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Mickey Mouse Birthday Party – Part 1 of 3

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Mickey Mouse Birthday PartyThis year is very strange for me. Dates and holidays seem to spring up suddenly. I know they are coming and have them noted on my calendar, but I just seem to run out of time preparing for items. Finding myself grabbing a card on the way out the door or waking up a tad early to wrap a gift, I just feel out of balance.

Working around illnesses and friends’ schedules just added to the delay to my daughter’s birthday party this year. I appreciate her so much as we celebrated her birthday on the day she turned 3. Then we waited until we found a non-soccer, non-event running, and non-illness Friday evening to host my daughter’s Mickey Mouse birthday party.

Though choosing the party date ended up being more challenging than choosing the theme, we started the birthday party process with choosing the theme.

Part 1: Choosing the Theme

Long are the days when I could ask, “Do you want a princess party?,” and get an immediate, “Yes!” Now, the process must begin months in advance to weed out the list compiled during brainstorming.

Discussing the Theme

When the question was first posed to my youngest daughter, her siblings were present. Of course, they wanted to “help” choose her birthday theme to something they wanted. Let’s just say, the first session was unproductive.

The next time we discussed her birthday party, brother and sister were at school. In chatting with my daughter, she needed some choices. Going back to party ideas we have hosted for other family members, I suggested Strawberry Shortcake, princess, Mickey Mouse, or Good Night, Gorilla (party based on the book by the same title).

Choosing the Theme

As an avid Mickey Mouse Clubhouse viewer, she excitedly chose Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Daisy, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto because they all get included. I was thrilled with her response as my son chose the same theme for his 3-year-old and 4-year-old parties and my oldest daughter had a Minnie and Daisy party for her 3-year-old party.

Reinforcing the Theme

Realizing that I had most of the supplies, I fed my daughter’s excitement in the weeks prior to her party by asking her which games she wanted to play, allowing her to choose the colors for her cake, and helping to remind me to look for Mickey Mouse items at the store.

By keeping her focused on the party elements, my daughter never wavered in choosing the theme for her 3-year-old birthday party. As the days approached for her party, I worked with her to prepare a party itinerary which I will share next week in Part 2. The last installment of this series will reveal the execution of that itinerary.

In using time wisely to create a special memory of my daughter’s third birthday, we started by choosing the theme. Knowing where we were going allowed us to find party favors and ideas to add to our celebration. Though I needed to start earlier this year in choosing the theme, we did decide which gave us direction to plan her Mickey Mouse birthday party. Happy theme choosing!

Question: How do you or your children get through the process of choosing the theme for a birthday party?

Mother’s Day FREEbies – May 12, 2013

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Mother's Day FREEbies - May 12, 2013

Photograph Credit: Microsoft Images

Bombarded by opinions on Facebook surrounding Mother’s Day, I disagree with many individuals regarding their disapproval of setting aside a special day to celebrate motherhood.

Yes, we have a holiday for everything, but that doesn’t mean you have to celebrate every holiday or special event. Agreeing that I prefer not to be the center of attention, I do like the special treatment naturally presented on Mother’s Day.

I appreciate my mom and I express my gratitude to her often, but I join others in celebrating the special moms in my life and making them feel special this Sunday, May 12, 2013.

Celebrating being one of the girls, I like the community of Mother’s Day because we are not alone as we raise and invest in the lives of our children.

To honor the special moms in your life, celebrate with these Mother’s Day FREEbies:

FREE Mother’s Day Card

I love giving and receiving photo cards. At Treat.com, you can create your own FREE Mother’s Day photo card. Use promotional code MDAYFREE at checkout for a limited time.

FREE Mother’s Day Collage

Walgreens is offering a FREE 8×10 collage through Saturday, May 11 when you use promotional code COLLAGE4YOU at checkout and pickup in the store. To add more pictures to your collage, just select your uploaded pictures from an album. The collage will adjust to fit your selections.

FREE Mother’s Day Coupons

Mommy’s little helper can offer services via coupons. Kayla at Somewhat Simple posted FREE instructions and a template for creating a coupon booklet. Though the posted instructions require some time and energy, one can just print the template and place the coupons in an envelope.

Leap Frog published a FREE printable fill-in-the-blank page about mom and FREE printable mom-redeemable coupons for children to print and give. My favorite coupon is the one FREE hug anytime.

FREE Zoo Admission

Over 60 zoos will grant FREE admission to moms on May 12, 2013. Check with your local zoo. Our local zoo will admit mom for FREE when accompanied by one or more children paying full-price admission.

FREE Dessert

O’Charley’s will give every mom a FREE slice of pie on Sunday, May 12, 2013. (Thanks, Erin!)

With a purchase of a meal or entrée, Shoney’s will give every mom a FREE slice of strawberry pie on Mother’s Day.

TCBY will honor moms on Sunday, May 12, 2013, with a FREE 6 oz. cup of frozen yogurt with the flavor and topping of their choice.

As you plan this weekend’s Mother’s Day activities, these FREEbies for mom offer options for honoring the special ladies in your life. Whether you like or dislike the holiday, value motherhood this Sunday while using time wisely. Happy Mother’s Day!

Question: Do you know of additional Mother’s Day FREEbies?

2013: Spring Break Opportunities

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2013: Spring Break opportunities

Photograph Credit: iClipart

An early Easter means an early spring break this year. The air is still chilly, but there are still lots of options for a fun-filled spring break.

Whether spring break is upon you or coming very quickly, the following list contains our favorite spring break opportunities:

Inexpensive Outings

  • Chuck E. Cheese: We eat before arriving and use a coupon to purchase tokens where each child gets between 15-20 tokens. We play the arcade games, and then save the remaining tokens for another day.
  • Zoo: Though we have an annual zoo membership, the reciprocal program gives us a 50% discount at our local zoo. (We get free admission to the zoo where we purchased the membership.) With a less than $8 fee per adult, a day at the zoo is a reasonable family outing.
  • Daily Deal Vouchers: Purchasing admittance into venues through daily deal sites offers 100% fun with at least a 50% discount. Without our annual memberships, we would seize more of these deals for spring break fun. 

Free Outings

  • Park playground: Our parks and recreation department invested their resources into updating a number of playgrounds in our area. My children enjoy testing as many as possible. 😉
  • Play Date: Invite a friend or more to your home or park to play and build relationships.

Free Outings for Members

  • Jump Zone: To get the wiggles out, my children love to go bounce for a few hours. We gain free admission with our annual membership, and entrance for our friends cost around $7 per child.
  • Science museum: Using our annual membership for free admittance, we enjoy a day browsing and learning about the world around us.

Inside Outings

  • Movie: Picking up a Red Box movie (use promotional code F2AMA8TG3 for a free one-day rental – valid through May 8, 2013) and snuggling in bed with a bowl of popcorn equals perfect bonding time.
  • Easter crafts: Coloring eggs, creating Resurrection eggs, making cards, painting, an egg hunt, or any other Easter activity or tradition makes memories.

With so many options, we might need a two-week spring break. Oh, won’t that be nice – although, I might not want to return to our normal school routine. Knowing that our fourth quarter starts the week we return shows us the light at the end of the tunnel. Only two more months of school until we get summer break. This year, I need that vacation more than my children. 🙂

In using time wisely with your children, nieces, nephews, cousins, and grandchildren enjoy an activity or outing with a little planning and a day of fun. Happy spring break!

Question: What are your plans for spring break?

2013: Easter Crafts, Activities, and Resources

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2013: Easter crafts, activities, and resources

Photograph Credit: Microsoft Images

With lots to celebrate this month among St. Patrick’s Day, the first day of spring, and Easter, we are playing rather than updating our home decor. I still have Valentine’s Day decorations out, so I skipped St. Patrick’s Day and head right to Easter. 🙂

For me, Easter is a time of reflection. Realizing that my Savior came to earth for the sole purpose of dying for my sin stops me. Contemplating my life and its direction, I pause more so at Easter rejoicing in gift of grace given to me at salvation.

During this Easter season, our family remembers Jesus’ death and burial, and then we celebrate His resurrection complete with egg hunts, coloring eggs, Easter baskets, and Resurrection eggs (my favorite activity of all). As we play and participate together, we remember the reason for Easter and rejoice in the resurrection of our Savior.

In reading through my favorite blogs, I discovered so many creative techniques and new activities. The following list contains my favorite free activities with links to the contributors. Happy planning!

Easter Crafts

Easter Printable Activities

  • Easter coloring pages and matching game by Meet Penny

Easter Recipes

Easter Reenactments

Easter Resources

  • 50+ listed Easter resources by The Better Mom

My girls love the crafts, coloring pages, and printable packs while my son enjoys the games, reenactments, and hunts. With all these resources, we have plenty of options for making our Easter celebration memorable.

With Easter a little over a week away, we are hunting for sales on eggs, gathering our supplies, and pulling out our decorations. In looking at all these great Easter resources, we may need to add a new game or activity to our celebrations. Happy planning!

Question: Which Easter activity is most anticipated at your home?

NOTE: This post contains affiliate links in accordance with Using Time Wisely’s full disclosure policy.

2013: March Madness – NCAA Basketball Tournament

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March Madness – NCAA Basketball Tournament

Photograph Credit: Bing

March Madness is a favorite family event in our household. Both Paul and I love sports though Paul follows more teams than me.

My husband is a Braves fan for pro baseball, Denver Broncos fan for pro football, unfortunately a Florida State college football fan, a Celtics pro basketball fan, and a Duke Blue Devil’s college basketball fan. Whew!

For me, I root for the Florida Gators in each sport. The air gets a little tense in our home when Florida plays Florida State.

During those games, I usually watch the game downstairs while Paul views from upstairs. This arrangement works the best as we both need our space. 🙂

Following the NCAA Basketball Tournament

For those unfamiliar with March Madness, the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) hosts a single-elimination basketball tournament each year comprised of 68 college teams. Though the ladies have a similar competition, our family only follows the men’s Final Four tournament.

Each year, Paul and I print copies of the tournament bracket, make our picks, and watch the games. As our family grew, we began having our children around age 2 choose their picks.

The following video shows our two oldest children making their selections in 2007 (our son making his first picks), 2008 (our son making picks during 2 different sessions), and 2009 (daughter making her first picks). 🙂

If you cannot see the video, then watch it here.

Special thanks to Paul for creating this video from our home collection. 😀

Printing Your Bracket

If you are interested in participating, you can print your bracket after the selection process on Sunday, March 17, 2013. ESPN has an entire program dedicated to the selection of the teams before releasing the bracket. The games then begin on Tuesday, March 19.

Making Bracket Selections

One of my favorite years was 2011. Our son chose Butler to go all the way – as he liked the name because Butler contained the word “butt.” (Yes, my son is all boy.) Butler ended up playing the championship game with my Florida Gators.

Though Florida should have won, Butler out-played them. So, my son won our family bracket competition. The great thing about this event is you don’t have to know anything about basketball. You can make your selections on the name, color of uniform, or random. You never know who’s going to win which makes this competition so fun.

Competing to the Championship Game

You can choose how you want to score your brackets. For our family, we follow the following scoring for each correct selection:

    • Round 1: One point
    • Round 2: Two points
    • Round 3: Three points
    • Round 4: Four points
    • Round 5: Five points
    • Round 6: Six points
    • Round 7 (Championship): Seven points – we also guess the score.

In addition to the paper version, Paul and I also participate in an on-line bracket competition with friends and our Sunday school class. Our fantasy teams are setup through CBS Sports where the group leader chooses who is in the group.

For me, the family competition is my favorite with our children making their selections. We all huddle around to check our brackets after the games as multiple games are played each round. If we miss the scores, we just check ESPN as they keep the master bracket updated.

If you know a sports fan, you have probably heard about March Madness, the Final Four, or NCAA Tournament – known by lots of names. This month-long competition brings enjoyment to our family complete with bragging rights.

In using time wisely, the March Madness event encourages laughter, anticipation, and excitement in our household. If you choose to play, happy selecting!

Question: Does your family make selections for the NCAA Basketball Tournament?