Radio Flyer Present: Before & After

BEFORE

AFTER

The wheels were on it when I got it, but I didn't think to take a picture until I started taking it apart. Anywyas, this is one of the presents we are giving Isabel for her birthday. I did all the work on it. It wasn't really that hard. Just many little steps.

Grocery Delivery Discount

You can get groceries delivered completly free 2 times. Use code PEOPLES. The code used at Cashwise Delivers will allow you free delivery (which to my home is $6). Also if you purchase at least $50 in groceries you don't have to pay the shopping fee (which is $5.)

So, I bought about $65 in groceries and used the code and all I have to pay is the $65. It is fantastic because I don't have to spend money on gas to drive there & back and I save my time as well.

The code is good until the end of 2007, but you can only use it twice. I usually have groceries delivered twice a month. I don't mind paying the $6 delivery fee, but getting it free a couple times is wonderful.

I know there isn't many local people who read this, but if you do. Hope this is helpful.

Wine Season?

Seems like there were a lot of ads in the paper pushing wine events or specials. Here's what I found:

Sportman's Grill (Owatonna) -- Four Course Wine Dinner on Thursday, May 10th. AND Moms get fre glass of champagne, wine or mimiosa on Mother's Day (May 13th)

MGM (Owatonna) -- Wine Tasting this Friday (April 27th) 5-8pm

Haskell's (Faribault & the Cities) -- Nickel Sale ends this Saturday (April 28th)

Now, if they would only combine a wine tasting with a Greenhouse open house....we'd be in business.I could kill two birds with one stone.

Greenhouses are OPEN!

There are a bunch of open houses happening.....Below is what I saw advertised in the paper today.

I think I may go buy some stuff......

Turtle Creek Nursery (Owatonna) - Free Hot Dogs & Pop this Sat. & Sun from 11-2 and Free Cookies & Coffee all day, specials include $3 hardy rose shrubs, 99 cent annual packs, anD discounts on bird baths and pond supplies.

Donahue's Greenhouses (Faribault) - This Saturday is Kid's Day (10am-2pm), kids get to pot their own Wave Petunia, Herbie the clown is there twisting balloons, free Freezees ice pops for kids, and a coloring contest. The specials include Garden Mums for 99 cents, 4.5" pots of perennials for $4.88, Begonia pots for $3.33, and 4.5" Geranium pots for $2.33.

Souba Greenhouse (Owatonna) - I didn't find a website for them. I did buy stuff from them 2 years ago (herbs & strawberries) and was very impressed with the quality. They just have an ad, no specials listed in the ad.

Finished Products

Fairy Flower Crown

I thought this turned out beautifully. I tried it on Isabel and it fits perfectly. She is fond of the handles (ribbon).

1st Birthday Hat

It is not very tall, but I think it will be the perfect size for her first birthday. I watched an episode of Creative Juice today where they made party hats (using a 12x12 piece of card stock and twisting it into a cone) and those hats were nice & tall. Maybe a tall one for next year. I still have to add the elastic cording to this and it will be complete.

Tutu

The colors are a dark raspberry & white. I finished it after Isabel went to bed for the night, so I used Lulu as the model.

All of Them

Now you get an idea how big the hat really is. It's not very big. Besides all the birthday portrait props, I was also working on doing a little refurbishing to a baby trike I bought. I bought this vintage Radio Flyer baby/toddler trike (powered by their feet) from eBay. It was in relatively remarkable condition, but the wood had discolored and the handles had rusted a little. So, today, I took it all apart, painted the handles, gave a new stain to the wood and put a coat of poly on (that is currently drying). It will be one of her birthday presents from us. I thought it was neat and I don't think they even make it anymore. And we all know that Radio Flyer stuff is not cheap, so I think I got a good deal on it. And the paint, stain, & poly was stuff I already had leftover. So, really it was just a little money to buy & get it shipped here and my time to make it look nice. I took a before picture (mainly to make sure I put it back together correctly) and I will post that and a picture of the finished product after is gets all put back together.

We also went to a carnival sponsored by the student council today. Andy played the games to win us some prizes, Isabel mainly just watched.

Oh, and I made Andy his birthday cake. Yesterday was his birthday. Yesterday we went to a play and then to Applebee's for a couple of lemonades and half-price apps. Our neighbor Cindy babysat for Isabel.

Stuff to Make (Fairy, Princess)

Well, we are doing these 1 year pictures of Isabel with Skye. Skye sent me some ideas for fun photos and I started to look for others. Up until this point I only had thought about an outift I wanted her to wear. But as I started looking at pictures of other little toddlers I got ideas about fun props/costumes. I thought I would put all the links here for free patterns for tutus, birthday party hats, fairy flower crowns, and fairy wings. I'm not planning on wings, but maybe someday I will. But I thought I would have them all here, because if someone is looking for free patterns they can find the whole costume here.

Tutu – version 1
Tutu – version 2
Tutu – version 3 (this is the one I plan on making, it seems easiest and there are step by step photo instructions)

Fairy Wings

Fairy Flower Crown

Birthday Hat

I was looking at buying some of these things, but they get very expensive, so I will make them. The birthday hat I plan on making the base out of cardstock and then covering that with fabric and them embellishing it with pompoms & glitter. I think I have everything at home to make the hat and the crown, maybe even the tutu (I will have to check on that.)

Stupid Cell Phone Service

You know, I haven't complained about T-Mobile much. For the most part I like our service, but this was the 2nd time in 2 weeks that my service was shut-off (no fault of my own.)

The first time was because they thought I was using the new SIM card - duh! why would I use a new SIM card if all my stuff is on the current one? This time it was because they forgot to take the "automatic shut-off date" off my account from when it was temprarily stolen (by temporarily I mean one of my kids took it and hid it and I didn't know where they put it, but found it after 15 minutes of searching.)

They are giving me 100 bonus minutes to use over the next 3 months, which does me no good because we never use all of our minutes anyways.

Neat Things I Want

I don't know if or when I will get any of these items, but I thought they were neat and wanted to share them with you.

Aerogarden -- I would get this, but at $150 it's kind of pricey. You can buy it on Amazon though for free shipping.

Water Powered Clock -- Now at $13, this I could afford. I think the idea is neat and it is good for the environment because it doesn't use electricity. Good for in a power outage too! This one doesn't have an alarm. To get an alarm version (with other bells & whistles) it will set you back $20.

Water Timer -- This would be great to have when I am watering the garden and forget about it. I would probably save myself at least the $30 cost on it on water bills by not forgetting.

Digital Photo Frame -- At $80 it is too expensive for my taste. I'll just wait a couple years for the price to come down.

Toddler's Busy Book -- This is only $10. Affordable. Doesn't look like the library has it, but maybe I will see if the library has something similar. I am sure they do.

Happiest Toddler on the Block -- They don't have this at the library (only the baby version, which we loved and was VERY useful!) This is only $10.50. I would rather not buy it because I would probably read it once and that's it. I tried to see if anyone on Freecycle had a copy for me to borrow, but I didn't get any emails. I'll have to see if the library takes requests on suggested books to buy.

Thinkgeek.com -- This site just has lots of neat things in it. I think Andy would enjoy many of them.

On the Move

I am participating in Owatonna on the Move for Walk Across America. We start tracking our steps next week. The Wellness Committee paid for half the price of a pedometer, so I got a new one. I might try to get to some of the Community Walks on Mondays. They also have a 15 minute presentation with it before we start walking. A friend of mine is coming over twice next week to go walking after work. We're going to try to get together at least once a week to walk/talk together.

Alex

He invaded my camera when we asked him to take pictures during the actual baptism, so now he gets his picture on my blog. Funny guy.

Easter at Our House

Dining Room Table

The dining room table is all set for our Easter lunch. I like being able to use all of our nice dishes. I have a nice collection of dishes and serving pieces for dinner parties and holidays.

Easter Cupcake Cake

My mom made this as one of our desserts. It is mini cupcakes and regular cupcakes that she made, frosted, and decorated it all. I also made a Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Pie for dessert too.

Living Green Expo - May 5-6

The Living Green Expo will be in St. Paul on May 5-6, 2007 from 10am-5pm.
It is free admission and is located in the Grandstand at the State Fair Grounds.

We went last year when I was pregnant and we really enojyed ourselves. There were lots of food to sample and coupon booklets (which we used at the Co-op to buy food later) and food to purchase - Mmmm! Yummy. One of the great resources we learned about was low-VOC window & door caulking. We did buy it and had the window installers use it when we had our new energy efficient windows put in last year. The window guys didn't even know something like that existed, but were happy to use what we bought rather than what they were supplying. We were impressed with it because there was no odor on all those windows, not like when we replaced the windows in the master bedroom & they used their own caulk (Awful smell.)

So, it will be interesting to see what we take from it this year. So, mark your calendars and head out there.

Free/Cheap Things to do in the Cities

Most of these are in the Cities, but some aren't. I started typing this for this mom forum I go on and then decided I should put it somewhere for myself. So, there may be editting going on as I add links and more things:

Free Admission:

Como Zoo
Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Walker Art Center (1st Saturday of the Month & Thursday 5-9pm)
Sculpture Garden
State Captiol Tours (Free, but $2 for the self-guided brochure)
American Swedish Institue (1st Wednesday of the Month)
Bell Museum (Sundays)
MN Children's Museum ( 3rd Sunday of Month)
Musuem of American Art (Thursdays)
Science Musuem (for father's on Father's Day & Mother's on Mother's Day)
Weisman Art Center
Landscape Arboretum (all day Thursdays until April 26, After April after 4:30 on Thursday)
Schubert Club Musuem of Musical Instruments
Woodbury's Central Park (indoor park free, see below for Lookout Ridge Playground)
http://www.burnsvillecenter.com/shop/burnsville.nsf/webpages/special+events (mommies w/ strollers, lead by an instructor, Tuesdays @ 9:30)
Icebreaker Music Event @ Minnesota Music Academy (end of September)
Summit Brewing Company
ACME Comedy Club (see local comedians free on Mondays)
Heart of the Beast (free puppet shows on Saturdays, check calendar, schedule runs Oct.-Mar.)
Home Depot Kid's Workshop (1st Saturday, ages 5-12, pre-register)
Lakeshore Learning Stores (free craft activites on Saturdays 11-3 anytime, SLP or Maplewood)
Creative Kidstuff (special events & storytimes)
Toddler Tuesdays at MOA (they also have meals free for kids that day too)

Speaking of free meals, I found a whole listing here: http://twincitiesmom.com/freestuff.html or here http://twincities.parentzone.com/linkinfo.asp?lid=202354&prid=647

Here is a listing of gardens and many say free admission: http://www.gardensites.info/states/mn.htm

Free Play Areas or Storytimes for Kids:
Tiny Town at Ridgedale
Saturday Live! at St. Paul Public Library
Storytime at St. Paul Public Library
Sovereign Grounds Coffee Shop
Forest Adventures at Brookdale Center (I guess it's inside Macy's)
ChooChoo Bob's (storytime at 10am on Wed. & Sat., see schedule)
Children's Soft Play Area at Eden Prairie Center
Hennepin County Library Storytimes
IKEA Smaland Play Area (free supervised play for potty-trained kids, & craft time on Saturday 1-3pm)
Children's Soft Play Area at Northtown Mall
Spring Sing Alongs @ Pottery Barn Kids (Check Schedule for locations & times)
Book Club @ Pottery Barn Kids (every Tuesday @ 10am)
Telephone Story Line (call 952-352-1350 anytime to have a story read, new stories start Sunday @ noon)

Free Admission (outside the Cities):
Oxbow Park & Zollman Zoo (Byron)
River Bend Nature Center (Faribault)
SPAM Museum (Austin)
Cabela's (Owatonna, has huge animals displays and aquariums)
State School Orphanage (Owatonna)
Owatonna Arts Center (Owatonna)


Discounts/Cheap:
St. Paul Fun Card
State Capitol Art Treasures Hunt (Fee: $2 for booklet)
Lookout Ridge Indoor Playground ($3.20-$5.33, depending upon day/time, parents free)
Imagination Saturdays @ Michaels Craft Stores (ages 5-12, $2 per craft, 30 min. session)
Ted Mann Concert Hall (you need to volunteer as an usher to get a ticket for free)
Thrify Hipster
Lake Harriet Bandshell (summer concerts may be free, but you have to pay to park)
Minneapolis Coupons
Bloomington Coupons
TC Tix

Posers

Run, run as fast you can. You can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man.







See Gary, I do it all the time!








Andy made new friends on the trip. Who do you suppose has the biggest stories?









Alligator got your hand?







Jessica is feeling a little horny.

Andy - King of Spam? A Little Rock?

This was very much posed for. He wanted to be king of this rock, or maybe it was mini-golf (but I won this time) or maybe it is SPAM as his shirt so blatantly says.

SilverLeaf Villages (2 more pictures)

Here is a view of the mini-golf course without us in it. It is really nice looking and it's even better that it's free.

They do have laundry facilities here. It costs $1 to wash and $2 to dry. We brought half as many clothes as we needed and did laundry today. With needing to bring along a stroller & carseat and toys & stuff for the baby we wanted to have one less bag of luggage, we decided to wash stuff.


This is outside our condo. We had requested a ground level one if it was available, and it was. It is nicer to get around with the stroller with.


Anything I mentioned that people want to see a picture of before we leave in a few days?

Andy went down to the lake, but Isabel & I haven't been there yet. So, I am sure we'll get there and take some pictures as well.

Silver Leaf Villages

They didn't really have any pictures out there on the internet when I was searching and researching. So, I thought I would help out others trying to see pictures.

This is a picture of the pool area nearest our condo/apartment. It has a hot tub in the background. They have 3 pools here, although at the time this one is the only one open. I know one is closed because of construction near it for the waterpark (see below.)

This is the entrance to out little condo area.









This will be the future home of 2 sand volleyball courts and in the far back you can see cement areas, which will be the future home to 2 basketball courts. They are adding amenities left and right at this place. There is certainly a lot of things for people to do here. They just added the high speed internet on Friday when we arrived.







This is a picture of one of the playground areas. This one is by the activity center. There is also a smaller one by the pool closest to us, and I think there are 2 more playground area.









This sign details what will all be at the waterpark they are adding. I don't know if it will be free or if there will be a cost associated with it.

The things already free are the mini-golf, tennis, playgrounds, pool & hot tubs, fitness center & sauna, movie theater, paddle boats (to use on the lake), & archery.

For a fee, they have horse back riding, an arcade (pretty nice too), pool tables & air hockey, and boats.

I can't remember if I am missing anything.

Talent

This is the website of a co-worker of mine. She is painting this fabulous mural on the wall in one of the special education rooms here at the high school. Today she was showing us her website. It is widely known at school that she makes beautiful jewelry. Most of the site showcases her jewelry that you can buy. She also has sculpture items on there. She was also showing us other murals she has painted, clay items, scrapbooking & stained glass items she has done, but I couldn't find it on her website. I'll have to ask her what her links are to those items, she is just so talented.

Peaceful Warrior

Go here to get free tickets to see Peaceful Warrior opening weekend for free. If you are in the Cities, it will be available to see in Eden Prairie, Brooklyn Center, and MOA Bloomington. If you are not from the cities you will have to enter your zip to see if there are any theatres near you showing it. The opening weekend for it is Friday, March 30th and Saturday, April 1st.

Aches.....

Little girl passed on her virus to me. I have not been able to eat much today, nor do I have the appetitie. I feel all sorts of aches. My entire body aches! And I have not energy. I plan on going to bed shortly after she does tonight.