School Paper Organization

I don't know about you, but I go CRAZY when there are papers all over the place. I don't like to see it... I don't like to know it's there... but I love what the papers represent. I'm one that doesn't like to throw away anything my son does because it's all super special. So, until recently, I've kept every single paper... even if it's just a scribble or two.

That has changed. I've gotten smarter.

First of all, my scanner is now my best friend. Once a month (sometimes more often, just depends on the amount of papers coming home), I spend and hour and scan everything. First I scan all his math papers and save them in the "Math" file I've created on my computer. Then his spelling tests, art projects, etc.

Once I've scanned everything, I pick a couple favorites (maybe a great story he's written or a really cute picture) and file them in his paper file. "What's his paper file look like?" you ask. Well, let me show you! 

I got the idea from iHeart Organizing on Pinterest. (God bless Pinterest!) I have made a hanging file for every school year. 

Inside the file I have a little info sheet where I put his school picture for that year and the appropriate info.

Each year, my son decorates his file folder for that year... it's fun to watch his art-style grow as he grows!

Then in the file I keep his top projects/papers. This way I have an actual paper sample of what he did... but I also have everything else on my computer. Someday I'll burn it on a disc and put it in his paper file, too.

An organized Mommie is a happy Mommie!

Peter Piper Pizza Is the Pizza People Pick! ;-)

Last month, I was contact by Peter Piper Pizza and was asked to have my son's birthday party there. I don't know who was more excited... my son or me?!?! Well, let's just say, we were BOTH happy!! 

Our party included 10 kiddos... so my son quickly put his list together and sent out invitations. Our theme: favorite color party. All the kiddos were asked to dress in their favorite color!

 

I've had a party at Peter Piper before but I gotta say, this was the best experience ever!!! We ended up getting there an hour early (birthday boy wanted extra play time!!) and our table was already set up and ready to go!

We had a great party hostess that checked on us every half hour or so. She was super friendly. The kids LOVED that they got to make a stuffed "lovie" to take home. They anxiously stood in line, listening to directions and waiting until it was their turn to create life!!

 And they had so many tokens so the play time kept going and going. They loved the pizza and ice cream!

 

They had fun signing my son's shirt... a special gift for the birthday boy.

  

Of course my son's favorite part was opening his presents.

    

He also loved getting to make his very own, super special, birthday boy pizza.

I loved all the smiles and giggles... and the "wow"s from the other moms. Even they thought it was an awesome party!!

 

It was a great day for everyone! And at less than $15 per person, it was an amazing deal... worth every penny! Thank you, Peter Piper Pizza, for the amazing party. We will definitely be coming back next year! :-)

I Just Had To Share This...

iMom, uMom, We All MOM for iMOM!!!

I just stumbled across one of the greatest websites EVER!!! It's iMom.com... and it's full of creative printables for mom, the kids and the whole family. I'm all for organization so websites like this... with FREE printables... make me very happy. From chore charts, to recipes, to activity sheets, to trip planners... you can find just about anything on iMom. So if you have a printer with some ink and paper, you can print out all kinds of activities to keep the kiddos (and Mommie) busy! Happy printing!!!

It's All About The Y-M-C-A!!!!

I recently discovered a great place for single moms and their kiddos... the local YMCA. Any YMCA will do. Why? Because they have all kinds of classes and activities at extremely reasonable prices. And if you're a struggling single mom, you may qualify for a partial scholarship of up to 30%... off everything!!!

When I first signed up, it was going to be about $60 for me and my son but after the scholarship (thank GOD for that!!!) it's $42 a month. For $42 a month, we get unlimited access to the pool... I get great gym equipment, a circuit room, awesome classes (like zumba and water aerobics) and my son gets "Club Y" which is kinda like heaven for the kids... computers, wii, snacks, crafts, toys, etc. Plus they often have free month-long classes like dance, tumbling and more.

Is it worth the $42-60+ a month? Yes... I think it is! In my opinion, it's better than driving all over the valley trying to find fun/affordable things to do and/or have to deal with the summer BLAH's! Oh, and for an extra fee, they also have sports... and summer day camp with a different theme each week. Check it out!

To find your local "Y", click here. Good luck!

Summer's Almost Here. Now What??

I hear time and time again how much Moms dread the summer... it's a lot of work trying to come up with things to do, especially if you're on a tight budget. During the summer months, I'll post all the wonderful ideas I come up with but for now, here's my super quick TOP 5 favorite things to do during the summer.

Happy Note: These are all either FREE activities or super duper cheap!

1) Harkin's Summer Movie Program - For only $7 per person, you can go see one (kid) movie a week for 10 weeks at Harkin's. This summer's rotation includes Happy Feet Two, Alvin And The Chimpunks-Chipwrecked, Horton Hears A Who, Arthur Christmas, Rio, Mr. Popper's Penguins, Kung Fu Panda 2, The Smurfs, Puss In Boots and Hotel For Dogs. They sell the kids combos (icee, popcorn and gummie pack) for $4.50 during each of these 10 movies. They also include a free combo pack coupon for you to use sometime in September. It's a bundle of awesomeness for only $7 per person!!!

2) Summer A-Z Photo Book - Throughout the summer, we are on the constant lookout for images of letters anywhere we go... but not obvious letters like on a poster. Letters like the crack between two squares of cement that look like a capital "I" or the cluster of clouds that are shaped in the letter "U". Our goal is to find the entire alphabet during the summer. Then we upload all our pictures to some place like walgreens.com or shutterfly.com, print the pictures (usually around $0.10 each print, plus a few dollars for shipping) and paste them in a photo book which we decorated together. Then on our "end of summer" party (more details to come), we look through our photo book and reminisce on all the fabulous ways we found each of the letters.

3) Swimming - I think this is pretty self explainitory but the pool is a great way to spend time during the summer. However, I must give my Mommie advice and say to please make sure you are all covered in sunscreen, head-to-toe, and have proper sun protection like hats, sunglasses, etc. The best time to do the pool is before 10:00am or after 4:00pm as the sun's rays aren't as strong but if you are going to go during those hours, make sure everyone has SPF30+ (50 preferred!), re-apply every hour and stay hydrated. If you have a pool at home or at your apartment, it's FREE! But if you do a public pool, it's anywhere from $1 to $3 per day, per person. Check for quarters in the car and under couch cushions if you need to! ;-)

4) Mom's Bed Movie Day - Sometimes it's just too hot to go outside. And what kid doesn't love hanging out in Mom's bed? So here's a total freebie for you... have a movie day in Mom's bed. Each of the kiddos bring their favorite pillow, everyone cuddles with Mom and everyone takes turns picking a movie. If you're the type that like to munch during movies, have each kidddo pick their favorite snack to share with everyone else.

5) Teacher Switch-a-roo - For the entire school year, the kiddos are the one's learning while us adults do the teaching. So for the summer, we switch it around... kiddos are the teachers, Mom's are the students. Create a daily routine... math, science, music, art, etc... even if it's only 15 minutes for each subject. The kiddos work together (or on their own if there's only one) to come up with a lesson plan and then they, as the teacher, get to teach Mom something new. And hey, if they want to throw a test or two your way, be prepared! Switching roles is a great way to keep busy, keep them learning (only they won't realize they're learning) and give you something to do that's FREE!

Happy summer planning, Mommies. Feel free to share your favorite low-cost (or FREE!) summer activities.

Schnepf Farms in Queen Creek

A couple days ago, my son and I made our very first trip to Schnepf Farms in Queen Creek. What a fun experience that was... so fun, in fact, that I have to share it with you. For single mommies on a budget, this is the perfect way to spend an afternoon. And during the day (when we went), there were only a few people which made the visit crowd-free!!!

So here's some details: parking is free. They have a kid-size train ($2/person) and a hayride ($2/person) and at the time, they had "ice" skating (fake ice) for $8/person which included skates. They don't have that anymore... that was just for Christmas... but it's something to plan on for next year!

They are open Thursday through Sunday from 9:00 am - 4:00 pm. You can find much more information, view their calendar of events and some photos at www.schnepffarms.com.

My favorite thing is you can pick your own in-season veggies for $1.50/pound... totally reasonable! I've heard they have the greatest peaches ever (when it's peach season) and I honestly can't wait to go pick some. I will tell you, though, if you are going to pick veggies, you should definitely wear your tennis shoes (as you walk through a lot of dirt/some mud) and if you have allergies, take an allergy pill before you go. Their veggies are beautiful... nothing beats fresh veggies!

They have a really great little store of homemade goodies like fudge, cinnamon rolls and more. Plus you can eat lunch there. I haven't seen a menu so I have no idea what the prices are like but I am definitely going to try one of their ginormous cinnamon rolls next time I go!

Oh! One thing I really like... they have bathrooms!!! This is really great for us Mommie's with younger kiddos... port-o-potty's are such a hassle. Thank GOD for real bathrooms!!!!

When you go, be sure to tell them Beckie @ Survive To Thrive sent you!