100 and going....

strong? Ummm, not so much. Wanting to go strong...yes, please.

I just realized this is my 100th post and I can honestly say I am a bit surprised at my lack of posting for the last few months. I really look forward to spending more time documenting those great moments that happen in our family that I'm afraid I'll forget, the awesome deals that make my adreneline sing, and the kitchen adventures that are always happening around here. However, for the last few months I've been focused on growing a baby, raising a toddler, and being a wife. Beyond that I try and keep the house somewhat liveable, spend more time at my part-time job than I'd like and try and keep in touch with friends and family. These last three things have been pretty sad lately, too.

I know I'll get back into posting more regularly and hope that those that enjoy what I write will stick with me. I know I love reading about others I know in life and on-line...blogs are awesome and I want mine to be that way too! These days I am just doing the best I can and that has to be good enough for now. As the poems all say, the babies don't keep and pretty much everything else does.

The last couple of weeks we've been able to do a few fun things as a family that I should document here at some point. I am all about keeping things frugal as we raise our kids!

We attended the Insider's Weekend at the zoo. We were able to return a Christmas gift that wouldn't work for us and used the money to buy a zoo pass. We got in and parked for free. Most of the tours were beyond Little Guys grasp, but the two we did were very interesting. We saw the animal's winter/night quarters, heard about what they ate, how they are cared for, and got really, really close to a moose's nose and met a creature that was very curious about us. We need to look up what it was, but it looked somewhat like an anteater on steroids without the long tail. It was a bit cold and snowy, but that meant the crowd was minimal and Little Guy could get up close to see the animals that were out and about. (Savings $34.50)

We went to Neighborhood Night at Betty Brinn's Children's Museum. We just learned about this from a birth class buddy. The third Thursday of every month the museum is open from 5-8pm for free. Parking is in a city garage, but you get $2 off with a voucher from the museum making it only $4. We had no idea what to expect as Little Guy can be quite shy in unfamiliar settings lately. We met up with the other mom and her little guy and went into the 3 and under area. What a ball! After a few minutes playing at the sand table with us right behind him Little Guy was comfortable heading out all over the place. There were times we could hardly keep up with where he was! He loved the hose wheel in the potting shed, the mushroom drums by the tree, the two slides, the sand table and pretty much everything the area offered. We walked through the rest of the 'museum' on our way out and discovered some areas that he would really enjoy at this point. Technically they are for older kids, but he is into trains and train tables and also anything musical so those areas work for him even at a younger age. What a great resource this is for the community and I'm so grateful that we will be able to enjoy it often without spending much money. (Savings $20)

Tomorrow we are heading to an event at a local candy factory after church. They are doing tours, handing out there famous whipped creme eggs, and doing pictures and activities with Mr. and Mrs. Easter Bunny. Since we didn't do anything like this at Christmas we figured we'd give it a whirl. And free chocolate always interests us. They do not normally give tours unless in groups of 10 or more and children under 10 are not admitted. If not for this event, it wouldn't be a family friendly place for us at this point. However, tomorrow it will be! (Savings $10, actually more since we'd need to get a sitter too)

I love spending time as a family doing unusual (for us) things that do not cost a lot of money. The pressure is off and we can have a good time, but if things melt down we do not feel like we have to stay. Wonderful when you have a toddler!

Have a great weekend,
Heather