Last week was an adventurous one around here. Most of the kiddos were spread out here and there. One was at camp, two of them with one set of grandparents and two more with another set of grandparents. CJ was the only one home most of the week, but there was a reason.

I went in for minor surgery on Tuesday. It honestly wasn’t a big deal and I have felt very good all week despite it, as long as I don’t overdo. Add to that the insanity that is called ‘signing up a child for high school’ though, in addition to daily life with 6 boys and things definitely feel a little more nuts.

As we head out of summer and into yet another fall/school year I am gathering many many very fun ideas and products to share with all of you. So, after taking a lot of time off from blogging this summer I am definitely looking forward to the exciting things I have planned for you very soon.

I am going to be featuring a couple of weeks of giveaways and now is definitely the time to start spreading the news! Next week we will be having a Back To School Bash. The fun thing is, this bash will offer great items and ideas for kids AND moms!!!

Then two weeks later I will be offering several super fun and exciting products and ideas mainly for the grown ups (though there might be a few items for little people thrown in as well)!!  Feel free to join in the festivities during my Hooray for Fall Week!  I’m so looking forward to it and hope that I can squeeze everything in to the one week for each that I have alotted.

Here’s your chance to get a jump start on extra entries!

1. Have a blog? Mention my Back to School Bash (August 30 – Sept 3) and/or my Hooray for Fall Week (Sept. 13th – Sept 17th).  Once the giveaways come around for each event simply leave a separate comment with a link to your blog post as an extra entry.
2. Tweet it! If you use twitter, feel free to tweet about these events to let everyone know with a link back to AFrogInMySoup.com and in addition to the extra entry you usually get for tweeting each giveaway you’ll get yet another entry for any giveaway you choose to enter.
3. Share on Facebook! yep, if you choose to let your friends on facebook know about these events with a link back to the site you will get yet another entry.

These options offer you an additional three entries PER giveaway that you choose to enter during both giveaway weeks! (yes you are welcome to cheer). Until I have a better way for giving each of you lots of entries with one submission I am afraid that you will have to leave a separate comment for each qualified entry for each giveaway.

Not every review featured during those weeks will offer a giveaway, but there are some amazing products out there that I simply felt you all should know about.

I am loving the idea of cooking breakfast cookies and healthy muffins for my kids to start the day. Now, before you start thinking that I’m losing it, I just want to say that when looking at the ingredients and giving it a lot of thought, I realized that there’s a lot of energy, protein and nutrients to be found when you choose the right recipe.

I’m talking a little more about this next week at Mom Central Food but I wanted to share some thoughts here as well. Here’s an amazing breakfast cookie recipe from Food Network, but there are tons more to be found as well.

Breakfast Cookies

(Ellie Krieger, Food Network)

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup (1 small jar) strained carrot baby food
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup bran cereal flakes
• 1/3 cup raisins
• 1/3 cup walnut pieces, lightly toasted in a dry skillet for 2 minutes, until fragrant and chopped

Directions

Place rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Whisk together flours, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a medium-sized bowl.

Combine butter, oil and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on high speed, scraping down sides if necessary, until sugars have dissolved and mixture is light in color, about 1 minute.

Add egg, carrot puree and vanilla and beat an additional 30 seconds.

Add flour mixture and beat an additional 30 seconds.

Add oats, flakes, raisins and walnuts and mix over low speed just until incorporated. Dough will be slightly sticky and less cohesive than traditional cookie dough.

Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Using between 3 to 4 tablespoons of batter, form a ball and place on cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining batter, leaving about 3 inches between cookies.

Wet hands and use palm of hand to flatten cookies until about 1/4-inch thick.

Bake for 12 minutes, until cookies are fragrant but still soft. Let cookies cool slightly, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Creating memories is something that summer is capable of offering us unlike any other time of the year.  Although there are some families that will go away on an extravagant vacation, you do not need to feel like you are slighting your children if that’s something you can’t do!!

I know that for us, a day-cation is all we can usually pull off with a family of 8.  As I was doing a little writing this week for Mom Central Food, I had yet another fun summer adventure idea that is so simple yet memorable that I had to share it with you.

This week, my posts at Mom Central Food are very Fruit and Summer focused.  One of them is about Smoothies and offers a great Blueberry Banana Smoothie recipe, and the other is all about making homemade popsicles.

But here’s the super fun part, you can create an amazing experience for your children just centered on making them fresh homemade popsicles. How? you may ask….. Here’s how to create a Fruity Summer Adventure for your kiddos.

• Find a local farm that has a u-pick area. Check for season information so you know what berries are available when.
• Tip: Go in the morning, fairly early with well fed children that aren’t desperate for a nap. This also avoids being caught in what can often become unbearable heat if you aren’t careful about your timing.  Make sure to still bring sunblock and hats for all.
• If you aren’t familiar with picking berries, most farms will have an employee that can tell you where to go to find them and even basics on how to pick them.  If you don’t bring your own containers for the harvest you pick, most farms will have them available there. Tip: Keep in mind that what you picked gets weighed before you pay so although this is intended to be a fun experience for the kids, don’t let them pick the field dry (hehe).
• Once you get home from berry picking {tip: you will have some very colorful and sticky little ones so you may want to bring along wipes for the trip home}, you will want to start by cleaning the berries thoroughly.
• From here you simply process the berries as needed. If they are for smoothies, lay them on a cookie sheet and stick them in the freezer for 1 to 2 hours until firm then move them to a gallon size zipper bag for storage and return to the freezer. If you are using them for popsicles you can simply store them in a container in the fridge until you are ready to make the popsicles {tip: best if you can use them within a day or two for freshness}.

The best part about all of this is that the kids were involved in the process from start to finish.  They can help with not only the berry picking, but consider taking them to the store with you to pick out the other ingredients (if necessary for the intended purpose), and even have them help (or watch) you puree the fruit and make their treat!!!

Kids love this and they love being involved. It makes them feel important and “big”!  They are far more likely to try anything that they have been involved in the creation of, so for picky kids that aren’t used to what you are making this is a great way to try new things.  You can’t go wrong when you know what’s in your children’s food.

Overall I think this is a fantastic way to create a very fun and memorable summer experience for your children.

Earlier this week I wrote about the different summer activities I have in mind. Of course, as any mom knows, going on any day-long expedition with kids means that food must be part of the plan or you will have very grumpy kids.

Buying food while out and about may be an option for some, but not only do I find it terribly expensive (two tweens and a teen who eat a ton aren’t cheap to feed), but I also find it to be quite inconvenient. So packing up the troops with great food for lunch and snacks is a must.

Costco and I are great friends through the summer in particular! So when I was sent a summer snack pack with Fruit Rollups and Nature Valley granola bars I was very excited (though they didn’t last long at all around here).

Nature Valley Chewy Trail Mix Bars are filling and nutritious and in my boys’ opinion (well ok and mine) very yummy. Packed with almonds, peanuts, raisins and cranberries these will stick with kids and their activities.

Simply Fruit Roll-Ups come in a variety pack of strawberry and wildberry flavors. Made with 90% real fruit and fruit juice, your kids are getting a full serving of fruit with each roll-up. They are also gluten-free.

Personally though I wouldn’t stop there! Because those two options are a little higher in the sugar content department, I’d definitely stock up on drinks (horizon organic chocolate milk, yum), crackers, fresh fruits and veggies, homemade trail mix and much more to make sure that I’m not caught empty handed when the hungries strike one of the boys and we’re at the zoo.

Giveaway

I am so very excited to offer one lucky reader the same snack pack I received which includes 1 box of Simply Fruit Roll-Ups (42 ct), 1 box of Nature Valley Chewy Trail Mix Bars (48 ct) and a $25 Costco gift card.

To enter, simply leave a comment below telling me all about your favorite snack foods to pack when your family goes on a day-long adventure.

Want extra entries (of course I do that!)? Here’s what you do, just make sure you leave a NEW comment for each new entry!

• Become a Facebook Fan of A Frog In My Soup!!!
• Tweet It: Just tweet this giveaway with a link to this post and make sure your comment has your twitter handle in it.
• Blog It: Write a post about this giveaway (with a link to this post of course) on your own blog, make sure your comment has a link to your post.
• Stumble It, Kirtsy It, Digg It, Submit to Mommy Blips: Submit this giveaway to any of these sites and earn an extra entry for each one…and make sure your comment has your Username.

It is void where prohibited, be sure to read my giveaway policies here.  Be sure to enter by July 6th, 2010.  This giveaway is open to US addresses only.

Disclosure: I always give honest and forthright reviews and will not present something that poses a conflict of interest &/or that I do not like.  MyBlogSpark contacted me on behalf of General Mills and asked me to review the items listed in the review…these were provided to me in order for me to offer you with an honest review of their product. You can read my full disclosure policy here.

I’m sure you’ve seen the word around, it is all the buzz this summer in particular.  If you are anything like me though, you may be just a tad slow on the uptake and not so sure what a staycation is or what to do on one.

For starters, a staycation is where you stay at home but pretend you’re on vacation.  What you do while you’re on your staycation is entirely up to you.  The beauty of it is that it costs you next to nothing compared to a normal family vacation, and you can tailor it to the exact likes of your family.

So often families don’t explore the area they live in, their town or those nearby and we realize later on that we have missed out on some fantastic opportunities.  This is the perfect way to remedy that situation!

For a family of 8 the idea of vacationing is even more complicated…and expensive, so this is something that we have been doing for years (though I had no idea I was in on a trend or what to call it LOL).  Over the next several weeks I will be sharing staycation and mini vacation ideas to keep your family entertained for a much lower price.

Almost all of the ideas I will share are day trips, if you choose to make them overnighters, the expense will increase significantly, but if it’s in your budget it’s still a cheaper way to go than spending an entire week away.  Every family has different faves and needs, so what I will share is pretty basic and will obviously be influenced by where I live (for instance, I live near many lakes as well as the ocean).

So, as we head out on several different day (and even one weekend) trips locally, I’ll be sharing them with all of you…the pros, cons, cost and all from the perspective of a large family.  Feel free to share your ideas with all of us as well .  If you live in the Pacific Northwest (or know someone who does), this will be especially helpful for them!!

Froggy Frugal Tip: Spread out your family’s clothing, shoes and household expenses.

It’s funny how you sometimes don’t realize that you have a great tip because it happens to be every day life for you…well, this is one of those times.  This time we’re looking at ways to budget in and spread out shopping for these expenses to help you save money and even time!  Keeping in mind of course that every once in a while there will be a sudden need (for instance if your sons decide to use your measuring cups in the sandbox then throw them in the creek when they are done with them – no, I’m so not speaking from experience *sigh*).

For those of you who want to move to the meat and potatoes of this tip and avoid all the fluffy stories and ramblings of Me, here they are:

• If you don’t already have it factored in, set an amount for clothing into your budget on a regular basis.
• Keep a running list of the items needed around the house.  Particularly kids clothes and shoes and kitchen tools (these seem to be the main things that need to be purchased most frequently).
• Check regularly for these items.  Either plan a trip to your favorite store (online or in your town) or peek at that list before you make a trip to a store like Costco or Fred Meyer and spend a few moments going through the clearance sections of that store.  I like the latter option only because it isn’t out of the way and doesn’t require any extra trips or time out of my schedule.
• Stick to the basics – what do your children really need?  Make a list of the basics that they need to have on hand and stick to that list.  It may seem simplistic, but for those of us who cannot afford (or for heavens’ sake, even have the room) for each of our children to have 5 pairs of shoes and 6 pairs of designer jeans, this is definitely the most frugal and sensible way to go.

A couple years ago I began purchasing clothing and shoes year round.  Now, for some families this is not a problem and they do this type of thing simply to keep their 2.2 children in the latest fashions, that is NOT what I’m talking about.  No, I’m talking about the fact that even though money is tight, we cannot completely rely on birthday and Christmas gifts to get them through the year (or a month for that matter), especially the children that are growing fast, or who happen to have a need.

For example:  a need when the child that has one pair of tennis shoes and decided to wear them outside to play one day and “happened” to stumble down to the creek…thus making said pair of shoes completely worthless as something that can be worn to go anywhere (well, they could wear them out, but everyone they pass would pass out from the stench).

Another example: our oldest son has been grown 8 1/2 inches in the last 2 years (5 inches from August ’07-Sept ’08 alone and he does most of his growing in Feb./March & July/August ).   Yup, AAAAAAH!  Trying to keep up with that human weed has been nearly impossible.  Add to that the fact that he is now a teenager and starting to have some definite ideas about what he’s comfortable in and what he likes to wear (style-wise).  So, if I were to try and purchase him an entire wardrobe, I’d be spending hundreds of dollars every 3 months…on only ONE of my SIX sons!

Every family is so different…in size and financial status…so it is impossible to give one set solution that will work for all of you.  I’m not saying that there aren’t a couple times per year that I do a little more focused clothes purchasing, but for the most part it will be completely spread out.

We do have a fair amount of hand-me-downs to go around, but depending on how many boys they have gone through (some of the clothes start as far up as my 18 year old brother and just work their way through the group) and how rough one particular boy may be on their clothes, there will always be someone that needs something.

Back to school is a great opportunity to get some basics and we have a pretty set list of things that we purchase for the boys at that time … but ONLY if they need it!  Otherwise, I’ll spread out the purchasing based on how often my hubby gets paid.

I shop at Fred Meyer almost once per week.  They always have some clearance on hand (actually, I think there is ONE week per year that they do not), sometimes their clearance is as much as 60% off.  I know that there are other stores that run great deals, like Kohls, but personally I have ONLY found good deals on clothing for my husband and oldest son.  I do not pay more than $20 to $25 on a pair of Sketchers (not that I buy name brands often, but it’s a good example of the savings when these shoes usually cost about $50)…but typically I don’t spend more than $10 to $15 on a pair of shoes period!  Know your store, they will almost always have the clearance clothing and shoes in the same areas of each department, so don’t even bother going to the other parts, just the clearance.  You can go through these sections every time you are at the store and pick up only the things your family needs and would love.

This is just one recommendation though.  Many people live very close to some great secondhand stores.  I do not, but my sister can almost always find brand new or like new clothes for her children at these stores!

When I was contacted about the USTA and their great Jr. Team Tennis programs I have to admit that I was absolutely shocked that until that moment I had no idea there was a national team tennis association for children!  My hubby played tennis all through high school and he loved it.

May is tennis month and I’m so happy to introduce you to Jr. Team Tennis!   If the cost of most sports has been keeping you from putting your children in sports, tennis may be the perfect fit for your family.  When compared to the cost of other sports with equipment, tennis is about 50% less expensive because all that’s needed is a racquet and a ball.

Children ages 6 to 18 can participate in Jr. Team Tennis through USTA. Want to find a team in your area, make sure you visit their website for all that information.  If you find that there isn’t a team in your area, you can even find out how to start one!  They have all the information you need right there to get your kids playing and learning!

More than 80,000 kids participated in Jr. Team Tennis in 2008, and tennis is currently the fastest growing traditional sport in the country with 27 million participants this year (according to the 2008 USTA/Tennis Industry Association study conducted by the Taylor Research Group).

Their site also offers great information for your family to start playing!  When they sent us a racquet and balls for our ENTIRE family (yes, including the three year old twins), I was thrilled and thought it was very fun that my husband was also very excited.  First chance we got we headed out to the nearest park with some great tennis courts and the kids loved it.

Our 9 and 10 year olds played with the 5 year old on one court and our 13 year old played against dad (and did shockingly well I might add) on the other court.  They are all BEGGING me to go again…”but can we find someone to watch the little kids next time please mom”.  They don’t want to be limited to just a half hour of play time.

Since my husband has so much experience in the tecniques of playing tennis, he’s the perfect teacher for all the boys and they are picking it up very fast, but even if you aren’t well versed in the ins and outs of tennis, USTA’s Jr. Team Tennis website offers great information for you to read through and begin to teach your children.

It is so fun to just keep our huge box of tennis stuff ready in the back of our Yukon so that anytime it’s nice we can just pack everyone up and hop on over to the tennis courts that are easily accessible at the park in town.  When they say that it’s affordable I wholeheartedly agree.

And Yes, the photo to the left IS what it looks like to have racquets for a family of 8 (Hubby’s racquet isn’t pictured here though – we still have to get it out of storage).

Want to get started too?  Well, I’m thrilled to tell you that the USTA is offering one VERY lucky commenter the opportunity to win tennis racquets and balls for your family!

To enter, just go to their Jr. Team Tennis Website and take a look around…maybe even check to see if there are any teams in your area.  Then when you’re done, come back here and leave a comment telling us the ages of the little “would-be” tennis players in your home, or if there’s a team near you.

To gain extra entries remember to tweet, stumble, kirtsy or post and leave a comment for each extra thing you do.  You can read about all the extra entry opportunities here as well as my giveaway policies.

This giveaway will end on June 4th and is void where prohibited.  Open for US entries.

As you can imagine, one of the first comments or questions I get from people when they find out I have 6 sons is about the cost of food.  I don’t blame people for wondering, and even old friends ask it when they see how big CJ is getting!

Believe it or not, as crazy as it may sound, we feed our family nicely on a budget that is the same as or smaller than that of families half our size!  Yes, seriously!  My problem is that I tend to not discriminate between “food” expenses and overall “household” expenses, the entire receipt from my weekly shopping trip at my local Fred Meyer is factored in.

Most people do not factor this in and I totally understand that.  There are often times when I make a trip to the store specifically for clothes and shoes and a minimal amount of groceries, and then there are also the crazy huge Costco shopping trips, so I guess I figure it all averages out right?  Bottom line is that when I say that I typically spend between $150 and $200 per week, that dollar amount tends to include everything, sometimes even clothes or shoes.

Anyway, back to the subject at hand LOL.  Feel free to listen to the following podcast for my entire lineup of tips and tricks on saving money in your family’s food budget.  From putting together the Menu and shopping list to even tackling the shopping trip itself, this podcast covers it all (well, pretty much).

I really did want it to be a short little diddy (as mentioned in the end of the feature), but there was no way to truly limit it that much…so, sit down with a cup of coffee or tea when the kiddos are down for a nap and join us in Grocery Budget Tips and Tricks 101!

 

 Food Budget Tips and Tricks: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Looking for yet another way to go Green?  Amazingly enough, Digi-Scrapping is a great place to start!  All digiscrap kits can be used again and again and do not use any paper or other resources.  Most kits are so versatile that you can even use just one Digiscrap kit for an entire book of scrapbook pages!  You only print out the pages you’re going to put in your books.   I have saved a TON of money scrapbooking this way!

This page was designed using Meredith Cardall’s adorable new kit: Whoo Loves My Boy?

Featuring the one and only Bug!  He was about 9 months old in these photos… such a sweetie!

Are you ready?  Do you even acknowledge Earth day?  Some of us do and some of us don’t.  For our family it’s all about balance…oh yeah, there’s that word again!

I think it’s vastly important that we take care of this amazing planet God created!  As good stewards I believe it’s our job to care for and clean up any messes we have made to retain the integrity of the beauty around us.

So, what is Earth Day…here’s the technical answer:

Earth Day began on April 22 more than 30 years ago when Senator Gaylord Nelson decided that it was important to teach everyone, especially children, about our environment. He wanted to be sure that people understood how important it was to take care of our planet.

Many people will use this day to raise awareness about global warming, endangered animals, recycling, local business support, harmful chemicals and their effects, or they may simply plant a tree. Though all of these are fine in their own right, many of them are justa little over most of our heads!

So what can we do for Earth day with our families that makes more sense?  Let me answer that by telling you just a little bit about what we do.

No, we don’t make a big deal out of Earth day per se, it is a great platform though to learn new things about our earth and to think any other things we’d like to add to what we regularly do.

Most of my suggestions boil down to one thing…make smart purchases.  I could go on all day about the changes you can make in your purchasing that are more environmentally friendly. I am responsible for almost all purchases around here, so whenever possible I do purchase things that preferrably fall into three categories…Natural, Organic & Local.   This especially goes for food and household products (detergents, etc).  This is one of the easiest places to make a change!  Most local supermarkets and many of the warehouse stores offer a wide variety of organic/natural choices that are very affordable options.

You will find that some of it is simply a matter of trial and error.  You may have to go through a few different brands before you find the one that works best or is most comparable to your regular name brand product.  Definitely look for environmentally safe products, but keep in mind…just because the brand says “natural” or “organic” in it doesn’t mean that the product is actually natural or organic.  You have to look for that information in the labeling, NOT the name!

Food: When you are buying food, make sure you look for the organic label, but also make sure that the items are in containers that are easily recyclable.

Recycling: Make recycling a regular thing in your home.  My 5 year old shocked me one day when he was just 3 years old by holding up an empty can and asking me where the recycling bin had been moved to.

Chemicals:  Always keep in mind that the chemicals you use in your home get sent out into ground and our waterways (in our case, a creek just feet from the house).  Something that many parents aren’t aware of though that is potentially an even bigger deal is that the chemicals in everything in your home are absorbed into all your family members’ skin!  Shampoo, soap, detergents, cleaning products and even the chlorine in our water.  If you have a child who suffers from any respiratory issues, remove all bleach from your home – yes, I’m totally being serious!  Do a little research on it and you’ll quickly discover why.

Those are three quick and easy ways to simply incorporate a greener lifestyle into your family’s day.  You’ll be preserving the precious planet we have been given and you’ll be offering your family a healthier home and healthier foods.