The Deal Seeking Mom

I took a break from couponing when I was very busy with work. Now that the busy-ness has died down, I am ready to start up again. Many of you know that I have long used a service called The Grocery Game , as evidenced in numerous posts including this first excited post. The Grocery Game is a pay service - very reasonably priced. But I have been curious about other sites that are out there, where coupon lovers just share information for free. (Thanks to friend Kristi for alerting me to this!)

As I have been perusing the many blogs and websites on saving money, I came across a gem that I have enjoyed very much called The Deal Seeking Mom. I like the clean and uncluttered posts that get straight to the point. Plus you can receive a daily email that provides you a quick-to-read summary of various great deals. They also give a very nice weekly summary of the best deals at CVS, and shopping at CVS is a must for the true deal seeker!

Diversions

The TV does nothing for Katelynn, and she is so over her toys. This girl wants to be constantly entertained with something new and exciting.

The other day she asked to get in the kitchen sink. The instinctive mommy response is "What? Get in the sink?! No way!" But then I thought about it... what could it really hurt? So into the kitchen sink KK went... with a trickle of running warm water and lots of measuring cups to fill.

She played happily on her own for an hour. I got so much done! I folded laundry, caught up on emails, emptied the dishwasher... all with a peacefully splashing, non-whining toddler within sight. Of course, I ended up with a big water mess to clean... but it was soooo worth it.

Baking with Mommy

Last week I wanted to make something fun for Halloween, but knew that Katelynn would follow me around the kitchen whining, holding onto my leg, and repeating "Up up, Hold you mommy" about 500 times in a row. Way too exhausting to be worth it.

But then I decided that maybe KK was old enough to "help" mommy. I pulled a chair over to the counter and she watched me measure and stir ingredients, all the while trying to excitedly stick her little fingers in the bowl. She was so fascinated that she even overcame her previous deep-seated fear of the beater. And, she was inducted to one of the best childhood rites of passage - the licking of the beater! (Note to Nanna: I know she should not have the raw egg. But how could I deny her this?!)

Pictures below show Katelynn enjoying her beater, and the resulting "Mummy Cupcakes." The decorating occurred during her nap!

Halloween and a Headstrong Toddler

I have the kid that wouldn't wear her Halloween costume! (No surprise - see previous post on iron will!) I had an adorable hand-me-down Elmo costume for her, but apparently her love affair with Elmo has ended. Every time she saw him, the beginning stages of a tantrum were evident.

So, KK went out trick-or-treating in her too-small velour pants and jacket - her latest clothing obsession. If I had enough foresight, I could have stuck a number on the front and back of her, given her a water bottle to carry, and she could have been a marathon runner! Oh well...

The lack of costume ultimately did not bother her at all. She got a huge kick out of going from door-to-door and having candy dumped into her pumpkin bag (which she called her "purse"). And next year I will let her pick her own costume at the store. No doubt it will be made of super soft fleece...

Iron Will

I knew my little one was headstrong. But she has become obsessed about controlling the clothing that goes on her body.

On Thursday, she had pictures at pre-school. I took three cute dresses out of the closet and told her to pick. She did not want any of them. These days, the girl will only wear something if it is made out of super-soft fleece. She only has a few items in her wardrobe that meet that criteria. Mom cannot afford to re-build her toddler wardrobe!

I picked the softest dress of the three and put it on her, thinking that she would get over it. We were running late. She was screaming and crying. I realized that the pre-school teachers were going to have to deal with 5 hours of screaming and crying. She did not want anything to do with this dress.

So I did what any strong mom would do... I gave up. I yanked a pink fleece outfit from the drawer and KK immediately turned to smiles. Gone are the days of dressing up my little girl...sniff...sniff.

New Hair-Do

For sometime, KK has had just enough hair to wear a little barrett or fashion a tiny ponytail. But she did not want anyone messing with her head. So she goes through life with her little crazy fly-away mop most of the time.

For some reason, she decided to let me try it recently. We immediately marched to the mirror and I had a long discussion about how beautiful she was. I think she got a lot of attention at pre-school too, because she has now started asking for the ponytail.

A small victory!

Make Me a Face

When my brother Griff and I were kids, we often asked my mom to make "face plates" for dinner. We would implore: "Mom, make me a face!" She would stick her tongue out and we would groan. Then she would make a creative dinner of some sort.

I don't think it ever occurred to my mom to take a picture of one of her creations. But in this crazy high tech world of blogging, it certainly occurred to me!


So (drum roll)....this is KK's first face plate. I should have done it on a white plate. The busy Noah's ark artwork is clouding up my artistic endeavors. But, you get the idea.