It's a Pillow, It's a Pet...

Today the kids and I sat our butts in front of the computer and watched a bunch of commercials from Rite Aid's Video Values.

My kids thought I was being a nice mommy and letting them watch cool videos but little did they know I was letting them sit with me because I wanted them to stop beating on each other and giving me a headache. I got to earn my Video Values coupons and I got some peace and quiet- though I did have to watch the pillow pets infomercial of which I have already seen on Spout a billion times and I still have the stupid "it's a pillow, it's a pet" song stuck in my head (I did earn a $2 coupon of which I won't use because my kids already have the godforsaken creatures) .

Damn pillow pets and their catchy jingle.

Beautiful and Fugly Mashed Up into One

This is my son's "homework" from nursery school. He had to make a collage of his family's hand prints.

I think it is beautiful. If someone else's child made it I would think it was kind of ugly.

As a mom I look at this and see time that my son and I spent together and how much effort he put into gluing on the feathers and glitter. I see how proud he was when it was finished and the smile he had when I told him he did a great job and that he was a little artist.

Now I know that when I made art projects when I was a kid that were just awful, my mom was totally lying when she said she loved them. She thought they were ugly but she loved the effort I put into them and the memories they would bring to her when she looked at them years later.

But yeah, kid art can be kind of fugly.

Worm Composting Wednesday- What Worms?

I have been feeling worn out lately and instead of tending to my worms today I sat with my son and watched the Lion King. We had some popcorn too- it was nice cuddling together while watching a movie.

Maybe I'll feed the worms tomorrow- I have some apples, pears and steamed sweet potatoes for them. The great thing about worms is that they are not too picky but the really great thing is that I could forget about them for weeks and they would be fine. Those are my kind of pets.

Slowing Down...

I have done absolutely nothing today.

Well, not exactly nothing- I have been spending time with my kids. We played together all morning and it was so nice. I didn't worry about mopping the floor or doing the laundry, I just focused on hanging out and having fun.

I don't remember the last time I did this which is awful. I am going to start slowing down a bit and enjoying my time with my children because they are growing so fast and I want to look back and know that I enjoyed every moment I could with them.

Mommy Son Time

Today, while my daughter was taking her afternoon nap, my son and I made this Halloween banner to hang on our fireplace.

I cut out all of the shapes and my son colored them. He was gracious to let me color a few. Then I used some jute string that I got from Christmas Tree Shops in the gardening section and strung the shapes up.

My son was so proud to show my husband our creation! I really enjoy doing little crafts with him- they don't look picture perfect but that doesn't matter because in my eyes they always turn out beautiful.

Now on to something that is not beautiful...

This is what happens when you make a Candy Corn Wreath and the weather is unseasonably warm.

The candy corns are slowly melting and some are dropping off of the wreath. The weather is cooling down a little so once the candy has stabilized and the threat of a heat wave is over, I will repair my candy creation.

How I Saved Us 75% On Some Family Fun

My husband took some vacation time this week so we could spend some time together before summer was over. On Wednesday we went to the beach at Watch Hill, RI and had as much fun as we could with a 14 month old who hates sand (within the first five minutes she did a face plant into the sand and from there it was all down hill) and a three year old who hates sand stuck to his feet (ummm, what part of going to the beach did he not understand?). We parked on the street (free parking equals very long walk to the beach equals complaining three year old) and beach admission was free so the day cost us nothing except a bit (a lot) of sanity.

(random picture of one of the rooms at the Boston Children's Museum)

Today we went to the Boston Children's Museum. It was so much fun for my three year old son- there was so much for him to do and he was smiling the whole time. My 14 month old daughter had fun but she ended up getting a little overwhelmed and cranky after awhile.

Today's outing to the museum could have cost us $48 which is $12 per person (kids under one are free but I refuse to lie about my child's age to get a discounted price- what kind of lesson does that teach?). That is a lot of money. Our trip would have not been worth $48.

Our trip was worth $12 though!

Our local library offers free passes to various educational places throughout the state to library card holders. We got a free pass that admitted four for only $3 per person- we paid $12 for our admission! If planning this trip were up to my husband we would have paid full price (yikes!). I love my husband, and though he is learning more everyday about being cheap he is still not up to my level of cheapness. I just wonder how many others don't take advantage of this great service that their local library offers?

So why don't you take a look at your local library's website and see what kind of passes they offer? Educational fun for kids is great- getting it cheap is awesome!

Franklin Farmer's Market

Bargain Becky ispired me to do something I have been wanting to do for awhile- visit a farmer's market.

Today I took the kids to the Franklin Farmer's Market in Franklin, Ma (to find one near you in Massachusetts go here).

I was a little scared because I thought the prices would be outrageous and that there wouldn't be a good selection of produce. I was wrong- the prices were pretty good and there was a decent selection of goods, especially considering there were less than ten booths.

I don't remember all of the exact prices, but I paid $20 for all of this (there was one more brownie but my son and I ate it- yum!). The honey was $6.00 and was locally made by Akin-Bak Farm in Franklin- they had all of their prize winning ribbons displayed. That huge zucchini was $1.50- what a deal! I will use it to make zucchini muffins and maybe I'll find a recipe (or make my own) for zucchini pancakes. That mini watermelon was .60/lb which is better than the supermarket prices. God only knows what I will do with the eggplant my son picked out- but I guess when in does cover it with bread crumbs and fry it!

I had a lot of fun and most importantly so did my kids. They got to run around the town common and thought it was great. My 3 year old son helped pick out the produce and right now is sitting down and having sliced apples and honey- this is amazing because he has been boycotting fruits and vegetables for awhile.

Even better, this was so much more relaxing than going to the grocery store. I always leave the store feeling frazzled when I take to kids with me but when we left the farmers market I was calm- no yelling mommy here.

The produce looks so much better than the stuff at the grocery store. I have really had it with the awful quality of produce at Shaws and Stop and Shop and am really considering buying mostly from farmer's markets and Whole Foods.

All in all I am happy with what we got and with the experience and will definitely be visiting more farmer's markets in the future. Thanks for getting me off my my lazy butt Bargain Becky!

Mommy and Son Cupcake Time!

Yesterday on Nick Jr. they had a segment where they made Dora the Explorer cupcakes and my son was begging me to make some. I don't really like Dora so I just made generic girl ones.

I choose not to buy prepackaged cake mix and frosting so I made both from scratch (believe me though- while I was making the frosting I was cursing myself for not having a can of frosting on hand). My son helped here and there but he is three years old and has the attention span of a three year old. His favorite part was putting the chocolate chips on for the eyes- well he only put a few on because then he got distracted by something and disappeared.

They came out cute and taste great, though definitely not my best work (spiderman cake, doll cake). What really matters is that my son had fun doing it and for the moment thinks that I am a pretty cool mom.

Just Call Me Un-Cheap

Tomorrow night my husband and I are going to the Tom Petty concert at the Comcast Center in Mansfield.

I bought the tickets the morning they went on sale and ended up paying about $250 after fees (face value for each ticket was $99). Yikes! (I do not do lawn seats- when I was 18 I thought they were great but now that I'm a little older, no thank you).

I had extreme buyer's remorse last month and was trying to sell them. I felt bad about spending that kind of money on my own enjoyment when there were so many other things that the money could have gone toward.

Well, the tickets didn't sell so we are going. I was upset but now I am starting to get a little exciting.

I really love Tom Petty and have gone to three of his concerts, two of which were with my husband. We have a lot of fun when we go (perhaps because we partake in a few to many overpriced beers). The last time we have actually gone out at night together without kids was last September for out anniversary so this will be a long awaited "date night".

With all of that said I am officially going to stop the guilt trip on myself and I am going to enjoy my section 7 seats and and drink lots of overpriced beer in plastic bottles.

Debt or no debt, sometimes you just have to live in the moment and enjoy life. Once the concert is over I can return to my miserly self. Until then, bring on the beer!