Duct Tape

This picture is for someone very special who is having a duct tape kind of day. I know this will make her smile...

If anybody else understands what a Duct Tape Day is, feel free to share your experience.

More Cleaning Tips

After writing about my bathtub trick, I decided you might enjoy a few more cleaning tips.

1) Give your little person a pack of diaper wipes. Let her clean the walls, the cabinets, the chairs, and just about anything else she finds that she wants to clean.

2) Give your little one a small broom. They make many of these in child sizes. My girls think sweeping is a special treat. I have no idea why. Sure, they don't get the floor as clean as I would like, but sometimes just a little bit goes a long way.

3) Give your little one a lint roller. Grandma Janet has a big lint roller that is on an extended rod. Kira loves using that thing on the kitchen floor to pick up dog hair and dirt.

4) Swiffer dust wipes are great 'toys' for little ones, too.

5) A pan with soapy water and a couple of washcloths will turn into a floor washing frenzy. Add a dry towel at the end and your floors will be shiny.

Feel free to add your own little tips here, too.

Clean Bathtub

Everybody loves having a sparkling clean bathtub.

Nobody likes to scrub the bathtub to make it sparkling clean.

Well - almost nobody....

If you need to entertain your preschool children, you can set them to work scrubbing your bathtub. Seriously, they won't mind at all.

Fill the tub with about 3 to 4 inches of warm water.

Strip your little one and put her in the tub.

Add a bar of soap, a washcloth, and a toothbrush. A few extra bath toys are always a good idea, too.

Stand back and watch as your little one begins scrubbing your tub with her soap and toothbrush. She will think it's all fun and games. You will know that you're getting her started early on household chores.

Now, your tub won't be perfectly clean. However, it is likely to get cleaner than it would have any other way. (Not that any of you simply overlook cleaning the tub...)

Save Money With Coupons

Everybody loves to save money. In fact, most of us really NEED to save money. One really good way to save is to use coupons consistently. I'm getting ready to do a bit of shopping, so I'm prepping my coupon notebook today and thought I would share some of my important information.

First, organization is very important when you want to save money. If you aren't organized, you'll get irritated. When you get irritated, you'll decide it just isn't worth the hassle. To keep my coupons organized, I have a 3 ring binder with a zipper. Inside the binder is a series of categories that are separated by tabs. Each category is filled with photo insert sheets to hold my coupons. I also have my coupons separated into FOOD and NONFOOD categories. Play around with a few different ideas to see what works best for you.

Second, you have to get your coupons. The Sunday paper is usually a good place to start, but you can also get coupons online or at the grocery store. You can sign up with companies that will actually mail you coupons for their products. You can even buy coupons on Ebay or other services. (Keep in mind that when you purchase coupons in this manner, you are actually paying for the person's time to cut those coupons out. You are NOT paying for the actual coupons.)

Well - one of my favorite tips is to check the website of your favorite grocery store. I visit Kroger frequently. I have a Kroger Plus Card. Kroger has a program called P&G eSaver. You can go to the Kroger website, click through to the eSaver program and then register your Kroger Plus Card with the program. After registration, you "clip" coupons that are downloaded directly to your card. All the coupons are for P&G products, so they are pretty popular. That isn't all, though. The really neat thing about the eSaver program is that you can still use PAPER coupons in the store. You buy the product, use your paper coupon, and the system will automatically 'use' your electronic coupon when you scan your card. You get DOUBLE savings this way. I just love this because I can look at my list of coupons and match up my paper coupons with the list. I end up getting great stuff for free or nearly free because the eSaver program lets me double dip my coupons. It's wonderful. (Lot's of stores participate in the eSaver program. There's a list on the website that gives the participating stores. )

I'm not sure if other stores have programs like this. I know Publix has printed store coupons that can be stacked with manufacturer's coupons to increase your savings. Beyond that, I'm not sure what individual stores might do. However, it's easy to find out. Just check out the website or call the store directly.

Now if I could just convince the Dollar Tree to start taking coupons...

Flat Carter

I have a HUGE favor to ask. A friend of mine has a son named Carter. His class is reading a book called Flat Stanley about a boy who get flattened by a bulletin board and then gets mailed to California for a visit.

Well, Carter has made himself a Flat Carter. Flat Carter would like to visit lots of different places.

If you would like to host Flat Carter for a visit, please go to this link (or any other link in this post) and print out Flat Carter.

If you're going to participate, there is information on the website about how to send your Flat Carter story via email.

Toni --- I already told my friend that Flat Carter would be visiting your area.

Upcoming Event ...

I do believe one of the most exciting things has happened to me - and this blog - since the beginning of my entrance into the blogosphere. (Well, okay, that's stretching it a bit. Kira crossing her legs was definitely more exciting...)

In the near future, I will be receiving this really cool school pack from CSN Stores. They want a review from me.

ME!!!

How cool is that?

I even got to pick the item to be reviewed. I can't wait to check out this item and see what Miss Kira thinks of it. She's a bit over the top about horses. I'll be writing all about it here in the near future, so keep an eye out.

They have a luggage store and a mattress store that they asked me to check out.

Let me tell you, I spent about an hour roaming around their online stores yesterday. I had such a wonderful time just shopping around for all the different items that I would love to have. I found LOTS of items that I would just love to add to my chaos. I settled on the school pack for Kira, though.

What I really enjoyed about my experience shopping around their stores yesterday is just how darn easy it was. I hate going to sites where navigating between locations is more difficult than walking through a warehouse sized shopping center without a map. This was not an issue with the CSN Stores. I went from spot to spot to spot without any effort at all. The site is so user friendly. I love user friendly.

Anyways, be prepared to hear more about this from me in the near future. I'm pretty darn sure that Kira will be thrilled with the backpack. Anything with horses on it is an instant hit around here...

Taking It Easy

Just bear with me while I recover - SLOWLY - from this horrible experience called Strep.

It's taking me a while to get my strength back.