$2 Tater Thursdays: The I-Spy-Walk Edition

I meant to get this one up yesterday but Nathan, Kaydi and I were having so much fun that the time seemed to fly by.

This week, we took an "I-Spy Walk" and had some fun with the things we found along the way. You can read all about our day HERE.

Remember, having fun with your kids doesn't have to cost a lot...or anything at all!

I'm hoping you had fun with your kids yesterday, and all week, too!

$2 Tater Thursdays - Nathan Makes Supper!

For those of you that are new to the blog, last summer after going blueberry picking, having a blast and only spending $1.98 for the day with my son, I started doing "$2 Tater Thursdays." It's just a little special thing we do together once a week that can't cost more than $2. Since my daughter's birth, we've mostly just been having playtimes where he chooses what we do that day. But this week, we did something special and it was a free day. What did we do? Nathan (Tater), my little two year old, made us supper! :)

You can read all about our day HERE.

Having fun with your kids doesn't have to cost much, or anything at all. Get a little creative. And most of all, let them help you while they still think it's fun! You get that great quality time with them, they have a blast and then that just leaves even more play time for...kid stuff!

I hope you had a great day with your Kids, too! I am dying to dig into these Chipotle Pork Chops! Tune in next Thursday for our next adventure!

Nathan's Latest Artwork

During our last $2 Tater Thursday session, Nathan made me this triple art painting. I used a package of 3 8x10 thin canvases that they sell fairly cheap at Michael's craft store. (Even cheaper with 50% off coupon!) It made for a nice little extra splash of color in his playroom.

You can check out the rest of our day here.

$2 Tater Thursdays - A Hair Raising Experience

So, Tuesday evening when I'm getting ready to put Nathan down for bed, I notice he feels rather warm. I took his temp...102! What was going on! It had been 8 days of being sick and I thought he was getting better. Now this! I made a Dr's appt. for him Wednesday and we couldn't get in until suppertime. They thought he might have a sinus infection, as a virus would have run its course by now. I sent Nathan home with Daddy and went to get his prescription. 45 minutes later, I was FINALLY on my way home.

I am frustrated that the pharmacy didn't point out that his medicine needed to be refrigerated! I left it out all night and when I gave him his morning dose, I saw the itsy, bitsy writing that said "Keep refrigerated!" UGH! I had to call the pharmacy and they had to get a new script from the Dr. So...this is how our morning started. Not to mention, it was pouring down rain! And since Nathan was on meds, I didn't think it was wise to take him anywhere. So once again...we spent the day just playing. (Daddy picked up his meds on the way home.)

Later in the evening, I decided we'd have some "fun" and cut his hair. It was getting very spiky all over and needed a trim. So I put him in his kitchen chair, gave him some "snackies" and trimmed up his hair. Of course, we had to leave his natural mohawk or I'd be pummeled by several of his adoring fans. :) I TRIED to take some before and after pictures but the squirmy little guy wouldn't sit still long enough to get good shots.

So that was our big adventure for the day. A home haircut. Thrilling, isn't it? But I do have big plans for just the two of us on Sunday to make up for it. Maybe we'll have better luck getting those on film.

Hope your day went well!

$2 Tater Thursdays - Too Sick Today!

Tater and I were just too sick to doing anything "special" today. But for me, it was special just to lay around watching TV with my son and not doing housework. If only I was feeling 100% to enjoy it more!

I am hoping we get a miracle recovery overnight so we can enjoy Halloween tomorrow. I can't wait to see my Little Pooh's reaction to people giving him some candy!

Hoping your day was much better than ours! Since I didn't think you'd want a picture of Tater with a runny nose, I added one of my little "Tater Claus" from last year. :)

$2 Tater Thursdays - Pumpkin Surprises!

A few years ago, our doorbell rang and there sitting on our doorstep was a pumpkin filled with candy with a ghost picture and instructions inside. We were to post the ghost in the window so everyone would know we received one and then make two pumpkins and secretly drop them off to a neighbor. It was a lot of fun. We decided to also bring one to Rich's parents and Aunt. (They live by each other.) We haven't done the secret pumpkin exchange since but I wanted to do a different surprise this year!

I really hate just dropping in on people but oh, how I do love surprising them! This morning/afternoon, Tater and I whipped up a batch of crockpot applesauce, cupcakes and brownies! We dyed the frosting for the cupcakes and brownies orange and then added little candy pumpkins and candy corn on top. (Thank you CVS for those freebies!) We put a bag of candy corn in each of our (free) pumpkins and added some M&Ms and Snickers from our upcoming Halloween stash. I put the applesauce in little containers and added a cute little label I printed from here and put them from Tater.

We then waited for Daddy to get home. Since we didn't want to be out late and I had spent all day in the kitchen already, Daddy treated us to Burger King on the way to our destination! Unfortunately, the first surprise was on us! Aunt Jackie wasn't home! How devastating. We rarely get to see her and oh how I know she would have loved to see Tater.

We then drove to Nana/Papa's. Yippee! They were home! I put a little dog costume on Tater and handed him the pumpkin with the applesauce and candy. (Daddy carried the cupcakes/brownie plate!) We rang the doorbell and waited. And there was Papa! SURPRISE! A cute little doggy brought you some TREATS!

Nana and Papa were excited to see him and Papa really liked the cupcakes! We had a nice little visit and then headed home. We didn't want to take away from their prior plans (poor Papa was painting) and we needed to get home so Tater could get to bed!

We didn't spend any extra on the treats today, as everything was here or came free from CVS's great weekend deals. I even had enough cupcake mix and brownies left to send some with Daddy tomorrow to work. Our expense did include a "dinner outing" but we needed to get one in anyway.

Overall, Tater had fun mixing up the goodies (and licking the spoons/beaters!) and he really enjoys spending time with his grandparents. It was a lot of fun for all of us! Plus, we got to see the changes to their house, as they are in the middle of some remodeling. Another great day with Tater!

Hope you had fun with your little ones, too! Wait until you see Tater's "real" costume for Halloween. He makes the cutest little.....you'll have to wait and see!

$2 Tater Thursdays - A Day to Ourselves

Last night, I couldn't sleep (again) and was up until 1:30AM. When I was heading off to bed, I checked up on Nathan to cover him up and he popped up in his crib and tried to throw his arms around me. I thought, "Why not?" So, I picked him up and went into his "big boy room" and we snoozed the...morning...away. He didn't wake up until 10AM! So my original plan for the day was shot. BUT, I didn't mind. If there's one thing you have to be as a Mommy is flexible! So I decided, today was going to be all about Nathan. With the baby coming, he's going to be getting a little less attention and I wanted to enjoy my time with just him while I could.

So after quickly checking email this morning, I told him..."Today is all about you, Little Man." Nathan made me a great breakfast of "Pop-ups," as he calls them. (Poptarts) Of course we had healthier Cheerios and a banana to go along with it. Then...we played the day away.

Yes, there I was crawling around on my hands and knees pushing a fire truck or stacking blocks or whatever he wanted to do. It was exhausting. And sometimes even painful! :) But you know what...it was worth it! We laughed. We played. We had a GREAT time. And, in the end, it was probably one of the best Thursday adventures I've had with him.

Yes, we play together everyday. But this time, I didn't say, "No, Nathan, Mommy can't." Or "Not now Nathan, I have to do some laundry." It was nice to just put off everything house-related and focus 100% on him.

While we were playing, he put one of his nesting buckets on his head and laughed and signed,"Hat." I was laughing and asked him if I could take a picture and he nodded yes. I ran to get my camera and the dear sweetheart actually posed for me! Then, he ran to my camera because he's figured out that you can see the picture right away. He pointed to it, smiled and signed, "Hat" again. It was the cutest little thing! :)

So, even though we didn't get out today, we had a nice time together just the two of us. I am definitely going to have to have more days like these where I just let the dishes and laundry pile up and just play the day away!

Hope your day with your little ones was fun, too!

$2 Tater Thursdays - Educational Shopping?

I was reading Donna's article yesterday on "feeling invisible" and I could totally relate! Despite having a husband that appreciates me immensely, sometimes I do feel invisible. Is anyone listening? Is Tater soaking in anything I'm teaching him? Well, today's "adventure" was actually my education, not Tater's! I'm the one that ended up learning something from our "outing."

So my Dr's appt. was switched from Tuesday to Thursday this week. I wasn't sure what Nathan and I were going to do for our "adventure" but I thought I'd figure it out on the way home. Tater actually planned this one!

I had to stop at Wags to use my RRs on a gallon of milk. As I was walking through the aisle, Tater repeated pointed to something. A gorilla. Of course! He loves monkeys lately. I let him see it and he kept patting his head. Then I realized, the gorilla had a graduation hat on and Tater was signing, "Hat." When I tried to put it back, he kept signing hat and pointing. He's really been into stuffed animals lately so I knew he'd get use out of him, so I let him keep him.

Next we went to Jewel. We were in the produce area and Tater started saying, "Ba-Na." I looked over and he was pointing at Bananas. Then "pul-pul" (apple). I asked him which ones were red and he pointed. I figured it was a "fluke" and started asking him "Point to something orange" or "Where are the lemons?" He got everything right. He had to point out every pumpkin in the store as, "puh-puh."

On our way through the bakery section, they had free samples of cookies out. As I was getting one for Tater, I heard a woman laugh and say, "Why hi cutie!" He was waving and smiling at her. And he continued to do this to EVERYONE we walked by. (I guess my, "Be Nice, Say Hi" finally kicked in!)

I was almost on my way out and I remembered those Silk Soymilk coupons I had. I thought I'd check out the pricing and while I was studying flavors and prices, Tater again, started getting excited about something. Another pumpkin? I finally noticed he was opening and closing his fist, making the sign for "milk." There behind me were the regular gallon jugs we bought.

How exciting to see that the things I've been teaching him, he's really picking up on! (Along with help from DVDs!!) He's signed/spoke at home but it was great to see him apply everything from home to things in the outside world! On the drive home, I had a happy feeling of not being quite so invisible but then I had a sad moment when I realized...my little baby is growing up! When we got home, and had lunch, I asked him, "Can Mommy nappy with you?" He smiled and shook his head yes. So this afternoon, we both curled up in the Guest Room and took a little nap. Because someday soon, he'll be much older and really wanting Mommy to be invisible! :) (It's never cool to hang out with Mommy around your friends!) Until then, I am going to keep teaching and loving my little guy! And some days, he'll teach me things, too!

Since I didn't have a picture of our trip, I picked my favorite one of him when he was about 5 months old. My little ham! Our total unbudgeted cost for today was $.54 for a gorilla with a hat! :) It was funny as him and Jack were fighting over it when we got home. (Who doesn't love a monkey with a cute hat?!)

Hope your day with your little one(s) was great, too!

$2 Tater Thursdays - Honoring Grandpa through Snail Mail

Aside from his amazing faith and love for fishing, the one thing everyone knew about my Grandfather was that he did a greeting card ministry. I would love to have seen his address book! He had hundreds, upon hundreds of people that he would randomly send cards out to on a fairly regular basis. And let me tell you, God must have spoke to him constantly about whom to send them to because they ALWAYS arrived just when you needed them! Not only were they inspiring with his uplifting words and scripture, but every once in awhile, he'd send a $2 bill, too. I don't know how many times those $2 bills fed me a lunch when I first starting out and had nothing!

So today, I wanted to teach Nathan that there are other ways of communicating with people other than the computer! A world of cards/letters/stamps does exist! So we picked out 5 family members and decided to send them a surprise card.

Probably a week after my Grandfather passed away this year, I was in Walgreens and needed a filler item to reach my total for the $5 coupon. There calling to me was a box of Greeting Cards. It was like he was telling me to get them, "just in case." So we had some cute cards on hand for our project!

First I had Nathan color some pictures and do some marker artwork. Then, I had him write his own personal message inside each one. We folded up the artwork and I had him lick the envelopes. Too funny! He looked at me like, "What was that disgusting taste?!" Don't worry, I only let him do one! But he did help put the labels and stamps on.

We put two of them in the mailbox so he could see how the flag worked. The other three, we took to the Post Office. While I was there, I sent a surprise package to a friend of mine. I can't wait to hear what she thinks of it.

It was a nice little project for the day. In the end, we spent $2.10 on stamps but we had a little left over from last week so we are still on budget.

I'm hoping that I can teach Nathan to continue on my Grandfather's tradition of "surprise cards." It brightens people's days so much!

Hope your day with your little ones was great, too!

$2 Tater Thursdays - Learning About Art

I have to be honest and say that the morning started off a little rough. I had a night of "pregnancy insomnia," as I call it, and couldn't sleep until 2AM. Nathan woke up earlier than usual, before 6:30AM! I would have muddled through but he was in the rarest crabby mood! Quite a recipe for disaster! But we made the best of it. Today's adventure was learning about art. Up until this point, Nathan had only been exposed to crayons/coloring books. There are so many other forms that I wanted him to try!

We started off with fingerpainting. About 6 months ago, I had picked up some craft supplies for practically free and we hadn't used them yet. So we were able to use some foam board and fingerpaints today! I started by just giving him one color of his choice. Then I realized, who cares if the color mix? Why stifle his creativity! So I opened them all up and he made the most beautiful painting for me! It was like he was born to fingerpaint. He dipped his fingers in and went to work! I am so blessed not to have a kid that's afraid to get dirty. We would be missing out on so many things!

After cleaning up, we tried out some markers! On Monday, we picked up a pumpkin at a local farmstand. I thought he'd have fun decorating it. But he actually wasn't too into it and preferred to color on the paper I had put underneath. Hey, art is art so I let him have at it.

He was starting to get crabby again so we decided to take a nap. How refreshing! When I went to take him out of the crib, he was back to normal! That big, happy smiling face was so uplifting!

We went out to get the mail and I had him pick off a few leaves from our Maple tree. We were going to make some leaf prints! We had to start by sharpening some pencils.(I haven't done that in over a decade!) I showed him how to drag the pencil on the paper to make the leaf imprint come through. Quite honestly, this one might have been a little beyond him. But we did have fun tickling each other with the leaves so it was still all good!

Even though the day started off rough, we still had so much fun! And I now have a new masterpiece for my bedroom. It's something I'll treasure forever, as I'll think about today. Our overall expenses for the day was $1.25 for the pumpkin. Had I not bought the foam board and fingerpaints prior, I would have included those in the total, too. (Maybe an extra $1?) All the same, I am going to say we have $.75 to roll-over to another week. And the pumpkin is going to make a fun carving session with Daddy later!

I just started reading through a book called First Art: Art Experiences for Toddlers and Twos. It looks good so far! You may want to check out a copy from your library if you need any art ideas, if you have little ones.

I hope your Thursday with your kids/family was fun, too!

$2 Tater Thursdays - Daddy's Birthday!

Today (Thursday, 9/18) is Daddy's birthday! But since we are going to a Cubs game, we had our "Tater Thursday" yesterday. We decided to have a nice birthday party for him, created by Tater!

Back in July, I found a great deal from American Express (Buy 2 GCs and get a $25 GC for Best Buy for FREE!) I did the deal twice, as allowed, and saved the $50 in GCs for this special occasion! It's been awhile since Rich bought a new Wii game and he was excited about the new Star Wars one that came out Tuesday. Tater and I went early and got the free t-shirt deal with it. I also had a GC from a return so in the end, we didn't spend anything! And a few months back, I had used a $10 Toys R Us coupon to get the book Let's Go Cubs for Rich and Nathan to read together. So the presents were bought. We wrapped the presents in newspaper and added stickers we had received for free in the mail. Tater had a fun time putting those on himself!

Yesterday, we went out to buy some balloons to decorate with. Since we had a red tablecloth, we picked up some Dark Blue balloons and went with a Cubs theme. We made a Happy Birthday, Daddy sign using Word on the computer. And we whipped up a batch of brownies for the cake. (Rich isn't a cake fan.) We used up the leftover frosting from last week and added a "Happy B-day Daddy" with decorator's gel.

In the end, Daddy was surprised and it was a nice way to spend our "outing." Our end total was $1.19 for the balloons, which we only used half of. (Saving the rest for Nathan's birthday!) We get to roll over another $.81.

Birthday parties don't have to be expensive. They just have to be done with love and thought. There are actually several sites out there for throwing a "frugal birthday party." So before you throw out lots of dough on your kid's party, do a Google search and see what great ideas are out there. A lot of times, the homemade parties are the best!

Happy Birthday, Rich/Daddy!

$2 Tater Thursdays - Bringing Daddy Smiles

We had planned to do this last week when it rained but too many people were missing. So today, we whipped up some cupcakes and headed over to see Daddy at work!

I had picked up a cake mix, frosting, licorice and M&Ms to make the cupcakes. I wanted something Tater could easily decorate. This time, while making the cupcake batter, I let Tater operate the hand mixer. He got such a thrill out of mixing everything up! After the cupcakes were baked, I frosted them and let Tater decorate. We used the M&Ms for eyes and we broke off some licorice pieces for a mouth--making little smiling cupcakes! Tater did pretty good until he realized that the M&Ms were candy! Then he wanted to eat them all! I was afraid we were going to run out before the cupcakes were finished!

We packed up the cupcakes and some extra goodies from yesterday's playdate and headed on over. Tater had a good time waving hi and bye to everyone and exploring the building. Everyone was so happy to see him and I think it brightened their normal work day a little.

Before we left, Tater and Daddy shared a cupcake. Then we headed on our way back home. I think it was good for Tater to see the place where Daddy goes all week.

Since I worked the cupcakes ingredients into amazing Jewel/Wags/CVS deals, the day didn't cost us anything out of our funds. We can roll the $2 over into another week.

Hope your Thursday was a good one, too!

$2 Tater Thursdays - The Beauty of Nature Part 2

So the morning didn't prove to be sunny as predicted but Tater and I still ventured out in the afternoon. Despite the gloom, we still had a good time finishing up our Nature adventure. I had found a Children's Garden online so Tater and I piled into the car and headed on over. It was beyond what I expected, especially for FREE!

The plants/flowers were laid out in the most amazing arrangements. All throughout the garden were little activities for the kids, too: A mud table to play at, a chalkboard to draw on, a sandbox, an evergreen maze and little tiny coves with benches to sit on. They also had a very nice picnic area.

Not only did Tater have a great time with the activities, but he also seemed to like the flowers themselves. I wasn't sure if he was too young to appreciate them or not. Of course his favorite area was the butterfly garden!

We decided not to plant our Cone Flower when we got home. We are going to wait and enjoy that with Rich tomorrow, along with a Nature walk on some trails at a nearby forest preserve.

Today's adventures didn't cost us anything. (Though I will send a donation to the town of the children's garden.) Every town should have one of these to enjoy! If you are interested in finding one, just do a Google search and you might get lucky to find one, or something similar, near you!

Hope you spend some time enjoying Nature this week!

$2 Tater Thursdays - The Beauty of Nature Part 1

I woke up to the sound of POURING rain and my first thought was, "Not again!" I had been planning a specific outing with Tater and this would be the third time that I couldn't do it. But then I thought, why not split it into two days?

So we got ready and headed out to Lowe's. I wanted him to pick out any flower/plant that he liked. I steered him towards the perennials and kept asking him if he liked any of them. He suddenly pointed excitedly to one. A White-Swan Coneflower. What a perfect choice! The tag said that it attracted songbirds and I am thinking that it will fit in well in the butterfly garden I have been gradually planting for him. (He's obsessed with chasing butterflies!)

Unfortunately the plant wasn't on sale and I didn't have any coupons (can you imagine?!) but we had money left over from weeks past so I gave in and picked it up for $5.28. So we've used up most of our rolled over money but it will be worth it to enjoy this plant year-after-year. (Hopefully!)

So tomorrow is Part II! Trust me, it's more than just planting it! :) Stay Tuned!

On a side note: When I went to take the picture above, I couldn't figure out why he was laughing. The little goof put a water bottle lid on one of the cones when I snapped the picture! You might be able to see it. He is so silly!

Hope your Thursday was a good one, too!

$2 Tater Thursdays - Much Needed Rest!

So this is how today started. I was awakened at 2AM to Tater crying, which is unusual. I got him back to sleep until I heard him again at 6AM. This time, he was sniffling and coughing. (Poor little guy!) I was wondering when this would start. He's been chomping madly at his fingers the last few weeks and right before a tooth comes in, he gets the sniffles. So I pulled him into bed with me and he slept until 10AM! Normally, I would view this as a blessing but I had a Dr's appt to get to.

So we frantically got ready and I gulped down that horrible glucose bottle they gave me. (It was my 27wk. diabetes/anemia test day.) By the time the appt. was over, I had a headache and Tater was still sniffling. So I told Tater that as much as I hated to, we were going to cancel our "Tater Thursday" this week. I was a little disappointed but our health and rest was so much more important.

We had a little lunch at home and took a nap. I let him have an extra DVD viewing so he could lay back and relax with me. And then we spent the rest of the afternoon playing with a milk jug and seeing what all would fit inside. (Why do I buy toys again?)

So even though we didn't get out and about for an adventure, we still learned a lesson today. Sometimes, you just have to know when to listen to your body and take a break! Since I didn't get any pictures today, I thought I'd share one of my favorites of him sleeping as a baby. (Hard to believe he was ever that little!) So we'll roll over our $2 this week and maybe use it for next week's adventure. We'll see!

Hoping your day was full of adventures with your little ones!

$2 Tater Thursdays - Thanking Others and Library Fun

If there's one thing that I want my children to learn, it's that every act of kindness, regardless how big or small, should never go without thanks. We are fortunate enough to have a free "Baby Time" class at our local library. Every week, there's a half-hour session where Nathan and I both get to spend time singing songs, doing activities/crafts and reading together. His teacher, Paula, is by far the sweetest woman I've ever met. And it doesn't go unnoticed! The children all love her! And it is very obvious that she puts so much of her own quality time into running the program. Her activities and games are very creative and we end up "mocking" them at home quite frequently.

So today, Nathan and I went to thank Paula for everything she does for the children's program. Our first step was to make some treats for her. Since we had brownies on hand, we whipped up a batch of them. I figured that some people aren't "cake people" but we should be lucky with some brownies! While I was cutting them into squares, I had Nathan color on a paper plate. I figured she'd love to see his artwork! I then put the brownies in sandwich bags and tied them with bows made from yarn. We added a hand-written thank-you note on the plate and sealed them up for safe transportation.

We then stopped by Jewel to pick out some flowers. I figured we'd have better luck with pricing there and quite honestly, I've always felt that grocery store flowers were actually better than those from a florist. Nathan got the biggest kick out of picking out his own carnations for her. (We found out later that he actually picked out her favorite color, too.) The clerk was nice enough to wrap them up for us and I let Nathan pick out a colored envelope for the card. When we went to check-out, all the lanes were 6 people deep. So we went to the self-checkout. Nathan got the biggest laugh out of putting the $2 bill into the money slot and collecting the change!

When we stopped by the library, Nathan handed the flowers to her and it really seemed to brighten up her day. She was excited to hear we'd be in the next session(she wasn't sure if I was up for it with the pregnancy getting farther along.) I then let Nathan pick out a few books from the Toddler area. By dumb luck, I stumbled onto a "magazine" called "Baby Bug." It was actually in book form and was a 10 month subscription. I had to pick one up to check it out.

Our original plan was to have a picnic in the park and read his books but it was starting to rain so we had to settle for a "carpet picnic" at home. After lunch, I gave Nathan the Baby Bug book and he climbed up into the chair with his "kitty cat" and blankey and began excitedly flipping through the pages.

All in all, we had another fun Thursday. Nathan learned the importance of thanking others and had fun picking out some new books. I'm hoping his love for books will continue as he gets older! And I am now on a mission to find a great price on the Baby Bug subscription! (If you find one, please let me know!!) The cost of this week's adventure: $1.89, with $.11 going into the end of year fund.

Here's hoping your Thursday with your little ones was fun, as well!

$2 Tater Thursdays - Making Guests Feel Welcome

My parents were coming in today from Iowa for a weekend stay. Since I wasn't sure exactly when they'd be arriving, I didn't want to stray too far from home. So Tater and I had our Tater Thursday at home. I told him our "adventure" for the day was learning how to make guests feel welcome when they visit.

The first thing we did was launder the sheets in the guest room. After the bed was made, we put the extra special touches on it. I like to call it the "mint on the pillow treatment." For Nana, we left a box of pistachios and a can of cashews for Papa. We also left some CVS freebies for them to sift through. (Any leftovers would be donated.)

Next we went out to our carnation plant and picked flowers for Nana. We put them in a little cup for her on the table.

I had picked up some poster board during one of Walgreens' great penny school sales. I put this on the floor with some fresh new crayons and put Nathan to work on some new artwork. When he was done, we cut a heart out for Nana and a handprint for Papa. (He calls Nathan his "five boy," as no matter when you ask him, he'll always drop what he's doing if you ask him for a "high-five."

Lastly, we made up a plate of fresh brownies to snack on. Nathan put in all the ingredients (except the egg) and stirred them up. And he had a great time watching them through the oven window.

Then we waited. And waited. And waited. (They didn't show up until 7:30pm) When I saw they were here, I gave Nathan the heart he had made and he waited anxiously for Nana to come through the door. She was greeted with a hug, kiss and his artwork.

We may not have gone out to explore the world today but he did learn how to make his world at home special for those who visit him. All in all, we had a good time. We didn't spend any money so our entire $2 will go into the end of the year fund.

$2 Tater Thursdays - Dog Park & PetSmart

Today turned out to be the perfect Tater Thursday. On our way to get into the SUV, Tater started his "eh-eh," letting me know he wanted me to see something. There was a little white butterfly in the front yard and he began to chase it, laughing so cute the entire time. Then, off we went to...the Dog Park!

When we first got there, a little jack russell greeted Tater at the gate. The owner came over and held his collar so Tater could pet him and I asked if it was OK if Tater gave him a treat. Instant friends! This little guy came up to Tater quite frequently afterwards. It was all women dog owners there at the time and they LOVED that Tater came to visit. I think it made their visit a little better,too! Tater found a tennis ball in the grass area and began to bounce it around, chasing after it. If only Jack had been there to play! I wasn't crazy enough to take two goldens, a toddler and my pregnant self to the park! :) Airplanes flew overhead (which fascinates Tater). I let him run around for awhile and then off to our next stop...

Petsmart! Some may say that they have higher prices,but they provide such a unique shopping experience that it can be worth it! Today wasn't a shopping day but a "mini-zoo day." We checked out the "birdies," "kitties," mice/rats, fishies and of course, more doggies! Their Doggie Day Camp was empty but there were a couple "shoppers." Now the whole point of $2 Tater Thursdays isn't to spend $2, but to try to not spend more than $2 for the entire outing. But, Tater and I both knew that when we got home, we'd get "yelled at" by Homer & Jack so we picked up some treats for them. I gave Tater his $2 bill and he handed it to the cashier (which she loved!).

We came home and had a picnic under our little tree with Homer & Jack.(pictured above) Tater loved giving them their treats and they seemed to forgive us for ditching them.

Total cost for our outing: $1.29. Since we had to go to the bank and return movies that were due, it wasn't any extra gas expense. I didn't want the extra money to be "rolled over," as I'd like to keep it to $2 or less, so we decided to put the change in a special Piggy. At the end of the year, we'll take one really nice outing with what's left.

If you decide to do a doggy park adventure, here are some tips:
1)Remember: The dog park is for the dogs! Don't expect the dog owners to protect your child. Always ask if it's ok to pet each dog. Never give them a treat without permission. And avoid large gatherings of dogs. They could "play fight" and accidently knock your child over.
2)Dogs will be dogs! If you don't like your child being licked or jumped on, don't take them! The little dogs like to jump a lot and yes, your child could end up with a small scratch. But as long as you keep a close eye on them, they'll be ok. Also, if the dog park is PACKED, don't stop! You want to have fun, not get hurt.

So if your week has been a little "ruff," consider taking the day off and checking out your local dog park!

$2 Tater Thursdays - Blueberry Picking

So first I have to explain that "Tater" is our nickname for our son, Nathan. Silly how he went from Nate to Nater to Tater but that's how it all happened. :) This week, Tater and I went out on a blueberry picking adventure. I made the mistake of going mid-afternoon, when it was a lot warmer out, but in the end, it turned out to be a good time. Nathan did more digging than picking. But we did end up with a little over a lb. of blueberries. The days' expenses were $1.98 for an hour of fun and making memories! On the tractor ride to and from the bushes, I ended up talking with the same woman. She shared in some blueberry tips and "grandmothered" Tater by cleaning him up on the way back. It was a fun little experience.

So I've come to the idea that every Thursday will be $2 Tater Thursday. I want to try to get Nathan out into the world to experience something new and have some fun but we have to stick to the $2 or less limit. It will be fun to see what things we can come up with! Tune in for next week's adventure!!

On a side note: I did go back on Saturday and picked 4.69lbs more of blueberries. They are frozen and ready for our waffles, cereal or just plain eating alone!!