KaBoom Placespace finder!

Moving all the time, like we do, I like to know what is around a perspective place to live before I even have a chance to visit. That is why the play space finder from KaBOOM! is so awesome! (just click the pic to link to the site.) You can find play spaces wherever you go! Like on vacation, moving, or even one that was newly built in your area! The play space finder is still in beta so if you have a suggestion go and suggest it!

(on a side note: I am looking for memes to do, esp. ones that will challenge me as a Christian and in my walk with God. If you know of one please comment the link to me!)

For more AWESOME stuff go over and check out WFMW at We are THAT family!

How Dry Erase Markers ROCK!

I use dry erase markers for almost EVERYTHING. I use it for writing on the tops of leftovers so I use them up in a timely basis (or know what that green fuzzy thing was...), I write things to remember (or love notes to the hubby) on mirrors or other glass objects, I put paper (like recipe cards, shopping lists, packing lists, or other "to do " lists) into page protectors and cross things off when I am done with them. The best thing about Dry erase markers is that they... ERASE! In some cases (like if you leave something up for several months) you will need to write over it with another marker but it will go away. I love this. It makes things much easier...

Anyway check out Works For Me Wednesday for other fun and helpful tips and tricks!

Getting hubby to clean!

I admit it, I have a gamer husband (this means that hubby likes to play games online and on gaming systems). He also does not like to clean (neither do I but that is a different post).

So when I ran across "Chore Wars" I knew I had found something great, and I am pretty sure that other ladies related to gamers (Ok, and a few of you that ARE gamers... *cough cough*) will love this site.

The site is set up like D and D (Dungeons and Dragons) with mom as the game master (person that can set up what chores get how many points). You can also set it up that you can earn gold and "treasure" for defeating monsters that are encountered while doing the chore. These treasure can be anything you want, like a ticket to get out of doing one chore next week, or you can have a set amount of gold that can buy them out of a chore or something they are working towards (that toy that they have been begging for?). You can also set "quests" which are one time events (deep clean the basement for that X-mas party?) that can have special rewards. I do suggest that you have everyone in the family play if you are having kids play, so they know just how much work you really do.

WFMW - Toys

Growing up I LOVED perler beads (we called the hama pegs). I spent hours making things and just having a blast. So when my little girl turned 3 I got some. I love it, hours of fun. She likes to sting them and make necklaces too.

You can buy them at a craft store and I also tr to keep up to date with craft store coupons on here so you might want to check that out...

Beat the flu bug faster

Having small kids it seems something is ALWAYS going around and someone is always sick. And I am going to show you how to actually cut that sick time down.

We are going to bleach are dishes. All you do is add bleach to your dishwasher (or dishwater if you hand wash) instead of soap. The reason for the instead is because th bleach and the soap will actually react with each other and make poisonous gas (just what everyone wants! poisonous gas!). So if you want to use soap too, just wash once with soap and once with bleach.

The bleach will kill whatever germs are being shared and actually help you get better faster. I actually do this whenever I feel a bug coming on and have noticed a significant reduction in sick time (about half as long). Anyway that works for me.

How to hold a givaway.

I am sure many people put a contest up thinking "now this will help bring people to my blog" or "this will spread the word about what I am selling" and it will... but most of the time this can be improved upon.

How?

Easy!

Get linked to. This can mean giving extra entries to those who blog about the contest and link to you. OR you can get linked up in a contest blog of some sort (they don't host the contest, they only blog about contests... just follow the links, you will see).

My favorite contest blogs are:

Etsy Giveaways : Etsy contest only
Wiknit : Knitting, crochet, or spinning related prizes only.
PRIZEY : From what I can tell they take ALL types of contests and are even equipped to help you by providing the legal mumbo jumbo needed... very nice! (I suggest you do pay up to get the legal help, at least the first time.)
Then there is Bloggy Giveaways and their VERY AWESOME carnival. I have done the carnival once and got over 600 hits in one day! Talk about crazy! It comes around every 3 months so plan ahead on this one.

I know there are more out there (just Google "contest blogs" and "contest directory" and see the many HUNDREDS there are!) but I am only linking to the ones I like the most (the ones that have products on them that I like and use...). So be smart about which directories are worth it for you and hit the demographics you want and would be interested in your product.

The fastest way to find ones that suit you, that I have found, is to find one or two that you like and then add them to Google Reader. Then look at your suggested reading.

Anyway, that Works for Me....

My knack for coupons

I have a odd knack for finding coupons (like my shopping trip last Sunday that I got 71.81dollars worth of food for 28.12) and most people think it is luck. It isn't. I just know where to find them and how to get them. And guess what, I am going to share with you how I get them.

It starts with figuring out what products my family needs/likes to have and visiting the website for the manufacture. Many of these sites have a sign up for deals and coupons right to your mailbox or email. I love this. They are also usually for a dollar or more off and sometimes even for free! These are usually the BEST coupons for the most off. They usually also send you major coupons before they introduce a new product so even if you don't use the product all that often, signing up might be worth it. Also coupons are the first part of the ad campaign so you might be able to do a double whammy with the item being half off and having a coupon for a dollar more off!

Also remember to go to your favorite grocery store websites and see if they will send you coupons (Publix baby club does and you can also find Target coupons). These coupons will most likely be good only in the store in question and the store brand but that is better than nothing.

Sometimes you can also google search for coupons. I usually don't find very good coupons this way but I also have a linix box (which means I can't download the software for most of the online coupon sites).

Anyway, that works for me!