Follow the Kansas City Mom Blogs on your iGoogle Homepage or in iGoogle Reader!

• Labor Day Sales and Savings!

  published: 9/4/2010 7:44:45 PM

   

  Here are a few sales/coupons that you can take advantage of over Labor Day weekend!  Enjoy this three-day break!  And oh yeah....GO K-STATE!
  
  **Get 20% off your Osh Kosh purchase this weekend or 20% off your Carter's purchase with code LABORDAY online or it looks like the discount will be automatically applied in stores (no coupon necessary). 
  
  **The Gymboree "Fill a Bag Sale" is going on now through Labor Day...get 30% off your entire purchase in ...

  Full story

  by: Sara Keenan

• Teddy Bear Tears

  published: 9/4/2010 12:00:00 AM

  Earlier this week, I had to explain to my three children that their grandmother (my mom) had to be rushed to the hospital because of complication from her cancer treatment. When my youngest son asked if we could go visit her in the hospital, I had to explain that she was still very sick and that we would try and visit her the next day, depending on how she was doing. I just wasn’t sure....

  Full story

  by: James Wilcox

• McSocks

  published: 9/3/2010 1:00:00 AM

      A couple of weeks ago we met some friends at McDonalds for lunch. Not my first choice, but as a before Kindergarten treat, Ally got to choose lunch and so McDonalds it was. Without even thinking, Ally put on her Crocs, which was well and good, until it she wanted to play on the play set. At that point I realized she didn't have any socks. Floors at indoor play places give me a certain ...

  Full story

  by: Margaret Sarver

• Our Journey to Financial Freedom - Part II

  published: 9/2/2010 7:00:00 AM

  So last week, I shared how our financial makeover began.  I left off by sharing that I had to begin a quest on how I could save money on our weekly grocery bill.

  I had always used coupons.  I would save $0.25 here and $2.00 there.  So, I wasn't a true "couponer."  I knew that I could do better.  I knew I could save more - but how?  I couldn't find the deals nor the coupons I ...

  Full story

  by: Tracie Fobes

• Teaching Responsibility With a Forgotten Homework Assignment

  published: 9/1/2010 6:00:00 AM

      My kindergartener came home on Friday with her first homework assignment.  That’s why I found myself resisting the urge to run to her school on Monday afternoon.  Let me explain.

      Though my daughter was eager to do her homework, she wasn’t exactly keen on my idea of putting her finished assignment in her bag so she would remember to take it on Monday.  She insisted that she wanted to carry it separately.  (It was a ...

  Full story

  by: Lizz Welter

• Learning Contentment

  published: 8/31/2010 8:00:00 AM

  As of today, I am still pregnant and waiting to meet our 2nd child and first son. Our doctor thought last Monday that he would probably make his appearance this past weekend. So we cleaned the house, did the laundry, double checked the hospital bag, and really tried to make sure we were “ready” (really, can you ever be “ready”?).  And here it is, Tuesday of next week, and he is still nice and snug ...

  Full story

  by: Marisa Frymire

• Just Keep Trying...

  published: 8/30/2010 12:00:00 PM

  My daughters and I were watching Little House on the Prairie (one of our favorites), and Ma made new dresses for the girls.

   

  My five yr old asks, "Mom why don't you make dresses for us?"

  "Well sweetheart, I don't enjoy sewing and I'm not very good at it. Your grandma sews things for you."

  "Oh mom, you're good at everything," she replies. "You just have to keep trying. That's what you tell me... ...

  Full story

  by: Kristina Light

• Find Your Stock Up Price

  published: 8/28/2010 10:23:28 PM

  One secret to savvy shopping is knowing when to really stock up on something.  Your "stock up price" for an item should be that magic price at which you will buy enough to last you for a while.  You want to wait for the price to hit rock bottom, but it's hard to know when that is happening if you don't do your homework.  So here are some tips on how to decide when to ...

  Full story

  by: Sara Keenan

• Dance Classes and Leotards

  published: 8/28/2010 12:00:00 AM

  I have known this day was coming for about three-and-a-half years now, but I still wasn’t prepared when it finally arrived. As the father of two young sons, I was prepared for the start of football, baseball, basketball, soccer, and Cub Scouts (although chess club and piano kind of took me by surprise). I was eager for my boys to start all of these sports and for them to join scouting. Heck, I looked forward ...

  Full story

  by: James Wilcox

• Grade Responsibility

  published: 8/27/2010 1:00:00 AM

      I was at a meeting earlier in the week for library volunteers at my girls’ school. During the meeting the principal was talking about privacy and the importance of keeping any student information we came across while in the library private. She also mentioned that the school was adjusting their rules for email so that it would be more private and that teachers would no longer be able to email parents their child’s grade. My ...

  Full story

  by: Margaret Sarver

• Our Journey to Financial Freedom - Part I

  published: 8/26/2010 7:00:00 AM

  This morning, I becan to recall about how my husband and I have been working so hard on becoming financially stable over the past 30 months.  I recalled where we had been, what we’ve accomplished thus far as well as where we have yet to go.  It made me remember how encouraging it was to read stories about real people – just like my husband and I – and what they had accomplished.  In doing so, I realized ...

  Full story

  by: Tracie Fobes

• I Can't Believe I Wasn't the Last to Know!

  published: 8/25/2010 6:00:00 AM

  A few months ago, Amy Hilbrich Davis of Inspiring Moms, mentioned Groupon to me while I interviewed her for an article.  I'm glad she did.

  Earlier this summer, I signed up for Groupon.  I started receiving emails of their daily deals.  One day the deal was for a restaurant on the Plaza.  I paid $15 for a $30 gift certificate.  The certificate didn't expire for six months so I figured we'd squeeze at least one ...

  Full story

  by: Lizz Welter

• Creating Successful Drop-Offs

  published: 8/24/2010 7:00:00 AM

  Depending on the age of your children, either you are in the stage where dropping them off can be a challenge, or you have successfully made it through and are glad to see those days behind you! Knowing the right things to do to make a drop-off (whether at grandma’s house, daycare, or a friend) a success is only half the battle; actually choosing to do those things and not be swayed by your emotion ...

  Full story

  by: Marisa Frymire

• Date Night in a Minivan

  published: 8/23/2010 12:00:00 AM

  My husband and I are always looking for new date night ideas, so I thought I'd compose a list of our favorites and hope readers would share their favorites so we can collect new ideas:

  1. Murder Mystery Dinner Theater. Recently, we enjoyed an interactive murder mystery dinner theater with the Mystery Train of Kansas City (review here). This is a fun and novel date night activity. Best of all, you focus on solving ...

  Full story

  by: Kristina Light

• Dinnertime Dilemma

  published: 8/22/2010 7:55:41 PM

  A few weeks ago I went back to work full time.  I also (for some reason unknown to me) decided at that time to re-join Weight Watchers to lose these 10 pounds that  crept on in the last two years.  What has resulted is a major dinnertime dilemma in our house.  You see, there are four aspects to dinner...taste, cost, healthiness, and ease of preparation.  Unfortunately, I have realized that you can't have all four!  And ...

  Full story

  by: Sara Keenan