Yes, I'm a bad, bad blogger for neglecting my site for weeks at a time. But let's just gloss right over that for now, shall we?
The amount of money that you can save by looking for things that you want on eBay can really vary, depending on what you are buying. So, ymmv, as they say.
Everybody's heard of eBay, but I think that its awesomeness is grossly underestimated by most people. If you are an eBay-underestimator, I strongly encourage you to give it a chance. You can buy literally anything that is legal to buy on eBay (and probably some things that aren't legal, if you know how and where to look, but I'm Not That Kind Of Girl). From coupons to golf clubs to accordions to RVs. It is insane!
My incredible savings today was on slipcovers. I told Chris months ago that for my birthday present this year I wanted slipcovers for our living room sofa and loveseat, and I had already picked out the ones that I wanted and was planning on ordering them from Walmart a week or two before my birthday. Being uber-excited about our upcoming move (we move next Friday! We got the house we wanted! God is SOOO good!), I was looking at the pretty pretty pictures on Walmart's website, when it occured to me that maybe I could find them cheaper somewhere else. The main reasons that I was going through Walmart in the first place were a) they had the pattern I wanted, and b) free shipping with the Ship-to-Store option. Before taxes, the cost of both slipcovers from Walmart would have come to $149.92, which I think is a pretty reasonable amount to pay for something that will completely change the look of my living room. But! Then I remembered eBay!
Chris always remembers to look on eBay for things; I never remember to look on eBay for things. But today, when I happened to look for my slipcovers on eBay, I found the exact ones that I wanted, brand spankin' new, with 4 hours left on the bidding and not one single bid had been submitted yet. The starting bids were $19.99 and $14.99, so I bid $20.00 and $15.00, and when the auction expired I was still the only bidder. So for a grand total of $35.00 plus shipping (which may be as much as $10.00), both of the desired slipcovers are mine! That's less than one-third of what I would have paid at Walmart. $100.00 less than I would have paid at Walmart! Muwahahahaha!
Ahem.
Anyway, the moral of the story is, remember to look for things on eBay. Sometimes you will lose auctions, and that's disappointing, but sometimes you can find exactly what you're looking for at a substantially reduced price. If you know what you want and are willing to be patient, it will pay off in the end.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Tot School, the Terrible Twos, Baby Boot Camp, and Life in General
Well, if you found my blog through 1+1+1=1, you may have noticed that I don't have any recent Tot School posts. Right now, we are on hiatus, for a variety of reasons.
First of all, after turning two, Nathanael. Turned. Two. I don't really believe in "the Terrible Twos"... well, let me explain that. I understand and agree that there is a normal and expected developmental stage which usually occurs between the ages of two and three during which a child begins to understand that he is a separate entity unto himself, and that with this developmental stage comes a very strong desire to explore and demonstrate that new found autonomy. This developmental stage can be full of crankiness and fussiness as the child's desire to exercise his own will conflicts with what his parents or other caregivers have planned for him, and will be better or worse based on a multitude of things, including the personality of the child; the personalities, parenting techniques, and expectations of the parents; sleep, exercise, and nutrition; the child's general health; and, of course, all of the unexpected variables that life throws at us. But I do NOT understand or agree with those parents who watch their toddler having a meltdown because he was denied a cookie (for example) and merely shrug their shoulders and say "He's in 'the Terrible Twos'" as if that's an adequate justification for both their child's behavior and their own lack of response. If that type of behavior is ignored and accomodated when they're going through the Terrible Twos, then how are you going to handle it when they're in the Threatening Threes (or the Fearsome Fours, the Formidable Fives, the Screaming Sixes, or worse yet, the Should-have-trained-'em-better-when-they-were-little Sixteens)? I firmly believe that a little one needs to be trained out of his Terrible Two behaviors as soon as possible, before the behaviors become habits and the child becomes That Kind of Kid.
Stepping down off my soapbox now.
Anyway, right now we are working really, really hard on developing habits of obedience, gentleness, and self-control; sadly, the laissez-faire environment that we had for Tot School is not conducive to building those habits at this time, so I either need to figure out a way to make Tot School more structured (which I think robs it of some of its value) or we will just continue to take a break until Nathanael is less "Terrible Two"ish. Right now, I'm trying to make life as structured as possible and eliminate unnecessary choices in his life... instead of Tot School, we're having Baby Boot Camp, LOL.
Also, we are (if God's time-table is the same as ours, which... maybe?) moving out of my mom's house into a place of our own sometime in the next month, and I really need to focus my time and energy on packing and purging. I am feeling SO much better so far in this pregnancy than I did during the last one, but I do find that I am "hitting the wall" earlier and earlier in the evening every day, especially if I've had a rough day with Nathanael, so right now slow steps towards this move should definitely be a priority for me, otherwise I'll find myself with an entire household to move and three days to do it in, which isn't going to work so well for me. :-)
First of all, after turning two, Nathanael. Turned. Two. I don't really believe in "the Terrible Twos"... well, let me explain that. I understand and agree that there is a normal and expected developmental stage which usually occurs between the ages of two and three during which a child begins to understand that he is a separate entity unto himself, and that with this developmental stage comes a very strong desire to explore and demonstrate that new found autonomy. This developmental stage can be full of crankiness and fussiness as the child's desire to exercise his own will conflicts with what his parents or other caregivers have planned for him, and will be better or worse based on a multitude of things, including the personality of the child; the personalities, parenting techniques, and expectations of the parents; sleep, exercise, and nutrition; the child's general health; and, of course, all of the unexpected variables that life throws at us. But I do NOT understand or agree with those parents who watch their toddler having a meltdown because he was denied a cookie (for example) and merely shrug their shoulders and say "He's in 'the Terrible Twos'" as if that's an adequate justification for both their child's behavior and their own lack of response. If that type of behavior is ignored and accomodated when they're going through the Terrible Twos, then how are you going to handle it when they're in the Threatening Threes (or the Fearsome Fours, the Formidable Fives, the Screaming Sixes, or worse yet, the Should-have-trained-'em-better-when-they-were-little Sixteens)? I firmly believe that a little one needs to be trained out of his Terrible Two behaviors as soon as possible, before the behaviors become habits and the child becomes That Kind of Kid.
Stepping down off my soapbox now.
Anyway, right now we are working really, really hard on developing habits of obedience, gentleness, and self-control; sadly, the laissez-faire environment that we had for Tot School is not conducive to building those habits at this time, so I either need to figure out a way to make Tot School more structured (which I think robs it of some of its value) or we will just continue to take a break until Nathanael is less "Terrible Two"ish. Right now, I'm trying to make life as structured as possible and eliminate unnecessary choices in his life... instead of Tot School, we're having Baby Boot Camp, LOL.
Also, we are (if God's time-table is the same as ours, which... maybe?) moving out of my mom's house into a place of our own sometime in the next month, and I really need to focus my time and energy on packing and purging. I am feeling SO much better so far in this pregnancy than I did during the last one, but I do find that I am "hitting the wall" earlier and earlier in the evening every day, especially if I've had a rough day with Nathanael, so right now slow steps towards this move should definitely be a priority for me, otherwise I'll find myself with an entire household to move and three days to do it in, which isn't going to work so well for me. :-)
Monday, May 4, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
The End of Innocence
A little over a year ago, I saw a story online about a 4-year-old boy who got himself stuck in his family's washing machine. And being the blithely ignorant person that I was then, I wondered, "How on earth did that happen?!" At the time, my son was only 10 months old, and barely walking, and I could afford to make smug, "Where were the parents?!" comments.
You see, until two years ago, I was The Mother Of A Girl. And while she has never been what one might call quiet or demure, she is definitely a GIRL. She does... girl things. She doesn't turn every toy that she encounters into a weapon, or treat each new piece of furniture encountered as though it were Mt. Everest and she Sir Edmund Hillary. She is smart and courageous and a whole lot of fun, but she is intrinsically female, and being intrinsically female myself, I know more or less what to expect from her.
This is not what raising a boy is like AT ALL!!!!
In the past two hours, Nathanael has:
I am very much "on my toes" with him and have thus far (by God's grace) been able to respond almost instantaneously every time he does something new and exciting, but my gosh he is QUICK! It's getting to the point where I don't dare go to the bathroom for 30 seconds without taking him with me.
The moral of the story is: now when I hear stories like that of the little boy in the washing machine, I no longer wonder "How did that happen," I wonder, "When is it going to happen to me?" Having a boy is tons of fun, but I am exhausted!
You see, until two years ago, I was The Mother Of A Girl. And while she has never been what one might call quiet or demure, she is definitely a GIRL. She does... girl things. She doesn't turn every toy that she encounters into a weapon, or treat each new piece of furniture encountered as though it were Mt. Everest and she Sir Edmund Hillary. She is smart and courageous and a whole lot of fun, but she is intrinsically female, and being intrinsically female myself, I know more or less what to expect from her.
This is not what raising a boy is like AT ALL!!!!
In the past two hours, Nathanael has:
- learned how to operate both the doorknob and deadbolt on the front door (he couldn't quite reach the deadbolt, but fortunately he knew right where a step-stool was).
- climbed on top of the dryer, opened the washing machine lid, and removed the fabric softener receptacle from on top of the agitator.
- climbed on top of the dryer again, opened the washing machine lid in the middle of a cycle, and added my clean, red pajama top to the load of mostly khaki clothes. Thankfully, I've had this pajama top for years and years and KNOW that it isn't going to bleed on anything.
- removed the lid from the water softener.
- climbed inside the kitchen sink so that he could better reach the sharp knives that we keep on a magnetic strip in a "safe" place, HIGH UP OUT OF THE REACH OF SMALL PEOPLE.
- turned on the coffee pot after doing his best to fill the water receptacle beforehand.
I am very much "on my toes" with him and have thus far (by God's grace) been able to respond almost instantaneously every time he does something new and exciting, but my gosh he is QUICK! It's getting to the point where I don't dare go to the bathroom for 30 seconds without taking him with me.
The moral of the story is: now when I hear stories like that of the little boy in the washing machine, I no longer wonder "How did that happen," I wonder, "When is it going to happen to me?" Having a boy is tons of fun, but I am exhausted!
Thrifty Thursday: Make Your Own Dog Food
Weekly Savings: $7.00
Monthly Savings: $22.00
Yearly Savings: $436.00
This is my dog, George.
Monthly Savings: $22.00
Yearly Savings: $436.00
This is my dog, George.
He is an English bulldog. Absolutely the best dog I have ever had, hands down. Great with kids, very loyal and affectionate, and even though he is a total push-over, he looks threatening enough that people don't want to mess with him.
Unfortunately, English bulldogs don't have a very long life-span. We're looking at 7-10 years, assuming that no major congenital health issues crop up along the way. And after doing a lot of research, we are convinced that by feeding him "real" food instead of pre-packaged dog food, he will be healthier, happier, and hopefully reach the maximum end of his life-span.
My basic home-made dog food recipe with costs is as follows -- I buy the meat in bulk when it's on sale, so this is an average estimate based on our normal sale prices:
Unfortunately, English bulldogs don't have a very long life-span. We're looking at 7-10 years, assuming that no major congenital health issues crop up along the way. And after doing a lot of research, we are convinced that by feeding him "real" food instead of pre-packaged dog food, he will be healthier, happier, and hopefully reach the maximum end of his life-span.
My basic home-made dog food recipe with costs is as follows -- I buy the meat in bulk when it's on sale, so this is an average estimate based on our normal sale prices:
- 5 lbs. ground beef ($7.00)
- 3 lbs. frozen veggies ($3.00)
- 1 lb. raw brown rice ($2.00)
- 2 quarts chicken broth ($2.00)
- water if needed (negligible)
- Total Cost: $14.00
This basic recipe gets us through a little over 2 weeks. I could probably make it for less if I was really pro-active about stocking up when there are sales. As it is, we're already spending less than half as much as we were on the "good" brand of packaged dry food that we had been using. Now that we're really getting into the swing of things with home-made food, I plan to start branching out from this basic recipe and giving him more variety... maybe some chicken & turkey as well as beef, apples as well as vegetables, and yogurt and cottage cheese occasionally. This may cause his food costs to increase slightly, but I am still expecting it to remain significantly less than the $50.00 a month that we were spending on his bagged food.
An unexpected perk to switching to home-made dog food has been how much better George smells! English bulldogs are gassy beasts, and... oh my, was it ever rank! Now that he is eating the food that I make, without unnecessary grains and fillers that his body can't process, the super-stinky gas is GONE. He also has much sweeter smelling breath than he did before. And we're probably saving another $5 - $10 a month on air fresheners! :-)
In all seriousness, it is well worth the time and effort to really research what you are feeding your pets and make more conscientious decisions about what you put in front of them. We were shocked and horrified by what we learned when we began looking into what goes into most dog foods, and the additional time and effort that it takes to cook for George (which... maybe an hour of hands-on work every two weeks? Not a big deal!) is well worth it, knowing that he is eating food that is really good for him. I've only been making his food at home for two months or so, and we could see benefits almost immediately... certainly after the first week. There are tons of websites and books out there with information about how and what to cook for your pet, so making the switch is really quite easy.
An unexpected perk to switching to home-made dog food has been how much better George smells! English bulldogs are gassy beasts, and... oh my, was it ever rank! Now that he is eating the food that I make, without unnecessary grains and fillers that his body can't process, the super-stinky gas is GONE. He also has much sweeter smelling breath than he did before. And we're probably saving another $5 - $10 a month on air fresheners! :-)
In all seriousness, it is well worth the time and effort to really research what you are feeding your pets and make more conscientious decisions about what you put in front of them. We were shocked and horrified by what we learned when we began looking into what goes into most dog foods, and the additional time and effort that it takes to cook for George (which... maybe an hour of hands-on work every two weeks? Not a big deal!) is well worth it, knowing that he is eating food that is really good for him. I've only been making his food at home for two months or so, and we could see benefits almost immediately... certainly after the first week. There are tons of websites and books out there with information about how and what to cook for your pet, so making the switch is really quite easy.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
And she can cook!
I started a recipe blog... primarily because I am more likely to type a recipe out than I am to write it down on a recipe card, and also because I'm a giver! :-)
Anyway, if you're interested, you can find it at http://niftythriftymamacooks.blogspot.com.
Anyway, if you're interested, you can find it at http://niftythriftymamacooks.blogspot.com.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Tot School Sunday #4
Music & Movement Monday
We spend the first half of Monday at Grandma's house in Phoenix, and the second half driving home and unpacking, so formal Tot School was a no-go. Monday is music day, though, and we did have some fun with music; namely, listening to Bob & Larry Sing the '70s in the car on the way home. And, I have to say, if you don't own this CD, go forth and obtain a copy! It is tons of fun, and there's nothing quite like listening to your two year old singing along with "Funkytown."
Being in the car for 3 hours, today wasn't so much with the movement, unless you consider playing with Grandma's dogs before we left her house, in which case, he probably got enough exercise to last the week. :-)
Tot Tub Tuesday
Tot School started early today; almost as soon as he woke up, Thanael saw his daddy making oatmeal for breakfast and got very excited about all of the measuring. He found a measuring cup somewhere (I think he has a secret stash, because my measuring cups keep going missing and), pulled up a chair to the counter and was ready to dig into the oatmeal tub. I quickly got out two large-ish shallow containers, poured some oats into one of them, and set him up at the table with some measuring cups and a toy coffee pot. Very convenient of him to figure out our "Tot Tray" activity for today, since I hadn't decided what we were doing yet.
Segue: It occurs to me that in several of the pictures that I post for Tot School, Nathanael is still in his jammies. People must think that I never get the poor kid dressed, LOL. I promise, he does wear real people clothes, (almost) every single day, and usually has them on before lunch. We just do Tot School when he is ready for it, and that's often fairly early in our day.
He got tired of scooping and pouring after a while, so we had breakfast and got (half) dressed. I was doing my morning chores, when Nathanael rediscovered the oat tubs on the table. He spent a happy twenty minutes or so scooping, pouring, and transferring (and getting oats all over the floor!) while I continued with my work in the kitchen.
At one point, I went to take care of something in the other room, and apparently that's when Nathanael decided he was done, because the next thing I knew I heard a whirring noise. I went back into the kitchen to find out what was going on, and this is what I found:
Mister Tidy-Britches went into the bedroom, got the Dust-Buster down from its charger, and took it upon himself to start cleaning up his mess! He did a pretty good job, too!
We're both still pretty mucousy from this head cold, so we took a nice, hot, sinus-clearing shower after all of the oats were cleaned up and, while we were in there, we played a fun new game for identifying body parts (since we were in the shower, obviously I didn't take pics! :-P). I'm calling it "Hey, Thanael?" and I think it's going to become a normal part of bathtime from now on. It goes like this.
Me: Heeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyyyyy, Thanael?
Him: Yeeeesh?
Me: Where is/are your.... hair/eyes/ear/nose/belly/feet/etc.?
Him: (lots of giggles, touches the appropriate part, and does a happy dance)
It was interesting to see where his knowledge gaps are; he knows all the parts of his face except his eyebrows, but he is really sporadic as far as the rest of his body goes.
Workbook Wednesday
We were going to play with the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom lapbook today, but then I realized that if we didn't "write" a thank-you card to my sister for Nathanael's birthday present, I would forget all about it, so instead we painted with his dot paints.
We had to put them away when he became more interested than using them on himself than on the paper. :-)
After painting, he wanted to play with the DK "My First Picture Pairs" game that he got for his birthday. Right now they are far more valuable to us as a vocabulary builder than they are for matching. I think that the quantity of cards (27 pairs) is overwhelming to him, but since he knows they all exist, he wants to have them all out at once. So for now I just ask him what the picture is of (he's added 2-3 words each time we've played with them, which is definite progress!), or ask him to find the picture for a word that I already know he knows.
Themeless Thursday
I was really hoping to make it to story hour at the library this week, but we're still getting over being sick, and I didn't want the other moms to freak out about my booger-y son. Also, I'm BEAT!!! Housework has really fallen behind over the past week or so, and I tried to make today a catch-up day, as much as possible. So instead of "sit down" Tot School of any kind, I just had Nathanael help me around the house, which he loves to do. It takes 45 minutes to fold a large load of towels and washcloths when each item has to be handed to you individually by a very short, easily distracted person who keeps taking breaks to climb in the dryer.
Side note: when Aliyah was Nathanael's age, one of her favorite things was to climb in the dryer, pull the door closed (just enough to shut the light off, not so that it was really latched closed), and wait for one of us to say, "Lazarus, come forth!" She would then emerge from the dryer, and we were supposed to be Mary & Martha, overjoyed at our brother's being returned to us. She's eleven now, and will be furious if she finds out that I told the entire internet this story, but... oh, my, it was adorable!
Anyway, he "helped" fold clothes, sweep the floors, and wash dishes. Washing dishes is his new favorite thing to do. Most mornings while I'm making his cocoa, he'll pull up a chair to the sink, climb up on it, turn on the water, and grab a sponge. If there aren't dishes in the sink for him to wash, he'll go find some clean dishes and work on those. If only the rest of the family had the same enthusiasm for washing dishes!
Fun Friday
Knowing that we would be spending about 5 hours in the car today, we took Tot School outside, and played with chalk!
Nathanael had never played with chalk before, and he was much more interested in taking the chalk out of the box and putting it back in than he was in drawing on the concrete. We have a great front yard for playing in, so I just let him wander around and do what he liked.
We spend the first half of Monday at Grandma's house in Phoenix, and the second half driving home and unpacking, so formal Tot School was a no-go. Monday is music day, though, and we did have some fun with music; namely, listening to Bob & Larry Sing the '70s in the car on the way home. And, I have to say, if you don't own this CD, go forth and obtain a copy! It is tons of fun, and there's nothing quite like listening to your two year old singing along with "Funkytown."
Being in the car for 3 hours, today wasn't so much with the movement, unless you consider playing with Grandma's dogs before we left her house, in which case, he probably got enough exercise to last the week. :-)
Tot Tub Tuesday
Tot School started early today; almost as soon as he woke up, Thanael saw his daddy making oatmeal for breakfast and got very excited about all of the measuring. He found a measuring cup somewhere (I think he has a secret stash, because my measuring cups keep going missing and), pulled up a chair to the counter and was ready to dig into the oatmeal tub. I quickly got out two large-ish shallow containers, poured some oats into one of them, and set him up at the table with some measuring cups and a toy coffee pot. Very convenient of him to figure out our "Tot Tray" activity for today, since I hadn't decided what we were doing yet.
Segue: It occurs to me that in several of the pictures that I post for Tot School, Nathanael is still in his jammies. People must think that I never get the poor kid dressed, LOL. I promise, he does wear real people clothes, (almost) every single day, and usually has them on before lunch. We just do Tot School when he is ready for it, and that's often fairly early in our day.
He got tired of scooping and pouring after a while, so we had breakfast and got (half) dressed. I was doing my morning chores, when Nathanael rediscovered the oat tubs on the table. He spent a happy twenty minutes or so scooping, pouring, and transferring (and getting oats all over the floor!) while I continued with my work in the kitchen.
We're both still pretty mucousy from this head cold, so we took a nice, hot, sinus-clearing shower after all of the oats were cleaned up and, while we were in there, we played a fun new game for identifying body parts (since we were in the shower, obviously I didn't take pics! :-P). I'm calling it "Hey, Thanael?" and I think it's going to become a normal part of bathtime from now on. It goes like this.
Me: Heeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyyyyy, Thanael?
Him: Yeeeesh?
Me: Where is/are your.... hair/eyes/ear/nose/belly/feet/etc.?
Him: (lots of giggles, touches the appropriate part, and does a happy dance)
It was interesting to see where his knowledge gaps are; he knows all the parts of his face except his eyebrows, but he is really sporadic as far as the rest of his body goes.
Workbook Wednesday
We were going to play with the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom lapbook today, but then I realized that if we didn't "write" a thank-you card to my sister for Nathanael's birthday present, I would forget all about it, so instead we painted with his dot paints.
Themeless Thursday
I was really hoping to make it to story hour at the library this week, but we're still getting over being sick, and I didn't want the other moms to freak out about my booger-y son. Also, I'm BEAT!!! Housework has really fallen behind over the past week or so, and I tried to make today a catch-up day, as much as possible. So instead of "sit down" Tot School of any kind, I just had Nathanael help me around the house, which he loves to do. It takes 45 minutes to fold a large load of towels and washcloths when each item has to be handed to you individually by a very short, easily distracted person who keeps taking breaks to climb in the dryer.
Side note: when Aliyah was Nathanael's age, one of her favorite things was to climb in the dryer, pull the door closed (just enough to shut the light off, not so that it was really latched closed), and wait for one of us to say, "Lazarus, come forth!" She would then emerge from the dryer, and we were supposed to be Mary & Martha, overjoyed at our brother's being returned to us. She's eleven now, and will be furious if she finds out that I told the entire internet this story, but... oh, my, it was adorable!
Anyway, he "helped" fold clothes, sweep the floors, and wash dishes. Washing dishes is his new favorite thing to do. Most mornings while I'm making his cocoa, he'll pull up a chair to the sink, climb up on it, turn on the water, and grab a sponge. If there aren't dishes in the sink for him to wash, he'll go find some clean dishes and work on those. If only the rest of the family had the same enthusiasm for washing dishes!
Knowing that we would be spending about 5 hours in the car today, we took Tot School outside, and played with chalk!
Nathanael had never played with chalk before, and he was much more interested in taking the chalk out of the box and putting it back in than he was in drawing on the concrete. We have a great front yard for playing in, so I just let him wander around and do what he liked.
And that was our week of Tot School!
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