Good Books and Deals

Ok, I read NONE of those books listed, but did enjoy the following instead:
*Mr. Popper's Penguins with the kids
*The Paris Wife (about Ernest Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley)
*Room
*The 2nd and 3rd books to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series (The Girl Who Played with Fire and the Girl who Kicked the Hornets Nest)
*What Alice Forgot
and am currently reading The Book Thief. Highly recommend The Paris Wife and Stieg Larson books. I'm enjoying the Book Thief as well.

On to the deals:

Just Dance 3 is out and TRU has a BOGO 40% off deal for Wii games:
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11935280 = $39.99

Scooby Doo Wii:
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3739356 = $11.99 (with 40% off, will automatically take it off for you)

Great price on Bakugan Wii game:
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3633213 = $9.99 (Orig. $49.99)

Dirt Devil Vacuum = BOGO 50% off = $25.99 and $12.99
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3142104

Squinkies = $9.99 (reg. $11-14.00)
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4403647&prodFindSrc=search

Princess Peach DS case: $9.98 (reg. $20)
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4469108

Eraser Maker $8.99 (reg. $14.99)
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4130510&prodFindSrc=search

Sponge Bob DS Case = $2.98 (reg. $4.98)
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4395029&prodFindSrc=search

Nerf Gun= BOGO (round of ammo free): I bought this one:
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2486967

(DO NOT click on any Nerf ammo.....once you decide on your gun, click the FREE ammo button and it will automatically direct you to the free ammo options....all are reg. $5.99 for FREE!....Stocking stuffer?!)

Preschool Cranium= $16.98 (reg. $19.99)
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4056091

The shipping will take off up to $20. Do not try to find these deals in store......they are not reflected in there. Basically the cost of shipping will add up to you buying about 2-3 things at the store price and then you get the discounted price for the rest of your items. (In case you're like me and wanted to try to get the discounted price + no shipping charge!)

Summer Reading List for Moi!

*The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted: And Other Small Acts of Liberation
*The Best Thing About My Ass Is That It's Behind Me
*Stories I Only Tell My Friends: An Autobiography
*Vaclav & Lena: A Novel
*The Girl's Guide to Homelessness
*The Long Journey Home

Whitegate Farm Sub. Home for Sale / 4 BR / 2.5 BA

February: A Full Month of Illness, Visiting, Crafting, and Creating

Isa, Ty, and I visited Aunt Jen and Cousin Connor when Uncle Jim was out of town. Aunt Jen looooves baby Ty Ty so much! She grabs right for him (and for that matter, so does Uncle Jim) every time she gets near him! Connor thinks that Isa is the best. She read him a few stories at dinner time and he kept saying "again, again". And isn't that picture of them sitting at the table adorable?

This kid is so stinking cute and such a big ham bone! I could gobble him up. He's only 4 months old and weighed in at a whopping 19.1 lbs! Here, too, is a picture of Ty with GG.

----------------------Creating and Crafting for February---------------------------------------

You may be wondering "this lady has 4 young children where does she find the time to create and craft?" Ok, maybe you're not, but I posed that question to myself many times because I love doing crafty things, but could never find the time in between household chores, errands, doctor's appointments, after-school activities, ect..., so I came up with a plan. I abhor doing laundry. I'm not even sure if that's a strong enough word for how much I detest it. It's never ending and I never feel a sense of accomplishment because there's somehow always more waiting in the wings. And for this goal-oriented "check-list" doing gal, that just doesn't work for me. But, I do have to do it, so I've made myself a deal. I bought 2 small craft tables for $12 each and put them in my sitting room in my bedroom where I fold all of my laundry anyway (we have 2nd floor laundry). Once I had the tables and space and space that was located on the same floor as my laundry room, I came up with an idea. For each load I fold and in between waiting for the next one to finish, I get to work on something that I enjoy. Sometimes I scrapbook, sometimes I paint, sometimes I make gifts for others, or get the kids stuff ready for a school party. But, whatever it is, that is my time. It's my hobby time, my have a check list and get to the end of it time so that I can have some sort of sense of accomplishment when the day is done. Otherwise, there are moments when I feel like all of the housework, cleaning, cooking, errands, ect... could draw me into a deep dark hole and I may not return! I do have to admit that this time does interfere with my house being as clean as I usually like it, but right now, I'm taking the trade-off. I keep reminding myself that I can have it all, but I just can't have it all at once. Right now, I'm choosing to forego the clean house in lieu of carving out some much needed "me" time.

If you're a certain Grandma who may be in FL right now reading this, ignore the picture! Our first project, home made golf balls for Grandma's birthday next month! The kids used Sharpie markers to decorate them. We have 1 set of 4: 1 to represent each child. There are 2 sets because the kids decided that we couldn't make a set for Grandma and not Papaw!

Cost = $0 (Had golf balls, cleaned them using the Magic Eraser, had Sharpie Markers, Used that adorable box that Aunt Jen gave Carter an Xmas present in, used a label that I had and some random string that Isa found in her room). Perfect!

Found this at Hobby Lobby (reatil: $15, clearance $1), changed the ribbon, added magnets to the back of my binder clips, and made some labels for the projects that I'm working on. Total cost for a "pretty" to-do list = $1

We made V-Day gifts for the teachers. They were cuter in person, but oh well. I don't believe in re-creating the wheel, so I must give credit to http://www.bethproudfoot.blogspot.com/ for the Hugs and Kisses labels, and I can't rmember where I got the XoXo labels....thinking http://www.skiptomylou.org/?

Craft room is coming together!!

1. B-day clipboard 2. decoration 3. note card holder 4. Easter wreath

1. B-Day Clipboard (found clipboard on clearance for $2.50), everything else was free. Download B-day pages from this Eighteen 25 blog's: http://eighteen25.blogspot.com/2010/06/party-ideas-part-four.html

(Notice they spray painted theirs. I don't have time for that right now, so I thought the decorative clipboard worked out just as well!)

2. decoration: This was an old canvas picture that I didn't need anymore, so I took a piece of scrapbook paper that I liked and modge podged it on there. Then I took ribbon and placed a tag in the middle. Voila! New Artwork. I'm going to use it either as something to hold binder clips on. (Free!)

3. Note card holder: 1 vase + old ribbon

4. Easter Wreath (I promise this is much prettier in person, but my camera is ancient, so it doesn't do it justice.) I was a copy cat and got the idea from this site:
http://pattyschaffer.typepad.com/capture_the_details/2010/03/monday-make-it-spring-baby-grass-wreath.html

( Again, don't have time to sit and cut flowers off of ribbon, so I found pink bridal picks that I just poked right into the wreath!) That green yarn is in the yarn section and looks like a furry scarf. It's easy to wrap around and does look like grass once you're done. Will hang on outside door after V-Day is over! I got all of the materials at Hobby Lobby.

If you don't like that one, here's another site with lots of ideas:
http://easter.tipnut.com/04/wreaths/


We will also be making these fun V-Day treats:

http://www.writeclickscrapbook.com/

The Magato's are always looking for ways to be a "modern day June Cleaver" without all the extra work. Short. Simple. Sweet!

Valentine's Day Party: Room Parent ideas

Valentine's Day Party ideas (Kindergarten)

1. Freeze Dance
2. To earn their goodie bags, they will pass 1 bag around while I play music (similar to Hot Potato), when the music stops, that person keeps the goodie bag between their legs. The idea is a fun way to have them get their goodie bags (and they don't even realize that you're rigging it so that everyone gets one. They legitimately think that they have a chance of getting a 2nd one!)
3. Relay races: Divide class into 2 teams (or more, if necessary). Give each line leader a spoon with a Hershey Kiss on it. They have to walk it to the bucket without dropping it and dump it in. Then walk back and hand it to the next person in line. If they drop it, they have to go back and start over again. After each person goes, they sit down in line so that when everyone's done, you can see that their team is finished. I let them play 2 rounds of this. Then the next 2 rounds, I give them a "task" to do on their way back to handing the spoon off. Instead of just walking back I'll say "quack like a duck", "crawl like a baby," or "act like a monkey." The kids love this version!!

Stations:
4. Pin the heart on the Valentine
5. Scratch off Valentines, found at Oriental Trading (similar to scratching off black crayon to revela the color underneath, but it's in a heart shaped and is hung with a ribbon.)
6. Valentine's Day Memory Game (found V-Day Bingo Cards at Target for $1.00)
7. and my favorite.............CUPID'S TOY CHEST! I threw a whole bunch of our toys that my kids love into a suitcase and put the "Cupid's Sign" on it. The kids at this station will play with these toys on the carpet in the classroom. I'm anticipating this being a huge hit! Kids love new toys!

Extras

8. The picture at the top shows the Love Notes again. Each student will dictate to me what they love about Mrs. Arnett and I'll write it down. Then those scrapbook pieces of paper will be folded up in a way that makes it look like flowers coming out of the Love Notes vase.

9. Simple....Guess how many valentines are in a jar!

whew......I'm exhausted just typing that! Here's hoping that the kids have a great time!

PS....the Love Notes FREE downloadable tags can be found at www.eighteeen25.blogspot.com as well as the Organizer that I made below. Those ladies are great! Check out their blog. They share a ton of free stuff and crafty ideas!

More crafting

I finished these 2 projects this week. The "S" is for a friend's son, and it's not all the way done, have to finish smoothing things out and perfecting it, but it gives you an idea. The 2nd was some random organizer that I found in my basement and turned it into an embellishment organizer for myself.