Wednesday's learn and earn...

~WORD OF THE DAY~

 

Halloween ~ noun (Concise Encyclopedia)

Holiday observed on October 31, the eve of All Saints' Day. Its pagan origins can be traced to the Celtic festival of Samhain, celebrated in ancient England and Ireland to mark the beginning of the Celtic new year. The souls of the dead were supposed to revisit their homes on Samhain eve, and witches, goblins, black cats, and ghosts were said to roam abroad. The night was also thought to be the most favorable time for divinations concerning marriage, luck, health, and death. The pagan observances influenced the Christian festival of All Hallows' Eve, celebrated on the same date. The holiday was gradually secularized and was introduced into the U.S. by the late 19th century. Still associated with evil spirits and the supernatural, it is celebrated by children in costume who gather candy by ringing doorbells and calling out “trick or treat,” “trick” referring to the pranks and vandalism that are also part of the Halloween tradition.

Find more great words at Merriam-Webster online.


~THE REBATE~

Today's rebate is great if you are buying gifts for a few children or a lot this holiday season.  Get up to $38.00 back from Crayola on select items including Glow Book, Jewelry Boutique, Light Sketcher and My First Crayola Color Me A Song just to name a few.  Just print off the rebate form; I had to click on "save" to download it, then open it from my own computer.  Check off the boxes of the products purchased, then mail it together with the original UPCs from the package(s) and the original cash register or online receipt(s) dated between October 15, 2012 and December 31, 2012.  There is a limit of one rebate per item as well as per household.

Happy Halloween and hope you are all having a great week!

C.Q.

 

Friday's Freebie

Does your little one have a favorite show on Nick Jr.?  Did you know they have TONS of items you can print off from their most popular shows like Dora the Explorer, Blues Clues, Olivia and many more?  You can find everything from simple coloring pages to things to help them brush up for going back to school with numbers, spelling, science and geography.  This is a great project idea for a rainy day or to help pass the time while your little one get over a summer cold.

I hope you are all having a fantastic Friday!

C.Q.

Wednesday's learn and earn...

Sorry I missed the last couple of days, I had one last procedure I had to go through for my breast cancer treatment.  Because the Dr.s found out I am Factor 5 positive (a fancy way to say I get blood clots pretty easy), I am unable to take the medication that would stop estrogen from being produced so in stead I had my ovaries removed and that should do the trick.  It kept me down for a couple of days, but I am doing much better now, so on with the show...

~WORD OF THE DAY~

recalcitrant \rih-KAL-suh-trunt\  ~ adjective

DEFINITION(s): 1: obstinately defiant of authority or restraint

2a : difficult to manage or operate b : not responsive to treatment c : resistant

EXAMPLES: Anna's doctor ordered a week of complete bed rest, but, ever recalcitrant when it comes to doctors' orders, she was up and baking a cake after two days.

"Finally, he laid down the parental law: You will go on a hike and, gosh darn it, you will enjoy yourself. So the recalcitrant 14-year-old shrugged into her sweat shirt, slipped into her flimsy … canvas sneakers (totally hiking-inappropriate) and slumped in the back seat for the drive southwest to Vacaville, Calif., and Lagoon Valley Regional Park." — From an article by Sam McManis in Tri-City Herald (Washington), June 30, 2011

DID YOU KNOW? Long before any human was dubbed "recalcitrant" in English (that first occurred, as best we know, in one of William Thackeray's works in 1843), there were stubborn mules (and horses) kicking back their heels. The ancient Romans noted as much (Pliny the Elder among them), and they had a word for it — "recalcitrare," which literally means "to kick back." (Its root "calc-," meaning "heel," is also the root of "calcaneus," the large bone of the heel in humans.) Certainly Roman citizens in Pliny's time were sometimes willful and hardheaded — as attested by various Latin words meaning "stubborn" — but it wasn’t until later that writers of Late Latin applied "recalcitrare" and its derivative adjective to humans who were stubborn as mules.

Find more great words at Merriam-Webster online.

  
~THE REBATE~

Langers has a lot of  nice promotions going.  The first ones you can get a free movie ticket to see Paranorman or Diary of a Wimpy Kid.  Both require 3 proofs of purchase using either the UPC from the bottles or an original sales receipt.  ***These are two separate offers be sure to check expiration dates as they vary from item to item.

The next promo from Langers is for DVDs that include Barney, Your a Good Man Charlie Brown, Pocoyo, Raggs, Yogi Bear and Megamind.  Current video games are Megamind, Curious George, Astro Boy and Jumpstart Spanish.  Each one has a different UPC requirement, just click on the image to find out more about the ones that interest you.

I hope you are all having a great week so far!

C.Q.

Thursday's pircture perfect deal...

The picture...

We have a section of yard that is all wild flowers and one of the first to open was the beautiful Wall Flowers.  I love the bright orange color in the spring and snapped this after a light rain.

The deal...

For those of you with youngsters or grandchildren this is an amazing deal from Eversave.  You can get an 11 piece Sesame Street book set geared towards children ages 2 to 6.  These are designed to help them learn numbers, colors, shapes and letters.  The books are usually $54.89, but they are marked down 51% for the next four days making them only $27.00 with free shipping.

Hope you are all having a fantastic week!

C.Q.

Sunday's media madness...

 
Tis the season to find out who's been naughty and who's been nice.  With that thought in mind and knowing how busy Santa is I thought I want share an easy way to delight your kids, grandkids, niece's, nephew's and special children in your life.  A letter from the big guy in the red suit will make their day and its so easy, you can print it off right at your home computer and slip it in your mail box.  I found a site with some great free letter templates you can personalize and special backgrounds.  Just pick the ones you like best, fill in your child's information, and when you are ready just the print the letter.  (If you want an envelope with a North Pole stamp there's an additional charge of $2.99)  If you would like to include a certificate from Santa's nice list this is a nice one that's free.

If you want to go a little further you can even include reindeer food for your child, its a very easy recipe, just mix together 1/2 cup regular oats (such as Quaker Oats), 1 Tbsp. clear decorative sugar crystals, and 1 Tbsp. red or green decorative sugar crystals, put it all in a bag and attach the Reindeer food poem.  They will have fun putting this out on the yard on Christmas Eve.

Reindeer food poem:

“Sprinkle this in your yard on Christmas Eve night. The light of the moon will make it sparkle bright. As Santa’s reindeer fly and roam, this will guide them to your home!”

Have a wonderful Sunday!

C.Q.

Friday's Freebie...

As the weather gets cooler we don't always get the weekend weather that's great for kids to get out; so this week I am featuring a couple up comming events they will enjoy, first is the Lowes Build and Grow Clinic.  On September 24th they will be offering a class on building a fire truck, complete with a siren.  After that, Home Depot is offering a Kids Workshop on October 1st from 9:00am - 12:00pm building a Fire Rescue Helicopter. 

Hope everyone is looking forward to a great weekend!

C.Q.

Sunday's media madness...

Recently I have added some new apps to my iPad so it is ready to take on vacation.  Surprisingly my favorite way to pass time now is playing UNO.  Gameloft has a great app for only .99 cents and it allows you to play against another person or play the AI in a single game or in tournament mode.  In the tournament mode there are a variety of rules to play through and win, standard rules, penalty rules where you can play a draw 2 on a draw 2 and so on until the last player standing has to pick up a bunch of cards, the 7-0 rules which require you to change hands with a player of your choice when you play a 7 and all cards go one person left or right, depending on the direction of play, when a 0 is played, and jump in rules which is just that, when you have the same card, both color and number as the card played you can jump in and play it.  All these variations make the game a ton of fun and can be hugely entertaining for kids or adults.  You can find the game on iTunes or at the Gameloft site.

The other app I found came to me in an email from Conde Nast Traveler Magazine, I currently subscribe to and love their magazine, now it is available to me on my iPad for free as part of that subscription.  You will need to enter your magazine subscription number which should be on your mailing label.  Some subscribers are having issues logging in, I had no problem however.  I was more than willing to download this app and wait for the fix if I needed to, its one of the magazines I look forward to being delivered!

Hope you are all having a great weekend!

C.Q.


http://www.shibleysmiles.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/SundayButton.jpg

Friday's freebie...

I love the long fourth of July holiday weekend with all its grilling and fireworks. But if its raining it can be a real let down, espically for the kids. So, if rain is in your forcast tomorrow consider taking the kids to Home Depot for their free kids workshop. This months project on July 2nd is a coaster set, next months on August 8th is a pencil box. The kids free workshops are geared towards children ages 5 to 12, when they are done with the project they will recieve and achievement pin together wtih a child size orange apron, just like the Home Depot staff, to take home with their project.

Hope you all are looking forward to a great long weekend!

C.Q.

Wednesday's learn and earn...

~WORD OF THE DAY~

biophilia \bye-oh-FILL-ee-uh\ ~ noun

DEFINITION: one who under oath vouches for the character or conduct of an accused person

EXAMPLES: As a compurgator, you do not have to believe in the innocence of the defendant, but you do have to feel confident speaking positively about that person's character.

"To clear himself, the defendant required corroboration from a prescribed number of compurgators or 'oath-helpers,' which varied according to the nature and severity of the accusation. Neither the defendant nor his compurgators were required to present any evidence to the court." -- From Bruce L. Benson and Paul R. Zimmerman's 2010 book Handbook on the Economics of Crime

DID YOU KNOW? "Compurgator" is a descendant of the Latin verb "compurgare," meaning "to purify wholly." The root of that word, "purgare," also gave English "purge" ("to clear of guilt," "to cause evacuation from," or "to get rid of") and "expurgate" ("to cleanse of something morally harmful, offensive, or erroneous"). "Compurgator" has occasionally been used in a more general sense of "one who supports or defends another," but its primary application is to the specific legal situation in which someone appears in court as a character witness for the defendant. "Compurgator" has been used in English with this specific legal meaning since the 16th century.


~THE REBATE~

Have a little one at home that's into Dinosaurs?  Now when you buy 3 Langer’s juices from Langers you can get a collectible Dinosaur Train pack that includes Buddy, Mr. Argentinosaurus and the train car for just $1.99 for the shipping.  Just fill in the mail in rebate certificate and send it in together with the three proof of purchase OR original store receipt(s) and a check or money order for the $1.99.  Allow up to 12 weeks to recieve the toy.  Offer good while supplies last.  Remember, if you don't have kids this is a great way to donate to the toy drive around the holidays without blowing your budget.

Have a great day everyone!

C.Q.

Tastefully Tuesday...

Over the weekend I made a New York Cheesecake.  I had found a huge package of cream  cheese I had gotten from Sam's Club in our storage refrigerator, it was left from when we had company and the package said to use by May of 2011 so I needed to come up with something to do with 5 packs of the stuff.  Well hubby is on cloud nine and, for the next couple of days at least, I get to have super hero status.  Here is the recipe...

New York style Cheesecake

Crust **
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg yolk

Filling and Topping
5 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
5 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup whipping cream
3/4 cup whipping cream
1/3 cup slivered almonds, toasted, if desired
Fresh or frozen fruit, if desired

** Step 1: Heat oven to 400°F. Lightly grease 9-inch spring form pan with shortening; remove bottom. In medium bowl, mix all crust ingredients with fork until dough forms; gather into a ball. Press one-third of the dough evenly on bottom of pan. Place on cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown; cool. Assemble bottom and side of pan; secure side. Press remaining dough 2 inches up side of pan.

Step 2: Increase oven temperature to 475°F. In large bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, flour, orange peel, lemon peel and salt with electric mixer on medium speed about 1 minute or until smooth. Beat in eggs, 2 egg yolks and 1/4 cup whipping cream, beating on low speed until well blended. Pour into baked crust. Bake 15 minutes.

Step 3: Reduce oven temperature to 200°F. Bake 1 hour longer. Cheesecake may not appear to be done, but if a small area in the center seems soft, it will become firm as cheesecake cools. (Do not insert a knife to test for doneness because the hole could cause cheesecake to crack.) Turn off oven; leave cheesecake in oven 30 minutes longer. Remove from oven and cool in pan on cooling rack away from drafts 30 minutes.

Step 4: Without releasing or removing side of pan, run metal spatula carefully along side of pan to loosen cheesecake. Refrigerate uncovered about 3 hours or until chilled; cover and continue refrigerating at least 9 hours but no longer than 48 hours.

Step 5: Run metal spatula along side of pan to loosen cheesecake again. Remove side of pan; leave cheesecake on pan bottom to serve. In chilled small bowl, beat 3/4 cup whipping cream with electric mixer on high speed until stiff. Spread whipped cream over top of cheesecake. Decorate with almonds. Store covered in refrigerator. If you are going to use fruit add it when served.

** We prefer a graham cracker crust which actually requires no baking, I don't have an exact recipe for this since I have been making it since I was a little girl baking with my grandmother.  I just melt one stick of butter and add in about 2 cups of graham cracker crumbs and 1 teaspoon of vanilla and 1 teaspoon of almond extract, mix it all together so the crackers are moist but don't clump unless pressed together.  Press the mixture into the spring form pan while it is still clamped together.  This will eliminate the step one baking time.

$1.00 off any Arrowhead Mills Product including flour
$0.50 off Imperial Sugar
 

Today's no cook option is for Ben and Jerry's.  Today, Tuesday, April 12 from 12:00 PM to 8:00 PM is free cone day. Their Facebook Fan page says "Get in line as many times as you'd like to enjoy a Free Cone! The hours posted here are when most shops are open, but you should double check with your local shop to see if and when they plan on participating. It would be a major bummer to miss out!" 
 
I hope everyone is having a nice week so far!
 
C.Q.
 

Wednesday's learn and earn...

~WORD OF THE DAY~

sigmoid /SIG-moyd\ ~ adjective


DEFINITION:

1a: curved like the letter C b : curved in two directions like the letter S

2: of, relating to, or being the sigmoid colon

EXAMPLES: Glancing out the airplane's window, I could see the sigmoid curvature of the river below us.
"In my opinion, Missouri's deer herd is following the classic sigmoid population curve. The sigmoid curve is 'S' shaped with slow growth on the left side, very rapid growth in the middle, followed by population maintenance as the population reaches carrying capacity for the habitat." -- From an article by Spencer E. Turner in Missouri's Columbia Daily Tribune, January 6, 2008 Sunday

DID YOU KNOW? The shape sense of "sigmoid" is most often used in scientific contexts to describe an s-shaped curve on a graph. Usually, though, "sigmoid" is used in contexts relating to the sigmoid colon—the contracted and crooked part of the colon immediately above the rectum. "Sigmoid" comes from "sigma," the name of the 18th letter of the Greek alphabet. At one time sigma had a common form that was shaped like the Roman letter C (hence sense 1a), but sigma is equivalent to the English letter S (hence sense 1b).


~THE REBATE~

If you have kids on your holiday shopping list then be sure to check out the rebate being offered when you buy select Crayola products. They have nine different products that qualify for the rebate with varying rebates for each item.  My husband and I will use this rebate as well when we purchase our Toys for Tots gifts this year. Purchase must be made by 12/31 and there is a limit of one rebate per item per household.  You will need to mail in the rebate form with the UPCs filled in on it together with the ORIGINAL cash register receipt(s) or online receipt dated between 10/15/2010 and 12/31/2010.


Have a great day everyone!

C.Q.

Sunday's media madness...

Are you headed over the river and through the woods for Thanksgiving?  If you are you may want to consider a fun gift for the kids who have had to wait patiently for dinner after smelling all those wonderful aromas all day.  I found a couple of fun ideas today for the children to enjoy while waiting for the feast.

First up, I found a great book for the little ones called Happy Thanksgiving, Curious George by H. A. Rey, its a tabbed book making it easy for little hands to turn the pages.  I loved reading Curious George books as a little girl, this story looks adorable. "Today is Thanksgiving and George is so excited! He loves everything about the holiday; from the parade with music, jugglers, and big balloons to the delicious turkey shared with family and friends. But even on Thanksgiving the curious little monkey manages to stir up some trouble! Follow George through his Thanksgiving adventures with the short poems in this board book."  I found it for the lowest price at Deep Discount for $6.87 with free shipping.

The other children's classic is A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving By Charles M. Schulz.  "In this beloved classic for the whole family, Charlie Brown has to prepare an entire Thanksgiving meal before time runs out! Featuring the antics of Snoopy, Woodstock, Sally, Peppermint Patty, and the rest of the Peanuts® gang, this special collector’s Miniature Edition, based on the beloved holiday television special, is the perfect kickoff to the holiday season."  I found this book for the lowest price at The Book Depository for $3.99 with free shipping.

I hope you are all enjoying your weekend!

C.Q.

Friday's freebie...

I love to read and that started when I was very young.  Growing up I had a few favorite books, The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen, ANY Eloise book by Kay Thompson, because I adored any child more precocious than I could be, and The Mitten by Alvin Tresslet, which is a beautiful story based on a Ukrainian folktale. This story has been rewritten by American author Jan Brett.

Barnes and Noble offers free online story time for kids, with a new story each month.  Your child will be able to listen to the story and see the illustrations from the books as the story is being read.  This month's story is The Mitten by Jan Brett. Its the story of a little boy who loses his mitten in the show, the mitten is found by the animals of the forest where they take refuge from the cold.  I think the big draw for me with this book was because I was always losing mittens as a little girl and I loved to think that the animals were using them as a winter home to keep them warm. 

I hope you are all having a terrific Friday!

C.Q.

Wednesday's learn and earn...

~WORD OF THE DAY~

raconteur  \ra-kahn-TER\ ~ noun

DEFINITION: a person who excels in telling anecdotes

EXAMPLES: A bona fide raconteur, Turner can turn even mundane experiences into hilariously entertaining stories.

"The story is constructed as a light mentor piece in which Henry, a sometime college literature professor, Christmas ball collector and raconteur, takes a boarder into his crummy New York apartment." -- From an article by Dennis King in The Oklahoman, September 10, 2010

DID YOU KNOW? The story of "raconteur" is a tale of telling and counting. English speakers borrowed the word from French, where it traces back to the Old French verb "raconter," meaning "to tell." "Raconter" in turn was formed from another Old French verb, "aconter" or "acompter," meaning "to tell" or "to count," which is ultimately from Latin "computare," meaning "to count." "Computare" is also the source of our words "count" and "account." "Raconteur" has been part of the English vocabulary since at least 1828.

~THE REBATE~

You can receive a $10 Toy Cash Voucher from Kellogg's, when you purchase 5 specially marked Kellogg's products.  To recieve the $10.00 credit you need to send in 5 tokens from specially marked packages of Kellogg's snacks, all the varities are listed on the rebate form which you will need to fill in and send with the tokens.  The rebate ends 12/31/10 so is great to use for your holiday shopping.  The form says one entry per envelope and one entry per household.
 
 
I hope you are all haveing a fantastic day!
 
C.Q.

Savings to scream over...

Halloween is almost here, are you ready for the Ghouls and goblins to come out?  If not here are some places to find some great deals on every thing you may need from candy and different ideas for the trick or treaters to costumes for the family.

Most of us adults stay home for the big night and hand out candy but have you considered some different options?  I have a friend who's mom doesn't get a lot of kids to her door so she goes to Sam's Club and gets a case of those half cans of soda, the kids love to go to her house because its something different.  Another idea along those lines is the small juice boxes, Sam's Club had the Apple and Eve Fruitables variety pack in the store, these are nice because they have 1/3 less sugar than other brands.  If you are going to stick to the tried and true candy then be sure to watch your local grocers fliers for sales, the manufacture candy coupons are hard to come by because they know you are going to purchase candy for the holiday.

If you are planning on attending a costume party, or in my case an all out Halloween wedding, many of the costume sites are having sales.  Babies"R"Us is offering 20% on new ''R'' exclusive Halloween costumes order through October 30th for your little one's.  The Disney Store had their costumes on sale for the kids who are a little older, they are offering $10.00 off costume orders until October 5th.  For kids of almost all ages The WB is offering costumes at up to 50% off, everything from Harry Potter to Freddie Kruger.  Also check out Shindigz, they have some costumes marked down as much as 90%!  My friend just had a really hard time finding shoes to go with her outfit in her size and called a ton of costume companies until she got to Fierce Costumes, the lady there was above and beyond for customer service, so if you are looking for something really great or a little hard to find try them out, if you use coupon code TRICKORTREAT you will get 10% off your order, you can also find them on Facebook where they offer discounts and promotions as well.  Got a costume that just wouldn't be complete without having weird eyes?  Coastal Contacts has a huge selection of wild lens, use coupon code SFX25OFF for 25% off your order.  If you even dress up the dog for the night check out Dog.com, they have everything from cute collars to full costumes for your Fido and right now everything for Halloween is 10% off.

Looking for a little entertainment for fright night? Put your feet up, light a nice candle from Colonial Candle's scent of the month selections that are on sale for 25% off, grab yourself a little indulgent treat from Cherry Moon Farms, who is having a sale of 15% off selected Halloween goodies, and read a good book.  Barnes and Noble has all the Halloween favorites as well as some you have never seen on sale, how about Pride and Prejudice and Zombies? 

Do you have plans for Halloween?  Planning on visiting a haunted house, or a real haunted place?  I would love to hear about it.

Have a fantastic day everyone!

C.Q.

Friday's freebie...

A friend of mine found this great deal and passed it along.  I have another friend taking her children to the museum using this freebie so I found a dining idea for kids to go with the deal.  Hope you have a great time with this one!

Saturday, September 25th is free museum day, all you have to do is fill in the information required to get your free admission ticket via email.  The free ticket is good for you and one guest, just remember to print and bring your ticket to your selected participating museum. 

If you are bringing your child with you and have a Marie Calender's nearby this is a perfect time to bring them in to dine, Tuesday's and Saturday's children under 12 dine free with the purchase of an adult meal.  They get their choice of selected entrees, a soft drink and a sundae for dessert.

Have a great Friday everyone!

C.Q.

Happy 4th of July...

Its the first major holiday of the summer season and things are in full swing for 4th of July celebrations everywhere. Because its on a Sunday this year it seems like a lot of folks are planning on a two day celebration, and why not? It is, after all our nations birthday, and who doesn't like birthday parties? Whether you're planning on having an outdoor picnic or BBQ, going to a parade or just watching the fireworks this weekend, I have tried to put together some fun ideas.

Planning and outdoor family gathering? If you hare having young kids you can print off some cute pages for them to color in, if you hare having kids who are a little older here are some 4th of July word searches, you could even offer a small prize for the first one to finish theirs. 4th of July, signers of the Declaration of Independence, and the original 13 colonies. There are printing instructions near the bottom of the page for each puzzle.

Wow your guests with a great looking red white and blue Patriotic Drink, a fresh fruit flag, or Uncle Sam ice cream cones. For a new twist on your main course you could Mix up the tried and true BBQ chicken or burgers with Barbecue-Glazed Salmon or Spice Rubbed Pork Tenderloin.

If you are planning on going out to see the fireworks consider taking your camera with you. Kodak has some great advice on how to get the most from your fireworks photography.

If you are planning on staying home this weekend why not dress up your computer a little with free wallpaper or screen savers and check out some of the great sales being offered.

If you are sharing your 4th of July with a family pet remember that most animals will try to get away from loud noises. Trying to escape can mean broken windows, torn fences, chewed doors or dog crates, and result in lacerations, foot pad injuries, teeth and mouth injuries or worse as they try to run from the disturbingly loud noises. It doesn't matter if the fears are "rational" or not. It should be noted that scolding a frightened animal is not effective will only intensify the fears. It's best to keep your pet in a "safe room" like a basement or room with covered or no windows and some items to help ease the anxiety. Its important to note too that loud noises to us are deafening to your pet and can cause permanent hearing loss for them. Here are some steps to help your furry friend through the evening.

Here is a fun fact to share with your friends and family; On 4th of July 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed only by two people, John Hancock and Charles Thomson. Have a fun and safe weekend everyone!

C.Q.

Penny wise picnic in the park...

Our sun is finally starting to come back after over two weeks of rainy days so I am thinking about having some fun with a picnic lunch. Its something we love to do on nice bright days. Whether its a local city park, a state park or a national park, there is always something fun to do. While city parks are free, State parks and National parks charge a fee if you don't have an annual pass, check the links for information in your area. When visiting any park remember the "Leave No Trace" rule to Protect our Parks and their Wildlife: Help keep our Parks safe and clean. Protect wildlife by remembering not to feed them and always clean up after your visit. The future of the parks and their wildlife is in our hands.

When packing a lunch, the cooler or picnic basket is an important part, make sure it is well insulated so you don't have any health issues later in the day, nothing spoils your day worse than spoiled food. If you like the more traditional baskets check out PicnicBaskets.com or Picnic Trip (they are currently having a sale), both offer insulated baskets with all the plates, glasses, napkins and serving wear built right in the container for easy storage. That being said, the prices at both stores reflect the price of convenience. If you shop around at local garage sales, Freecycle or on eBay you can find a nice soft sided cooler like the Coleman 30 can soft sided cooler which is the perfect size for two. If you plan on picnicking more than a couple times during the season it is worth looking at garage sales and second hand stores for some silver wear that won't leave you heartbroken if you loss or accidentally toss it in the garbage. Another good investment is some Corelle plates that won't break. You can check on eBay or WalMart has a nice 16 piece set for four for only $25.00, if you choose to have it shipped then they will charge an additional $2.39. Finally, don't forget the blanket, my best advice is to find a King size heavy blanket at a local thrift store and have it cleaned, there is no need to buy a "specialty" picnic blanket. Now that your all set, check out some great inspired sandwich ideas to pack up and take with you for the day at Recipie Zaar. Don't forget your drinks of choice and extra water for Fido or Fifi and your ready for a great day outdoors.

Once your all set to head out its time to think of things to do, if you have younger kids try measuring out a 1' x 1' area for each of them and giving them a pad of paper and a couple of wild plant and bug identification books and let them be explorers in miniature. Set each child up in a different area and let them compare with eachother what they have that's different in their section from the other kids. If you have really young kids bring along some soapy water and a bubble wand. You can even make rainbow bubbles! Check out the Creative Kids site for neat ideas and tips. For older kids bring along a Frisbee or a football to toss around. If you plan on doing any hiking or fishing its a good idea to bring an extra pair of socks in case your feet get wet. And no matter if it just you or you and the whole family, be sure to bring along a camera for the unexpected nature shots and special family moments.

Let me know about some of your fun picnic memories with friends and family!

Have a wonderful weekend.

C.Q.

Friday's freebie...

Well school is out and the kids are thrilled! But with every summer a little rain must fall, which makes it harder for the kids to find something fun to do. All summer long select bowling centers across the country and in Canada are participating in the "Kids Bowl Free" program which gives kids two free games of bowling every day for the whole summer. Check the map to find a bowling center near you and be sure to check the rules for the program as well as each bowling facility. There is also an opportunity to purchase a family pass for $24.95 that would allow for the family adults to bowl for the whole summer as well. The only expense with this program would be for renting shoes if you don't have any of your own.

Hope you all have had a great week!

C.Q.