Frugal Hacks: 6 Months Until Christmas

Don't you hate me already? Six months until Christmas, everyone! It is time to start thinking about ways you can save for the holiday season. On Frugal Hacks, I am sharing some things that we have started doing to get ready for the holiday season so we can stay under budget!

Two years ago, I actually started a Christmas journal and now I have created a Christmas file folder of the things that I want to do for the next year's holiday. In our little Christmas Memory Journal, I have included the recipes for what dishes our family loved the most, what the children asked for from Santa, what we spent the holidays doing, and tucked inside are the sweet letters and pictures to Santa. Someday I hope to give each of the kids a journal so that they can share those recipes and memories with their own families someday!

My inspiration comes from so many place so I am bookmarking all of the crafts and projects I want to try. My notebook entries are my virtual bookmarks to holiday ideas and have helped me each year with some much needed holiday inspiration.

Here is a round-up of Christmas fun to help inspire you in this July heat!

Christmas Getting & Giving Recap
Christmas With the Clarks (or the Endless Flu Epidemic)
Eve of Christmas Morning Recap
Christmas Morning with the Clarks
Working on My Christmas Countdown
Be A Wrap Superstar: Use What You Have
Be A Wrap Superstar: Wallpaper That Gift, Yo
Be a Wrap Superstar: Tailor Your Gift
The Gift Closet: Wrapping Gifts
Sugar & Spice Nuts
Creating Family Traditions
What to Get the Person Who Has Everything
Making Real Christmas Memories
Holiday Bling Without a Bling Budget
Creating Holiday Traditions
Christmas Drink Mixes
Save More On Your Christmas Shopping
Say Bah, Humbug to Holiday Debt
The Christmas Jar
Bubbly Magnets (for Gifts)
Oreo Biscotti (for Gifts)
Elegant Photo Albums
Painted Children's Mugs (for Gifts)

How do you organize and keep track of your projects and ideas for the holiday season?

Earth Day Reflections

We had a great day together, celebrating Earth Day yesterday. To celebrate we spent the entire day outside and I made sure we had lots of stuff to do while we were out there. I gathered all of our supplies together and grabbed two water bottles for the kids to keep them hydrated while we were outside. Apparently, Ethan had been discussing Earth Day with his teachers because he looked at me and said, "That bottle is not a 7, right? 7's are BAD and I can't drink from them." For a moment, I felt a little bit of panic as I looked on the bottom to reveal our numbers. It appeared we had an acceptable number, but nothing like a kid to keep you on your toes.

We took our chalk outside and Ethan drew this beautiful picture of the earth. Emily helped by scribbling her own little pictures with him.

I picked up this little journal from the dollar store and told Ethan that he could fill the pages with whatever things he saw in nature. He put together some really beautiful pictures of all the things he saw. Then I wrote the alphabet for him and he filled in the book with pictures of things that started with those letters. This kept him busy for about an hour and he loved showing his book to his daddy.

While Ethan documented in his journal, I took some pictures of some of the beautiful things in our yard.

Then I plopped myself in a chair and started my new book from one of my favorite bloggers, Soule Mama. If you are looking for ways to be more creative with your kids, I would highly recommend this book.

We had a wonderful day and didn't turn the television on once! The evening was spent building forts, drawing pictures, playing in the bath, and special stories. It was a quiet and lovely Earth Day!

Celebrating Earth Day

Happy Earth Day, everyone! I hope that you all will be celebrating this special day. We are looking forward to celebrating Earth Day as a family, not just today, but every day. My son is still talking about Earth Hour and just asked me yesterday when we could do this again. He has even been learning about how special our planet is at school and I was so excited to hear him talking about the ways he could make the world better. These are proud moments for a parent as we talk about this often with Ethan.

I never thought I was one of those kinds of parents, but here I am dumping all disposable items, cloth diapered my baby, making my own cleaners, line drying my clothes, carrying my reusable bags, gardening, and am wearing 80-90% of my clothing from the thrift store. Many of the choices I have made came from a financial standpoint, but have evolved into more of a commitment to going green than I ever imagined. Step aside, hippy moms, there is a new eco-chick in town!

Stumped for ideas? Here are a few to help you celebrate this day in a big way-

80+ Green Sites & Resources (@ Mashable)

Earth Day Crafts to Do With Your Children (@ Kaboose)

How to Celebrate Earth Day (@ WikiHow)

Earth Day Ideas for Kids & Classrooms (@ Amazing Moms)

Making Earth Day a Family Day (@ Crunchy Domestic Goddess)

Earth Day Every Day (@ Parents.com)

Celebrate Earth Day (@ EcoKids)

Let's Make This Earth Day a Real Earth Day (@ The Good Human)


Sound Off: How do you plan to celebrate Earth Day with your kids?

Spring Break Day Two

Today we worked on the yard together as a family. I mowed the lawn to help mulch up the leaves, we worked on our flower beds a little, trimmed the hedges, and also laid down some grass seed. It doesn't sound like much fun, but that was what needed to be done today!

While I mowed, the kids were watching me from the window. They kept knocking on the glass to get me to wave and making funny faces.

After it was safe for them to come out, they helped rake and gather leaves with me. They also spent some time playing in the water table, blowing bubbles, and kicking a beach ball.

We headed inside for a yummy dinner- Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad, Cheese & Crackers, and some freshly chopped carrots. I timed a Netflix free trial subscription to our Spring Break so we watched, "The Bee Movie" while we enjoyed the yummy food.

This would have been another day of no spending, but Ethan cashed in his tickets to rent a game. Does anyone else think that $9 is a bit too steep for a Wii game rental? What in the world? My husband took him and let him pick what he wanted. Next time, we agreed that we will get a Playstation game or even buy a used game for that price (at Blockbuster). What a rip off!

Happy Easter, Take Two

Heartwarming, isn't it? The two children holding hands and whispering to each other. Until you realize that they are whispering, "Let's fight the evil forces that try to tell us that eating candy is bad for us. Let's stand together as one army and tell them NO! Our candy consumption will not stop. We will make them crazy. We will cry and scream until midnight each night and then blame them for being tired in the morning. They will not bring us down. They can't force us to not be gluttons. We will hold our tummies in pain and point to them for making our lives miserable."

This is why there are never any pictures of me, "Please honey! Quick take a picture of me with the kids." This is when my children riot against me and cry and throw themselves. Does it really pain them so to be in a picture with me? Am I really that bad of a mom that you can't PRETEND to be happy for one moment with me? Why do I never get to be in any photos? Why do you guys taunt me like this?

No pictures of them together as it was mass chaos as soon as we arrived to our grandparent's house. I will relish these pictures as the Easter clothes were ruined swiftly. Emily proceeded to eat jelly beans and drip purple drool down the front of her dress and face. Ethan decided to take fluorescent markers to the sleeve of his sweater. Don't you know it is my dream to have more clothes to add to the laundry piles? At least we have these sweet moments on camera.

A sweet moment before the purple jelly beans are found. Grandpa stuffed them silly with sugar and waved us off in our car as we took the little sugar fiends home. Isn't that what grandparents do best? I can't wait to be a grandma one day and do the same thing!


We enjoyed a delicious meal fixed by grandma for our gang. These beautiful flowers were her centerpiece- a touch of spring for us as we look out the windows at the snow. Spring can't come soon enough for me!

Happy Easter, Take Two!

Happy Easter at the Clark House

Easter happens a day early in our house, just like Christmas. This gives the kids a chance to really enjoy their baskets, egg hunting, and egg decorating without rushing anywhere.

Our morning (and sugar rush) started bright and early this morning with some good old-fashioned egg hunting. Since it is snowing here, an indoor hunt seemed fitting. We hid all of the eggs last night and filled them with yummy jelly beans. Emily wasted no time getting into hers.

Yummy jelly beans and messy hands and faces ensued. Why do the black ones have to be her favorite color? And why does she hand me half-eaten ones so she can bite into a new one?



Wait! Where did all that candy go?



The baskets were filled to the brim this year with great finds from the Dollar Store. They each had three coloring books, a set of crayons, fruit snacks, graham cracker snacks, paddle balls, bubble bath, and fun scrubbers with animals on them. The paddle balls were the biggest hit (literally!) and we questioned why the Easter Bunny would bring something that could get so tangled.



Time to break out the good dishes- the grandparents are on their way! I made a batch of my cinnamon rolls and some coffee and tea for our morning.



The empty eggs from the egg hunt become the centerpiece for the event. I found these cute speckled eggs at the Dollar Store.


After our breakfast, we start working on decorating our eggs. Emily was in utter awe and thought this part was super cool. Dad is the best at helping with the eggs. He even showed them how to do two colors instead of one.

We end our visit with a game of boxing on the Wii. Ethan challenges his grandpa to a fast game and wins victorious in the end. What can we say? We're Clarks and we like to win! We are glad that our grandparents are such great sports!

Happy Easter from the Clark house to yours!

New Article: Budget-Minded Easter Celebrations

Hi Amy -

You are doing a great job with the blog! I really enjoy it!

Here's an idea for the (near) future - how about something on Easter clothing for kids? I'm debating whether to keep up with the tradition of my upbringing of buying a new Easter dress for my daughter each year (she is 3) and a new dress shirt for my son (he is 6). It is a fun tradition - they could care less, but I enjoy it. However, it is tricky with Easter being early this year to dress them warmly and yet use the clothing the remainder of the Spring and summer.

Just some random thoughts on that if you are ever searching for a topic - what do you do? Will you be sharing some Easter ideas in the coming weeks?

Thanks- B.

Here, by request, is a new article on enjoying a fun & frugal Easter with your family. I tried to compile all of the ideas that we have used and researched some new ways that we could save our family in the future years.

I hope you enjoy the article and I thank you for all of your fabulous suggestions for what to write about. It really helps me so please continue sharing your ideas and emailing them to me at amy@momadvice.com.

Sound Off: As we all know, Easter is not about spending money at all, but there are many special traditions that families engage in for the holiday. What are some of your special traditions or ways that you have found to celebrate the holiday inexpensively? Do you buy a special Easter outfit for your children each year? Please share!

Table for Two

Last night we celebrated Valentine's Day alone. Both the kids were tired from all of that partying yesterday (and the crying) so we put them to bed a little early. I worked on dinner and getting our table set for our meal while Ryan got the kids all ready for bed. A table set for two with white plates, white napkins and one white candle. To bring in the red was a red tablecloth for the holiday.

The meal was a simple one- Linguine with White Clam Sauce, Italian Bread (with olive oil for dipping), and bakery cupcakes for dessert. Just in case you thought I was not romantic enough (or cheesy enough) a playlist of 55 love songs was cued and ready to go for when our dinner was served. Who could enjoy a meal like this without a little Marvin Gaye, U2, Maroon 5, Jack Johnson, John Mayer, Nat King Cole, Norah Jones, or Frank Sinatra? Did I mention we have eclectic taste in music?

Once our delicious meal was all finished, we finished off the evening with a game of Scrabble. Isn't Scrabble just the best way to say, "I love you...." I mean, you could even spell it out for your spouse, if you were that cheesy. Which I thought about, then I realized that was a little too much. But if you wanted to be that cheesy, it is totally cool too.

Oh, and in case you were worried, I did save the bottle of wine until my husband got home. It was tough, but I figured he would notice. One bottle of Barefoot Chardonnay to round the meal out. Yummy!

Money Spent: Approximately $10- what a deal!

Sound Off: What did you do for Valentine's Day? Feel free to share a link to your blog if you shared on there!

Be Mine, Sweet Valentine!

Yesterday we made our Valentines for my son's class. I was originally going to do a more organized and cute craft, but ended up just letting Ethan draw and make his own special pictures for each friend.

No Valentine is complete without a heart sucker! Each Valentine lovingly made for his classmates- sixteen in total!



Don't get jealous, but this is my little Valentine! She looked so sweet in her pretty red dress. We had to go to her brother's Valentine's Day party for school so we needed to look our best! Off to school we go for a special party!

We distributed our little cards to all of our friends and teachers. We were so excited to share what we had made. Paper construction hearts filled to the brim with treats and sweet notes from our friends. What is not to love about this holiday?

A plate full of treats for all of the kids. A thoughtful mommy brought extra so the siblings could have their own plate.


Emily was so happy to have her own little plate of goodies and didn't waste any time diving in. The Little Debbie heart-shaped brownies were a huge hit with all the children.

Not Pictured: The crying and wailing of both the children as we left the party. Ethan had a sudden and severe bellyache from all of his treats and Emily was upset because she had to leave all of the fun toys behind. Mommy questioned whether it was too early to pop open the wine or if Daddy would notice half of the bottle gone when he got home for their private Valentine's Day celebration. Let's just it was not all heart-shaped brownies and suckers...but isn't that what motherhood is all about?

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

WSBT-TV: Tips for a Fun & Frugal Valentine's Day

Featured today on WSBT was a segment that I did on celebrating Valentine's Day on a budget. This goes along with our Valentine's Day article full of tips for saving cash.

I mentioned that Restaurant.com is a great place to get gift certificates for your evening out. We do have an affiliation with the company, but I recommend it because it really can save families money. I checked their current promotions and they are offering gift certificates for 60% off with an additional 25% discount from deLaFlowers. This offer is good through February 6th using coupon code SUPER when checking out. Use this provided link to access this deal! If you want to understand more about how this program works, you can read my personal review of this program.

Just to be sure you don't miss it, listen for a tiny voice in the background on the segment. Emily was particularly wild that day, but Cari said it would just help people believe me more that I really am a mom and really do have children. Emily won't hold still for any camera shots, but she was having a great time in the playroom while we shot our segments.

Ask Frugal Momma: Brunch Birthday Ideas?

Dear Frugal Momma,

I need your birthday party help. I read your post about Emily's last birthday and loved the at home ideas you listed. We usually have our parties at home just like that, and they are perfect. This year though we are having my son's first birthday at the local park's carousel. We have to bring all the food etc. The kicker: the party is at 9am b/c that is the only time we could reserve it. What types of easy, portable, breakfast foods would you recommend?? Of course, on top of the sugary, yummy non-breakfast birthday cake we will be eating!! :)

Thanks!
L.

First of all, can I just say that I am green with jealousy at anyone who is able to plan a birthday party outdoors right now? This just makes me want to move to the South right now and leave this cold Indiana weather behind....but, I digress!

I think birthday parties at brunch hours are ideal for entertaining because brunch food is so inexpensive and children are so much happier during the earlier part of the day. You beat all of the grumpiness that happens closer to the nap hour and you also get the rest of the day to kick your feet up and just relax after all of that planning. If I had my choice, I would always do birthday brunches because of those very reasons.

The best part about breakfast foods is that most of them are perfect for eating at room temperature and can easily be made into portable servings. Here are some of my suggestions for the perfect birthday brunch.

Mini Frittatas

Nonstick vegetable oil cooking spray
8 large eggs
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 ounces thinly sliced ham, chopped
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Spray 2 mini muffin tins (each with 24 cups) with nonstick spray. Whisk the eggs, milk, pepper, and salt in a large bowl to blend well. Stir in the ham, cheese, and parsley. Fill prepared muffin cups almost to the top with the egg mixture. Bake until the egg mixture puffs and is just set in the center, about 8 to 10 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, loosen the frittatas from the muffin cups and slide the frittatas onto a platter.

Fruit Dip

1 (8 ounce package) reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
1 jar Marshmallow Creme

Using an electric mixer, whip the two ingredients together. Store in the refrigerator until it is time to go.

(Amy's Note: Cut up fresh fruit to go along with the dip and put the cubed fruit on skewers for fruit kabobs. Place all of the skewers in a covered container to take with you to the picnic.)

Spinach & Tomato Orzo Pasta Salad

1 pound spinach, washed, dried, stems removed
1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
2 lemons, zested
1 1/2 cups orzo, cooked to al dente
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the bowl
24 basil leaves, torn or thinly sliced
Salt and pepper

Pile spinach leaves in stacks 1 on top of the other. Thinly slice stacks of leaves to make spinach confetti. Pile shredded spinach into the bottom of a medium sized mixing bowl. Halve grape or cherry tomatoes with a paring knife and add them to the mixing bowl. Add the zest of 2 lemons to the bowl and save the lemons in the refrigerator to juice for another recipe. Add hot cooked and drained orzo pasta to the mixing bowl. The heat of the pasta will wilt the spinach and warm the tomatoes at the bottom of the bowl and get the juices flowing from veggies. The heat of the pasta will also release the flavor and oils in the lemon zest. Drizzle 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil over the pasta and toss to combine the veggies and orzo. Add basil and salt and pepper and toss to combine. Taste your orzo to adjust seasonings and serve.

(Amy's Note: This might not be as big of a hit with the kids, but it will be something that parents can enjoy! To make it a heartier main dish for the parents, throw some cooked, diced chicken in. This can be served at room temperature, cold, or hot).

You could also do a simple cheese & cracker platter and a veggie tray to help round out your table a little more. You could do juice boxes for the kids and transport coffee in a coffee carafe or just do soda/water for the adults.

As for the cake, it sounds like you have this covered, but we did a wonderful brunch for Ethan one year that I just had to share. I used a coupon for buy-one-dozen-get-one-free on Krispy Kreme donuts. I bought plain and chocolate glazed donuts and then piped decorations onto the donuts (blue stars for boys, pink hearts for girls). If you stacked these on a beautiful cake platter, you can stack them just like a cake and everyone would get their own donut to take home! While not as cheap as making a cake out of the box, this is a simple portable solution and takes the pressure off of you to make the perfect cake.

Wishing your son and family a wonderful celebration day together!

Sound Off: Do you have any recipes that you could share with our reader for making her son's birthday extra special? Please leave a comment!

Frugal Hacks: Happy New Year (On a Budget)

Today on Frugal Hacks, I am sharing my recipes and tips for preparing a fancy dinner at home. I put together a cost breakdown of our New Year's feast and why dining at home can be oh-so-nice!

Thank you for sharing your New Year's plans with us! It sounds like everyone had a fun & festive celebration planned. I hope it was wonderful and that you all had a happy and safe NYE!

Delicious Oreo Biscotti

I didn't get to do as much holiday baking as I would have liked to this year, but I did manage to squeeze in a couple of yummy treats. These Oreo Biscotti were so delicious and tasted so much better than the ones that they sell in the store.

This was my first attempt at making biscotti. It has been on my list of things I would like to try making and this recipe looked super easy and tasty too.

I crushed my Oreo cookies in a zipper bag and used my rolling pin as a hammer to break them. I baked the cookies and then gave them ten minutes to get cooled off. Then I cut them with my bread knife and baked them again, letting the cut side get its turn to bake. It resulted in a yummy cookie, perfect for dipping in your coffee or milk.

I drizzled the cookies with a little melted chocolate chips (with a teeny bit of shortening to thin it out). It was a little gloppy in the beginning, but I got the hang of the drizzling eventually.

I packaged these up in a promotional tin that I had decorated. We get a lot of promotional materials from companies and I had a tin from Reynolds that I wanted to reuse. I took a page out of Meredith's book and covered the top with a circle of red & white wallpaper. I tied a bow on it and tucked the cookies inside.

For our sweet postal lady, I purchased a little mini bucket from Dollar General. I used more of the paper inside of that and tucked them in the bucket with a note from our family.

The cookies were a huge hit and I only ended up with a few to take home after our family get together. The last few were ate by me- a nice reward for all my hard work!

New Year's Eve for a Frugal Gal

We are excited that my in-laws have volunteered to keep the kids for us on New Year's. Getting a babysitter for the holiday is tough and a sleepover at Grandma's will insure that we get a full-fledged celebration in as a couple.

Lots of people dine out and spend oodles of money on drinks or cover charges to go to the latest hot spots in town. We spend our New Year's at home and avoid the crowds and the drunk drivers on the road.

A few years ago, I started doing a special dinner for us to celebrate the holiday. This one night out of the year, we don't eat our usual bargain-basement fare. No, we splurge and have delicious foods like a fabulous steak dinner with a bottle of wine. The celebration is completed with cupcakes purchased from the bakery to end our old year in a sweet way.

Maybe that doesn't sound that exciting to others, but when you are constantly crunching numbers for your grocery budget to work, a little vacation from that can be a wonderful way to celebrate the new year. It is a bit of a splurge, but it is a lot less than a splurge would be if we went out to dinner.

If you think about it, a dinner for two with a bottle of wine would cost between $50-60 for a meal. The food might not even be superb for that price and who knows how long we would wait for a table? We certainly wouldn't get to have seconds and service, on days like this, is typically slow and has usually left me with little to be desired. We usually are paying the tab and saying to each other, "The dinner was good, but I really love the A, B, or C that we eat at home."

Sometimes I feel like I am running a factory here because I try to make so many of the foods that people buy. Our desire to keep our grocery budget low has taken some of the fun out of cooking for me. I will admit, that there are times where I feel like cooking is just another chore to complete for the day.

That is why, when it comes to special date nights like these, I love to splurge and purchase fun ingredients that can showcase what I can really cook. This year we will be enjoying marinated steaks with blue cheese butter, baked potatoes, sauteed mushrooms, and crusty bread.

Our evening is spent watching movies (rented from the local library) and playing our favorite board games.

No, it isn't a wild night on the town, but it will be a wildly delicious celebration to ring in the New Year!

Sound Off: How do you keep your NYE fun and frugal?

A Favorite Handmade Gift

Isn't this tote bag the cutest? My mother-in-law made it and it was my favorite gift of all. She makes the most beautiful things and has such a knack for sewing. I think she should quit her day job as a teacher and start crafting it up full time. Her aprons, baby slings, and bags are always such a hit with her family and friends. Too bad crafting doesn't have health insurance. I tell you, that health insurance stuff really kills a lot of great dreams.


I just love the little button closure on it. I can see this going with me on lots of trips and it will make a great diaper bag as well.

Lucky for me...a gift card to Starbucks was tucked inside. Now I can tote my library books over to the coffee shop and enjoy a free latte. What could be better than that? In my opinion, handmade gifts are the best in the world!

Christmas Giving & Getting Recap

I wish I could have shared some of my gift-giving ideas before the holidays, but I didn't want to give away any surprises for family members who might be reading the blog. I tried to really be thoughtful about choosing gifts this year and I hope it showed!

Here are some of the gifts that I chose for giving:


Fashion-Conscious Sis: My sister-in-law loves buying new clothes, but just doesn't have the funds to be buying as often as she would like. She is always so complimentary of the clothes that I have and I have to tell her that nine times out of ten the item was bought on really reduced clearance or I buy my clothes from the thrift store. To help teach her the knack for finding a really good deal, I got her a copy of, "How to Be a Budget Fashionista." Along with the book, we included a gift card to Target. In the memo it said, "To help you be a budget fashionista!" She was excited about both purchases and I hope the book will help her as much as it helped me!

Forward-Thinking Mom: My mother-in-law has been admiring my cloth grocery bags since I bought them and I had always had in the back of my mind that I would need to get her some of these. She is an avid reader, like me, and I know how handy these bags have come in when I just did my library runs. I knew these would be used and loved by her as much as they are by my family. I got her three bags and was able to locate a coupon code for my purchase, which took twenty percent off of my total order.

Music-Loving Dad: Buying gifts for a music lover can be really easy, especially when you can find their musical niche. We got my father-in-law the new Eagles CD and the new John Mayer CD. He was thrilled and already listening to the albums before we even left their house.


Glowing Grandparents: I have to say that the best gift of all seemed to be my grandparent brag books that I created for each set of grandparents. I was so excited to give these out and the reactions were priceless, especially for our family who lived out of town. The photo albums had plenty of room in them at the end, so a big stack of pictures will make great gifts for them to add to their books to show off. Everyone seemed so impressed with how beautiful the album itself was, and the giant bows on the outside were saved and slipped back on carefully, which tickled me to death. One thing I know how to do is make a pretty bow!

Another hit was our first family Christmas photo that we took. I had hoped to buy some frames, but we got the flu and just gave the prints themselves out.

We also received lots of excellent gifts this Christmas, although our families were FAR too generous! I felt guilty with all of our loot making our car sag in the back on our trip home. The kids have completely new wardrobes and loads of really cool toys to keep them busy over the winter.

The biggest hits for our family were:


Despite agreeing to the pact that my husband & I would not exchange gifts this year, my husband did end up buying me one small gift that was a complete unexpected and happy surprise. "The Digital Photography Book" by Scott Kelby was all wrapped up for me and given to me this year. This book is SO excellent and a great book for anyone trying to figure out how to work all of those settings on their camera. I started reading last night and could not stop. I finally passed out after midnight, but not after getting all the tips I could out of it. Ryan is trying to help me accomplish one of my resolutions this year and I thought that was so thoughtful of him!
Emily & Ethan both are loving these pyramid blocks from Janod. They are carrying this toymaker at Target, but only just a few select toys. These pyramid blocks were on my list for Emily and none of us could believe how beautiful and sturdy they were. The kids are having a ball stacking these and filling them with all of their toys and dumping them out. They are just beautiful to look at and they all nest into one another. I don't know how long Target will have them, but I couldn't resist adding them to our list. I think these were a crowd favorite everywhere and I am sure they will be a hit when we have our friends over too!

The kids received a set of these Imaginarium cardboard brick blocks and they have been a huge hit over here. The kids have been making walls out of them and knocking them over. These are such a cool gift and so durable too! I don't know where I am going to keep this 45 piece set, but we will find a home for these so the kids can keep occupied!

Some other great gifts we got was a gift card to the gas station, gift cards to Starbucks (of course!), sewing supplies (to accomplish my other New Years resolution!), Leapster games for Ethan, and two great games for our Wii system.

Sound Off: What are some great gifts you gave or got in your family? I love to make lists of ideas for next year!


**Visit Scribbit's Winter Bazaar for more great ideas for the winter season***

Santa Spotting

We went to a friend's holiday open house and Santa happened to stop by to see the children. As we were too sick to make it over to see our amazing mall Santa (he truly is!), we decided this was a perfect opportunity to get the kid's special visit in with Santa.

Pictured here is how polite our son is... some of the time anyway! He is raising his hand and saying, "Excuse me, Santa! Santa, excuse me! I need to speak with you"

Ethan quickly plops down in Santa's lap and talks his ear off. A last minute change of plans occurrs where his original plan of getting a Monster Truck was now changed and he wanted a Hummer Truck that he could ride in (price tag of $300). He says Santa told him to write it all out and he would see what he could do. Unfortunately, Santa already shopped and Santa did not have $300 in the Santa fund to spend. What can I say? Our Santa is cheap.
Emily is watching Ethan talk with Santa and is really excited to see him. I mean, you can just see it in her face. I know that this is the year that we get that amazing shot of her with Santa. This will not be a repeat of last year. She is going to look so cute on Santa's lap....Oh! We are getting excited now. I hand her over to Santa and all of a sudden...
Santa looks at me and says, "Oh no! There is something wrong with this one" (All pictures can be expanded for real-life detail and trauma we invoked on our child)

Better luck next year, I say! Merry Christmas, everyone!

Christmas With the Clarks (Or the Endless Flu Epidemic)

Well, I thought the virus had left after my deep sterilizing around here, but it appears to have only just begun...

We kept the kids home from church yesterday since Emily was still recuperating, and we didn't want to bring anything else home from any other kids. The snow was thick and heavy on the ground outside. The children were so antsy and we figured...let's just go ahead and open our Christmas gifts.

We have five Christmas functions to go to so we are always running around like crazy people around the holidays. Since we had a day at home, it seemed like a perfect day to open our Christmas gifts.

For the kids this year, I purchased toys from the Mr. Imagorium Wonder Emporium movie. They had re-released vintage Fisher Price toys in their original packaging for the holidays. The toys were such a hit with the kids, especially the circus top. The kids have been fighting over it since we got it.

Unfortunately, in efforts to reduce choking hazards, all of the pull toys only had about six inches of rope on the ends of them. Emily was particularly frustrated with her slinky dog, who refused to follow her as she hunched over to pull him.

The pull toys have been rigged with mommy's ribbon stash since there is no way the kids can pull them around the house. I was disappointed by this, but understand the safety standards.

The kids happily played with their toys all afternoon, which gave us a break from the whining and crying in our house.

Suddenly, Ethan stops playing and says, "I think the water is sloshing in my belly." What happens next begins another round of horror that I won't share. Let's just say that the night was long and the wash has been running all night and day.

The flu prevails- poor Ryan is doomed!

Happy holidays at the Clark house!

New Camera- Day One

Love, Love, Love the new camera! Obviously, these are our first pictures from it, but I am having a blast pretending to be a photographer with it. My kids enjoy being my little models too so it makes it even more fun.

In this picture, you can see that our tree is up, but still not decorated. Emily is really into destroying things right now and waiting until the last minute to hang the ornaments just makes my day a little easier. I did wrap and put the tree up, but am daily handed shredded gifts that she has lovingly tore apart for me. Maybe practicing opening gifts with our Christmas countdown wasn't such a good idea? I will get the ornaments up, but our tree might look a little strange with none on the bottom this year. All in good holiday fun though, right?

The second picture is of Emily in her super cute sock monkey pajamas that she got for her birthday. I am sure these will be making an appearance on Christmas day since it has been rumored that Santa will be bringing her a sock monkey this year.

This was the night we gathered the kids up to take them on a tour of the Christmas lights in a nearby neighborhood. Ethan thought it was funny to go in his pajamas...Emily was less impressed since she takes Ethan to school sometimes in these.

This was a fun year to see the lights since Emily really got it this year. She kept saying, "Oh, WOW!" while Ethan was far less enthusiastic ("Are we done yet? Is it almost over?") I can see how this age gap might bring on some new challenges as they get older.


Oh, and have I introduced you to my third child yet? She is a new addition the family and I love her so! My best girlfriend presented me with a brand-new purse (and matching shoes, no less!) for our gift exchange. Only a girlfriend who knows me so well would present it with the price tag still ON so she could show me what a most excellent deal she scored on this purse. And it was a most excellent deal, even better than any deal I had run across this year.

I just love the festive pom-poms and the knitted look on this bag. The brown boots that match are equally rockin' and make me feel like a superstar momma!

Don't we all deserve a little of that once in awhile?

WSBT-TV: Holiday Gift Baskets on a Budget

This morning's segment is on how to create holiday gift baskets on a budget. I just love putting these together and over the years have tried to put together gift baskets with great themes in them. I am hoping to talk more about themed baskets in our Frugal Hacks segment that I am putting together for today. I will post more on this topic later!

I hope this will give you some more ideas for putting together some fun baskets for the holiday season.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Frugal Hacks: Never Miss a Christmas Show Again

Today on Frugal Hacks, I am sharing tips for recording all of your favorite Christmas specials and movies on television this year. Who would want to miss any of their old favorites? Plus, they added some great new favorites (did anyone else love the new Shrek Christmas special?) for the year too. Be sure to check out my post so you can set those recorders for some fun family nights together!

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, we checked out some of our old favorite movies and I happened upon a movie that we had not seen before called, "The Holiday Inn." This has become my new favorite Christmas movie and I would recommend checking it out for your family this holiday season. There is lots of great singing and dancing in this film and although there is some political incorrectness for our time period, it is an excellent movie that really made us smile! Interesting enough, it was also the inspiration for the hotel chain name...Holiday Inn.

I am curious, what is your favorite holiday movie? Do you have any obscure holiday movies that might be overlooked by most families, but that is a favorite in your house?

WSBT-TV: Getting the Cheapest Shipping

Today on our WSBT-TV segment, I am sharing inexpensive ways to ship your packages, good investments for creating a shipping center at home, and things you can use around your house for packing materials for your packages.

This goes along with a post that I wrote awhile back on shipping your packages frugally and our adventures in shipping. I plan to write a more extensive article after I noticed that it is one of the top things people have been searching for on our site.

You can also see our new Christmas tree, as our tree this year was looking a little um... Charlie Brown-ish. The top had broken on it and I had hot glued it last year, but it couldn't survive another year. We had just put it up, but no decorations for it yet.

Sound Off: Do you have any tips for cheap shipping or any frugal materials around your house that you use for packing your gifts?

Eat Your Heart Out, Martha: Elegant Photo Albums

Grandparents can be difficult people to buy for because I think as we get older, we began to acquire so much and it can be a struggle to come up with an idea for something they already don't have or can't buy for themselves.

Last year I started doing photo albums for each set of grandparents and it was a real hit, particularly for the grandparents who don't live near us. It is a great way to share with them what w