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Our Tubing Adventure in Helen, Georgia

July 2, 2014 By MommyOctopus Leave a Comment
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Today was the day we decided to go tubing.  Actually, we were supposed to go this past Saturday, but, well, life happened.  Here we are about 6 hours post-tubing and I still feel like I’m floating down the river and bumping along rocks.

This was quite the adventure and really went much more smoothly than I had anticipated.  We got there just before 11 and headed right out.  We decided to take Cool River since that is where we always tubed growing up.

The hardest part was maneuvering through some areas that were really narrow with 2 tubes connected together.  I especially didn’t want to dump my 3 year old out in the water, although both little girls were wearing their Puddle Jumpers and the big kids had on life vests.  The water level was perfect and we never had to get out and walk.

I am a little sad I wasn’t able to take pictures during this adventure, but my husband brought his cell phone in a ziplock bag and took some.  His is a rinky dink old phone, whereas I have an iPhone, so I didn’t want that to be lost forever in the Chattahoochee.  It’s also worth noting that they take photos of you on your tubing adventure at Cool River.  I really loved the photos they took, but my husband said to pass on purchasing them.  We will still have those memories.

The only negative we had was when we got back to our cars. Cool River has a stand with ice cream.  Since we were having such a fun day, I decided to let the kids indulge in a sweet treat.  I had a couple questions about ingredients (kid with an allergy) and was met with a really rude employee.  She refused to be helpful and acted like I was crazy for even asking her a simple question about the product.   I asked if she could look on the packaging and tell me what ingredients were in it  and she flat out refused.  She never even stepped away from the counter or even bothered to check.  Just told me no.  As I told the kids we would just go to Wendy’s and get frostys instead, her and another employee were mocking me and making a big joke out of it.  I promise you I was not being rude, I was simply inquiring about an ingredient list for the ice cream, which they should have either had or been able to get.  Or heck, they could have even offered to ask a manager or find someone else to help me.  We gave Wendy’s our business instead since it wasn’t worth dealing with them.

Other than that, every encounter was great!

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There is a couple things that I learned on this trip.

*When taking a bunch of small children, definitely take an extra adult!  We took my husband’s brother with us and he helped out a ton!  I was tethered to our 3 year old and my husband was tethered to the almost 5 year old and we had our other 2 older kids just floating along.  They would periodically get stuck and he was able to help them and let us focus on our littles.

*Don’t underestimate the power of a good stick!  This tubing company had sticks you could rent or purchase to help you along the way.  Next time, we will bring a stick from home.  They would have been of great use navigating our journey.

*Be helpful!  There was an older couple that kept getting stuck.  I found out by talking to them that tubing down the Chattahoochee was on their bucket list but it ended up being harder than they anticipated.  Several times we were able to help free them from rocks. In turn, several other people helped us as well.  You never know when a giant rock will stop your tube!

*Don’t wait so stinkin’ long before going tubing again!  Seriously, my kids had never been and I hadn’t been in like 15 years!  The kids had a blast and we did too!

Where is your favorite place to go tubing?

What we have been up to….

June 28, 2014 By MommyOctopus Leave a Comment
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I know postings have been random this week.  We had a very busy week of VBS at our church.  I was teaching the 3 year olds, so I came home exhausted most days.  We had a great group of kids and had a ton of fun with them.  One of the days we even had a “confetti fight”.  That was hilarious!  We made a huge mess!!  All in all, it was so worth the tiredness by being able to teach sweet little kids about Jesus.

Then yesterday, I got the phone call I had been expecting that my sister in law was in labor.  We hurried to get my nephews and niece from her and found out that this labor was going much slower than her previous ones.  Finally my new nephew was born at 1:16 this morning!  It was a long night, but so worth it to see the birth of my precious new nephew.  Isn’t he so sweet?

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So while my brother and his wife are at the hospital snuggling their new baby, we have had our hands full with 2 extra kids around here.  My other nephew went with his papa for the weekend.  We went to Sam’s for lunch and it was a little like a three ring circus navigating a buggy and 6 kids plus Grandma through the store.  We got so many looks and had people stop and watch us.  Several would start counting kids.  1-2-3-4-5-6.  Yep, 6 kids.  My brother’s kids blend in perfectly with mine and fit right between my kids ages, so it looked like we had been VERY busy 🙂

Screen Shot 2014-06-28 at 4.18.08 PMWe are enjoying this sweet time with my nephew and niece and of course enjoying visiting the new baby.  Hope you all are having a great weekend!

 

How to Save Money on your Summer Food Budget

June 24, 2014 By MommyOctopus Leave a Comment
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how to save money on your summer food budget-2

Summer can wreak havoc on your food budget. The kids are home full time, there are BBQs and events and of course, vacations and food to eat on the road. With a little bit of extra work, you can save your food budget this summer with these easy tips!

How to Save Money on your Summer Food Budget

Barter with others. If you have a specific skill such as photography, offer your skills for trade for someone’s garden harvest. You would be amazed how many people are willing to barter, especially in this economy.

Grow some of your own food. If you live in an apartment or somewhere else that doesn’t really allow for gardening, check to see if your area has a community garden. A community garden allows you to buy a plot or volunteer for one and grow your own food on it. You plant it, care for it and harvest it just like if it was on your own property. Even if you have room for a garden, this can be a great way to expand your growing area.

Take advantage of great coupons and sales in the summer. The summer seems to be a great time when lots of coupons are released for food products. You can usually save big on meat, condiments and canned goods and when you do, make sure you stock up for the summer and into the autumn season.

Look for free lunches for community children. If you are on a really tight budget, you may be able to get your children free lunches at area schools through the Summer Lunch Program which is run by the USDA and local governments. Usually, the lunches are free for any school aged children and often held for a couple hours a day at several locations.

Eat a lot of cold lunches. Things like sandwich meat and bread are fairly low cost and you can do a lot with them from cold sandwiches to hot melts and even rollups and Panini’s.

Make use of leftovers. Dinners from previous nights can provide excellent leftovers for lunches and even breakfasts the next day. For instance, if you have steak one night and have leftovers, make an omelet the next day out of it.

Check out local farms in your area. Often times, before harvest, farmers allow the general public to pre-order a certain amount of pounds of their produce. If this expense is too much for you alone either in volume or in price, go in on it with a friend or two and plan to split it equally among everyone.

Ask around. You might be able to get free food this way. It may seem strange, but if you post an ad on Craigslist or join your local chapter of Freecycle and post a “looking for” ad, you can often get free food. This works best in the summer when people have harvests and may have more yield than they can reasonably use and are looking for people to give it away to.

Prepare.  If you are going on a trip, avoid a huge food budget by bringing along things like snacks, cold sandwiches, and drinks in a cooler. This will keep you from having to spend as much along the way and avoid putting your budget in the hole.

Check into Co-ops.  Our family participates with the Bountiful Baskets co-op.  It’s $15 for a huge box of fruits and veggies!  Totally worth it!

Do you have any other tips to add?  Leave a comment and let us know!

Fresh Corn, Avocado, Tomato Medley

June 21, 2014 By MommyOctopus 1 Comment
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Fresh Corn, Avocado, Tomato, Medley

Today was like every other Saturday.  Bountiful Baskets day.  We get a ton of produce for just $15 with the co-op.  I looked at all the fresh goodies we got this week. Aren’t they gorgeous!

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They were all demanding to be eaten so I tried to come up with a way to try many of them at once!

First I shucked the corn.  If you haven’t done this before, simply tear off the husk.  Then stand the corn straight up and slice downward with a knife.  The corn slices right off.  Then turn the corn and continue shedding it off.

Next slice or chop the tomatoes, peppers, jalepeno, red onion, and avocado.  Toss everything in a bowl, stir up the dressing, and pour over the top.  Fold together gently.

Corn, Avocado, Tomato Medley

 

Fresh Corn, Avocado, Tomato Medley
 
Print
Ingredients
  • 3 fresh ears of corn
  • 1 red pepper
  • 1 green pepper
  • ½ jalepeno, seeded
  • ½ small red onion
  • 2 avocados
  • 3 roma tomatoes (or a handful of cherry tomatoes or 1 large tomato)
  • Juice of 4 limes
  • ⅓ cup olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons cilantro
  • Salt
  • Pepper
Instructions
  1. Slice and chop first 7 ingredients. Gently combine.
  2. Mix together last 5 ingredients in a bowl. Pour over the top of the vegetable mixture. Fold together to combine.
  3. Let sit 30 minutes for best flavoring.
  4. Serve with chips or over lettuce for a salad.
3.2.1311

 

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13 Delicious Fourth of July Desserts!

June 20, 2014 By MommyOctopus 3 Comments
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13 Delicious Fourth of July Desserts

Fourth of July is probably one of my favorite holidays.  Our tradition has always been to go to the Colbert parade and then cook out afterward.  This year, my husband is working so not sure what the kids and I will still do, but I’m sure we will still be going to that parade.  It’s a great one if you’re local!

Here is a roundup of some great Fourth of July Desserts that you can prepare easily for your family or get together.
kabob1American Flag Fruit Kabobs 

close-up-tallRed White and Blue Fruit Puree Shooters

http://www.stayingclosetohome.com/watermelon-rice-krisipies-treats.html

Watermelon Rice Krispies

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Lemoncello Berry Mini Trifle

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Red, White and Blue Tart

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Firecracker Dipped Pretzel Rods

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Patriotic Rice Krispy Treat Pops

Patriotic-Trifle

Red, White, and Blue Trifle

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Patriotic Ice Cream Cake Recipe

Red-White-and-Blue-Shortbread-Ice-Cream-Sandwiches-

Red, White, and Blue Ice Cream Sandwiches

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Sparkler Cupcakes

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Fourth of July Poke Cake

Patriotic Cheesecake Pretzel Bites7

Patriotic Cheesecake Pretzel Bites

6 Reasons We Homeschool Year-Round

June 19, 2014 By MommyOctopus Leave a Comment
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6 Reasons We Homeschool Year-Round

I keep getting questions from friends and family asking when we are done homeschooling for the year.  The answer?  We won’t be.  We homeschool year round.

Do we take summer breaks?  Absolutely.  For example my son finished his math book yesterday.  He will not be getting his new one until August.  We take off a week for VBS.  The kids are involved in camps and do not do school during their camp weeks.  We still have plenty of breaks during the summer and even more throughout the year.

Now before you freak out, here are the reasons why homeschooling year round is right for my family.

1.  More Adventures, Less Crowds.  We love to take advantage of the lower crowds and take our family trips during the school year.  Such as our week long trip to Disney in March for my 30th birthday.  We also spend more of the fall and spring days outside and going on adventures so that during the summer when it’s ridiculously hot by 10am we can focus on school.  We don’t have to turn to the TV and video games to pass the time.

2. Flexibility.  I love being spontaneous during our school year.  Rainy outside?  Let’s drop school and go dance in the rain.  Get invited to some fun event during the week?  Throw school out the window and let’s go!  We like to keep a fun learning environment and I just love the flexibility that homeschooling through the year allows our family.

3. Lots of Daddy Time.  My husband works for the Sheriff’s Department so it’s a crazy schedule at times.  Homeschooling year round allows us to spend more time with Daddy.  Since he works every other weekend, we can have Saturday school and take Monday off instead to spend more time with Daddy.

4. Routine.  We don’t get the burn out that is frequent.  School has become routine and continues through the summer.  It’s just what we do.  I’ve heard of some friends doing 6 weeks on, 1 week off and that works well for their children.   We haven’t tried it yet.

5. More Holiday Time: Around the holidays we can take more time off for when Grandma comes in town or if we decide to drive up and visit her.  This means more cookie decorating, more Christmas activities, more fun!  We know if we take extra days to visit family, we can make it up in June when it’s too hot to do anything (like NOW!)

6. Less forgetfulness: Let’s face it.  During the summer, kids typically forget how to do some of the things they’ve learned in school.  When school starts up again, many of the first chapters are typically review.  With year round school, we fly right through the review and on to more learning.

Do you homeschool year round or have you considered it?  Let me know your thoughts.

Stuffed Animal Storage – Boon Animal Bag!

June 19, 2014 By MommyOctopus Leave a Comment
By clicking my links, I may earn a small commission to support this blog. Please see our Disclosure Policy.

Stuffed Animal Storage

My 3 girls share a room.  I have been looking for fun ideas to help organize their stuff, especially their stuffed animals.  I can across this Boon Animal Bag Stuffed Animal Storage and right now it’s on sale for $29.27, down from $39.99!  Looks like a great way to organize without getting rid of all the stuffed treasures.

Stuffed Animal Storage

Summer Bucket List Printable

June 18, 2014 By MommyOctopus Leave a Comment
By clicking my links, I may earn a small commission to support this blog. Please see our Disclosure Policy.

Last year, I brought you a popular post called 50 Fun Things to do With Your Kids This Summer.  It has been a lot of fun doing all these great summer activities so I thought it would be fun to make a printable to stick on our fridge so we can start marking off the things that we have done this year.

Ready to print it?  Simply click HERE to download the printable.

Summer Bucket List Printable

Skillet Kielbasa and Brussels with Mustard Butter Sauce

June 17, 2014 By MommyOctopus Leave a Comment
By clicking my links, I may earn a small commission to support this blog. Please see our Disclosure Policy.

Skillet Kielbasa and Brussels with Mustard Butter Sauce

Today I was staring into the fridge trying to figure out what to make for dinner.  The kids I decided would have pizza, but I wanted something different.  I really wanted some brussels.  Typically when I make brussels, I throw them in a pan with some garlic and a little butter of mustard and some butter and cook until soft and tasty.  Today I decided I didn’t want to cook everything in separate pans to lessen the clean up.  Here’s what I came up with and it was absolutely fantastic.  Can’t wait until my husband is off shift so he can try as well!

First off, I cut up a kielbasa into small slices and sliced an onion as well.  Next up, slicing the pepper.

Everything went into the pan with some butter, minced garlic, and Weber’s horseradish mustard.  My husband absolutely loves Weber’s mustard.  He grew up near Buffalo, near where it comes from and now he’s got this southern girl addicted as well!

Cook everything together for 20 minutes or so until everything is cooked and tender and enjoy!

photo 4-3

 

Skillet Kielbasa and Brussels with Mustard Butter Sauce
 
Print
Author: Mommy Octopus
Ingredients
  • 1 Package of Kielbasa, sliced
  • 1 large onion, sliced
  • 1 red pepper, sliced
  • 1 package frozen brussel sprouts
  • ½ stick of butter
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 3 tablespoons Weber's horseradish mustard
  • mrs. dash
  • seasalt
Instructions
  1. Combine all ingredients in skillet over medium.
  2. Stir frequently to avoid burning and to combine all ingredients.
  3. Salt and Mrs. Dash lightly.
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An Update To Giving My 11 Year Old a Phone…

June 17, 2014 By MommyOctopus Leave a Comment
By clicking my links, I may earn a small commission to support this blog. Please see our Disclosure Policy.

So the other day, I told you all about how we decided to get our almost 11 year old daughter a cell phone.  She got back from the middle school youth retreat today and now I know why she didn’t answer any of my texts the past 24 hours.

Did I mention they were going to go to the lake and to a river?  Does this look familiar to anyone?

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Yep.  Her new phone took a little swim.  In her defense, a friend of hers slipped and fell into the river and she fell in trying to get her friend out.  One of the chaperones ended up in the water as well and also soaked their phone.  Things happen.  I’m just very glad no one was hurt.  This is exactly why we went with an inexpensive phone for our daughter.  Now we just have to wait and see if the rice does it’s trick. If not, then we will see what our options are for replacing the phone.

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