Category Archives: Bargains

$2 Bulletin Board.

Last Saturday an amazing thing happened. I went to 4 garage sales in search of the perfect frame and I actually found it. For TWO DOLLARS.

Brought it home. Dusted it. Stapled Chicken Wire to the back. Dug out some clothes pin.

Then it went to live on the wall in the classroom that is made up of all the other signs and pictures that have no where else to hang in my house.

Gotta love good deals.

Day 80. The Unexpected.

There we were mid morning. My doorbell rings and the neighbor says, ” I hear your homeschooling, Congratulations!” AAAAAhhhhh I linger for a moment, music to my ears. No questions on why, or how do you, or I never could. Just a congratulations. THEN, she says that the church on the corner has a school that is shutting down and they have gobs and gobs of books for free. She was on her way, after her friend told her. She said you just walk in and take them. I thought about it and kinda decided not to, since I am so new at this. I thought I would confuse myself with more curriculum choices. However, she stopped back by on her way home and said, really, GO!

Alright, I can listen well. We loaded up and went over to check it out. There was a ton! Very confusing to me on what and how to use it all. I still need instructions! However, I did find 12 different classic books and picked up 3 copies of each, so we can read them together. I also let the kids pick out some stuff. Oh their personalities shone through that freedom.

First Taylor, Quietly surveyed the room and picked a few books. All things that made her happy. Puzzles, problems, snoopy, rainbows, etc.

Then Emma, all drama all the time. They were SO heavy for her, she let everyone know the whole time we were there. However, it melted my heart when I saw what she was carrying. She chose 5 “Bibles”. A toddler Bible (she recognized the brand as we have one at home),  3 other books that have a Bible “look” to them, and finally another book that has a “Bible” look to it. BUT, it was in Chinese….her thoughts after reviewing her choice in the car was, “oh, this is going to be complicated”.

Finally Cameron. In utter amazement of the choices, he chose high school level physics, science, and experiement type books. He would have brought the room home and maybe I should have let him. However, I limited it to 7 books, and a giant box of baking soda lol. (Yes, really I said baking soda….they were cleaning out their science cabinets too). He asked why he couldn’t bring the acid home. Um, really Cam? I think that is self explanatory.

That, my friends, was quite a deal! I paid nothing. The perfect little trip was ended with impromptu pizza lunch!

Now there is just 90 school days left until summer.

The Bell Will Ring….



Tomorrow it’s back to school….our LLOONNNGGG break is over….We eased into it today and did a little bit.

Our next part of math is reviewing money…so, I took advantage of the Christmas clearance at Target and we went on a little field trip. Each child got a dollar to spend. There isn’t much left at this time of year, but they managed to find lots of little treasures. That is real life practical math in play. When they figured out the mark down price and how much more they could buy because of the sale, they were incredibly pleased. They each paid on their own and got their own bag and receipt. While I was paying, I sent them over to the snack bar to sit and wait. They were all comparing their “savings” on the bottom of their receipts! It ranged from $7-$8. They were pretty pleased. I was dying laughing…it was adorable.
We stopped at Bj’s on the way home for an impromptu lunch. Yum. Cameron tried to negotiate that the children’s menu activity sheet should count for school work. Whatever. After chill time, we did some major cleaning around the house. ALL the millions of Christmas decor items are down and in the garage, about 50% packed up. The rest is going to have to wait, but at least it’s all out of the house.
We worked on some penmanship and spelling this afternoon and did a special project. I had the kids write down their 3 top field trip choices. I also had them write down what they liked and didn’t like about school. WOW interesting. Cameron thinks my school is harder then BCS. LOL. That could be good or bad depending on how you look at it. Both of the kids asked for more structure….EXCUSE ME? Are you kidding? They both want to have school be from a certain time to a certain time. Alright, I’ll play along….or try to anyway…
SO, tomorrow as requested the bell will ring at 8:47. Why? because I’m the teacher and I said so. School will dismiss at 12:01.
Off to lesson plan……

Hobbylicious.


I have been working on my closet project and tomorrow will have pictures up. I ended up building a vanity in there with some extra shelving from my armoire in my bedroom. I may skirt it tonight using my tree skirt. We’ll see.
For now here is my sneak peek chair that will sit at my vanity. I bought this chair last year off of craigs list for $5.00. I recovered it will some fabric that I had in my closet. It has been at the built in desk in our upstairs hall ever since. I stole it for my closet.
$.96 cents for spray paint and $3.25 for a yard of delicious stripe-y fabric from the Calico Corners Outlet in Sac….and Voila! A cutesy little white distressed chair for me to sit in. It was my first time to try rubbing the candle wax on the chair first, to aid in the distressed look. It rocked. My photography skills are lacking, but its fab…and seriously for less then $5.00 (o.k.$9.21, if you count the original chair purchase price)…My heart skips a beat when I see it…
What hobbies do you have that make your heart go a flutter?
and more importantly….DO YOU DO THEM????

Children’s Place Outlet.




I have never found deals quite so amazing at any other store than this one. When the kids were in toddler sizes, I frequently would buy items for .66 cents a piece. It’s hit or miss, but when it’s on they are great deals.

I ended up at the Children’s Place Outlet in Folsom yesterday and they had lots of rounders for 1.99 and 3.99. I purchased $340 worth of clothes for $80. Several t shirts for next summer and some winter things too! Good enough for me!
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