting ideas, check out We Are THAT Family. Thanks for stopping by!