Curious Call of Contests

I am a crazy coupon lady. Some of the best hours of my week are rooting around coupon sites and gathering my lists for shopping, trying to get the little total at the end of the bill to savings of 70 %, or more. That’s my goal anyway. With my freelancing being a rather unstable revenue source and the twins getting older and involved in more expensive activities than free play dates, I need to save where I can. 

Which got me thinking.

When I was little, I supplemented my allowance with rebates and prize drawings I entered by saving my parent’s shopping receipts and soaking labels off soup cans and cutting out barcodes on boxes of cake mix and sending the whole package off with high hopes. It was fun, when I was 10. 

However, I'm older and not a little bit skeptical about contests in the electronic age. Will they sell my info, will I be inundated with phone calls and emails? I did a little research, and there are quite a few impressive contests out there, from $25,000 outdoor makeovers to Caribbean getaways.

I decided to make it a contest for myself. I am going to sign up for and/or play at least five contests a day and see what bounty may be returned to us. 

It could be interesting, could be a giant pain in the ass, but I’m curious to see what comes of my little experiment. I'll post about what I've learned, how to safely maneuver these online info grabbers and other tips I find along the way.

Considering we are careening into the holiday season, it’s a great opportunity to fill our volunteer goodie bags that we give to a local charity at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Mostly it’s been filled with soups and toothpaste I buy for pennies through couponing, but who knows?

I’ll update weekly on any wins, which contests seem to be worth the effort and other tidbits I hope you’ll find interesting.

Here are my top contest picks for the week (if you are interested, I've chosen these for the least amount of personal info and a deadline to sign up by the end of Nov. in most cases):

Caribbean trip

John Deere $25,000 backyard makeover

Domaine $3,000 in prizes

Nabisco win $10,000

Publishers Clearing House $25,000 kitchen makeover

Happy contesting!

Mismatched Socks are a Prized Possession and Other Surprising Twin Tips

People have asked me, those who have twins and those who don’t, what are some of the best tips and things to buy as a new parent. Here’s a start of my list:

Store their socks in their shoes for those days when you are late. I call them every days. 

Buy a sweater organizer for the closet and label the large shelves M-F and put their laundered clothes away there. You then consistently have two, clean, matched sets of clothes for the week all done. Also saves prime drawer space.

Have a bunch of mismatched socks? Keep 'em in a big Ziplock baggie and stash ‘em in the car. It won’t matter if they match if a sock emergency pops up, and there will be a few of those. It’s surprising how handy they can be. They double as napkins for really icky spills and bandages (don't ask, but they really do soak up a lot of, um, fluid).

Load up the fridge with pre-made bottles when they are babies and continue to do that as they toddle on up to the preschool age. At 4 years old, you can leave pre-made juices in the bottom shelves or doors of the refrigerator so they can grab themselves. It will save you many round trips when you are right in the middle of something important. (Tip: If you are wearing the Fitbit or other step-tracking device, skip this tip, you’ll log a good 400 steps easy by mid-morning with all the calls for ‘juice, please!’.)

Time out for both. This can be tricky. When they are both upset over a toy or TV program, take away the object of contention. This saves you a double time out in separate rooms or areas. (Unless, of course, you are use a Fitbit, in which case double time out is a bonus to get to those 10,000 steps!)

A box of their plastic dishes to set the table. Around age 3 they can start to set the table. We live in a small house, so this box saves cabinet space and is really helpful around crazy time, or dinner in our house.

Blanket time. Read to them on their blankets, same blanket, around the same time, and maybe even the same book if it's not too monotonous. Then leave them there with a toy and go do something else for about 15 minutes, longer as they get older. Eventually, they get that when the blankets come out, they need to sit and play quietly until you are done talking on the phone, folding laundry, taking deep breaths in the bathroom for 5 minutes of alone time.

The remnant section at a fabric store is a gold mine of practical textiles that will come in handy at the oddest times. I have found small place mat sized sheets of thin plastic and yards of thick picnic blanket sized heavy duty rolls of polyethylene that have saved my tables, floors and carpets more than a few times, as well as some well-meaning friends who let us come over. The plastic sheets can be used under tiny baby fists as they mash their first solids into their mouths, the table, your hair, and the larger plastic can be tucked under high chairs to catch the spaghetti, tofu or whatever else floats your boat, but usually not theirs, as they traverse their picky palates over the years. They also make for great, temporary, art projects. Pin them to the wall and let your little one go nuts with washable markers, paint or stickers (a fine motor skills task that keeps them out of your hair while you do the dishes, or just sit, oh, yes, just sit). I also throw one in the back of the baby mobile and it has come in handy at parks, play dates and other jaunts we attend outside the havoc of our house.

To reuse -- baby jars come in handy for so many things for so many years, as do the plastic tubs the baby wipes come in (that your friends buy you for the shower, because you are going to run through those wipes, so don't spend the money on the cute container, which never works properly when you have a blowout of the bowel kind).

That's off the top of my head and in short advance of a friend's expected double bundle. 

Any twins moms have tips they'd like to share?

2,000 Steps to Better Parenting

I caved. I said I wouldn’t buy anymore diet gadgets or gimmicks aside from the locally farmed fresh vegetables at the overpriced farmer’s market. 

But I did it. I bought the Fitbit Flex. I had coupons, of course, and money off and money back. I hemmed and hawed until the last day of my store cash and coupons, and then I gleefully drove to the store and picked up the little sucker. I love new gadgets!

I couldn’t wait to test it out. Had to pull the hubby off his project in the garage to get my new little playmate to sync to my computer. The little lights winked hello and my relationship with the Fitbit began. 

I wanted to go slow, get to know each other. I had heard it can be sensitive, and I wanted to appreciate its strengths and weaknesses. 

I didn’t immediately go out and start walking around the block. I wanted this to be a relationship built on reality. And I was seriously curious how much activity I get just from day-to-day stuffs. 

After clasping it to my wrist at 2 p.m. Saturday, I’d logged 8,000 steps by 9 p.m. How is that possible? Sunday, almost 8,000 steps for the whole day. I can't help it. I want to earn badges and show off for my new little tech buddy. It is also getting me to look down at my meals and look up the fat content of Mongolian beef. I eat only half of my lunch at my weekly date with the girls and took the rest home, and I parked far from our dining destination to get a good walk in before I spent the next 4 hours with my friends.

While I didn't trust the Fitbit's assumption of 8,000 steps (if that's correct, then I'll need to walk 20,000 steps a day to get to goal!), I decided to log what we did on a normal day, and when I deviated and did a little more due to the new gadget.

Here’s our normal day:

Bike ride with the twins, but only in front of our house as we wait for the furniture man to arrive.

Wash all the linens and pillows as we wait for the new bed frame. Pull twins out of the pile of pillows more than once and hustle the dogs outside, who also think it’s a great game.

Take pictures of my latest Etsy creations for my shop KimsKnitKnacks.

Morgan wants to throw a ball against the wall. I leave the dishes and join her (something I wouldn't have done without the blinking light on the slim little band around my wrist). We get out the hand rackets and have a blast.

Dishes, finally, two loads of laundry and a romp on the new bed later, we go to the park.

We travel to the purple planet on our spaceship with not one, not two, but three steering wheels so everyone can drive. Jack is the first astronaut to step off the city-funded spaceship and onto the purple planet. We make angels in the tall grass.

We get sugar-free Slurpees and head home.

Jack throws a fit. We take a walk around the neighborhood instead of time out. We discuss his reasoning behind throwing a tantrum. This kid is fascinating, and breaks my heart. We run into new kids playing basketball. We spend some time making new friends.

We come home and head for the couch. But no, let's get ready for dinner together. We grill chicken and cut veggies for the salad. To the Fitbit's credit, and my new steely reserve, I have cut out the pistachios and had a smaller piece of pizza since wrapping this thing on my wrist Saturday afternoon.

At the end of the day, I’ve logged more than 11,000 steps.  

I think this could be the beginning of a healthy relationship.

High Roller is a fun, frugal adventure

A version of this was originally posted at What's On magazine.

A Guide To Vegas For Kids

Take two kids, a reluctant husband and a mommy afraid of heights and slowly spin them 550 feet in the air for 30 minutes. You’ll get one of the best family deals in Las Vegas and a lifetime of lovely memories.

We were so excited to finally be able to ride the High Roller at The Linq. Well, by ‘we’ I mean the shorter half of our family of four. I’ve been to most of the family-friendly attractions in Las Vegas with my 4-year-old twins in tow, but the towering High Roller gave me a bit of trepidation. I’m not one for heights. But my twins are fearless, so up we went. (I used to be fearless, and then I had kids!)

The High Roller at The Linq takes you 550 feet off the ground in a comfortable, spacious bubble for a 360 degree view of the Las Vegas valley, the mountains and exciting Strip action below. And the High Roller’s Family Hour Package offers serious bang for your entertainment buck at $49.95 for two adult and three child tickets, a steal for this frugal mom.

The Family Hour Package includes:
2 adult tickets
3 child tickets
3 High Roller binoculars for guests to keep
3 Juice drinks from the Sky Lounge

At that price, we had to give the glittering ride a whirl. My husband is reluctant to traverse the Strip, which can be difficult with children. But this ride is a breeze to get to either from walking on the Strip or by car or taxi. Once we were handed our tickets from the easy access window at the back of The Linq promenade, we were on the ride in less than a few minutes as we made our way to the platform accompanied by lively music and friendly attendants.

The ride is smooth and the view is fascinating. The twins called out landmarks they knew and asked about new ones they viewed through their sturdy new binoculars. These will come in handy for years! Music and trivia play on flat-screen TVs during your ascent, with a bubbly video host supplying information as you climb to the pinnacle of 550 feet. There is much to talk about as curious little minds take in all of the interesting things they can see, from the airport to Red Rock. This is one of the only places in the country to get this type of experience, and at $10 a person for a family of five, it’s a phenomenal deal.

If you go early in your Vegas stay, you can check out all the places you’re considering going to while you rise over the Strip. It gives you a sense of how much there is to do and see in Las Vegas. And if you decide to make this a cap to end your vacation, it’s a nice way to reminisce about where you’ve been and make plans for your return visit to the Entertainment Capital of the World.

Pinterest worthy: To get the kids to be part of the experience, I quickly drew up “passports” on hotel stationery that had our confirmation number written on it. They tucked them into their pockets and felt they were a big part of the day’s adventure. They carried their passports carefully until we got to the window and handed them off to me, the official ticket-taker for the family.  It will be a nice addition to the scrapbook!

A Study In Contrasts, Twin Style

They are the yin yang twins. Always have been. Even before they were born. She was Mighty Miss, dipping and twirling and punching, while he was Mellow Man, nestled comfortably under my ribs, tucked as far as possible from his sister’s busy body.

She was born kicking and screaming, he asleep. She’s the gas and he’s the brakes.

The surprise is not that they are so different, but how their differences play well together. 

She is always running wherever we are going, clambering onto the jungle gym or into the arms of whoever we are visiting. He takes his time, his head swiveling to take in the tiny mushrooms in the park grass, the construction truck at the stop light, the rippling plastic bag caught high in the tree branches. She runs with the pack, gathering friends with her charm and momentum. He sits back and observes, happy to create his own games, selecting friends prudently. She started talking almost immediately, words and sounds jumbled together but no mistaking her pressing need to communicate with the world around her. He didn’t utter much more than a well-rehearsed raspberry until he was well past the age of 2, each word enunciated the best he could and chosen judiciously.

As a parent, as a new mom, as an observer (which us new moms tend to be), I wondered if they would be friends, if their opposites would conflict fundamentally with what it means to be family.

But it works.

They take turns being vulnerable, shoring up their own feelings to offer strength to the other in times of crisis, such as a doctor visit or class. They comfort each other in tense moments. They sense the other’s discomfort or uncertainty and quietly reach out to comfort them, no words needed. 

On a recent morning on the way to the High Roller, a giant Ferris wheel of Plexiglass cars that fit 40, they were thrilled about the day's adventure, if not a bit pensive. As the giant structure loomed overhead Jack said something quietly in the backseat. Morgan offered to hold hands on the ride. He said he would sit next to her, too, if she got scared. They reached across the car seats and held hands, satisfied that they would be safe. They had each other to lean on.

Is it a duck or a goose? Home School at the Lake

Today we took our little home school outside for a field trip before the deluge.

We took a short trip to the man-made leisure lake a few miles from the little house to discuss webbed feet and the many types of fowl that pop in for a rest while on their way to places south and north, depending on the time of year. 

From our discussions: "It's not a duck, mom, because it has a long neck."

"It could be a fat penguin. But it's just a duck." 

We also saw turtles and fish, which led to a discussion on if fish can swim faster than ducks or geese. Morgan would prefer webbed feet over fins. Jack wants to see a turtle swim up close because they have legs like an elephant. They also decided Graham crackers are better than any other square crackers, but that circle crackers are the best. Quite the educational morning!

We're enjoying home schooling with a mix of unschooling while the little ones are still not eligible for Kindergarten until next year. And then, Kindergarten is only half-day in our state, otherwise you need to pay for full day. So we'll be doing the home school at least through the next two years, and maybe beyond that depending on our situation.

I am loving home school, and the twins seem to be taking to it particularly well. I'll admit it's a little harder than I expected, and we're all learning patience, however each morning they rise the first questions they ask pertain to school and when we can start. 

We have yet to crack open the Clifford the Big Red Dog Science Kit or The Magic School Bus: World of Germs (we're all excited about that one!). There's been too much else to do that has drawn our attention. The weather has been particularly interesting, which played nicely into our unschooling (it really needs a better name, although I believe it was chosen for the shock factor). We are in monsoon season. It can be bright blue skies in the morning and a deluge by noon, halting traffic around the valley and sending the house into sudden darkness as the skies open up and pour ice-cold rain. That started a discussion about summer turning to fall, how hail is formed (and the introduction of a new word they can't get enough of, "sleet") and the dangers of a flash flood.