Snow Birds

Snow Day

Nike Score

At the thrift store over the weekend, I also found Baby Jaws some Nikes. They won't fit him until probably next fall, but they were like new and only $4.98. I don't usually buy used shoes unless they're great name brands and are in great shape. Another great score for me!

Lego Score

On a few of the many coupon blogs I follow, I found the Walmart deal on Duplo Legos before Christmas. Hubs and the boys are Lego Maniacs. Legos are one toy that does not lose much value and go for quite a bit on Ebay. I've found them at yard sales really cheap and have even scored a Lego table.

So the Walmart deal was the 71 piece tub for $29.99, which is regular price, but it came with a $20 Walmart gift card so it was like getting the tub for only $10. This was one of Baby Jaws' gifts and we used the other $20 to buy Big Brother some Legos too. This was a great deal on something we would have bought anyway.
Fast forward to this past weekend when Hubs took all four kids to Bass Pro. I told him to just drop me off at the thrift store and to have fun. Muhahahaha! I walked the aisles finding a couple of books for the boys. I had went through the entire store and called Hubs to tell him I was ready to go. While I was waiting for him to come back to pick me up, I walked back through a couple aisles. I looked up and saw the exact big green tub of Duplos we had just bought for Christmas. I picked it up and found the price $4.98. That was a great deal for a $30 tub of Legos. I wasn't sure if it had ALL 71 pieces, but it was pretty full. I counted them on the way home and all 71 pieces were there. I was a little shocked, but very happy.
Now Baby Jaws has 142 new pieces of Legos plus the bazillion pieces he already had.

More Snowmen

Today, we made marshmallow snowmen with some edible markers. So much fun!

Teacher Gift

Big Brother gave his kindergarten teacher a really cute gift this year. I found the idea here. It's a 12 Days of Christmas for the teacher. I used some of the poems found on this site and some of them, I made up myself. This was really fun to make and his teacher really loved it.

Melted Snowmen

Yet another idea I've seen all over the internet and we had to try them ourselves. They turned out really cute!

What A Nativity

Our Christmas program at church was last night. My little wise man said his line so well. I was so proud of him. My little sheep, on the other hand, could have used a shepherd. He wouldn't stay on the stage until I bribed him. I told him if he'd go back up on stage and sit down that I'd give him a Kit Kat. As soon as Kit Kat came out of my mouth, he jumped off my lap, walked up on stage and sat for the rest of the program. He held up his end of the bargain so I guess I owe him one.

Sweet & Salty

I love sweet and salty! I found a recipe for chocolate covered saltines here and thought what a quick and easy way to satisfy a sweet and salty craving.
You may think I'm pretty boring, but all I only added the chocolate chips and some peanuts that I had crushed in my food processor. I also didn't use an entire cup of butter and they turned out great!

He Came To Get Messy

Super Nanny

Super Nanny came on last night and the boys pulled up a chair. I was cracking up. They were in a trance watching the little fit throwing boy on tv.

Where's The Line To See Jesus

Cookie Painting

I found the cutest idea for painting cookies here and thought it would be a great activity for the boys to do for Christmas. So after stirring up some cream cheese cut out cookies (I love these), the boys got after it with their paint brushes.

Big Brother tried his best to cover every last inch. He was slopping "paint" everywhere.

Baby Jaws was not near as thorough, but still had a good time decorating his cookies.

Here are Big Brother's finished trees.

And here are Baby Jaws' cookies after baking.
They loved this activity and it really was pretty quick and simple. Messy, but what boy doesn't love a mess?

Advent Calendar

I found lots of cute cookie sheet advent calendars on so many different blogs. The boys and I decided to make a couple. Ours are not near as elaborate as some I found, but they were quick and easy for two little boys to make, something I look for in crafts.

We started out with a cookie sheet I picked up at the dollar store. We're using magnets, so the cheap steel sheets work. Hubs drilled two holes in the top so we will be able to hang it up.
I painted them with acrylic paint. Here is the first coat.
I wasn't sure what I was going to use for the actual countdown. As I said, there are so many different calendars out there and they're all cute. I found a pack of erasers at the dollar store. I found another pack at Walmart. Each pack had 12 erasers so I took it as a sign to use them. 24 was the perfect amount for the countdown to Christmas. I picked up two packs of each so both boys would have enough for their own calendar. I let them choose which eraser they want each morning and just place a self-adhesive magnet on the back.
I found a printable advent calendar here to use which made our project even easier. I put magnets on everything including the calendar. If we want to make a new one next year, we can just remove the old one and use the same cookie sheet.
I also printed off a photo of each boy with their names and "Christmas countdown". I may be weird posting pics of my boys, but never using their names on my blog. That explains the blackout. We tied a Christmas ribbon at the top and hung up on our wall. The boys cannot wait to add their eraser each day.

Only In Our House

Snowmen

We made egg carton snowmen ornaments today. The boys had so much fun gluing the cotton into the egg cartons. I punched a hole on each side to run ribbon through so that we could hang them on our tree.

Here are our finished Frosties. I love how they look on our tree.

Christmas Time Is Here

Five Quote Friday

When you have to make a choice and don't make it, that is in itself a choice.
~William James

Life is the sum of all your choices.
~Albert Camus

The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live.
~Flora Whittemore

Everything is something you decide to do, and there is nothing you have to do.
~Denis Waitley

Decisions become easier when your will to please God outweighs your will to please the world.
~Anso Coetzer

Thanksgiving & First Snow

We were so excited to see snow on Thanksgiving. It wasn't a lot, but enough to excite the boys. We are definitely ready for winter.

More Mega Deals

I went back to Dillons this morning to use up more of my coupons before the mega sale ends. I got everything in the picture below for FREE! I was able to get plenty for us and plenty to give away.

8 boxes Quick Cook Pasta
10 cans Carnation evaporated milk
2 boxes Oat Revolution oatmeal
4 packages Luden's cough drops
2 Yakisoba noodles
2 Colgate toothpastes
1 Deodorant
1 Nature Valley granola bar
I also bought 16 more packages of Green Giant frozen vegetables and two turkeys at just 59¢/lb. We are set for quite a while! I love my coupons!