FUZZIES!!!!!!!

We're not really into toys that are made just to entertain children. You know...books that read themselves and instruments that play that play a song with a push of a button. Toys should encourage a child to be creative and solve problems in addition to being entertaining!

You hear people say all the time that kids always like the box that the toys came in more than they like the toy itself. Yet, parents continue to dump hundreds of dollars into flashy toys. Why?? Kids REALLY do like the the box better!!

So think outside the Leap Frog when it comes to children's toys. You probably already have things around your house that your children would see as toys. I got some craft pom poms for Thing 1. I put them in a box and gave him his new "toy". When he opened the box you would have thought it was Christmas! He took one peak inside and screamed "FUZZIES"!! So, we've been calling them fuzzies ever since!

He has SO much fun with these! There is a lot of learning wrapped up in these fuzzy little pom poms.

We practice learning the names of colors and sorting the fuzzies by color.

You can also create patterns.

But the most popular is probably throwing the fuzzies. He has so much fun with these! We are constantly coming up with new ways to play with the fuzzies.

One of the best things about fuzzies.....they cost less than $3.00! You can beat that! Fun, educational, AND cheap!!!

We're always looking for creative, unconventional toys. Any ideas???

one more meal

At our house, we like to make the most of our money. Call it being cheap, being frugal, or being smart. We really strive to be good stewards of what God as blessed us with. One way that we do that is with the money we spend on food. We almost ALWAYS eat at home. We also make sure that we use up all of our leftovers.

I got a tip recently from my cousin Amanda, to use whole chickens. You can by a 5 lb chicken for a little less than $5 and feed at least 4 people. We have enough for 2 adults and 1 toddler to eat two meals.

I'll cut up the chicken and prepare one meal with it, and we'll have enough leftover for the next day. Then I'll boil the bones that are left and save it for seasoning green beans, or make chicken and rice. There is always chicken left on the bones after cutting the thighs, legs, wings, and breasts off. It's enough to use for chicken and rice.

To make the chicken and rice I boil the chicken and then pull the meat of the bone and add it back to the broth. Add brown rice, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. I add frozen peas to make it a complete meal. It's a great way to squeeze one more meal out of your $5 chicken!