Target Toy Clearance 2012

Every year we watch for great deals on toys during the month of July at Target. Target does a major toy clearance to make room for new product and at the very end of the month usually has items up to 70% off. We take advantage of this sale to buy Christmas gifts and birthday gifts. We keep an eye out for items we know our nephew, our kids, and our kids friends would enjoy. We also buy for charity to give around Christmas time.

We have been checking our store every week when we run our errands for good deals. Already this month we managed to find a TAG reader world map for 50% off as well as some adorable super hero Little People sets for $3.74 each. This is in addition to two giant LEGOS sets we found at 50% off.

Our store does markdowns Wednesday night do I headed to our store as early as my kids would let me out the door. This year was not as spectacular as years in the past but there was still plenty of great deals. I was pleasantly surprised to find a nice variety of toys this year.

 

Today our Target had lots of Thomas the Train, Cars 2, Sesame Street, My Little Pony, Disney princess and fairies, LEGOS, Trio sets, Super Mario, Fisher-Price toys, and Dora the Explorer items. There was also plenty if outdoor summer toys and Target brand toys available to chose from.

The best part is looking at my receipt and seeing how for so little I can give to children. We get really excited about that!

Less Whine, More Wine

It is nap time right now and for once all three kids are actually snoozing. We spent the morning at the pool and I think it wore the kids out. Which means I can actually be productive and relax a little bit. And by productive I mean sit on the couch and update our blog. Mommy is TIRED.

Summer has been flying by this year, hard to believe that school will be starting up again in just 6 week here. Thomas got out of school  at the end of May and we immediately took a vacation and visited family in Myrtle Beach. The beach was perfect and the boys loved getting to see Logan. Brent and I were just happy to hang out and play board games with the family and drink some wine and relax. We don't get to head out and visit with his family that often so that was really nice to meet up with everyone.

We celebrated Eleanor's 1st birthday in June which was somewhat bittersweet. I was not ready for her to be 1. I think I am slowly coming to terms with the fact that Ellie is not really a baby any more. She (and the boys) get bigger and bigger each day. She took her first steps on the beach and recently has recently decided wrestling with her brothers is a great way to have fun. She is always trying to keep up with her brothers. She loves cars, dogs, and playing in the dirt. Everything she does is adorable, I really love this age it is so much fun. We had her one year pictures taken and I think I about died from cuteness overload. I don't normally buy her a lot of pink outfits but we found this tutu dress in pink and it is the most girly pinkest frilly thing ever. Yeah we had to do it. Our photographer and friend Emily Crall did an awesome job. They turned out better than I could ever have imagined and I am so happy with how they turned out. You can see them here: http://blog.emilycrall.com/2012/07/eleanor-1-year-cedar-rapids-iowa-childrens-photography/ If you look really closely at the pictures you can tell she was playing in the dirt and eating sticks. That's our girl!

The boys have been keeping me busy too. School is out which means Thomas is home again. Adjusting to 3 kids at home all day has been a little crazy. Oliver is used to being king of the house so there has been a lot of squabbling and whining between the boys. We try to mix things up by doing play groups out with friends and visiting the park, splash pad, movie theater, and library several times a week. With summer 1/2 done I think we maybe finally have a good routine going. As long as they don't get bored they usually don't get into trouble. The thing is by the end of the day we have run out of ideas and we all get kind of cranky. You know what kind of cranky I am talking about. In our house it seems to happen between the hours of 4-6 PM right before dad gets home. We call this the WHINING hour in our house. I have not yet found a solution to this conundrum. Perhaps some wine instead of whine? Less whine, more wine. I like it.

Things are not so bad really. We try to enjoy ourselves and make the most of things. Brent has summer break from his MBA program so we have really enjoyed having him around more. We have taken advantage of our time together by visiting family in Des Moines and Chicago and finding fun things to do here in Cedar Rapids on the weekends. Summer has been pretty good to us, whining and all. I will just keep a bottle of wine on hand just in case. ;-)

Summer Reading

With school getting out on Thursday of next week I thought it would be a great time to share with our friends some information about summer reading programs available for kids. Summer reading is a wonderful way to keep kids brains working over summer break and several libraries and programs across the country are trying to encourage this healthy activity by offering lots of freebies and prizes.

Barnes and Noble has a summer reading program available for children in grades 1-6. Kids write down the books they have read in a reading log with a short description of why they would recommend the book. Once they have read 8 books they can bring their reading log into a Barnes and Noble store to earn a FREE book! The program runs from May 22nd to September 4. How fantastic! More details can be found online at: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/summer-reading/379003570  Or to print out your reading log go to: http://img1.imagesbn.com/pimages/kids/summerreading/2012/bnsummertearpad.pdf

Locally, our own Cedar Rapids Public Library has a special summer reading program available. The program runs from June 1 to July 27 and is available to independent readers up to age 12 as well as younger kids that need to be read to still. Kids earn rewards along the way and at the end of the program there will be a raffle to win a bike! Registration for the program begins June 1st and can be completed online or at a participating library. More information can be found here: http://www.crlibrary.org/kids/summer-reading/


Even if you don't have a child in school and have a preschooler or toddler it is never to early to start reading and making this a fun family tradition. Developing the habit of family reading time is a great way to encourage learning at every age. With that in mind each of us in our home will have our own "reading list" this summer because after all, we all can benefit from some nice quiet time and a good book. Brent already has several books he would like to read this summer and I know I have several waiting to be read as well. My boys alone check out an average of 10 books a week from our library so I know there will be plenty of new books for us to get our hands on this summer.

Plus there are plenty of fun crafts you can do to get younger kids excited about reading. You can have them make their own bookmarks, help them decorate their own library tote bag, and lots more! You can even get books on tape or audio books for long road trips. Our kids current favorite book is a sing-along called Pete the Cat. And lucky for us the publisher has a free mp3 download available online so now I can pull it up on my phone or lap top at any time! How cool is that? Get your own Pete the Cat mp3 here: http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/feature/petethecat/

"Mommy Stuff"

When you become a parent it seems like your life become too busy for just about anything. Every second of time is important. However, every once in a while I find time to chat on the phone or catch up with a friend by email. This week I had a friend ask me what I have been up to other than my usual “mommy stuff.” I kind of had to laugh. So much of my life is centered on what makes my kids happy that I actually had to stop and think because I couldn’t recall the last thing I did that wasn’t for my kids. It took me a few minutes to get out of mommy mode and recall the last time I did something for me.

When my friend asked me what I had been up to other than mommy things, the first things that came to mind were all related to my kids. I thought of how I am having so much fun with my son Oliver at our parent-child swim lessons. I thought of what I was working on with the PTA at Thomas’s school this month. I thought of how much I enjoy playing in our backyard with Ellie every afternoon and how much I love to push her in her baby swing. I wanted to talk about all the cool finds for the kids that I found at a garage sale last weekend or what I plan on doing with the kids this summer or about our upcoming family vacation.

I do have things that I enjoy and do for myself. I enjoy photography, cooking, and have recently been very active in our church and I have even started working out at the gym. However, the first things that came to mind to describe myself were my kids. My children have become such a big part of my life that they now are part of my identity. What a powerful thing parenthood can be!

 It made me stop and think for a moment about how much my life has changed. Almost every part of my day revolves around my family and more specifically my kids. Years ago my former self would have said that this was a BAD thing. “Adults need freedom and the ability to do what makes them happy. Kids need to not be the center of the home. You have to put yourself first!”  I would have said. I would be furrowing an eyebrow at the new me. How dare I give up my independence and push aside my needs and wants. 

It is funny how parenthood can change a person and transform a person’s values. This is not to say that this is the case for other people, but for me it certainly has been a truth. Before kids (and I would even say as a new parent) I had a totally different perspective. Today my world is absolutely centered on my kids! I would give up anything and do anything to better their lives. Really important things from before seem not nearly as important. There are a lot of things that I would love to indulge in. For instance photography classes, a Kindle fire or all the new technology gadgets out there, the latest and greatest fashions, and pedicures every month. Those would be nice. When you have a family though, other things become important. Swim lessons, T-ball, family vacations, and college savings become important. Our goals as a family are to do everything to make both our lives and our children’s future better. I will give up a pedicure and latte any day to give my family the experiences that will forever change their lives. 

With Mother’s Day approaching this weekend I have to admit how much I love my family. I feel blessed to have children with unique personalities that lift me up every day. I love the way they giggle and laugh, their little wrinkles on their feet after bath time, how they explore the world, their curiosity, how they love learning new things, and all the extra cuddles and hugs I get from them (sticky fingers and all). Some days are challenging for sure, but they are always rewarding.  I love that Brent and I are walking through this journey of parenthood together. We walk through it together and we never take for granted those little blessings that we get each day.

Teacher Appreciation for a POPular staff

When Thomas started school in the fall I made it a priority of mine to get involved at his school. One of the ways I have been doing that is by volunteering and serving on the PTA as co-president. It has been both a wonderful and challenging experience for me as a parent. I really love the staff and families that I have worked with over this school year. However, the staff just rocks my world!
My friend and fellow co-president Carrie agrees and we decided to do something nice for our staff. With it being Teacher Appreciation Week and all we decided to get our craft on and try our hands on these adorable soda pop goodies.
We used an easy and oh-so-cute (and free!!!) printable tutorial on this blog: http://darlingdoodles.blogspot.com/2011/10/put-some-pop-into-your-love-life.html
We attached them to construction paper and used a hole punch and some ribbon and string to tie the cards securely around the neck of the bottles. Instant success! We delivered them in the afternoon for our staff to enjoy a nice little pick me up because even teachers need some caffeine and sugar every now and then.
So happy to have wonderful staff and teachers at my son's school! What a POPular staff they are for us!

Eleanor's Baptism

 

 

 

Eleanor was baptized yesterday. It was a very special day for our family. A family friend made her dress out of my wedding gown and she looked beautiful in her little outfit. Even more special, we had several family members travel up for her special day including her Grandpa Todd. Todd actually baptized each of our boys in Swea City, Iowa. This time we had the privilege of having him as a guest pastor at our church in Cedar Rapids. Grandpa Todd got to baptize Eleanor just like he had for our boys only in our new church. This was a huge blessing for our family to be surrounded by love in our church.
We actually starting attending our church Lovely Lane when I was still pregnant with Eleanor. About this time last year Brent and Thomas were traveling to see their Grandpa at the Iowa Methodist Annual Conference. We had only recently moved to Cedar Rapids and I decided this would be a great weekend to go "church shopping" as they call it. The very first church I tried out in Cedar Rapids is the only one we tried and it is now our home church! In the last year we have become very close to members of the church. We feel like this church encourages us to be stronger in our faith together as a family. We have really come to love our church and having Eleanor baptized in our new church was very special because we were able to baptize her in the presence of many people that have blessed our family with so much love.
Baptism is always special I should say. It is us as parents promising to raise our children in Christ's image of love. However, this baptism was different I think for me than it has been in the past. Every time I baptize another one of my children the promises I make when I take those vows become stronger and stronger. It could be that this is my youngest child but I really feel that each baptism has strengthened my resolve to be a better parent and a better Christian. It would seem like a simple thing, but it is very important. A good parent instills the sense of love and respect that the teachings of the bible and Jesus give to us. Likewise, a good Christian carries the cross and reaches out to others and really lives out the teachings found in the bible. Being a good parent and being a good Christian are interconnected. I am so happy to know that all of my children will have the chance to grow up surrounded by the love of family, friends and a wonderful church. As a parent I couldn't ask for anything more beautiful for our family.

Play and Learn Time

Ollie and Ellie and I have a favorite day of the week. No it is not Friday. It is Tuesday! On Tuesday mornings we visit our library and attend a play group sponsored by the United Way of Eastern Iowa. It is a free program for kids 0-5 that focuses on teaching kids through a play based curriculum. Kids play at stations for the first part of the program and end with a special circle time of songs, dancing, and book. During play time we do several activities. Sometimes we do a craft, other timed we play games or dress up. This week was sensory week. All of the sensory activities were available. Our favorite was the ball pit. It was a big hit! The kids are not just having fun though-- they are learning too! Children that attend are getting exposure to a pre- classroom setting which can be very important for developing the skills to learn later in life. The wonderful curriculum of Spanish, colors, shapes, numbers, reading and math, science and more doesn't hurt at all either!