Home Theater

I love the joy this simple activity brings to my little kids along with the fact I can do it without budging my bank account.  It is Friday night here....LOVELY! Technically it is payday, which should afford a splurge. However, my paycheck was splurged on a large medical bill from delivering my son nearly 4 years ago (with insurance! I have been paying $125/month for YEARS! But it is paid off as of today....) So rather than taking the family out to eat or visiting a movie theater, we made our living room a home theater.  The kids ate corn dogs and fries and picked out a movie from our collection.  A dollar bag of candy and some leftover Valentines helped the fun feel. The lights are off and we are snuggled up. Fabulous Friday without forking over our hard earned pay! I'd love if you would comment below your favorite Friday night family fun on a budget!

Birthdays on a Budget

36 is my new number. Age, that is.  A far cry from the excitement of 10 (double-digits), 12 (traditional pie-in-the-face birthday), 16, 18, 21....but in my kindergarten class, turning 36 rivals them all.  The excitement my kids felt was contagious!  When I put up the February calendar, there was my little birthday photo sitting on Feb. 26 all month long, so there was no escaping it.  Even when I realized at 9:30 p.m. the night before I had promised my kids at school a special treat for my birthday coming in the morning.  (It had been a busy day, with work, workout, dinner, AND a church meeting...I was not sitting on the couch watching TV or anything relaxing like that!) I ran into Target to pick up cupcakes and that could have been the end of this story. Until I saw the $15.99 price tag. According to my husband, we are either poor or cheap depending on which week it is.  This week it was both.  Hmmm...I am sure it wouldn't take long to make some box mix cupcakes, and at only $1.20 a box?! Frosting $1.57. Yes. Sold.  At this point I am feeling victorious, awesome treats for $4 and only an hour or so of my time.  But as the night goes on, time gets late, I realize this is not an hour ordeal, there are dishes to do, and 12:30 a.m. rolls around. I have GOT to get to sleep.   18 kindergarten kids will eat me alive if I arrive to teach tired.  Then, a brilliant idea forms in my mind.  I will and I can go to bed now.  All I have to do bring the frosting, my elaborate sprinkle collection, and plastic knives to school. The kids will frost and sprinkle their own cupcakes.  I wasn't completely committed to the idea, but thought it could be fun. It turned out to be such an amazing time for the kids! They absolutely LOVED it.  I will be following this tradition for the next ???who knows how many until I retire??? years.  Cheap, easy, AND fun.  I call that a little kid, little money, and little time triple threat!  So moms/dads, you know your kiddos want you so badly to send in treats for the class on their special day, but they can really add up, maybe this could work as a good "celebrate birthdays at school on a budget" solution for your family, too.

One of the few things that are NOT little in my life...

Well, looking at the last date of posting, obviously, there is still little time in our family of five.  At work, I moved from teaching 4th grade to kindergarten. I LOVE it, but it has certainly consumed a good chunk of nights and weekends while I organized, learned, and planned.  Our bank account has significantly changed, debt payoff  is priority, yet somehow there is still too little money. Little kids have grown a bit bigger at ages six and three (big kid at seventeen!) but still quite little.  So I still have plenty to say about life with little (time, kids, and money).

However, there is one thing that is NOT little. The number on the scale. Eeek.  I have been trying to reel it in for a while now, and began running about a year ago.  I am down 10 pounds and a dress size, but I need to pick up the pace as time is going to make this battle harder each year.

Possible solution?  T25.  T25 promised gym results, in only 25 minutes a day.  I saw it a few months ago but shook my head when I saw the nearly $200 price tag.  Boo.  Ironic most of us have 25 minutes a day we could dedicate to exercise but not $200 for the pricey program.

Is there another way to get your hands on this?  Buy used, like Craigslist? Borrow from a friend? Show up when your best friend is doing the workout?? All of the above will work.

I managed to get my hands on it without paying retail due to a friend prepping for her honeymoon. Yesterday, I attempted to complete workout number one. Dinner was cooking, kids were calling, and ultimately I made it a T18 quitting 7 minutes early to make sure I didn't need the fire department ( I didn't) but I will assure you, my bottom can feel all 18 minutes.

Today, I did workout number two---all sweet T 25 minutes of it!  I was impressed with the quality of the 25 minute workout!  Who knew there is no need to spend an hour at a gym?? I am planning on going the distance and completing the entire 4 month program. Maybe I will even post my before and after.

So if you are like me and have that one big thing in your life of all these little things, I strongly recommend trying to get your hands on T25---just never feel you have to pay full price. Or take the 25 minutes to move your body the best you can with the time you got.  Remember, taking time for yourself is not selfish, it is a NECESSITY of a sane, happy, and healthy mom who will be putting her kids first the other 23 hours, 35 minutes of the day.

What Time Is It???!!!? It's Time to BLOG!

Who is still here? Who is still interested??? Since I still have a life with little (little time, little kids (6 and 3 now) and little money (still!!??) I might as well still blog on it!