I have read many personal finance books and blogs and I have created a list of my favorite ways to save money. The more costs you can cut, the more you save. Every penny adds up.
I have to give it to Phil. His comments were right on time and echo the sentiments of many Americans in regards to the recent tax increases. I wish everyone was fortunate enough to be able to seriously contemplate leaving the country for a better situation.
Phil Mickelson says changes coming because of taxes
By Kyle Porter
Phil Mickelson says changes are coming because of taxes and how they affect his family.
The baseball writers have voted, and they've decided that no one should make it to the Baseball Hall of Fame this year.
They didn't vote for Barry Bonds, the all-time home run leader, or Sammy Sosa, who had memorable home run duels with Mark McGwire and is eighth on the career home run list, or Roger Clemens, easily one of the most dominant pitchers of the modern era.
My girls have an addiction. They have been brainwashed. Everything they have, play with or want is BARBIE. I have given up. Heck I had already given up, and then there was Christmas… Christmas came, and went and my living room threw up Barbies. The Dreamhouse, VW convertible, cruise ship, clothes, more Barbie dolls… it was definitely a Barbie Christmas.
Pay back is a B*tch I guess. When I was her age, I was brainwashed by HE-MAN and old school WWF. I had all kinds of HE-MAN action figures. I had Castle Greyskull and Snake Mountain… I am sure my Mom and Dad had the same feelings as I do with Barbie.
My oldest also received some legos for Christmas. Seems like Legos have a new theme targeting girls. Lego “Friends”. The lego friends set she got was a beauty shop. My daughter instantly became hooked with legos. She has played off and on with legos but never really cared that much about them. I think the Friends theme is what did it…Now we have something in common. I loved legos when I was a kid. This is one toy addiction that I can join in on. So we have played with legos a good bit this week. We went to the lego store, got some more legos. We didnt get any new kits, I like for her to use her imagination to make something original, and to use her creativity… a house, a car, something other than those expensive kits. Now for some people, thats all they do, but I like using our imagination…
I thought we were golden… legos maybe my weapon of choice against this Barbie regime
BUT man… are they expensive, really expensive…. I guess I can’t win.
Check out the lego store on AMAZON
Check out the Barbie store on AMAZON.
Part 3 of this post will highlight some more fun activities that a fellow Dad has shared with some unique twists that might inspire your own household adventures…
Hide and Seek – We finished off the weekend with a good old fashioned game of hide and seek before bedtime. The only slight variation was the seeker gets to hunt with a replica M16 assault rifle with lights and bullet sounds. I pride myself in the stealth ninja hiding techniques that make the games heart pounding and intense. My goal is to have him walk by me within a few feet and not realize I’ve blended myself into the room…then jump out and hear his screech of terror turn to belly laughter. Today I put myself into a trash bag and balled myself up next to an identical trash bag that was sitting in the kitchen all day (the bag of trash was there all day, not me). I nearly suffocated in that bag but it was worth it to grab him the second time he walked right by me. Ninja style!
Electric Scooter – We suited up in our winter coats and gloves and hats and charged up his new shiny Razor Scooter. I walked behind him (straddling the yellow line on the road to control traffic) and let him open up the throttle and rip up and down the 1/4 mile straightaway near our house. He would get to the end court and come back to me. I stood patiently in the road, watching my son turn into a little speck in the distance, then come racing back to me. His chest puffed out with confidence and he started doing little squat downs like some kind of stand-up jetski racer or something. All I did was watch and cheer him on…sometimes feeding him a bogus time letting him know how fast his lap was. He loved it.
Angry Kid and the eSpark Razor Scooter (Photo credit: AngryJulieMonday)
Sometimes I think I must be the worst dad in the world. I must be. After a particularly challenging weekend with the kids, it just seems to be staring right at me. This weekend, I'm the worst dad. I can see the stare of the 7 year old who is frustrated with me. I can see the stare of the 5 year old who is frustrated with me.
Its that time again…. The Sunday Evening Ache.
What song will get me through this week?
I heard a song on Pandora this weekend… I can’t get it out of my head…
Five O’clock World by The Vogues
I have heard it in one of my favorite movie soundtracks of all time. My mom would play this a lot. I have a lot of memories of my mom playing the “Good Morning Vietnam” soundtrack tape. YES … TAPE…. I would have the entire soundtrack memorized, the songs, and even the Adrian Cronauer bits. The funny thing is, as much as I loved the soundtrack, I was too young for the movie, so I wasn’t allowed to watch it…. But I am telling you, I really think the music is great on it!
It’s and “Oldie but a Goodie”
I have also heard this song from one of my favorite TV shows of all time. The Drew Carey Show. It was one of his many different opening segments.
Have a great week… help each other get through it!
Part 2 of this post will highlight the activities we shared with some unique twists that might inspire your own household adventures…
Mario desktop (Photo credit: aoitenshi)
Mario Brothers – We took turns trying to beat levels on his new Nintendo DS game. We cozied up on the couch and while we waited for our turn we would watch the other person navigate the level with ooos and ahhhs with every jump, duck and shell throw. Nothing beat the exaggerated screams we made when we died unexpectedly with a fall into the lava or bite from a turtle.
K’nects - We built a huge helicopter, a surfer and a jeep. I followed the instructions and called out the color or the pieces I needed for each step so he could slide them across the floor to me while meticulously maintaining the sorted inventory. I kept him interested by asking him questions and talking to him along the way. 3 hours later we transformed a box of thousands of tiny pieces into 3 sturdy models.
Electric Scooter – We suited up in our winter coats and gloves and hats and charged up his new shiny Razor Scooter. I walked behind him (straddling the yellow line on the road to control traffic) and let him open up the throttle and rip up and down the 1/4 mile straightaway near our house. He would get to the end court and come back to me. I stood patiently in the road, watching my son turn into a little speck in the distance, then come racing back to me. His chest puffed out with confidence and he started doing little squat downs like some kind of stand-up jetski racer or something. All I did was watch and cheer him on…sometimes feeding him a bogus time letting him know how fast his lap was. He loved it.
Part 3 of this post will highlight more activities we shared with that may also inspire your own household adventures…
How do you spend time with your child, or children? The following post title and body was emailed to me from a very close friend of mine who is a father of a wonderful energetic boy. I am taking his email post and splitting it up in to several posts. This father has a lot to say with some really great and valid points.
Do not forget to email me with suggestions that you would like to read, or suggestions or comments on previous posts.
So, I present to you, a New Years Resolution – Part 1
It happens from time to time. In between the e-mails and house chores that divert my attention from my son… every once in a while I manage to spend some time with my son giving him my undivided attention. Take a minute and try to think of the last time you dropped everything, and sat on the floor to engage with your kid(s). No TV in the background, no laptop in the foreground, no smart phone in the one hand, no pot on the stove, no homework on the table. When was the last time you sat with a puzzle, a game, a toy, or simply shared a conversation with your child giving them the precious gift of your time?
If you’re like me, you’ll be disappointed with the answer. I don’t do it nearly enough. Don’t get me wrong. I have long considered myself on the upper average of Dad’s who take time for their kids. I consistently do bath time and bedtime rituals more than 50% of the time. I drive him to school every morning and at least half of those mornings the radio is off and I have 8 minutes of conversation with him. I help with homework and take him to soccer practice and basketball practice and always pause my TV to help him when he’s having trouble beating a level on his Nintendo DS. But is that enough?
The last 10 days my son has been off of school for Christmas vacation so he’s been buzzing around the house with big toys, little toys, electronic toys, loud toys, fast toys, expensive toys that he’s been dreaming about for months. I spent my share of the long weekend surfing the Internet and catching up on television while he played at my feet or sat next to me pushing the buttons on his new toys. When my DVR was out of shows and I ran out of Internet to surf, I turned off the TV and shut down the laptop and invited my son to some quality time.
Part 2 of this post will highlight the activities we shared with some unique twists that might inspire your own household adventures.
