Happy Leap Year!

February 29, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Happy Leap Day to you all out there!  Here are a few Leap Year facts to freshen your memory:

Our solar year is 365.24219 days. Since our calendar does not deal in partial days, every four years, we add an additional day to February. Therefore, our calendar year is either 365 days in nonleap years or 366 days in leap years. A leap year every four years gives us 365.25 days, sending our seasons off course and eventually in the wrong months. To change .25 days to .24219, we skip a few Leap Days every one hundred years or so.

This day only comes around once every four years so I figured it’s a cause for celebration.  Here are a few activities to do with the kiddos today:

1.  Make an origami frog that will “leap” around our house.

Click here to download the printable PDF.

2.  Send your friends Leap Year ecards by clicking here.

3.  Make a paper bag frog puppet.

4.  Make Leap Year cupcakes.

5. Print off this Leap Year dot-to-dot by clicking here.

Filed Under: Family Fun, home, Printables Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Has Valentine’s Day snuck up on you?

February 13, 2012 by Leave a Comment

In need of some last minute valentines?  Don’t forget we’ve got free printable bookmarks and cards right here!

My cousin emailed me saying her daughter’s Kindergarten class was doing a project and wanted to receive mail from around the world.  They live in Illinois and I’m in Arizona – not quite the other side of the world, but hey, I’m a sucker for school projects.  I knew I wanted to send a card with some information about Phoenix and such, but I wanted the package to be extra special for my wonderful first-cousin-once-removed.  (I think that’s right, but if not, you know what I’m getting at.) The teacher in me decided to whip up Valentine’s Day bookmarks to send her way.  And lucky you, I’m sharing them with the world.  Here they are, hope you enjoy!

While I was at it, I decided to create a few Valentine’s Day cards, all totally FREE and PRINTABLE.  Here you go:

Open the PDF files by clicking below:

Printable Valentine’s Bookmarks

Printable Valentine’s Cards

Filed Under: Printables, Things to do with Kids Tagged With: , , ,

Valentine’s Day Printable Subway Art

February 6, 2012 by Leave a Comment

If you’ve spent any time on Pinterest lately, you’ve probably noticed subway art is all the rage (Did I really just use that term? Yes. Yes I did.).  That being said, I decided to create a Valentine’s Day piece.  Print this puppy off, frame it in an 8×10 and you have an instant V-Day decoration.  I love this idea because it’s a simple, yet colorful way to change up the decor based on a season or holiday.

Click here to download the PDF.

Filed Under: Printables, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , ,

How Do You Budget?

February 2, 2012 by Leave a Comment

According to the calendar, we are into February, yet I’m just now starting one of my New Year’s resolutions.  (Glad I didn’t make the resolution to quit procrastinating, sheesh!)  I promised myself – and my husband – we would stick to a budget this year.  I’m embarrassed to admit, I’ve never made a household budget, so I wasn’t sure where to start.  I tried making a spreadsheet on the computer, but it was much too boring for me.  I need some pizazz and color in my life, so I created this printable monthly budget sheet.  How many of you make a monthly budget?  It will be interesting to see where our money goes because I’m convinced we’ve been the victims of identity theft each time I look at our accounts.  Here’s to month #1 on a budget!

Click here for the PDF.

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Free Printable Lunchbox Notes

January 31, 2012 by 1 Comment

When I was teaching, my heart would melt a little bit when I saw a handwritten note from mom or dad in one of my students’ lunchboxes.  The parents never got to see the joy it brought to the faces of their children, but I promise you, those 30 seconds it took you to write that note made your child’s day.  I know a lot of you probably already do this, so I thought I’d whip up a cute set for you to use, and if you don’t, maybe this will give you some inspiration.  Enjoy!

or if you want blank ones…

Click here to download notes with quotes.

Click here to download blank notes.

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Free Printable Meal Planner

January 25, 2012 by 1 Comment

Do you meal plan?  It really takes about 5 minutes to do and saves me a boatload of headache during the week.  Now that I’m a mom, I no longer just run to the grocery store to pick up the ingredients for tonight’s dinner.  No, grocery shopping has now turned into an ordeal and I despise every second of it.  If I’m going to make the trip, it better be worth my while.  Meal planning definitely helps me stay organized and get everything I need for the week’s meals in one trip.  I’ve seen other meal planners that have a ton of details including planning for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Like most of you moms out there, I don’t have time to plan for breakfast or lunch.  Heck, I’m lucky if I scarf down a piece of toast in the morning.  I wanted something simple and something I would actually use, so here it is:

I’ve printed a number of these and stacked them in the pantry.  Each week I pull out a fresh one and slap it on my refrigerator.  No more coming home from a busy day and asking, “What’s for dinner?”

Another idea I love is to print this version and place it in a 8×10 frame.  With a dry erase marker, it instantly becomes a reusable menu board.  Prop it up on your counter or hang it on a wall.  Voila!

Click on the link below for your free printable menu:

Menu with List

Simple Menu

Filed Under: home, organization, Printables, Uncategorized, What's Cooking? Tagged With: , , , , , ,