Good Reads [February 2012]

I've really begun to enjoy reading over the past couple of years. I'm not as good about sitting down with a book as I'd like to be, but I'm working on it. I'm currently reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, but am always looking for my next book, so I'd love your recommendations!

In the mean time, here are a few recommendations for you!

• A Homemade Life (Molly Wizenburg)
  This is a memoir + cookbook. If you love food, family, and travel, you'll think this is a delightful read.
• The Glass Castle (Jeannette Walls)
  Jeanette Walls tells the story of her family and her growing up. This book is hard to sum up, but deeply moving. 
• Half Broke Horses (Jeannette Walls)
  Another great book by Walls. In it, she tells the story of her grandmother -- a strong, hard-working woman. Fantastic book.
• Travels with Charley (John Steinbeck)
  It's John Steinbeck. Need I say more? Alright, well... this is his account of his journey across the United States. Short, quick read.
• The Love Dare (Stephen Kendrick)
  If you're married, I highly recommend going through this book.

For other books I've read, check out my list at GoodReads... And please share you favorite reads with me!

Watering Pots [Texas Gardening]

Last year was my first year to plant a fruit and vegetable garden. We built a raised bed (learning from this tutorial from the Pioneer Woman) It makes me feel old to say it, but I enjoyed it. A lot. That is until  my dog trampled half of my plants and then the blazing Texas heat came and scorched all that was left. (It was really hot, y'all.) So July was pretty much the end of my garden.

I'm excited for a new year, though. I feel like I probably learned a few things that I can do differently this go-round. (I have the feeling that I still have a whole lot to learn, yet.) One thing I'm going to try is watering pots.

As I was perusing a gardening book handed down to me by my mother (1,112 Down-to-Earth Garden Secrets), someone suggested burying terra cotta pots near the plants in your garden. Then, when its watering time, you just fill the pots with water, allowing the water to slowly seep into the soil and go directly to the roots. Last year, I had to stand over the garden for-ev-er to water it and even then, the water would pool up in certain places and not disperse evenly. Hopefully these "watering pots" are the perfect solution to my problem (primarily the problem of having to stand in 110 degree heat for longer than two minutes).

Also, we'll be building a little greenhouse over our raised bed... but more on that later.

Do you enjoy gardening? Got any tips to share with a newbie like me?

Tips for Affordable Family Vacations [Travel]

This photo was taken at Caddo Lake State Park on one of our vacations in 2010.

I love to travel. I mean LOVE. However, our family has spent the last number of years working on becoming debt free, saving, and being responsible, leaving little room for extravagant vacations. For me, though, because of what great memories I have of many family vacations growing up, skipping vacations altogether is just not an option, so I do my best to plan super fun vacations on a budget. Right now, I am working on planning a week long trip for a family of four from Texas to Florida for under $1000. Yep, you heard right. And I think we'll be able to do it with a little room to spare. I'll share our trip plans soon, but I wanted to share a few of my favorite money-saving tips so that you can begin your plans for your own affordable Spring Break vacation!

1. Drive, don't fly. Airfare can add up in a hurry when travelling with kids in tow. Hop in the car instead! Not only will you spend a fraction of the cost, but you will see so much on your way! As a kid, the drive itself was one of my favorite parts of the trip, and it was great getting to sample the culture, food, and things to do along the way! Expect to save somewhere around 60-80% on transportation costs this way depending on the size of your family.
2. Book hotels online. Get online and check out sites like Priceline, Hotels.com, and Hotwire before your trip. We've scored some major savings (30-60%) by booking this way. (Note: Sign up with a program like Ebates or MyPoints, then shop travel sites through their referral links to earn points and cash back rewards.)
3. Free Breakfasts. Many hotels (especially the ones geared towards families) offer free hot breakfasts.  Make sure when booking that the hotel you book offers this service to save your family $20-30/day.
4. Cook your own meals. Not all of them, of course (part of the fun of vacation is getting to try all the good restaurants), but as much as you're able depending on your destination. Search for a hotel or condo ahead of time that has a small kitchen and buy groceries. Planning to eat out once every 1-2 days will save TONS of money, and it'll make it a eating out feel like a real treat.
5. Camping. Okay, I realize not everyone is cut out for camping, but I grew up camping a lot, and it's a very affordable way to see the country. If you have a tent or a pop up camper (or know someone who does), load it up and head out! Typically, the cost of a camp site in a state or national park will be about 10-20% of the cost of a hotel. I also love that there's always tons of stuff to do for the kids. They can ride bikes, explore, swim, and more... for free! Find a park that's located near the city/area you want to visit, and voila -- affordable lodging at a fraction of the price!
6. Look for free things to do. I've been amazed our last couple trips to the coast how many really cool free things there were to do. Some highlights were riding the ferry at no cost and watching the dolphins as we rode. (Dolphin tours were going for around $25/person, and this was just as good!) We also found out that there was a marine life rehab center/sanctuary that was open to the public for free. Get online and see what you can find. 
7. Read reviews before you visit restaurants, attractions, etc. It's easy to get sucked into all the tourist traps and flashy looking restaurants, but use online sites or apps like TripAdvisor, Yahoo! Travel, UrbanSpoon, and Yelp to read user reviews first. You may find that the $50 you were going to pay to go to the local aquarium may not be worth it. Or you might discover that the beach front seafood hut you were thinking of going to is expensive and average-tasting, and that the best seafood can really be found at a little dive up the street where all the locals go (and it doesn't have touristy price tags).

These are just a few of the things I try and do when planning a trip. Do you have any tips or advice for affordable family vacations?

Holey Jeans

Boys play hard. At least my boy does. He is forever jumping, falling, sitting, and sliding on his knees, and it shows. Anytime I buy him new jeans, they only last about a month before the knees (particularly the right one) of his jeans totally give out.

Needless to say, this gets expensive.

So the other day his newest pair ripped, and I'd had it. I got online in search of some sort of solution (because trying to get a five year old not to be so hard on his knees is next to impossible). Luckily, I came upon this idea from The Frugal Girls, and yesterday I decided to give it a try. I bought two sets of patches (just over $1 each) and two pairs of jeans. I ironed the patches onto the inside of the jeans, and behold, we have jeans with reinforced knees! If this works, I am STOKED.

When I posted about his jeans on Facebook, I guessed by all the comments that this is a pretty widespread problem. Do you have any tricks to extend the life of your kids' jeans?

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentines Day! I just got the kids off to school a while ago with their giddy hearts and bags of treats. Typically for Valentines Day, the kids and I stop at Target one afternoon so they can pick their box-o-Valentines. But this year, (inspired by this that I found on Pinterest) I decided we'd make our own Valentine cards, and (even with me putting it off until 5:00pm on February 13th) it was pretty easy!

1. Grab your camera and head go outside with the kids. Find a nice backdrop and have them pose with their fists out towards the camera. (Full disclosure: this portion took me the longest. My kids were being total goofballs and couldn't stand still!)
2. Go download your photos and pick the best of each kid. Using Photoshop or something similar, add text and/or decorations to the photo.
3. Send to your favorite photo lab (I like MPix, but in this case since I procrastinated so long, I sent them to CVS 1-hour photo).
4. While waiting on the prints to be ready, go pick up whatever treats you'd like to attach. We opted for pencils, since no candy was allowed, but suckers and such could work equally well.
5. Once you have the pics in hand, sit down with a pair of scissors or a pen knife, and carefully cut slits at the top and bottom of the kids' hands.
6. Put the pencil (or sucker) through, and you're done! I promise you'll have very happy kids!