Archive for March, 2009
{ March 31, 2009 @ 3:01 pm }
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{ Children }
{ Tags: Lego, Lego building instructions, Tuesday's tip jar }
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Legos are my son’s favorite toy. He spends several hours each day building things and playing with his new creations. If you are familiar with legos, you know that when you buy a box of legos, they come with building instructions, to help you make specific lego items, such as buildings, people, vehicles, etc.
When our son started getting into legos, we just kept the instructions with the legos. Most of these instruction booklets ended up getting torn apart and lost, or in such bad shape, we had to throw the instructions away. But without the instructions, there were items we could no longer build. I spent some time searching the internet to see if I could find instructions and discovered you can download building instructions from lego.com.
We actually haven’t printed any out, but I will search for certain ones and then keep them on the computer screen as we build. So if you have lost lego building instructions, or are looking for new building ideas, check out lego.com.
For more tips or to participate in Tuesday’s Tip Jar, go to BlogMommas.com.
{ March 30, 2009 @ 12:03 pm }
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{ Groceries, Shopping, saving money }
{ Tags: CVS, Giant (PA), Rite-Aid, Target, Wal-Mart, Walgreens, weekly deals, weekly specials }
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{ March 28, 2009 @ 7:53 pm }
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{ Budget, Children, Family, Free, Home/Household, Job/Career, money }
{ Tags: achieving goals, cost of using your printer, Free, free cook books, free mp3 downloads, frugal tips, Great American Bake Sale, income diversity, not participating in this recession, teaching kids to save money }
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{ March 26, 2009 @ 7:25 pm }
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{ Books, giveaway }
{ Tags: book giveaway links }
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Today I found several websites with links to book giveaways. I love signing up for giveaways, it’s so great to win books! I recently won God in the White House from Literate Housewife. Thanks so much!
If you enjoy winning books, here are some of the links I discovered today:
Proud Bookworm (Check out the giveaway list is on the left hand side of the site.)
Book Contest Links
Fresh Fiction
Stone Soup has giveaways almost every week. I signed up this week, I’d like to win The Shack. I actually won it last year, read it, and thought it was very good. My husband was over halfway through this book when our dog chewed it up. So I would like to get another copy so my husband can finish it and then be able to lend out to friends.
Do you know of websites that regularly have book giveaways? If so, please share! Thanks!
{ March 26, 2009 @ 3:43 pm }
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{ Books }
{ Tags: Best Bad Book, Booking Through Thursday }
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The opposite of last week’s question: “What’s the best ‘worst’ book you’ve ever read — the one you like despite some negative reviews or features?”
I read this question this morning and since then have tried to figure out what my “Best Bad Book” is… It seems to me that every book has people who love it and people who hate it. So here are a few books that I enjoyed, that I know some people thoroughly hated:
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle (I have read quite a few of her books and like all of them, although in varying degrees.)
I love all of Jane Austen’s books. Again, it seems like people either love or hate her works.
Even Now by Karen Kingsbury (This was my first book by this author and I thought it was good. Definitely not a favorite book that I will re-read, but it was a decent story. Before I read this book, it was my understanding that this author wrote “cheesy Christian books”, but I don’t think that is the case.)
Check out more responses to this question at Booking Through Thursday.
{ March 25, 2009 @ 10:41 am }
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{ Food, Recipes }
{ Tags: macaroni and cheese, recipe, stewed tomatoes }
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Macaroni and cheese is one of my favorite meals. It’s easy to make, uses only a few ingredients, tastes great when reheated and freezes well. My mom gave me this recipe:
Macaroni and Cheese
1 cup noodles (I normally use elbow noodles, and actually use a whole box, 16 oz)
1 cup milk
1/2 lb extra sharp cheddar, grated or cut into small chunks
2 tablespoons flour
Cook noodles in boiling water 7-9 minutes. Drain. Stir in flour. Add milk. Stir in cheese. Cook over medium until cheese melts and the sauce becomes thick. Watch closely. (When I use extra noodles, I usually add some extra milk, flour, and cheese. Sometimes I only have sharp cheddar on hand, and that works fine. Other types of cheeses work well also, it depends on what taste you want.)
I normally also make stewed tomatoes to go on top of the macaroni and cheese.
Stewed Tomatoes
Cut up one large tomato, put in blender. Add 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Cook until thickened. (If you use more tomatoes, add more cornstarch and sugar. Use less sugar if you don’t want the stewed tomatoes to be sweet or vice versa.)
Check out more Works for Me Wednesday tips at We Are THAT Family.
{ March 24, 2009 @ 1:50 pm }
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{ Home/Household, Organization }
{ Tags: organizing, Tuesday's tip jar, using mugs for storage }
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A few years ago cleaned I had a major drawer cleaning in my bathroom where I keep my makeup, toiletries, etc. I needed some small containers to hold some of my smaller items. I decided to take some of the mugs out of our kitchen that we never use and put them to work in my bathroom. So I have two mugs in my bathroom drawer holding items like eye liner, mascara, lip gloss, and other items that fit well in the mug. My drawer is now tidy, and I don’t have lots of items flying around when I open and close it.
If you have extra mugs or cups that you don’t use for drinking, look around your house to see if you can use them organize. They also make good pencil holders.
Check out more tips at Blog Mommas.
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