thrifty thursday :: summer entertainment

Need some good, cheap ways to entertain your kids over the summer? Well then I've got a post for you. Here are a few ideas of fun things you can do with the kids that won't break the bank.

• $1 movies for kids at Carmike Theaters or Regal Cinemas on select mornings each week
• kids bowl free {but you do have to pay for the shoe rental} at bowling alleys in many states over the summer
  
• Go to storytime at your local library {they often have book clubs for older kids too -- our library does}
• Target supported free days at many museums all over the country {in our area you can go free to the Children's Museum, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Minnesota Orchestra, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Walker Art Center on a specific day each month.}
• Don't forget about the reciprocal benefit that comes with many memberships {zoos, museums, historical societies} check any memberships that you might have a see if you can get in free at any other places.
• Many local parks {which are free} have splash pads and wading pools where you can beat the summer heat.
• Have a friend who belongs to the Y {or other fitness center}? Most places offer guest passes, see if you can tag along on a trip to the outdoor pool.
  

Have a fun {inexpensive} summer with your family!

thrifty thursday :: entertainment

We use the library LOTS :: storytime during the week, books, movies, wii games, audio books, music. It's the best! And with the exception of the rare overdue fine, it's free! {I do realize that it isn't really free, our taxes pay for it. But we pay for it whether we use it or not, so you might as well use it, don't you think?} We don't have cable or Netflix or anything and we very rarely rent movies {redbox is a genius idea though, amen?}. We get 99% of our movies from the library. Sometimes you have to get in line, so to speak, for new or popular movies, but we don't mind the wait . . . the delayed gratification makes it all the more exciting when it finally comes in. So, visit your local library today! {or, I guess you could visit my local library. Everyone else does! It's the busiest library in the state, you know. Yup, it's true.}

Thankful Thursday

A joyful heart is good medicine. {Proverbs 17.22}

Laughter! I am thankful for laughter!

I'm not generally a big laugh-er. You know how some people laugh all the time? At everything. I'm not one of them! Unless you know me pretty well you probably haven't seen me laugh a lot and might think I don't do it much. Don't be fooled! When I'm with my family and close friends I can really get going. I'm sure Kirb and I laugh way more than most people I know. We say we "share a brain" so we often think the same things are funny and can get laughing so hard that we have a hard time stopping, even if we want to. It's great. I love to laugh. When I laugh, I laugh hard {and occasionally I might even snort! . . . and if I can't calm myself down soon enough I might even wet my pants just a little -- remember I have given birth to 5 pretty good size babies. That does a number on the bladder!}. Laughter is so wonderful!

Last night after the kids went to bed we watched "Madea goes to Jail". You can watch a trailer here, but it doesn't do it justice! At all! Honestly, I think Tyler Perry might be the most talented, hilarious man ever. We were laughing so hard that most of the time no noise was coming out, we were just shaking in our seats trying to catch our breath before starting up again with the laughing. If you haven't seen a Tyler Perry movie, please, please don't wait much longer! They are all good and extremely funny with amazingly wonderful themes and messages . . . oh, and they have some absolutely hilarious Christian humor. This one had a whole very funny clip about WWJD that we laughed so hard at. Tyler Perry's movies can be a little crass, so don't say I didn't warn you. But they are amazing and sincere and so, so worthwhile. We've seen Why did I get Married?, Meet the Browns, Madea's Family Reunion, The Family that Preys and Daddy's Little Girls too. They were all excellent! I don't even know which one to tell you to start with. Really you can't go wrong.


Also today I'm extra thankful for my family! They are so wonderful! Last night we had our just-the-7-of-us birthday celebration {it's my birthday in a few days}. Kirb made a great dinner. All my favorites. Super yummy. Kirb took the 3 biggest kids to Target and they all picked out a present for me with their own money. So thoughtful and sweet. It touched my heart! Then we went for a nice walk. It was a beautiful night. My very favorite weather! {the only bummer of the evening was that I got stung by a bee on my foot during our walk. Man, that hurt!!} On the way home we walked by the house of some of our friends and they were out in the yard so we had a nice visit with them. Then we had a campfire in the backyard, ate marshmallows {some roasted and some "raw"} and read a little from "Lost and Found", the family read aloud that we are reading right now . . . also VERY funny! I love Andrew Clements. The kids can hardly stand it when I stop and shut the book each time. It always leaves you hanging and just makes you want to read it all the way through at each sitting . . . but since we can't do that they'll just have to be patient until the next time. {We're almost done. I'll be sad when it's over, it's been so good}. There are always lots of sighs and "but mom" and "keep reading, please!" to be heard when I shut the book. When it was too dark to read anymore we came in and got the 4 big kids ready for bed {Anna went down the minute I could get her diaper changed and teeth brushed following our walk}. It was much later than they usually go to bed {10ish, I think}, but we'd had a great night together as a family. {Hopefully I'll be able to remember that today when my over-tired kids direct their crabbiness at me . . . or each other!}. Then after they were all settled we settled in for some laughter.

How could I not be thankful?