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Yeah, it’s been one of those days.  It is about 85 degrees in my house and the kids had doctors appointments today.  No worries though, it was just school physical time.  Madison weighed in at 60.6 pounds and she is 49 1/2 inches tall.  (We are going to Great America in a couple of weeks, so I am going to have to check out what rides this will allow her to ride.  My mom is a little worried, because Madison only has about 11 more inches to grow to be taller than her!).  This year they gave us her BMI reading which is 84%.  Healthy weight is 5%-85%, so she just made it under the wire.  However, if you’ve ever seen Madison, you’d know how thin she is, so I’m just like whatever with the BMI thing.  Will is 40.4 pounds and 42 inches tall.  His BMI was 52%.  Needless to say, we aren’t worry about the BMI.  Unfortunately, Will ended up with 2 shots.  It was that or he’d have to get 5 come kindergarten.  I choose 2 today and next year he’ll get the other 3.  Poor kid.

And that leads us to the headboards part of the title of this post.  Bill and I have been talking about when we move Will out of his toddler bed.  The first thing you have to take into account is that his room is only 9′ x 11′.  He has no closet.  I would also like him to be able to play in his room.  Of course, that does not give us a whole ton of options.  Right now, the toddler bed works.  However, if he keeps growing like a weed, it won’t!  I am thinking that headboards for full size beds or even king headboards, just aren’t going to work in his room.  The kicker is that with his crib, we actually have the full size headboard.  Honestly, I am thinking we will just have to check out moreheadboards.com and find a twin size headboard and then get him a new mattress.

How long to you wait to move your kids out of their toddler beds?  What size bed did you move them to?  What size bed would you think I should get for him considering how small that room is?

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Summer can be super expensive. However, it doesn’t have. Here is a small list of places you can go this summer and not spend a lot of money!

1. Your Backyard! Your backyard is fun of fun. You can camp back there, create a garden, explore, etc. Best of all, most things you can do in your backyard are free!

2.  Go camping. Now, this will cost you a little money.  However, it is great to get away sometimes.  We recently booked a camping trip for July that is running us $30 a night.  It is fairly inexpensive to camp, and I know, my kids love it.  (We personally camp in a tent.  However, I draw the line and do bring a blow mattress to sleep on.  We could get our site even cheaper if we didn’t pay for the electric, so I could blow up my bed.)

3.  Library.  The library is great.  It is free to check out books, games, activities, movies, etc.  The other great thing about the library (well, at least my library) is that they offer free (or low cost) classes!  My library also has scheduled activities going on each month too! The key is to return your book on time, so you don’t get any fines!

4.  Your Local Park District.  I know not every state has these.  However, you have something that offers classes.  Our local park district offers nature classes all summer for very cheap. It definitely something to check out.

5.  Your Local Craft Store.  I know my local craft stores are constantly offering classes to teach you awesome crafts, cake decorating, etc.

6.  Your Local Hardware Store.  I know the closest hardware store to me has adult classes all the time that will show you how to do things around your home.  They also offer kids workshops too that are free!

7.  The Mall.  My local mall has a play area that is free to play in.  It is also a great place to walk in.  Now, you have to manage to not go shopping while you are there to keep it inexpensive. 

8.  Forest Preserves.  Here in Illinois, we have forest preserves though I know other states have places like these and they are just called something different.  They are free to enter and you are able to hike in them.  They are a great way to get the kids outdoors and a great place to have a picnic too.

9.  Local park.  Your local park is also free and most kids can spend hours in them!

10. Head to a lake, river, pond, etc.  You can usually swim, skip rocks, fish, etc at your local watering hole for no cost.

Hopefully, you have a few free and inexpensive ideas to keep you and your kids busy this summer!

Related articles

• KinderCare Learning Centers Summer Camp (mythoughtsideasandramblings.com)
• Beat the Summer Heat with a Backyard Pool Party (table4five.net)

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This giveaway is now over. The winners are Heather H., shawn, and clarissa. Congrats!

What does your garage look like? Mine is so cluttered that I am way to embarrassed to even take a picture to show you! Yes, it’s that bad. We park the van in one half and the other, well, it looks like a tornado may have hit it. We have stacks upon stacks of miscellaneous stuff. I even think we have a mattress out there! If you are in Chicago (like I am), make sure you check out the Chicago Auto Show from February 11 – February 20, 2011, and explore the State Farm Garage! This will inspire car owners everywhere to transform their ordinary, cluttered garage into something that represents who they are and can call their own. At the State Farm Garage, you will also have the opportunity to enter the Garage Makeover Sweepstakes for a chance to win a brand new garage valued at $35,000. (Anybody not need that? Anyone?)  The garage will have fun activities for parents and kids – can you say games and prizes?

Since I don’t have $35,000 to give away to my readers, I’ve arranged the next best thing:

· (1) $200 gas card

· (1) $300 Lowe’s gift card

· (1) Eco Car Care Kit (valued at $49.99)

Since I like to spread the wealth around, I will pick 3 winners. (Each winner will win one of these items:  for example, one winner gets the Lowe’s card; another winner the gas card; and so on and so forth.). Here’s what you need to do:

MANDATORY ENTRY

Tell me what you would like to change in your garage.

EXTRA ENTRIES:

1. Twitter about this contest. I’ve made it super easy by adding a tweet button up by the title of this post!  You can do this daily — just leave  me a comment letting me know.

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This contest will end on February 22nd at 11:59 pm CST! Good Luck!

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Before I leave for California to go sleep on some memory foam mattresses, I had to show you the birthday cards Madison made yesterday. The pink one is for Bill’s sister Christy. The blue one is for Bill’s brother Nick. I took a picture of them before I put them in the mail.

Aren’t these super cute?  I didn’t take a picture of the insides, since you all know how to spell her name.  Though she knows how to spell her name and write it without any help from me!

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I think I will go insane.  Something is wrong with Will.  I think this started Wednesday already.  His face broke out with a rash on Wednesday.  I have been putting Nystatin on it and by Thursday morning the majority of it went away.  However, he has been throwing up big time.  Here’s where it gets fun since you don’t know what is real throw up and what is just acid reflux.  It all looks the same.  Plus, he pooped through 2 diaper yesterday.  He’s also eating about half the formula he normally does.

This morning I get up and he pooped through his diaper again.   So again, I have to strip all of his bedding (his diaper leaked during naptime yesterday).  However, I can’t reach his mattress very well since I am short and Bill dropped his crib down a level.  He also has a bumper.  It took me while, but I managed to get his mattress out to put on new bedding.  However, the bumper was in the way.  Each section of the bumper was tied onto the crib.  The only way I was getting his mattress back in was to take off the bumper.  (I didn’t attempt to do any of this till after I had fed Will.  I think put him in the Megasaucer.)  While doing this (which took a while), Will proceeds to cry.  I can’t get him since I have to get the mattress back in so he can take a nap later.  Madison is crying because I won’t stop what I am doing and attend to her.  Good times, let me tel you, good times.

Like a moron, I decide to give Will the rest of his bottle after I got his mattress back in.  He literally threw up 3 oz of formula projectile across me and, him, and the couch.  I am seriously wondering if he has the flu.  Madison’s birthday party is tomorrow.  I know have to figure out what the hell I am going to do . . . .

We will be leaving for the chiropractor shortly, so maybe she can give me some insight.  I don’t know why I am so stressed out right now, but I am.   I keep repeating to myself:  “God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;” and taking deep breathes.  It’s only 10 o’clock, and I have a long day with these crabby kids. 

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