Capturing A Leprechaun

It's Wednesday, and that means it's WFMW over at Rocks In My Dryer. I almost didn't participate, but then I remembered that next Monday, everyone is a little bit Irish, so I thought I'd share what the Monsters and I do to celebrate.

I am Irish...my grandfather was a first generation American and my mother grew up in a town that was Irish-Czech in its history. So there is a lot of pride in their Irish history. However, my Irish has been severely diluted by the addition of my dad's German heritage and the Monsters are a Heinz 57 mix due to the conglomeration of their father's heritage.

When the Monsters were little, I decided to make a big deal out of St. Patrick's Day and pull that piece of our history into the Monsters' lives. It started out with green milk at dinner and little pieces of chocolate disguised as gold coins left around the house.

However, one year the Monsters were taught at day care that if you catch a leprechaun, he must give you his pot of gold. The Monsters immediately conceived the idea of creating a "trap" to catch a leprechaun on St. Pat's. Before they go to bed on the 16th, they set up their "trap", and "bait" it with "gold" The gold has been anything from yellow Lego pieces that I invariably step on the next morning, to torn strips of yellow construction paper.

The first year the Monsters thought of this idea, I thought it was very clever. They thankfully had been talking about it for days before St. Pat's, so I was able to stop by Target and pick up some sort of a "prize" for each of them. I've been doing that ever since, but now the prizes have escalated to CDs or other items more enjoyed by pre-teens than toddlers.

The Monsters have never caught the leprechaun who visits our home. Each year, they wake up excited to see if they have, but they find that their "trap" has been demolished and Sean the Leprechaun leaves them a note telling them "Good Try!". Sometimes Sean's friend Paddy stops by instead. This fueled their excitement the first year, and the traps have grown more elaborate ever since. Their single-mindedness toward catching Sean was very much like their excitement in waiting for Santa.

Both of the Monsters now know (or are at least very suspicious in the case of my 10 year old) that the Easter Bunny, Santa, the Tooth Fairy and Sean the Leprechaun are not real, but the magic of St. Pat's continues the tradition of creating a trap and Sean leaving a prize. It's something that I've come to look forward too, almost as much as the Monsters, and I hope it is a tradition that they continue when they have children.

So that's what works for me when it comes to celebrating St. Patrick's Day. Head on over to Rocks In My Dryer to see what works for other busy Bloglandians.

Until later...

Wedding Gift Help

It's Wednesday, and that means it's WFMW over at Rocks In My Dryer. This week however, it's a back-wards WFMW and that means that you can offer help and tips to those of us needing questions answered.

We've all been under the weather for the past two weeks and there were times when I'd have felt better if someone had just placed me in a coffin and buried me. Luckily, that's behind us...or at least it seems that way.

Unfortunately, it means that my grandiose plans for my cousin's wedding gift will not come to fruition. I just don't have the time any longer to cut out and put together the quilt I'd planned. You might ask why I left it until so late, but I'm a card-carrying member of Procrastinator's Anonymous, so that explains everything.

So, I need help. Besides cash (which I may have to fall back on), what is your favorite wedding gift to give? And what was the best gift you were given when you were married? You know, the one that really meant the most to you, the one that makes you think fondly of the person who gave it to you every time you see it.

Any help would be appreciated on this! I think the illness stripped all creative juices from my brain.

There's more help to be given over at Rocks In My Dryer this week too, so head over there and see if you can help anyone else out!

Until later...

Keeping To A Grocery Budget

As I'm sure you've come to expect, Wednesday means time for a new installment of WFMW! This week, it's being hosted by Don't Try This At Home because Rocks In My Dryer is in Uganda on a live-blogging relief mission.

So...what works for me this Wednesday? Well, I decided at the end of summer that I was going to make more of an effort to make and stick to (and that's the hard part of me!) a budget, especially a grocery budget. It shames me to admit that last year we ate more than our fair share of crap and that might account for the fact that my arse has expanded to unknown proportions!

So this year, I created a budget. I'm still fine tuning it, as I find things that I really should budget for, but when it comes to the grocery portion, I'm doing exceptionally well.

What's working for me, is that each Sunday, I create a menu for the following week, run out to the grocery store, pick up what I need for those meals, and I don't go back until the following Sunday. Not once. That means I'm not tempted to pick up a quick fix for dinner, or stop at McDonald's on the way home, because I KNOW what is for dinner when I wake up in the morning. It's not a scramble to try at 5pm to dream up something for the monsters to eat.

I'm hoping to stretch this to a two week shopping excursion shortly. Then all I'll have to pick up (maybe) in between major trips is milk. But for now, I'm doing very well on a weekly plan.

I've got another tip for creating menus, but that will have to wait until next week. Because this Wednesday, keeping to my grocery budget is what works for me.

Head on over to Don't Try This At Home to find out what works for others in Bloglandia.

Until later...

Shopping!

It's funny how much I've started looking forward to Wednesdays. They used to be just another day to go to work, but now with WFMWs, I have a lot of new hints to look at, which might help out my busy little family.

This week however is all about online shopping. The mall used to be my life. From the time I was in Junior High until sometime in my twenties, I could spend hours, if not days, in the mall.

Now? Now, I prefer to shop in the comfort of my flannel pj pants and a sweatshirt. Most of the time I do it late at night, or early in the morning.

And my favorite sites to browse?

Well there's WOOT which has some decent deals...but only for a limited time. And WOOT's sister site, Shirt WOOT has some cute tshirts now and again. I found Fresh Trend during the holiday shopping season, and it's fun to go and read their blog to see the unique items they've found. Amazon isn't just for books any more, and since I'm usually spending $25 each time I shop, the shipping is free! I've had good luck with Target online, but then I never seem to go wrong with Target, even its brick and mortar stores.

Those are just a few of the online shopping sites that work for me. Head on over to Rocks In My Dryer to see what others in Bloglandia deem their favorite sites.

Until later...

Easiest & Tastiest Chili Ever!

It's Wednesday...it's a balmy -10º on the Hinterland temp guage, and we aren't even going to talk about the wind chill, because I'll cry.

Bugaboo and Mr. A wait all summer for it to get cool enough in the fall so I'll make chili again for dinner. A single pot used to last a minimum of two dinners, but with the boys getting older and finding the access port to their hollow legs, it now stretches to one family dinner and one Nonnie lunch. But this recipe is so easy, that I can throw a pot together even on the most chaotic mornings, and come home later that afternoon to a warm bubbly pot of comfort.

To make it even easier, when hamburger is on sale, I'll fry up five pounds or more, divide the browned hamburger and then freeze it in chili pot portions, so all I have to do is grab a bag out of the freezer on those chaotic mornings.

I got this recipe years ago during one of my wedding showers. All of the guests brought a recipe to help me build up a recipe box for my future family. I don't know who gave me this as I've since lost the original recipe card, but if I could remember, I'd kiss their feet.

So, how easy is the recipe you ask?

A Can of This and a Can of That Crock Pot Chili

1 1/2 lbs hamburger
1 1/4 ounces taco seasoning
2 (10 3/4 ounce) cans condensed tomato soup
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can petite diced tomatoes
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can petite diced tomatoes with jalapenos
2 (15 ounce) cans black beans
1 (28 ounce) can baked beans

Spray crockpot liner with PAM or other cooking spray. Brown hamburger, drain, rinse to remove excess grease and place in crockpot. Sprinkle taco seasoning over the top of the hamburger. Add soup, tomatoes and beans, without draining liquid from tomatoes and beans; mix well. Cover and let simmer on low for 8-10 hours. Serve with cheese, sour cream and tortilla chips.

You can change up the taco seasoning from the mild variety to the hot variety and even use the hot variet chili beans to pump up the heat in this.

That's what works for us this Wednesday. If you're looking for more tips that might help you out, head on over to Rocks In My Dryer for other ideas. Hmmmm...maybe tomorrow would be a good day for chili.


Until later...

Remembering Last Minute Items

It's Wednesday! That means that it is half-way through the week, which is always a good thing. It also means that it is Works For Me Wednesday.

Bugaboo and I have had a hard time this year remembering those projects for school that can't be put in a backpack at night for whatever reason. Dioramas, play-dough that needs to be refrigerated...you know the stuff I mean. There's nothing worse than getting him all the way to school only to have to turn around, go back home and pick up the missing item. Or worse, getting all the way to work and remembering it there...I work too far away to just run home and get it for him.

So Bugaboo came up with the idea that we should write a note and use one of the refrigerator magnets to attach it to the steel garage door. This way, as we're walking out to the garage, we see the note and can remember.

So that's what works for us this Wednesday. If you're looking for more tips that might help you out, head on over to Rocks In My Dryer for other ideas.

Until later...

Helping The Monsters Get Organized

It's Wednesday, and that means it is another installment of Works For Me Wednesday...this week however, it's a backwards WFMW, in that we're asking for help on our blogs rather than offering our own tips.

My dilemma is this: I'm having a difficult time teaching the monsters how to get and stay organized. Their school folders are tattered and filled with crumpled, unnecessary papers and while we go through them monthly, I don't know how to go about teaching the monsters how to stay better organized.

What are your favorite tricks to teaching your children how to keep necessary information in the proper place and how to learn what can be tossed? How do you help them understand the difference, so that they aren't pack rats of school papers?

Any help you could offer would be appreciated, so leave a comment on my dilemma, and then head on over to Rocks In My Dryer to see what help you can offer others!

Until later...

Keeping The Kitchen Decluttered

It's my first WFMW and I've thought and thought about what to share that works for me...

Last Easter the monsters received their loot from the Bunny in a wire basket. Mr. A got a baseball basket, and Bugaboo got a soccer basket. Rather than put the baskets away, I decided to use them in the kitchen.

I'm not sure about you, but the kitchen counter in my house was a catch-all for their stuff. Stuff of all kinds...school papers, things that need to go to their dad's on the weekends, little knex pieces, etc...

I'd been fed up with the piles for a long time, but as I was tossing out the old Easter candy, I realized that the baskets were a great option to helping to keep clutter down. So they now reside on the end of my counter. As the boys empty out their packs at the end of the day, anything that needs my attention goes on the counter. Anything that should go to their dad's that weekend, gets put into their basket until we get the travel bag packed on Thursday.

As I pick up throughout the week, I also put the little odds and ends that I find into their basket. That way, there aren't piles of stuff laying around waiting for attention.

On Thursday as we're getting things packed up for the weekend, I take out the papers that need to go to their dad's and put them into the travel bag. Then whatever remains, the boys know that they need to take down to their room and PUT AWAY. With the baskets being coded by sport to each boy, it is easy enough for them to identify what is theirs and what isn't.

So that's what works for me to at least, in part, keep the clutter in my kitchen more manageable.

Head on over to Rocks In My Dryer to see what works for other busy families.

Until later...