tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45402399011023341732024-03-17T20:03:54.018-07:00Mommy's Modern LifeI'm an old-fashioned girl, living in a modern world.Mommys Modern Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01247784150111034665noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540239901102334173.post-4504344725486368132015-07-02T18:23:00.003-07:002015-07-02T18:23:43.623-07:00Family Summer Bucket List<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
My daughter always complains that we never do anything fun during summer break. So, this year, I created a <b>"Summer Bucket List"</b> that we can all enjoy as a family to make this summer a memorable one!</div>
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It's a simple list of <b>31 fun family activities.</b> Most of the activities are free or require little cost. The <b>Paint with Ice Cubes</b> activity is a fun art project for those hot summer days. I will write about it in another blog post. Also, the 31st activity I listed is at the very bottom and it's an <b>"Unplug Day</b>". It'll be a day where all electronics are <u>turned off!</u> We'll have to entertain ourselves like cavemen used to do! Oh the horror! Just kidding, kind of.<br />
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We won't be doing this list in order. The goal is just to cross off as much of the list as we can before the summer ends and make some wonderful new memories along the way. I hope we can try and do something everyday or at least every other day.<br />
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I know summer started last month, so I am a little behind, but we still have another 7 weeks of summer break to do all 31 of these activities. Wish us luck!Mommys Modern Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01247784150111034665noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540239901102334173.post-82683175758868209632014-11-20T10:59:00.000-08:002016-08-19T04:26:47.689-07:00How-To: 31 Days to an Organized Home<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
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With every ring of a new year, new resolutions are made.
For some it's to be healthier. For others it's to budget better (which was our
resolution last year: <a href="http://mommysmodernlife.blogspot.com/2014/01/how-to-payoff-15000-of-debt-in-18-months.html">Our Debt Payoff Plan</a>). For me, in 2015, I want to be organized.<br />
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Organization is not an easy task and every parent knows
that the balance of happy children and a clean/organized home is a tough one.<o:p></o:p></div>
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However, next year I will be challenging myself to become an “Organized
Modern Mommy”. I definitely won't be able to organize everything all at once,
but I do have a 31 day plan for December that I hope will help me reach my goal. By the time the new year comes
around, I will have a clean bill of organization that I can hopefully maintain
throughout the new year.<o:p></o:p></div>
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All I have to do is <b>tackle
ONE area of our home each day in December</b>. 31 days. 31 areas. It’s as
simple as that.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Well, actually it’s really not that simple because, for many,
organization isn't something they’re born with. It’s not something that comes
easy for them. And like me, there just never seems to be enough time!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Nonetheless, I do believe that every person is capable of
accomplishing at least <b>one</b> task each
day. Don’t overwhelm yourself with 50 million things on your to-do-list (like I
normally do). You will only discourage yourself from your ultimate goal. By
focusing on only one area each day and finishing it in its entirety, I know
that I personally would feel much more accomplished than if I was able to do 2
or 3 things on my to-do-list but still had 9 other things that I wasn’t able
to get to.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In essence, I am trying to trick myself. It may seem like
one small accomplishment, but with each task I complete, it will ultimately accumulate
to the point where my ENTIRE house will be clean and organized within only 31
days!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">I am
challenging myself and asking you to join me!</span></b></div>
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I have divided the areas of my home into 31 different sections. My goal is to organize one section each day until my whole home is done! My motto: <b>Slow and steady wins the race!</b><br />
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<b>Challenge: </b>I
do work full time, Monday-Friday, and I am also attending night classes 4 times a
week until December 11<sup>th</sup>, so it will be a very difficult challenge
for me, but there are some smaller tasks (such as purses and candles/scents) in my challenge that I know I will be
able to fit within my small window of free time during those days. I will
probably save the more complicated things (such as our garage and backyard) for the weekends. Also, since I don’t want to take
any precious time away from my husband and kids when I'm home, this will definitely be a group effort and be a
learning lesson for our whole family. As long as I follow this plan, I should
have a clean and organized home by the time 2015 rolls in and you can too!</div>
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<b>TIP: </b>I will most likely <b>not</b> do it is in this order. You can adjust the list per your needs. As long as you are able to do one thing each day, you will stay on track to an organized home! What I'll do to keep track is probably write one task each day on my <b>December Calendar</b> and make sure it is something I can do per my hectic schedule.</div>
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Please take this challenge with me and share your personal organization tips and tricks in the comments section below!</div>
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Mommys Modern Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01247784150111034665noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540239901102334173.post-72844911408819305562014-09-03T11:14:00.001-07:002014-10-24T11:41:23.947-07:00DIY Lunch Menu (Free Word File)<b style="font-family: inherit;">No more lunch complaints! </b><span style="font-family: inherit;">This "DIY Lunch Menu" allows our daughter to have a say in her lunch options but still gives my husband and I full control of what she can choose from! Yes, we are sneaky!</span><br />
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We no longer hear, "Peanut butter and jelly AGAIN?!" or "Lunch wasn't very good". Instead, our daughter chooses what she wants based off the menu we made<b> together</b> and now we are ALL happy. She can choose her lunch depending on what she's craving and we know that she's choosing a balanced meal.</span><br />
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We let her choose one protein, a carb, a fruit, a veggie, and a treat. We only let her drink water at school, so I don't have a "Choose a Drink" portion, but any parent can easily modify theirs to have it!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Here is the lunch menu that we made with our daughter:</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkIHkzs1a1P62dfa7mtfKvco5ZE4cJoGfNO2zm-ucy2nWcoBZw7pCJedrO2H32CyVH2hTZ9hthsAWNfClYh2zGY4lHseCwlxfgv6B5REoixEx-U91wX_J2Vzk9FtJaevGBfhSPnL3s_R_o/s1600/MML_DIY+Lunch+Menu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkIHkzs1a1P62dfa7mtfKvco5ZE4cJoGfNO2zm-ucy2nWcoBZw7pCJedrO2H32CyVH2hTZ9hthsAWNfClYh2zGY4lHseCwlxfgv6B5REoixEx-U91wX_J2Vzk9FtJaevGBfhSPnL3s_R_o/s1600/MML_DIY+Lunch+Menu.jpg" height="640" width="494" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The DIY Lunch menu we made with our daughter</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="javascript:void((function(){var%20e=document.createElement('script');e.setAttribute('type','text/javascript');e.setAttribute('charset','UTF-8');e.setAttribute('src','http://assets.pinterest.com/js/pinmarklet.js?r='+Math.random()*99999999);document.body.appendChild(e)})());" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Pin It!" src="http://i996.photobucket.com/albums/af87/MommysModernLife/pinit_zps1a60ae42.gif" style="border: currentColor;" /></a>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The proteins that have an asterisk (*) are only allowed to be accompanied by chips since we felt like the meal already had a lot of carbohydates. If she chose a protein that didn't have an asterisk, then she could choose a carb to pair with it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We used the menu for the first time on her 1st day of school and I was able to prep everything the night before. In the morning, I just had to put everything in her lunchbox with her ice pack and she was good to go!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It's also a great <strong>shopping list </strong>when you go to the store so it helps you make sure to always have these ingredients on hand! </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo1Un8P_DRo7Az2rV7mrK-XqWmPQqSs7qFNZgsKlYgzOFEGguG-RT8Qpd_qxqC0Uy7o-IRX7tWdTMfuqIlVmx6SrvWzwaPDNtbUvUXniQcyJjc4z3AE6hkgI_APD6SAVTgjReOWkCqajiL/s1600/MML_DIY+LUNCH+MENU+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo1Un8P_DRo7Az2rV7mrK-XqWmPQqSs7qFNZgsKlYgzOFEGguG-RT8Qpd_qxqC0Uy7o-IRX7tWdTMfuqIlVmx6SrvWzwaPDNtbUvUXniQcyJjc4z3AE6hkgI_APD6SAVTgjReOWkCqajiL/s1600/MML_DIY+LUNCH+MENU+2.jpg" height="640" width="360" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Our daughter's most recent lunch choice: Ham and cheese sandwich, chips, straw berries, carrots w/ ranch, and a rice krisie treat!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrE9AcR0dkjw2r2icRr22qfLLhu6XwT0mry5XuWgT_j5fgQCHc8UK3I9vhtsc4o4xSMzankzyBrtoIDO7WnEjnw21vNrJO_sa7TAWtW8bGniRMg_gdaphJfHsRLNPF0WF1mhseQD0PBuVk/s1600/MML_DIY+LUNCH+MENU.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrE9AcR0dkjw2r2icRr22qfLLhu6XwT0mry5XuWgT_j5fgQCHc8UK3I9vhtsc4o4xSMzankzyBrtoIDO7WnEjnw21vNrJO_sa7TAWtW8bGniRMg_gdaphJfHsRLNPF0WF1mhseQD0PBuVk/s1600/MML_DIY+LUNCH+MENU.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">YUM! She loved it!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Below is the<b> word file</b> of the menu template we made. You can<b> download it</b> and either print it out yourself (we printed it on cardstock and hung it on our fridge door) or modify it to accommodate your family's lunch choices!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/238266127/Mml-Diy-Lunch-Menu" style="text-decoration: underline;" title="View Mml Diy Lunch Menu on Scribd">M</a></span><a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/238266127/Mml-Diy-Lunch-Menu" title="View Mml Diy Lunch Menu on Scribd"><span style="font-family: inherit;">ML DIY Lunch Menu</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I hope this makes lunch prep a lot less stressful! It has helped make lunch prep at our house a more enjoyable experience! There are no longer any complaints about what our daughter had for lunch! Make sure to create the menu WITH your children! Good luck!</span>Mommys Modern Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01247784150111034665noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540239901102334173.post-53357879297241753452014-06-29T10:36:00.000-07:002014-06-29T10:36:00.595-07:00I'm Proud to Run "Like a Girl" and You Should Be Too!<div dir="ltr">
I never thought I would be so inspired by a <b>tampon commercial</b>, but this really hit a nerve with me!</div>
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I have no idea what this really has to do with tampons, but it definitely kept my attention!</div>
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I have a daughter who is 7-years-old and I NEVER want her to think that doing anything "like a girl" is embarrassing or less than!</div>
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I am proud of my daughter for doing things "like a girl"! She's amazing!</div>
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My daughter does things "like a girl" and is proud of it!</div>
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Me and my 3 sisters were raised to be<b> strong, confident women</b>! I want my daughter and all little girls to grow up the same way! The stigma that comes with the phrase, "like a girl" is hurtful and needs to stop! But, the only way for that negative connotation to go away is to show the future generation of women that doing anything "like a girl" is not something to be ashamed of!<br />
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If you have a daughter, this video is a must see! <b>Watch it together!</b></div>
Mommys Modern Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01247784150111034665noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540239901102334173.post-29040881619943141992014-05-29T08:22:00.001-07:002014-05-29T10:09:45.372-07:00How-To: Car-Themed Birthday Party on a Budget<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">We threw our son a <b>car-themed birthday party</b> this past Memorial Day weekend and he, along with our wallets, appreciated it!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We wanted our son to have an awesome 2nd birthday party, but since we are currently in the middle of our <a href="http://mommysmodernlife.blogspot.com/2014/01/how-to-payoff-15000-of-debt-in-18-months.html" target="_blank">$15,000 Debt Pay-Off Plan in 18-Months</a>, we had to get creative on how we could <b>do more with less</b>!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Therefore, <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/mizzmabby/liams-2nd-birthday-party/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a> became my co-party planner! You can view my car-themed Pinterest board here: <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/mizzmabby/liams-2nd-birthday-party/" target="_blank">Liam's 2nd Birthday Party</a>. I was able to find other mom's party ideas and they inspired me come up with a few ideas of my own! <b><u>You can find more information under the captions of each photo!</u></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">In the end, we were able to budget all the decor, invitations, cake, goodie bags, activities, drinks, AND food for only <b>$125 out of pocket</b>, which isn't bad considering in previous parties, I used to spend $120 on just the cake and catering alone!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I probably could have <b>spent even less</b>, but some things I had to pay someone to make for me (like the car photo booth and banners). It's not that they were hard to make, but since I had finals for school and was busy at work, I needed the extra help to make sure everything was ready in time!</span><br />
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<b><u><span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;">INVITATIONS</span></u></b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibWgkPRAgeGm9ktjSyMKUmDUUqs9W27_wLAQVjiIkY7tkVVIuHUJ8tKzsDbjG7k3E3kMkyOj8sawy_bnzVBDEtubOt5lOwkMLXOxOiRaHHCazzsbt1ZOSf032OzAYHKEhXTzLujqYuIrJX/s1600/10333766_10152535647582275_724632700067665382_o+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibWgkPRAgeGm9ktjSyMKUmDUUqs9W27_wLAQVjiIkY7tkVVIuHUJ8tKzsDbjG7k3E3kMkyOj8sawy_bnzVBDEtubOt5lOwkMLXOxOiRaHHCazzsbt1ZOSf032OzAYHKEhXTzLujqYuIrJX/s1600/10333766_10152535647582275_724632700067665382_o+(1).jpg" height="370" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Here's a cute photo idea for invitations: </b>Our handsome boy posed with toy cars (many of which I borrowed since I didn't have enough) shaped in the number 2 for his birthday invitations! I took the photo myself and e-mailed the invitations out to save on printing and photography costs! - <b>OUT OF POCKET COST</b><b>: $0</b></span><br />
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<u><b><span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;">CAR PHOTO BOOTH</span></b></u></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgISVcAz0sKiH72_285JohN8jZhoK7d-0Jo4smDkWR4PouRsQxYRF12xFwrnCWGbgE6vcF6ofpxsXE3JTrzThqhtm6YbgptsqVLmaqIesHGrwgvIhblxbU-rgO70fxrV7pVUI75zHgaXQDl/s1600/MML_CARPARTY_24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgISVcAz0sKiH72_285JohN8jZhoK7d-0Jo4smDkWR4PouRsQxYRF12xFwrnCWGbgE6vcF6ofpxsXE3JTrzThqhtm6YbgptsqVLmaqIesHGrwgvIhblxbU-rgO70fxrV7pVUI75zHgaXQDl/s1600/MML_CARPARTY_24.jpg" height="550" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Car Photo Booth:</b> This was an idea that I found on the site: <a href="http://seesuzyspin.blogspot.com/2011/10/oscar-party.html" target="_blank">See Suzy Spin</a>. She created a car shaped photo booth that I loved! I wanted to incorporate it in our son's party as a fun way to keep record of every guest that came and for them to have a fun memento! We even threw in some <b>props</b> to make it a little more silly! I had my sister take the photos for us as a "gift" to our son rather than spend money and rent an actual photo booth or photographer! - <b>OUT OF POCKET COST</b><b>: $17 </b>-<i> $15 to have the car made (you can save even more by doing it yourself out of cardboard) and $2 for the props (bought at the dollar store).</i></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Photo Booth Backdrop: </b>As a backdrop for the photos, I decorated the wall with road signs that I printed and a banner that I custom ordered! - <b>OUT OF POCKET COST</b><b>: $5 for the banner - </b><i>You can easily make it yourself with cardstock and ribbon!</i></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIafe5h4x5dPGfn7LIPW2q7OlRbD0By4bDad0OQbScBaWJz5TKThUnMMdXz1e2Jet_BLHBs4yeKlMezqYM3Zq4dvuQUw4re3o8qv51mD26EytxPBmzViD6W5VkR8IqO56GfPsRqnPZrF_Q/s1600/MML_CARPHOTOBOOTHcollage1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIafe5h4x5dPGfn7LIPW2q7OlRbD0By4bDad0OQbScBaWJz5TKThUnMMdXz1e2Jet_BLHBs4yeKlMezqYM3Zq4dvuQUw4re3o8qv51mD26EytxPBmzViD6W5VkR8IqO56GfPsRqnPZrF_Q/s1600/MML_CARPHOTOBOOTHcollage1.jpg" height="640" width="550" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Here are some samples of the fun photos our guests took in our photo booth! We placed the photobooth at the <b>entrance</b> so it would be the first thing everyone did!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOO8I4ydYrVmWMks2ueGCWiSYMdFLAFOO9sFmTMkckWDlstYM2C14iIPLjYgI3y85mUQJYEA9r5IJLA2zI8Sx8njqY-hfe3pbejxbdPJDkVrcwQGLS_TLegc26jE9jxPof_EWxYkJlUg7B/s1600/MML_CARPHOTOBOOTHcollage2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOO8I4ydYrVmWMks2ueGCWiSYMdFLAFOO9sFmTMkckWDlstYM2C14iIPLjYgI3y85mUQJYEA9r5IJLA2zI8Sx8njqY-hfe3pbejxbdPJDkVrcwQGLS_TLegc26jE9jxPof_EWxYkJlUg7B/s1600/MML_CARPHOTOBOOTHcollage2.jpg" height="640" width="550" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">It was a big hit! I plan on printing each picture and <b>making an album </b>as a keepsake for our son!</span><br />
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<b><u><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;">BIRTHDAY CAKE</span></span></u></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Racetrack Cupcake Cake: </b>I am a HORRIBLE baker, so rather than risk getting everyone sick (lol), a friend of mine volunteered to help me with my son's birthday cake! <b>(Thank you Heather!)</b> She made vanilla and chocolate flavored cupcakes from scratch and organized them into a 2! She also made extra cupcakes since the "racetrack" only consisted of 15 cupcakes. Then the next night we went to her house and had a <b>Frosting Party</b> where we worked together with my sister-in-law to frost all of the cupcakes! She added food coloring to the frosting to create the road and piped the frosting to create the green shrubbery and white road lines. Right before the party, I added the cars , made a "start" and "finish" sign for the track, and put checkered flags on the cupcakes to give it a more uniformed look. The cake turned out yummy and everyone thought it was super cute! - <b>OUT OF POCKET COST: $5 - </b>$4 for the frosting and $1 for the toothpicks. <i>I already had the cars, my friend already had all the cupcake ingredients, and the flags I made myself so I saved a lot that way! I printed the checkered flags on paper and taped them onto the toothpicks! I used an old baking sheet covered with tinfoil as the cake base.</i></span></td></tr>
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<b><u><span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;">THE "SNACK BAR"</span></u></b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>The Snack Bar: </b>This was our table display of all the food. <i>Note: The paper plates in the colors of a stoplight was a fun extra detail! - </i><b>OUT OF POCKET COST: $65 - </b>This includes the cost of not only food but also for plates, napkins, utensils, and the table cloth (which was bought at the dollar store to save money). <b>Since we made many of the food ourselves, we were able to create a menu within our budget. </b>Howerver, 2 of the dishes were catered but I saved money on them because I asked my mother to pay for them as a "gift" for Liam. It helped our costs greatly and ensured that we had enough food for our <b>60+ guests</b>!</span><br />
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<b><u><span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;">CAR-THEMED MENU</span></u></b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>"Veggie Vehicles" - </b>Made of celery, carrots, and peanut butter!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>"Veggie Vehicles"</b> - The celery was covered in peanut butter and the toothpicks held the carrots to create "wheels". A small carrot was placed on top for the "seat."</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>"Wagon Wheels" </b>- Mac & cheese, but rather than using traditional macaroni, I used wheel-shaped pasta to stay within the theme!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>"Saucy Signals" </b>- We wanted the dips to remind people of streetlight signal colors, so we used salsa (red), queso dip (yellow), and guacamole (green) to create the illusion of a streetlight!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>"Mater's Taters" - </b>Potato chips for the saucy signals!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>"Rubber Tires"</b> - Chocolate covered donuts!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj02Cscn3Es_G4nl7FdJSWdhXQsp8esIK8I24eoN5ScGmO0KSzyEi-X88p-GOaKIgbzEvdY1dIfMRBPx9Ekv_RhURLtQuffTfwu5hNkvnYP21cHB5-tmrZmO0bxUisUsbWihkCFMAj9kOkb/s1600/MML_CARPARTY_10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj02Cscn3Es_G4nl7FdJSWdhXQsp8esIK8I24eoN5ScGmO0KSzyEi-X88p-GOaKIgbzEvdY1dIfMRBPx9Ekv_RhURLtQuffTfwu5hNkvnYP21cHB5-tmrZmO0bxUisUsbWihkCFMAj9kOkb/s1600/MML_CARPARTY_10.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>"Streetlights"</b> - We put strawberry, pineapple, and green grapes on a skewer to match the color scheme of a stoplight!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh51qLLuT7S1Qtrad3Dwt7cdFbGBcxKri83H6cVnzY13W9dat1TGC3Uah1qkib8_1UK2wP-DvXv5hAR5GE7bB_Fzz__N65sMhGLiR0-GjXoXfhxJWldolwI-p67FYJTxSVcN9Kop6aY6G-a/s1600/MML_CARPARTY_11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh51qLLuT7S1Qtrad3Dwt7cdFbGBcxKri83H6cVnzY13W9dat1TGC3Uah1qkib8_1UK2wP-DvXv5hAR5GE7bB_Fzz__N65sMhGLiR0-GjXoXfhxJWldolwI-p67FYJTxSVcN9Kop6aY6G-a/s1600/MML_CARPARTY_11.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>"Steering Wheels" </b>- Tortilla pinwheels made with ham, turkey, Swiss cheese, and romaine lettuce with a cream cheese and bell pepper spread. They were the first things gone! I will be sharing the recipe on my blog soon! Cheap and very easy to make!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2o4QN7cy4MbnitM1QwGRuThc0czt05uDdLO2oAreFKIpAmkLXK9IFmx3Ie6C_HWJvLC9qVC7YIMcAU0AUfJS2Jqqrz-A1BdqPh6EyGwqfa8FFmbL7ohYkZJkOUA9-cX5XQ9EIW21gTS92/s1600/MML_CARPARTY_13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2o4QN7cy4MbnitM1QwGRuThc0czt05uDdLO2oAreFKIpAmkLXK9IFmx3Ie6C_HWJvLC9qVC7YIMcAU0AUfJS2Jqqrz-A1BdqPh6EyGwqfa8FFmbL7ohYkZJkOUA9-cX5XQ9EIW21gTS92/s1600/MML_CARPARTY_13.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>"Gasoline" and "Antifreeze" </b>- For the gasoline we made lemonade and for the antifreeze I bought <i>Hawaiian Punch Blue Polar Blast</i><b style="font-style: italic;"> </b>juice!</span></td></tr>
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<b><u><span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;">DECORATIONS</span></u></b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTBQOPVPxzKZec5c5HiCPVX2MhJ2EsCN13Tw1hhzY8mPA8ZqHCv5rgIOaJHqrtsOe02OKBVrWxv9GGeCnRy_X4KLMVtQBAln2Z_7UMMKZ9ndR4dQSb_qoz_ORv4xAGbzokBIcmOu05BCmA/s1600/MML_CARPARTY_15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTBQOPVPxzKZec5c5HiCPVX2MhJ2EsCN13Tw1hhzY8mPA8ZqHCv5rgIOaJHqrtsOe02OKBVrWxv9GGeCnRy_X4KLMVtQBAln2Z_7UMMKZ9ndR4dQSb_qoz_ORv4xAGbzokBIcmOu05BCmA/s1600/MML_CARPARTY_15.jpg" height="408" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Food labels: </b>I found a blog that created awesome Car themed printables. You can download the labels for free here: <a href="http://yvonnebyattsfamilyfun.blogspot.com/2012/05/disney-cars-party-printables.html" target="_blank">Yvonne Byatt's Family Fun</a>. I just downloaded them and modified them in Paint to match my specific menu! Then I printed them out on cardstock and they turned out great! <b>OUT OF POCKET COST: $0</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG5WbAHoRx4iGNIflzWgGCpOM04Hsw2LN28FCXRwZ7sXO1LIF8mEjz_VJ-DJD3T_Gcc1SKbszbQ5HPOJZG5Qs_WgfSBsnagG3dcKVL3CWi9MVkmIBxgaHzZ-bpIvaObM-sRicx_ZHM9mHF/s1600/MML_CARPARTY_17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG5WbAHoRx4iGNIflzWgGCpOM04Hsw2LN28FCXRwZ7sXO1LIF8mEjz_VJ-DJD3T_Gcc1SKbszbQ5HPOJZG5Qs_WgfSBsnagG3dcKVL3CWi9MVkmIBxgaHzZ-bpIvaObM-sRicx_ZHM9mHF/s1600/MML_CARPARTY_17.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Here is a cute checkered banner that I custom ordered for my son's birthday party! I used it as decor above the Snack Bar and Photo booth. <b>OUT OF POCKET COST: $5 </b><b>- </b><i>You can easily make it yourself with cardstock and ribbon!</i></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpQJSfILBl5Bpkf7-n7mrkxea2C9hp9lucKqt1yMSxwRmH5iBPyGfuyKUHD2YLM0PoNgoZ3Mt_b6QLqpi896DYPWubeYTbigEggZjFpGTSn5R0z0YJYBGWIeg2fpuV-38o3AFg-u3KzU9v/s1600/MML_CARPARTY_19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpQJSfILBl5Bpkf7-n7mrkxea2C9hp9lucKqt1yMSxwRmH5iBPyGfuyKUHD2YLM0PoNgoZ3Mt_b6QLqpi896DYPWubeYTbigEggZjFpGTSn5R0z0YJYBGWIeg2fpuV-38o3AFg-u3KzU9v/s1600/MML_CARPARTY_19.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Banner and Road Signs: </b>I printed a bunch of road signs that I googled on the internet and used them as decor all over the house! As for the banner, I printed it on cardstock and used it as decor in our backyard. <b>OUT OF POCKET COST: $0</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh38oUtULw9BD2_u-mYU90yx8TOuvtDnXVcOHlvkCPhPBGXm6eJXTR5vRD88TfibZNejD6xnFfAwqqT539y6NR_btFFZocjHDzrUYFJnT2aOG2Enp1X_UKj1uFhSf5ecRWWKoDQ4FCHZ2X-/s1600/MML_CARPARTY_20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh38oUtULw9BD2_u-mYU90yx8TOuvtDnXVcOHlvkCPhPBGXm6eJXTR5vRD88TfibZNejD6xnFfAwqqT539y6NR_btFFZocjHDzrUYFJnT2aOG2Enp1X_UKj1uFhSf5ecRWWKoDQ4FCHZ2X-/s1600/MML_CARPARTY_20.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>"Road" Walkway: </b>As soon as you enter our house, there is a long hallway you walk through, so we decided to make it look like a road! Another reason we did it this way was since most of our house is carpet and the party was both inside and outside, we didn't want people to have to keep putting on and taking off their shoes! With this "road", they were able to keep their shoes on the whole time without making my carpets dirty! We made a road from the entrance that led into the main area of the snack bar and also a road that led to the bathroom. It added to the ambiance of the theme and also gave a functional use! <b>- OUT OF POCKET COST: $13</b> - We bought black plastic sheeting (found in the paint section of Walmart) for $10 and bought yellow painters tape for $3. Then we just cut the plastic to fit into our areas and used the tape to separate the roads. It was super easy and I loved how it turned out!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCmJegjZ3Z8_L292AM35mAP2i-PPyH_q2M0db_-iLlZLbig_kmyKla3gmLIiYlsT6QmuUYIw2Coh6y9EXyQRFsFuTPXL1xb4s5WwwDwYZmXDZflBar6vqww3L4sSek8drFw1xcA4GaKm5K/s1600/MML_CARPARTY_25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCmJegjZ3Z8_L292AM35mAP2i-PPyH_q2M0db_-iLlZLbig_kmyKla3gmLIiYlsT6QmuUYIw2Coh6y9EXyQRFsFuTPXL1xb4s5WwwDwYZmXDZflBar6vqww3L4sSek8drFw1xcA4GaKm5K/s1600/MML_CARPARTY_25.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Since it was a "road" I made street signs at the intersection telling people the direction to the Snack Bar and "Pit Stop" (aka Bathroom). <b>OUT OF POCKET COST: $0</b></span></td></tr>
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<b><u><span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;">"THE FINISH LINE" (GOODIE BAGS)</span></u></b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFAjaLb0Rwqpk-B17MF_-NTfXk0oK6Yb5aW-8b7Xxiw7g1R7Gdvq0cjbXNSJPmioNILbqucLz-TAYzb5qJaVl0muUjTXYYFO-Aht67Ef5FPKkARVBsBnrZYs4tfkQmng0o_Mr4WstuNpDZ/s1600/MML_CARPARTY_7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFAjaLb0Rwqpk-B17MF_-NTfXk0oK6Yb5aW-8b7Xxiw7g1R7Gdvq0cjbXNSJPmioNILbqucLz-TAYzb5qJaVl0muUjTXYYFO-Aht67Ef5FPKkARVBsBnrZYs4tfkQmng0o_Mr4WstuNpDZ/s1600/MML_CARPARTY_7.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Goodie Bags: </b>For guests leaving, we had goodie bags placed at the "Finish Line". We made the goodie bags out of brown paper lunch bags and used red, yellow, and green construction paper to create the look of a <b>stoplight. - OUT OF POCKET COST: $15 - </b>I already had the construction paper, so I just bought the brown paper bags and goodie bag treats at the dollar store. For just $15 I was able to buy tire yoyo's, bubbles, plastic bugs, and candy to make <b>18 goodie bags! </b>It was a cute and simple "thank you for coming" gift for the kids.</span></td></tr>
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<b><u><span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;">ACTIVITIES FOR THE KIDS</span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Since we were on a budget, I only planned games that required no actual money. Two games I came up with were <b>Red Light, Green Light </b>and <b>Relay Race </b>(to stick with the car theme). However, when it came down to it, the kids preferred to just play in our backyard! We had a swing set, jungle gym, playhouse, and mini trampoline, along with a sand table and a few tricycles, so thankfully all of those things <b>kept the kids occupied the whole 3 hours</b>!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQGeIZ45Jc5KqNREce25Wo8v_sDNkwmUs5sz7BxQWEqrAST96RBOxK_xV0qDTg7bNM6w5bqfG3vh1tw-XHvlB9AjTyCwsLAUXtxv8HioWlFlECy1JmDMGymw8guCoAe9AhcK317ZMBDAZs/s1600/MML_CARTHEMEDPARTY.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQGeIZ45Jc5KqNREce25Wo8v_sDNkwmUs5sz7BxQWEqrAST96RBOxK_xV0qDTg7bNM6w5bqfG3vh1tw-XHvlB9AjTyCwsLAUXtxv8HioWlFlECy1JmDMGymw8guCoAe9AhcK317ZMBDAZs/s1600/MML_CARTHEMEDPARTY.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">The wooden swing set was our gift to our son for his 2nd birthday. It cost about $420, so to help balance the cost, we asked guests if they wanted to contribute towards it, prior to the party. After all the monies were collected, we only had to chip in an extra $50! <b>A huge thank you again to <u>Hugo, Christine, Angelina, Mario, Maui, Papa&Lala, Grandma&Grandpa Hoop, and The McDonald Family</u> for chipping in so we could get him this awesome swing set! </b>All their generosity helped us get our son a gift he loves without having to charge it to credit!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTj0UgOw_wYuCPWyMlq1mFzxI5mLGwfwFhll4z-D9IL7FAOkaEQRhlXbkYuqPlD_yxG3hlNy0pOG7U3pigwuW_tpK9oryOeHO9VVBKRnv5rR-IZ5CJ8ADF7qh-UNmkhLDfGuVr-k4PJCVl/s1600/MML_CARTHEMEDPARTY2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTj0UgOw_wYuCPWyMlq1mFzxI5mLGwfwFhll4z-D9IL7FAOkaEQRhlXbkYuqPlD_yxG3hlNy0pOG7U3pigwuW_tpK9oryOeHO9VVBKRnv5rR-IZ5CJ8ADF7qh-UNmkhLDfGuVr-k4PJCVl/s1600/MML_CARTHEMEDPARTY2.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">And even though we had a lot of people contribute towards the swing set, he still made out like a bandit in the gift department!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;"><b><u>PARTY FUN</u></b></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnmxBF0TSP0FuhoO5WFc4gL-dLEDPdiq7WAN1QE1Pi-4WyfoTWeYzCLt90QSkOQQm8vXnVl2YWNCtipvExxCuBF9iLB69eBrF3hwtxF2j6P4Bbqna0TSqmJqQKFEeoQU1ZbxC-_weUzX6m/s1600/MML_CARPARTY_21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnmxBF0TSP0FuhoO5WFc4gL-dLEDPdiq7WAN1QE1Pi-4WyfoTWeYzCLt90QSkOQQm8vXnVl2YWNCtipvExxCuBF9iLB69eBrF3hwtxF2j6P4Bbqna0TSqmJqQKFEeoQU1ZbxC-_weUzX6m/s1600/MML_CARPARTY_21.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Our son about to blow his candle!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC_lqkz4kBKUvAF_tJ99CO8MmLIhalJiodTuZDD_i8DXqRfNHprV90aSEvGcvdQpsrw5aDO829hjoRWKHymZzugiMCbWeqLZCL8GFqfo62q_pQZQirX_C3-ptZ9T4MtNgU55RS84mWrwUj/s1600/MML_CARPARTY_22.jpg" height="640" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="480" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">His favorite part of the whole party - lol.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">All in all, we were able to throw our son an awesome party without hurting our wallets! Thank you to everyone that came and to those who helped us make our son's birthday a little more special!</span><br />
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<u style="color: #38761d; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">MOMMY'S MODERN LIFE:</span></u><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><u style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">TIPS FOR THROWING A PARTY ON A BUDGET</span></u></span><br />
<ul>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">Don't hesitate to ask for help!</span></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">Rather than people buying a gift, ask if they can volunteer their TIME towards the party. (Especially if they have a specific talent like baking or photography or face painting!)</span></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">For expensive gifts, see if you can have guests chip in.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">Make the decorations yourself.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">Don't cater your food. Make most or all of it yourself.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">Bake your own birthday cake.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">When buying materials for the party, look at the dollar store or 99 Cent Store first! (Especially for goodie bag treats!)</span></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">And lastly, kids aren't very difficult to please, so think of cheap or free games that can entertain the kids to avoid breaking the bank! You don't always need fancy bounce houses or clowns for the kids to have a great time!</span></li>
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<i><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">If you liked any of our ideas, please make sure to "pin it" to your Pinterest board or "share it" on your Facebook wall for future reference! If you have any ideas you've done for a car-themed party and want to share with others, don't hesitate to voice them in our "comments section"! Thank you for reading!</span></i>Mommys Modern Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01247784150111034665noreply@blogger.com51tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540239901102334173.post-86231150366031544442014-04-03T14:18:00.002-07:002014-04-03T14:43:34.127-07:00How-To: Dry Erase Weekly Schedule Board<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3IoU-abCusDTUm1sA6SRw7POjb6JGT8KtKwc49HZJpkI-Sqi9CUdfdeoL6m0hJm0y_UUf-8IuJEXRK_GhZZWYtDHrMB6_RzlEk3TSpYRXytjxxIAY_HAGQ-4nsVGun3atToW_npnrosux/s1600/MML_SCHEDULE_BOARD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3IoU-abCusDTUm1sA6SRw7POjb6JGT8KtKwc49HZJpkI-Sqi9CUdfdeoL6m0hJm0y_UUf-8IuJEXRK_GhZZWYtDHrMB6_RzlEk3TSpYRXytjxxIAY_HAGQ-4nsVGun3atToW_npnrosux/s1600/MML_SCHEDULE_BOARD.jpg" height="518" width="640" /></a>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Everyone who visits our home notices our family's <strong>"Command Center"</strong>. It is a section of our house dedicated to keeping our <u>whole home organized</u>. It is where we keep track of<strong> </strong>meals, chores, and upcoming activities.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">One of the centerpieces of our family command center is our <strong><u>Dry Erase Weekly Schedule Board</u></strong>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This is a great <strong>starter project</strong> for anyone who has never really done their own projects before. I spent only <strong>$9</strong> (since I had all the other materials on hand) and it only took me about <strong>20 minutes</strong>. The most time was taken waiting for it to dry!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I found the idea on </span><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/mizzmabby/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Pinterest</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> a couple of years ago from this blog post: </span><a href="http://craftingandquilting.blogspot.ca/2012/01/dry-erase-weekly-calendar.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Dry Erase Weekly Calendar</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">. I thought it was the best idea ever! Very simple, yet cute, so I made one for myself!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Mine is pretty much just like hers, but I modified it a little bit. I put my<strong> letters on the frame</strong> instead of the actual glass because I wanted more space to write. I also wanted an excuse to use my Cricut cutter, so I <strong>made the letters myself </strong>rather than use pre-made stickers. But other than that, everything else is the same! You can get more specific instructions on her site: </span><a href="http://craftingandquilting.blogspot.ca/2012/01/dry-erase-weekly-calendar.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">http://craftingandquilting.blogspot.ca/2012/01/dry-erase-weekly-calendar.html</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Below is how I made mine.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<strong><u><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">MATERIALS:</span></u></strong><br />
<ul><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">8-Frame Collage Picture Frame (I bought mine at Wal-Mart when it was on sale for $9)</span></li>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Scrapbook Paper (Cut to a size that will fit in each frame)</span></li>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Scrapbook Letters (Or, if you have a Cricut like me, I just made my own letters)</span></li>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Mod Podge</span></li>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Paint Brush</span></li>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span></ul>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Then all you have to do is put your scrapbook paper in the frames, stick your letters onto the border of your frames, apply Mod Podge over the letters to "seal" them in so that they don't fall off (plus it gives it a more finished look), let it dry for the recommended amount of time, and then TA-DA! You have your very own <strong>Dry Erase Weekly Schedule Board</strong>!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBZPdpkSgVrebv4K2rSwf6WEOR-ivtqKNLBhDdAoN6n0K2KnNbMOn8AoAM5iqpkpUgaARxgMzoPUWFb4d-LRXJdGLmSAFRiYkBB_g-Ib5eqG4XguE8S-1a3nYf10tMji5Jp1fNWuzM7qPZ/s1600/MML_SCHEDULE_BOARD2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBZPdpkSgVrebv4K2rSwf6WEOR-ivtqKNLBhDdAoN6n0K2KnNbMOn8AoAM5iqpkpUgaARxgMzoPUWFb4d-LRXJdGLmSAFRiYkBB_g-Ib5eqG4XguE8S-1a3nYf10tMji5Jp1fNWuzM7qPZ/s1600/MML_SCHEDULE_BOARD2.jpg" height="640" width="466" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">You can use any <strong>dry erase markers</strong> to write on the glass. After each week, you can easily wipe the marker off and start all over! Our family uses this to keep track of all of our activities, appointments, schedules, and when bills are due. Plus the <strong>To-Do-List section</strong> comes in handy when we have to remember to buy or do something.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<u><strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">TRICKS AND TIPS:</span></strong></u><br />
<ul><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">There are only 7 days in a week, so since there are 8 frames, you can use the last frame for your "To-Do-List" or "Grocery List" or you can use it to display a picture of your family!</span></li>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Use light colored scrapbook paper or else the things you write on it may be hard to read.</span></li>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Choose scrapbook paper that will match your area's color scheme so it has a more uniform look.</span></li>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Hang this in a location that is central, so that everyone will know what's going on throughout the week.</span></li>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span></ul>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I hope you guys enjoy this project! I will post more about our <strong>Family Command Center</strong> in later posts!</span>
Mommys Modern Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01247784150111034665noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540239901102334173.post-82764704327474367062014-01-31T09:02:00.001-08:002014-02-24T09:10:57.921-08:00Divorce Is Not The Answer<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyE7wSRyJMB2T4VYm1k0Nx9OljJWAZI0mMZyHuu8fF6gmpLODG9TO8InTMwG-SugNkjNiK81girOHWL_EIYu6-ha7HrV5Vc137oMkUOWQNpC3hDBYnp7K4GXlv2jFe8QWWPBC5HW2Kv3uT/s1600/MML_WEDDING.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyE7wSRyJMB2T4VYm1k0Nx9OljJWAZI0mMZyHuu8fF6gmpLODG9TO8InTMwG-SugNkjNiK81girOHWL_EIYu6-ha7HrV5Vc137oMkUOWQNpC3hDBYnp7K4GXlv2jFe8QWWPBC5HW2Kv3uT/s1600/MML_WEDDING.jpg" height="400" width="260" /></a><b>I'm not perfect. </b>I am impatient. I can be selfish. I can be moody. I am stubborn. I don’t always think before I speak. I stress over little things. I can be a nag and be overbearing. I expect too much. I don’t always appreciate what I have.<br />
<br />
But, no matter what, there he is, <b>always at my side.</b><br />
<br />
My rock. My partner. My best friend. My husband and the father of my children.<br />
<br />
I love him very much.<br />
<br />
However,<b> </b>I know there are times when<b> I treat my husband like crap.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
I don't know why.... he doesn't deserve it.<br />
<br />
Even in the midst of a fight with him, I often catch myself wondering, <b><u>WHY?</u></b><br />
<br />
Why am I yelling at someone I love?<br />
Why do I always have to be right and have the last say?<br />
Why do I want him to feel bad for making me feel bad?<br />
<b>Why can’t I just let it go?</b><br />
<br />
I know when I'm tired or in a bad mood or if I had a bad day, I find myself directing my anger and stress at my husband. Sometimes the chaos of life causes me to push my husband's feelings to the side.<br />
<br />
However, no matter how much strain gets put on our relationship, <b>DIVORCE IS NOT THE ANSWER.</b><br />
<br />
I need to remember to <b><u>always prioritize our commitment to one another</u>.</b> It is that commitment that started this whole journey that we share together.<br />
<br />
We are one. We are a team. We are husband and wife. <b>We need to face all of life's challenges <u>together</u> rather than trying to take it out on one another.</b><br />
<br />
One thing I always tell my friends when they ask how Eric and I have made it work through all these years is that,<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>"Communication is key."</b></span><br />
<br />
To me, communication is the most important part of a relationship. Some say it's trust, but if you communicate everything with one another, what is there NOT to trust? It just comes hand-in-hand.<br />
<br />
However, sometimes communication can be a Catch 22 because when we do communicate, there are times when <b>it does lead to an argument</b> because one may not be happy with what the other person has to say.<br />
<br />
When we argue, I know that I personally don't react to it well. I get very defensive and emotional. I become hard headed and easily annoyed. Everything sets me off. After I say my piece, I shut down. I don’t want to hear what anyone else has to say.<br />
<br />
<b>Yes, I am very childish that way and I admit it.</b><br />
<br />
But even though some may be with a person like that and want to end it, my husband knows that <b>DIVORCE IS NOT THE ANSWER.</b><br />
<br />
He usually is very patient with me and level-headed and just lets me rant. Sometimes that's all most people need, <b>just to be listened to. </b>And I mean, <u>REALLY</u> listened to.<br />
<br />
However, there are times when <strong>I am guilty of not always handling my husband's outbursts as kindly and as understanding as he does to me.</strong><br />
<br />
Eric doesn’t get mad at me often, but when he does that’s when it gets bad.<br />
<br />
<b>My pride gets in the way.</b><br />
<br />
I fight back. I don't listen. I try to be tougher and I want to win.<br />
<br />
Eventually, we become two very angry people who are just trying to one-up each other.<br />
<br />
There is a great quote on a "Marriage Rules" plaque that I got from my aunt that states,<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>"If one of you has to win an argument, let it be your spouse."</b></span><br />
<br />
I need to be the bigger person, like my husband usually is to me. <b>I need to let him communicate his thoughts to me without getting upset.</b> I need to be there for him and <u>REALLY</u> listen to his problems, his wants, his concerns<b>.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
I need to remember that <u><b>I am in control of my own happiness and I can choose my reaction to any situation.</b></u><br />
<br />
If an argument arises, I shouldn't let my emotions get the best of me. I shouldn't take my husband's opinions and problems as an attack. I shouldn’t hate him for saying what's on his mind even though what he’s saying may make me want to. I shouldn't bring up the past and I should never attack his character.<br />
<br />
I need to just <b>let it go</b> and not make it bigger than it needs to be because <b>DIVORCE IS NOT THE ANSWER.</b><br />
<br />
<b><u>We can't allow petty arguments to grow big enough to destroy our relationship.</u></b><br />
<b></b><br />
I have seen so many great relationships end and I don’t want us to be another statistic of high school sweethearts who didn’t make it.<br />
<br />
<b>I am not perfect nor will I ever be perfect. </b>I am thankful that my husband has always accepted me through all my imperfections. But I know he can only handle so much before he reaches his <b>breaking point</b>.<br />
<br />
<b>I need to make a change within myself.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
For some, change can be difficult. It may at times seem easier to not put in the effort and to just give up, but<b> DIVORCE IS NOT THE ANSWER.</b><br />
<br />
As long as your love was created with a <u><b>strong foundation of communication, faith, humility, compassion, and respect</b></u>, it will be strong enough to withstand all of life's tribulations.<b> </b><br />
<br />
Our love is beautiful and the life that my husband and I share together is something <b>worth saving</b>.<br />
<br />
<b>Don't ever take our love for granted. </b>It is something that requires constant work and commitment and needs to be nurtured to continue to grow.<br />
<br />
My husband deserves a woman who <u>builds him up and supports his dreams</u>. He deserves a woman who <u>appreciates him and respects him</u>. He deserves a woman who <u>allows him to voice his feelings and concerns without judgement</u>. He deserves a woman who <u>gives him hugs & kisses and tells him "I love you"</u>. He deserves a woman who <u>wants him and needs him</u>. He deserves a woman who is <u>patient, understanding, nurturing, and kind</u>.<br />
<br />
<b>I will strive to always be that woman.</b><br />
<br />
I shouldn't allow the stresses of life to prevent me from treating him with the love that he deserves.<br />
<br />
<b><u>He makes me want to be a better version of myself.</u></b><br />
<b><u></u></b><br />
And that's what spouses should do:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">"<b>Inspire each other to grow and be better every single day."</b></span></span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhDLTt0P6VF7zXeSHktLEA_FUY4zIT0lDdDQ2i8JwOFGVHwri48YpWh_Bl5tmTHevuyzywh_iGcz-OQwHD073sDozCwRCOW_9ImEH9S95hyphenhyphen-pjRPQbeAvQqOTc0c6VqfKjOPj79VlCnJhB/s1600/MML_kissescollage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhDLTt0P6VF7zXeSHktLEA_FUY4zIT0lDdDQ2i8JwOFGVHwri48YpWh_Bl5tmTHevuyzywh_iGcz-OQwHD073sDozCwRCOW_9ImEH9S95hyphenhyphen-pjRPQbeAvQqOTc0c6VqfKjOPj79VlCnJhB/s1600/MML_kissescollage.jpg" height="538" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo credit: <a href="http://www.michaelyenorphotography.com/" target="_blank">Michael Yenor Photography</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Mommys Modern Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01247784150111034665noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540239901102334173.post-65258645806754033932014-01-22T09:14:00.000-08:002014-01-31T09:43:21.353-08:00How-To: Payoff $15,000 of Debt in 18 Months<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Between my husband and me,
I'm the more responsible one when it comes to money. I mean, I do splurge once
in awhile on a Starbucks drink or a pedicure or I buy the kids extra toys or
outfits, but overall, I know our budget and I'm better at sticking with it. So,
I'm in charge of our household finances. I make sure the bills are paid, I know
how much extra money we have each month, and I'm the one who makes sure we
maintain our savings.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">However, during Christmas
and Black Friday last year, my husband and I both went a little overboard on
our spending. We both ended up charging things to our credit cards with money
we didn't have. Also, last year we bought a new home, so we splurged a lot of
our savings on new furniture, appliances, home decor, etc. What we couldn't
afford, we charged to our cards. So, because of that, we had <u>accumulated over
$10,000 of debt all in a course of 1 year!</u></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Thankfully, we were able to get some extra money and were
able to pay it down by the end of the year to about half that amount.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Okay, so now that we're left with $5,000, it doesn't
sound too bad, BUT if you add that to the $10,000 of debt we ALREADY had...
yeah... looking at over <strong>$15,000 of credit card debt</strong> is now a bit more daunting!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">My husband and I were tired
of spending almost $1,000 a month towards credit cards that seem never-ending. So, both of us sat down and came up with a plan together.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Now that it's 2014, we have
to do some damage control to do!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span> </div>
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<b><u><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 24pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">CUT
COSTS</span></u></b><span style="mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The first step prior to
establishing a budget is to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">cut back on
your monthly expenses</b>.</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7yxooIdCp_5w1bwxfmcbaPHfqqK0IjPMdW6JzU4_g_G3RC3ZUxNArcdiXpvkLhpS8TZs1DTO6_1aN6XUF-L4O1gt8f5ML6Q7o7IHiLILoN4GqSNuNsXJeXyO7-3UNNsTsNgSbaBXsmFw7/s1600/MML_11WAYSTOSAVEMONEY.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></a><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7yxooIdCp_5w1bwxfmcbaPHfqqK0IjPMdW6JzU4_g_G3RC3ZUxNArcdiXpvkLhpS8TZs1DTO6_1aN6XUF-L4O1gt8f5ML6Q7o7IHiLILoN4GqSNuNsXJeXyO7-3UNNsTsNgSbaBXsmFw7/s1600/MML_11WAYSTOSAVEMONEY.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7yxooIdCp_5w1bwxfmcbaPHfqqK0IjPMdW6JzU4_g_G3RC3ZUxNArcdiXpvkLhpS8TZs1DTO6_1aN6XUF-L4O1gt8f5ML6Q7o7IHiLILoN4GqSNuNsXJeXyO7-3UNNsTsNgSbaBXsmFw7/s1600/MML_11WAYSTOSAVEMONEY.jpg" height="310" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyy0d9CnFpX6RwjxK3kx6EZK1sYiLxnbHiTxihOfcLoczfH4ENGUJncFlrF-8GPPaDuaSomqoiYc574ifGUTGNP57wz-RvhGIApCRezgI7ZvuYpAdN_vRpSeBn0Nsa_6NFRDhYS8agRgtu/s1600/MML_10WaysToCutCosts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">My husband and I already
had minimized many of our expenses last year when we bought our second home, so
we didn’t really have to cut back on any of our normal expenses. The biggest thing
we had to cut back on was our excess spending on things we didn’t need and
we had to stop using our credit cards.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><strong>However, to the left are ways you can cut costs for your family.</strong></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">To help you <u>earn some extra money</u>, you can always <strong>sell your possessions</strong> that you don't use anymore. I do that with every season as my kids outgrow things and I also sold many of our old possessions before moving into our new house, so that's a great way to not necessarily cut costs, but to help put a little <strong>extra money in your pockets</strong>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></div>
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<b><u><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 24pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">SET A
MONTHLY BUDGET</span></u></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Shortly after the New Year,
my husband and I sat down together and came up with a plan that we both agreed
too. If you have a significant other, I highly recommend that you sit down with
him or her before making any big decisions regarding money or changes in
budgets. That way both of you are on the same page and are <strong>working together to
reach the same goal</strong>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Here are the steps we took
to determine our monthly budget:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<ol start="1" type="1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We calculated our monthly income
(after taxes).<o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">We made a list of all our <u>FIXED</u>
expenses every month (such as, mortgage and car payments, credit cards,
groceries, savings, etc). These are the expenses that are <strong>always the same </strong>every month and have to be paid every month.</span></li>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We then made a list of all our <u>SEMI-VARIABLE</u>
expenses (such as cable, utilities, childcare, gas, etc). These are the
costs that are typically <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">within a $50 average
variance</b> every month. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(Childcare
for most people would be under FIXED expenses, but since my husband and I
like to go on date nights, sometimes we have to shell out a little extra
each month, so I categorized Childcare under semi-variable).</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Finally we made a list of all our <u>HIGHLY-VARIABLE</u>
expenses (such as purchases, fun activities, restaurants, etc). These are for costs
that are <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">never the same</b> every month and <strong>not a necessity</strong>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span></ol>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Then I kept track of
everything on an excel spreadsheet. Below is the template that I created for
our family. You can easily modify it to fit your family’s needs:</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1tgkAPDMFFUqpChDQ_G2iOxYqywQFwjdj3b7XuH7JgqtzqYQKnMfyfPCcn61MKpYSkOhyIpiI1P3BGh-ZN944_YVU7e_yheiwNzVidf5M5XRbyGP0tzor3Kuu-ereNj6z57Y7lqgQYYAI/s1600/MML_MonthlyHouseholdBudget.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1tgkAPDMFFUqpChDQ_G2iOxYqywQFwjdj3b7XuH7JgqtzqYQKnMfyfPCcn61MKpYSkOhyIpiI1P3BGh-ZN944_YVU7e_yheiwNzVidf5M5XRbyGP0tzor3Kuu-ereNj6z57Y7lqgQYYAI/s1600/MML_MonthlyHouseholdBudget.jpg" height="640" width="496" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><em>Click on image to enlarge photo</em></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Once we finalized our monthly budget to the point where we actually were able to <strong><u>carryover a profit every month</u></strong>, we made a promise to <strong>not deviate from the budget</strong>, unless it was to actually spend <strong>LESS</strong> than what we budgeted for.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">I know things do come up and sometimes you have to pay a little extra towards some expenses each month, but that is why you need to have a good enough <strong>buffer</strong> between your profit and extra monies from your envelopes and other categories where you actually were below budget.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Set your budget to a point where you are comfortable and not necessarily living paycheck-to-paycheck.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">And don't forget to<span style="color: blue;"> </span><strong><u><span style="color: blue;">always contribute to your savings!</span></u> </strong>Make sure to find a way to fit that in your monthly budget! I can't emphasize this enough. Even if you are only able to save $25 a week, do it because in one year, you'll be able to save over $1,200! <strong>A little bit can go a long way</strong> in case an emergency arises.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b><u><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: 24pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">CASH
ONLY</span></u></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><u>PLASTIC IS BAD</u>. That is
what a lot of my older co-workers would tell me and I never listened. I have
finally come to the realization that CASH ONLY is my best bet.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">In order to stay on track
to pay down our debt, my husband and I decided that we are going to stop using
not only our credit cards, but also our <strong>debit cards</strong>. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">So, for 2014, my husband I
will only use our checking account to pay for our fixed
expenses, like our utilities, childcare, mortgage, and car payments (either
online or by check).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The rest of our expenses
will be paid for in <u>cash</u>. Once we run out of cash, <strong><u>WE ARE OUT OF MONEY</u></strong>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;">
<b><u><span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 24pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">THE
ENVELOPE SYSTEM</span></u></b></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEWmbji49aAn8dMr8suuDwXigprh1fqNaZFDpY2NlXzlH1bVqUhIhdDXdohwwP159QW9u2ViD-CDQY_RzzchrPpaOel5XVZ_pbpeeVuf0goBD_ZBQN8VkMW_TCi7ge0LUNyyhhS7kXtMT2/s1600/MML_12KDEBTPAYOFF.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEWmbji49aAn8dMr8suuDwXigprh1fqNaZFDpY2NlXzlH1bVqUhIhdDXdohwwP159QW9u2ViD-CDQY_RzzchrPpaOel5XVZ_pbpeeVuf0goBD_ZBQN8VkMW_TCi7ge0LUNyyhhS7kXtMT2/s1600/MML_12KDEBTPAYOFF.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"></span> </div>
<span style="mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">An easy way for us to keep track of our cash was to</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><strong> divide them into envelopes</strong>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">My envelope categories are as follows:</span></div>
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<ol><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Groceries</span></li>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Sam's Club</span></li>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Miscellaneous</span></li>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Allowance</span></li>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span></ol>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b><span style="mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><u>Groceries:</u></span></b><span style="mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> We budget our groceries at $80/week so
since my husband and I get paid on opposite weeks, every time one of us gets
paid, we go to the bank and withdraw $80. We then put that money in our envelope to be
used for that week's groceries. Anything we don't use, we can add to our grocery budget the
next week, deposit it into our savings, or we can transfer it to our miscellaneous envelope as a little
reward to ourselves for being below our budget. <em><strong>For more advice on saving costs at the grocery store checkout my blog post: </strong><a href="http://mommysmodernlife.blogspot.com/2013/11/cut-costs-for-non-couponers.html" target="_blank"><strong>How-To: Cut Costs for Non-Couponers</strong></a><o:p><strong>.</strong></o:p></em></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKUyPH7lkKWGaGTtYH6OolL2Je4zwl8IDAflQlPuSz29fnubQJ-Cx41eL_5J6WVvBe6tluZnre2ZZ-3DKWn2svPZfuxPAqWOO0olmFZbbd0FHBR4UOlC8125yWfckpaotSQCCOiQUYvhrM/s1600/MML_12KDEBTPAYOFF2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKUyPH7lkKWGaGTtYH6OolL2Je4zwl8IDAflQlPuSz29fnubQJ-Cx41eL_5J6WVvBe6tluZnre2ZZ-3DKWn2svPZfuxPAqWOO0olmFZbbd0FHBR4UOlC8125yWfckpaotSQCCOiQUYvhrM/s1600/MML_12KDEBTPAYOFF2.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b><span style="mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><u>Sam's Club:</u></span></b><span style="mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> We budget $120/month at Sam's Club.
However, rather than take out a big amount at the end of the month to make our
Sam's Club run, we withdraw $30/week at the bank and put it in our envelope.
Once we reach $120, we then use it to stock up on our
meats, cleaning products, snacks, diapers, wipes, etc. Anything
leftover can be saved for the next month or transferred to another envelope.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b><span style="mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><u>Miscellaneous:</u></span></b><span style="mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> This envelope is used to go out to eat
or do something fun together. It can even be used towards unexpected expenses. I don't have a set budget for this envelope
every month. I only go to the bank to withdraw funds for this envelope if we
have <strong>extra money to spare and have planned for it in advance</strong>. If we have any leftover money from our Groceries or
Sam's Club envelopes, we may add it here as well. If not, it will remain empty
and we will have to just find some fun free things to do. Nothing wrong with
that!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b><span style="mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><u>Allowance:</u></span></b><span style="mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> My husband and I have our own <b>his
and her envelopes</b>. We get either $15 or $20 each per week that we can use on lunch at
work or we can save it up and he can buy a new video game or I can get a
pedicure or buy a new outfit. Either way, that's our spending money that we can
use on whatever we want. <i>(I know some may think that it's kind of
embarrassing to be adults with an "allowance", but in order for us to
pay off our debt in a timely manner, we have agreed to make this <b>sacrifice</b>
for a little while).</i></span></span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: 24pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<b><u><span style="color: #0b5394;">PAY-OFF OUR $15,000 DEBT IN</span></u></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 24pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b><u>18 MONTHS</u></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Now that we had our monthly finances under control, we worked on our <strong>Debt Pay-Off Plan.</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">I have seen articles on
Yahoo! about many people who have been able to lower greater amounts of debt in
shorter amounts of time. However, 18 months is the time frame that my husband and I have
decided is the most probable for us. We know our <strong>circumstances are not the same</strong>
as everyone else's, so we made the best plan for our situation and I suggest you do the same as well.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><em>While creating our plan we reached a few realizations:</em></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We couldn't downsize to an
apartment or lower our lease because we purchased our home so we were stuck
making mortgage payments on it for awhile. We didn't want to just walk away.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">We also couldn't sell our cars
since we leased both of them and we don't have any investments or assets
that we can sell or withdraw money from.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"></span><br />
<span style="mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">And even though I wish it were possible, neither of us could become stay-at-home parents and live off of a single income.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">So, we are literally trying
to pay down our debt with <strong>just our paychecks</strong>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">To help us do this, we have done the following:</span></div>
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<ol><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We <strong>locked away our credit cards</strong> and will not charge any more expenses on them.</span></li>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We created a <strong>FIXED dollar amount</strong> to pay towards our credit cards each month. </span></li>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We decided to <strong><u>pay off our high interest rate card first</u></strong>.</span></li>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We then started a <strong>snowball effect</strong> to ultimately pay-off all of our debt<strong>.</strong></span></li>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span></ol>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><u>Lock away your credit cards:</u></span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Put them in a filing cabinet and hide the key. Or be like my co-worker and stick it in a bowl of water and put it in your freezer so if you ever did want to use it, the hassle of getting it out of ice might not be worth it. No matter how you do it, just find a place for your cards other than your purse or wallet!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><u>Create a FIXED dollar amount to pay towards your credit cards each month:</u></span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">To calculate this dollar amount, take a look at each credit card account. <strong><em>Write down how</em></strong> <strong><em>much you owe, the interest rate, the minimum payment due, and the due date</em></strong>. From there, you can determine how much you need to at least pay the minimum every month. Then look at your finances and determine how much <strong>ABOVE the minimum totals</strong> you can sacrifice each month towards your highest rate credit card. So, say your minimum payments equal $300, see if you can sacrifice $500/month towards your credit cards, so you can put the extra $200 towards your card with the highest interest rate to help pay it down quicker.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><u>Pay off your high interest rate card first:</u></span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The idea behind paying the cards with the highest interest rates first is so that you pay less back to the bank. Therefore, put whatever extra money you can afford every month towards that one specific credit card and just pay minimums on the rest.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><u>The Snowball Effect:</u></span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Once you pay off your card with the highest interest rate, shuffle the dollar amount you used to pay towards that card into your 2nd highest card. The idea is that eventually you will pay them all down quickly by creating a "snowball effect." For example, per the scenario I created above take the $200 extra you were paying PLUS the original minimum payments, you can now pay it all towards your 2nd highest card. Once that is paid, you can then add the total you were paying on that prior card, towards the 3rd highest rated card and so on and so forth. <em>*But remember, as you transfer the dollar amounts between cards as you pay them off, continue to pay the minimum towards your other cards!*</em> Eventually, if you continue with this process, you will pay everything off quicker and quicker creating a "snowball effect."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">To help us keep track of
how my payments versus my interest rates are holding up, I use a spreadsheet I found on the internet. <strong>You can download it here: </strong></span><a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&ved=0CFYQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmarriottschool.net%2Fteacher%2FMBA620%2FSudweeks%2FTeaching%2520Tools%2FTT18%2520-%2520Credit%2520Card%2520Repayment%2520Spreadsheet%2520%252011Oct06.xls&ei=pZ7VUsS4H4uhogS9woH4Ag&usg=AFQjCNG0dij9yhkJjDIiIT5-BjkGWDi2-g&sig2=OOhn4Mu6GNfuVvoHh9HzrA" target="_blank"><strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">TT18: Credit Card Repayment Spreadsheet</span></strong></a><strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">.</span></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><o:p><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;"><u><strong>SACRIFICE AND COMMITMENT</strong></u></span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The most important step in making this whole "plan" work is for my husband and I to make this sacrifice together. Cutting back on many things we used to enjoy will be a tough. We won't be able to hangout with our friends as often, birthdays won't be as extravagant, family trips will need to be cut back, and date nights will have to become a little more creative, but we<strong> must make sacrifices </strong>to attain our goal.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Through the sacrifices, we need to make sure we stay <strong>committed and dedicated to our cause. </strong>It'll definitely be tough at first, but we need to keep seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. We hope together we can be each other's beacon as we go through this journey. I wish all of you who are trying to pay down your debt the best of luck and hopefully we all can finally overcome our burdens of debt and be able to breath again!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span> </div>
<div style="border: 2px dashed purple; padding: 10px; text-align: center;">
<i><strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">DISCLAIMER:</span></strong></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This is something
that my husband and I are currently trying to do. We have not yet proven that
this plan is fool-proof. However, based off many internet
articles, first-hand stories from friends and family, and the success we've had in the past few weeks, these are the steps
that our family will be taking to hopefully eliminate our debt in the next 18
months! I would love <strong>everyone's input</strong> to help us reach our goal and if you
would like to take on this journey with us, go right ahead! <strong>Good luck!</strong>
</span></i></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0phhiafgOJ7oldP_VzBs18zsczwnj_3bLe0L3kJjVsr6_F3fhfRVGz3Nk4t1qVUPyozClbI-BZgDXR05Wrx6vZFjksHNRqRUUVCV60oGucpCN63cKG1aOZftTd_4NUUaBcdX-1i4-tI6U/s1600/MML_SNOWMAN6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0phhiafgOJ7oldP_VzBs18zsczwnj_3bLe0L3kJjVsr6_F3fhfRVGz3Nk4t1qVUPyozClbI-BZgDXR05Wrx6vZFjksHNRqRUUVCV60oGucpCN63cKG1aOZftTd_4NUUaBcdX-1i4-tI6U/s640/MML_SNOWMAN6.jpg" width="638" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Last night, our activity from our <a href="http://mommysmodernlife.blogspot.com/2013/11/diy-christmas-activities-basket.html" target="_blank">Christmas Countdown Basket</a> was to</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><u><b>MAKE A SNOWMAN ON OUR FRONT DOOR</b></u>!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTfazQgJBv0GMtfmYuUcbEKSgs54umQmVyYplayUtqIAcDCezv5Q_hwwBH74Q-GoSEcs4trH6IhmwwgWvKsNRqKfUAnSA-muzhaQGS2MFtCw3n0egy9MlFJC16z2UgbUuze2SpS96bM5Ti/s1600/MML_SNOWMAN5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTfazQgJBv0GMtfmYuUcbEKSgs54umQmVyYplayUtqIAcDCezv5Q_hwwBH74Q-GoSEcs4trH6IhmwwgWvKsNRqKfUAnSA-muzhaQGS2MFtCw3n0egy9MlFJC16z2UgbUuze2SpS96bM5Ti/s640/MML_SNOWMAN5.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It was an <b>easy activity </b>to do with our 6-year-old daughter! My favorite part was that it cost us <u>no money</u> since we used supplies we already had at home! It was a fun way for us to make our front door a bit <strong>more festive</strong> without having to put a traditional wreath on it!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Scroll down to see how you can make your own</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><u><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Snowman Doorman!</span></u></b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimA3OyKaYgMrk1w8gZT-l9dR7T-nlGMzwDHG7B6dbxU-F3kxkkOaLshWQKdt09-DKekplItqIrVOwrDIWXy4643naMyTXDRpMmJE_w06AApzkLq5Um5ZQKq7QWTsHV3C0m3NO76ec8RAV2/s1600/MML_SNOWMAN+COLLAGE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="544" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimA3OyKaYgMrk1w8gZT-l9dR7T-nlGMzwDHG7B6dbxU-F3kxkkOaLshWQKdt09-DKekplItqIrVOwrDIWXy4643naMyTXDRpMmJE_w06AApzkLq5Um5ZQKq7QWTsHV3C0m3NO76ec8RAV2/s640/MML_SNOWMAN+COLLAGE.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><u><span style="font-size: large;">MATERIALS</span></u></b></span></div>
<ul>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Construction paper (4 black, 1 red, 1 green, and 1 orange)</span></div>
</li>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
</span>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Christmas ribbon (any color you like!)</span></div>
</li>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
</span>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Coffee mug and small bowl</span></div>
</li>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
</span>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Scissors</span></div>
</li>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
</span>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Pencil</span></div>
</li>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
</span>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Ruler</span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><u><span style="font-size: large;">INSTRUCTIONS</span></u></b></span></div>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Trace a small bowl onto your black construction paper for the snowman's <b>eyes</b>. Fit both eyes on one piece of paper.</span></li>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Trace a coffee mug to create 5 circles for the <b>mouth</b> on the black construction paper (try to fit all 5 on one paper, if not, use 1 and a half. Save the other half and 1 whole sheet of black construction paper for the top hat).</span></li>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Trace a coffee mug to create 2 circles EACH on the red and green paper for the <b>buttons</b>.</span></li>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Using a ruler, create the snowman's triangle carrot <b>nose</b> on the orange construction paper.</span></li>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Cut everything out!</span></li>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Cut a 8.5"x3" strip from your leftover construction paper. Attach it to the bottom of a whole sheet of black paper to create the base of your <b>hat</b>. Then using your Christmas ribbon, cut a piece and tape it just above the base.</span></li>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Tape the top hat, eyes, nose, and mouth onto your front door!</span></li>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Then use the rest of your Christmas ribbon to create your snowman's scarf! We tied a little bow at the end of ours!</span></li>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Lastly, add the buttons below the scarf!</span></li>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Your Snowman Doorman is now complete! :)</span></li>
</ol>
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</ol>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><u>Note:</u> </b><i>If you don't have Christmas ribbon for the scarf, you can easily make a scarf and do the trim for your top hat by using construction paper or patterned paper!</i></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Below are pictures of us posing with our awesome new</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><span style="color: red;"><u>Snowman Doorman!</u></span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Vegas doesn't get very much snow, so this is a way for us to be able to make our very own snowman! Try to make your own <b>Snowman Doorman</b> with your family! It's a great <strong>holiday touch</strong> to any home and a fun project to do together! :)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> <b> </b></span></div>
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Mommys Modern Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01247784150111034665noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540239901102334173.post-87377107805828349042013-11-27T08:51:00.000-08:002014-01-31T13:55:05.624-08:0021 Things Mommies Probably Shouldn't Be Thankful For (But We are!)<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">In the spirit of Thanksgiving, below is a list of</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><strong><u>21 Things This Modern Mommy is Thankful For</u></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><strong><u>(But Probably Shouldn't Be):</u></strong></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="border: 5px dotted green; padding: 0px; text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong></strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<u><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong><span style="color: #bf9000;">MINIVANS</span></strong> </span></u></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Gives the kids enough space to not drive each other or their parents crazy during the drive!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong><u>SUNGLASSES</u></strong></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Prevents people from seeing how exhausted I am and the fact that I was too lazy to put on any eyeliner or mascara!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<strong><u><span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">HATS</span></u></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">For days when combing my hair requires too much effort!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<strong><span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><u>TV'S</u></span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The once in while babysitter so I can make dinner or wash the dishes!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><u>MICROWAVES</u></span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">On those lazy nights, microwaving some chicken nuggets for dinner makes sure the kids are fed!</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><u>CARDBOARD BOXES</u></span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">When all else fails, this will keep the kids busy for at least an hour!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<strong><u><span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">PARKS</span></u></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Helps kids burn off all that built-up energy! But on a serious note, where does ALL that energy come from?! Seriously?!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><u>MAXI SKIRTS</u></span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Lets me be comfy but yet also look presentable!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span><br />
<strong><u><span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">YOGA PANTS</span></u></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">For days I really don't care about looking presentable but I'm going out in public and haven't shaved my legs!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><u>NAPTIME</u></span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Helps me regain my sanity in the middle of the day!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<strong><u><span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">DVR'S/TIVO'S</span></u></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Even though I hardly have the time to watch TV, it's nice to know that when I do want to catch up on my favorite shows, I can watch them until I pass out halfway through!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<strong><u><span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">LIBRARIES</span></u></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Allows me to get FREE books and movies that encourage reading and learning! And did I mention, it's FREE?!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<strong><u><span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">CROCKPOTS</span></u></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The chef cooking at home while mommy is at work!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><u>TO-DO-LISTS</u></span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Makes sure I accomplish things throughout the day. Without them, the only thing I would probably accomplish in a given day is "keep the kids alive"!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><u>CALENDARS/PLANNERS</u></span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Reminds me that I'm forgetting something!</span></div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><u>WINE</u></span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Need I say more?!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<strong><u><span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">GOOGLE</span></u></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The reason why mommy knows everything!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<strong><u><span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">PINTEREST</span></u></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">So that I can look more creative than I really am!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<strong><u><span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">FACEBOOK</span></u></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Lets me show off all of my kids' adorable pictures!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<strong><u><span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">LOCKS ON DOORS</span></u></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Allows me to go to the bathroom in peace and also keeps my kids from walking into mommy and daddy's wrestling session!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><u>MOMMY BLOGS</u></span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Reminds me that even though I say, think, and do crazy things as a mom, <strong>I am not alone!</strong></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span> </div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">So, now that I got the <strong>silliness </strong>out of my system, it's time to be personal. I mean, the things I wrote above are nice, but in all honesty, what I'm <u>TRULY</u> thankful<strong> </strong>for are <strong>NOT things.</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I am so <strong>blessed and grateful</strong> to live the life that I have! I know that<strong> <u>tomorrow is never a guarantee</u></strong>, so I try and cherish EVERY day! The life that I live isn't always easy, but rather than complain, I choose to focus on my blessings! Like the quote says, <strong><em>"Every day may not be good, but there is something good in every day!"</em></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">What I am <strong>TRULY thankful</strong> for this Thanksgiving are my <em><u>never-ending faith, my family and friends, our good health, our home, and the moments that have become my memories</u>!</em></span><br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5-w-wyir_EemIXl0RYquQIrmQr5py4HlRV3Bwn7ErDea-_zYfTYOFHBx3gL0KdXXwhrVJ4cHR2eIsKWqoBRz8dOPx_c4vmk42jhtRUV5m-_n_3iPyTwod1dU1lMbcJdH_fZrJg_UzCd65/s1600/6760_125383552274_5097034_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5-w-wyir_EemIXl0RYquQIrmQr5py4HlRV3Bwn7ErDea-_zYfTYOFHBx3gL0KdXXwhrVJ4cHR2eIsKWqoBRz8dOPx_c4vmk42jhtRUV5m-_n_3iPyTwod1dU1lMbcJdH_fZrJg_UzCd65/s640/6760_125383552274_5097034_n.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">I am thankful for my <strong>husband </strong>for being my rock and for showing me how to really love someone.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDwNESCarbPDnE-nb7lRVfXGGZOzln1uchRCgSAfLLToOVFu7VroQ11np5WgmFHGMKjuS6o0QFcncvQWKpT6ufORPwvF8nQDfOCi4hHZovWVwirsyw5uemQiUK04-ghrEjFZp6NQYJfiV0/s1600/894569_10151617304792275_2145671429_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDwNESCarbPDnE-nb7lRVfXGGZOzln1uchRCgSAfLLToOVFu7VroQ11np5WgmFHGMKjuS6o0QFcncvQWKpT6ufORPwvF8nQDfOCi4hHZovWVwirsyw5uemQiUK04-ghrEjFZp6NQYJfiV0/s640/894569_10151617304792275_2145671429_o.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">I'm thankful for <strong>moments</strong> where I can be with my family to experience things with them, laugh with them, play with them, and just love them!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLi6xioP-QKwATnVjYrwGz5SH5U7eVH5RlB2W6L2SkCjaThPh_tro_X-23L_CAN3gq2qXgFCqCgSpeFj1XjJy01oNpFNLoSQLHX6p15rcp-FaSbRSaH3Xbl7abgIY0CVhbN4c0fYqY8QOU/s1600/892233_10151649031412275_919712659_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLi6xioP-QKwATnVjYrwGz5SH5U7eVH5RlB2W6L2SkCjaThPh_tro_X-23L_CAN3gq2qXgFCqCgSpeFj1XjJy01oNpFNLoSQLHX6p15rcp-FaSbRSaH3Xbl7abgIY0CVhbN4c0fYqY8QOU/s640/892233_10151649031412275_919712659_o.jpg" height="640" width="636" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">I am thankful for my <strong>babies</strong> for showing me what life really is all about!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">So, this Thanksgiving, <strong>spend time with your loved ones and give thanks</strong>!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #e69138; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;"><strong><u>HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!</u></strong></span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Be safe, have fun, eat well, and enjoy each other!</span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span> </div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">And remember:</span></strong></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhERr9GPelwmb76rxwrYrevo3o_ysSlgjg1Wxc6WO7v-fbeoSQZwh_sRHs0nVl2cpZiw_aai-nHeF1JDsJPZMOXSTvhqm8Ol032LpSU3zsVJcFKqj76Ccvi4_4R_98dA6hSoEHFeNpUPHX7/s1600/e9b126d133e8797c254066b63fbcbc96.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhERr9GPelwmb76rxwrYrevo3o_ysSlgjg1Wxc6WO7v-fbeoSQZwh_sRHs0nVl2cpZiw_aai-nHeF1JDsJPZMOXSTvhqm8Ol032LpSU3zsVJcFKqj76Ccvi4_4R_98dA6hSoEHFeNpUPHX7/s400/e9b126d133e8797c254066b63fbcbc96.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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Mommys Modern Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01247784150111034665noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540239901102334173.post-80403670539320367902013-11-23T17:28:00.000-08:002013-11-25T09:10:27.874-08:00DIY - Christmas Countdown Basket<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Everyone has their own way of counting down the days until Christmas. For our family, starting on December 1st, we open one <b>"gift"</b> everyday from our <span style="color: red;"><u><b>Christmas Countdown Basket</b></u></span>! Each "gift" in our Christmas basket signifies a <u>fun family activity</u> that we all do together! It not only helps us count the days until December 25th, but it also allows us to <b>bond as a family, spend time together, and create lifelong memories</b>!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirUDuijr7lJYhkSgdxLWTF-_97fEphY67grkWBP4ZUARVsFlbQAobPe0b3lHbm6dYxRB_7ZlMCwG4-yiiVYmQNJN8XRUnZ1ZGhY4uOZL8duvug_ipY-q91L9hvaiWjiULSvu11SGMHJyTw/s1600/MML_ACTIVITYBASKET2012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirUDuijr7lJYhkSgdxLWTF-_97fEphY67grkWBP4ZUARVsFlbQAobPe0b3lHbm6dYxRB_7ZlMCwG4-yiiVYmQNJN8XRUnZ1ZGhY4uOZL8duvug_ipY-q91L9hvaiWjiULSvu11SGMHJyTw/s640/MML_ACTIVITYBASKET2012.jpg" width="480" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="javascript:void((function(){var%20e=document.createElement('script');e.setAttribute('type','text/javascript');e.setAttribute('charset','UTF-8');e.setAttribute('src','http://assets.pinterest.com/js/pinmarklet.js?r='+Math.random()*99999999);document.body.appendChild(e)})());" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Pin It!" src="http://i996.photobucket.com/albums/af87/MommysModernLife/pinit_zps1a60ae42.gif" style="border: currentColor;" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">We started this new <u><b>family tradition</b></u> last year. Up until then, we always used a standard <b>Advent Calendar</b>
to help us count the days until Christmas. Everyday our daughter would
flip open a day on the calendar and get a piece of chocolate/candy. She loved the candy of course, but we wanted to make the <b>countdown to
Christmas</b> a little more exciting!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">So one day last November as I was scrolling through pages of pictures on <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a> (make sure to follow my board <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/mizzmabby/" target="_blank">here</a>), I stumbled upon a link about <a href="http://workmanfamily.typepad.com/our_life/2008/11/christmas-bucket.html" target="_blank">Christmas Buckets</a>. This
lady's idea about doing various Christmas activities everyday until
Christmas inspired me to start something similar! From there, our
family started our <b>new tradition</b> of a <b><span style="color: red;"><u>Christmas Countdown Basket</u></span>!</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOT6IPrVMtypJ_SORzpSaQQJRsIwylcU9RxrZnFvoAyHruE_z8aCgiK-CyQ_GjB0HVckW1e1ejad6NzQM5R_UNwYglzl3pPxSlluM77Usz7FKjjwGhmXaiS_BF2xM8myc8GSeHTyX86AxW/s1600/MML_ACTIVITYBASKET2012-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOT6IPrVMtypJ_SORzpSaQQJRsIwylcU9RxrZnFvoAyHruE_z8aCgiK-CyQ_GjB0HVckW1e1ejad6NzQM5R_UNwYglzl3pPxSlluM77Usz7FKjjwGhmXaiS_BF2xM8myc8GSeHTyX86AxW/s640/MML_ACTIVITYBASKET2012-2.jpg" width="480" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="javascript:void((function(){var%20e=document.createElement('script');e.setAttribute('type','text/javascript');e.setAttribute('charset','UTF-8');e.setAttribute('src','http://assets.pinterest.com/js/pinmarklet.js?r='+Math.random()*99999999);document.body.appendChild(e)})());" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Pin It!" src="http://i996.photobucket.com/albums/af87/MommysModernLife/pinit_zps1a60ae42.gif" style="border: currentColor;" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I bet you're thinking - <b><u>I don't have the time or money to do this</u>! </b>How can she afford that many gifts or have the money to do these activities?! To be honest, most of our "gifts" <b>cost little to no money</b> at all! And the time we spend doing each activity is all up to us! The point of the "gifts" is to just <b>spend time together</b> as a family! Our "gifts" varied from writing a letter to Santa, watching a Christmas DVD, drinking hot chocolate, driving around looking at Christmas lights, and going on a sleigh ride! That's what I love about it! It's <b>all up to you</b> and what kinds of <b>memories </b>you want to make with your family!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkatgdRai_vxI_JV_G5s0QYHxk-pwQeOjBQ0AS16t4wZUKNfvx8uviGlG6iEGWgzSe7oY0lR8ungnZTGimaoSYq9iSYFYefrzYC9zHGq70piE65z26k4WeTp8RGOaeC9257OzTrnIFhGAN/s1600/MML_ACTIVITYBASKET2012-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkatgdRai_vxI_JV_G5s0QYHxk-pwQeOjBQ0AS16t4wZUKNfvx8uviGlG6iEGWgzSe7oY0lR8ungnZTGimaoSYq9iSYFYefrzYC9zHGq70piE65z26k4WeTp8RGOaeC9257OzTrnIFhGAN/s640/MML_ACTIVITYBASKET2012-4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Last year was the <b>first time </b>that I started this and we had <b>so much fun</b><b>! </b>Below are a few pictures of us doing some of our Christmas basket "gifts" in 2012!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ZVK8WzHYB86f3JIlQ8h-EHjUgNh3o8Shq45jiBy6Po9Nfhd702Yga9hh4MConugrOGZjGL5RJn47z1PnnGJgeGsRzc2Em3XoHwu1QTKDDLfcN73C6Fx3L7XNnRtfUEAKdvF6oHcI6whL/s1600/MML_PAINTANORNAMENT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ZVK8WzHYB86f3JIlQ8h-EHjUgNh3o8Shq45jiBy6Po9Nfhd702Yga9hh4MConugrOGZjGL5RJn47z1PnnGJgeGsRzc2Em3XoHwu1QTKDDLfcN73C6Fx3L7XNnRtfUEAKdvF6oHcI6whL/s640/MML_PAINTANORNAMENT.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>DAY 3 </b>- Paint our own Christmas ornaments!</span></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpQUSGykhyphenhyphencM-d9SijlK4vptV6FxiwiFp5Vm_9Tzf_T6cd2IPVLjH2M_JN6rOje94rFzPeifkWoDeaIlAzQPujjwjN8Ko_j9PTY7GZp8BjPWGOuIEY7pb3TtgiTFTcLsIldIbRQd58P491/s1600/MML_SNOWFLAKES.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="556" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpQUSGykhyphenhyphencM-d9SijlK4vptV6FxiwiFp5Vm_9Tzf_T6cd2IPVLjH2M_JN6rOje94rFzPeifkWoDeaIlAzQPujjwjN8Ko_j9PTY7GZp8BjPWGOuIEY7pb3TtgiTFTcLsIldIbRQd58P491/s640/MML_SNOWFLAKES.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>DAY 12 </b>- Make snowflakes!</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho3wuy9JcU473Ft9amaGdpogWBfTZuDX7_YNTZpo7-giVDSnqFpUs7VI6nbl-ukGrG95bl7cfj18UtNieLAeSYwPMW5TMxDqSG42qwKY44DWoHlvcapV7RI69lZHQTp5YRgiRk9F6Gdq9C/s1600/MML_GINGERBREADHOUSE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="550" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho3wuy9JcU473Ft9amaGdpogWBfTZuDX7_YNTZpo7-giVDSnqFpUs7VI6nbl-ukGrG95bl7cfj18UtNieLAeSYwPMW5TMxDqSG42qwKY44DWoHlvcapV7RI69lZHQTp5YRgiRk9F6Gdq9C/s640/MML_GINGERBREADHOUSE.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>DAY 19</b> - Build a gingerbread house!</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjftRkx6Zn9CtQT8AgZh5TIeu3gOV7Db_dx0LYDzM4uKBVegGAUPFLekTVx_32nx0Dr8vmdz4aNRhnNuD3tGIuMUZKmI5U2ywhWxVUbpRtxEQXTiHepXKRjwx6SQGQcoa4aURKRVyqEgni5/s1600/MML_SUGARCOOKIES.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="524" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjftRkx6Zn9CtQT8AgZh5TIeu3gOV7Db_dx0LYDzM4uKBVegGAUPFLekTVx_32nx0Dr8vmdz4aNRhnNuD3tGIuMUZKmI5U2ywhWxVUbpRtxEQXTiHepXKRjwx6SQGQcoa4aURKRVyqEgni5/s640/MML_SUGARCOOKIES.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>DAY 23 </b>- Bake and decorate sugar cookies!</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> Each day, our children would open a "gift" with the day's <span style="color: red;"><b>corresponding number</b></span> written on it and unlock a <b>surprise activity</b> that we all do as a family!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Our daughter would get so excited everyday when she got to "open" a gift! Even though most of the "gifts" were just written on a <span style="color: red;"><u><b>piece of paper and put in an envelope</b></u></span>, she looked forward to the activity that would be written inside! Our son is still too little to completely grasp the concept, but I know when he gets older, this will be a tradition that he will <b>look forward to every Christmas</b> as well! :)</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix5qH7IZSUD3GQf1XVL3-cGI9srXyMdLckYSt00UqZhD8SbP7S8YRjig2ychGE1bT6C3kfYO2KsFYWYJA3-um-JUAL1wFbo36dWNnbUQXw8HcZjCif-Xkfg9HzAhbCIvDmFI0w8YRwyCVT/s1600/MML_OPENGIFTS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix5qH7IZSUD3GQf1XVL3-cGI9srXyMdLckYSt00UqZhD8SbP7S8YRjig2ychGE1bT6C3kfYO2KsFYWYJA3-um-JUAL1wFbo36dWNnbUQXw8HcZjCif-Xkfg9HzAhbCIvDmFI0w8YRwyCVT/s640/MML_OPENGIFTS.jpg" width="620" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">Opening <b>Day 1's </b>gift and it said to Visit Santa!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Like I said above, this is a project that shouldn't cost you an arm and a leg! Think of activities you all can do as a family that <b>doesn't require money or uses things that you already own</b>!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The<u> goal </u>of this is to just<b> </b><u>make memories</u>!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><u><b>Where to Buy "Gifts":</b></u></span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">All of the "gifts" that the kids unwrapped were either currently owned, bought on sale or at the dollar store, or bought second hand at the pawn shop (which, by the way, is a great place for finding old Christmas DVD's for <b>CHEAP</b>)! If you want to go crazy with it, you definitely can, but every family is different!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><u><b>Breakdown of the "GIFTS" we will UNWRAP this year:</b></u></span></div>
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<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: red;">Watch "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" on DVD (currently owned)</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Watch "Elf" on DVD (currently owned)</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: red;">Build a Gingerbread House ($10 at Wal-Mart)</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Make 'Milano Santa Cookies' (<a href="http://www.karaspartyideas.com/2012/12/free-printables-modern-festive-holiday-christmas-party.html" target="_blank">Santa Cookie Tutorial</a>)</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: red;">Read "The 12 Days of Christmas" before bed (bought at the dollar store)</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Build a Nativity Set (currently owned) and discuss the story of Jesus</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: red;">Sing Christmas carols with a CD of Christmas music (bought at the dollar store)</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Color a Christmas coloring book (bought at the dollar store) </span></span></div>
</li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><u><b>Breakdown of our ACTIVITY ENVELOPES this year:</b></u></span></div>
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<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: red;">Write a letter to Santa</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Pick a child in need from our church's Angel Tree and buy a gift for them</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: red;">Make our own snowflakes (<a href="http://kerliandanimals.blogspot.com/2009/12/tutorial-how-to-make-lovely-snowflakes.html" target="_blank">Snowflakes Tutorial</a>)</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Make our own Christmas tree ornament (<a href="http://www.coffeecupsandcrayons.com/christmas-kids-craft-homemade-snowflake-ornaments/" target="_blank">Christmas Ornament Tutorial</a>)</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: red;">Drink hot chocolate with marshmallows</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Visit Santa (FREE! And make sure to bring their letters to Santa!)</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: red;">Visit "The Magical Forest" (Pricey, but it's been our tradition every year)</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Celebrate Kaelyn's birthday (We always reserve an envelope to celebrate our daughter's birthday on December 8th, so that is our family activity that day)</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: red;">Turn our front door into a Snowman (<a href="http://thecreativestamperspot.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/pins-to-creation-post-snowman-door.html" target="_blank">Snowman Door Tutorial</a>)</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Donate old toys and clothes to children in need</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: red;">Drive around and look at Christmas lights</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Buy or make a Christmas gift for your sibling</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: red;">Go to "Holidays at the Park" event by our house (FREE!)</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Make a reindeer with our hands and feet (<a href="http://no1hasmorefun.blogspot.com/2010/12/advent-activity-day-2.html" target="_blank">Reindeer Tutorial</a>)</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: red;">Do a Christmas Scavenger Hunt (<a href="http://www.dailymesses.com/2012/12/christmas-scavenger-hunt.html" target="_blank">FREE PRINTABLE Christmas Scavenger Hunt</a>)</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Take a sleigh ride at Gilcrease Orchard ($36 for the 4 of us)</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: red;">MERRY CHRISTMAS! - Open our Christmas gifts and celebrate Mommy and Jesus's birthdays!</span></span></div>
</li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Those are the <b>25 activities</b> that we will be doing every day this year leading up until December 25th! These Christmas baskets can be modified based off your budget and what you have around the house! You can even do it for less days than 25 if you want! A <b>12 days until Christmas countdown</b> sounds fun too!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">As you can see above, we did include some outside activities that do cost money, but that is our choice. If your family just wants to do a different <b>craft</b> everyday until Christmas, that is fine too! <u><b>JUST SPEND TIME TOGETHER AND MAKE MEMORIES!</b></u></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVDzi2Zq_vFYQMCbZ0ZUqypmZ_-44gVL1bh_tBz973j7ZaTqkodCgWlsXn8xl3sypulafTqXmxoSniTF3WBiZprd1U0LR6hR9YMNn4Wia2d4QBTPOxaK1-8G-9RLy1Et56diFqZwteSQZp/s1600/MML_ACTIVITYBASKET2012-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVDzi2Zq_vFYQMCbZ0ZUqypmZ_-44gVL1bh_tBz973j7ZaTqkodCgWlsXn8xl3sypulafTqXmxoSniTF3WBiZprd1U0LR6hR9YMNn4Wia2d4QBTPOxaK1-8G-9RLy1Et56diFqZwteSQZp/s640/MML_ACTIVITYBASKET2012-3.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I can't wait until <b>December 1st!</b> We had such a blast doing this last year and I'm sure we will have just as fun if not more this year!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I highly suggest starting this <b>family tradition</b> with your family! I <b>PROMISE</b> you will enjoy your <span style="color: red;"><u><b>Christmas Countdown Basket</b></u></span> just as much as we do! :)<u><b> </b></u></span></div>
Mommys Modern Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01247784150111034665noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540239901102334173.post-58098216904401077972013-11-17T20:03:00.003-08:002013-11-22T20:55:35.228-08:00My Children are Only Little Once<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This morning was the first time in a long time when I actually woke up <b>before</b> my son did. He usually is our whole family's <u>alarm clock</u>. Waking us up around 5am everyday. So, when I woke up to no Liam yelling "Mum" into the baby monitor, I went to check on him.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I looked into his room and there he was still <b>sound asleep</b>. So, I sneaked over to his crib, careful not to wake him, and snapped this beautiful photo of our baby boy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I literally sat there for <b>15 minutes </b>on the floor next to his crib just watching him breathe and sleep. It's moments like this that remind me how <b>precious</b> life is.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This little boy sleeping like an angel with <u>not a single worry in his head</u>. Even though the world around him is chaotic, busy, and sometimes scary, here he is in all his <b>innocence and vulnerability</b>, with such a <b>gentle peace</b> around him.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It made me reflect and remember to <b><u>slow down</u></b>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> My life is a constant <b>go, go, go</b>. I work full-time, I go to school. I'm a wife, a mother, a sister, a daughter, a friend. And recently I have started this blog and am now my daughter's Girl Scout troop leader. With all the action around me, I sometimes forget to <b>savor everyday moments with my kids. </b>Getting them dressed, eating meals with them, taking them to school, the library, and the park, and even just talking with them or watching them play are moments that I need to <b>soak in and appreciate</b>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">But every time I forget, my children have a way of <u>always reminding me</u> to <b>cherish every moment</b>. I make sure to appreciate every hug, kiss, snuggle, laugh, cry, and smile because one day those <b>little faces</b> that look up at me every day will be grown men and women. They will no longer want to play tea party and build forts. They will no longer sing nursery rhymes with me. They will no longer need me to push them on the swing. They will no longer rush to the door every time I come home. They will no longer need my kiss on their boo-boos. They will no longer need to hold my hand as they cross the street. They will no longer need to be read a bedtime story or for me to tuck them in at night.</span></div>
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As I am writing this my <u><b>heart is breaking</b></u> because I realize that I take these moments for granted. These moments that seem so <b>simple and routine</b><b> </b>are ultimately the <b>big things</b> that I know I will miss once it's gone. I need to remember to just take time and see the beauty in the <b>little things</b>.</span></div>
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Seeing my children just be children is something that I <b>value so dearly</b>, but I know I am guilty of putting pressure on my 6-year-old daughter especially to do well in school and to learn responsibility. I need to learn to <b>let go</b> sometimes and just <u>let her be a kid</u>. I want my children to <u>enjoy their childhood and be children for as long as they can</u>. I don't want them to grow up too quickly. I want them to be my <b>babies forever</b>. But I know one day they will be grown men and women and my only hope as a parent is for them to grow up and have <b>wonderful memories</b> of their childhood. The <b>innocence of childhood</b> is something that is <u>so important</u> to retain and can never be given back.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I know that I'm not perfect. I do sometimes lose my patience with my children and wish that they would "grow up" already, but I need to remember that they are <u><b>only little once</b></u>. Even though my life does get overwhelming and I do sometimes focus my attention on other things, being with my children as they learn new things, discover new things, and experience new things is <b>truly a</b> <b>blessing</b> and I need to appreciate it as such!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">One of my favorite quotes is <b>"Collect moments, not things"</b> and I need to make sure that <u>every moment</u> I spend with my children is <u>always</u> stored <b>close to my heart</b>. <3</span></div>
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Mommys Modern Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01247784150111034665noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540239901102334173.post-60646991102859447002013-11-13T20:18:00.000-08:002013-11-19T12:47:25.055-08:00How-To: Survive Black Friday<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Chances are, if you are reading this, you are NOT going to be one of those camped out in a tent several days prior to Black Friday! Because if so, then you don't need to waste your time reading my tips! Just go and put up your tent already because by doing that, <b>you WILL get the item you want!</b> That is a guarantee. And if not, the employees may just even give it to you anyway for your crazy dedication! But for those who want to actually enjoy Thanksgiving, I wrote this post to share with you my tips and strategies on <b>How to</b> <b>Survive Black Friday</b> without having to camp out all night!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I know there are many who loathe Black Friday and think of it as a stressful, chaotic waste of time. However, if you really put in some effort, you may be able to score some great deals and may actually even have a good time! It always feels good to get an item on sale or to purchase an item for a better deal than someone else, so Black Friday is a perfect opportunity for everyone to walk away with that feeling of accomplishment! I actually look forward to it every year! But, to be honest, the first couple of times I did it were not great experiences for me...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">My first time I actually ventured into what people call "Black Friday", I thought to myself, "Hmm... Black Friday sounds like fun! Let's see what deals I can get!" So, I looked through the ads the day of Thanksgiving and figured I would just go to the store and be able to walk right out with the item I wanted. <b>Boy, was I wrong!</b> My biggest turn off were the crowds and the lines! I'm the type of person who will avoid lines like the plague! Like when we took our daughter to Disneyland for the first time! I planned it in mid February on a Wednesday just to avoid crowds! Heads up, that is the PERFECT time to go if you want to get off and on Space Mountain with no lines! Actually every ride at that time has little to no wait time! I loved it! Anywhoo back to Black Friday... my <u>biggest word of advice</u> is <b>be prepared for the crowds and long lines!</b> If that is a concept that you cannot accept, then I really suggest that you DON'T EVER attempt Black Friday because you will only have a miserable time! So, as a person who generally HATES lines, this is a mentality that I have to change once a year just for Black Friday!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Once I accepted this reality, my Black Friday's got better. I planned for the lines and crowds. I prepared more. I learned tips and strategies. I enjoy it! And now I am writing this post to hopefully help you make your Black Friday experience a more enjoyable, successful, and less stressful time as well! Below are my <b>Black Friday Tips</b> and my <b>6 Steps to a Successful Black Friday!</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b><u><span style="font-size: large;">6 Steps to a Successful Black Friday</span></u></b>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">1. Do your research.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">2. Prioritize your items.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">3. Create a game plan.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">4. Bring recruits.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">5. Dress warm and comfortable.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">6. Be calm, patient, and courteous.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> </span><b><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><u> </u></span></b><br />
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<b><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><u>DO YOUR RESEARCH</u></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Rather than waiting until the day of to view your ads, you can easily find "leaks" of all the Black Friday sales online a few days or even a few weeks in advance! Some stores will even post a preview of their ads on their website prior to Black Friday. My <b>favorite site</b> that I use every year to start pre-planning is: </span><a href="http://bfads.net/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b>http://bfads.net/</b></span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">. They update as soon as a store comes out with their latest ads, they post summaries of what they consider are the best deals at each store, and they have actual ad scans so that you can see the store's flyer before it is even printed! You can view all the ad scans that have currently leaked here: </span><a href="http://bfads.net/Adscans" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">http://bfads.net/Adscans</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">. </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Most Popular Ad Scans:</span></b></div>
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<a href="http://bfads.net/Black-Friday/Walmart/Ad" target="_blank">Wal-Mart 2013</a></div>
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<a href="http://bfads.net/Black-Friday/Best-Buy/Ad" target="_blank">Best Buy 2013</a></div>
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<a href="http://bfads.net/Black-Friday/Target/Ad" target="_blank">Target 2013</a></div>
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<a href="http://bfads.net/Black-Friday/Kohls/Ad" target="_blank">Kohl's 2013</a></div>
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<a href="http://bfads.net/Black-Friday/Toys-R-Us/Ad" target="_blank">Toys R Us 2013</a></div>
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<a href="http://bfads.net/Black-Friday/Macys/Ad" target="_blank">Macy's 2013</a></div>
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<a href="http://bfads.net/Black-Friday/Sears/Ad" target="_blank">Sears 2013</a></div>
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<a href="http://bfads.net/Black-Friday/Kmart/Ad" target="_blank">Kmart 2013</a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I suggest you start writing a list of all the deals that spark an interest with you. Also, if you already have a list of items that have been on your Christmas wishlist for awhile, now is a perfect time to look for sales on those items! As you go through the ads, <b>write down the</b> <b>store, product name, and price</b>. Make sure to go through every ad of all the stores that you are considering of hitting and if you see the same product in each store, write it down as well so that you can compare which store is offering the best deal for the product!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgswaQVINjll9Ijs2yU0K53bxuvMcrZOPaa9FaouY0WXralEz6npEPs04x2bx_qlnepgOk5U4bthEKVNNJS0r2yPWuPOeMZL6dYdrQakFTlljp18DpgOYAvIm0fOOL6tEDuRNZvNo-Pd5VJ/s400/nabi.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Nabi 2 - 7" Kids Tablet</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">In my situation, the <b>Nabi 2</b> is a tablet that our daughter has been begging to get for her birthday. At a price of <b>$179.99 </b>my husband and I decided it would be too costly and that we could find a cheaper tablet. However, as I looked through this year's ads, I was able to find a great deal! In Target's ad the Nabi 2 is being sold for <b>$129 </b>which is an okay deal, but then I checked out Wal-Mart's Black Friday ad and found the same exact Nabi for only <b>$99</b>! So, you now know where I'm going to be this Black Friday! Our daughter will be so happy!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Walmart Ad (left) and Target Ad (right)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">As you are writing down your lists, make sure to note any <b>rebates, coupons, or giftcards</b> they are offering along with the item because that can easily make a difference in who is offering a better deal! For example, in the photo above, both Wal-Mart and Target are selling a <b>16GB</b> <b>iPad Mini </b>for <b>$299</b>. However, Wal-Mart offers a <b>$100 Walmart giftcard</b> with purchase, while Target only offers a <b>$75 Target giftcard</b> with purchase. So, at this point, the main question is which giftcard do you prefer? Some people would rather have $75 to spend at Target instead of Wal-Mart, or some would rather go with Wal-Mart's deal since it technically "gives back" $25 more than Target. So, that is your choice to make!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Also, as you do your research, make sure to <b>check if the Black Friday deal is really a better deal</b>. Sometimes people assume since it's Black Friday, you will always get a better deal. That is not necessarily true! For example, I have friends that have worked for <b>Coach Outlet </b>(a luxury leather goods company who specializes in purses). People will line up for hours just to enter their doors thinking that since it's Black Friday they will get a bargain, but in all honesty, the sales they offer on Black Friday are the <b>EXACT SAME</b> <b>SALES</b> they offer on regular business days! So, that would not be a store that I would make a priority on my Black Friday list. Just go on a regular day instead to avoid the crazy crowds and lines!</span>
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<b><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><u>PRIORITIZE YOUR ITEMS</u></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Once you have done your research on what is out there, now you can start downsizing your list. To help you narrow it down, below is a list of <span style="font-family: Georgia;">items that I have had the most success with and recommend to focus on:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Best Things to Buy on Black Friday</u></b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Desktop Computers</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Tablets</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">TV's</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Video Games</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">DVD's and Blu-ray's</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Kitchen Gadgets</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Toys</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Try and focus your lists around the 7 items listed above because you are most likely to get the best deals on them! Once you have shortened your list to items that you really want/need, narrow it down even more by dividing your list into <u>2 separate categories</u>: </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">MUST BUY LIST vs. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">WANT LIST</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Everything on your "MUST BUY" list has to be items that you are going to put <b>100% effort</b> into finding, getting, and purchasing! Usually the "must buy" list contains the TV you've been needing for your living room or the top selling toy that your child has been wanting for Christmas. They are usually the products that everyone else is targeting too, so make sure that when you put it on your "must buy" list, you must also understand that there will be<b> a lot of competition</b> for those items! So you need to make them your<b> PRIORITY! </b>These will be the main things you target as soon as you enter the store! Only after you get the things on your "must buy" list, then can you start looking for things on your "WANT" list. The "want" list are things that would be nice if you did get, but not a big deal if someone beats you to it. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Once you get everything off your "must buy" and "want" lists, then you can start to wander around and see what other things they have for sale. However, if you have other stores to hit, I suggest moving on as soon as you finish your lists!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b><i><u>TIP:</u> </i></b>I <u>DO NOT</u> recommend having more than <b>5 "must buy" items</b> at each store. The more items on your "must buy" list you have, the more likely you won't be able to attain ALL those items unless you have recruits to help you!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">My Black Friday list this year breaks down to this:</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">MUST BUY</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">WANT</span></b></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">WALMART</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Nabi 2 Tablet ($99)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">MegaBlocks Build &
Learn Table ($25)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Intex 18” Queen Air
Mattress + Pump ($25)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Toshiba 1TB External Hard Drive ($55)</span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">WALMART</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Rival Hand/Stand Mixer
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Crockpot 6-Quart ($10)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">“Monster’s University” Blu-ray
($10)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">“Life of Pi” DVD ($5)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">“The Walking Dead” series
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<u><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">TARGET</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Rose Art 3-in-1 Easel
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Sony Wi-Fi Blu-ray Player
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<u><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">TARGET</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Bath towels ($2/each)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">“World War Z” Blu-ray ($9)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">“This is the End” Blu-ray
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Brown heel boots ($18)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I am not going super crazy this year with what I'm purchasing nor am I going to a lot of different stores. However, in prior years, I have successfully purchased TV's, video game systems, cameras, and computers by going through this process!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><i><b><u>TIP:</u></b> </i><u>DO NOT</u> use a <b>shopping cart</b> unless you REALLY have to! Do your best to <b>carry everything</b> you plan on buying! Carts just take up space and make it hard for you to weave in and out of crowds! Either use a hand basket or carry it in your arms! So, I highly recommend that you keep this in mind when you are prioritizing your list.<b> If it's too big to carry, that may be something you consider before making it a priority!</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"><u>CREATE A GAME PLAN</u></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Once you know the items you are focusing on and the stores that you want to target, you now need to create your game plan. A game plan is especially important if you have <b>multiple stores</b> that you plan on visiting! </span><span style="font-family: Georgia;">When creating my game plan, I focus on <b>store locations, store hours, and store layouts</b>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><i>Store locations:</i></b> When you have multiple stores to visit, try and plan your route by priority. If Wal-Mart is where a majority of your purchases are going to be made, then Wal-Mart should be the 1st place on your map! And try to plan your route by choosing a central location that will allow you to <b>hit many of the stores without having to go too far</b>. For example, there is a Target and Wal-Mart right across the bridge from each other at N. Decatur and 215. For me, that would be the ideal location so I don't lose time driving between stores. Shopping malls where you can hit Sears, Macy's, and JCPenny's all at once are great too. Also, keep in mind store locations that don't get a lot of traffic. Most people tend to go to the locations they live close to, however, if you know a location that is a little further out and <b>less popular</b>, you may have a better chance at scoring the item you wanted! But only drive far if that is the only store you plan on visiting. If not, then I suggest to stay near other stores you plan to target.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><b><i>Store hours: </i></b>A trend that I have noticed, especially this year, is every store opens whenever they feel like it. The times all vary, so make sure that when you create your game plan, you keep store hours in your mind. Here is a list of the different store opening hours for 2013:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><b><u>Thanksgiving Day:</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><b>6am</b> - Kmart</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><b>9am</b> - Old Navy</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><b>5pm</b> - Toys R Us</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><b>6pm</b> - Wal-Mart (Event #1), Best Buy</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><b>8pm</b> - Macy's, Kohl's, JCPenny, OfficeMax, Office Depot,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Sears, Target, Wal-Mart (Event #2)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><b>9pm </b>- Staples</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><u>Black Friday:</u></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><b>Midnight</b> - GameStop, Old Navy</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><b>4am </b>- Lowe's</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><b>8am</b> - RadioShack, Wal-Mart (Event #3)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><i><u>Note for Wal-Mart shoppers</u>: </i>Wal-Mart has 3 different "events" spread throughout Thanksgiving and Black Friday. At each "event" only certain items will be available. So, if you plan on shopping at Wal-Mart, make sure to keep the different hours in mind! For example, for me, the air mattress and blocks table I want to purchase are available at 6pm but the Nabi I really want isn't available until 8pm, <i>which</i> is also the same time Target opens, so I will need to keep those things in mind as I create my plan of action!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><i><b><u>TIP:</u></b> </i>Plan on waiting in line for a store at least <b>2 hours</b> <b>prior to opening</b>! However, now that the hours have changed and cut into Thanksgiving dinner and football time, I'm not sure if there really will be much competition around 6pm, but you never know since some people have Thanksgiving dinner super early and don't care about football! But, I still recommend to get in line at least 2 hours prior so that you can have somewhat of a decent spot in line!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><b><i>Store maps:</i></b> This is something that I only came across maybe 2-3 years ago. I don't know if I was just oblivious to them or they only started the maps a couple of years ago, but store maps are amazing! They show a <b>map or where in the store you can find your item</b>! Usually on Black Friday, the "hot buy" items are scattered throughout the store, never where they SHOULD be. Like one year they had laptops in the gardening section of Wal-Mart. If I didn't have a map, I would've wandered around forever! So, the maps are VERY useful! You can now look up your local Target store's map here: <a href="http://www.target.com/c/black-friday-maps-ways-to-shop/-/N-55yvt#?lnk=Utility_BFADR_1106_X0Y3W4|X0Y3W4|T:Template_Utility1B|C:&intc=1393060|null" target="_blank">Target - Black Friday Map</a>. Usually you can find the store map through the store's website about a week before Black Friday. If not, they will probably have printed copies the day of or you can go to the store a couple of days prior and pick one up that way! Wal-Mart is the only other store I know of that does the maps. But maybe, more stores have since joined the trend! The store maps will be your <b>best friend</b>! Use them to map out the order of the store you would like to go! <b>Go directly to the location where you want to get the most important items first!</b> Then you can plan on picking up the other stuff as you go. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><i><u><b>TIP:</b></u> </i>Through all of my Black Friday endeavors, I've learned a specific order to pick-up items to guarantee that I will get them: <b><u>Electronics should always be first</u> </b>since they are usually the first to go! Then focus on <b>toys/bikes/video games/kitchen gadgets/vacuums</b> (depending on your priority). From there, the 3rd section of items that usually go quick are <b>DVD's/home goods/luggage</b>. And the things you can probably save until last when you are on your way to checkout are <b>clothes/tools/books/CD's/furniture</b>. Usually furniture stays around for awhile because most people don't want to be lugging those around the whole time. So, if you are targeting an ottoman or futon or entertainment system, I would suggest to get those last!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><i><b><u>TIP:</u></b></i> Wal-Mart <u>stays open</u>, so the lines actually start forming within the store depending on the item. So, if you are wanting a specific TV or item, look for that on the map and make sure you are standing in the <b>correct line</b> for it! If there are multiple items that require you to stand in line for, then you will definitely need to read my next topic about bringing recruits!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"><b><u>BRING RECRUITS</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">A big thing that I have learned when going Black Friday shopping is to <b>go in groups</b>! This way you can easily<b> divide and conquer</b>! I usually go with my husband and we bring along a couple of my sisters or friends. Most of the time they aren't looking for anything for themselves, so they are mostly there to help Eric and I, which we don't mind! Plus, we tend to bribe them with food after our shopping is all done by taking them someplace to eat (our treat), so it's a win/win for everyone! haha</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b>When going in groups, try and follow these suggestions:</b></span></div>
<ol><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
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<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Tell everyone the stores you want to hit, the hours, and the items.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">If you have to hit multiple stores at once, have at least 2 people at each location for back-up and to keep the other company while waiting in line.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">If at the same store, assign different items to each person depending on the area they are going to. Give them copies of the store maps!</span></div>
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<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">If you know the item will require them to stand in line, make sure to only assign that 1 item for them and assign the other items to those who will be mobile.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Have someone standing at checkout for you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Have a form of communication between parties (cellphones are good but walkie-talkies are way more fun!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Have a safe zone for everyone to meet at afterwards.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Have fun!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">For my plans this year, I will probably have my husband and a friend wait in line at Target while my sister and I shop for stuff at Wal-Mart when they open at 6pm. Then, I'll hangout at Wal-Mart until I can get the Nabi 2 at 8pm while my husband gets the things we need at Target. Afterwards, we will probably meet back at the house to drop off our purchases and then go out and treat our recruits!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Going with a group of people always makes it <b>way more fun</b>! You can huddle with them if it gets too cold outside while standing in line to get in or you can just chat and play card games with them while you have to wait hours in line!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><b><i><u>TIP:</u> </i>I DO NOT SUGGEST BRINGING CHILDREN YOUNGER THAN 13</b>. They will get cranky, tired, and just the chaos of everything is a scary situation to put young ones in anyway! They could get lost or hurt so please do not bring young children with you!</span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"><u>DRESS WARM AND COMFORTABLE</u></span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">So far I have mainly talked about my tips on how to get the items you want, but how you <b>feel</b> is also a big part in making Black Friday a success! Be aware that you WILL be standing in line for most of the night! You will either be standing outside in the elements waiting to get in or you will be standing in line waiting to checkout. Either way, make sure to <b>dress warm and dress comfortable</b>!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">DO NOT go Black Friday shopping in your Thanksgiving best! We always dress up for Thanksgiving, so after dinner, I slip into something comfortable and warm! Since it is November, it <b>WILL BE COLD</b>. So, make sure to dress in layers, have a warm coat, and bring a beanie, scarf, and gloves! Many times, the employees are nice enough to pass out hand warmers or hot cocoa and granola bars to customers to help make their wait a little more bearable. Some do, not all. But those who do are amazing and I appreciate them for it! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">It is also important to make sure to dress <b>comfortably!</b> Do not go walking around in heels or a dress. You WILL be walking/standing everywhere and should not be worrying about your outfit or tripping/falling! Plus, wearing comfy shoes makes it easier for you to maneuver through crowds and get the items you need!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><b><i><u>TIP:</u> </i></b>In Las Vegas we don't really have a problem with rain or snow, but one year it did start drizzling while waiting in line, so bring an <b>umbrella</b> just in case!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><i><b><u>TIP:</u></b> </i>To help ease the pain from standing outside waiting for a store to open, I suggest to <b>bring folding chairs</b> that you can sit on as you wait. Also, <b>bring card games</b> so that it can help kill some time. Just make sure, when there is about 15 minutes left before opening, PUT AWAY your chairs back in your car, so that you're not lugging them around the store with you!</span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"><u>BE CALM, PATIENT, AND COURTEOUS</u></span></b><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This is something that is <u>EXTREMELY IMPORTANT</u> to remember! It may get chaotic and hectic out there, but always try to <b>remain calm, patient, and courteous</b>! There <b>WILL </b>definitely be those who test you! Like the people who try and cut in line as you enter the store or those who jump in front of you to get the last video game. <u>DO NOT</u> let those low-lifes get to you. You blowing up at them will not help you get the item you want! Worst case, you can even get kicked out of the store or arrested for getting into an argument or fight! As long as you plan everything accordingly, you shouldn't have to worry about those issues. If you <b>get there in a timely manner</b>, you will have a good enough spot in line not to worry too much about cutters. If you <b>have a</b> <b>game plan</b> you don't have to worry about another person getting an item before you because you will be one of the first to get it! If you <b>bring recruits</b> they can keep you calm in stressful situations and it's always nice to know that you have back-up. And if you <b>dress comfy and warm</b> then hopefully you stay in a good, optimistic mood! So, just always remember to be calm, patient, and courteous. Hopefully others will also do the same!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><i>Those are my <b><u>6 Steps to a Successful Black Friday</u></b>! I hope my post helps make Black Friday a stress-free, enjoyable, and successful day for you! Make sure to remember all my steps and </i><b><i><u>TIPS</u></i></b>!<i> They can be the one thing that changes your Black Friday into a great one! Start your research now and be safe out there! If you have more Black Friday tips or any questions, feel free to ask them in the 'comments' section below! Remember: The person getting it "last minute" will NOT win! </i></span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><i> </i></span><i><span style="font-family: Georgia;">GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!</span></i><br />
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Mommys Modern Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01247784150111034665noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540239901102334173.post-62837289652781036962013-11-05T23:18:00.002-08:002013-11-18T08:09:24.582-08:00How-To: Cut Costs for Non-Couponers<div style="text-align: left;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I love saving money just like everyone else! However, to be honest, in regards to saving money at the grocery store, <i>I don't have the time nor the patience to research </i><i>and compare store ads or to cut piles of coupons</i>! Therefore, I had to come up with another way for my family to be as cost efficient with our money and still be able to eat well! If you are looking to cut your grocery bills in half or for couponing tricks, unfortunately, this is not the post for you. BUT, if you are looking for tips on how to <b>eat well while on a budget</b>, then this is the perfect post for you!</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><u>HOW TO CUT COSTS </u><u>FOR NON-COUPONERS</u>: </span></b>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">1. Buy in bulk.</span></b>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">2. Stock-up on popular kitchen staples. </span></b>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">3. Plan your meals in advance.<br />4. Always have a grocery list.<br />5. Have a budget and stick with it.</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Seems logical doesn't it? It really isn't that much of a secret. These are things that many people already know! However, the trick is how to actually accomplish and follow through with it! In this post I will share with you my tips and tricks that help me!</span></div>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Buy in bulk</b></span></span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Buying items in bulk can greatly affect your grocery savings! I usually do a Sam's Club run once a month. When I go, I tend to stock up on baby items, snacks, and meat. Yes, meat at warehouses are expensive, but if you calculate the cost per pound, you tend to get a better deal. I'll usually buy a 5 lb bag of chicken wings and a 5lb bag of chicken breasts and that lasts my family of 4 all month. Our family loves chicken! haha! And when you do buy meat in bulk, just make sure to freeze anything you don't use right away so that you don't waste anything! By buying in bulk, you will not have to include those items in your weekly grocery run. Not having to buy meat every week helps reduce the price of your grocery bill greatly! You WILL notice a difference! Below is a list of things I recommend that you <b>SHOULD</b> buy in bulk:</span></div>
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<li><span id="yui_3_13_0_1_1383714680889_1565" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Paper towels</span></li>
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<li><span id="yui_3_13_0_1_1383714680889_1565" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Toilet paper</span></li>
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<li><span id="yui_3_13_0_1_1383714680889_1565" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Cereal</span></li>
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<li><span id="yui_3_13_0_1_1383714680889_1565" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Bottled drinks</span></li>
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<li><span id="yui_3_13_0_1_1383714680889_1565" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Detergent and cleaning supplies</span></li>
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<li><span id="yui_3_13_0_1_1383714680889_1565" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Meat</span></li>
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<li><span id="yui_3_13_0_1_1383714680889_1565" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Diapers and baby wipes</span></li>
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<li><span id="yui_3_13_0_1_1383714680889_1565" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Individually wrapped snacks</span></li>
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<li><span id="yui_3_13_0_1_1383714680889_1565" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Pasta</span></li>
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<li><span id="yui_3_13_0_1_1383714680889_1565" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Grains</span></li>
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<li><span id="yui_3_13_0_1_1383714680889_1565" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Beans</span></li>
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<li><span id="yui_3_13_0_1_1383714680889_1565" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Canned goods</span></li>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Stock-up on popular kitchen staples</b></span></span></u><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">A trick to cutting back on the amount of things you need to buy at the grocery store is to maintain a well-stocked kitchen. Below is a list of things that I make sure to always keep on hand. They are great kitchen staples that can be used in a majority of recipes. By always having these staples in your kitchen, you can save on your grocery bill every week! To help you stock up on your items, buy them whenever you see them on sale and always maintain a record of things you are running low on so that you can keep your kitchen ready for every meal!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b>FREEZER</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Shredded Cheese</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Heavy Cream</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Whipped Cream</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Sour Cream</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Cream Cheese</span></div>
</td><td style="background: rgb(191, 177, 208); border-color: currentColor rgb(159, 138, 185) rgb(159, 138, 185) currentColor; border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 239.4pt;" valign="top" width="319"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Frozen Berries</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Frozen Veggies</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">(Peas, Spinach, Broccoli,
Corn)</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td style="background: rgb(223, 216, 232); border: 1pt solid rgb(159, 138, 185); padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 239.4pt;" valign="top" width="319"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b>DRIED HERBS AND SPICES</b></span></div>
</td><td style="background: rgb(223, 216, 232); border-color: currentColor rgb(159, 138, 185) rgb(159, 138, 185) currentColor; border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 239.4pt;" valign="top" width="319"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b>DRIED GOODS</b></span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td style="background: rgb(191, 177, 208); border: 1pt solid rgb(159, 138, 185); padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 239.4pt;" valign="top" width="319"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Basil, Thyme, Oregano, Paprika, Rosemary, Sage,
Parsley, Coriander, Garlic powder, Onion Powder, Garlic Salt, Sea Salt, Table
Salt, Black Pepper, Nutmeg, Ground Ginger, Cinnamon, Cumin, Dill, Bay Leaves,
Chili Powder</span></div>
</td><td style="background: rgb(191, 177, 208); border-color: currentColor rgb(159, 138, 185) rgb(159, 138, 185) currentColor; border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 239.4pt;" valign="top" width="319"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Pasta (Spaghetti, Elbow, Penne)</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Long-Grain Rice</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Lentils/Beans</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Dried Bread Crumbs</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Popcorn</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Oats</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td style="background: rgb(223, 216, 232); border: 1pt solid rgb(159, 138, 185); padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 239.4pt;" valign="top" width="319"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b>FRESH</b></span></div>
</td><td style="background: rgb(223, 216, 232); border-color: currentColor rgb(159, 138, 185) rgb(159, 138, 185) currentColor; border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 239.4pt;" valign="top" width="319"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b>CANNED GOODS</b></span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td style="background: rgb(191, 177, 208); border: 1pt solid rgb(159, 138, 185); padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 239.4pt;" valign="top" width="319"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Potatoes</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Lemons/Limes</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Onions</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Garlic</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Bread</span></div>
</td><td style="background: rgb(191, 177, 208); border-color: currentColor rgb(159, 138, 185) rgb(159, 138, 185) currentColor; border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 239.4pt;" valign="top" width="319"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Chicken/Beef/Vegetable Stock</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Tomatoes (Canned, Pasta, Sauce)</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Spaghetti Sauce</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Canned Beans</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Olives/Pickles</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td style="background: rgb(223, 216, 232); border: 1pt solid rgb(159, 138, 185); padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 239.4pt;" valign="top" width="319"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b>BAKING</b></span></div>
</td><td style="background: rgb(223, 216, 232); border-color: currentColor rgb(159, 138, 185) rgb(159, 138, 185) currentColor; border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 239.4pt;" valign="top" width="319"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">CONDIMENTS</span></b></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td style="background: rgb(191, 177, 208); border: 1pt solid rgb(159, 138, 185); padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 239.4pt;" valign="top" width="319"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">All-Purpose Flour</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Granulated Sugar</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Powdered Sugar</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Brown Sugar</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Baking Powder</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Baking Soda</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Corn Starch</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Vanilla Extract</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Cocoa Powder</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Chocolate Chips</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Sweetened Condensed Milk</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Evaporated Milk</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Olive Oil</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Canola Oil</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Vegetable Oil</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Cooking Spray</span></div>
</td><td style="background: rgb(191, 177, 208); border-color: currentColor rgb(159, 138, 185) rgb(159, 138, 185) currentColor; border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 239.4pt;" valign="top" width="319"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Mayonnaise</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Ketchup</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Spicy/Yellow Mustard</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Ranch Dressing</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Italian Dressing</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">BBQ Sauce</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Soy Sauce</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Teriyaki Sauce</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Worcestershire Sauce</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Hot Sauce</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Maple Syrup</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Vinegar (White, Apple Cider, Balsamic)</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Peanut Butter</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Jam/Jelly</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Honey</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><u><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Plan your meals in advance</span></b></u></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I always plan all my dinners a week before. To help me plan my meals, I usually go into my freezer and see what meats I have on hand that I can cook for the week. Also, I check my pantry and fridge for anything that is about to spoil or expire. I tend to center my meals around those factors. By using a lot of the things I already have at home, I save lots of money off my grocery run! Also, I know that cooking EVERY night isn't ideal or practical for everyone and it's nice to have a break once in awhile, so make sure to reserve nights for leftovers or, if your budget allows, go out to eat! Here is a sample of my typical weekly meal plan. I also make sure to include sides!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM3tIgyY2bu9Tet6MItRnLfJyIbqILIsEpd0-N1Vq_VjmMRl7sX3Wt9Mw22fn81yjYXcWci4s6ObL4I1_QgJj7uwOV5e5_PamUe03K6EfJqVga3gs5RFfmP28SQIpl8mESpweTrFR4yNNu/s1600/IMG_1838.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM3tIgyY2bu9Tet6MItRnLfJyIbqILIsEpd0-N1Vq_VjmMRl7sX3Wt9Mw22fn81yjYXcWci4s6ObL4I1_QgJj7uwOV5e5_PamUe03K6EfJqVga3gs5RFfmP28SQIpl8mESpweTrFR4yNNu/s640/IMG_1838.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">As you can see, we REALLY do like chicken!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I know that cooking or even coming up with recipes isn't for everyone, so here are a couple links that I hope can help you plan your meals in advance!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">For those who have a bunch of random ingredients on hand and need ideas on what to make with them, check out </span><a href="http://www.yummly.com/recipes/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">http://www.yummly.com/recipes/</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">! <b>All you have to do is input the ingredients you want to use and it will search thousands of recipes to find the perfect one for you! </b>You can also include the ethnic cuisine you are craving or any allergies you may have!</span></li>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Another great website to get tons of easy and yummy recipes is </span><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Pinterest.com</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">. You can find thousands of recipes for meals, sides, desserts, etc! I don't like cooking things that are extra complicated, so if you want a quick view of some recipes that I have "pinned", you can check out my board at </span><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/mizzmabby/recipes-to-try/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Pinterest - Recipes to Try (mizzmabby)</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">. <i>Make sure to follow me on Pinterest if you do not yet already!</i></span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>Always have a grocery list</b></u></span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Now that you have your meals planned for the week, you can start putting together your grocery list! You only need to include things that you don't already have on hand for your meals and any kitchen staples that you may be running low on! Below is the <b>standard grocery list</b> that I created that I use every week:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxF_i-ne7_VGJ4xM0inTNb1v9GK7XtjIuY2VKg3uFn_bMzMfz3fnekG-WKFF2SmtgkUcYehmmlylgFAzOBXtZDi2PEFqKpO_dSOqDnrmwZYCYAi64J9mkv8DFy7b6yjLtaS0q1RKa4pzlG/s1600/MML_GroceryList-page-001.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxF_i-ne7_VGJ4xM0inTNb1v9GK7XtjIuY2VKg3uFn_bMzMfz3fnekG-WKFF2SmtgkUcYehmmlylgFAzOBXtZDi2PEFqKpO_dSOqDnrmwZYCYAi64J9mkv8DFy7b6yjLtaS0q1RKa4pzlG/s640/MML_GroceryList-page-001.jpg" width="492" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">Make your own re-useable shopping list! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">CLICK ON IMAGE for bigger view!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">This list helps me keep track of all my kitchen staples and also allows me to write any additional items that I may need to purchase for my recipes! I wrote out this list on excel, printed it out, and put it into a <b>sheet protector</b> (you can also laminate it, but I haven't had a chance to do that yet!). Then every week, I go through each item on this grocery list and mark (with a <b>dry erase marker</b>) any items that I am running low on or need for my dinners. Then I bring my grocery list with me and I <b>ONLY BUY WHAT'S ON MY LIST! </b>Don't buy anything else! Having a list on hand helps prevent you from making impulse buys of costly items that you don't need. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Don't forget to include on your list any toiletries you may need and foods for breakfast and lunch! I <u>highly recommend</u> <b>creating your own</b> <b>standard grocery list</b> similar to mine. Just make sure it is customized with items that YOU use on a regular basis! The great thing about using the same standard list over and over is that you can easily wipe off things as you pick them up! Since it's all written on a sheet protector with a dry erase marker, you can simply mark it off your list with a rub of your hand or tissue! Once your done, you can just swipe everything clean and use the list again next week!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><u><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Have a budget and stick with it</b></span></u></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I budget<b> $75/week for my
family of 4</b> and reserve <b>$150 a month for our monthly Sam's Club run</b> to stock up on bulk items. So overall, we reserve
about $450/month for groceries and typical household items. To some, $75 a week for a family of 4 (without coupons!) may seem tough, but if you follow the tricks that I listed above, I'm sure you can do it! </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">To help make sure I stay on budget, I keep an eye out for <b>sale items</b>! Also, don't ignore <b>store brand items</b>. They tend to be cheaper and are just as good quality as the brand name items. Since I already have a majority of my items at home, most of my weekly grocery list consists of fresh produce and kitchen staples, which don't add up to much. And the fact that I don't have to buy meat easily helps me stay within budget. Meat tends to be one of the costliest things when grocery shopping! So by buying it in bulk, I don't have to spend money from my weekly grocery budget towards it. Also, <b>avoid buying pre-made meals</b>. Not only do they tend to be high in sodium and have questionable ingredients, their costs add up quickly! </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">A trick I use to keep track of my purchases is to add up the dollar amounts in my head as I go (making sure to <b>round up</b>). It may be easier for me to do in my head because I love math, but for those who are a little mathematically challenged, make sure to bring a <b>calculator</b> with you or use the one on your phone! By seeing your items add up right in front of you, you somewhat have your own personal register and it will make you more conscious of the price of each item and how much you have left to spend!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">After buying everything on your list and you end up being </span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>above your budget</b>,
then you can either deduct from your next grocery run or you will need
to put back some items or exchange it for a cheaper version/substitute! <b>DO NOT GO ABOVE YOUR BUDGET</b>. It may take a few grocery runs for you to become familiar with prices and the best budget for you, so don't beat yourself up if you do go over by a few dollars the first few times. However, after about a month, you should be able to gauge more easily the cost for your meals and how much you can spend. </span>And in a situation where you are </span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>below your budget</b>, you can either save the monies and use it towards your next grocery endeavor or
splurge on some items you don't really need but would like to have. I
typically save any extra money towards my Sam's Club run since diapers
and wipes get costly!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>Those are my tips on how to <b>Cut Costs for Non-Couponers!</b> I hope you found it helpful and possibly may have picked up a few tricks to help you cut costs yourself! Please make sure to "pin" this on Pinterest or "share" on your Facebook timeline for future reference! Also, please comment below any thoughts or suggestions you may have to help other "non-couponers" save!
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Mommys Modern Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01247784150111034665noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540239901102334173.post-57498008054711057322013-10-30T21:07:00.001-07:002013-11-18T08:25:33.103-08:00Family Photoshoot with Michael Yenor Photography<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Visit Michael Yenor Photography's website </span><a href="http://www.michaelyenorphotography.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">HERE</span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Like Michael Yenor Photography on Facebook </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michael-Yenor-Photography/227043507366494" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">HERE</span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Check out Michael Yenor Photography's blog </span><a href="http://michaelyenorphotographyblog.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">HERE</span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">On a beautiful Sunday afternoon a couple of weeks ago, my family and I had a family photoshoot with Michael Yenor Photography at Calico Basin, Nevada near Red Rock!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBCt7XUVZcJrk3Q458ybcHvUeeZX7r35wPsomV-Ri74QnA2bNIcCi1EXNsD7DsasFtXcm6qkXi4_RDEY9hNVcjSLx4P2d3muWUmhqhH2tXsNf45SCbqNm2bauYtJ2nlydEHp_7Lu-usA7d/s1600/IMG_8095.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBCt7XUVZcJrk3Q458ybcHvUeeZX7r35wPsomV-Ri74QnA2bNIcCi1EXNsD7DsasFtXcm6qkXi4_RDEY9hNVcjSLx4P2d3muWUmhqhH2tXsNf45SCbqNm2bauYtJ2nlydEHp_7Lu-usA7d/s640/IMG_8095.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Yenor Photography</b><br />Calico Basin, Nevada- 2013</span></span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We had originally planned to do the photos at Mount Charleston. However, Mike knew that the fall colors I wanted wouldn't be there, so he suggested Calico Basin near Red Rock Canyon and it was a great recommendation!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We had never been there before and even though there were a lot of people there enjoying the weather and the sights, we were able to go off trail and find some cute spots to take our photos!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">One of those spots was under the bridge area! There was a cute little clearing for us to pose for photos and, per Mike, "the lighting was perfect!" So, we took a few photos there.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm0kr8edtT_z9MKqLjYoWNs6IFvnqMBLNMkTnU7xMVTuBp5PE5DrcGtJJgYMjId_CKFNKyPotcwFwaLMibQ77HpghBuoo5E1EfUaEnIF9uqICCYnS-Ubh96UHVzCuUT_B2MrdoUbivzi0G/s1600/IMG_8050.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm0kr8edtT_z9MKqLjYoWNs6IFvnqMBLNMkTnU7xMVTuBp5PE5DrcGtJJgYMjId_CKFNKyPotcwFwaLMibQ77HpghBuoo5E1EfUaEnIF9uqICCYnS-Ubh96UHVzCuUT_B2MrdoUbivzi0G/s640/IMG_8050.jpg" width="425" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i><b>PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Yenor Photography</b></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Me and my Kaelyn <3</i></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTtxlf0dGlyDDfVC4cNPYqjNHxxy9yHYCdWnTV1tOUaiDir7HfDzylijWbKQtc5LFBc0v3VLnMYFMnBckgAoRjIx57uSfhlv6XzvTd3SMtp9Aao16B6nhdybPdcH2aB-zL49dJtlegts5k/s1600/IMG_8038.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTtxlf0dGlyDDfVC4cNPYqjNHxxy9yHYCdWnTV1tOUaiDir7HfDzylijWbKQtc5LFBc0v3VLnMYFMnBckgAoRjIx57uSfhlv6XzvTd3SMtp9Aao16B6nhdybPdcH2aB-zL49dJtlegts5k/s640/IMG_8038.jpg" width="425" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><b><i>PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Yenor Photography</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Our beautiful little girl!</i></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh2-yZ-kRhJGRjvnl4UKKdmLpxYAN_zm9qDe4iNuwZzQd6TF3Lh_2caIGibnXoPQMecKsj5itKFfXheN4yH1Gv5r9LZLkkMAAE0kjtRVJZvO1X0B4qqTAjaom1D5ETAMA_4I5M4vBK9CuZ/s1600/IMG_8087.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh2-yZ-kRhJGRjvnl4UKKdmLpxYAN_zm9qDe4iNuwZzQd6TF3Lh_2caIGibnXoPQMecKsj5itKFfXheN4yH1Gv5r9LZLkkMAAE0kjtRVJZvO1X0B4qqTAjaom1D5ETAMA_4I5M4vBK9CuZ/s640/IMG_8087.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><b><i>PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Yenor Photography</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Me and my babies <3</i></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC4a9SkMztUsKvR3tj90v2qVToMtMnooK91WJQrsHQt6lGfYTgyckmNIlMnoRiGdmCGImwJKRmIQeLE_wTELmmhyEDzuyLFay8BDHB_0xpAynOBxFwBZT3mpRvmZx6yB9CtKdvFnk1mX48/s1600/IMG_8117.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC4a9SkMztUsKvR3tj90v2qVToMtMnooK91WJQrsHQt6lGfYTgyckmNIlMnoRiGdmCGImwJKRmIQeLE_wTELmmhyEDzuyLFay8BDHB_0xpAynOBxFwBZT3mpRvmZx6yB9CtKdvFnk1mX48/s640/IMG_8117.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><b><i>PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Yenor Photography</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Kaelyn and her Daddy</i> <3</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijJ30XyIhGgAPbPVJIS3yyHWohfV3l_T2_TCgP6k1epQZCe4lHZnDxrPn-OWWaMNT3nHezKNm3OlU8wLvwA2oZqYB-mmzAkkT_CoCBxSHLcVLff7D2vqjZmozdYTqIr63oScy1PjhSFmIv/s1600/IMG_8076.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijJ30XyIhGgAPbPVJIS3yyHWohfV3l_T2_TCgP6k1epQZCe4lHZnDxrPn-OWWaMNT3nHezKNm3OlU8wLvwA2oZqYB-mmzAkkT_CoCBxSHLcVLff7D2vqjZmozdYTqIr63oScy1PjhSFmIv/s640/IMG_8076.jpg" width="425" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><b><i>PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Yenor Photography</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>My family - I LOVE this shot!</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Mike was great with the kids and even made Elmo voices to get Liam's attention and to get my daughter to laugh! However, after probably 20-30 minutes into our shoot, our son Liam started to get cranky and didn't want to pose anymore. As you can see in the photo below, he started pulling on his sister's hair.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjntompEi_uewlh55MICjzSSEziY1OzlnkKVnXD86eBwaJRvpENmFoIDBK7LXQ-CdLscrbOQH1FkrbZfkZwY3_lAfxpDo_sL-K71i6I2XKaBwXPEOXCL8dEHhYtl7HU4tfszcLS5nqNBkFL/s1600/IMG_8134.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjntompEi_uewlh55MICjzSSEziY1OzlnkKVnXD86eBwaJRvpENmFoIDBK7LXQ-CdLscrbOQH1FkrbZfkZwY3_lAfxpDo_sL-K71i6I2XKaBwXPEOXCL8dEHhYtl7HU4tfszcLS5nqNBkFL/s640/IMG_8134.jpg" width="425" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><b><i>PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Yenor Photography</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Liam starting to lose focus. lol</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">So, because Liam didn't want to pose anymore, Mike suggested to just let Liam run loose and he was able to get some great action shots of him playing around.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTehGuazrM29Oa9ywdEO_tlYoLj3UAHZfN51W57nZA2v8KUCE5QigNyF6JSWC9Q8f1lIiD9L0G2KjVbe66ltpcQhZ98PznQ5juXtxryiuvs2DXfiiRKnIHf7JAEdOMg6n8Pt5b5ZCSvHrO/s1600/happyliamcollage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTehGuazrM29Oa9ywdEO_tlYoLj3UAHZfN51W57nZA2v8KUCE5QigNyF6JSWC9Q8f1lIiD9L0G2KjVbe66ltpcQhZ98PznQ5juXtxryiuvs2DXfiiRKnIHf7JAEdOMg6n8Pt5b5ZCSvHrO/s640/happyliamcollage.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><b><i>PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Yenor Photography</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Our happy boy!</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">And while Liam was running around trying to burn off the crankiness, Mike took advantage of the opportunity and took some solos of our Kaelyn and some shots of Eric and I!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhez9jE1dc2QIxCJ546Ja1ebp3lW_WHu4BPvgsRpHHRyxsZZY1z4JIx4cHsGJjO8pXl0QM_RGFkGg2_gih8GG88b6lfdoYZpU1ZPdgbxHG_vgaVXR7QHVAJOBcuH6BxbBWiCvsxISrqfAHe/s1600/kaelyntreecollage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhez9jE1dc2QIxCJ546Ja1ebp3lW_WHu4BPvgsRpHHRyxsZZY1z4JIx4cHsGJjO8pXl0QM_RGFkGg2_gih8GG88b6lfdoYZpU1ZPdgbxHG_vgaVXR7QHVAJOBcuH6BxbBWiCvsxISrqfAHe/s640/kaelyntreecollage.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><b><i>PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Yenor Photography</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Our pretty girl hamming it up for the camera!</i></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhaqIPaoiail39Ee0F92laU95NDgWszlcTptyzltjOkBOP0lg65GMnqnP_btlUMbLd9Rknh8bFaIiXJ-o0JahvlQDPfubD__JdWrh43LfjXjK7eXZEh8WbVH6KGGIgJ0A-s7yoMhgbMPd2/s1600/menbabescollage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="523" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhaqIPaoiail39Ee0F92laU95NDgWszlcTptyzltjOkBOP0lg65GMnqnP_btlUMbLd9Rknh8bFaIiXJ-o0JahvlQDPfubD__JdWrh43LfjXjK7eXZEh8WbVH6KGGIgJ0A-s7yoMhgbMPd2/s640/menbabescollage.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><b><i>PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Yenor Photography</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Babes and me <3</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">A</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">ll that running made our Liam thirsty so we gave him a bottle. That was probably the worst idea ever because he wouldn't let it go for anything! But Mike didn't let that phase him! He took some pictures with the bottle. They still were cute! lol</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj916XD73bcDAKeTDBZDxOOO01r1ihxgPYvmYr7nCjnAok5grg1G_Is66pc22j0-HzHTexhubxt24gWTPoSMf3fzLUSW-mNqCyzGXM13fu1O6l3HVELPvdZfFcFpfx59D6Ylb5h1rXp8EvX/s1600/bottlecollage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="369" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj916XD73bcDAKeTDBZDxOOO01r1ihxgPYvmYr7nCjnAok5grg1G_Is66pc22j0-HzHTexhubxt24gWTPoSMf3fzLUSW-mNqCyzGXM13fu1O6l3HVELPvdZfFcFpfx59D6Ylb5h1rXp8EvX/s640/bottlecollage.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><i>PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Yenor Photography</i></b><i> </i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Liam wouldn't let go of his bottle! lol</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Then we moved up to the bridge area and Mike was able to get some cute shots of Eric and I! I overheard someone asking if we were having our engagement shots taken. haha. No, but Mike does offer engagement shoots so make sure to contact him if you need any done! ;-)</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBlEZp3Q6rS9liys4iAO-2sQwpzk0OMRijAtY0xN_TE-yT54qIN7CQ48Gr_oYMlHXXFiNbcSk14x_k2YdqFvjvbrj_j8ysAruJiYrT8omQEZWXeMU3U0EltVFcmiXMxVg6JNiG8kMy_LV9/s1600/kissescollage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="536" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBlEZp3Q6rS9liys4iAO-2sQwpzk0OMRijAtY0xN_TE-yT54qIN7CQ48Gr_oYMlHXXFiNbcSk14x_k2YdqFvjvbrj_j8ysAruJiYrT8omQEZWXeMU3U0EltVFcmiXMxVg6JNiG8kMy_LV9/s640/kissescollage.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><b><i>PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Yenor Photography</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Over 11 years of love <3</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Since our son lost interest in the photoshoot completely, he started wandering around on the bridge. Mike got some adorable action shots of him exploring! Poor Mike had to hustle and keep up with him! lol</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLTrSflfXt4oxt-Qpkd3J0vuM7tnlmStkasKcXJRmxpkN1BswG4I85LrAwKJrua8Yec7rm462bT92FacpIO8gk3q6kAc5_WokxS6IjNLduqloLtFfGBHZxMG__cFyIZTtSeRdhYh4ndFZZ/s1600/liamplayingcollage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLTrSflfXt4oxt-Qpkd3J0vuM7tnlmStkasKcXJRmxpkN1BswG4I85LrAwKJrua8Yec7rm462bT92FacpIO8gk3q6kAc5_WokxS6IjNLduqloLtFfGBHZxMG__cFyIZTtSeRdhYh4ndFZZ/s640/liamplayingcollage.jpg" width="516" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><b><i>PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Yenor Photography</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Our Liam being Liam.</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Mike was also able to capture some precious moment of Liam with his big sister walking across the bridge.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJVVw7wlinsR0lL5tfoB1P7vp2lZ-2PCLBue1Q7X3gPENbZky2G6YEc-nxFYitf_gOaZdzGtme8AFB2QsbzpEIn2GAsG7pxzwxDs9YcRPzC859oLNaUh01zJBEjbn36FHcPaKrLEjc1F4u/s1600/kidswalkingcollage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="465" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJVVw7wlinsR0lL5tfoB1P7vp2lZ-2PCLBue1Q7X3gPENbZky2G6YEc-nxFYitf_gOaZdzGtme8AFB2QsbzpEIn2GAsG7pxzwxDs9YcRPzC859oLNaUh01zJBEjbn36FHcPaKrLEjc1F4u/s640/kidswalkingcollage.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><b><i>PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Yenor Photography</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Brother and sister bonding time. <3</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">After about an hour, the kids started to get hot in the afternoon sun, so we had a mini water break. During our break, Mike caught some cute photos of Liam and I.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ntcGPyVyKtTOyf1K2droJZu5ytfrpan_3te2VQenaHKhwLEm0VGIFqbhg4tqyzkl7CdMkXa6vL-BrSlhtg5SVPMNuvN1qCcieDUoqzg_j7LGCXIONVLmjwXl-ANrEr_seD22dNz3GpsP/s1600/waterbreakcollage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ntcGPyVyKtTOyf1K2droJZu5ytfrpan_3te2VQenaHKhwLEm0VGIFqbhg4tqyzkl7CdMkXa6vL-BrSlhtg5SVPMNuvN1qCcieDUoqzg_j7LGCXIONVLmjwXl-ANrEr_seD22dNz3GpsP/s640/waterbreakcollage.jpg" width="612" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><b><i>PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Yenor Photography</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Thirsty baby!</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Mike even was able to capture this priceless moment of my son and I. He's definitely a mommy's boy!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijJwUdKJ1pXAa_Nqsonk7vETXfcqsC_hE4iCH4p5QsqzGqkkOhW2ybQrl9uSQfDaZZQO0LJhRGIiBMCyyAuyL6zb_uhz-_QBrlKJhOt9KEqFwh3IUEYTa33PwR18cGDOkUamKYLyww6RkL/s1600/mamakissescollage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijJwUdKJ1pXAa_Nqsonk7vETXfcqsC_hE4iCH4p5QsqzGqkkOhW2ybQrl9uSQfDaZZQO0LJhRGIiBMCyyAuyL6zb_uhz-_QBrlKJhOt9KEqFwh3IUEYTa33PwR18cGDOkUamKYLyww6RkL/s640/mamakissescollage.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><b><i>PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Yenor Photography</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Kisses for his mommy <3</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">After our water break, Mike found a nice little field with gorgeous yellows and greens! He did some practice shots with Kaelyn and Eric first.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjugjkzJlukNPQRYcwT6il0yH_KyjtWS7FnSXFMSwn5WWVdNpp6OzDuIt8-FJHFum-5xppSqvToAQ6ktv_17kYHhH50V4Y3O_3jMvlb-F1JZa-jWMGhBDgZ5fhqzhMMJrgBa-LfSXrOZ66i/s1600/daddynkkfieldcollage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjugjkzJlukNPQRYcwT6il0yH_KyjtWS7FnSXFMSwn5WWVdNpp6OzDuIt8-FJHFum-5xppSqvToAQ6ktv_17kYHhH50V4Y3O_3jMvlb-F1JZa-jWMGhBDgZ5fhqzhMMJrgBa-LfSXrOZ66i/s640/daddynkkfieldcollage.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><b><i>PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Yenor Photography</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Daddy and Kaelyn <3</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Then it was mine and Liam's turn to join them! Liam wasn't liking any of it, until he saw a lady in the distance walking her dog. The lady was kind enough to stand behind Mike so that Liam would stay focused enough for Mike to get some shots of us! They turned out great!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaGYCE4-hghrzP4SKs79mo25awXbbzFSAjGutllGGtI52jT2XVN2daaz7VS2LYIVBDyjVb07tgqwoQcwsJB1Gz_O1mFS3RHJfiaZKffAbFvI9cW6yQFg8oDDq6C0z4mAVICSaPFe4wAzBB/s1600/familyfieldcollage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaGYCE4-hghrzP4SKs79mo25awXbbzFSAjGutllGGtI52jT2XVN2daaz7VS2LYIVBDyjVb07tgqwoQcwsJB1Gz_O1mFS3RHJfiaZKffAbFvI9cW6yQFg8oDDq6C0z4mAVICSaPFe4wAzBB/s640/familyfieldcollage.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><b><i>PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Yenor Photography</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Beautiful landscape!</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Calico Basin is pretty much a giant loop, so while we were making our way back, Mike was able to capture some beautiful shots of us with the kids!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjvd9Z01JdxdQ-3AqMkMJYLvaE1cCOBXaG-_hGt9cRdvxWDvkcWgkRWVUgPK42O330zDtM8jJ-5zqn_zhF5DlY66V7x5RF0SUc2RbJ6G3tg6KwocWqIH7-mkFSbrLljLBW5sMRl7zT_nBd/s1600/daddyliamcollage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="408" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjvd9Z01JdxdQ-3AqMkMJYLvaE1cCOBXaG-_hGt9cRdvxWDvkcWgkRWVUgPK42O330zDtM8jJ-5zqn_zhF5DlY66V7x5RF0SUc2RbJ6G3tg6KwocWqIH7-mkFSbrLljLBW5sMRl7zT_nBd/s640/daddyliamcollage.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><b><i>PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Yenor Photography</i></b></span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">Liam and his Daddy <3 </span></i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="516" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYKDLnIUIYh3_wJ5cOGLw7TQeLBK_ODdyT8cmDrw_oH2rz2J2PsrWP0D3klv4aY3tnJQWk4B7vdVFYDpoJiTeAXjxIgxNOdBIshgW884MXlt8fmNNgJlxKjVZfg-jXt96OJyxYEUGZpiXr/s640/mommynkkcollage.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><b><i>PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Yenor Photography</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Me and our Kaelyn! <3</i></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvLFfQrFp-O0P8v3N-IMQxJ3KJGdmmYzRA0C-DY_RUpcTuCZAaOiGY9yHheTdnFFdZI6-mImT2DA_O1G3gp2FufW2ZHhNhv1ixIVkEYV4DEQrx2pKi-h09ZyVhanYrb0EwTWfkGzkOuclU/s1600/daddynkkcollage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvLFfQrFp-O0P8v3N-IMQxJ3KJGdmmYzRA0C-DY_RUpcTuCZAaOiGY9yHheTdnFFdZI6-mImT2DA_O1G3gp2FufW2ZHhNhv1ixIVkEYV4DEQrx2pKi-h09ZyVhanYrb0EwTWfkGzkOuclU/s640/daddynkkcollage.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><b><i>PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Yenor Photography</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Daddy's little princess <3</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">He was also able to capture this adorable moment between the siblings!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnEbLkOyh8t8l0rtl8zBwPfWrrCiG0pIKIsJ2JVvnAxVB6gKB4Kx99ODXuDcz3miLpZND30kp1UPW1jrS6UBh8Xk6FW1aMchugLrJrGlDMkXACcGIwrhSMXqcOg0d2sjauY-TksgvIBsxm/s1600/IMG_8479.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnEbLkOyh8t8l0rtl8zBwPfWrrCiG0pIKIsJ2JVvnAxVB6gKB4Kx99ODXuDcz3miLpZND30kp1UPW1jrS6UBh8Xk6FW1aMchugLrJrGlDMkXACcGIwrhSMXqcOg0d2sjauY-TksgvIBsxm/s640/IMG_8479.jpg" width="425" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><b><i>PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Yenor Photography</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>LOVE <3</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Mike was also able to capture this cute moment of me kissing Liam and he wasn't too happy about it! lol. I still love the shot though! Great blackmail for when he's older! lol</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFg4LmVJUeL7hz2U0gRj9an4gwWrAMEDEp2Iunuu3KZjt3TMDnTNE-VICXUCUtRTIrYun6PtpVnNdKadgWzNH_HFQps9Di1XjwrqkOCZQ7zy1NURxqVCNtYrLZLgJY-CK2L4zyDJFWDF3Q/s1600/IMG_8482.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFg4LmVJUeL7hz2U0gRj9an4gwWrAMEDEp2Iunuu3KZjt3TMDnTNE-VICXUCUtRTIrYun6PtpVnNdKadgWzNH_HFQps9Di1XjwrqkOCZQ7zy1NURxqVCNtYrLZLgJY-CK2L4zyDJFWDF3Q/s640/IMG_8482.jpg" width="425" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><b><i>PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Yenor Photography</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>I think this candid photo Mike captured is adorable!</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Not only did Mike take some great group shots, he was also able to get beautiful close-ups of our babies! <3</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuheNqh9B0ZQOqdCgaOb8jq-QZFyX_kHVqxQ00fyLOGPO6E3raFpaEztCm5oghR7GU0sGjXJyBvCp2mHpRVef_tQaefhxnvC7M0K7MiHevtph9uXs0BrHZKUtLEqkQ9sGel0whRHBHKvvK/s1600/ourbabiescollage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuheNqh9B0ZQOqdCgaOb8jq-QZFyX_kHVqxQ00fyLOGPO6E3raFpaEztCm5oghR7GU0sGjXJyBvCp2mHpRVef_tQaefhxnvC7M0K7MiHevtph9uXs0BrHZKUtLEqkQ9sGel0whRHBHKvvK/s640/ourbabiescollage.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><b><i>PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Yenor Photography</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>Our Kaelyn and our Liam - 2013</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">And of course, we had to get a few more shots of Eric and I! They turned out cute!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhCyKGi2quL0gMbZBcswUnDbv2s1necKba3c_6vw8hE1sft3lxBybclQjQT5Juv-SVg5q8ZWorP6EsRaX2nvwoQjpQd8HmPhNumWadJxic2NpjYkkaTNCu0-r_oSEcY1BY1MGwz92CzfIY/s1600/menbabescollage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhCyKGi2quL0gMbZBcswUnDbv2s1necKba3c_6vw8hE1sft3lxBybclQjQT5Juv-SVg5q8ZWorP6EsRaX2nvwoQjpQd8HmPhNumWadJxic2NpjYkkaTNCu0-r_oSEcY1BY1MGwz92CzfIY/s640/menbabescollage.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><b><i>PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Yenor Photography</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>I *heart* you!</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">After about 2 hours, this was our last family shot of the day!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTMmLfqzlZgHVcbKriLRSeJYGOLTL7sW9o44iQzgV0JSQmLcUfL8vCR6P7RdPYTacnzhJLHpYym4oGHVnsRV7dxtDTPFhN_0R1I0ygdb5CK-F7BwtuvxhXi3IMs7v6G2W36gyvlmWXZY8y/s1600/IMG_8499.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTMmLfqzlZgHVcbKriLRSeJYGOLTL7sW9o44iQzgV0JSQmLcUfL8vCR6P7RdPYTacnzhJLHpYym4oGHVnsRV7dxtDTPFhN_0R1I0ygdb5CK-F7BwtuvxhXi3IMs7v6G2W36gyvlmWXZY8y/s640/IMG_8499.jpg" width="425" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><b><i>PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Yenor Photography</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><i>The end!</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Well, there you have it! Our family photoshoot for 2013!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I just want to give a big shout out and thank you to </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michael-Yenor-Photography/227043507366494" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">MICHAEL YENOR PHOTOGRAPHY</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> for taking beautiful photos of my family! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND him to everyone! Not only for family photoshoots, but he also does senior class photos, maternity, engagement, weddings, events, and modeling shots! He is very motivated, is passionate about his work, and works really hard to get "the perfect shot"! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">As a parent, what I love most about Mike is his patience with children! He says that his favorite group to work with are children and you can definitely see it through his work! He is great with kids and knows how to make them laugh and get their attention. Even though I was worried that due to Liam's fussiness we wouldn't get any good shots, Mike proved me wrong! He was able to capture so many beautiful photos of my family and I, especially of the children! He had so much patience and understood that kids are kids! For example, when my daughter was complaining about her face hurting from smiling too much, Mike was able to goof around with her and get her to relax and deliver genuine smiles. And with our Liam, even though he was fussy and tired, Mike allowed him to just be his 1-year-old self and was able to capture some beautiful photos from it!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Now that holiday season is around the corner, I highly recommend that you contact <b>Michael Yenor Photography </b>to help you capture those beautiful photos for all your holiday cards!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">To see more of his work, please check out his </span><a href="http://www.michaelyenorphotographyblog.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">blog</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">! Also, make sure to like his </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michael-Yenor-Photography/227043507366494" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Facebook page</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">. And you can contact him either through his Facebook page or through his official website at </span><a href="http://www.michaelyenorphotography.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">www.michaelyenorphotography.com</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Let him know that <i>Mabby</i> sent you! ;-)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">God bless! </span></div>
Mommys Modern Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01247784150111034665noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540239901102334173.post-74417245731981437282013-10-27T09:33:00.000-07:002013-11-17T16:30:05.438-08:00DIY - Baby's 1st Pumpkin<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPhO7eQGtfiRkFreetBLs6urfJtjwEnUbVPyfVYbOh5uUFIzPe_4oetGBFh2ZaXouIpscKTaPV27Zp9N5N9hKPlhIGgzGpie9SUr8dQVNmGyVpag072alLKby6l5Roi6ItzBbEG7O0CrtN/s1600/MML_Babys1stPumpkin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPhO7eQGtfiRkFreetBLs6urfJtjwEnUbVPyfVYbOh5uUFIzPe_4oetGBFh2ZaXouIpscKTaPV27Zp9N5N9hKPlhIGgzGpie9SUr8dQVNmGyVpag072alLKby6l5Roi6ItzBbEG7O0CrtN/s640/MML_Babys1stPumpkin.jpg" width="640" /> </a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">For those who are celebrating Halloween for the first time with your little ones, <u>YOU HAVE TO DO THIS PROJECT</u>! It's a great way to make your child's 1st Halloween a little bit more special!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We did this with our son last Halloween when he was 5-months-old! We used his precious little hands and feet as the template to create the face of his very 1st jack-o-lantern! It's a great way to make <strong>baby's 1st pumpkin customized just for them</strong>! </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It's a simple DIY project that can help you capture this special moment in their life! </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><b>What you need:</b></span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Pumpkin</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Marker</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Pumpkin carving knife</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Pumpkin seed scooper or a Spoon</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Instructions:</b></span> </span></span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Trace your baby's hands and feet onto a side of the pumpkin to create the jack-o-lantern's eyes and mouth. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">With your carving knife, cut around the stem of the pumpkin to create a big enough opening to fit your hand in. Set stem aside.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Scoop out all the pumpkin seeds inside and make the inside as smooth as you can.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Once clean, cut out the hands and toes you marked on the pumpkin. <i>Note: When doing their feet, make sure to cut out the toes individually to create a more distinct looking foot.</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Once face is all carved out, insert any lighting you want <i>(optional) </i>then put stem back on top.</span></li>
</ol>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Now you can take all the precious photos of your child with their one-of-a-kind 1st pumpkin! It would be especially cute to take pictures of them with it while in their costumes! Hope you guys enjoy this project and are able to capture some great photos to help remember your child's 1st Halloween!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span>
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Mommys Modern Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01247784150111034665noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540239901102334173.post-8476510814778104132013-10-25T08:11:00.000-07:002013-11-17T12:17:19.936-08:00Easy Baked Shrimp<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxHCz4g79S8RmGWZjTB9YAXsY63YLW_34v5_w0Nlfpi6MiaAAIw_29CAXVsdS2QI8MAt2DoQ-oxu9qiOdWjw_3T0iZ7IQ88FzdUNgVL2tlAnPqTo8KUownEHIgMp8EuXQG4_R776Tm7cGY/s1600/MMLEasyBakedShrimp1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxHCz4g79S8RmGWZjTB9YAXsY63YLW_34v5_w0Nlfpi6MiaAAIw_29CAXVsdS2QI8MAt2DoQ-oxu9qiOdWjw_3T0iZ7IQ88FzdUNgVL2tlAnPqTo8KUownEHIgMp8EuXQG4_R776Tm7cGY/s640/MMLEasyBakedShrimp1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Easy Baked Shrimp</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b><i>Serves: </i></b>4 people</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><b><i>Calories per serving: </i></b>354 calories</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b><i>Cook time: </i></b>20 minutes</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I love cooking for my family! However, after a long day of work, sometimes cooking dinner for them is the last thing on my mind! On those days, "Easy Baked Shrimp" is one of my go to recipes for a SUPER EASY and SUPER YUMMY meal that I know everyone will love!</span></div>
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<img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF6Qh9OvXCgJxONedhn4WHblFvrnTTYpN8Q7qK72eyIu4Y3Wjjq3T_noz_rnf3Xg7tnBEuMxVpIT83xpTAmIpw0hpVNsRMYYuNi97Fd8WDqa2BA4SA9I2Te5koQ1545U6C21v4m0GJ_9UA/s640/MMLbakedshrimp1.jpg" width="640" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u>Ingredients</u></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">1 lb. of Shrimp <i>(peeled and deveined, thawed)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">1 Lemon </span><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">(sliced</span>)</i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">1 stick of Butter</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Italian herb seasoning</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Salt and pepper <i>(to taste)</i></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiafgk2FHu_QtIJYV_VCelwl1JF0zrijzHTmpV7IwhwK5kntK7c4B0ud156b46dmML_B7eAvKuPjikV4EV5DoJ6vOL2XLW5iMVJGWkQ2APwVN_hURX4nxLodEDhh79MJ1bQ8YDaAlA1JBBq/s1600/MMLBAKEDSHRIMP2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiafgk2FHu_QtIJYV_VCelwl1JF0zrijzHTmpV7IwhwK5kntK7c4B0ud156b46dmML_B7eAvKuPjikV4EV5DoJ6vOL2XLW5iMVJGWkQ2APwVN_hURX4nxLodEDhh79MJ1bQ8YDaAlA1JBBq/s640/MMLBAKEDSHRIMP2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Instructions</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Preheat oven to 350 degrees.</span></div>
</li>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Melt a stick of butter in a small pan.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Cover a cookie sheet with tinfoil.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Pour melted butter onto cookie sheet and spread evenly.</span></div>
</li>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Slice lemon and layer all slices, except one, on top of the butter.</span></div>
</li>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Add shrimp on top of lemons. <i>(Make sure the shrimp is THAWED. For a quick thaw, throw frozen shrimp into a colander and rinse under COLD running water for a few minutes. Drain excess water before putting on top of lemons)</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Squeeze saved lemon slice evenly over the shrimp.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Sprinkle with Italian herb seasoning, salt, and pepper.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Bake for 15 minutes until shrimp is a light pink.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">While shrimp is baking, cook pasta, rice, veggies, or any sides you would like so that everything is done at the same time!</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;">ENJOY!</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdghf4Ghy_dS5rlSm5vNdZVuS3d4KqB28ZUqguMQHfDmMG_Z_9Rs69FbKuxVdIB1LGzTDA717pACHPcrTH-WNeWtv1RzAIUwBwGxRRNgDPGFyZFmUIc5oRh2tXD8D0Cflsuk0z-kLWpML-/s1600/MMLbakedshrimp4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="411" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdghf4Ghy_dS5rlSm5vNdZVuS3d4KqB28ZUqguMQHfDmMG_Z_9Rs69FbKuxVdIB1LGzTDA717pACHPcrTH-WNeWtv1RzAIUwBwGxRRNgDPGFyZFmUIc5oRh2tXD8D0Cflsuk0z-kLWpML-/s640/MMLbakedshrimp4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><b>Sides:</b> I typically serve this over rice or pasta with a side of steamed asparagus or broccoli.</span></div>
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Mommys Modern Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01247784150111034665noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540239901102334173.post-72362099289779350392013-10-17T19:56:00.000-07:002013-11-19T14:38:35.633-08:0025 Truths from a Modern Mommy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">All mommies enter motherhood with a set of expectations and assumptions of the kind of
mother they would like to be, but there are times where we fall short. We are
human. We aren’t perfect. But you know what, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">THAT’S OKAY.</b> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Being a mommy is tough and we put so much pressure on ourselves to be "perfect" or "super-mom", but <b>I've learned that sometimes you just have to let go and LAUGH!</b> We do silly things. We do things that we're embarrassed to admit. We have weird mommy quirks that not everyone can understand. So, today I'm sharing with you <b>25 of MY Mommy Truths</b> to let you know, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">YOU ARE NOT ALONE!</b> However, if you ARE a mommy who is NOT guilty of ANYTHING embarrassing, then at least you can have some giggles at my expense! :)</span></span><br />
<br />
<ol><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">
<li><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Sometimes I let the TV babysit my kids so I can clean the house or cook dinner.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">When I’m exhausted and the kids pick a long book, I’ll skip multiple pages and paraphrase some sentences so that “the end” comes quicker. (But now it’s harder to fake it since my daughter can read!)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">On nights when I’m too lazy to cook, fast food it is!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">I pretend to use the bathroom to have some quiet time.</span></li>
<li><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">I can stare at my kids sleeping and listen to them breathing for hours in a creepy, stalker-ish kind of way. But, one time my daughter woke up and it freaked her out, so now I mostly just do it to my 16-month-old.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</li>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span>
<li><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">I wake up my kids when they are sleeping soundly in their beds and make them cuddle with me in mine just because I miss them or if there’s a thunderstorm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</li>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span>
<li><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Every time my daughter asks me for a toy, I tell her that I’ll get it for her birthday. But that only works for so long because now she remembers EVERYTHING!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</li>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span>
<li><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Sometimes I bribe my kids with food and/or money.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</li>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span>
<li><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">I eat my kid’s Halloween candy or goody bag treats after they go to bed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</li>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span>
<li><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">When I give my daughter a choice of 2 things and she ends up choosing what I didn’t want, I say things to convince her to choose what I really wanted. (I’m pretty sure I use this technique with my husband too).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</li>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span>
<li><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">I eat my kids’ leftovers. Even if they’re cold and there may be a chance that they have been chewed and spit out beforehand.</span></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">I dance silly in public to embarrass my kids. That's my excuse for dancing badly and I'm sticking to it!</span></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
I have accidentally fallen asleep while playing with my kids.</div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Chuck E Cheese is my worst nightmare.</div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
I'm the sappy mom who cried on the first day of school and didn't leave until she entered her classroom.</div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
I make sure my kids nap or have "quiet time" just to keep my sanity.</div>
</li>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span>
<li><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">I realize kids are a great excuse to get out of things I don't want to do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</li>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span>
<li><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Sometimes I get so overwhelmed that I need a mommy time out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</li>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span>
<li><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">I'm so protective of my babies that I’ve thought about beating up the mean kid at the playground that pushed MY baby, but then I think “mmm… better not.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</li>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span>
<li><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">I tell my kids “mommy and daddy were just wrestling.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</li>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span>
<li><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">I sometimes have more fun playing with my kids' toys than they do!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</li>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span>
<li><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">When I'm supposed to be "tough" mom or have my kids "cry-it-out", I sometimes sneak hugs and kisses to them so they don't feel bad.</span></div>
</li>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span>
<li><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">I will make my kids re-enact moments just so I can catch it on camera! (But to be honest, it’s never as good as when they first did it! Boo.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</li>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span>
<li><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">I like the way my kids smell. Sometimes I just like to sniff them.</span></div>
</li>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span>
<li><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Changing a poopy diaper is the worst! I will never get used to it. EVER.</span></div>
</li>
</span></span></ol>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br />So, there you
have it! Those are <b>25 Truths from a Modern Mommy</b>! I am FAR from perfect and I am a
bit embarrassed to admit many of these things, but so what! I don’t do these
things all the time, but they are things I have done or thoughts I have had at
least ONCE during mommyhood and there is nothing wrong with that! That doesn’t
make me a bad mom! It just gives me some funny stories to share!</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>If you are a mommy (or even a daddy) and have your own "Truths" to ADD, please COMMENT
them below! (And you can be ANONYMOUS if you want!)</u></b></span></span><br />
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Mommys Modern Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01247784150111034665noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540239901102334173.post-71687075653848325322013-10-15T20:37:00.000-07:002014-02-07T08:37:11.565-08:00Cajun Chicken Pasta<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJUuYh3nXY4eOvs0UmGeG2gbqYS4QpALndOUkQ4oB1eXAFw1G98aNUqXD4ye3enAOmAVr_ZLFeUjeLNYkn8Mj-I9EEddL0kgzcyzY540hY5ixdhK_THNv98qgFQ5A-LwtDEVvji-y4UZHU/s1600/DSCN1183.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJUuYh3nXY4eOvs0UmGeG2gbqYS4QpALndOUkQ4oB1eXAFw1G98aNUqXD4ye3enAOmAVr_ZLFeUjeLNYkn8Mj-I9EEddL0kgzcyzY540hY5ixdhK_THNv98qgFQ5A-LwtDEVvji-y4UZHU/s640/DSCN1183.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></span></b></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Cajun Chicken Pasta</span></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><i><b>Serves:</b> 4-6 people</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><i><b>Calories per serving:</b> 531</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><i><b>Cook time:</b> 20-25 minutes</i> </span><br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This is one of my family's favorite meals! Everyone who has eaten it absolutely LOVES it! It is so simple to make and you can easily modify the recipe based on your taste! After a long day of work, I don't mind coming home and whipping up this easy but yummy meal for my family! It's even simple enough that my husband has successfully made this recipe as well! The only downside is that it does require 3 pots to cook, but with a prep AND cook time under 25 minutes, you can't beat that! Just make sure it's somebody else's turn to do dishes! Enjoy!</span><br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><i>Adapted from <a href="http://www.food.com/recipe/chilis-copycat-cajun-chicken-pasta-410185" target="_blank">Food.com</a></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><u><span style="font-size: large;">Ingredients</span></u></span> </div>
<ul><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">4 Chicken Breasts <i>(boneless, skinless, not frozen)</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">1 box of Penne Pasta</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">4 tablespoons of Butter or Margarine</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">2 cups of Heavy Cream</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">2-4 teaspoons Cajun Seasoning <i>(depends on how spicy you want to make it)</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">1 teaspoon Salt</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">1 teaspoon Pepper</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">1/2 teaspoon Lemon Pepper</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">2 Roma Tomatoes <i>(unseeded and diced),</i> for garnish</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Scallions <i>(chopped),</i> for garnish</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Shredded Parmesan Cheese, for garnish</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u>Instructions</u></span></span></div>
<ol><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Cook penne pasta per package directions, drain, and set aside.</span></li>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Combine Cajun seasoning and chicken (slightly moist) in a large, 1-gallon Ziploc bag, seal and shake until chicken is thoroughly coated.</span></li>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat and cook chicken, turning as needed.</span></li>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Once chicken is about halfway done, grab another large skillet and melt 2 tablespoons of butter, heavy cream, and the rest of the seasoning over medium heat, stirring occasionally.</span></li>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">While the chicken is cooking and the sauce is simmering, cut up the tomatoes and scallions (if you have not yet already).</span></li>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">When the cream sauce begins to bubble, add the cooked pasta, mix, and turn off the heat.</span></li>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Once chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees, remove from heat, let it rest for a couple of minutes, then slice into strips.</span></li>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Spoon pasta onto a plate, put the chicken on top, and garnish with tomatoes, scallions, and Parmesan cheese.</span></li>
</ol>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> ENJOY!</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b>Sides: </b>I usually serve this meal with a side of Crescent rolls, garlic bread, or a salad.</span></div>
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<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><b>Tip: </b>Make sure to preheat the oven before you boil the pasta and then don't forget to pop in your bread dough right before you start the chicken so that you will have fresh baked bread by the time you're done!</span><br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><i>And if you have leftovers, just save and refrigerate it! It still tastes just as yummy for the next few days! Just make sure to cut up some fresh tomatoes and scallions as garnish after reheating!</i></span><br />
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Mommys Modern Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01247784150111034665noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4540239901102334173.post-63605368702172253422013-10-07T05:00:00.000-07:002013-11-17T12:30:33.262-08:00Welcome! Please watch my video!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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