September Acres

Well, hello there! By the end of next week, most schools will be out and many of us will be itching to hit the road for a little vacation.  With extra time, many of us look no further than the family hot rod as our mode of transportation.  Make your road trip less painful and, dare I say, fun with these tips. Pack Right - Make sure each family member has all the comforts of home in the back seat.  Blankets, pillows, stuffed animals, books, toys, snacks & drinks make the hours fly by.  A backpack or tote bag for each family member is the way to go.  Don't forget a cooler and lots of water and charging supplies for phones, etc. Stop Often - Stopping every 3 or 4 hours may sound like you will never. get. where. you. are. going.  But you'd be surprised how a stop can put everyone in a better mood - especially the driver!  Rest stops are great places to stop - everyone can use the rest room and stretch their legs. Make a Game out of it -  Find the license plates fro

It's March 1st which means our no spend month is over.  How'd we do?  Well, to be honest, it wasn't our most successful one.  Not awful but we did spend on things like going out and some new clothes. The clothes were needed.  The dining out not so much.  The middle school basketball season ended so there was a bit of celebrating in the form of eating out but it was at a Mexican restaurant so it wasn't pricey at all. We had company one weekend and I made lasagna instead of going out. That's a win in my book.  We saved a little bit extra. We didn't go crazy or buy things we didn't need so I'd call it a moderate success. Now I need to go work on that March budget.  I started using Every Dollar last month and think I will like it. I'm still getting used to it, just like with any new budgeting system but I think I'll stick with it. I'm such a pen and paper person that it's taking some getting used to but you sure can't help

Peeps, chocolate bunnies and Cadbury Creme Eggs.  There has to be more to an Easter Basket than sugar, right?  With the size of baskets these days (that's another post, for another time) non-sugar goodies are a must for Easter.  While I don't want Easter to turn into another Christmas-like gift giving holiday, I am always searching for gift ideas to pass on to the Easter Bunny.  Here are 25 non-candy Easter basket ideas for kids of all ages: For Little Kids (0-8 years or so) Stuffed Animals Bubbles Playdoh  Coloring Books and Crayons - there are awesome Easter Bunny & Religious coloring books out there this time of year.  Legos - I love the  'Friends'  line that is out for girls now.  The usual cars and trucks and airplanes are still out there for the boys. Small Play Characters - like  Little People  &  Polly Pockets . Sidewalk Chalk Bubble Bath Gardening tools - kid sized shovels, hoes and rakes in cute patterns start showing up in stores like T

I can't believe that January is almost over!  And that means that February is almost here and our annual No Spend February.  It's our eighth year. I can't believe we've been doing it that long. I personally love it. Coming off the spending frenzy of the end of the year, it's a nice change for me. I am, quite frankly, done shopping. We have no birthdays, anniversaries, etc until June so I like the 'cold turkey' aspect of a no spend month. What, exactly, does 'no spend' mean @ September Acres? - No shopping  -that means we won't roam the aisles of Target buying stuff we don't need & sometimes don't even want. No trips to Costco. Grocery shopping is okay but limited as we will try eating from the pantry this month.  - No vacations  - Easy Peasy as school is in.  - No going out to eat  - If we are invited to go out as a treat we will go but otherwise we don't. I've also been really slack with meal planning since Christmas so

This afternoon I was pondering the state of my house and thinking that I have so much to do to get it in order.  Then I rattled off in my head all of the things I got done today: Emptied the dishwasher Changed sheets on 2 beds Did 5 loads of laundry Vacuumed and dusted bedrooms & living room Organized items for hockey tournament raffle Paid some bills Then I thought 'maybe I wasn't as unproductive as I thought I was'.  I've mentioned before that I'm not a huge list maker but maybe I should start.  Even though there's so much to do I did accomplish some kind of important things (this list doesn't mention the cooking or taxi driving service I run!) and it might be nice to see them crossed off a long list.  Something else to ponder...

I was lucky enough to be chosen to serve on the launch team for "Breaking Busy" by Alli Worthington.  I received my advanced copy of the book right around Thanksgiving - a little crazy but at the same time it was the perfect time to start reading a book about breaking busy since that is the time of the year that we all seem to be extra busy and maybe even take on more than we really want to. The very first chapter is called 'Capacity'.  Boy, that was eye opening.  Alli compared us to our cell phones, which have a battery that gets depleted after use and has a 'finite capacity for storage and functionality'.  When our phone battery falls to 10% there's a little warning that the battery is low and needs to be recharged.  Our bodies do the same but how often do we listen to the signs and take the time to recharge?  For most of us the answer to that is 'not enough'.  We think we are too busy to take that time to rest.  After reading thi

Well, hello there!  I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year.  It's hard to believe it is 2016, right?  Even weighing heavier on my mind is the fact that my daughter will be 14 next week. 14.  High school in 8 months. How did this happen?  Moms of younger kids: believe it when people tell you it goes fast.  So fast. Faster than you can imagine.  That, my friends, is an entire blog post. Today though,  let's talk about decorating for winter.  I finally got my Christmas decorations down. Oh, how I love that red and green and those sparkly lights.  Yes, I love it.  But after putting everything away I realized that I also  like that bare, sparse feeling and really considered not adding anything back.  I'm still thinking about it but who am I kidding? I've been perusing the web looking for inspiration for winter decorating.  You know, not quite Valentine's Day but no longer Christmas.  I love using white, silver and natural wood.  I love the feel of t