Just when I thought life was boring.

Last night I was thinking how wonderfully boring my life is.  We have playgroups and play dates.  We have dinners out and family time together. 
The this morning I woke up to this horrible barking and it wasn't coming from the dog.  I have never heard such a sound come from my son's mouth.  I knew what the sound was but he was running a very high fever and was having trouble breathing so we got dressed and went to Children's Hospital Boston. 

Rocking a hospital johnny with Koalas in spaceships

We're so lucky to have a wonderful hospital so close by.  They're not only great with children but they are very comforting to parents as well.   Garrett was dosed with steroids and fever reducers and is now home watching the puppy bowl.  You can hear the croup cough when he laughs.
Today will be full of snuggles from mommy and daddy and lots of Tylenol and Motrin to keep his fever down.  I guess this is what happens when I say life is boring, it throws a little excitement my way.

Blog Hop

I decided with my Free and Cheap Friday series I should join the Frugal Friday Blog Hop




Check out the other blogs linked here for great money saving ideas.

Free or Cheap Fridays : Rewards Cards

They take up room in your pocket and are annoying to carry around but boy do they save you money.  Just about every store has a rewards card, if they don't offer you one you can ask about it.
I only have 1 rule about rewards cards: Don't pay for them unless you shop at that store frequently.  Most stores are free but occasionally you find places, like Game Stop, that make you pay for their rewards program.

From Babies R Us to Sephora you can get rewards cards just about anywhere.  Plus if you download the Key Ring app for your smartphone you can easily see what current offers and coupons they have and even use them right from your phone.

The 1 on the right side indicates and additional offer or available coupon.

When I signed up for the Panera card I got a free coffee drink.  Gymboree sends me coupons that I use on sale items (and save even more).  Sephora gives you a free gift when you get to either 100 or 500 points ($1=1 point) you also get notices about giveaways for beauty insiders (their name for the card holders).  My points don't expire so even if I don't get makeup very often I can still get a freebie. 
My favorite card has to be the Godiva rewards card because it gets me a free truffle every month.  Just go in, show them your card and pick out which truffle you want.

Even my health insurance company has it's own version of the CVS card which helps me save even more money on medicines (since they are tax deductible) I may buy and keeps track of what we buy to make it easier to submit to our flex spending account. 

It doesn't cost anything to sign up for these and with my Key Ring app they don't even take up any extra room in my pocket. From coupons to freebies to member exclusives it just makes sense to take the 2 minutes to sign up for these cards.

What my posts would look like in real time.

I thought it would be interesting to write a post that shows all the distractions and work I do when I try and take a few minutes to write up a blog entry. (started at 9:40am)
Dog just jumped on my lap demanding snuggles, which reminds me I need to start the laundry.   I'm about to get up when Garrett climbs onto the couch disturbing Aloysius who is none too happy and runs off growling and barking back into his crate.
I'm lucky that I have my laptop in the living room so I can see everything going on while allowing me to get work online done. 
right, laundry...need to get that started...ok laundry in the machine.  Need to make the bed.  Where is my tea? dog decided to stay in the bedroom
Garrett is a good independent player so I know I can probably get 10-15 minutes at a time to do something. 
He's pulling something on the drying rack.  Darn, wet bags need to get put away.  couch got moved over, dog now wants out of the bedroom
I don't know about other SAHMs, but I'm running around all day doing little things. 
living room is a mess of toys, need to clean this up.  While bending to clean under the mega blocks under the couch Garrett decides he wants a horsey back ride. We all got distracted by Doctor Who.  Oh yes, there's my tea. I just put all those toys away and now he's pulling them out again.

I realize it is now 10:04am.  I've been running around for almost 30 minutes. I'm exhausted.  Someone give my toddler the memo.

Keeping your car organized

 Yes, I am indeed still crafting.  Things have just been hectic lately with all the storms. 


Those of you with children know how hard it can be to keep your car looking clean.  We've got blankets, toys, an extra cup and even emergency diapers.  I needed a better way to keep them organized so when JoAnn's had a pattern sale (at this point I only buy patterns when they are on sale for 99 ¢) and got a pattern for a car organizer.

McCall's pattern M4403

I'm so glad I found this pattern.  I wasn't originally looking for it but came across is during a pattern sale and thought it would be useful in the car.  The pleating was a bit intimidating and I wish the instructions were better but I don't think I did too bad of a job. I still count myself as a beginner. Now his toys don't end up all over the floor and we can easily swap them out or get to his things.  As he grows we can put other things in it for him to play with in the car.

Full of stuff already

I used my teflon foot and it made sewing with the layers of stabilizer much easier.  I opted not to do multiple sections in the top pocket. I also decided not to do the top stiching all the way around because we just wanted to get the car cleaned up.


Even if you don't have children this is a great storage idea for your vehicle.  It makes everything easy to find and nothing gets lost under the seats.

Free or Cheap Fridays: The Sale Rack

Yes, we know, we've heard it before.  Shop sales.  But I'm not talking about the once or twice a year holiday sales that stores have (and I hate those because there is nothing worse then a hugely crowded store while trying to find what you are looking for).   I'm talking about the sale rack. 
I always make a beeline for the sale rack anywhere I go.  The items there are marked down sometimes as much as 60-70%.  But check those signs because items on the sale rack are usually marked down even more.  

I've gotten a $50 Ann Taylor top for $10 on the sale rack.  Or a pair of $35 jeans for $8 at Old Navy.  Even my mother likes to tell the story of the $2 top I found.

Then there was my recent purchase at BabyGap.  For $30 I got 3 pairs of pants and 2 tops.  The shirts are for him to wear now and the pants are 18-24 months and 2T. I'm also lucky enough to have a small child and I can gauge what he'll be fitting into.  I buy in advance.  The "winter" stuff is going on sale.  Who says jeans are just for the winter?  Snatch those styles up.

I don't mind wearing a style from last year because I tend to stick with more simple and classic looks.  I rarely ever pay full price for my clothing.  Even TJ Maxx and Marshall's have sale rack.  Can you argue with a $150 Michael Kors top for $10?
You just have to have a little patience to look through the racks but it pays off in the end.  Since I buy off season my son has things that most other children don't have because it isn't out now.   And that $30 of stuff we bought at BabyGap...would have been about $180 if we bought it all full price.

Dinner can be crafty too

In an effort to eat better and save money Ben decided to make his own pizza dough.  We froze half of it and used the other half to make a delicious olive and pepperoni pizza.
Now we thawed the other half and Ben wanted to make pizza again but I'm more in the mood for calzones.  I love calzones but for some reason here in Boston they don't make them with Ricotta cheese.  Ben isn't into calzones so he'll be using his portion of the dough to make a personal sized pizza.

It doesn't look so tasty in the bag

I found a calzone recipe to help guide me.  I'll keep it simple and make a Ricotta and Spinach calzone.  We both love making our meals and being creative with it and hope that Garrett will enjoy helping us cook as he gets older.  We know he loves to eat what we make.

Ready to go into the oven

It was fun to try something new and in the future we can add different things and try new flavors.  It's a great meal option because everyone can make exactly what they want without having to make different meals for everyone.

All cooked and ready to eat