• bunch o balloons water balloons
    family - parenting

    Water Balloons That Work – Bunch O Balloons Water Balloons by Zuru #BBNYC #SweetSuite15

    August 12, 2015 - By 

    One of my children gets something in her head and she’s completely fixated on making it happen. This has been the story of our summer. We went shopping in late June at Sears Outlet in our city and she spied a water balloon device and had to have it, so I bought the thing. We planned a fun afternoon out and kept it for when the older cousins came over and guess what? It didn’t work. Not even close. It was missing a part or something and I was mad and she was frustrated. Dad even tried to fix it (remember…

  • gluten free diet
    family - Food - Health

    Why Did I Start a Gluten Free Diet? – Part 1 of an Ongoing Series

    August 11, 2015 - By 

    It’s not a news flash to anyone here that I have Crohn’s Disease. I talk about that periodically. Some days are brutally painful and some are not. I have been doing this dance since I was 14 so I have some strategies to manage my illness. My one daughter has had strange joint pain and a limp for six months now – that might be juvenile arthritis, or a bone problem or anything at this point. It’s clearly not anything broken though. We are still going through testing and appointments to determine what is going on with her. That same daughter also…

  • back to school matching printable
    family - parenting

    Back to School Matching Printables #BTS

    August 11, 2015 - By 

    It’s August, which means some of you will have kids going back to school soon. Where did the summer go? Are your little people excited about going back soon, or do they want more summer? Have you started your back to school shopping or preparation? I have to admit I like the routine returning to some semblance of normal. BUT I like the summer even more. Now if only summer was less expensive. I am tapped out of money from all the summer camps. I really noticed the cost this year. In the spirit of back to school and saving…

  • family - parenting

    Christina Knows Best – On Maternity Wear and What Not to Do

    August 7, 2015 - By 

    Alrighty Christina is getting so close to having this baby girl it’s officially super exciting! I can’t wait for everyone to meet her. But in the meantime she’s talking about maternity wear. Follow her advice. It just makes sense. Save money with maternity wear? Um, yes please because babies are expensive and by the way so are teenagers. Just saying. Have you seen Christina’s first video for Thrifty Momma’s Tips? Here it is again in case you want something else to watch because maternity wear is fabulous and all but Christina makes me laugh out loud at this review of…

  • withings home monitoring device
    family - Giveaways - Technology

    My Tech Rockstar – Withings Home Monitoring Device #Giveaways

    August 6, 2015 - By 

    I heart this Withings Home Monitoring Device with Air Quality Sensors so much more than I ever dreamt I would. It gives me the full on tech warm fuzzies. Now let me explain why. And at the end of my heartfelt rhapsody on all things Withings don’t forget to enter the contest to win one of your own. It will rock your world. Good apps, and good technology adds value to your life. There are games I like that amuse me. But do they add value to my life? That’s arguable. There are gadgets I adore that lately are easily…

  • How to Remove Link.is From Your Tweets
    family - Technology

    How to Remove Link.is From Your Tweets

    August 3, 2015 - By 

    Have your twitter images been sideways? Literally? Have your tweets been claimed by some strange third party? Has your twitter feed been looking hinky? What’s up with that? This past weekend I’d had it. My audience was even telling me on twitter that my tweets didn’t look right and the images weren’t the correct images that corresponded to the topic of my tweets. So I checked out what my reader and good friend Jenn was telling me. Sure enough the images were sideways on occasion and there were actual ads in some of my tweets that I had not permitted…

  • family - Food

    Kid Approved Cranberry Granola Squares

    August 2, 2015 - By 

    Earlier this year I was in the mood to experiment with granola recipes. Typically, the bulk food store near my house gets a lot of activity from my family. The range of foods there inspires me to bake and be creative in the kitchen. The kids love granola and they also love to help bake. Sometimes I take them with me to the bulk food store and I tell them they can pick one treat. Often one daughter picks a dry granola kind of mix with some Smarties or something chocolate thrown in for a pinch of sweet. I decided…

  • wowee snap pets
    family - parenting - Technology

    Wowee Snap Pets Unboxing and Review #BBNYC #SweetSuite2015

    July 31, 2015 - By 

      Recently I attended one of the biggest nights in toys at Blogger Bash New York City, Sweet Suite event. There were toys for all ages and stages. There were cute things my tween and teen would love and many fun crafty items too. I hope to bring you a couple more of those soon. But I left the event with Wowee Snap Pets and was pretty excited to get ahold of that because I knew one of the girls would enjoy playing with it. So today we did the unboxing which you can see more of on our Thrifty…

  • beauty products - family

    Make Your Own Relaxing Luau Bath Scrub

    July 31, 2015 - By 

    Do you make your own bath scrubs ever? I kind of love how easy and fun these are to make. They are super simple and lovely to give to people as presents also – if you package them up prettily like these. Ingredients:  2 C Epsom salt 1 cup sugar 1 C coconut oil 2-3 drops of yellow, orange, and red gel food coloring 3-5 drops of each Orange, lemon, and rose essence oils Directions: -Combine the Epsom salt, sugar, and coconut oil.  Stir until mixed. -Divide the scrub equally into 3 bowls -Add  5+ drops of Lemon essential oil into bowl…

  • laundry hacks
    family - Giveaways - homes

    Arm & Hammer™ Laundry Hacks #Giveaways #PassItOn

    July 30, 2015 - By 

    Is there anything more thankless than laundry? Really? It never ends. Laundry inbox zero doesn’t exist. (Actually I think we have seen it once since becoming parents. That’s 14 years.) I Luckily my husband does much of our laundry. He’s super particular about it and he’s very clean. He’s my laundry secret weapon. Occasionally laundry is a family affair and everyone does the folding and the sorting and the putting away of the clothing and towels. Many hands make light work sometimes, but even so it can be thankless. I dread laundry. But what I don’t dread is saving money…