Cheap and/or FREE Outdoor Fun for the Kiddos.

     Hi guys! I hope you all had a great weekend! Tonight I'm going to share my list of OUTDOOR activities for my 2 year old son, Aidan. As with my INDOOR post Cheap and/or FREE Indoor Fun for the Kiddos. - I will periodically be posting how to's for some of the activities on the list and will also continue adding more activities as I think of or come across them somewhere. =) So let's get started...

OUTDOOR Activities

• Bubbles
• Swing, slide, etc.
• Park or playground.
• Chalk.
• Kiddie pool.
• Go for a walk.
• Hop scotch.
• Piggy back rides.
• Sand box.
• Sprinkler.
• Waterslide.
• Obstacle course.
• Lawn bowling.
• Lawn Jenga.
• "I Spy"
• "Simon Says"
• "Fishing" in kiddie pool.
• Sports.
• "Paint" deck, sidewalk, fence, etc with water and paintbrush.
• Scavenger hunt.
• Fly a kite.
• "Red light, green light."
• Photo shoot.
• Push in wheelbarrow, pull in wagon, etc.
• Ride-on toys.
• Mud pies or sand pies.
• Paint rocks.
• Play "Car Wash"- wash your car, and/or the kiddo(s) ride-on toy or bike.
• Let him/her help with outside chores.
• Water gun fight.
• Water balloon fight.
• Water balloon toss.
• Visit a zoo or farm.
• Dig for fossils. (Go to $ Tree & buy some dinosaur bones in the toy section, plus a couple paintbrushes. Bury them and let him/her dig for them, using the paintbrush to dust away dirt or sand.)
• Catch some bugs, frogs, tadpoles, etc.
• Geocaching.
• Throw rocks in a creek.
• Catch fireflies.
• Pick berries.
• Plant a garden- flowers, vegetables, etc.
• Bird watching.
• Shaving cream slip and slide.
• Collect cool leaves, rocks, etc- make a shadow box.
• Feed the birds.
• Ding-Dong-Ditch and leave a gift for a neighbor.
• Lay in a hammock together. Read a book or take a nap.
• Balance beam.
• Water balloon target practice on the sidewalk, driveway, etc.
• Play "Tag."
• Race each-other. (Run, hop, skip, crawl, etc.)
• Roll down a hill.
• Play "Follow the leader."
• Hide and seek.
• Climb a tree.
• Think "Easter egg hunt" but use other items- cars, trucks, etc.
• Finger paint on a white/light colored shower curtain.
• Investigate things in the yard or woods with a magnifying glass.
• Dig in the dirt.
• Jump in puddles.

Cheap and/or FREE Indoor Fun for the Kiddos.

     As a Mother, I am constantly on the prowl for cheap and/or FREE activities for my almost 2 year old son (Aidan) to do, at home. We typically only get out of the house once/week and there are no other kids close by, in his age-range, to play with. All of my work is done at home- with 2 home businesses- (except my house-keeping job every other week and making deliveries for my online Thrift Store and AVON businesses once/week.) and I also go to school online. However, between the hours of 1pm- 7:30pm - I do not do anything that does not involve my son. The reason I chose to work at home is to be able to spend time with him and not have to miss out on any precious moments. Therefore, I typically stay up half the night working so I can spend those 6  1/2 hours with him, every day. Someone recently asked me how I fit everything into a 24 hour day and still spend so much time with Aidan. The short and sweet answer is, I make it work. Spending time with him and not letting someone else raise him (babysitter, relative, etc) is the most important thing in the entire world to me. So I do what I have to do to make that happen. One day soon I'll post my schedule here for those who are interested. Give you an idea of "a day in the life" lol. But back to the topic at hand- cheap and/or free fun for the kiddos!

     As I was saying, I'm always looking for ideas of things to do with Aidan at home. We don't watch tv and we don't play video-games. The reason we don't watch tv AT ALL is because he doesn't have the patience for it, lol. The only time he'll look at the tv screen is if someone is singing or music of some sort is playing. He loves music and he loves to dance. =) I'm not saying I'll never allow him to play video-games, I enjoy them myself but haven't played in so long I can't even remember when the last time was. It was pre-Aidan, that's for sure, lol. He'll be introduced to video-games eventually, but he most certainly will NOT be a couch-potato!

     I've been wanting to make an actual list of activities, instead of trying to keep them all in my head. So tonight I decided to start on that, and figured why not share it with you guys while I'm at it. Some of these are obvious and some are not so obvious. I'll continue adding to this list, so be sure to keep checking back. I will also do some 'how to" posts soon, for some of the less-obvious activities on the list.

INDOOR Activities

• Finger-painting. ( I tried a recipe for finger-paint a while back that I had found on Pinterest. It did not turn out anything at all like I was expecting. I came across a little set at Hobby Lobby for $3 bucks and just decided to go ahead and buy it. After it runs out I'll be trying a couple more recipes until I eventually find one I'm pleased with. When that happens, I'll share the recipe with you.)
• Drawing.
• Reading.
• Coloring.
• Play-dough.
• Shaving cream- with or without food coloring. (I let Aidan do this is the tub before his bath. He loves it!)
•  Dancing. Turn on the radio, music channel on tv, or sing your own.
• Making music. Use store-bought instruments or make your own.
• Decorating clothes, pot holder, oven mitt, tote bag, etc with fabric paint or fabric markers.
• Splash around in the tub, not because it's bath-time but just because.
• Indoor car wash for matchbox cars. You can use the sink or a casserole dish, in the floor.
• Cook together.
• Let him/her help do chores.
• Blocks. Store-bought or hand-made.
• Indoor obstacle course.
• Bowling. Store-bought or hand-made set.
• Blow bubbles. Store-bought or hand-made.
• "I Spy"
• "Simon Says"
• Puzzles.
• Flash-cards.
• Toy piggy bank with fake coins.
• "Fishing" using a hand-made magnet fishing rod.
• Alphabet magnets on the fridge.
• "Camp Out" in the living room.
• Build a fort.
• "Busy Book" or "Quiet Book"
• Hand-made activity board with hinges, locks & keys, light switches, etc.
• Make "shadows" on the wall or ceiling.
• "Nesting" containers.
• Large empty boxes. Kids love boxes.
• Cars/trucks/dolls.
• Balls- indoor basketball, roll a ball back and fourth, etc.
• String beads, cheerios, etc.
• Attach velcro dots onto the ends of crafting Popsicle sticks. He/she can build shapes, letters, etc with them.
• Practice picking items up with kitchen tongs.
• Hand puppets.
• "Paint" furniture, floor, etc with water and a paint brush.
• Stickers.
• Tearing paper.
• Make a collage.
• Fill a baby-wipe container with scrap material in lots of different colors. Let him/her take them out/put them in till their heart's content.
• Balloon bad-minton.
• Scavenger hunt.
• Make hand-print and/or foot-print art (for gifts maybe?)
• Photo shoot.
• Animals of the day, color of the day, etc. 
• Make jewelry with beads or if you have a mouther, you can use macaroni, fruit loops, or cheerios instead.
• Water color painting.
• Lava floor.
• Indoor picnic.
• Exercize. 
• Play dress-up.
• Tea-party.
• Build with marshmellows and toothpicks.
• Make a hand-made bird feeder to hang outside.
• Hide and seek.
• Play "chase."
• Play "horsey" and give him/her rides through the house. (If your knees can take it- me, not so much...)
• Play free online games. Just type in "free online games for __ year olds." into google.
• Talk into an electric fan. (Don't tell me you've never done this!)
• Do the Hokey-Pokey.
• Play "Red light, Green light."
• Take a nap together.
• Indoor hopscotch.
• Look at photo albums/scrap books.
• Watch a movie and eat popcorn.
• Indoor snow ball fight- with socks.
• Paper airplanes.
• Let him/her give you a make-over with your make-up and hair supplies.
• Legos.
• Let him/her peel masking tape off a table or counter.
• Nerf gun target practice.
•  Plastic cup phones with string.

     On Monday I will start the OUTDOOR Activity list. =)  Thanks for reading! Please take a moment to pin, share, subscribe, comment, etc!

The TRUTH About Working From Home. PART 2.

     Welcome back! I assume you have thought over and answered all of the questions at the end of my The TRUTH About Working From Home. PART 1. post and are ready to move on to the pro's and con's of each option? =) If so, good for you! If not, you really should!

     Work at Home JOB
PRO's

• More reliable income than a home-based business, if you choose a job that pays hourly.
• You may be able to find other employees of the company & get to know them (maybe just online, but still), if socialization in the workplace is important to you.
• No "start up cost" involved.

CON's

• You can not take time off whenever you feel like it, as you can with a home-based business.
• The application, interview, training, and hiring process may take a while- depending on the company and their current needs.
• If the job entails "call center" type work- you will need a quiet area with NO distractions or background noise. This may be difficult (or impossible in my case, lol) for someone with small children and/or barking dogs. 

Home-Based BUSINESS
PRO's

• You have the freedom to set your own schedule & take time off whenever you see fit.
• You can possibly earn more money than with a JOB, the sky really is the limit.
• You do not have a boss hovering over your shoulder or telling you what to do and how to do it.

CON's 

• You will not have a reliable income, especially if your business is in sales. You may earn $2,500 one month and only $400 the next. You will not have someone telling you- if you work x amount of hours this week, I will pay you x amount of dollars. You may work 20 hours a week and earn a full time income...or you may work 70 hours a week and barely pay your rent. 
• You most likely will not see a profit for a little while.

     Con #1 will most likely discourage you and make you not want to "waste your time" trying a home-based business. Please do not let that happen. It is NOT my intention to scare you away from starting a home-based business, in fact- it is the absolute opposite. I encourage everyone who has a dream of being their own boss- to make that dream a reality, no matter what it takes. I wish more people, especially parents, would take the leap of faith required to make this happen for their family. But more than anything, I want to make you aware of all aspects before you dive in head-first with false hopes.

     If someone is trying to recruit you into their business-opportunity (AVON, Celebrating Home, Scentsy, etc etc etc.) promising that you will make $500/week if you put in x amount of hours....they are lying to you. If you are not an employee, you are not guaranteed a specific amount of pay. Period. In a way that is a good thing- you can potentially earn much more than you would at a work at home JOB. But then again- you also may not even earn enough to pay back your investment.

     Of course the harder you work and the more time & effort you put into your business, the more successful you will be. But again, I'm not here to give you false hope- I'm here to give you facts. I want you to have the knowledge to make an informed decision. I don't want you to join a company thinking you are going to make a full time income working part time hours and the pay is going to start instantly. I don't want you to think you can just quit your current job, start a business (whether it's an already-established business opportunity- AVON, Scenty, etc-  or your very own from scratch.) and be able to continue living the lifestyle you were living with the pay from your current job.

     It takes HARD WORK to make a business successful. It takes self-discipline, determination, pride, creativity, and faith- to name a few. You will not have someone telling you to clock in at 8am and out at 5pm. You will not have someone making sure you return to work from your 1 hour lunch break. You will not have 1 "duty" and 1 "duty" alone.  Unless you have the funds available to hire help, you will be responsible for ALL of the duties involved in your business. You will do the advertising, marketing, networking, paperwork and secretarial duties, maintenance, sales, customer service, taxes and accounting duties, etc. You will be responsible for everything. And if you do have the funds to hire help for some of these duties- you will still be responsible for finding, interviewing, hiring, training, paying, and managing those employees. It is HARD work! It is TIME-CONSUMING work! But....it is WORTH IT!!!!

      I am far from being a career counselor or anything of the sort, so you can take my advice however you see fit. But from someone who has been on the hunt for 8 years and has tried multiple business opportunities etc.... here is my advice to you:

     If you are someone who:

• Needs a little "push" at the beginning of the day, start of a project, etc.
• Wants to get our of their current job and start making money at home as soon as possible.
• MUST make a certain amount of money at a certain time.          (And/Or)
• Has no interest in starting and running a home-based business.

I would advise you to go the work-at-home JOB route. 

     If you are someone who:

• Is a self-starter, has self-discipline, determination, creativity, and faith.
• Does not mind having a lot on their plate at once, a lot of pressure on them, etc.
• Can and is willing to invest the time necessary to build a successful business.
• Realizes and accepts the fact that it does take time to build a successful business.
• Can afford to not earn much, if anything, in the beginning. (Has another source of adequate income.)
• Doesn't think, but KNOWS they can do this!

I would advise and encourage you to start a home-based business.

     Regardless of which option you choose, I wish you the VERY BEST! If you have any questions, concerns, or comments whatsoever- feel free to comment on this post.  Keep an eye out for future posts about work-at-home JOBS in which I have heard good things about, ideas for home-based businesses, and much more. Thanks for reading! If you enjoy and/or find my blog useful: please pin, share, follow, comment, and all that jazz! =)

The TRUTH About Working From Home. PART 1.

  

     Over the last 8 years I have been on the hunt for the perfect work at home opportunity. I have tried several different companies, lost some money (not a substantial amount, like others I've heard from, due to my naturally weary outlook on life- lol), and wasted some time.

     The truth is, there really isn't a PERFECT opportunity. Kinda like there isn't a perfect anything, in life.  If someone tries to tell you that the biz opp or job opp that they are telling you about is perfect, they are lying. Plain and simple. I don't care if you find an opportunity out there where you can honestly make $10,000 a month putting in part-time hours (NOOOOOOT very likely. If you do find it, please share the info! Bahaha) there's going to be something about it that you do not like or agree with. Nothing is perfect. It just isn't...  The sooner you realize and come to terms with that fact, the better off you will be.

     That being said, let's figure out exactly what it is that you are looking for... Are you looking for a work at home JOB or BUSINESS? What's the difference? Well, for starters...

With a work at home JOB:

• You will be an Employee. 
• You will have a schedule.
• You will have a boss.
• You will be paid hourly or on commission.
• You will not have to pay a "start-up cost."  There are some companies that require you to pay for your background check. There are other companies that require you to purchase a head-set, get a land-line phone put in, etc. Some will reimburse you and some will not. But if someone asks for actual "start-up costs" for a JOB, run! You should never, I repeat, NEVER- have to pay someone to work for them. EVER!!!!

With a home-based BUSINESS:

• You will NOT be an employee.
• You will NOT have a set schedule. YOU create your schedule.
• You will NOT have a boss. YOU are your own boss.
• You will NOT be paid hourly, ever. 
• You WILL most likely pay a "start-up cost." I hear and read comments from people all the time saying they will not join a company that has a start-up cost or any type of fees whatsoever. Yes, I understand that you are looking for a way to MAKE money and you probably don't have much, if any, money to spare. Yes, I understand that you are afraid of being scammed and don't want to flush what little money you do have, down the toilet. However, you have to understand that if you were to go out and buy/open a traditional brick&mortar store or business of any kind- you would have a start-up fee. You would have overhead costs. How do you think you acquire that building? How do you think you get your supplies? Who you think pays the power, water, insurance, taxes, employees if you have them, etc? YOU DO! That is common sense. So to think you can start any business without having some sort of cost involved- is insane. If you are serious about wanting to start a home-based business of any kind, you need to understand that.

    
     So which one is better? I'll let you be the judge of that. It really depends on what you're looking for and what the needs of you and your family are. How much money do you need to make? How much time do you have to invest?  How important it is that you make a certain amount of money at a certain time? Are you a self-starter or do you need someone to let you know what needs to be done? Are you a quick learner? How much money, if any, can you invest? Before you decide which option to go with, consider all of these questions very carefully.


     Think those things though and keep an eye out for tomorrow night's post about the pros and cons of home-based businesses as well as work at home jobs. =)



    

How to Make Body Wash Out of Bar Soap.

     I hope to soon start making a more NATURAL soap/body wash/shower gel for us to use on a regular basis. However, in the mean time I thought I'd give this body wash a try. You can turn 8 oz. of bar soap into a gallon of body wash! It may not be the most natural option (since you are still using commercial bar soap) but it's definitely a more affordable option than what we've been using. So let's get started, shall we?

Things you will need:

• 8 oz. of your favorite bar soap. (Different brands of bar soap come in different size bars, so be sure to check your bars to see how many oz. they are. You may need 1, 2, or even 3 bars to equal 8 oz.)
• 2 TBS. of Glycerin. (You can find Glycerin along side the medicine, band-aides, etc in most stores.)
• 1 Gallon of warm or hot water.
• 1 empty & clean gallon jug.
• 1 empty & clean body wash, shampoo, conditioner, etc bottle.
• A funnel.
• A wooden or plastic mixing spoon.
• A large pot.

Directions:

• Using a grater or food processor, grate the bar soap as finely as possible.
• Combine grated bar soap, 1 gallon of hot or warm water, and 2 TBS of Glycerin in a large pot.
• Heat the mixture, stirring occasionally, over MEDIUM heat- until you no longer see tiny soap flakes floating in the water. (Note: the more vigorously you stir the water, the more bubbles you will create. I doubt bubbles would cause a real problem with the body wash but I tried to keep the bubbles down to a minimum when making mine.)
• After all of the soap has dissolved & you no longer can see ANY soap flakes in the water, remove from heat. The mixture will just look like extremely soapy water. No worries! It will thicken as it cools!
• Allow to sit, undisturbed, for 12 hours.
• Blend with a hand-mixer, adding additional water if you choose- to reach your desired consistency.
• Fill your empty body wash, shampoo, conditioner, etc bottle using your funnel. Be sure to label the bottle.
• Pour the remaining body wash into the gallon jug, again- making sure to label the jug.
• Enjoy! =) 

I am currently making Irish Spring body wash. Here is a photo of my grated soap (as you can see, I have 2 different shades of green. 1 bar was Aloe and 1 was not.)

And here is a photo of what the mixture will look like after all of the soap flakes have dissolved.

I will be letting the mixture sit, undisturbed, overnight and will update this post tomorrow night with more photos of the last steps in the process.  =)  Thanks for reading!


                                                                          (UPDATE!)
The photo below is what the body wash will look like after it has cooled and thickened. Kinda clumpy and snotty looking, lol.

 And this is what it will look like after you mix it up with your hand mixer. Smooth, creamy, and depending on how much (if any) additional water you added- still a bit snotty. I will be trying this out tomorrow! =)

Homemade Laundry Detergent.

     In my quest for a more self-sufficient life (and also a quest to rid our life of all of the chemicals found in commercial products) I have tried numerous different recipes for homemade laundry detergent. I wanted to take a moment tonight to share my favorite one with you. This recipe is for powdered detergent, NOT liquid. Hubby and I are both pretty picky about our laundry detergent. It MUST clean well and it MUST leave the clothing smelling good!  Enjoy! =)

What you will need:
(1) 4 lb. box of Baking Soda.
(2) 14 oz. bars of Fels Naptha or Zote soap.
(1) 4 lb. 12 oz. box of Borax.
(1) 3 lb. 7 oz. box of Washing Soda.
(1) 3 lb. tub of OxyClean.
(2) 55 oz. bottles of Purex Fabric Softener Crystals. (Optional, but it's my fav ingredient- it makes the clothes smell soooo good and keeps you from having to use separate fabric softener or fabric softener sheets.)
Large bucket with lid (5 gallon is best.)
Mixing spoon- wooden or plastic.

Directions:

• Grate the 2 bars of soap using a hand-grater or food processor. The smaller/finer, the better.

• To save a bunch of time trying to mix everything up, I highly recommend that you LAYER all of the ingredients a little bit at a time into the 5 gallon bucket. For example- pour 1/3 of the grated soap, then 1/3 of  baking soda, 1/3 of the Borax, 1/3 of the Washing Soda, 1/3 of the OxyClean, and 1/3 of the Purex Crystals (in no particular order). Repeat 2 more times, until all of the ingredients are in the bucket.

• Mix well with the mixing spoon.

• Use 1 TBS of detergent for a Small-Medium sized load of laundry and 2 TBS for a Large Load. 

(Helpful hint: save the lid/cap from one of the bottles of Purex crystals- inside the cap you will see 3 lines. The middle/center line is exactly 2 TBS! You may also choose to keep 1 of the bottles, fill it up with detergent, and keep it by your washing machine instead of having to keep the big 5 gallon bucket there. Then you can store the big bucket away and re-fill your bottle as needed.)

Get Paid for Reading Your Email!

     Hi guys! Tonight  I'd like to share with you a couple companies I've been working with for some time now. These 2 companies will pay you for reading your email, taking surveys, playing games, searching the web, etc. Will you make enough to quit your job, no. But if you take a few minutes a day to work on these sites, the earnings will slowly add up. It's not a "work at home" job- it's basically just a simple way to earn a bit of extra money on the side.

     These 2 companies are SendEarnings and InboxDollars. If you click on the banners below, they will take you directly to the websites where you can sign up for free. These 2 banners are called referral banners. If you click the banners and sign up, I will earn a small commission for referring you. I do NOT recommend companies that I haven't personally worked with & found satisfactory. I HAVE received checks from both of these companies, they ARE legit. The payment process is a bit slow, being by check, but you WILL receive it.  And if your memory is anything like mine, you just may forget all about requesting the check by the time you do receive it. Getting an unexpected check in the mail is always a good feeling! =) 

     So if you'd like to earn a few bucks on the side, check out these 2 companies by clicking the banners below. If you decide to join, you too will receive a small commission for referring your friends. Give it a try, what do you have to lose? ;)