Tiny Treasures Kids Sale, LLC - Augusta, NJ - Business Services in Augusta, New Jersey

Tiny Treasures Kids Sale, LLC - Augusta, NJ - Business Services in Augusta, New Jersey

Augusta's Tiny Treasures Kids Consignment Sale - Jersey Happenings

Augusta's Tiny Treasures Kids Consignment Sale - Jersey Happenings

Dance, Dance, Dance...with My Budding Ballerina

My four year old daughter just finished her first year of dance school at the most delightful dance studio in downtown Nazareth, Pennsylvania. Jeannie Cardinal’s School of Dance!

 

The studio is so family-friendly and really caters to the student and family who wants a wonderful dance experience without the pressure of competition. The studio is located just off the main drag in an old factory warehouse. It boasts wonderful hardwood floors that make dancing so much softer on the body, and make the studio more charming than the industrial one-square-foot dirty whitish tiles found in many studios. The school has two large rooms that still manage to have a quaint air about them – the pink room, and the blue room! The blue room, where my daughter danced, has the most darling ballerina border going around the perimeter of the mirrored room and natural light flows in from the windows on two walls. It exudes charm.

 

The predominantly female student base (with a few preschool age males thrown in for good measure), is given ample opportunity throughout the year to strut their stuff and show their families all that they are learning. The studio hosts a bring-a-friend day and an observation day for parents, grandparents, and any family members who are interested in observing, once each fall and again in the spring. My daughter also got to partake in a Halloween party where she wore her costume to dance class, a Christmas show where each class performed a holiday-themed number and got a visit and goodie bag from Santa, and theme weeks benefiting the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life for each week during May. The girls absolutely loved dress-up day, purple day, crazy socks day, crazy hat day, and favorite sports team day. It was great fun! The kids were so cute.

 

In addition to that, the students got to dance at Easton’s Relay for Life at Metzgar Field off of Sullivan Trail in Forks Township, and at Spring Fest at the Lower Nazareth Elementary School. Not to mention their big end-of-year recital, which was the culmination of a year’s hard work, and according to my husband who sat through the whole show while I was absolutely LOVING being a stage mom, it was “absolutely fantastic.” My mom, a seasoned dance studio mom, and former dance teacher said it was “very good; much better than she expected.” Because the studio is much smaller than the huge studio that I grew up in, my mom wasn’t expecting such a well-put together and entertaining show. I was thrilled that our family all enjoyed the recital so much, because my sweet little ballerina will have many more years to come at Jeannie Cardinal’s School of Dance.

 

I’m no stranger to dance studios either, having spent my entire childhood from age three through age 16 dancing and performing both tap and jazz, and gymnastics on stage. I tried one year of ballet and it wasn’t for me. I’m much more the gymnastics type. My daughter loves ballet…it is her greatest passion, however, in a surprising turn of events, she has announced a newfound love for gymnastics as well. She is not a fan of tap. That was always my least favorite, too, I must say. I never told her that though so I think it’s cute that she feels the same way as I do. The shame of it all with regard to gymnastics is that she broke her arm jumping on her bed the day of dress rehearsal and will be forced to break (no pun intended) from gymnastics for the majority of the summer as she is now in a cute little pink cast. Poor baby…but that’s a post for another day.

 

In addition to my own long history of dance studio attendance and performances, I taught in a dance studio for four years just prior to having children, as well as choreographed recital dances. I’ve got to be honest…this wonderful studio and the family who runs it has captured my heart…and my daughter’s. It will be her lifelong dance home. I cannot imagine a more perfect place for my little girl, or our family. I give them the highest recommendation and hope that some of you will consider checking them out for the upcoming season starting in September 2012. In the meantime, we’ll be at their summer dance camp program…can’t wait!

 

If you are interested in learning more, about the fabulous Jeannie Cardinal’s School of Dance, please visit their web site: www.JeannieCardinalsSchoolofDance.com or give them a call: 610-746-9176. The dance studio is located at: 181 S. Whitfield St. Nazareth PA 18064

Peanut Butter Tree

What is a peanut butter tree you ask? Read on to find out…

 

On Thursday my four-year old daughter had dress rehearsal for her very first dance recital. It was an amazing day, and thankfully was permitted to be so by the fact that my husband graciously stayed home from work that day to watch our son. Our son is five, and bringing him to this five-hour-long dance marathon would have been an absolute nightmare. He would have been beside himself with boredom, yanking on my legs, beckoning me with “mama, mama, mama” every three-point-two seconds, and trying with all of the power contained within his teeny tiny 43″ frame, to steal my attention away from my little ballerina.

 

Upon arriving home from our wonderful girls’ day together, I walked in the house to find my son planted in front of the television staring trancefully and mindlessly at it. I am not a huge proponent of television so this alone is enough to ruffle my already sticky (because boy was it HOT outside) feathers. We broke the 100-degree F mark this day and my son was wearing black athletic pants and a dark brown tee shirt. I’ve been dressing him in tank tops and light shorts and he’s still been sweating like he’d just run a marathon. We do not have air conditioning and the ceiling fan was not on. A mistake when we built our house. Whatever you do, DO NOT skip the central air thinking you will add it later and save money on the builder’s mark-up. Huge miscalculation on our part because although we got an a/c-equipped furnace, we will likely never actually call an HVAC company to come in and upgrade us. There is always something more important…like a new swingset, a new transmission in one of our cars, a beach vacation, or a large vet bill…or quite frankly something more fun than a few ducts in the ceiling that are really only valuable two weeks out of the year max where we live.

 

Anyhow, I digress…sorry – tangents are one of my favorite pastimes while writing! So, my son, grossly overdressed and engaging in mindless activity while my husband is nowhere to be found. Awesome! Said hubby heard me come in and came downstairs to make a face-to-face appearance…err, to tell me how incredibly rough his day was, because after all, I have no idea what it’s like to care for kids all day. I’ve only been doing it 24/7 as my full time job for four years now.

 

I jumped headfirst into questioning what my boys did that day before I shared the details of our fabuloso day. “He was BAAAAADDDD!!!” says my husband sternly. Ahhh, welcome to my world, dear…welcome to my world! I was looking forward to hearing just what his definition of “bad” is because I was certain it couldn’t really be anything all that terrible. After all, it was just five short hours and he only had one child with him. As the conversation spun, I quickly learned that the lack of attention was the driving force behind this grave “misbehavior.”

 

Did you take him outside, I asked, ever curious because of the way he was dressed and the sweat pooling – nay, drenching, his poor blonde locks until they were dirt brown. I was then regaled with tales of how our son wanted to go outside…so they went out. So far so good. My husband then started watering all of the plants…since WHEN does he water my plants? Umm…this is a FIRST…clearly, he was not in the mood to entertain a wily kindergartener-to-be. Upon seeing the hose, our son asked him to fill up his pool. My husband complied, and while it was filling, took him inside, lathered him up in sunscreen, and put his bathing suit on. All responsible acts. I would have been pleased if not for the ridiculous act of peanut butter tree-ishness that came next.

 

Apparently my husband was frustrated because our son decided after going outside that he wasn’t really that interested in going in the pool. Hi…that’s how kids are; have you ever met one before?! Our little man then said he was going inside to pee (again…strange behavior as he always just whips his pants down to his ankles and urinates on a tree smack dab in the middle of our lawn. After quite a while, my husband went inside to see what was taking so long. A-HA…our candy caper was at it again…digging through the pantry for junk. And, apparently the little bugger thinks he’s clever as he recovered quickly after being caught and said, “do you know where the dog food is, Daddy?” Yeah, okay kid…like that’s what you were doing. You think you’re slick…just like your Daddy. No way…we’re on to you! Since when have you EVER fed the dog? Umm…make that a big fat NEVER! So the man of the house makes the man-in-training come back outside, at which time he returns to the chore of working on his outdoor projects…totally not paying attention to our son, who is now feeling slighted after not having gorged on handful upon handful of chocolate candy.

 

As the story goes, after a few minutes my husband walked back into the driveway where he noticed our son surrounded by bottles of motor oil and other chemical compounds he found in the garage and decided to bring into the driveway and empty out. #1 Rule: The Garage is Off Limits to the Kids. For this very reason. I seriously cannot believe he even told me this little ditty. I was LIVID, but…I was too darn tired to say anything more than, “are you insane not watching him? Men are the dumbest creatures on earth!!”

 

Our son was then sent inside, not told to wash his hands (that didn’t happen until God only knows how many hours later when I got home), and my husband plopped him in front of a movie to sedate him until mommy got home to take proper care of him! And he was eating nice red SALSA with cheese quesadillas over a GLASS plate on the family room carpet. More awesomeness! At least he was being fed though…and it was actually a lunch-appropriate meal, although non-chemicalized hands would have been a real treat.

 

NEXT TIME, looks like I’m just going to take the kid with me to the dress rehearsal, or whatever the next big event that he’d really be crawling along my nerves like a livewire happens to be. Not to mention that it will save my poor dog some headache too as her fur was plastered with stickers from our crazed little monster.

 

My daughter and I have this unspoken language…whenever my husband or son do something oddusual, we look at one another, roll our eyes, and then smirk, say “boys are weird,” and round it all off with a giggle. It’s our thing! Naturally the aforementioned incidents more than qualified for our boys are crazy with their oddusual behavior routine. Well, as I’m grooming the next great diva, she came up with the idea of the century! She does a diva mommy proud!

 

This moment of genius occurred two days later as I was curling her hair and primping her up for her first big dance recital. We heard the boys being nutty and did our aforementioned routine of total awesomeness, then she sighed and said “Boys are weird. We should call them something silly when they act like that.” What an idea! I jumped right on it, encouraging her to keep it top secret. We wouldn’t tell them what it means…it would just be for us to know, and we would call them that every time they were being crazy. “What do you want to call them, baby girl?” I asked with much delight in my voice at this conspiring. On her second try she said, “let’s call them peanut butter!” I assented and told her that was fabulous, but not crazy enough…”get a little crazier” I encouraged. “Peanut Butter Tree!” she exclaimed and we both cracked up laughing. Today is day three of Peanut Butter Tree, and it’s such a huge hit! Every time our boys doing something stupid, silly, or otherwise manly moronic – which happens repeatedly on a daily basis, we sigh and say, “Peanut Butter Tree!” then giggle to our heart’s content.

 

Laughter is the best pathway to a soul’s contention. Be silly and giggle a little! Life is short.

 

 

 

Please note: the chemical danger is no laughing matter and I have now moved everything and anything out of reach. Even when you think your children have passed the age of greatest danger, it is still there…lurking! While I’m certain, unlike a two-year old, our five-year old son would never drink the chemicals or motor oil, simply touching and inhaling these things while dumping them out is horribly dangerous. By no means do I find this funny, and I am completely and utterly unhappy about it. I keep saying it wouldn’t have happened on my watch, but you just never know, so PLEASE mommies and daddies, be careful and keep your chemicals up high out of reach or locked up away from your little ones.

The Domestic Diva & Her Two Tiny Treasures: The Midnight Creeper

The Domestic Diva & Her Two Tiny Treasures: The Midnight Creeper: Do you have a midnight creeper?   We do…and we’ve named him the “Candy Caper.” Our creeper comes out in the middle of the night when the ho...

The Midnight Creeper

Do you have a midnight creeper?

 

We do…and we’ve named him the “Candy Caper.” Our creeper comes out in the middle of the night when the house is pitch black and the rest of the zoo is quiet. The dog is nestled in our bed sleeping, the cats are sleeping, and the kids…err, ONE kid is sleeping. The other, of the male variety is busy lurking in his room. Waiting…

 

As soon as mommy and daddy are down for the count our little midnight creeper who we’ve nicknamed “The Candy Caper” comes out to strike. He sneaks downstairs and raids the pantry for cookies, candy, or anything junk-related. He’s been doing this for the better part of a year, at least. It drives me crazy. My ridiculous facade of control (over his dental hygiene and his well-managed diet) goes out the window each and every night. We no longer lock the gate at the top of the stairs because as much as we fear he’s going to take a tumble down them in the dark of night, our fear that he’s going to try to climb over it and miss and go over our balcony railing is even greater. He would land 18 feet down on the tile and suffice it to say, that is much scarier than a child with cavities. I’ve even played the grandparent card and had my mom talk to him. To no avail, I am afraid.

 

I am a very conservative mommy. I do not give my children foods with high fructose corn syrup in them; I avoid processed foods; I avoid saturated fats; I avoid sugary junk and caffeinated products. We are healthy eaters. My kids get rice cakes and fruit for snacks for the most part. When they get cookies they are generally homemade by me so I know just what’s in them. However, on Halloween they get candy. Even on Easter this year we only gave them each one small Gertrude Hawk chocolate and then filled their basket with non-teeth-rotting gifts. However, that blasted Halloween candy…it will last well more than a year in our home. I just threw it out the other day…eight months later, because I said enough is enough. The only person who eats it is my husband…and my little Candy Caper in the middle of the night. *sigh* So into the trash it went. My son STILL comes down scouring even though he knows the candy is gone. I threw it away right in front of him. Hoping upon hope that it would discourage him if he knew that temptation was now gone.

 

He is so desperate. I had moved the candy bowl from Halloween, before throwing it out, up to the fourth shelf in the pantry. Too high for me comfortably to reach at my whopping 5’4″. My wee little five year old would pull over a stool, a chair, whatever he could find to reach up and get the goodies. Our little midnight creeper eats well enough. He always finishes his dinner and often has seconds or thirds, which delights me, because he used to be a horrible eater! We have repeatedly told him to come get mommy or daddy if he wants food in the middle of the night. He will not listen. I would be more than happy to go downstairs with him and get him some warm milk and an apple, or some water and a banana. I guess it takes the fun out of sneaking if he has to come ask us…and if he doesn’t get to choose what he eats.

 

We cannot fathom how we have never woken up when he goes downstairs…how the dog has never heard him and followed him down the steps. It’s just shear insanity.

 

Anyone else have a child who does this? What do you do about it? I worry; it’s dark and unsafe for him to sneak down a flight of stairs in the middle of the night, climb on stools, and then gorge on junk food. Not to mention the dental bills that are sure to come if he keeps this up!

Raising Our Children in the Faith; Getting Them to Actively Participate in Church

Our children have been going to church since they were one years old so it's old hat for them, but I find as they get older it's easier to keep them sitting still and quiet, but they are no longer loving attending the way they did when they were little. In their earlier years (they are now four and five) they used to get so excited and yell, "yay...church!!" when we were departing on these family outings. It saddens me to see this spark of excitement dissipate. I know before it was because it was a new experience, something stimulating and different that they got to do on a weekly basis -- with mommy AND daddy. That alone was enough for them. Our saving grace...our miracle "cure" for talking and crying children, from the time we joined this parish, was lollipops! Five to ten minutes in when the kids start getting antsy, out come the lollipops. Truly magic! Give it a try to quiet your talking child if you feel the need. We've gotten so many compliments on our perfectly behaved children, even when we thought they were being nutty. I do not take credit for this...all of the credit due goes to Dum Dums. Our church does not have a children's room, nor would I put them in there anyway. I believe it defeats the point of raising a child in the faith, and am not a fan of them. I think Jesus understands children better than any of us and wouldn't want them in a separate room. Just my opinion. Our parish is also very small and does not have Sunday school. Even if they did, I would not want to throw my kids in a nursery for Sunday school. I want them with us...growing as a family, in love and in faith.

 

We have always held our children in our arms in church so they would not jump around, fidget, or otherwise disturb the other parishioners. The greatest plus we found of doing this though was the bonding time we would have with them; one hour of undisturbed hugging, cradling, and cuddling. Priceless. We just recently started letting them stand on their own, at least for part of the mass. They do fidget, but not enough to be really disturbing to the community around us. The biggest problem is they are no longer interested in attending church. They visibly yawn throughout the entire mass, and will turn to me and say, "Mommy, did you see me just yawn? I keep yawning and I can't stop." Slightly embarrassed, I shhhsh them and again direct my attention toward the pulpit.

 

I try to engage my children in prayer in church. We're Catholic and they've got the sit, stand, kneel down pat, but they do not partake in the prayers, recitations, or anything else. I do. I pray aloud, I sing along with every hymn, etc. and I want them to have this same experience. Until I found the strength of faith on my own to do this - when we were graced with the amazing church we now attend - I was a passerby...I just stood passively and listened while the others prayed and sang. That's how I grew up. I wasn't encouraged to sing and pray. I want to encourage my children to sing and pray aloud with pride because I now know what a difference active participation rather than the passive indifference that constituted most of my life makes. I include them by holding their hands during the Our Father. The only part of the mass they participate in otherwise is Offering a Sign of Peace, putting the envelopes in the collection baskets, and walking up to Communion with me. Naturally they cannot sing along yet as they cannot read the hymnals, but I want them to grow up being active participants in a church community. I attended church for the first half of my childhood, I also went to CCD. What I did not do, ever, was to actually actively participate. I want that for my children so I need help! What do you do to get your children excited about church...to truly participate as a member of your congregation? I've taught my kids the Sign of the Cross and I can't even get them to do that while in a formal mass setting.

 

Advice, please...or am I expecting too much? Do any four or five year olds pray aloud and actively participate in church services? Have a blessed Sunday.

Educating Today's Children

It seems more and more, parents are seeking an alternative to a traditional public school education. The school decision has caused me great angst myself so I thought I'd blog about it to let you know that you are not alone if you feel overwhelmed, confused, and oftentimes intensely frustrated. I feel these things and I haven't even sent my children to "real" school yet. My son attended pre-K for the first time in 2011, and just graduated in May.

 

Naturally many people will disagree with me here, and naturally this does not apply to all school districts as there are probably some out there somewhere that offer a fine public education. Our local schools, in my opinion, do not, for myriad reasons. Overall I find today's public education system to be greatly lacking in values. To me, it is more important to be a good person than it is to walk away with straight A's. It's not that I don't think grades are important. I had more 4.0 semesters in both high school and college than not, however it is not the end-all, be-all. I'm sure I did not feel this way when I was the student. After all, as I mentioned previously I am a crazy perfectionist and take great pride in trying to over-achieve. However, with the tables turned now, as a mommy, I would way rather see my children be happy, productive members of society. Do I want them to have good careers? Of course. Do I want them to afford themselves a nice house and the comfort not to struggle to pay the bills? Absolutely. Do I personally believe these things are achieved by pounding a child's young brain with video after video which serve as replacements for real lesson plans; or what about computer classes beginning in Kindergarten? No. I do not believe that these things are beneficial for young children's impressionable developing minds. Period. Is this to say my children never watch TV or movies? No. They do, but in extreme moderation; typically I allow the viewing of one movie per week, or on occasion two or three PBS shows instead of a movie. This limits them to 1-1/2 hours a week. I feel that many parents use the television or video games as the easy way out, instead of engaging their child in more productive and meaningful activity and play. I personally believe that the computer, television, video games, etc. even so-called "learning" ones actually shut our child's brain down...they allow our child to engage in an activity far more passive and imagination-crushing than a toddler, preschooler, or early elementary student should ever have to experience. Watch a child who is mesmerized by a television program or the Wii. They are in a trance-like state. How can that be better than giving them a blank piece of paper and crayons, markers, or paints, and letting their imagination soar to new heights?

 

I've been searching for several years for an appropriate school for our children. Traditional public education was never really an option for us as I feel it neglects who each INDIVIDUAL child really is. As a mommy I think my children are the two greatest children that ever lived. Please, allow me to be biased here because you know in your heart of hearts that you feel the same way about your children. I feel traditional public education also neglects the parts that are even more important than academics - the social aspects...the learning how to be a good, HAPPY, and productive member of society...to truly be a part of a community. I don't believe a cookie-cutter education is beneficial to anyone, except maybe the bureaucrats who are trying to do what's easy by setting forth guidelines that meet the lowest common denominator of education and ignore virtually all the rest.

 

This kind of puts parents like me who feel this way in a bit of a conundrum. Homeschooling, Cyber Schooling, Charter Schooling, Private Schooling? And with private schooling will it be at a faith-based school? I worked through these options one-by-one addressing each type. I don't really want to homeschool our children because I want them to be among their peers on a daily basis. I certainly am educated enough to provide them with an education, but I also fear that complacency would set in and they would not provide the same benefits as having an outside teacher would. I am too close to home. I want to be their number one role model, however, they are also so much more comfortable with me that they won't be as inclined to do the work under my direction. For largely the same reasons, adding in that pesky little thing called a computer, which I just find wildly inappropriate for five year olds, Cyber Schooling was out from the get-go.

 

That left us with charter schooling or a private education. While private education follows much the same academic model as public school, it couples that with a heavy concentration and focus on community and being a good person. Okay, definitely an option, but the absolute least expensive private education you can find is $5,000 per year all-inclusive, per child. I have two kids beginning within the next 14 months, that's $10,000 per year plus gas and lunch money and any other incidentals like class trips that may come arise. I'm a stay-at-home mommy so that's a hefty number to take out of the one salary that supports our family. I am a firm believer that things work out the way they are supposed to, so I forged ahead and registered our son for a private Catholic school not far from us. It was not a decision that I took lightly. I did in-depth research and analysis on half a dozen private schools before settling on this one. Quite honestly, this one was not our first choice, but, for reasons you are soon to learn, it's the one we are forging ahead with for our son.

 

At the time we registered our son for kindergarten at the aforementioned private school, charter schools were really not on our radar because there are very few of them in our area, and many of them don't really align with what we are looking for in a school overall. None jumped out at us so why waste our time adding something else to the mix. One day a few months ago, still extremely despondent about the school situation, as I walked into our daughter's dance school I saw a pile of bookmarks. The up-facing side was for a kids' consignment sale. Full knowing that I was opening my own children's consignment sale in the coming months (it's open now...please check is out here) I was intrigued to see what the bookmark touted. In addition, I am a marketing guru. My degree is in marketing and I spent many years working in advertising agencies (and still do consulting for one on occasion) so analyzing the logos, the collateral, etc. intrigues me. Anyhow, I digress. I sat down on the couch, put the bookmark on my purse, got my daughter in her ballet slippers and shuffled off into her classroom. When I sat back down I picked it up, quickly read through the first side and then flipped it over.

 

That is when my world changed forever. Who would guess that the simple act of flipping over a bookmark would change lives forever? That is when I saw the ad for Circle of Seasons, a Charter School coming to our area! As I mentioned earlier, I believe in divine intervention and when I was at my lowest point in the school search this new school surfaced. Immediately upon arriving home I looked up their web site and couldn't believe the luck! I pre-enrolled both of my children that very day and started doing intense research on the school's teaching structure, philosophy, and overall modus operandi. Pure delight! My every sense was filled with nothing but pure delight. I fell in love with Waldorf Schooling/Teaching Methods. They don't believe in multi-media as an integral part of young children's lives; like my own ideology, they focus heavily on creative activities, nature, and the world around us as the way to grow and learn. My kids have never played a video game...and in my opinion are better for it. They play outside, do arts and crafts, and read. When I found Waldorf, it was like a dream come true. I felt like someone took all of my ideals and put them down in an educational model that made sense.

 

As I mentioned I only learned about it a few months ago but since then I've done fairly extensive reading and am completely enamored with it. I feel it is the answer for my children. I wish it was available this year for my son to start Kindergarten, but alas, that is not in the cards. The school plans to open in August 2013. I did see a Waldorf Connection homeschooling program online. If I thought I could do homeschooling for Kindergarten without my boy feeling really deprived of the going-off-to-Kindergarten experience I'd do it for just this one year, but...he talks about "going to Kindergarten" every single day. He loved leaving home to go to Pre-K so I know he'd miss it immensely. He will be going to our second choice private Catholic school for the following reason. Our first choice is not affiliated with our church. We love our church. We would only leave our church to attend that school if it was our long-term plan. Since we fully intend on sending both children to Circle of Season Waldorf Methods' School, we will send him to our second choice school and retain our membership in the parish that means so much to our family...the parish where our babies were baptized and have attended for their whole lives.

 

Now our greatest fear is that the school will either not be approved, or our children will not get in. It seems they are going to work to admit most or all of the children who formally enroll because they have a large facility capable of handling multiple Kindergarten and first grade classes. Our deepest desire is to send them both in 2013 - our son to first grade, and our daughter to Kindergarten. I don't think we could offer our children a better, more unique opportunity than a school that recognizes and appreciates them as individuals and focuses on real-life, hands-on learning like art and music appreciation, and utilizes true-to-life examples to demonstrate the lesson plans - be it science or history. It truly seems to me a better way to learn and retain that knowledge for the long-term rather than traditional methods which are often gone the minute the test is over. It is vastly different than a traditional education in that there are no textbooks; the teachers all memorize lesson plans and work with the students rather than lecturing at them with their nose buried in a book. It's much more interactive. Students typically do not have tests or homework. They spend much of the school day doing hands-on activity: planting vegetable gardens, drawing journals that depict what they learned in that day's lesson plan, taking hikes through the woods, etc. I also love that they do not skip subject matter on a daily basis. A child will not hop from math to science to history to reading. They will focus on one subject exclusively for several weeks before moving on to another subject. It's all very hands-on, gentle, child-centered learning that focuses on the community, being a good person, and growing a deep love and appreciation for school. Every child has different needs and every family has unique needs, but for us, this is a dream come true.

Zany Amusement Park Fun!

Today was fabulous! We've been having very unseasonably chilly and rainy weather for this time of year as of late so I was a tad worried since we had a day trip planned to head to Land of Make Believe in Hope, NJ today. The weather report, even as of this morning was calling for a cloudy day with rain to begin around 1:00 pm. It was only slated to be around 66 when the rain hit. Nothing like putting a damper on our amusement park and especially our water park plans.

 

Much to my delight, when we woke up there was nary a cloud in the sky...it was blue for as far as the eye can see. At this time I felt fairly confident in making the big announcement to the kids. You see, I NEVER divulge a word about where we are headed before we pull into the parking lot. Some call me crazy. I may be biased, but I think it's incredibly smart. Plans fall through, Mother Nature upsets things, kids get sick. Why get their hopes up just to let them plummet. Besides, it saves me some small semblance of sanity. Take this morning for instance. Not only did I have to set my alarm and get up at 6:00 a.m. - which in itself is torture to the grandest degree - to meet our group at the park on time, but the kids needed showers, and various other things needed to be accomplished before we could make our unfortunately grand exit.

 

The glutton for punishment that I am, I decided to make my two Tiny Treasures' millennium by introducing our plans before they had even climbed out of bed (it was 7:30 a.m. at this point). A) I never do this. B) Now I remember why. For the next one hour while I shuffled them through the bathroom routine, dressing, and feeding, the house was nothing short of wacky hour! As we loaded into the SUV with all of our essentials - our towels, cameras, snacks, drinks, astronaut helmets, curtain rods, empty milk cartons...you get the picture - I sighed with relief. We were going to be on time to meet our group at the park for 9:15. I stinkin' ROCK!

 

Before I could even back out of the garage the kids had taken wacky hour to a whole new extreme. They were NUTS!! How could I ask them to quiet down a bit, when it was admittedly all MY doing. If only I had kept my loose lips closed my children would not have shrieked and squealed with exultation for the entire 40 minute drive to the park as I maneuvered morning rush hour traffic and battled through the swarms of tractor trailer trucks. Crud...a cop hidden in the bushes and me speeding along with my out-of-state plates. Just lovely. Peering in my rear-view mirror for the next 10 minutes. Who else does this? Like, hi! If he was going to come after me, I'm sure it would have been immediate and not 8 miles down the highway.

 

We pulled into the park only two minutes late, which was a miracle, considering about three minutes into our drive I realized I forgot their life vests at home. Now this is a waterpark. Neither of my kids swim yet. I did not know what to expect as we had never been there so I turned around, went home, and got them. We didn't need them. Oh well. Better safe than sorry. At this time of year Land of Make Believe is only open in the mornings for groups, field trips, etc. The rates are PHENOMENAL if you can pull together a group and get the group rate. Wow. We paid $10.50 per child (regularly somewhere around $26 each) and just $5.00 per adult (regularly $22ish if I am remembering correctly). After getting this spectacular rates I'd never go and pay full price which is just a monumental shame because it's an amazing place...especially for little kids. Most of the rides were very age appropriate for preschoolers. My kids are four and five and there were only two rides we didn't go on. And I use the term "we" very loosely as *I* only WENT ON TWO RIDES. Sadly, in my third decade of life, the second ride I went on did me in. My poor, poor, sorry equilibrium was shot. I didn't even want to move my head for fear I was going to hurl. Thankfully I had not yet eaten so there was nothing to regurgitate. I now understand the saying "feeling green" because I LITERALLY thought should I look in a mirror, I would see horrid puce green skin staring back at me.

 

Long story short, my kids had the BEST time ever. I had the best time ever. The friends we went with had the best time ever. Highly, highly recommend Land of Make Believe in Hope, NJ for North Jersey and Northeastern Pennsylvania families. Awesome day trip! I have been told it opens to the public in the mornings beginning the last two weeks of June and the crowds hit like crazy. We experienced no lines, and just a purely joyful day. Next Friday is the last day for private groups in the mornings. I would love to go again, and indeed if I can find enough friends to go back, we will.

 

The highlight: I did not have to go into the 60-degree water even though like a trouper I wore my bathing suit under my clothes fully expecting to "spot" my children in their escapades through the icy tundra. The other highlight here is that I am not firm enough or tan enough to rock a bathing suit at a public park yet. The things I would do for my kids...thankfully I didn't have to though. :)

 

The low-light: coming home to find my best friend in the world - my doggie, Suki - had scooted her little hiney all over the kitchen floor and family room carpet. And I mean ALL over. Poor baby...totally not her fault. Her vet put her on antibiotics and they started to cause her c-diff so we discontinued use of them. The problem lies in the fact that in order to get her to take the antibiotics I had to put it in peanut butter. Twice a day for a week before we stop administering them to her. NOTHING else would work...she would sniff it out and reject it, and force-feeding her was like torture for both of us. Anyhow, the peanut butter really constipated her. It's been almost a week and she's not quite back to "regular" yet. The biggest bummer of all of this is that I just cleaned the carpets on Sunday. Murphy's Law! It's all good though, as long as my beloved baby is okay. My husband nicknamed her "Do-No-Wrong Suki" because no matter what she might do, under no circumstance would I ever get upset with her.

 

Enough ramblings for tonight. It's only 6:30 p.m. but I feel like it's after midnight. Boy these long, busy days take a lot out of me. Time to go crash on the couch with a book. Right now I'm reading Mitch Albom's "for one more day" - fabulous book about the depth of a mother's love. I highly recommend it.

Finding Your Frugal Side

As soon as a baby enters our world everything changes. We no longer have the extra funds to eat out, nor do we have the energy. After all, isn't just finding time to take a shower a feat that makes us smile from ear to ear?

 

I don't find it necessary to be an extreme couponer to be frugal. While I would truly love the idea of being able to dedicate the kind of time, focus, and dedication it requires to take couponing to that level of success that makes you post a picture on Facebook of your stash and the fact that it only cost you 27 cents. I just don't have it it me. My motivations lie elsewhere. Don't get me wrong, I'm a very organized person...in fact, a little tidbit about me since it's my first post, I am OCD...truly, I've been diagnosed as having OCD. What do I do about it you ask? Nothing. I am not a fan of medicating, and I'm not one of those all-natural homeopathic types either. I just believe in the healthiest living possible, and for me, that means riding out sickness, the quirks (which is what I consider my OCD), or the pain. I'm not over-the-top OCD where I have to check and recheck our window locks before bedtime, but I do like my towels straight, and things orderly. That is certainly not to say my house is never a mess. I have a four and a five year old, AND a husband...which is an even bigger issue than the preschoolers, as I was not the one who trained the husband. Believe me...I have spent the last 13-1/2 years trying. He is not trainable. The damage was done long ago and cannot be fixed.

 

I digress. For me, finding my frugal side has consisted of several key things. I'll cover five today, and hopefully they will inspire you to find your frugal side.

 

1) Never dine out or order in during the week. Not ever. It may seem easy but it's costly and far less healthy to swing by a drive-through. Cook yourself...they don't always have to be gourmet meals, but prepare all three meals yourself.

 

2) Launder and iron your own clothes; savings can be monumental by eliminating dry cleaning services.

 

3) Seek out produce outlets and farm markets for your fruits, vegetables, and even some dairy products. They will likely be organic, or if not, then much closer to it than you will find at your local grocer. These types of fresh produce outlets are typically around one quarter of the cost of supermarket produce sections.

 

4) Dining out once in a while is okay, but sometimes it's even more special to have a special meal right at home. Set up candles on the deck and make a meal together with your husband or kids. Or sit back and let them prepare one for you. Memories made. Very rarely is one of your fondest memories a night out at a restaurant, but a special night in just may be...and it will save you money!

 

5) Kids Consignment!! Shopping for kids' clothes on consignment is a fabulous way to save as much as 50-90% off retail. If you can find a reputable semi-annual kids consignment sale in your area, you will be able to shop each season for what you need. Most seasonal consignment sales are held once in the spring/summer and once in the fall/winter. For me, this has been the greatest blessing! I began shopping these sales, then I started consigning my kids' outgrown gently used items at these sales. Wow! It was amazing. I was basically trading up for the next season's wardrobe by selling what the kids had outgrown and buying what they needed. It was a win-win! The last sale I consigned at, I sold $1,200 worth of stuff at the standard 60% consignor rate that was a whopping $720 cash in hand. Granted I spent $500...but still.

 

If you are in the Northern New Jersey, Northeastern PA, or Orange County, NY Areas, check out this new sale coming to your area in fall 2012: Tiny Treasures Kids Consignment Sale.

 

Thank you so much for reading! Please bookmark my page and follow along as I chronicle the life of a domestic diva and her two tiny treasures.