Indoor Ideas for Stir-Crazy Moms... pt. 2

Cloud dough!

Today is primarily me sharing a link with you. If you haven't heard of cloud dough, it's incredible. It's so soft and smooth and even *I* liked playing with it. So here's the recipe.

I will tell you, really supervise your kids with this. I took out the trash thinking they'd be occupied, and when I came back in it was dumped on the floor and DD was rolling in it. :) It's darn slippery, too!

Indoor Activities for Stir-Crazy Moms... pt. 1

This is part one of an ongoing series. We're trapped indoors by winter storms, so as I create and/or discover new fun ideas I'll post them.

I saw this idea in High Five magazine and expanded it.

This is craft foam. You can buy a giant pack of it at the craft store relatively cheaply. I actually picked this up at a garage sale when a daycare was closing out and I've had it in my closet since then. When it gets wet it sticks to the bathtub wall, and it removes without any damage (our shower wall is tile, but I'm sure this would work on other surfaces as well). The initial idea was to cut out basic rectangles and triangles to make a village. We also added people, and then expanded. You don't have to be very artistic (as evidenced by my people ;) ). I just freehand cut them, but if you wanted to get fancy you could draw your outline and cut it out.

Some ideas for expanding this:

Underwater: sharks, fish, seaweed, octopi, etc. (the youngest particularly liked this)
Space: planets, stars, moon, etc.
Christmas tree: tree, ornaments, star (the pieces will stick to each other, so they can decorate the tree)
Books such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar (they can put the food in order)
Practicing patterns
Rainbow: put the stripes in order

This can be used for pretty much anything you would use a flannel board for. It keeps my kids occupied for HOURS (until the water gets cold).

Any other theme ideas for this project?

Truly rich

After my daughter's gymnastics class this morning, I really, really wanted to stop at Taco Bell. I kept driving. We had something healthier at home.

The new sander my dad bought me broke, so I am still sanding the kids' Christmas blocks by hand. It hurts. But I think about my kids, and the love going into the perfect gift, and I love doing it.

I kneaded pizza dough even though my wrists hurt from the blocks. I had pizza and watched a movie with my kids this evening.

My daughter hurt her toe pretty badly, but I had all the medical supplies I needed to take care of it.

I haven't eaten out all month. We're not destitute or anything, but I'm having to really watch my money until business picks up or I'm going to have to go back to work.

But you know what? Right now the dishwasher is washing dishes for me. Electric lights are on so my kids can play while I type this on the laptop my parents gave me. There is a pitcher of clean, fresh, cold water in my refrigerator. There is a basket of books on my table filled with books and movies we got from the library for free. My son is running around in a costume yelling, "I 'piderman!" while my daughter sings a song and hugs her doll.

And today, I feel truly rich.

Frugal Accomplishments This Week

I returned some things I've had sitting in the closet for months to Lowes. I used the gift card from that to buy supplies to make blocks for the kids for Christmas (I'm hoping to post pics and what I did when they are finished, but it could be a while as I'm sanding by hand).

I needed a dolly to move my container plants indoors for a freeze. My mom gave me a 25% off coupon for Harbor Freight and a free scissors coupon. Plus the dolly was on sale.

I used that dolly to haul in a trash-picked bookshelf. It's super sturdy, and it's been sitting out in the alley for weeks. I haven't decided yet if I'll paint it and bring it in for a bookshelf or use it in the garage for storage.

I folded and reused a piece of foil.

I started using Swagbucks again.

My mom sewed a new outfit for DD, and I watched most of it, because I'd really like to learn to sew. I saved the scraps to try to make a doll quilt eventually.

I made popsicles out of green smoothie.

I roasted pumpkin seeds (yes, we finally got around to carving our pumpkins).

We enjoyed an afternoon at the park just before a cold snap.

I renewed library books online because we missed our usual library day. No late fees!

Goals for this week

At some point I'm going to actually write a real post, but for now my normal life is all I have time for. Here are my goals for the week:

Business:
Finish the last of the childproofing for licensing for my business.
Order new business cards.

Family and home:
Switch the little one's carseat to forward facing (sniff).
Mow
Balance my bank book

Other:
Make bread for a sweet lady at church (she watched my kids for me last Sunday when there wasn't anyone in the nursery).

Plus the rest of my general housecleaning, home schooling, and loving on my kiddos.

Frugal Accomplishments this week

I'm so inspired by Brandy at The Prudent Homemaker. She gave me the idea behind this, and I thought if I kept track and posted my frugal accomplishments it would give me some accountability and encourage me to do more frugal things so I'll have something to post.

It rained one day this week so I turned off the A/C and opened up the windows to cool the house. We had the air off for 24 hours.

I reduced my internet speed (it still works for movies) and reduced my monthly bill by about twenty dollars.

I made our own pizza for pizza night this week and saved about ten dollars.

I experimented with leaving the egg replacer out of our cookie dough, since we don't cook it (best part of eating vegan is getting to eat the dough!).

I wasn't planning on shopping this week, but I had a $5 off $20 coupon for frozen foods expiring today. I used it to stock up on Ezekiel Bread.

I washed out some Ziploc bags to reuse.

I caught bell peppers on sale so I bought a ridiculous amount of them. I think I bit off more than I can chew. I'll dehydrate some (to put in pinto beans) and freeze the rest (for fajitas).