Perneid Meteor Shower and a Mini Giveaway

Announcement: August 11-13th there is a large meteor shower, with the peak being early in the morning of August 13th. If you possibly can, it's a great free activity for you and your family. As comets get closer to the sun they shed ice and dust, and if the earth is traveling through the comet's orbit you get a meteor shower or falling stars. To get the best view of this show, look after 11 pm and get away from city lights if you can. Prepare like you would for a July fireworks display. For more info about this and other meteor showers throughout the year go here.

Today at Smith's I received two certificates for Box Tops for Education, and they'll expire long before my kids are old enough to care about such things, so I'm having a mini-giveaway. The first two new followers to my blog will each get a certificate for 25 boxtops. Just follow me through google friend connect and leave a comment to this post. Someone might as well use them. :)  Also if you are of the persuasion who collects boxtops for your munchkins, you can get a certificate for 25 boxtops with a purchase of Progresso soup at Smith's or 50 boxtops with the purchase of any 10 General Mills products at Albertson's.

Chicago- Part 4: The Shedd Aquarium

Our last stop in Chicago was the Shedd Aquarium, which is also located on the Museum Campus. I have to say that the Shedd was the best aquarium that I have visited thus far. It has over 25,000 fish and for a long period of time was the world's largest aquarium. It's kind of like the aquarium meets Sea World. Admission at the door is $32.50 for adults and children. Tickets online are $26.95 for adults and $19.95 for children. If you present a valid Bank of America/Merrill Lynch ATM, credit or debit card, along with photo ID, you can receive one free all-access admission ticket on the first full weekend of each month.Certain Mondays and Tuesdays are free admission days. We used CityPasses, and as I mentioned previously this place was my favorite thing about the Chicago CityPasses. (We waited about fifteen minutes to get in, while the line for those without CityPasses looked like it would take at least three hours. And no, I not exaggerating, when I saw the first line I was ready to bag it. I'm so glad that we didn't.) I believe that there is also a BOGO in the Chicago entertainment book as well. (Here are a list of places that I read had Shedd Aquarium  printable coupons, but don't actually, so don't bother, if anything they just direct you back to the original Shedd website: Shopathome.com, retailmenot.com, slickdeals.net, mahalo.com, destinationcoupons.com, aquariumcoupons.com. If anyone finds any real coupons, please let me know.) Parking is $16 cash in the Adler lot. (We went to the Adler Planetarium and the Shedd in one day, so we only had to pay the parking fee once.) For lunch we had some tasty Chicago dogs from a stand in front of the aquarium, 3 dogs, drinks and chips for $11. So yes, visiting this place can be very pricey, but I thought that it was worth it. (Also I like that their website has stories and information about the different animals there, since reading about exhibits generally isn't on the agenda when we take our kids places.) Also if you go in the morning you can beat most of the crowds making it easier to see the fish.

Black-tipped sharks

Peengos! (As they are known in our house.)

Baby Beluugaaa! (Does anyone else remember singing that song?)

My kids spent a long time watching the dolphins.

Frogfish

I will freely admit that I didn't take most of these pictures, because there are signs everywhere asking us not to take pictures of the animals. These came from the Shedd website.

My daughter sliding in the penguin playplace.

Book Review: Family Funbook

I came across this book when browsing on Amazon and bought it because I remember my mother enjoying several books written by this author when I was growing up. Family Funbook: More than 400 Amazing, Amusing and All-Around Awesome Activities for the Entire Family! by Joni Hilton is full of fun and creative ideas to do with your kids. I love this book (even though I probably wouldn't pick it up if I were basing my purchase just on the cover). I am definitely going to refer to this book the next time my kids are bored and I need a new idea. This book has many, many inexpensive ways to keep the kids entertained and learning year round.  Some of them I have heard of before, but there are many that I haven't and had never occurred to me. I highly recommend it. Here are some of my favorites:

• Take a week long trip at home. Pick a destination and have an activity each day that relates to that place. Some suggestions she gives are Asia, Africa, South America and Polynesia. Each day do something related to your destination. Find books related to your vacation spot. Make crafts related to the area.Try foods and activities that are typical of the region. Her book offers dozens of ideas. There is a lot of fun and learning that could be had here.
• Make an alphabet video. Have your child point to things that start with each letter of the alphabet or make letters out of sticks or stones. Then have them pose in the shape of each letter at the end as a review. Your child will love to watch it when you're done and s/he will love that they are the star.
• Go on a nature walk. Find different kinds of spider webs. Make up stories about animals that you might find. Have a scavenger hunt. Bring crayons and paper to make rubbings.
• Play hose soccer. Give each team a hose and have them try to spray and kick a beach ball the opposing side of a given line. Good summer time fun.
• Watch falling stars- Mid-August is a good time for this.
• Record the things the funny things that your children say- I do this on my personal blog and it's the grandparents favorite part. It also reveals more of their personalities than photographs often do.
• Have a treasure hunt- Have one child hide a treasure and make a map for the others to find it. This can be repeated many times with a variety of "treasures".
• Make a sundial. Teach your children about time using a stick and 12 stones
• Ice cream muffins- Easiest muffin recipe ever. Equal parts softened ice cream and self-rising flour. Bake at 375 for 12 minutes. (Give or take depending on how many muffins you make.) These were perfect. Quick, easy, delicious and my picky children even loved them.We made peach ice cream muffins and topped them with raspberry jam. 2 cups of ice cream & 2 cups of flour made nine muffins
• Draw with your toes.- See if you are right-footed or left-footed.
• Declare a Whipped Cream War- Have everyone dress in their swimsuits and equip them with a can of whipped cream.
• Ease Separation Anxiety- School is starting and to make it a little easier for you child, laminate a family picture and tape it to the inside of their lunch box to remind them that they are loved when they are away.

I have a secret...

..but I can't tell yet. I know that's not very fair, but I'm really excited about this. I'll let you know as soon as I am able. It's something that may save you money, include fun things for your family and is helping others at the same time. Stay tuned.

Swagbucks

 This is for my friend who asked me to write this and everyone else out there who is wondering 'What in the world is a Swagbuck?'
So there are a lot of survey and freebie sites out there and for those most part I feel like my time is better spent elsewhere. But Swagbucks on the otherhand...I like Swagbucks. Swagbucks is a search engine that give you points, or "swagbucks" for using it. It only takes a few seconds, and really is there a day that goes by that you aren't searching on the internet for something? Why not get rewards for it? They certainly add up over time. Swagbucks uses search results from Google and Ask.com to help you find what you're looking for. An awarded search can give you anywhere from 5 to 100 swagbucks. Sometimes you can earn even more than that. Then you can cash your swagbucks in for prizes. My favorite prize is the Amazon giftcard, because you can get anything at Amazon. I could easily do all of my Christmas shopping at Amazon every year and be happy. (In fact for the most part I do.) You can get a $5 giftcard for 450 swagbucks, but there is a large selection of other prizes too. Here are all of the ways that you get swagbucks. And if you're new to swagbucks and use the code BackToSchool, you'll get an extra 40 swagbucks.

1. Search- I have found that about one in five searches results in a reward. (That's not an official stat, that's just my experience.) You are also more likely to get a reward if you are looking for a specific website like "secretsofmomblog" vs. money saving. Fridays are MegaSwagbucks Day and you can win more often and the prizes are bigger. Supposedly you can win hundreds of swagbucks for a search, but the most I've ever gotten for one search is 47. Still, I'll take it.
2. Toolbar The toolbar makes searching more convenient. Instead of directing to the SB site first, and then searching I just use the SB toolbar. And sometimes it will notify you of swagcodes that are available. Also you get 1 Swagbuck a day just for using it.
3. Daily Polls- Every day there is a quick poll that awards you one Swagbuck.
4. Trusted Surveys- Everyday you can click on this link and be awarded a Swagbuck. If there are surveys you are interested in taking, that's another way to win swagbucks. I've found that more often than not I don't qualify for the surveys, and usually the award is something like 175 Swagbucks for a twenty minute survey. I feel like twenty minutes of my time is worth more than essentially $1.75. But I have taken a few that had a better payoff, like 200 Swagbucks for a five minute survey. I'm down with that.
5. Special Offers-Once a day you can get a Swagbuck for viewing their no obligation offers.
6. Swagcodes-Every so often there are codes floating around the internet. I don't spend a lot of time searching for them. You can find them on the SB toolbar, Facebook, the SB blog and various other places. Enter them into the appropriate box on the SB homepage and press the Gimme! button.
7. Shopping Online- Supposedly you can earn swagbucks for shopping through their site, but the one time I tried I never earned my swagbucks. You earn 2 SB for every dollar spent, which is more or less 2% back. Upromise and Ebates generally have better rebate rates. However, sometimes there are great swag bonuses.
8. Trade In- You can recycle old cell phones in return for swagbucks.
9. Offers- If you scroll down towards the bottom there are bigger reward offers for trying out services, like DirectTV and Book of the Month clubs.
10. Refer friends- When your friends start earning, you do too.

Chicago- Part 3: The Adler Planetarium

 The Adler Planetarium is the oldest in existence today and is located on the Chicago Museum Campus near the Shedd Aquarium and The Field Museum. The Adler Planetarium is a great place for kids to do some hands-on learning about astronomy. My kids (2&4) had a fantastic time here. There were also many things that my husband and I found interesting. If we're ever in the Chicago area again, we'll definitely go back. In the summer hours are from 9:30 am to 6:00 pm. For regular and holiday hours and special events go here. Admission is $25 for adults and $21 for kids. This includes unlimited shows and a tour. If you want to just see the exhibits, admission is $10 for adults and $8 for kids. We saw one of the shows, and yes it was impressive and I think it was very educational for my kids, but I wouldn't say that it was worth $15 per person. Perhaps if you have older kids who can sit through more than one show. But it was included in our whole CityPass package. The parking situation is the same as The Field Museum, $16 (cash only) for all day. Here is a list of free admission days.

 Ok, I know this picture turned out super blurry for some reason, but here is my daughter displaying the craft that she made that shows day and night and the rotation of the earth.

My husband and daughter controlling land rovers on "Mars".

My favorite thing about this place is that it wasn't crowded, unlike the other Chicago attractions we visited, which really surprised me. (We went on a Saturday morning and we weren't there first thing either.) My kids had a chance to play and learn and there were plenty of staff that were excited to teach and assist them. There were rockets for them to launch, small learning crafts, remote control land rovers, short educational videos, interactive models, and scale planetary models that they enjoyed. There were also many science artifacts that my husband and I found interesting. I highly recommend this place.

 

Book Review: 101 Things To Do With Zucchini

It's late summer in Utah, and that means that you can probably find someone to give you excess zucchini, that is unless you're trying to give it away yourself. And not only is zucchini good for you, there many, many things that you can do with it. 101 Things To Do With Zucchini by Cyndi Duncan and Georgie Patrick gives many enlightening recipes as well as several helpful hints for this versatile vegetable. Another great book to help you make use of what you have.

1. Zucchini can be substituted for many vegetables in your favorite recipes. It works well in soups, salads, sauces and egg dishes. It works especially well in Italian dishes.
2. For most recipes it is not necessary to peel zucchini. The peel is where you get most of your vitamins.
3. Yellow straight neck squash is often referred to as yellow zucchini.
4. Zucchini can be eaten raw or cooked, with or without peel. It can be fried, boiled, baked, steamed, sliced, diced, shredded, stuffed or grilled.
5. Zucchini is about 95% water and low in calories. 1 cup yields 25 calories.
6. Shredded zucchini can be added to soups and sauces without draining, but if using for cakes or breads, the liquid must be squeezed from the pulp.
7. Zucchini is bland in taste and usually takes on the flavor of other ingredients. It is commonly seasoned with oregano, basil, tarragon, garlic or dill.
8. Approximate measurements: 1 pound=3 cups sliced=4 small or 2-3 medium; 1 medium shredded= 1 1/2 cups; 1 large=2 pounds
9. Small to medium zucchini have the best flavor. Overgrown zucchini are best for breads and soups.
10. If zucchini is to be used in 1-2 days, store at room temperature. It can be stored in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Here's my version of one of the recipes I tried. I started making it as a side dish, but it is enough to be a meal in it of itself.

Skillet Tomatoes and Zucchini
2 small zucchini sliced
1 medium onion thinly sliced
1 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 medium tomatoes, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp dried basil
dash pepper
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup grated mozzarella
1/8 cup grated parmesean
1 cup seasoned croutons (I used Caesar with good results)

In a large skillet, saute zucchini and onion in butter until tender. Add tomatoes and seasonings. Cover and simmer 3-5 minutes, or until tomatoes are tender. Remove from heat and sprinkle with croutons and cheese. Cover 2-3 minutes, or until the cheese melts. Serves 4