There it was in my Facebook feed, a picture of my 7 year-old nephew holding up a $60 box of Star Wars Legos he wants for Christmas with a remark from his father saying he was thinking of starting a GoFundMe account for Christmas.  Yes, his dad was joking.  But the price of those little plastic bricks?  Definitely not a joke.  Legos are expensive!

My brother-in-law’s comment got me thinking about just how expensive toys can be, especially with the holidays coming up.   Did you know that recent studies show families spend an average of $1,000 dollars per child per year on toys?    With new toys coming out throughout the year, and changing interests of the child, many of those toys don’t get played with very long.  (I know we have a few toys that the kids really wanted, but that have only been played with a few times.)  Being able to rent those toys would mean a huge savings to a family.

This is a sponsored post on behalf of Pley.  All opinions are 100% my own.  

That is exactly what mom Elina Furman, co-founder of Pley, thought when she started the company.  Imagine a company that is like Netflix for toys; that is Pley.  For as low as $20 a month, your child gets to play with new toys each month.  So, if your child really wants to build the Millenium Falcon Lego set, but you know they won’t play with it afterwards?  Now they can build it, show it off, and when they are finished you simply send it back and receive a new toy.

With Pley, your children are never bored. It’s like Christmas every month.

Instead of spending your money on toys your child will be bored with in just a couple weeks, being frustrated each time you see it collecting dust on the shelf, Pley is a gift that keeps giving.  Not only will your children enjoy receiving new toys in the mail, but you’ll appreciate having less clutter when it comes to toys that aren’t being played with.

Pley has toys for everyone from preschool age and up.  Imagine 400 sets of Legos to choose from, all at your fingertips, including those hard to find sets and discontinued ones.  (My son is super excited to find they have some of the Monster Hunter Lego sets he is interested in.)   Their catalog also includes K’NEX and a variety of robotics and educational toys.

Want to learn more?  Check out Pley’s website to see how easy it is to give Pley as a gift.  You can also follow Pley on Facebook for all the latest news.

The next time my brother-in-law shares a picture of my nephew with yet another Lego set he would love to build, I’m going to suggest they check out Pley.  In fact, I may have just found the perfect Christmas present for him this year.

The post Give Your Children Christmas Every Month! first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

I’ve heard that one a few times.

And I’ve bit my tongue when the person speaking then pulls their brand-new Smart phone out of their designer handbag or helps slip brand new designer sneakers on their little one’s feet before walking out to their brand new SUV, all so they can get home to watch whatever show they’ve TiVoed.

Yes, I know, sometimes it really isn’t possible for every mom who wants to, to stay home.  There are single parents, there are homes where mom is the only one who is working at the time, there are huge medical bills that need to be paid.

I get that.

But then there are those who really could do it, if they truly wanted to.  So I’m going to share how we afford it.

I don’t have a new car.  It’s the same one I got before we married; it has over 100,000 miles on it, and I’m not planning on replacing it any time soon.  My husband’s truck?  Just as old with 150,000 miles.

New cell phone?  Uh, no.  Mine is 4 years old now.  And it is far from high-tech.  My cell phone makes phone calls.  That’s what phones are really for, right?  Actually, it can also take pictures, too.  That was a bonus I hadn’t expected with the phones we got free with our cell phone plan.  Free.  I like free.

Speaking of that phone plan; there is not texting or Internet on it.  I guess the phone can physically do those things (Once my daughter texted “A” from my phone to her daddy’s phone when she was a year old…The kid is light years ahead of us!), but not using those features and having a basic plan saves us money.

You won’t find cable t.v. at our house, nor do we have satellite or whatever other stuff there is for televisions today.  When the government decided everyone should have digital signals, we went with the converter box.  The basic one we could get with the government issued coupon.  What sucked is we had to build a huge antennae for the converter box to even work out here… But my husband and his dad installed it all themselves, saving us labor costs at least.

Kids clothes?  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, hand-me-downs rock!  Seriously.  So do consignment shops.  8 dollars for a winter coat that almost looks brand new?  I’ll take it!  After all, they will both outgrow their coats by the next year anyway.  Why spend 50 bucks for the latest Gymboree or Children’s Place item?

The same with toys.  Yes, my kids have had their share of new toys.  (After all, they are the only grandkids on my husband’s side of the family!)  But this year their birthday gifts from us came from the consignment shop.  I didn’t plan it, but when I saw them I knew they were perfect.  My daughter loves her My Little Pony island, and Monkey has played with his pirate ship every day since his May birthday.  How could I pass it up for 6 dollars?  And he doesn’t care how much I spent on it.  Trust me.

Grocery shopping?  Whenever possible I buy the generics.  Yes, coupons are great, but there are a lot of times that even with the coupon, the generic is just a better deal.  I admit it, I am a paper product snob, though.  I have tried our generics in paper towels and toilet paper and it just has to be the brands I grew up with for those.

Yes, the husband and I like to go out to eat, alone, when possible.  But it’s not a daily thing for sure!  Once a week, or so, we head out to catch dinner.  Sometimes we even splurge and get dessert. (Everyone needs to do that sometimes!)  If you look around you can find coupons for quite a few nice restaurants.  We have a local favorite that is family owned and always a great deal – dinner for 2 for $20 bucks is a nice treat without breaking the bank.  And we skip all the alcoholic drinks when dining out – that adds up!

Have a book habit?  The library has allowed us to have quite the reading selection without spending a dime.  (Well, except with overdues!)  And for all those kids books I want to have in our personal library without having to worry about the kids damaging a library book?  The used book store.  Love that place.

Movie habit?  No, we don’t have Netflix.  And we haven’t paid to rent a video at Blockbuster for years.  Again, the library has kept us quite happy.

Maid service?  Yeah… Don’t think so!

Designer purses?  Shoes?  Clothes?  Not my style!  And all my maternity wear?  It came from consignment shops.   I could probably count on one hand the items I have bought myself since weaning the maternity wear from my closet.  (And, yes, those items were sold again!)

Mani’s and pedi’s?  I have had one pedicure in my lifetime – oh, and it WAS wonderful!  But I can’t justify spending 30 dollars to do that on a regular basis.  Nor do I spend a lot on my hair cut/style.  Hey, if I can get the same cut during the 6 dollar special at a place like Great Clips, why go somewhere else and spend 30 or more?

Do I feel like I am giving anything up?

No.

Not. At. All.

I really don’t think there is much on this list that I would consider, even if I had the extra money.

But, even if I’d love to have all of that stuff, being able to spend this once in a lifetime opportunity to stay at home with our kids?  THAT is priceless.

It’s just an issue of what I value most.

My kids.

The post Taking Stock of What I Value Most first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

Hard to come by sometimes.  But I am thankful today to be able to report that there are still good, honest people in the world.

Last Saturday I took a load of no longer played with toys and outgrown clothes to Once Upon a Child.  (I’ve already mentioned how thankful I am for that store – makes it easier to live on one income with little ones!)  Since it was Saturday, it was a pretty busy day there; they said it would be a couple of hours before they could go through my stuff.

So I headed to get the oil changed in the car (another errand that had needed done for a few weeks now…).  When I got to the car place I realized I had left my 10% off coupon in the box of stuff for Once Upon a Child.  For some reason it had seemed like a good place to put the coupon at the time…  Oh well, I figured it was just a couple of dollars, I’d live.

After the oil change and a few other errands, I returned to Once Upon a Child.  Woo-hoo! 75 dollars I get to spend on spring clothes for the kids or little goodies, not a bad haul.  It wasn’t until I got home that I looked at the few pieces they hadn’t taken and realized how lucky I was.

There was a whole package-worth of brand new undies for each kid that had somehow wound up in the box.  (I know that I had these sitting on my dresser, waiting to get put away… I’m thinking a little girl, or a little boy I know put them in the box of clothes going to Once Upon a Child – trying to be helpful.)

And then I saw it.  My 25 dollar gift card to Walmart that I got at Christmas time.  I had almost forgotten about it.  (Yes, my dresser needs some serious cleaning this spring!)

It would have been easy for someone to pocket the card while going through the clothes and toys.  It could have gotten put in a different box.  Or pitched.  I am sure it was probably tempting just sitting amongst the clothes.  Heck, I didn’t even know it was in the box.  (Probably got put in there by little hands, too…)

But there it was.

And so this week I am thankful that there are still honest people in the world.

(And I’ve learned that I need to go through the stuff going to Once Upon a Child or being donated right before I actually take it, just in case some little fingers try to be helpful again!)

Have another example of honesty in the world still?  Something else you are thankful for this week?

The post Thankful for Honest People first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

They also really enjoyed the new Cassano’s pizza parlor area…where they got to make and serve pizzas.Okay, so we aren’t talking real pizzas here.  We’re talking pizzas with rubber green peppers and olives made out of gaskets, and don’t forget the mop-head cheese!

They had so much fun that I wanted to recreate the experience for them at home.   So on date night that week the husband and I ran into Walmart to buy a pack of multi-colored felt.

I knew each little chef would want his/her own pizza to create, so I opted to cut out 2 crusts.  A couple wavy circles from red felt make the “sauce.”  With permanent marker I drew mushroom clusters on tan felt.  I also made peperoni slices, white onion circles, and chopped up some green peppers (little green rectangles).  Finally, some 3-4 inch strips of yellow felt made up the shredded cheese.  They look pretty good in our play kitchen dishes!  Here’s how the pizzas look with all the yummy toppings!Anyone hungry?

I can’t wait to introduce them to their very own pizza kits!

Linked up at  some of these great blogs!

The post Felt Pizzas first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

But do you do fall cleaning?

I don’t necessarily have a list of things I want cleaned, but I have been going through things to sell/donate.  For the past two weeks I’ve made trips to Once Upon a Child with boxes full of long pants and long sleeve shirts that just won’t fit my little ones this year.   My preschooler was all excited to see how much she had grown!

I’ve also gone through toys.  Anything they have outgrown (haven’t played with the past few times I’ve gotten it out), went out to the garage to be forgotten and make its way out of our house.  So far I’ve taken 2 large storage tubs of toys (having a lid on the box helps little eyes not see things and decided they still want them..) and several boxes of clothes and shoes.

The best part?  I used the over $90 I received for my items to purchase new fall/winter clothes for each of them.  Most of my son’s shirts I had taken were his prized car shirts (remember, he’s 2, and cars are IT…).  I was able to find a great selection of “new” long-sleeved car shirts to fill his closet.I also found him a new winter coat – his 18 month one wasn’t going to fit, so it got taken to sell.  Can’t beat an almost new coat for 9 bucks!  And, then I saw these… Or should I say the kids found them and fell in love?

Since the kids were with me, and we had sold so many toys, I let them each pick out one new toy to take home.  My son found this great ride on toy, which gets to stay outside…My daughter got a Doodle Bear, which looks brand new.

There were only a few items the store didn’t take.    I donated them to St. Vincent de Paul on the way home that day – no need to bring any of it back into the house.

What do you do with outgrown clothes and toys?

The post Fall Cleaning first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

Thankfully she has been happy with the ones she has, but Polly and friends can only play on little brother’s car garage so many times.  Polly needed a place of her own…

I had a kid’s shoe box I’d been saving for a future craft; it was just the right size for a bedroom for Polly.  So while my toddler slept, his preschooler sister and I searched through gift bags, ribbons, and boxes to find just the right pieces to decorate Polly’s future room. (I think digging through the stuff was her favorite part!)

We decided on a soap box for Polly’s bed.  I  stuffed a bunch of old magazine pages inside to make it firmer so it wouldn’t collapse during playtime.  Then I just taped it shut.

Peanut picked out a shiny purple gift bag to make wall paper.  I cut out pieces to cover the sides and back of the box and hot glued them in.  (Preschoolers aren’t patient – using hot glue meant she could play with it right after we finished.)

She picked out some pink ribbon for curtains.  I was originally going to cut a window out, but she said she just wanted the curtains up.  I folded the edges so they wouldn’t unravel and hot glued them in, too.  Then Peanut used a brown crayon to color Polly’s floor while I wrapped the soap box with a floral pink gift bag.

Then she picked out a name tag from another gift bag to make a flower rug that we hot glued in.  The room was taking shape, really fast!  We wrapped a cotton ball with some of the ribbon we used for curtains – a little hot glue and instant pillow!  She just needed some kind of table.  An old wood block was perfect! 

The whole thing probably took 10-15 minutes, and Peanut was thrilled!  But then she decided maybe Polly was afraid of the dark and needed a light…

I couldn’t resist.  I have 2 dollhouses stored downstairs, and tons of things I used to use for making miniatures…  I ran downstairs and got a toothpaste tube lid and hunted up the perfect bead.  I ran a little more pink ribbon across the top of the block just to dress it up a little.  Some hot glue inside the toothpaste tube lid and the bead and voila’ – a lamp!  (I confess, this was my favorite part.  I’ve missed doing miniature work!)

A quick and simple craft, and my little preschooler’s smile was so worth every moment!

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