Ever heard of the Big Brain Club? I hadn’t either. This club helps kids to realize that being smart really is cool. Kids pretend to be dumb so that they can fit in with their peers and most never get to live up to their full potential, and thats sad.

I found this club while trying to find something to add to my daughters daily homework schedule. She zips through her homework in 5 minutes most days, and the recommend homework time for kids her age is at least 15 – 20 minutes. Running her through flash cards everyday was getting boring, and I wanted to change it up.

The http://www.bigbrainclub.com/ has both a students link and parents / teachers link. They offer ideas for extra reading and writing activities.  The site is currently in the process to moving to another site, so not all of the links are active yet. http://domtesta.com/big-brain-club.cfm (new site)

Your kids don’t have to be teenagers or geniuses to benefit from this site. My older daughter has learning disabilities and loves the writing assignments. The site could also be used for summer writing assignments. Theres also a possibility that kids could have their own book published with the monthly story writing contest.

If you can keep from paying full price for something do it. http://www.comparisonshop.com/ lets you look at several places at one time so that you can get the best deals.

Buying from a local place is always the best deal if you can find what it is that your looking for, because you wont have to pay shipping and handling. http://www.shoplocal.com/ and http://citysquares.com/ lets you compare prices at the stores in your area.

Finding coupons just got really easy online, you can print them off on your printer and take them with you to the store. I like http://www.couponcabin.com/, http://www.retailmenot.com/ don’t forget to look at your favorite grocery store websites for coupons, like King Soopers.

For larger things like washing machines, TVs and such your can use http://www.priceprotectr.com/ they will watch the price on something for you and send you and email to you when the price gets reduced so that you know when to buy.

Im not very good about using gift cards and they can stay in my wallet a long time before I use them and sometimes its because im not interested in the place that they go too. http://www.swapagift.com/ you can buy, sell or trade merchant gift cards.

The low down on home exchanges, it’s a vacation alternative where you stay in their house and they stay in yours. It beats paying for over priced hotel fees so that you can do more of the things that you want to while you are on vacation.  There are several companies that do this and can give your more information about it. Each one has different policies so do your homework before deciding on one.

No i’m not getting paid to do this post, I tend to blog about things that are of interest to me and travel just happens to be one of them.

http://www.homeexchange.com/ – claim to have the most home swap listings online with 39,000 listing in 139 countries.

http://www.intervacus.com/ – costs to join, but they look like they have some really nice properties you can trade for.

www.homelink.org

http://www.exchangehomesoia.com/ - Just have to add your home to see full listings. Free!

http://www.exchangezones.com/ – Free membership

http://www.geenee.com/ – Free membership

also found this teenager version that looks fun, http://www.couchsurfing.org/ stay on each others couches.

I find that in the winter I make a lot of soup. This soup recipe tastes great and is super filling. This one  is a keeper.

Potato and Leek Soup Recipe

What you need:

• 1 pound leeks, 4 to 5 medium, cleaned and chopped into small pieces
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• Heavy pinch kosher salt, plus additional for seasoning
• 3 small Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced small (Yukon potatoes keep there shape while the others turn to mashed potatoes in the soup)
• 1 quart vegetable broth
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
• 1 tablespoon snipped chives

How to make it:

1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the leeks and a heavy pinch of salt and sweat for 5 minutes. Decrease the heat to medium-low and cook until the leeks are tender, approximately 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Add the potatoes and the vegetable broth, increase the heat to medium-high, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and gently simmer until the potatoes are soft, approximately 45 minutes.

3. Turn off the heat and puree the mixture in batches with a blender until smooth. Do not use the top on the blender the soup is to hot and it might brake, just put a towel over the top and pulse. Poor back into the sauce pan and stir in the heavy cream, buttermilk, and white pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning if desired. Sprinkle with chives and serve immediately, or chill and serve cold.

My little girl just had her first ballet class a few nights ago, I was so frazzled trying to round her gear up and get them into a grocery bag to toss into the car and go that I totally forgot her ballet shoes. I know that i’m not the most organized person in the world but I try. I want to get a little carry-all and designate it as her Ballerina Backpack. That way I can put her tights, tutu, shoes, and hair thingies into it and not have to worry about that on ballet night. This bag is cute and just my little ballerinas size.

A fun alternative to the french braid. If your not sure how to do a rope braid see my instructions on rope braiding first. In the picture above I did a triple strand rope braid on the bottom and double strand on the top, you can tell the triple strands are smaller and a little closer together than the double.

1. Gather a handful of hair at the top of the head like you are going to do a french braid.

2. Divide into two or three sections depending on how intricate you want it.

3. Twist and cross the right over the center then twist and cross the left over the center like you were doing a basic rope braid.

4. Add some hair to the right strand and twist to the right, you will always twist to the right.

5. Holding the right stand tightly add hair to the left strand, and also twist to the right.

6. Holding everthing tightly cross the right section left over the other two. Don’t worry if it untwists a little its easy enough to retwist once you cross it over.

7. Continue doing steps 4 through 6 until the braid is as long as you want it, secure with a hair elastic.

French Braids look tricky but are incredibly easy to do once you learn the method. The picture above isn’t my best work but it should help you get the general idea.

1. Brush or comb out all the tangles. I like to do this with slightly damp hair to help with fly aways.

2. Decide where you want your braid to start, on little kids you can start pretty much any where and have it look super cute; on adults I would stick to the back of the head for a more adult look. Gather up a section of hair and divide into 3 sections like you were going to do a basic braid.

3. Go ahead and make your first plait by crossing the right section over the middle and then left over middle.

4. You can use a rat comb or like me just use your fingers to gather a small section of hair going from hair line in towards the braid and add it to your right section of hair. Switch all the hair sections to your right hand and do the same for the left side, and make your next plait. Right over middle then left over middle.

5. Continue doing number 4 until you get the desired length braid or you run out of hair. Use elastic to hold it all together.

Not sure what I would do without my morning cup of coffee, it’s what helps me to get moving. I’m fortunate that my coffee maker has a timer on it so that I can set it up the night before and have fresh brewed coffee when I get up in the morning. Being a self proclaimed “foodie” (someone who has an interest in food) I like to change up my morning cup of coffee.

Heres a few recipes to try out…

1. The first one I kinda made up so i’m not sure what to call it. Fill your coffee cup about 3/4 full and stir in a half package of hot chocolate mix. You can use any hot chocolate mix that you enjoy, it has your your dairy and sweetener all in one. Yumm!

2. Mocha Coffee Recipe – Start with 1 cup of black coffee stir in 1 Tablespoon of Cocoa, 1 Tablespoon white sugar and 2 Tablespoons of milk.

3. Viennese Coffee  - 1 cup of black coffee mix in 2 Tablespoons sugar, 2 Tablespoons milk, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp nutmeg.

4. French Vanilla Coffee – mix coffee creamer with instant French Vanilla pudding mix. Experiment with the amount of puddding mix to the creamer and adjust it to your taste.

5. Add a teaspoon of cinnamon (4 cup coffee pot) or 1 Tablespoon (8 Cup coffee pot)  to your coffee grounds before starting the coffee. After you’ve made your first cup you can adjust flavor accordingly for the next pot.

My older daughter loves the American Girl magazines, had no idea that they had a product line too. can’t wait to take my daughter to Hancock Fabrics to pick out an American Girl craft project.

I would sell one of my major body organs (that I have two of) for this machine. I have sat through the infomercial at least 6 times watching them make the coolest scrapbook pages and cards and such. My husband thinks i’m a little crazy for wanting one of these, but he doesn’t understand how important it is to me to have brag worthy scrapbook pages.

I’m leaning towards the Cricut Personal Electronic Cutter (shown above) but at this point I would take what I could get. Guess I don’t really have the counter space for it right now, but I can dream can’t I? I feel like the little kid in that Christmas movie that wants the red rider BB gun. If only I could have a Provo Craft Cricut Personal Elctronic Cutter with soft touch overlay, and pressure dials that allow variance in paper width, with the Cricut All Mixed Up Cartridge Alphabet & Words. My entire year would be made.My birthday is coming up in a few weeks, it could happen.

Learning the Cricut