Idea Queen Tips & News

Mom’s can play games online too, right? Heck yeah they can! What better way to take advantage of your “special day” then doing nothing but playing games.

From now until May 16th, Big Fish is offering 40% off games when you use the code “MOTHERSDAY” at check out. Just click the link above, find a game, then buy. Don’t forget the code!

The best part about Big Fish is you can try the games out before you buy. So make sure you pick a great game you’ll like before using your coupon.

Enjoy your Mother’s Day!

Yesterday was my son’s birthday, so it was his choice on what we made for supper. I thought he’d say tacos since mom’s taco meat is his absolute favorite (move over Taco Bell!). Much to my surprise he said “pasta”.

I knew exactly which type he was talking about, because it’s the one we make the least. Usually when I make pasta it’s fettucini or mac and cheese. Those are the only two my daughter will eat (I don’t know what’s wrong with that child - she doesn’t even like spaghetti!). But since it was his birthday, he picked the one pasta dish his sister doesn’t like.

I actually love this recipe, and jumped at the chance to make it again. The last time we made it was clear back in December, so yeah I was excited. It came out pretty good too, and we cooked it the same way we did last time (See Angel Hair Pasta Recipe).

He was happy, although we had to pry the pot from his hands and convince him he really should use his own bowl. It’s rather funny to watch him scarf this pasta since he’s normally such a picky eater!

Growing up I never cared to be in after school activities. Aside from a few choir-related things, I just never got into sports or anything else. The only thing I wanted to do when the bell rang at 3pm was get HOME.

Because it never interested me, I tend to not push my own kids into things. In the summer they take swimming lessons, and my daughter is in dance (enjoying it much more than I did, but then again she’s quite a girly-girl where as I was not). My son has also taken Tae Kwan Do in the past and wants to take it again (we’ll be getting him in that again in a few weeks). But aside from that, they really aren’t involved in much.

So the question here is, what’s too little? Most parents worry about getting their kids into too many activities, but here I am worrying I don’t have them in enough. My son I especially worry about, since I’ll most likely be homeschooling him this fall. I hear about all these clubs and sports homeschooled kids are involved in, and think maybe I *should* be getting them involved in more stuff. Maybe I’m projecting my own dislikes on my kids and preventing them from getting involved in activities they’d really like. But if they really don’t express interested in wanting to get involved, maybe I shouldn’t push it?

What’s your thoughts?

I actually got a jump start on this yesterday knowing I was going to be gone today for a few hours. My daughter is lucky to have several older cousins who all have some very nice clothes. The other day we got 3 big boxes dumped on us, plus more boxes still sitting upstairs needing to be sorted.

It’s time to sort.

This week I’ll be sorting all the clothes we’ve gotten and going through her drawers to see what fits and what doesn’t. I probably should have a better system in place for all this, but I really don’t. We are getting clothes faster than I can sort them, and I can’t seem to get rid of the small ones fast enough either.

I’ve also come to realize that I need to have my daughter right there with me because we really can’t judge sizes very well. When I started yesterday I was sorting clothes by size thinking ones in the pile would fit her and they really don’t. She’s a bit on the chunky side, so finding clothes that fit her is a challenge.

Anyway, that’s my Tidy Tuesday Challenge - sorting through clothes and cleaning out drawers. Hopefully by the end of the week we’ll have nothing but clothes that fit!

I’m a big online shopper. I love especially comparison shopping for big ticket items or things I don’t need immediately. Just about everything you’ll ever need you could buy online. Yet still there’s a good chunk of the population that absolutely refuses to shop online for various reason.

So I got to thinking, if you are one of those who doesn’t like shopping online, why is that? I’m sure there’s a variety of reasons such as not wanting your personal information online or not trusting various sites. Which you all have very good reasons, I don’t doubt that one bit. Even though I’m a big online shopper there are sites that make me uncomfortable and warnings to heed.

Actually I just wrote an article about this very topic the other day for Associated Content. It focuses on the pros and cons of shopping from small businesses. You can take a look at it if you’d like and leave your feedback.

So what about you? Do you shop online? What are your reasons for shopping online or not shopping online?

Scrapbooking can be a lot of fun, but it can also be very expensive. One easy way to cut down your costs is by doing digital scrapbooking instead of the traditional form.

Not only can it be extremely low cost to buy reusable supplies from places like ComputerScrapbook.com, but often times you can find FREE supplies to use as well.

The best part about digital scrapbooking is you aren’t limited by your tools and supplies. It’s easier, quicker, and if you want a traditional scrapbook you can print at any time.

Digital scrapbooking supplies are usually very inexpensive, only costing you a $1 or less per item. To see all the items available, click on the banner at the top of this post, or visit TheScrapbookingSource.com for more details on traditional and digital scrapbooking supplies.

This tip was sent in by Cassandra, one of our visitors, and is an idea for leftover mashed potatoes and vegetables. Sounds like an excellent idea!

When I have leftover mashed potatoes or baked potatoes and vegetables I make shepherds pie. I make one big enough to feed 6, and most always I make 2 of them because my family of 3 will eat one a day if they could. 2 cups leftover (or freshmade) mashed potatoes Mixed vegetables (or any veggies) 2 Carrots sliced 1 medium onion diced 1 can Chicken and Rice Soup 1 pound hamburger 2 tbsp steak sauce Shredded cheese (optional) salt and pepper to taste In small/medium pan begin to sautee carrots and onions in butter In separate pan brown hamburger and season with salt and pepper Once carrots and onions are tender and hamburger is browned, add steak sauce to hamburger mixture, stir untill well mixed, then add one can of Chicken and Rice Soup (concentrate only, no water). Mix well, then add the carrots and onions and any other vegetables you like. Pour into an 13×9 baking dish, or deep sided casserole dish (make sure you spray with cooking spray) then top with mashed potatoes and shredded cheese (optional) Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until heated through and potatoes are slightly browned on top. Serves 6 with hearty portions.

Yum!

The other day I posted about how my son, almost age 8, is having problems at school. More and more I’m starting to think the school is making the problems worse and the more I’m thinking about homeschooling (see my article about Homeschool vs Public School).

Earlier last week my son was refusing to do his work again. He ended up staying after school to finish it up. No problem, and that’s not a bad solution. Since once of his issues is wanting to be independent, I’ve been letting him walk home (we live less than a mile from the school in a very small town). The school knows this and called me to let me know he’d be late. 20 minutes after school got out they called again and said he was on his way. Again, no problem.

A few days later I went and picked up the little one from school and came home expecting my son to walk. I came home to a message on my phone stating I needed to come pick him up and they weren’t letting him walk. Why? What happened? I called back noting school had only been out less than 10 minutes, and asked why I needed to come get him. Their answer was “we don’t want him walking alone”. Again I asked “why?”. Same response.

When I got back to the school, he seemed to be fine. I expected him to at least be in a bad mood, maybe saying he didn’t want to go home. But that wasn’t the case. He seemed happy to see me and no arguments on getting in the car. If he had done something terrible, why weren’t they telling me? And why was that day different from earlier in the week?

I just don’t understand why they are trying to make this worse by taking away something that gives him the independence he’s craving. We all know that sometimes kids want to be more independent than they can be, but walking home? Why not? He knows it’s something he can do on his own (and yes, he comes straight home), so why are they taking that away from him?

This isn’t the only problem I seem to be having with the school. Yes I know my son is difficult and I’m not about to let him run the show. But I feel like they are not listening to me when I give suggestions (See my thoughts on Indigo Children, regardless what your religious beliefs are). Not only are they not listening to me, but they aren’t him either. It’s amazing how bright this kid is and how many good ideas he has, but it’s all falling on deaf ears and getting worse. The more they take away the worse it all gets, and I just want to scream.

Thanks for letting me vent. I know you homeschooling moms will understand completely.

Since we’ve got family and friends visiting this weekend, I figured this week is a good week to clean up the main room of the house. In our house the “main room” is our living room, dining room, and where the computers sit.

In your house it might just be the living room, or it may be something different. The goal here is to clean up whatever it room your guests see the most, and the room you spend the most time in.

If you are good about cleaning up your house, this might not be a big job. However, I bet there are still areas  that need improvement. How do the windows look? The walls? How about behind desks, under tables, and in drawers?

Our room happens to be a complete and utter mess right now so I doubt we’ll get to those fine details. But if you are in need of a challenge this week, go for the small spaces and tasks you don’t usually do every day.

Have fun!

Need some dessert ideas for Mother’s Day? Now of course us moms don’t want to be spending the day in the kitchen, so we need something easy for the kids (and the dads) to do on their own.

See Kid and Dad Friendly Treats for some fun ideas. Not only will it keep them out of your hair so you can relax, but you’ll have some tasty treats made for you!

Mother’s day really isn’t far away - this year it lands on my mom’s birthday (May 11th). That’s less than 2 weeks away! This holiday always sneaks up on me since we are usually busy figuring out my son’s bday which is always up to a week before Mother’s Day. But this year I’m on it with plenty of reminders, so let’s hope I don’t forget!