Fun Independence Day Crafts for Kids!

I just love holidays!! They provide a great opportunity for my children to learn through making crafts! With my oldest son currently in boot camp for the U.S. Navy, I'm especially fond of the upcoming Independence Day Celebrations! What a wonderful time to teach my children about our great nation, how it came into existence, and why we celebrate the 4th of July!

 1. Popsicle Stick American Flag - Our flag consists of 13 equal, horizontal stripes of red and white - representing the 13 British Colonies that declared independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain and became the first states in the Union. It also has 50 stars - representing the 50 United States of America.
CLICK HERE FOR CRAFT


2. Uncle Sam Paper Plate - a national personification of the U.S. Government that, according to legend, came into use during the war of 1812 and was supposedly named for Samuel Wilson.
CLICK HERE FOR CRAFT

3. Liberty Bell - an iconic symbol of American Independence located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Formerly placed in the steeple of the Pennsylvania State House (now renamed Independence Hall), the bell was commissioned from the London firm of Lester and Pack (today the Whitechapel Bell Foundry) in 1752 and was cast with the lettering "Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof."(a portion of Leviticus 25:10).
CLICK HERE FOR CRAFT

4. Confetti Launcher - Okay... this one was for FUN!!  But, a great opportunity to explain to your kids WHY we use fireworks on the 4th of July:

The reason we use fireworks as part of the 4th of July celebration is this:

John Adams (a Founding Father and signer of the Declaration), wrote a letter to his wife, and said that Independence Day "will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America...It will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews [performances], Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations [fireworks] from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more."  And so that is what Americans do today.
CLICK HERE FOR CRAFT

I hope you have fun teaching your children about America!  We live in a great country and can be very proud!

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!

It's not just about saving money...

As a Mom who home-schools her children, it is always important for me to find ways to save our family money.  We sacrifice so that I can be home with my babies!  It's not something we chose to do, it's a lifestyle that chose us!  While, it's extremely important to save money, it is equally important to budget my time.  One great way to do that is to plan out your days, weeks, and even months. 

Today I will be doing just that!  I am sort of a "Jack of All Trades" around here.  I manage our home while my husband works 12 hours every day, I take care of our finances, and I run this blog along with several others.  Plus, I have a home-based business that requires plenty of attention.  Here are my links in case you're interested:

LOVE TO LOSE WITH ME - I am an It Works! Independent Distributor
     FACEBOOK PAGE

CREATIVELY ME - I am a custom image designer, web site designer, logo designer, Virtual Assistant, etc. (site is a work in progress!)
     FACEBOOK PAGE

KGM PHOTOS - My daughter and I are starting a photography business (again, a work in progress!)

PURIFIED MINISTRIES - My husband and I own a ministry that is currently a HUGE work in progress, so I won't even show the link to the site! lol

As you can see, I clearly have plenty of things to keep me very busy!!  I absolutely love it though!  But, as you can imagine, TIME is something that I rarely have enough of.  Therefore, organization and planning (one of my greatest gifts from God) is the key to success!

Today, I am going to focus on planning out my day.  Which businesses to work on and for how long each day this week.  If it doesn't seem to flow smoothly, I will tweak it for next week.  Ironically, in this planning of my week I will need to plan for some "planning time"... lol  I will let you know how it goes! :)

Barilla Pasta at Publix

BARILLA PASTA at Publix!

Today, you can print Barilla coupons which will make for an amazing deal if you watch your local Publix ads for a bogo sale! One is a Publix coupon and one is a manufacturer coupon, so you can use one of each on ONE ITEM! :)

You can click on the Barilla pictures below... I have already clipped them for you!




<----click on the pictures to go print your coupons!  Be sure to print them twice!

HAPPY SHOPPING!!

ShareASale...

Let shareasale.com find sales leads for you. Only pay when it works!

If you have a blog or website and desire to use it to make money, then you have got to check this one out!

Here's an example:

VeryJane.Com

mmmmm.... Can't wait for supper!

In our home, school never "ends for the Summer" because we not only homeschool our children, we believe that Natural Learning is the best kind!

My son, Jonathan, who is ten years old still loves to help his Momma - especially in the kitchen!  Thank you Lord!!  It's been a long time since I made my Chicken & Dumplings I just had to have some!

Jonathan did a great job in the kitchen today!  And, he learned something.  Now, that's what I call accomplishment!  He's going to make some woman very happy one day! ;)

Here's my recipe, in case you want to try it!  It's super easy and a lot of fun with the kids!

Chicken & Dumplings 

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken, boiled and deboned

Broth from cooking chicken plus 1 carton of chicken broth

1 can of cream of chicken soup

2 cups of flour, self rising works best

Boil whole chicken in large pot until done.  Remove from broth and pull apart, breaking into bite size pieces.  Set aside.

Strain broth and put back into your pot.  Add about a cup to a cup and a half of broth to flour; mix well.  If it's still "sticky" add more flour.  Roll out on floured board about 1/4 inch thin.  Cut dough into squares of about an inch.

Return broth to a rolling boil and drop dumplings into the broth one at a time.  Stir the dumplings occasionally to keep them from sticking together and to the bottom of the pot.  Add can of cream of chicken soup and stir.  Then, add the chicken and boil or simmer, stirring frequently until dumplings are to your liking.  I like to cook them for about 30 minutes.

See how easy this recipe is?  And, I have to say it is so good!  Let me know if you try it out and how you like it!!

HAPPY COOKING!

Great deal on Blue Bell Ice Cream at Walgreen's

This week (through 6/15/13) at WALGREEN'S, you can get a half gallon of BLUE BELL Ice Cream for only $4.59 with your REWARDS CARD!  That's a great buy, but WAIT:

Go HERE to the BLUE BELL website, sign up for a free account and print two(2) coupons for $1 off of one half gallon making it only $3.59!!

HAPPY SHOPPING!!

Parsimonious Swank: Homemade Carpet Cleaner Solutions For Your Machine...

Homemade Carpet Cleaner Solutions For Your Machine

So, I started working on a post earlier entitled, 'Household Tools You Can't Live Without'.  Since I love my carpet cleaner probably more than I love anything else I own, I thought I'd start there.  But, here's the kicker...I make my own carpet cleaner.  Yes, it works!  Even in a machine.  

I immediately saved my post to draft and set out to write this one first.  This post will give you all the information you need to make your very own carpet cleaning solution and save some dough in the process.  (I don't know about you but I don't necessarily like spending $20 (give or take a few $) on a bottle of cleaning stuff.)

Read more...Parsimonious Swank: Homemade Carpet Cleaner Solutions For Your Machine...:

$1.10 off of Keurig K-Cups!!

 

 

$1.10 off any (1) 12-ct box of select Keurig® K-Cup® pcks

 

Coupon Database

Do you have your grocery list all ready, but need to know if there may be coupons out there you didn't know about? 

Check our COUPON DATABASE HERE!  

 It will show you if there is a printable coupon or one that may have been in one of your recent Sunday Inserts!

HAPPY SHOPPING!

Avocado & Honey Hair Treatment

My daughter and I are always looking for awesome things to put on our hair to make it fuller, straighter, fluffier, softer, grow...you name it!  I came across this little recipe and thought we would try it.  We get bored sometimes! lol

Here's the recipe we used:

2 medium avocados, peeled and pitted
4 T honey

Mix all together in a bowl.  I suggest running it through a food processor or a blender to make it smooth.
Rub mixture into your hair, scalp, and on your face and neck.  Leave on for 20-30 minutes and shampoo your hair as usual.

This left our hair fuller and very soft and manageable!  Also, I put it on my face.  I have very dry skin and hair and was amazed at the results!  I didn't need any lotion on my face after washing it off.  And, my hair is so soft and feels great!

Let me know if you have tried any "hair recipes" that worked great for you!  I would love to hear about it.  We would like something to help our hair grow longer!! :)  Have a great day!