Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Fabulous Friday Finds - Mabel's Labels

By a show of hands . . .

How many of you have already had something lost or stolen at school?

While I can't see your hands, I'd be willing to bet that within the first month or so of school, a good number of you would have your hands raised high.

Some of the missing items are little things, but things that other kids want too.  So, it isn't a huge surprise when the coveted Smencil or rainbow highlighter disappears from your kid's desk and finds its way to another kid's.  Some of the items are just so small that they are hard to keep track of.  A pencil, a crayon, the standard pink eraser.   You even have the bigger items that just get left behind when kids are having too much fun.  It is so much better to swing than keep an eye on that lunchbox.   When kids are playing soccer, they get hot and toss the hat/sweatshirt/gloves they are wearing off into a pile to be picked up later.  Once an item gets separated from its child, the likelihood of ever finding its way back, is pretty low.

Unless . . .

You have labeled each and every one of your kid's items!

Which is what I now do.  Each and every pencil (34 of them, in fact) has a cute little sticker with our name on it.  All 12 glue sticks, 48+24+24+24 crayons, lunchboxes, hats, gloves, sweatshirts, etc. are now labeled so that it is easy for anyone to match up a rogue item with one of my daughters.

I used to write their names on everything.  I must say that it was a HUGE pain.  By the time I was done, I had writer's cramp and all the letters were starting to run together.  Now, I use Mabel's Labels.  They come in lots of sizes, patterns, and shapes.  They even have tiny labels that fit a pencil just perfectly.  Do you want to know my FAVORITE thing about Mabel's Labels?  I don't have to label anything anymore!!!  My kids can label their stuff all by themselves.  At 6 & 8, they have lots of experience with stickers.  They are more than capable of peeling and sticking the labels on all of their stuff.  Maybe they will be a little crooked or have the tiniest fold in some of them, but this (sometimes lazy) mom doesn't care!   Less work for me and less time and money spent on replacing lost items are both good things!


*Disclaimer:  I was sent a pack of labels for each of my girls from Mabel's Labels and Global Influence for sharing this information with you.   All thoughts and opinions are my own.  Peanut got the tween labels (See the Alexandria image below) and Pumpkin got the standard labels (See the Jacob image).  We also had some previously purchased standard labels with our last name on them so that either one can use them . . . because I'm thrifty like that. 




FYI - Yes, I do realize that it is not Friday.  However, my plan was to have this post up last Friday (or maybe the Friday before that).  Unfortunately, my plans and my "do"s are often not one in the same.  So, Friday or not,  Mabel's Labels are still a Fabulous Find!

Wordless Wednesday - Wildlife





Almost every night we have some wildlife visitors.  The other night we had several deer stop by.  They look a little creepy with their glowing eyes!

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Feeling Thrifty This Thursday?

MyBlogSpark frequently sends me links to some great coupons.  I generally only share them if/when I'm posting about a particular product.  I thought I'd check and see if any of my readers are interested in me posting them as they arrive in my inbox.  If so, please leave me a comment letting me know.  Otherwise, I'll just keep doing what I'm doing.  Here are some of the coupons they've recently sent me:

$1.25 off one box of Fiber One Nutty Clusters & Almonds cereal

$1.25 off the purchase of 4 cans of Progresso® soup

$.80 off one package of any variety of Cereal Muffin Mix

Save 75¢ when you buy ONE PACKAGE any flavor 7 OZ. OR LARGER Pillsbury® Baguette Chips 

SAVE 60¢ when you buy ONE BOX any flavor/variety Mott's® Fruit Flavored Snacks 

Enjoy!

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Living Life Without Fear

Did everyone see my Wordless Wednesday post from yesterday?  Well, those of you that know me, know I'm not really much of a "wordless" kind of girl.  So, I wanted to post a short follow-up.  :o)

The picture you saw is a picture from our recent trip to Niagara Falls.  There is a tight rope walker, Jay Cochrane, that walks from the Skylon Tower to the Hilton Hotel every night, weather permitting.  Here are a few facts about him and his walk that I find especially interesting:
  • Jay Cochrane is 68 years old
  • He walks without a tether or net
  • He walks approximately 1300 feet
  • He is approximately 581 feet in the air
  • It takes him about 1/2 hour to make the walk
Something that I find even more amazing is that in 1965, Jay fell approximately 90 feet onto a concrete floor when a tower collapsed during his walk.  He spent nearly four years in the hospital and was not expected to be able to walk again without the aid of canes.. 

Even after that terrible fall, he does not seem to have any fear.  He continues to do what he loves.  He walks the tight rope and gives generously to children's charities. 

His story makes me think . . .
What would I be doing differently if I lived my life without fear?

Do you live your life without fear?