This week and next, I’ve decided to discuss Stranger Danger with my kids.  My oldest is easily frightened so I’ve tried to come up with a way to discuss it without making her afraid.

After talking with several friends, I decided to purchase The Berenstain Bears Learn About Strangers from Amazon.  I read it with my older 2 this morning and they liked it.  It had a great example of an odd looking apple being great inside and a beautiful apple being filled with worms inside.  This was definitely what they needed to hear since earlier I asked the kids what a bad person looks like and my son said a bad person has a grumpy face.  Most definitely not true.

There is also a video that I just ordered called The Safe Side: Stranger Safety.  It is put out by America’s Most Wanted host John Walsh and Baby Einstein creator Julie Clark.  Can’t wait to get it to go along with this topic.  There is a printable home study guide available on their website to use as well.

Here are some links to printables I’ve found along this topic:

• Keep Your Child Safe Coloring Pages
• Fingerprint America – Safety Rules
• DLTK-Kids Safety
• McGruff The Crime Dog 

Do you have any book or reference suggestions?  How did you teach your kids about strangers?

A year or so ago, couponing was in full swing.  Everywhere you looked in the stores, you saw many people trying to coupon, or even extreme coupon.  Lately I’m noticing that couponing seems to be wearing off.  Sale items aren’t disappearing from the shelves as quickly and couponers aren’t so prevalent in the stores.

Is it because people are realizing that what is shown on Extreme Couponining isn’t real?  Is it because the Extreme Couponing show is now turning into extreme coupon fraud?  The Coupon Information Center has even issued a Retailer Alert alerting retailers to the violations on the show. If you are couponing so you can be like the people on the show, you’ve probably become very discouraged.  Couponing like that isn’t real.  Numerous counterfeit coupons were used on several episodes in order to get the discounts.

Is it because the coupon policies at the stores have gotten stricter?  This unfortunately is a side effect of coupon abuse.

Is it because the coupons aren’t as great lately or due to stores such as Aldi popping up offering lower prices but no coupon acceptance?  I have no clue.

For me, I haven’t stopped couponing.  Honestly, my stockpile is established and so I’m able to shop infrequently to just replenish my stockpile.  Also since finding out about my son’s soy allergy last fall, I haven’t been able to buy as many processed foods, which really is great for our family.  I often say his soy allergy was the best thing to happen to our family.

Do you think couponing has changed in your area?  Have you changed the way you coupon?  Leave a comment and tell me your thoughts.

I know I told my facebook fans the other day that we’re back, but wanted to make it official 🙂 We had a great time in Disney and made lots of great memories.  It was much too short and now I’m suffering from the post-Disney blues and headache of tons of laundry, tired kids, emails, etc, but slowly things are finally getting caught back up.  We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside and managed to do a couple character breakfasts which were a ton of fun.  My kids loved meeting the characters.  The look on my 2 year old’s face when she saw Minnie Mouse made the entire trip worth it.

We even had a little surprise at the Magic Kingdom.  We were walking to go toward the teacups and suddenly found ourselves surrounded by cast members!  They told us that Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs were just in the icecream shop playing around and told them to give us this big bowl of icecream goodness!  It had a brownie, strawberry shortcake, ice cream cone, and a cookie along with tons of ice cream, whipped cream, and fruit.  What a surprise!  The kids loved it and it made the day super special!   (By the way, my daughter is wearing a sock on her hand to remind her not to suck her fingers.  It’s hard trying to break this habit!)

The crowds actually weren’t too bad and we were able to ride almost everything we wanted to at the Magic Kingdom.  We also went to Hollywood Studios and that was super packed.  We caught a few shows, did the Toy Story Mania, Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playset and my older kids did the Jedi Knight Training.  That was pretty neat!

We also spent a little time at Downtown Disney window shopping and visiting with friends and relatives in the area.  All in all, a successful trip!  And a huge thanks to my assistant Edith for keeping things running while I was gone!

This week’s Weekend Boredom Buster is brought to us by my friend Torri of Southern Traditions Boutique.  Torri tells us below how to re-purpose those old frames!

Lately I’ve been looking for frames at yard sales and thrift stores. You can leave them as is or paint them. There’s so many wonderful things you can put in them as well, or you can leave them blank!

I’ve seen pretty pictures of walls decked out in just the skeleton of the frame, all painted the same color. Some of them are done in the same color hue, or completely different. Above a mantel, going up the stairway, greeting you in the foyer, the ideas are endless!

About a year ago I got these frames for $2.00 each. They are BIG, and I love the color. Even the black and white romantic pictures are very nice, just not my style. I got them because I knew there was something I could put in them!

All I did was take off the back of the frame (I have to admit, they were kind of a pain in the rear, but after taking off the tape and bending back the staples, I eventually got to the picture, WHEW!). I didn’t realize that the picture and mat were one in the same, but no problem! The 12″ x 12″ piece of scrapbook paper fit just perfectly over the picture. All I used was tape on the backside of the paper to make sure it didn’t go anywhere.

Next, I had already decided what pictures I wanted of the kids. I printed both of them on regular 8×10 photo paper (did you know that Dollar Tree has photo paper? It really is good and so much cheaper!). I have a photo editing program that changed the color photos to the sepia ones that you see, which I thought matched the damask paper perfectly! I did an 8″ square of the photo that allowed 2″ on each side, which made a nice mat around the photo.

Then I placed it back into the frame and VOILA! New custom-looking photo frames for a FRACTION of what it would cost at the big craft/frame stores. I think all total, I spent $6.00 for this project! They are hanging up in our bedroom and look lovely with our newly painted “Caffe colache” walls.

Try your hand at reframing something. It really does give new life and leaves these things out of the landfills! 🙂 ENJOY!

This craft is about as simple as it gets.  All ages can help out, and the results are amazing!

What you’ll need:

Epsom Salts

Sea Salts

Food Coloring

Scent (you can use essential oil, specially designed bath craft scents, or even raid your cupboard for things like almond extract)

Gallon Sized zip-close bag

Jars or Baggies for the finished product

You can pick up most of these items at a Craft store, or even a dollar store.  

You can make this in any quantity depending on the size of the containers you are putting the finished salts in. In the zip-close bag add 3 parts Epsom Salts to 1 part Sea Salts.Add a drop or two or food coloring and a few drops of your chosen scent.

Close bag and shake until all salts are mixed and evenly colored.  If you want the color darker add more dye and shake again, do the same with scent, if it is not strong enough add more and shake well.

Pour the salts into your containers. You can decorate the bottles or leave them as is.  These make great Valentine’s Day gifts for friends and teachers!