Events & Holidays

  • Summer Activities: Swimming with Friends

    Brina carrying the Noodles!

    Our family is blessed with amazing extended family and friends in our lives.  Many of our long time friends have become like family to us. One of the activities I enjoy during the summer is a chance to catch up with family and friends.  The girls and I had an opportunity to hang out with some friends and go swimming not too long ago.  It was a fun day full of swimming, giggling, and a picnic lunch.

    Karlie had a blast swimming and playing!

    The pool was huge and very few people who were using it while we were there so we had most of it to ourselves.  The girls had fun splashing and playing while the Moms enjoyed the cool water and catching up.  I am thankful for great times to spend with friends.  Both of my girls crashed on the way home after swimming and having a picnic lunch.  If you are looking for a new subdivision with a really nice pool I have one I can recommend.  Thanks Christina for a great day!

  • Walgreens: 30 Books for $2

    Walgreens Deals (books on clearance)

    I went to Walgreens to stock up on some of their deals this week.  The best deal I got was in their clearance aisle where they had a bunch of their books, coloring books, and activities books on clearance.   Since I went a little later in the week not all the advertised products were available and I had several Register Rewards that were expiring this week so it worked out well.   I spent $2.27 including tax at Walgreens for this transaction.  I picked up a couple other items (including food which you will see in a later post this week) but this was my best deal at Walgreens this week.  The books will be great for upcoming road trips and other fun activities with the family.

    • 10 – Disney Books (on clearance for $0.49 each)
    • 10 – Disney Activity Books (on clearance for $0.29 each)
    • 10 – Disney Coloring Books (on clearance for $0.29 each)

    The total was over $11 with tax before using discounts & coupons.  Here are the coupons I used on the thirty items.

    • Used $9 Walgreens Register Rewards

    Walgreen’s Register Rewards will expire two weeks from the date they are printed so you will need to make sure to use them before their expiration date.  I always keep the ones that are expiring the soonest on top of the stack to make sure to use them first.

    Another important fact regarding Walgreen’s Register Rewards you will need to know if you haven’t used them before is you can only use 1 coupon per item.  If you use a manufacturer’s coupon for every item you are purchasing you will not be able to use any Register Reward for that transaction.   If you do have a coupon for each item then check Walgreen’s weekly ad because they will have items on sale each week for pennies up to $1 that you can use as “filler” items but they won’t raise your total too much.  Once you get started using coupons and rewards you may discover, like I did, how to purchase many of your health and beauty items for nothing or very little.  Since using coupons and reward programs I rarely pay full price for any of our health and beauty items plus I usually have extra to share with guests visiting us or to give away.

    For those of you who shop regularly at Walgreens I encourage you to share how you were able to save this week!  Although the weekly ad sales are similar every family and situation is different so you may have found items better suited to your household.  In your comment please feel free to share a link to your blog article showing us how you were able to save at Walgreens.

  • Book: “A Dog’s Life: Autobiography of a Stray” by Ann Martin

    Since we have been traveling a good bit this summer we have been able to check out a few audiobooks for the family to listen to on the road trips.  One of the recent audio books we listened to was “A Dog’s Life: Autobiography of a Stray” by Ann Martin.  The book follows a young dog named, by her mother in the traditional way of naming a pup, after the most important things in her life.  Her name is “Squirrel” and her brother’s name is “Bone”.  It is full of touching stories as well as the adventures and perils of being a stray.  The book is simple enough for children to follow yet engaging for the adults to enjoy as well.

  • Family Recipe: Grandma’s Six in One Oatmeal Cookies

    Grandma Willa makes a delicious oatmeal cookie.  She calls it her Six in One Oatmeal Cookies because they are loaded with amazing ingredients and you can make 6 different types of cookies (or more) with the base cookie mix.   It has been nice having cookies to take with us on our various road trips.  The girls have enjoyed the sweet snack and it has been neat sharing the recipes with others along the way (although not all of the cookies made it to each destination).

    Six in One Oatmeal Cookie Recipe:

    • 1 cup Shortening
    • 1 cup Brown Sugar
    • 1 cup Granulated Sugar
    • 2 Eggs
    • 1 teaspoon Vanilla
    • 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
    • 1/2 teaspoon Salt
    • 1 1/2 cup sifted Flour
    • 3 cups Quick Cooking Oats

    Add in 1 or more of the Following Ingredient Options to the Cookies

    • 1/2 cup chopped Nuts
    • 1 package Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
    • 2 tablespoons grated Orange Peel
    • 1 cup Raisins
    • 1 cup cut up Gum Drops
    • 1 cup cut up Dates

    Cream shortening and sugar thoroughly, add eggs and vanilla, beat well.  Sift together flour salt and soda.  Add to creamed mixture and blend well.  Add oats and one or two of the choices above.  If desired divide dough into several portions adding something different to each one.  Form dough into small and drop from teaspoon onto an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake at 35o for 15 minutes or until lightly brown.  Remove from cookie sheet and place on wire rack to cool.  For a special treat, try adding both nuts and chocolate pieces.  Or combine dates and orange peel.  For a crackly glaze dip balls of dough first into milk then in sugar prior to baking on cookie sheet, bake sugar side up.

    More Ingredient Options you can add to the Cookies (these are variations we have tried in our family):

    • 1 cup M&M’s
    • 1 cup Cranberries
    • 1 cup Butterscotch Chips
    • 1 cup White Chocolate Chips
    • Add another one of your favorite cookie ingredients!

    Makes 6 dozen.

    Photo by Lara604

  • Teaching Our Children: Encouraging the Kids to Read During Summer Vacation

    Our reading tree!

    I was trying to come up with a visual prompt in our home that encourages our children to read this summer.  The girls LOVE it when they are read to and could do it for hours but since they are starting to read on their own I wanted to find something that would help motivate them to read a little more.  I came up with the idea “Spring into Reading” since we technically started it in the Spring and I wanted to boost the girls reading skills.

    My Mom graciously made the tree for me and my Sister in Law Becky helped cut out a bunch of the leaves.  The purpose of the tree is simple find a visual way for the girls to see their reading progress.  Each member of our family gets a different color of leaf.  When that member reads a book to the girls or they read a book on their own they get to put up their leaf.

    We have started to fill out our tree with leaves and hope to get an after summer break picture up for you to see what we accomplished.  If all goes well I hope to see more and more of the girls leaves going up throughout the summer as their reading skills increase.

  • Fresh & Healthy: Our Garden – Zucchini, Green Beans, Squash, Lettuce, Cucumber, Strawberries, Purple Beans, and Tomatoes!

    We are loving the fresh vegetables from our garden!  This week I only took one picture from the garden because we were traveling.  The good news is we were able to take some of our goodies from the garden to share with family along the way.  Also, while we are gone my brother and his family get to pick any of the produce that is ready for themselves or to give away so I didn’t get pictures of the items they picked while we were out of town.

    Here are some of the fresh veggies we were able to eat and share this week:

    Fresh Garden Produce!

    We were able to pick this all in one day fresh from the garden.  Fresh Zucchini, Green Beans, Summer Squash, Cucumber, Cherry Tomatoes, Roma Tomatoes, Whole Size Tomatoes, Fresh Leafy Green Lettuce, Purple Beans, a handful of Strawberries that made it in the picture and a Banana Pepper (not pictured because it was ate by the kiddos).  Some of these items we delivered to a good friend since we were traveling and we wanted to make sure they were eaten while they were still fresh.

    We were able to share some of the veggies this week with family and friends!  Thankful for a garden that we can share!

    What are you eating out of your garden this week?

  • Spending Time with Grandma!

    We were so thankful that my Mom was able to come visit us for several days.  She went with us to Savannah for my cousins graduation and time at the beach.  The girls love spending time with Grandma and were thrilled to hang out together.

     

    Grandma Penny helping the girls do their workbooks!

    I think Grandma Penny was much more patient then Mommy doing the workbooks!

     

    Grandma Penny reading books to the girls!

    The girls love it when Grandma reads them books.  Today they relaxed for a few minutes on the front porch with a stack of books to read together.  Thank you Mom for reading to our girls, they LOVE their time with you!  I am thankful for a Mom who takes the time to be with our family.  The girls have many wonderful family memories because of moments like these!

     

  • Book: “Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons” by Siegfried Engelmann

    School is out for the summer but that does not mean the learning time is over for the kids.  Actually in many ways the pressure is on for Moms and Dads to continue teaching our children so they don’t forget everything they learned over the school year.  Our girls are starting to read and since I want to help them over the summer I asked around about great books to help them learn how to read even better.  This book “Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons” by Siegfried Engelmann was recommended to me by several of my homeschool Mom friends.   We just started this book in June and have already seen some of the benefits.  It is not the most exciting book for parents to teach from because it has a lot of repetition, however, that’s a big advantage when your child is first learning to read.  It has been hard for me to stay consistent with all the traveling we are doing this summer but when we do the book the girls seem to enjoy it and it helps build their reading confidence.  The first few lessons were pretty “easy” for the girls since they just finished kindergarten but I anticipate it getting a little harder and challenging as we go.

    Have you used this book with your child?

    Do you recommend it or have any other teaching materials for recommend to young readers?

  • Giveaway: $10 Barnes & Noble Gift Card

    I am doing another giveaway on Blessings Multiplied!!!  The winner of this giveaway will receive a $10 Barnes & Noble Gift Card!  As a Mom of fraternal twin daughters I am always looking for ways to save a little extra when buying books for the family.  Our family loves to read and as we continue to teach our girls how to read I want to share a Barnes & Noble gift card with my readers.  Barnes & Noble is a wonderful place to relax and pick out fun books for the whole family.

    1. Sign up to follow my blog (if you haven’t done so already) and leave a comment below telling us how you follow Blessings Multiplied.
    2. You can get a bonus entry into the drawing if you leave a separate comment below sharing one of your favorite books (you have read for yourself or read to your child) this summer!

    All comments must be made by July 31st at 10:00 PM EST to be entered into the drawing.  On July 31st  I will randomly draw a winner from those who have entered the giveaway.