Date Night Challenge

We have been married for 14 years.  Wait.  What?  I am not old enough for that.  Yikes!  Okay, well I guess I have to face the facts.  14 years is a long time. We have had a lot of highs and lows in the last 14 years, but I am so happy to be married to a man who still makes me laugh every single day and who was made perfectly for me.  However, there are times when we just go through the motions.  I have learned that you don't necessarily lose the passion, but instead the burning passion develops into a slow burn that keeps you warm and toasty and brings much happiness.

I also love to laugh and make sarcastic remarks to the people who say "you should go out on weekly dates with your husband to keep your marriage alive".  That is great...until you have children and/or one income.  Then those weekly "dates" become almost impossible.  You are in the trenches and you must hold on to each other for dear life.  It gets harder and harder to make the time and money to go out on a date.

Then when the date finally comes, you just stare at each other.  Not sure what to say.  However, as the night wears on it becomes comfortable and nice and by the end of dinner you are having a nice conversation.  And just when it is rolling....... it is time to go back to the trenches.

I am not sure how dates go with other married peeps, but for us they have been a little boring and predictable.  We both LOVE movies and when you have kids, it is always a treat to see a movie that is not animated or fraught with kid humor (aka fart/poop jokes).  So when we do get a night out, we like to go to movies.  That and we can never think of anything else to do.  But by the time our conversation got rolling, it is time to go to the movie and then it's the end of conversation.

We were in a rut.  My husband has so many wonderful gifts, but romantic dates nights has never been his strong suit.  It used to kind of make me mad.  But I have recently come to a startling realization.  Why can't I come up with a fun, romantic, out of the box date night?  I have always been frustrated that he didn't come up with a creative date night, but I never challenged myself to do it either.

So last Friday night, I did it.  I planned a date night.  Now I know why he doesn't do it.  It was really hard to come up with something fun, interactive, different and fairly inexpensive.

However, thanks to Pinterest and some added "free" time while I was subbing I came up with the brilliant idea for our date night.  I texted my sister to see if she could watch the kids (free babysitting always makes for a cheaper date night.  If you don't have family around think about hooking up with another couple and swapping date nights/babysitting) and I texted my hubby to let him know we were going on a surprise date night.

We got in the car and I told him what we were doing.  The great thing about C-Lo is that he is always a good time and was totally in for our night.  Made it so much fun!  Total participation from both partners is a must.

Our Date Night:

We did a photo scavenger hunt.  I came up with 14 things (one for each year of our marriage) that we had to do and take a picture of while we were on our date.  I decided that we would go downtown to the 16th street mall so that we could accomplish all of our "activities" in one place.  However, you could go to several different places.  I just wanted to get out of our "Littleton" bubble and try some new places.

Here was our list.  Take Pictures of us…….

1.  Celebrating being married.

2.  Sharing dinner at a restaurant that is new or out of the ordinary.

3.  Sharing dessert somewhere different.

4. In a store we have never been into.

5.  Posing with a mannequin.

6.  Our reflection.

7. In a mask or costume.

8.  Holding hands.

9.  Jumping.

10.  Finding the letters of our last name.

11.  With a book or music that you/we love.

12.  With something outrageous you/we want to buy.

13.  Trying on shoes/clothes.

14.  Kissing.

We spent 4 amazing hours downtown doing all of these things.  The best thing about it was that it gave us a purpose and we had 4 hours just to talk, laugh and be silly together.  I felt like a teenager again.  We have already said that our next date night will be very similar.  But next time, C-Lo has to come up with the list of things for us to do.  Much easier than coming up with a new romantic idea.  

Another rule that we had was that we had to share appetizers, dinner and dessert so that it would cut down on costs and to make sure we weren't going to kill our calorie count for the entire month!  We did this date for under $75 (with drinks, appetizer, dinner, dessert and parking).  Cheaper than dinner and a movie!

Another bonus of the night.  A photo diary of what you did.  Great for memories!  

Here is our photo diary.   I took the night off from professional photography and left the big camera at home, so please excuse the low lit iphone pictures!  I put them in the order we did them, not in the order of the above list.

I giggled and smiled my way through these pictures as I was editing them.  Another bonus to the night.....reliving it on the blog.

Ladies, if you are craving a fun night out PLAN IT YOURSELF!  You won't be sorry.

Guys, I just made an easy, creative, romantic date night plan for you.  DO IT!  You're welcome.

Pinterest Challenge: Day 18

Shhhh.  Do you hear that?  It is quiet at my house.  Usually a quiet house means that the chanchos are into something they shouldn't be.  Even during "quiet time" I hear a lot of giggling, fighting and "are we done yet?".  But I have had about 2 hours of virtual silence.  I feel like I am on vacation and I have gotten SO MUCH DONE!

This is all brought to you by today's Pinterest Challenge.  The kids are really getting into it.  After yesterdays fun ice excavation they woke up this morning asking what today's challenge would be.  To be honest, I was going to do something crafty or make a special drink...but the begging children changed my mind.  So did the 15 minutes of crying and fighting after swim team practice.  So I took matters into my own hands and went to "The Chanchos" board.

And this is what I found.


Genius!  Why haven't we thought of this before?  It is perfect for hot summer days.  I used the duvet cover from my bed and put a big fan in the hole at the bottom of the cover.  Turn on the fan and Viola!, you have a fan fort.  And you have 2 hours all to yourself.

I didn't take any pictures for several reasons.

#1  DON'T UPSET THE BALANCE.  As soon as you poke your head in and disturb the force...it is all over.  It is just like saying "Oh, they are sleeping so good (or taking such a long nap)".  Inevitably the kid wakes up 30 seconds later.  Or you say "they are playing so well together".  It is the kiss of death and fighting will quickly ensue.  Seasoned parents have learned......just don't say it!

#2 It is really dark in the room and it would be tough to really see anything.  The pictures above are about right and it really isn't hard to duplicate.

I have a feeling we will be using this "pin" all summer long.  I even let them eat lunch in there.  Best mom ever (or a mom who just needs a break, you be the judge).

You really should try this.  It is much easier and requires a lot less "stuff" than a regular fort.  It even stays inflated and you don't need anything to weigh it down or hold it up.

Mine even want to sleep in it tonight.  Heck, I want to sleep in it tonight!

Free Clothes!

Okay, so that title might be a bit misleading.  I just want to let you all in on where/how I buy most of my kids' clothes for almost nothing.  It does require a little (or a lot if you are Lisa Lord) time and some hard work but it is all worth it for a year's worth of clothes for little or nothing.

Here is the down-low.  My kids have all gone to preschool at the St. Philip Early Learning Center.  First of all, amazing program, teachers, staff, everything.  We have been so happy there.  The ONLY (yes, no selling cookie dough or wrapping paper) fundraiser that they do is a yearly consignment sale.  It. Is. Awesome.  It is so much fun to be a part of.  They have over 350 sellers, selling over 60,000 items in 4 days.  They take the church where they hold preschool and turn it into a HUGE, very high quality consignment sale.  People bring in their gently used (usually Brand name) clothes, toys, baby items (almost anything baby and kid related) and sell it.  The seller gets 70% of the profit and the preschool gets 30% (which you get to write off on your taxes since they are a non-profit).  Everyone wins.  Everyone goes home happy.  Usually the preschool makes between $20,000 and $30,000.  That means they sell over $75-100,000 worth of kids items.  Which means there are some great deals to be made!  I sell all the things my kids have grown out of.

This is my car fully loaded to drop off to sell.  So freeing to get rid of all that "stuff"!

I have sold items the last 4 or 5 years.  Each year I get a little better at it and each year I make a little more money (let me know if you want to know my tricks of the trade).  Usually the goal is to make as much money as I spend.  The last 2 years I have made MORE money than I spent (last year with over $100 in my pocket)!  That means I got all of my stuff for FREE!!!!!!!  I buy everything there: bikes, Legos, clothes, Keen shoes (as long as I beat Eryn Hodges to the shoe room), costumes and on and on and on.  My kids LOVE when the sale comes.  They can't wait to see what treasures I bring home.

Tanner's Favorite "buy" from last year.  See the white tag still on it?  This ninja suit has seriously paid for itself.  He LOVES it and still wears it all the time.

 2 years ago I brought home this sweet swivel chair that looks like a hand (seen here in JJ's 3 year old photo shoot).

It still resides in the basement and 2 years later... the kids still fight over who gets to sit in it.  It got it for $10.  So worth it.

So have I convinced you?  If you are interested in selling, it is SUPER easy this year.  They have gone electronic!  You do everything online, print your tickets and pin them on.  I have already done most of mine and it took me half the time!  Then as the sale is in process (hour by hour updates), you can see what you have sold (and therefore know how much you can spend)!

If you want to shop, shop early.  Trust me, it is the only way to go!  The girls at church heard me say it for years, but last year one of them actually volunteered and was able to shop early.  She told me how amazed she was at how much better the selection was.  All you have to do is volunteer (or have your husband volunteer) for 3 hours.  That is it!  And you get to shop on Wednesday night before the public on Thursday morning.  If you really want to get the good stuff, then you volunteer for 12 hours (or more-or 6 hours in childcare) and you get to leisurely stroll through the amazing deals with about 40 people instead of several hundred.  It is worth it.  If you are really crazy (and devoted to the school and love spending time with your friends) then you can be a committee chair (we are still in need of a Cashiering Committee Chair).  You have to attend 4 meetings in the months leading up to the sale and put in 15+ hours the week of the sale, but you get to shop on Tuesday night (and get the really, really good stuff).  Not only do you get the best stuff, but you get the best prices.  For example, there might be three identical exersaucers.  If you shop on Tuesday night, you get the nicest one and the cheapest one.  Is there still one available on Thursday morning?  Yes, but it costs $20 instead of $12.  One year I got a brand new double jogging stroller/bike trailer for $75.  Of course, I was the 2nd one in the door and I sped walked to get it.  Still use it.  Worth every hour I volunteered.  And then there are the crazies.  Like me.  I am the head honcho of the whole sale this year.  Which means I get to shop whenever the heck I want to (but won't actually have time to do it!).  Plus I get to shop on Tuesday night for the rest of my life.

Anyway....I am not saying you need to be amazingly dedicated.  All you have to do it show up for 3 hours and have a great time sorting clothes, or helping people, or taking tickets, or bagging purchases, or working the bake sale cart.  It is all easy, and FUN!  Do I sound like a commercial?

The best part about volunteering....signup is all online.  You can get on the website and sign up for your volunteer hours without ever having to talk to a person.  A huge advantage for me.  I avoid talking on the phone at all cost (especially with strangers).  You can sign up for what time you want to work and what area you want to help with.  There are weekend and evening shifts too if you need to work when your hubby can be home to watch the kids (or if you work over 15 hours, they have childcare that you can sign up for).

I always have fun at the sale and look forward to it each year.  Can't wait for the last week in April to come this year!

Please, please, please sign up to sell and/or volunteer.  I guarantee you won't regret it!  And if you do end up selling, volunteering or shopping come find me and say hi.  I will be there every minute of every day!  And don't forget to get a famous chicken salad sandwich.  They are legendary and to. die. for.

See you April 21-27th.

I am a bag lady

Yep.  I love bags/purses.  Throughout the years I have collected many bags; diaper bags, purses, camera bags, computer bags, school bags, wallets, and so on.  I also have a hard time letting go of my bags.  I always think I will find another use for them, when in all reality, I would much rather just go and buy a new bag.  Who wouldn't?  I will say in the last few years, my bag buying has slowed down (who knew kids were so darn expensive?).

Since May, I have been "living" between three or four bags.  When we went to New York, I packed up a new bag ($8 at goodwill), that I could use for my HEAVY camera and everything else.  But then, who wants to carry a HUGE bag around New York City, so I had a smaller purse for that too.  When I got home, I was switching between those two bags (and a backpack that I use for camera equipment).  Long story long, I have been needing to find ONE bag to suit my needs.  Thankfully my needs have changed!  I no longer have to carry wipes or diapers or any of that kind of stuff, so I can carry a dainty little bag right?

WRONG!  Now I carry, hand sansistizer (as my 6 year old calls it), McDonald toys, balls, snacks, gum, pads of paper (for restaurants), pens, business cards and so on.  So I need a big bag, but not a diaper bag.  Time for a new purse, right?  Wrong again!  Due to budget constraints (and the fact that I just had to buy 2 new "bags" for the kiddos to go back to school- so that is where my bag money is going!!!), I cannot buy a new bag.  So today, I did what any budget conscious mother of three would do.  I went shopping in the crawl space.  I have a plethora of bags and purses that I no-longer-needed-but-couldn't-get-rid-of hiding in the basement.  Oh what fun I had!

However, in true busy woman fashion, many of those bags never made it to the cleaning stage.  They were quickly thrown aside in haste when the new bag came and I just had time to transfer the necessities.  I am sure none of you do this, but I am a big culprit.

Would you like to see what I found in said discarded purses?  I thought you would never ask!

Most scientists use carbon dating to figure out how old something is.  I have a different scale.  The benedryl dating.  We have A LOT of allergies at our house and therefore, I have become the benedryl hoarder.  I always have some on hand.  If you have an allergic reaction, just search for LISA LORD and I will hook you up!  Of course it may be in the form of children's liquid benedryl, but it might just save your life.  Chris had to resort to this once when he ate some pesto (with nuts) at his best friends rehearsal dinner.  Think of the movie Hitch where Will Smith is drinking the medicine out of the straw.  Yep, been there, done that. 

That being said, there was benedryl in almost every purse.  I could tell how old the purse was by the expiration date on the benedryl.  The oldest one says 3/2008 (meaning that the purse was probably used in 2007).  Before then, I usually carried liquid benedryl because my kids weren't big enough to chew the medicine.  The bottle was much bigger to carry, so it usually made it to the trash can when it expired.  These little guys like to hide in the deep recesses of the purse.  Notice the one that has been used?  

Also carried constantly in the purse is the epi-pen.  Again, if you are in anaphylatic (by the way, spell check thought this word should be prophylactic...hahahahaha- no comments about the shape of the epi-pen) shock and need some epinephrine, I am your gal.  These are also cumbersome and therefore also tend to get trashed when they expire.  This one needs to go in the trash too, but that seems so wasteful (especially when they cost a FORTUNE, luckily never had to actually use one)

Further dating of the purse can be done using postage stamps.

Thanks to Google, I know that the 37 cent stamp was used from June of 2002- January of 2006.  So the purse that this came out of could be upwards of 10 years old.

Ummmmm, apparently this purse was used when I was still a Coombs (over 13 years ago). 

Foley's.....really?  Apparently didn't use that very often.  This card was pre-kids (almost 9 years).  However, (again thanks Google) Foley's officially became Macy's in early 2006.  I probably didn't even need to cover up the number on this one.  Doubt the account even exists anymore.  Wish I could say that about my other credit card!

Apparently Target receipts are not a very accurate date scale.  The only thing you can see is their terrible return policy on the back, the front is totally blank.  Hummmmm, interesting.  Wonder what I bought that day?

Walmart, on the other hand, much better.  I can see that I went through the self checkout on 5/9/2005 with 24 items.  Who does that?  Apparently me.  I must have not wanted to wait in a long checkout line with a two year old and being 6 months pregnant!

 

This might just be the best!  Apparently I had to make a last minute deposit on December 31, 2002.  Those deposit slips were made to last!  No guess work here, except why did I keep this?  Oh yeah, no internet banking yet (also no kids yet, no wonder why I was depositing so much!).

Now, onto the treasures I found.  Now that I know WHEN I was using the purse, I can find out what I was using the purse for.  Before kids, there were a large quantity of feminine products.  Girls hate to be caught without those, and plus it is a good way of keeping men out of your purse. They are always scared they are going to accidentally touch one!  There were also a vast array of beauty products.  Some....very interesting.  My 6 year old niece is about to come into a gold mine of beauty!  (really.  Starburst lip smacker lip gloss.  How old was I?)

Perhaps this one should have gone up into the "dating" section.  For the life of me, I cannot figure out who's wedding this would have come from.  If you recognize it, let me know and help me solve the mystery of WHY there was UNEATEN chocolate in one of my purses.  This is highly unusual.

Gotta love things that don't have expiration dates on them!  Chick-fil-a here I come!  The McDonalds one might be harder to use.  It looks pretty dated, but I am going to try.  Perhaps if a cute little boy with a sweet smile gives it to a young gal behind the register I might be in luck.

Really, a bouncy ball.  Who carries this around?  Perhaps it was a crazy woman who let her kids convince her to give them 25 cents at Old Navy while she was trying to shop and they HAD to have a bouncy ball from the big dispenser.  Then said bouncy ball proceeded to bounce ALL over the store until the mom had enough and made the little boys give it to her.  She then stuck it in her purse where she prayed that they would never find it or think of it ever again.  I am just guessing.  That wasn't me running all over Old Navy after 3 boys and a bouncy ball.  Not me.  Never.  (at least not recently, I learned my lesson with this red ball).  All you moms out there.  Word of advise.  Don't do it.  Don't be lured in by the cute little people whining.  It will just make it worse.

Who says stay-at-home mom's don't make any money?  I made a huge haul today.  There was so much change in all of those purses!  There had to have been at least $2 in pennies!  I also found a few gold dollar coins.  Good thing.  The tooth fairy has been on the prowl.

Are you ready for the sentimental part?  Look what I found.  Tons of wallets of my favorite little boys.  It was so fun to walk down memory lane with these pictures.  Sorry that it isn't a very good picture.  Pictures of pictures are never very good.  Aren't they so cute?

This one is each boy at 6 months old.  Makai's face is hard to see, but they all look so much alike!

At the end of the night, all I am left with is a big bin of purses and a lot of memories (oh yeah, and a HUGE pile of junk on my kitchen table).  Time to transfer all my "important" stuff into a new/old bag!

Anyone need to do some bag shopping?  We could work out a deal!

Time for bed, this old bag is tired!

School's Out for Summer

School got out last Thursday, marking the official beginning of summer.  Summer is in full swing with swim team every morning, late nights playing outside with friends and lots of FIGHTING!  I guess they balance each other out (most of the time) and we enjoy spending time together! 

Here are some pictures of the boys on the first day of school and the last day of school.

They have gotten so much bigger! 

We have no major plans this summer!  We are going to try to do Fun Free Fridays with the neighbors.  We are going to take turns planning activities that are free (fountain parks, hiking, swimming, etc.) and that we can pack a lunch and just have fun together!  We are also working towards a trip to Water World.  Everyday we will have an hour of "work" time.  The kids are required to do 30 minutes of reading, 15 minutes of math (online, leapsters or worksheets) and 15 minutes of chores.  It is a nice break in the middle of the day when the kids are hot and tired and need a break from each other.  If they do the required hour per day (or most days of the week) we will treat the kids to water world at the end of the summer.  We did it last year and it was a big hit. The kids get their reading and math in so their brains don't turn to mush and I get some chores out of them with minimal whining.  A quick reminder of the end reward keeps them from whining too much. 

Here's to a great summer!

Saving money....yes please!

Hello Fellow Budgeters,

It seems like everywhere you turn, people are trying to save money.  I am no exception.  I love being a stay at home mom, but it requires us to be a little creative with our finances.  I bet there are some of you in the same boat.  I just thought I would share a few of my money saving tips.  Please feel free to comment and let me know of your favorite deals.

Kids' lunches.  My son NEVER eats hot lunch.  I guess that is okay.  It saves us money and I get to see what he doesn't eat for lunch (as he brings it home again, not smart enough yet to throw it all away so mom doesn't see that you didn't eat your sandwich).  Here is my money saving tip for packing a lunch.  My kids love Sunny D (who doesn't?).  But the individual Sunny D's are $2.50 for 6 of them.  So I bought a six pack and then I wash them in the dishwasher and buy the BIG Sunny D (for $2.50) and then refill!  Voila!  Money saved. Buying juice boxes or little chocolate milks are expensive, but not refillable Sunny D!

 
Next way to save money this time of year...make your own gifts.  This can be hard if you are not crafty, but I think that there are lots of good ideas out there for all craft levels!  You can make ornaments for family members (salt dough), make calendars or photo books on Snapfish or Shutterfly (they always have great sales if you are on their email list), make Santa hats for your kids (so easy), or for the most advance crafters, you can make advent calendars.  Check out this one my awesome sister made for me last year.  (note: this is not for the beginner crafter.  There was much weeping and gnashing of teeth over this project.  Of course, she made 25 of them, so that didn't help the problem).  But it is AWESOME!  The picture doesn't really do it justice.

The next gift has brought my family SO much joy (and a little pain when there is fighting over it) over the last few years.  This is something that Santa brought a few years ago.  It cost Santa a pretty penny, but it was worth it.  It is our kid's favorite thing about Christmas!  They play with it every day.  So, this is something that will be used for many Christmases to come.  So this money saving tip is, find a family heirloom or tradition to invest in!

2006- The Inaugural Year (Makai age 3)

2008- Makai 5, JJ 6 months, Tanner 3

2011- Tanner 6, Makai 8, JJ 3

I have saved the best for last.  Who loves coffee?  Who loves ridiculously overpriced coffee?  Who loves ridiculously overpriced coffee with all of the fixings?  Me, me, me!  I love Starbucks.  I do not, however, love the price of Starbucks.  Two years ago, a good friend changed my life.  She introduced me to (drum roll please)....the Misto.  Yep.  This is the best kept secret at Starbucks.  Not only does it cost less, it has a LOT less calories!  It is a win/win!  A misto uses regular drip coffee and then adds all of your fancy fixings after that!  So instead of using (really expensive) espresso and then adding a ton of milk and then your highly caloric fixings, they use more coffee and then less milk and then the highly caloric fixings.  So for example let's take my favorite holiday drink: the cinnamon dolce latte.  Regular price for a grande cinnamon dolce latte $4.55+ and 210 calories (if you have non fat milk).  Regular price for a grande cinnamon dolce MISTO......$3.25 and 70 calories (plus the syrup, they didn't have the calories for that).  So, it saves you over $1 per drink and 100 calories.  To that I say......who wants some Starbucks?  So, next time you go to Starbucks, try a misto (with your favorite flavoring) and pick one up for me too!

My favorite ornament

Merry Christmas, and happy bargain hunting!