Honestly though. Can anyone say that without singing it? I certainly can't. Since Fall is here now (believe it or not despite our 100 degree heat index the last couple of days...) we are quickly approaching Christmas season and for some reason this song has been stuck in my head. Which lead me to thinking about how I have some "favorite" things right now. Thought I would note some of those because I like looking back at old blog posts a year or more later and seeing what was going on with us at that point.
These big coloring page books are awesome! They can keep a kid busy for ever and a day if they are into coloring like one particular kid I know is right now. Kenzie is turning into quite the artist lately. It's so funny that as the kids that hated coloring until she was almost 3 and a half or so, she is so obsessed lately that if we give her an extra minute, we can always find her coloring. She gets easily distracted by it. She will often disappear into her room to do something specific, say get her pjs and come to the bathroom for bathtime, and she never returns. We will find her 5 or 10 minutes later sitting in her room color, drawing, or even writing now. It's getting a bit ridiculous. She has colors in the playroom at the ready at all times and colored pencils in her room. She is still into things like Legos and puzzles but they have taken a backseat for the moment as she navigates her way through the world of art. It's so funny to us how quickly their interests can change. I think she will make her way back to more Legos and puzzles one of these days, but right now... she is all about coloring or drawing. She has started writing and illustrating her own stories now that she is getting better at writing sentences. I'm loving it. I saved the first one she ever wrote on her own entirely and drew a picture for. I plan to get her some of those awesome blank books that Target sells periodically for her to make her own books. I'm just waiting for them to show back up in the Dollar Spot section.
So this crazy thing happened a couple of weeks ago. I finally decided to bite the bullet and replace my trusty Canon Rebel XS that was 9 or so years old. It broke over the summer and while I think the issue might have been repairable, it didn't seem feasible as the camera was so old to begin with, it was time for an upgrade. I'm definitely no professional so while I knew I wanted to stay with a Rebel DSLR, I didn't need anything super fancy. So, I started looking at the T5. It is the prior model so it was less expensive than the newer T6. Finally, I ordered it. I wasn't sure how I felt about spending that chunk of money but with the holidays approaching, I wanted a new camera that wasn't my phone. Then, when it came I got a big surprise! The company I ordered from sent me the T6. I think they were out of the T5 or something and I ended up with the higher model. I am loving getting to know my new camera and am looking forward to using it more.
No secret. Coupons are awesome. I love couponing, but I'm not into the more serious extreme version. A while ago I started using ibotta in addition to my coupons. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this app. (Note: This isn't an affilitate post but if you use my referral code listed below when you sign up, not only do you get the normal $10 sign up bonus when you redeem a rebate, but I get a $5 bonus for the referral.) If you do normal grocery shopping, or even go out to eat or order things online from specific sites, you can make money on this app. Most of my money has been made through grocery shopping and bonuses along the way though I have used it to go to a few other stores along the way. I have made almost $650 since February 2016. You can cash it out to PayPal or get it in electronic gift cards. I do the gift cards usually. (Actually my last $100 earned went towards the camera mentioned above.) You have to have a minimum amount to cash out, but as long as you do the rebates weekly or check it anytime you shop, it often doesn't take too long. Side note: You can pair Checkout 51 with ibotta to increase your rebates. I do find that Checkout 51 is slightly less user friendly and far less rebate opportunities, but I have made about $100 with this one in the last year so I want to mention it too. Sometimes you can get rebates on the same items on each app. Add in a coupon, and you would be surprised what ends up being "free". Referral code: bjqoaqa
Last month we took Kenzie to a Girl Scouts recruitment event and we walked out with her registered and me signed on a co-leader. I now have a co-leader and we have been working hard over the last week or so to get ready to start having regular meetings with our scouts. Kenzie and I are both pretty excited to get our year of Daisies underway. We had a parent meeting over the weekend and are all pretty stoked to get started in the next couple of weeks. It isn't all about selling cookies like I used to think (being that I was never a Girl Scout myself) and I'm excited to see what kinds of things we can teach/learn over the coming year. There is a huge push now for STEM related activities and while we are focusing this year on letting the girls earn their petals, I'm hoping we can find some ways to incorporate some of those STEM skills into the activities. Especially since Kenzie (and I know other kids) love those types of things.
Meal planning is the bomb. I'm trying to get better at it. I was really good for a while, but life gets in the way. I find though that if we plan out a week of meals, we are far more likely to eat at home and try to eat more balanced meals. We often have so much going on during the week that this is the only way we get through it. I'm already nervous for the day that we have two kids with activities in lieu of just one. Eek! I'm all for finding new recipes, too so if anyone has any they want to share, please do. Bonus points for healthy and fast ones. =)
This is my newest thing, but I'm pretty excited to get started with it. I have been seeing a lot of bullet journaling ideas lately. Specifically, I read some related to running. I decided to give it a go. I'm planning to shade 1/2 of each square for each mile I run and looking forward to seeing the page fill up. I also have a page set up for things to do each week for the next couple of weeks leading up to the U Can Finish 5 Mile race. I plan to set up a new page (or more than one page) for the weeks leading up to whatever the next race I plan to do is.
Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens,
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens,
Brown paper packages tied up with strings,
These are a few of my favorite things.
These big coloring page books are awesome! They can keep a kid busy for ever and a day if they are into coloring like one particular kid I know is right now. Kenzie is turning into quite the artist lately. It's so funny that as the kids that hated coloring until she was almost 3 and a half or so, she is so obsessed lately that if we give her an extra minute, we can always find her coloring. She gets easily distracted by it. She will often disappear into her room to do something specific, say get her pjs and come to the bathroom for bathtime, and she never returns. We will find her 5 or 10 minutes later sitting in her room color, drawing, or even writing now. It's getting a bit ridiculous. She has colors in the playroom at the ready at all times and colored pencils in her room. She is still into things like Legos and puzzles but they have taken a backseat for the moment as she navigates her way through the world of art. It's so funny to us how quickly their interests can change. I think she will make her way back to more Legos and puzzles one of these days, but right now... she is all about coloring or drawing. She has started writing and illustrating her own stories now that she is getting better at writing sentences. I'm loving it. I saved the first one she ever wrote on her own entirely and drew a picture for. I plan to get her some of those awesome blank books that Target sells periodically for her to make her own books. I'm just waiting for them to show back up in the Dollar Spot section.
So this crazy thing happened a couple of weeks ago. I finally decided to bite the bullet and replace my trusty Canon Rebel XS that was 9 or so years old. It broke over the summer and while I think the issue might have been repairable, it didn't seem feasible as the camera was so old to begin with, it was time for an upgrade. I'm definitely no professional so while I knew I wanted to stay with a Rebel DSLR, I didn't need anything super fancy. So, I started looking at the T5. It is the prior model so it was less expensive than the newer T6. Finally, I ordered it. I wasn't sure how I felt about spending that chunk of money but with the holidays approaching, I wanted a new camera that wasn't my phone. Then, when it came I got a big surprise! The company I ordered from sent me the T6. I think they were out of the T5 or something and I ended up with the higher model. I am loving getting to know my new camera and am looking forward to using it more.
No secret. Coupons are awesome. I love couponing, but I'm not into the more serious extreme version. A while ago I started using ibotta in addition to my coupons. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this app. (Note: This isn't an affilitate post but if you use my referral code listed below when you sign up, not only do you get the normal $10 sign up bonus when you redeem a rebate, but I get a $5 bonus for the referral.) If you do normal grocery shopping, or even go out to eat or order things online from specific sites, you can make money on this app. Most of my money has been made through grocery shopping and bonuses along the way though I have used it to go to a few other stores along the way. I have made almost $650 since February 2016. You can cash it out to PayPal or get it in electronic gift cards. I do the gift cards usually. (Actually my last $100 earned went towards the camera mentioned above.) You have to have a minimum amount to cash out, but as long as you do the rebates weekly or check it anytime you shop, it often doesn't take too long. Side note: You can pair Checkout 51 with ibotta to increase your rebates. I do find that Checkout 51 is slightly less user friendly and far less rebate opportunities, but I have made about $100 with this one in the last year so I want to mention it too. Sometimes you can get rebates on the same items on each app. Add in a coupon, and you would be surprised what ends up being "free". Referral code: bjqoaqa
Meal planning is the bomb. I'm trying to get better at it. I was really good for a while, but life gets in the way. I find though that if we plan out a week of meals, we are far more likely to eat at home and try to eat more balanced meals. We often have so much going on during the week that this is the only way we get through it. I'm already nervous for the day that we have two kids with activities in lieu of just one. Eek! I'm all for finding new recipes, too so if anyone has any they want to share, please do. Bonus points for healthy and fast ones. =)
This is my newest thing, but I'm pretty excited to get started with it. I have been seeing a lot of bullet journaling ideas lately. Specifically, I read some related to running. I decided to give it a go. I'm planning to shade 1/2 of each square for each mile I run and looking forward to seeing the page fill up. I also have a page set up for things to do each week for the next couple of weeks leading up to the U Can Finish 5 Mile race. I plan to set up a new page (or more than one page) for the weeks leading up to whatever the next race I plan to do is.
Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens,
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens,
Brown paper packages tied up with strings,
These are a few of my favorite things.
Comments
Post a Comment