Black Friday

I am having a debate with myself over going or staying in. We have bought all of our presents for our boys and nephews, but it sounds so tempting. Most of the gifts we have bought this year have been purchased through awesome online deals or the huge Target clearance at the end of the summer. It is not a good deal if no one is going to use the item or if it is so cheap that it breaks after a few days. While it makes sense for me to stay home, I cannot make any guarantees. I guess it will depend on how chaotic my house is on Thursday night/Friday morning. My guess is the long lines, crazy shoppers, and crowded roads will be less insane.

Burlap Wreath

Tonight at Hobby Lobby I stumbled upon some clearance burlap and an 80% off fall sale. It was only a yard so I cut the burlap in 4in x 1yd strips and just wove it through a wire hanger I had smoothed out. I added 2 accents I got for a few bucks and twisted the wire hanger together at the top. I might add a bow but haven't decided yet.

Homework Havoc

As I am now approaching the 1 hour mark of my 8 year old sitting at the counter doing his homework, I am growing more and more frustrated. Was he not at school for 7 1/2 hours today? I find it hard to believe that in 7 1/2 hours there is still more time that my child needs to be sitting at home during his free time filling out ditto sheets (this is a totally different rant).

While this is not the typical for A and his teachers are usually very kind about the amount of work they send home, it is still very frustrating. I remember walking in the front door and straight out of the back one, disappearing until dusk. I am saddened that my children are not afforded this luxury as they are inside studying. If I wanted my child to sit at the kitchen table and do school work, then I would homeschool. It would be a much easier schedule, we would get to go out of town more, and I would not have to worry about the negative influence of some of the other children. Hmm the more I think about it, the better it sounds.

Melissa and Doug 25% off coupon

My friends at school and my own children love Melissa and Doug products. Take the poll right here and get a 25% off your total order coupon emailed to you. It is valid from November 20-December 31st. I plan on stocking up on some more items for my Dramatic Play center.

Corn Prints

In keeping with my corn theme today, we stamped yellow corn on 11x13 constuction paper. I used potato mashers from Walmart for this activity. After we were finished my aide and I decided these would also be great beehives!

Corn Sensory Tub

Today's touch table is simple yet fun! I just bought a bag of deer corn from walmart and added some shovels, buckets, and bowls. I am going to add large sieves and funnels later this week.

Shopping List 11/13

Wow! The Christmas deals are starting. I always get overwhelmed with all the ads and coupons. I constantly have to remind myself that I don't have to catch every single deal out there.

Toys R Us- Lego sets are 25% off and you get a free lego miniature display case with a $60 purchase. Also in the newspaper ad today there is a coupon for a $10 gift card with a purchase of $75. My boys are super into legos this year and they are hard on the pocket book.

Target offering up an XBOX 360 for $199 with a $50 gift card with purchase. We are DEFINATELY doing this for the boys this year.

Michael's-Print your 40% off coupon here

Hobby Lobby-Print your 40% off coupon here

Dreaded Sock Pile

Not to toot my own horn, but my house is usually pretty clean. My daily chores include sweeping and mopping, wiping down the bathrooms, and washing all the mirrors and glass doors. I could not bear the thought of leaving dirty dishes in my sink or not making all the beds before I leave in the morning. That being said, I feel like I need to "air my dirty laundry". I can not stand mating socks. Even though we lay out everyone's clothes and bags, we always spend way too much time searching for socks in the morning. Tonight I am making the concious effort to end that chaotic daily routine. I am looking forward to a much smoother week!

Duggar Dilemna

Am I the only person who feels bad for the Duggar family? Who cares if she is having her twentieth baby?!? They pay their bills and lead a happy, Christian life.
I can remember the excitement of my first two boys births. I had loads of help, was surrounded by family, and everyone was anxious to meet our newest addition. Every precious moment was treasured as well as every coo or grin.
Then I remember my third child's birth. I stayed alone at the hospital (we lived in South Carolina), had no visitors, no help, and my husband only wad there for the delivery and then to pick me up. My neighbor had to watch my older boys while I was in labor and James ran home 30 minutes later.
Even worse is having a fourth child in your hometown and having every person question ask you "Again?" when they see you. I had no friend visitors once again although I was only in the hospital for 24 hours. (They pretty much push you out of the door ASAP if you have over 3 children)
My point is that all babies should be celebrated no matter how many you have. The Duggars are not asking for money or assistance. My family does not receive money and assistance. Just because someone chooses to have a large family does not make the baby or family less special. I could not imagine life without these 2 sweet little boys.

I think they are even cute in a blurry Iphone pic!

Great Turkey Books

Here are the awesome Turkey Books we have read this week! My favorite is Gobble Gobble Crash...a barnyard counting book.

Pinecone Turkeys

In keeping with my Turkey week, today we made pinecone turkeys for our art museum. A little glue and a few feathers later, we had a pretty cute turkey. I did glue the beak and gobbler on because I used the glue gun, but the feathers, eyes, glue were all them. Some even made one to send to grandma!

Here is the body getting a chance to dry

A finished product completed by one of my older children

Toys R Us Coupons

With Christmas quickly approaching, I feel it is my friendly duty to keep my family and friends up to speed on my deals. Here are all the sweet new Toys R Us coupons.

Discounts for Educators/Homeschoolers

Last night while I was supposed to be returning pants to Old Navy, I ventured down the mall. Naturally I wandered into Books-a-Million to check out the clearance section. I picked out 5 awesome Thanksgiving books for my preschoolers and went to the checkout. It happened to be a day that I wore my staff shirt and the Manager asked if I new about their educator program. As frugal as I am you would think I would have knew that educators INCLUDING homeschool parents save 20% on books they are using for their classroom. Of course I signed up! I also decided to investigate the other places I can save money. Here is my list:

Books-a-Million- 20% off includes homeschool parents!

Michael's-15% off for teachers with an ID card

Joann's-Sign up here for 15% off every purchase as well as bonus coupons

Office Depot-Star Teacher Program off ink, toner, and paper Register here

The Container Store-Register Here for the Organized Teacher Program to get 15% off purchases

The Limited and NY & Co- 15% off with ID or Pay stub

Halloween 2011

There are some things you do to make your children happy that make you look back and think "Wow, I am a dork" This is one of those moments. We were in El Paso for the past week spending much needed time with my brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and sweet nephew. We are so lucky to have other people in our family who share our nerdiness.

Telephone Addiction

D has a definate telephone addiction. I will admit to picking up a phone or two in the checkout to quiet him down. Of course, I could never admit this to my friends.

He cries when he sees phones, if someone answers one, if we don't let him say hello to the person on the line, or if anyone grabs one of his. It is a huge problem in out house. It only adds to the problem that technology is so advanced everyone always has a cell phone.

We are actually missing 2 phones in the picture. He has the blackberry in the van and left a Cinderella one at Uncle Casey's. As you can see, he is not picky.

Painting Turkeys

I know some Early Childhood people are against cutouts to paint, but occasionally we do them. Today I had large turkey cut-outs to go along with our theme. We used brown paint and stuck feathers to them while they were wet. It was interesting to watch the children. Some dabbed paint and added feathers one at a time and others painted the whole turkey and sprinkled feathets on. They turned out cute so I needed to post a picture for myself.

5 Little Turkeys

Five little turkeys standing at the door,
One waddled off, and then there were four.

Four little turkeys sitting near a tree,
One waddled off, and then there were three.

Three little turkeys with nothing left to do,
One waddled off, and then there were two.

Two little turkeys in the morning sun,
One waddled off, and then there was one.

One little turkey had better run away,
For very, very, soon it will be Thanksgiving Day!


I used precut turkeys and hotglued them to popsicle sticks for this story. As with most flannelboard stories or fingerplays, after I am done with them during circle, I leave them out for the children to use. This is why I make most of my things with cheap or recycled goods.

Fall Sensory Table

I bought a small bale of hay from Hobby Lobby and added few bags of pumpkins and squash from Dollar Tree, a few turkey Feathers and rakes. This is messy, but the children have loved it

Recycled Juice Box Blocks

My boys love CapriSun and I have always thought about the boxes being nice and sturdy. I found some sturdy wrapping paper at Michael's for $1 and covered them using packing tape at the ends. They are awesome for jumbo blocks and the children can use markers or stamps to decorate them!