Another trip to Staples!

Another great trip to Staples! Only spent $2.26!
Sale ends on Wednesday!

FREE Miss Bindergarten Unit

I like finding new educational blogs and I LOVE finding new educational blogs that give away amazing FREE stuff! Quick, hurry over to Kinder Kraziness! Follow a few SIMPLE steps and receive a FREE Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready For Kindergarten Unit! It's such a cute book and will be perfect for all little ones entering kindergarten this fall!

Quick, go now!

Felt Money

Have I mentioned that I love to shop at yard sales? Well, if I haven't...I do! I've found a ton of great learning resources this summer! I had been eying this Learning Resources Teaching Cash Register for a long time and was thinking about purchasing it for Izzie for Christmas this year. Thankfully, I found a fully functional one this summer for only $10...a little high for a yard sale, but I knew that it was worth it! And, of course I decided to go ahead and give it to the girls.

It came with everything! Money, coins, and the credit cards. This is such a neat learning cash register...the girls are truly "learning" from playing with it..I would highly recommend it!

Mac loves to play with it too...a little too much! She has destroyed several pieces of the money.

Izzie was becoming more and more frustrated with Mac. At first, I put the money away. But, quickly realized that punishing them was not the right solution for either. So, we agreed that Izzie was allowed to play with the paper money that came with the cash register and I would make Mac some money to play with too!

Mac's felt play money with coins! Completely Mac proof...I hope!


*Sorry for the fuzzy pictures. Unfortunately, I got sand in my camera at the beach, so it's currently nonfunctional...leaving me taking pictures with my phone!*

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Tree

With this upcoming fall being our first official year of homeschooling, I'm currently cleaning and organizing like crazy! I've always liked the idea of the Chicka Tree over at Confessions Of A Homeschooler. While browsing the Dollar Tree, I found this great palm tree and these letters!

I'm very pleased with the way it turned out and it only cost $2. Excited to start our letter of the week activities!

Wordless Wednesday: Hide and Seek

Nope! I have no idea where Mac is hiding!

A few back to school deals!

Each week Staples is running several back to school specials...be sure to check out their weekly ad! Last week, I was able to get two reams of paper for 25 cents each (after easy rebate), glue for just 1 penny each (yep, they had penny deals), and sticky flags for 25 cents each!

I only spent $1.66 for everything!

Today, I went to Target for some milk and came back with this!

I spent less than $6.00

Thankfully, I had my coupons with me!

1. 6 packs of BIC pens FREE! The pens are on sale for 50 cents. Target's website has $1 off coupon, when you purchase two items BIC items = 2 packs of pens FREE for each coupon. I was allowed to print off 3 coupons.

2. 6 Scotch tapes FREE! Again, the tape is on sale for 50 cents. Target's website has 50 cents coupons of Scotch tape! I printed three last week and was able to print another three today.

3. 2 packs of Meade pens for only 24 cents each! The pens are priced at $1.24. Target has a printable coupon for $1 off any Meade writing. For some reason, I was only allowed to print two coupons.

4. 3 pairs of Scotch scissors for $3.00. The scissors are priced at $1.99. Again, on Target's website, there is a coupon for $1 off. Was able to print three coupons.

5. 2 packs of glue sticks for 40 cents each...no coupon required!

6. And, finally a pack of Space grow capsules for the girls...just for fun! Found in the dollar aisle.

Happy Shopping!

New Swingset!

We sold our Little Tikes swingset earlier this summer because the girls had already outgrown it. I honestly didn't think we would sell it as quickly as we did! The girls have been patiently waiting for a replacement. After numerous fails trying to purchase a swingset off Craigslist, we finally succeeded!

Grandad came up for the weekend with his truck to help transport it! We were so thankful that we didn't have to put it together from scratch...the Little Tikes swingset took my husband and I an entire weekend to put together! The guy that sold us this one said it took him 12 hours to put together and he's a contractor!

Izzie patiently watching and waiting for the swingset to be completed...it was done within an hour!

Enjoying the new swingset!

Family Fun At Amusement Park

While at the beach, we spent one entire day at Family Kingdom. We ended up purchasing the all-day pass for the girls, which was such a great decision. They rode and rode the rides, over and over again!

The only problem we had was getting Mac to wear the bracelet...she refused to have it around her wrist, so we put it around her ankle, which wasn't any better. After about 20 minutes of non-stop screaming, (while, Izzie was having a blast riding the rides!), I found the manager and begged him to cut off the bracelet from her ankle. He was so understanding and had the perfect solution...he placed the bracelet at the back of her sandal, which she didn't even notice, then went around and told everyone working the rides that her bracelet-pass was on her shoe!

Izzie enjoying the rides!


After the bracelet problem was solved, Mac enjoying the rides, too!

Izzie was much more of a thrill seeker, than I had imagined! She insisted on riding the mini roller coaster!

Front seat!

And, the only child on the ride! The park was not crowded, so no waiting in lines!

The entire day, she kept pointing to the gigantic roller coaster, begging to ride it. Finally, we decided that if she was tall enough, my husband would ride it with her. Thankfully, she was 10 inches to short! She was so disappointed. However, she was tall enough to ride the Log Flume water ride with Dada! So, down they went!

After a quick dinner, we headed back to the park with Grandad and Uncle M.

Izzie sweet talked Uncle M into riding the Log Flume with her! They were practicing their face to make at the camera coming down the big hill!

She even got him to ride the enormous Farris Wheel with her, too! Did I mention that he is terrified of heights?

Boy, did we have a great time at the park! And boy, did they sleep well that night!

Wordless Wednesday: At The Beach

Beach Fun

We had a fun memorable time at the beach this year with family and friends!

The girls enjoyed getting their feet wet. At first, Mac was fearless, but after getting knocked down a few times by the waves, she was much more cautious. Izzie had no plans on getting in the ocean and had a blast running away from the waves. We saw numerous jellyfish this year!

They spent a lot of time looking for the perfect seashell to bring home.

And they built many sandcastles!

*Fireworks* at the beach!

This was our fifth year at the beach for July 4th and our FIRST time seeing fireworks! We've never ventured out pass the girls' bedtime, but decided to take the chance this year!

We decided to watch the fireworks from the back of our vehcile at Broadway At The Beach.

The girls were super excited for the show to begin!

Unfortunately, Izzie was asleep before the Grand Finale! However, she did get to see most of the fireworks.

Our Zoo Visit

We spent this past week at the beach. It's an 8-hour drive, which can feel like an eternity with two small girls. We left out early and spent the day at the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro, which is the halfway point. Thankfully, the girls were exhausted from our zoo adventure and slept the rest of the way to the beach!

It was hot, really hot! This thermometer was actually in the shade...I don't want to know the actual temperature that it was in the sun!

We spent a little over 5 hours there and only tour the continent of Africa.

The first animal that we saw was the ostrich...

There were suppose to be giraffes and zebras in this exhibit, too. But, they were not there at this time. The entire 5 hours, Izzie begged to go back and see the zebras and Mac kept saying, "Me want see giraffes!" Lesson learned: Don't mention the animals that are "suppose" to be there!

Looking for the lion...

Found the lion...sleeping in the shade.

They both loved looking at the map! Izzie was fascinated by trying to figure out where we were on the map by locating the pictures of the animals that were close to us.

Making silly chimp faces!

Seeing the newest exhibit, the Swap Ghosts.

We've been to this zoo before and really enjoyed it. This trip, it was hot...the animals were scarce due to the weather, it was crowded, and we were miserably hot. Thankfully, the girls enjoyed playing on/with the statues throughout the zoo, which helped!

Checking out the rhino...

And the elephant...

As we were completing the African continent circle, heading back to the entrance, we saw...

Mac's giraffes!

And, Izzie's zebras!

We did have a great afternoon at the zoo, even if it was miserably hot!

Our only family photo at the zoo and I didn't double check to make sure it turned out...oops!