Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Off to Disneyland!

Thanks for the fun day!




Pictures, Bowling, Eggs


For the past 3 weeks my oldest had been asking when Easter was coming; so that she can color eggs. The day finally came; but she had to wait a little longer until after dinner. No particular reason to color them after dinner; just they way we've always done it plus we had a busy schedule during the day.

First thing was to take the girls annual Easter pictures at JC Penney. About 2 years ago, I found this great coupon on free sitting fees up to 4 people. It expires in June; so I'll be sad to not be able to use it for this year's Christmas pics.

After pictures, we went home for lunch and then back out for 2 games of FREE bowling! We got there at a perfect time because they were starting their Neon Lights hour (where house lights go off and music and lights come on). The girls LOVED this and began dancing around. My oldest said "This is the Life!" HA HA

Then, FINALLY the egg decorating began which was great for the time being. We just used the basic PAAS kit that costs about $1. I told them they could put stickers on the next day because we had to wait till the eggs dried. The next day came and the meltdown began because the stickers wouldn't stick. The eggs still had moisture from being in the fridge. I tried to dry them with a paper towel; but then the coloring was coming off. The blow dryer seemed to work; but I was not about to blow dry over a dozen eggs. So, my oldest got one egg to put stickers on. The youngest didn't care to much. I think this is the reason why I had not given them the stickers in the past. Now I know for next year.






















Sunday, April 17, 2011

Flubber Recipe





We discovered Flubber at the kids' day event. The girls loved playing with it! Here's the recipe.


Flubber


 
Mixture 1:


1 ½ cups warm water

2 cups Elmer’s Glue

Food coloring


 
Mixture 2:

3 tsp. Borax

1 cup Warm Water

Stir mixture 1 together in 1 bowl.

Mixture 2 in another bowl.

Make sure both are mixed well.

Pour mixture 1 into mixture 2.


There is no need to stir the mixture but you can if you want because it is the chemical reaction that actually makes the flubber. When it is in a glob work it for 2-3 minutes. Initially it feels wet but it eventually dries up to the final product.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Kids Play Day

Our local college, College of the Canyons, hosted a free play day for kids. We have been there once before and the kids had a good time. This year, it was so hot when we got there. Despite the heat, the girls enjoyed making crafts such as hand print flowers, ladybugs, a cape, squirt bottle painting. They played games such as a bean bag toss, ring toss, and spin the wheel for prizes, They hula hooped, watched a volcano erupt, played in sand and water boxes. One booth had this stuff called Flubber. It feels and looks kind of like slime. They hung it on a strawberry basket and it just oozed out of the holes and came down so the kids could cut it, roll it and use cookie cutters to make things. The play day is mostly geared towards the preschool and Kindergarten age; but my 6 year old really enjoyed it.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

$2 Baja Fresh Bowl




After David Kim, the CEO of Baja Fresh, appeared on Undercover Boss; he learned how hard it is to work front line of the restaurant. He is using his pain for our gain in giving us a Baja Bowl for just $2. I don't know how much these bowls normally cost - maybe around $6? Looks like this deal is pretty good! Click here for your coupon. Expires Apr. 24th.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

More Crafts and Ice Skating




I only had to go into work for half day today; so I was able to go and take the girls to another Michaels craft day of decorating Easter pails. They spent quite a bit of time making their pails looks beautiful.


After crafts, we went to take my oldest daughter to try out an ice skating class. She put on her skates and helmet, then hobbled over to the skating rink. I was nervous for her as she was stepping out onto the ice with an ice walker they provide as help for the newbies. She got onto the ice and they quickly took away everyone's walker :( Then, I got even more nervous. The teacher had them walk like Frankenstein with their arms extended out, walking very slow. It was kind of funny to watch the kids walk like that and fall all over the place. My daughter was doing great for her 1st time out on the ice; but I couldn't tell if she was having fun or getting frustrated. After the class was over, my nerves calmed down. My daughter said she loved the class! So, off to sign her up for a few days of ice skating camp in the summer.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Crafts & Cheap Movies


I didn't see any frugal fun things to do this weekend; so I thought we could go check out the "cheap movie theatre"; Valley Plaza 6 in North Hollywood. But, at the last minute, I saw that Michaels was doing a free craft day with Color Explosion Coloring; so we did that.


Then, I saw that Screamin Daily Deals had a deal on Ice Skating Camp. I had been looking into ice skating camp for my 6 year old for a summer activity. She has never stepped foot on ice and I wanted her to try it before I spent money on camp. We got down to the ice station to check it out. They said she could try out a class for $10; but the next class available was Sunday. My daughter was so disappointed she couldn't go ice skating right then and there.


We had a little bit of extra time in the day; so we decided to go to the cheap movie theatre. Tickets are only $3 each; but if you go on Tuesdays, they are just $1.50. They also have $1 hot dogs everyday! Pretty enticing, huh? I felt a little guilty spending $12 on movies; but it was the original plan for the day and the kids remembered the plan. And it is very rare for us to go the the movies; so, off we went.


I've never been to this theatre; so I was a little skeptical on what this theatre would look like since the prices were so cheap, didn't show new releases and located in North Hollywood. We get there, and its exactly how I pictured it. It's pretty run down. They take cash only and you pay at the concession stand. My girls had to use the bathroom. Ugh. What kind of surprises would I find in there? Just as I thought... filthy. They tried to repair a hole in the floor with a piece of cardboard taped on. But that patch didn't work, cuz it looked like someone just stepped on it and put a hole in the middle to expose a muddy, water filled hole. We finally get out of the bathroom and to the seats. The seating area wasn't too bad; but obviously it was no Kodak theatre. We saw Gnomeo and Juliet. It was cute and entertaining. Despite my review of this movie theatre, I would still probably go back because I can't pass up $3 a ticket. I just have to try my best to avoid that bathroom.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Free Fruit Pie


A nice warm FREE apple sounds good! The weather is supposed to be cool on Friday; so this dessert will hit the spot.


If you don't want to share the site with friends; you can also get the coupon at ralphs.com in their new electronic coupon page. I love electronic coupons! You don't have to worry about forgetting the clipped ones. Just click on the ones you want and they get loaded onto your grocery club card.

Friday, April 1, 2011

April Fools Dinner


My girls loved the April Fools dinner I gave them last year, which was an Oreo cookie dinner with a breakfast for dessert.

This year, I wanted to do something a little different using the same concept. My 6 year old wanted a fruit salad to be apart of the special dinner. I couldn't believe my ears. She actually asked for something healthy to eat. I made sure to incorporate a fruit salad into the dinner. Here was the dinner menu.

Appetizer: Fruit salad (bananas, apples and strawberries over angel food cake, covered with whip cream.

Dinner: Eggs (melted marshmallow with a yellow M&M in the middle) & bacon (a mini Milky Way smashed and stretched out. This idea was from Family Fun. (Picture above shows different ingredients to make the same dish)

Dessert: Scrambled eggs and an English Muffin

April Fools!