Trying to keep up with your subscriptions in this economy can be tough, unless you are frugal minded and look for good deals.  I discovered Subscription Addiction, an online source where you can get your magazine subscriptions and save some money too.  The website is easy to navigate.  You can find your favorite magazines by looking in categories or best sellers.  You can also shop by price for individual subscriptions or package deals.

If you read several magazines, your best bet to get the most bang for you buck is to order a package deal.  You can select a specific genre like golf or food and gourmet and then select the magazines you want in these categories.  This food and gourmet set of three subscriptions is $30, just $10 per subscription.  

I selected three individual magazines to see what kind of a selection you can find at Subscription Addiction.  There are so many choices, it is hard to decide.  I picked Guideposts, Scholastic Parent and Child, and Midwest Living.  You can select any three from the list for $30 which is just $10 a subscription.  You can design your package to fit your specific needs.  They come in different sizes too and if you order more subscriptions, your price for each subscription is even lower.  Think of it as a  bulk discount for magazine subscriptions.  

magazine subscriptions also make great gifts.  Our boys have received subscriptions for birthdays and Christmas.  They love getting a new copy of National Geographic Kids or Ranger Rick in the mail.  These tend to be pricier magazines, but you can get the children's 3-pack for $45. In addition, each magazine gift order comes with a free gift Ecard to be sent to the recipient.  

There is a nice selection of children's magazine choices.  I even found the boys favorites, Zootles and Zoobooks.  These are great magazines that if cared for will last a long time and provide hours of entertainment.  The boys love to go to their grandparents house and read the old Zoobooks that their father read when he was younger.  

If you are not sure of what you want?  You can use the category listing to select topics of interest and then peruse the available titles within your favorite categories.  I selected children and found a great selection of titles including ADDitude which is a wonderful publication we have subscribed to in the past.  There are 52 choices in the children's category alone.  

Here is a sampling of some of the categories:  Comics, Gaming, Photography and Video, Religion, Sports, and Outdoors and Recreation.  I did not know you could subscribe to a comic, but apparently you can.  There are 30 titles in the Comics category including Spiderman, Supergirl, Captain America, and many more favorites.  

They also offer free trade magazine subscriptions to professionals who qualify.  Simply fill out the application form and submit it to see if you match the criteria.

If it is time to renew your subscriptions, Subscription Addiction is a great source with so many titles and package deals offering discounted prices.  Don't forget, subscriptions make great gifts too.  

I've been working on the Clutter-busting challenge all month and it has been a challenge.  We are still going to be clutter-busting in June because we have a lot of cluttered areas in our home that need some TLC.  It has been a lot of work, but the results are worth the effort.

I am so excited to share before and after pictures of my cookbook/art supplies shelves.

I donated a whole shelf of cookbooks to make more space and made room for the crock-pot in the kitchen.  My bread machine went out to the garage since it is no longer working:(  I miss my bread machine.  

We love the new un-cluttered space. It is amazing the difference it makes when you remove the clutter.  Here are some snap shots of stuff we got rid of since my last clutter-busting post.  

Half a truck (we don't seem to have the cab anymore), an old trash can, a two piece bathing suit (from before 3 kids), kids place-mats, magic hat baby toy, odd shaped fabric scrap

An old laundry bag, worn out kids shoes, worn out kids clothes

Halloween pail, stamper (the baby chews on stampers), window cling shade, old kids clothes, old lip gloss, random puzzle piece

Bag of trash cleared out of my desk, happy meal toy, breast milk bottle, broken hanger, half a plastic egg, broken army man, wooden stick from toy we no longer have

Stuff from my desk that I don't need

I will keep you posted on our clutter-busting progress since we will still be clutter-busting in June.  

We recently went on a long car trip to spend time with family so I selected several audio books at the library.  "Unbroken" was the first CD I put in the player and I was hooked.  This is the story of Louis Zamperini and his experience in the Pacific in World War II.  

Book Description:

We were so moved and captivated by this book.  My husband and I both enjoyed it and could not wait for the next installment each time we had to drive.  We really enjoyed the voice of Edward Herrmann who read the book.  We were hooked early on in the story.  

My husband and I drove separately for the last leg of our journey because he stayed behind for a conference.  I heard the whole story on my way home, but my husband did not.  He asked me about it and I said, "You will want to listen to it for yourself."  He finished it today while cleaning out the garage.  I walked through the garage and said, "Are you crying?".  He said, "I'm teary eyed."      

This is a story of unimaginable hardships, strength, courage, and triumph.  I gained even more respect for the men and women who sacrificed so much for their countries and freedom in World War II and all of the wars following.

Celebrate your freedom today, Memorial Day.  Honor those who fought for it and thank them.  Remember those who gave their lives for it.  


Disclosure:  I was not compensated for this post nor did I receive product for review. 

We were blessed to receive Ophelie and her Chicks from Lilliputiens of Belgium for review.  HABA, a German toy manufacturer, also distributes some wonderful European brands of toys in the U.S., and they just added Lilliputiens to their exclusive line here.  My almost two year old loves his new toy.  Actually, I have seen his older brothers playing with it too.  

Ophelie and her chicks have been entertaining my little guy with finger puppet fun, hide the chicks in the egg, hide the egg in Ophelie, throw the egg like a ball, and many more creative games.  The chicks all make different sounds which adds to the fun.  One of them makes the cutest little chick sound.  Ophelie has become a favorite toy and one that we will enjoy for a long time.  

This Lilliputien toy is well made.  In fact, one our chicks took a leap through an open window and had an unfortunate landing in a mud puddle.  She came out squeaky clean and all in one piece after a bath in the washing machine.  Her squeaker still worked too.  

Daddy even got in on the fun.  Ophelie is also a hand puppet and her chicks are little finger puppets.  

You can see my son playing with Ophelie and her chicks in the video above.  

You can see Ophelie and Her Chicks and other Lilliputien toys at  www.HABAusa.com.  


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Disclosure:  I received product for this review.  All opinions are honest and are my own.  

Kidorable has a line of soft. thick, 100% cotton hooded towels that are possibly the softest and cutest towels around.  I received the space hero towel for review and l love it.  

It comes packaged ready to gift.  Wouldn't this make a great birthday present?

Such a cute design and there are so many from which to choose. 

One of my favorite features is this handy hanging flap in the corner of the towel.  

I also love the snap.  This is especially nice for the younger kids who have trouble holding a towel around themselves after a bath or swimming.  

The designs are so cute and well made.  The space saucer and rocket are made out of soft fleece and stitched in place.  I love the bright playful colors.

Our new Kidorable hooded towel has become a fast favorite for snuggly warmth after bath-time and it will be well loved this summer on pool outings too.  

My readers can get 20% off their entire order when they purchase impossibly cute and soft cotton hooded towels.  Just use code STAYDRY22 at checkout on www.kidorable.com through May 31st.


Disclosure:  I received product for review.  Any opinions are honest and are my own.

I have been trying to stay on top of this challenge to reduce clutter by getting rid of 7 things each day except on weekends - gotta take a break sometime.  Last week I took an old changing table that had been in the garage for over a year to the Salvation Army.  I also found things to get rid of each day and then took most of it to Goodwill.  Some of it just needed to be recycled or thrown away.  

I am participating in Money Saving Mom's Clutter-busting Challenge.  You can link up your posts at Money Saving Mom or comment here.  I would love to hear about your clutter-busting accomplishments.  

Here are some pictures of things I got rid of last week.  

I found a few things in the kitchen to get rid of.  I need to find more, the kitchen is way too cluttered.  

An old worn out puzzle, a shirt that is too tight and unless I got awesome abs, I would never wear again, some baby stuff that we didn't even use when we had an infant

Two printed bib pieces that I will never use to make bibs, some old clothes, and a train car that does not go to any of our train tracks

Some old magazines, two empty bottles that were in my medicine cabinet, a few toys and books

The boys and I made some personalized tea towels for gifts and had a lot fun in the process.  Actually, Daddy helped too.  He was the Transformers expert.  My five year old really got into it, creating Transformers designs.  I would love to take credit for this idea, but I saw it on a favorite blog, I Can Teach my Child.

To make these towels, you can purchase finished kitchen towels and attach the handmade design or make homemade towels.  I made homemade towels since I had lots of fabric on hand.  

Supplies needed:
Tea towels or fabric to make towels
Cotton fabric for artistic design
T-shirt (fabric markers)
Pinking shears
sewing machine

I bought two natural colored fat quarters and cut them each into 4 sections with pinking shears.  I needed 7 pieces of fabric for the boys to color.  I used pinking shears to help prevent raveling.  

The boys had a lot of fun coloring the fabric pieces.  Make sure to use t-shirt (fabric) markers so that the drawing will not wash out of the fabric.  

I used one of my towels as a pattern and cut the new towels out with pinking shears.  

I folded the edges over once and hemmed them.  I figured by cutting the fabric with pinking shears, I would reduce raveling so I didn't turn the edges under.  If you have time, I would turn the edges under.  

I pinned the artwork fabric to the tea towel and sewed it in place with a simple straight stitch.

My wonderful husband and my three sweet boys planned a special surprise for me this morning.  First, my husband let me sleep in, while he got up with the kids.  (Thanks honey!)  When they were ready for me, my husband led me into the kitchen and had me sit at the end of the table where I could not see into the kitchen.  Then he cued my oldest to come out from hiding in the kitchen by announcing "one green and speckled frog".  My oldest brought me this gorgeous bouquet picked fresh from the yard.  Next he cued our middle child by announcing "two green and speckled frogs" and I was presented with a beautiful homemade card signed by each child and my husband.  I don't know how my husband got our 22 month old to wait behind the counter for so long, but he did.  He was announced "three green and speckled frogs" and excitedly brought me a box of chocolates from our favorite candy store, Fannie Mae.  The boys had such fun planning the big surprise.  

We had breakfast, sampled some candy, went to church and enjoyed a fun Mother's Day.  Then my husband took the boys out to play for the afternoon and I had the house to myself.  It was wonderful.  I clipped coupons, wrote out the grocery list, did some laundry and cleaning and enjoyed the peace and quiet.  How did you spend Mother's Day?  I would love to hear.  

This week is teacher appreciation week.  Parents at my oldest son's preschool have organized something for each day.  Today we brought in food for the teachers.  I made homemade tortilla chips and guacamole.  Tomorrow, everyone is supposed to bring in a small gift that the teachers will enjoy over summer vacation.  I completely forgot to pick something up today and started trying to think how we could manage to stop in the morning and still get to school on time.  Then I realized that I could probably come up with something suitable that we already had.  I found some coffee samples (we don't drink coffee) and individually wrapped specialty tea bags.  I decided this could work.  What says relaxing summer vacation more than coffee and tea?  Maybe alcohol - but we won't go there.  

Now that I had gifts for my son's three amazing teachers, I had to make them look pretty.  I rummaged through my sewing tub and found some scrap fabric and ribbon.  

I trimmed the edges of the fabric with pinking shears, then tied the fabric up around each gift to create these simple little bundles.  I think this is the perfect teacher gift and it is frugal because I did not have to buy anything.  

I have been participating in Money Saving Mom's Clutter-busting Challenge this month.  The idea is to get rid of 7 items each week day in May to reduce the clutter in your home.  My son's school had a large garage sale last week.  I worked at the sale and the prep beforehand.  Each time I went over to work, I cleaned out more clutter and took donations for the sale.   

Here is a look at my very messy cookbook shelves.  My little guy saw the camera and had to be in the picture.  He's enjoying a brownie I made for the yard sale/bake sale.  I already pulled a few cookbooks off the shelf before thinking to take a picture.  I have been wanting to reduce my cookbooks to two shelves for a long time to make room for art and craft supplies for the kids.  

I cleared out enough cookbooks to create an empty shelf and found some other random things to donate.  I took three loads of donations over to the sale last week.  I did buy a few things at the yard sale which counteracts a portion of my de-cluttering, but I only bought things we could use and the big things were outside toys for the boys.  All in all, it was a successful week of clutter-busting.