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I've moved to WordPress and I'm pretty excited about it!

Link Love, 10/1/10

Sorry for the delay in posting today. In addition to prepping for my switch over to Word Press, I was hit with a computer virus last night. My husband spent several hours cleaning it up this morning, and now I **think** I am as good as new.

Are you starting to look for cute little Halloween themed items or things to do? If so, check out these cute Mini Pumpkin Halloween Cakes.

Eighty MPH Mom shared her experience of writing down her children's activities and actions each night in her post, "Daily Journal for Your Children--A Must Do." Now that her children are older, she has fun looking through the journals and recounting the things her children said and did as toddlers, preschoolers, etc. I love this idea and am starting to do it myself. I only wish I had read about this idea when my son was younger.

Finally, Yahoo! offered "Seven Spending Cuts You Might Not Even Notice." I found a few my husband and I could implement, such as trying a free phone service. Has anyone tried Magic Jack before? If so, I would love to know your experience with it.

The Switch Will Happen Soon!

Excuse my lack of posts in recent days. I am working behind the scenes on switching my blog over to Word Press. I am so excited to unveil the new Mom's Plans. I am hoping it will be live tomorrow!

Food Waste, 9/30/10

No picture today. We wasted two pita bread. I had no intention of wasting these, but they started sprouting mold in just a few days. Perhaps I should have put them in the refrigerator, but then they would have dried out a bit.

Total waste = .50

Waste since February 1st = 90.78

What's In Our Lunch Today - 9/29

I am beginning to discover that my son’s request for no foods in his lunch box that are supposed to be served hot is a sneaky little way to get more of the foods he likes.

We had homemade pizza on pita bread the other night for dinner, so I made him this extra one for his lunch with a face on the top. Now, since this pizza should be served hot, I didn’t think he would like it, but as he loves pizza any which way, he declared it delicious and requested this in his lunch again sometime. Carrots and melon rounded out the meal.

For great lunch box ideas, go to What's For Lunch Wednesday.

Don't forget, there is still time to take advantage of the great deal over at Easy Lunchboxes--buy one container set and get a free cooler pack as long as you are willing to wait until mid to late October to get your set. (I wrote a post about it here.)

I shared this post at No Whine Wednesday.

Sophia's Tutus Halloween Costume Giveaway!

I have always wanted to be crafty, but for the most part, I am not, AT ALL! So when I find someone who does amazing, beautiful work, I am always in awe. Such is the case with Sophia’s Tutus.

I recently found Sophia’s Tutus on Etsy. Let me just tell you that the pictures of her tutu sets, while impressive, do not do the clothing justice. In person, her clothing is just beautiful. I am not kidding when I say these costumes are a work of art.

The owner, Sovi, began making tutus when her now six year old granddaughter was just a toddler in dance class. She wanted to make her cute, original tutus with matching tops and leotards. She kept busy creating new outfits for her granddaughter for dance and then Halloween, Christmas, pictures, etc. Soon family and friends started asking her to make tutu sets for their daughters, and then the children at dance began to ask. She opened a shop in 2006 and began working full-time at making tutus. She just recently opened her Etsy shop. In the past she has also sold her items on eBay and Craigslist. Through the years she has developed a strong customer base thanks to the quality, variety and value of her products.

(The back of the gorgeous tutu outfit she sent my daughter)

She sent my daughter a ladybug tutu costume for review. My husband, who is not one to care much about clothes, was impressed with her work. The tutu is nice and full and is embellished with a large black flower with a rhinestone in the center, black ribbons, and black pom poms mimicking the lady bug’s spots. The shirt features a ladybug on the front, and the wings also mimick the lady bug look. The wings are trimmed with soft black feathers, and each black dot is outlined in gold glitter. The costume also comes with a headband covered in black fabric with antennas on top.

(She can't stop looking at the wings.)

These costumes would be wonderful for Halloween, school plays, or even a trip to Disney. (She has a few Disney tutu costumes in her store—Minnie Mouse and Cinderella.) Considering the quality of her work, these costumes, which generally include the tutu, top, wings and headband, are a bargain at $34.00.

In addition, Sovi is a pleasure to work with. She is extremely detail oriented and provides stellar customer service. One of her customers commented:

It was such a pleasure doing business with SophiasTutus. She was communicative, prompt in her delivery, and very concerned with my satisfaction regarding the order. The item I ordered was packaged carefully and arrived in a timely fashion. I will definitely order from SophiasTutus in the future. It was an extremely positive experience doing business with her.

I couldn't agree more!

The Giveaway:
Sophia’s Tutus has generously agreed to offer one lucky winner the costume of their choice (up to a $35 value.)

To enter this giveaway, please visit Sophia’s Tutus and come back here to leave a comment about which costume you would choose should you be the winner.

Additional methods of entry:
-Follow Sophia’s Tutus on Facebook

-Follow Mom’s Plans or leave a message stating that you already do, if that is the case.

-Follow Mom’s Plans on Twitter

-Blog about this giveaway or post it on Facebook or Twitter and leave a comment with your link.

This giveaway will end on October 12th. The winner will be chosen via random.org. Please make sure to leave your e-mail address in the comments so I can contact you if you are the winner.

I received a costume for review from Sophia’s Tutu. (Thank you!) I received no other compensation for this giveaway. All opinions are my own.

Which Skillets Do You Like Best?

CSN stores, the wonderful online store that sells everything from modern bedding to kids' toys to kitchen accessories has generously offered to let me review one of their items again. I would really like to either buy some skillets or pots and pans to enable me to cook a little faster during freezer cooking days. (As it is now, I only have two pans that are large enough for freezer cooking; I have to stop several times during the day to wash them.)

I am looking at these Rachael Ray skillets. We have tried stainless steel in the past, but I don't like how much oil I have to use to keep the food from sticking. We are also trying to move away from Teflon.

I would love to know, do you have a favorite brand of pots, pans and skillets? I would love some recommendations.

Making Summer Dresses Last Longer

My daughter has about 8 adorable, sleeveless summer dresses. Now that the weather is turning cooler, we are packing up summer clothes and bringing out the fall clothing. However, I couldn’t stand to put away all of her cute dresses!

To stretch her dress wardrobe further, I have a simple white turtleneck to put under those sleeveless dresses to keep her warm when the temperature is only in the 60s. When it falls even further, I have a basic pair of leggings to put on her under the dress. By doing this, she will be able to wear her sleeveless dresses into late October. By then she will have probably outgrown them. Works for me!

I shared this post at Works for Me Wednesdays.

Carmelized Onion and Bacon Spaghetti Squash

When I mentioned making spaghetti squash and meatballs last week in my meal plan, some people asked for other ways to make spaghetti squash. Here is another way we like it:


Carmelized Onion & Bacon Spaghetti Squash (recipe found on food.com)

2 lbs spaghetti squash
1/2 lb bacon
1 large onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
salt
pepper
parmesan cheese, to taste

-Cut the squash in half and carefully remove the seeds. Coat the edges that will be on the pan with oil. Turn upside down in a baking pan. Bake at 350-degrees for about 45 minutes.


-Cool for 10 minutes, then using a fork, scrape out squash into serving bowl.


-While squash is cooling, cut bacon with scissors into 1 inch pieces. Cook bacon to half done. Drain off most of bacon grease.


-Add onions and garlic to bacon in pan. Cook together until bacon crisps and onions caramelize, about 5 minutes.


-Pour bacon/onion mixture over squash. Season with salt, pepper and parmesan cheese.


Note: The onion did not carmelize for me before the bacon was done leading to extra crispy bacon. I would add the onions sooner than the recipe states. I also blotted the grease off the bacon and onions.

I shared this post at $5 Dinners, Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays, Homemaker Mondays, What's on the Menu Wednesday, Recipe Swap Thursday, Pennywise Platters,

Decluttering Challenge Update - Week Six

This week started out slowly. I wasn't going to do any decluttering, but knowing that the rules I set for myself only required 35 items a week, I decided to go ahead and go through some of the kids' toys. I got rid of 24 items that way:

Then, later in the week I tried to give my 5 month old daughter a bath in her baby tub. Her head reached the top, and with all of her joyful kicking, well, the floor got more of a bath than she did! Clearly she has outgrown the tub. She also never takes a bottle, so I got rid of some of her bottle paraphanalia and a kitchen tool I don't like. That got rid of 6 more items.

This weekend turned sharply colder, so I spent several hours weeding through clothes that no longer fit the baby or that we just don't like. (Many were given to us as hand me downs.) It was a little sad to pack up the baby onesies because my husband and I always wanted four kids, and to know that we won't be able to have the 4th one is a little bit sad. I am of course, very blessed with the three we have, but there is still that little tinge when packing up the baby items. We got rid of 122 pieces of clothes!

All items this week went into our garage sale pile for next summer. This week I got rid of 153 items, for a total of 406 items since the decluttering challenge began.

Have you been doing any decluttering? If so, feel free to link up!