Great deal at Target!!

I really just need to stay out of Target. I always go in for one thing and come out with a cart full. Please tell me I'm not the only one who does this! Anyway, this Wilton 6 piece bakeware set is clearanced for $7.49. I grabbed one and I think I might go back and pick up a few more for gifts. So . . . if you need any new bakeware head over to Target and I dare you to get in and out with just one item! :)

WFMW - Vinyl Chalkboard Menu

My SIL Michelle gave me this vinyl chalkboard menu for my birthday this year and I swear this thing has magical powers. Usually around 4 o'clock every day one of my kids will ask what we are having for dinner. This leads to lots of moaning and groaning about what I am making. Which makes my love of cooking grow even more :) But all the complaining stopped once I started using this menu.

I'm not sure why I have never posted a menu before. I usually have in my mind what we are having for dinner for the week but haven't actually put it up somewhere. I originally was going to put the menu on a tile since we have an ugly yellow refrigerator but once I saw it up on my SIL Gina's blog (on her pretty stainless steel fridge), I had to put it up and start using it right away. I actually even like how it looks on our old sad fridge.

I'm not sure why posting the menu has stopped all the pre-dinner whining and complaining. Maybe they think once it is written it can't be changed? Or maybe it is because they know there are future dinners coming up during the week that they like? Who knows?? But since using the menu, there has not been one. single. complaint. about what is for dinner. I call this a miracle. I'm not saying they eat the food all the time that I make for dinner but at least I don't have to listen to them begging me to make something else.

So if you have never posted a menu before and you have heathens for children like me - just kidding :) - try it, you might be surprised. The vinyl chalkboard is super cute but if you don't have one, I think this would have worked just as well if I had just written a menu and stuck it on the fridge. There also are a million super cute ideas out there for posting menus (like writing on a ceramic plate, etc), if you want to go the extra mile.

Thanks Michelle for this super cute gift that has made my afternoons much more peaceful!

Posting a weekly menu is what is working for me this week. For more great tips and ideas head to We are That Family where she hosts "Works For Me Wednesday" every week.

My previous WFMW posts:

Sweet Spinach Bread
Library Bags
Letterboxing
Curling Ribbon
Safe Plastics
5 Ingredients or Less
Laundry Tip
DIY Lip Gloss
Tips for Clothes Shopping with girls
How to teach a child to swallow pills
Removing old stickers, adhesive, etc.
Easy Hair Bow Instructions
Managing school papers
Fall Traditions
Coupon Binder
Toys Worth Buying - Board Games
Hairstyles for Girls
Agent Cool Blue - Kids Oral Hygiene

Tea for Two

I love having little girls! Every day last week Ella talked nonstop about her upcoming playdate with her friend Valerie from school. Lately these two have really hit it off and they have had so much fun together. Ella kept telling me that her and Valerie wanted to have a tea party with Ella's pretend tea sets when Valerie came over. I decided instead to surprise the two girls with a "real" tea party. You should have seen their faces when they came home from school and saw this set up on the deck:


Ella and I had picked up the pink teapot at Ross for $5 but she had no idea what exactly I had in store for it. I already had everything else from a birthday party I threw for Ella a couple of years ago. The girls had finger sandwiches, cheese cubes, pretzels, strawberries and whipped cream, grapes, apples, and (of course) tea. The tea was really Dole Strawberry Kiwi juice.


I wore a fancy apron and served the girls with my best fake British accent. Halfway through lunch Ella ran over and gave me the biggest hug and said "Mom this is exactly what was in my mind". It just doesn't get any better than that.

It was so much fun for me that I am planning on doing it again in a couple of weeks with a bunch of her little friends. This time I will add chocolate covered strawberries to the menu (mainly so I can eat them)!

WFMW - Agent Cool Blue

So I must have been living under a rock because apparently this stuff has been out for years, but I just discovered it in the store this week. I am not going to name names but one of my kids has been fighting toothbrushing lately and doing a very poor job when he/she does brush their teeth. So when I saw this product I thought I would give it a try.

In case you too have never seen this, here's how it works. This is a pre-rinse. Meaning before they brush their teeth, they swish this around their mouth and then spit it out. It dyes their teeth blue (especially the areas built up with plaque). The kids then have to brush all of the blue off of their teeth. I was alarmed when aforesaid child said to me "I guess this means I'll have to brush the back of my teeth now." What???? I thought that was already happening. For one of my children, all of the blue came off after the first brushing. For the child with toothbrushing issues, it took three times to get the blue off but made the child realize where they needed improvement.

I have set up a toothbrushing basket under their bathroom sink. In it I have their toothpaste, this Agent Cool Blue Rinse, dental floss, mouthwash, and cups. Both kids LOVE brushing their teeth now. They only use the blue rinse at night but everything else morning and night. I have seen a major improvement in my one child's oral hygiene.

Both my kids are super picky about tastes and can't handle almost every toothpaste but they both are fine with the taste of this rinse and also the mouthwash by the same company.

Getting my kids excited about brushing their teeth is what is working for me this week. For more great tips and ideas head to We are That Family where she hosts "Works For Me Wednesday" every week.

My previous WFMW posts:

Sweet Spinach Bread
Library Bags
Letterboxing
Curling Ribbon
Safe Plastics
5 Ingredients or Less
Laundry Tip
DIY Lip Gloss
Tips for Clothes Shopping with girls
How to teach a child to swallow pills
Removing old stickers, adhesive, etc.
Easy Hair Bow Instructions
Managing school papers
Fall Traditions
Coupon Binder
Toys Worth Buying - Board Games

Thanks for visiting!