12/4/08 Frugal Christmas Tips for the Housewife on a Budget at The Happy Housewife

1/28/09 5 Tips to Get Your Blog Earning at The Happy Housewife

2/15/09  Patriotic Presidents’ Day Kids’ Breakfast Foods at Penny Pinching Diva

3/16/09 6 Truths about Pregnancy & Motherhood that Nobody Tells You at The Mom Crowd

3/17/09 6 MORE Truths about Pregnancy & Motherhood that Nobody Tells You at The Mom Crowd

4/8/09 4 Ways to Get the Customer Service You Deserve at Mommy Brain Reports

4/10/09 5 Tips to Plan a Shopping Day with Kids at Mommy Brain Reports

4/17/09 Tips for Automating and Multitasking to Balance Work and Home Life for Oscar Mayer

7/8/09  Romance on a Budget: Is it Possible? at Money Saving Mom

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Disclaimer: 

Review: Deck of Chores

I am currently trying to get my preschoolers more involved with doing chores. And anyone with children knows it’s all about making things fun- or else you “lose” them. When I was given the opportunity to try out Deck of Chores, I thought it sounded like a cute idea.

The packaging is simple. The cards are roughly 5”x3” and printed on heavy stock paper. There are 5 sets of each chore- washing the car, vacuuming, empty/load the dishwasher, etc. Each chore is illustrated with either the apparatus used ( e.g., a dishwasher) or a cute scenario, however, when a chore has a person in it, it’s an adult. I’m wondering how effectively that would be if you’re trying to get your kids to do the particular chore.

Supplied in the package is a card that suggests a few games that the deck can be used for. They were cute ideas, but a little too over my children’s head. I used 3-4 chores with their pair and played a memory game with my 4 year old. She really enjoyed getting a match, meanwhile being exposed to chores that are needed around the house.

Some of the chores (washing the car, vacuuming, dusting, etc.) are a bit much for young children. I’d really recommend this for kids age 7 or better- when they’re really able to grasp what they’re doing and how to do it effectively, let alone reach what they’re doing. There were a few chores that my children could handle, and ones I use daily- load/unload the laundry, emptying and loading the dishwasher, etc.

This is a really cute alternative to the standard chore chart posted on the fridge. Especially if your child(ren)’s learning style doesn’t particularly fit into the chart style.

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Mamavation is a challenge where 1 mom gets a team of trainers, nutritionists, and experts to coach them through major weight loss.  After watching both women’s videos, you’ll see how courageous it was for them both to speak out and ask for help in entering this contest.

YOU can help change one of their lives by spending 30 seconds to tweet a single sentence. I’m asking each of you as a woman, a friend, and a person who has struggled with weight loss myself, please go vote!  Thank you!

Contestant #1: Nessa

You can vote for Nessa by tweeting this:  “@bookieboo I think @Nessa_TX should be the 1st #mamavation mom. Pls RT!” 

-or- Click HERE to Tweet for Nessa!

You can read Nessa’s entry post here and watch her video below:

Contestant #2: Melissa

You can vote for Melissa by tweeting this: “@bookieboo I recommend @multitaskingme to be the 1st #mamavation mom. Pls RT!”

-or- Click HERE to Tweet for Melissa!

You can read Melissa’s entry post here and watch her video below: 

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Over the years, I’ve been collecting some funny Google searches for Barbi.  It’s funny how certain search words can lead to your website that you NEVER guessed would!  Some people find the Homemaker Barbi site after searching for the strangest things…

If you’ve never heard of the Barbi Twins (and I’m going to guess for most of our readers, they haven’t), they are two twin nude models that happen to have the last name “Barbi”… As you can guess, this means we get searches for:

• Barbi top
• Barbi naked
• Barbi’s jugs (I really like that one – it makes me laugh.  I imagine the person’s face when they’re expecting to see naked you-know-whats and instead a picture shows up of my empty plastic milk jugs!)
• Barbi hot
• Barbi twins (because I showed a Wordless Wednesday photo of “twins” – a double-yolked egg)
• Jugs de barbi
• and many more that are too dirty to print

Who’s the Wise Guy Searching for Me Naked?!

It also never occurred to me until my husband mentioned one day that he supposed people were searching for pictures of me naked. I told him he was crazy, and we set out to check Google and settle the matter.  Sure enough, there are a lot of people searching for “Danelle Ice naked”, “Danelle Ice nude”, and “Homemaker Barbi naked”.  So thanks to my husband for bringing to light that rather disturbing fact!  *sigh* 

So for all the people arriving at Homemaker Barbi when looking for naked ladies, I’m afraid they’re not going to find what they’re looking for here!  But in the meantime, maybe they’ll pick up some frugal living tips or household hints!

If those gave you a good laugh, a hilarious list of strange searches leading to Ashley’s website, Young Wife’s Tale, is here.  Have you posted a list of your strangest searches?  Let us know in the comments.

Originally published June 28, 2008.

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Get our free RSS subscription or free email updates now to get our money saving tips and frugal how-to posts to help you save!

HomeEverAfter.com is an online home and how-to magazine run by a frugal homemaker and mom of 2 (and pregnant with #3), Danelle Ice.  Learn more about this site.

Let us Give You a Quick Frugal Tour

The Beginner’s Guide will give you a quick tour around our site.  Check out some of our frugal favorite articles:

• Top 8 Frugal Cooking Ingredients
• How to Save Money by Getting Almost Everything for Free
• Stretch Ground Meat with Frugal Fillers
• Top Things to Stop Paying For Now
• Frugal Tip: How to Save 90% on Kids Clothes
• Easy ways to Save on Groceries and Save on Laundry Costs

And some homemaking articles you might like:

• Cleaning tasks that take less than 1 minute
• How do I Set Up a Housekeeping Plan?
• Printable Housekeeping Checklists: Bathroom and Kitchen Cleaning Checklist
• How to Organize a First Aid Box

Thanks for coming by, and I hope you’ll visit us again!

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Important Reminders & News

• Michael Jackson Tribute:  It’s not likely that you haven’t yet heard about Michael Jackson’s death last week.  Here is information about the Michael Jackson tribute that will be taking place next Tuesday, July 7, 2009. 

Since it will be streamed live on the web, they’re expecting that this historic event may take down much of the web on Tuesday.  Don’t be surprised if you have limited-to-no internet connection on July 7th.

I offer my condolences to his family and appreciate the happiness and joy he brought so many people through the music he created during his lifetime.  Michael Jackson has always been a part of my life and I am truly grateful to have experienced his energy in my existence.

• Holiday Closure: We’ve been closed for the last 2 days for the 4th of July holiday weekend.  We hope you’re enjoying some time together with your family this Independence Day weekend.  See you on Monday!

Hot Blogs & Websites This Week

 7 Secrets to Raising a Happy Child at Zen Habits.  “We might not be able to help the variety of our branches, but we are the ones who control the nutrients in their soil and the sunlight in their sky.”   I love his point about making sure to teach your kids at home, instead of assuming all the learning will happen while they’re at school.  Read the rest here.

The portable sandbox at Unclutterer.  This nifty creation has the mark of pure genius: a small sandbox for your kids that has wheels on the bottom.  Portable, sharable, and all-around-good.  Check out the pictures here.

Paper Mache: Recipes & Tips at TipNut.  This perfect paper mache guide has several recipes, materials to use for bases, and more.  This is a wonderful frugal project to keep the kids entertained during summer vacation.

Simplify Your Life by Bartering for What You Need at On Simplicity.  Bartering tips are essential info for anyone interested in living a frugal life.

Do you have something new or noteworthy that you’d like mentioned in The Watercooler? Let us know at tips(at)homemakerbarbi.com.

  Barbi

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#93 – Barbara Leatham

Congratulations!  Thanks to everyone who entered for this wonderful prize from Kraft.

We draw 10 numbers in a contest like this to be sure that if the winning entries are disqualified for not following the rules, we have valid entries from runners up.  Below is the random number drawing, provided by Research Randomizer. 

The winner will be notified by email on Monday, July 6, 2009 (we’re currently closed for the holiday weekend).  If for any reason the winner does not respond within 3 days of notification, the next eligible runner-up will be declared the winner.

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#87 – Katrina V for an entry on Twitter

Congratulations, Katrina!  Thanks to everyone who entered this awesome giveaway for this cool portable Flip video camera.

We draw 10 numbers in a contest like this, to be sure that if the winning entry is disqualified for not following the rules, we have valid entries from runners up.  Below is the random number drawing, provided by Research Randomizer.  If for any reason the winner does not respond within 3 days of notification, the next eligible runner-up will be declared the winner.

Remember that 7/1/09 is your last day to enter for the 1 year supply of Kraft macaroni & cheese giveaway, which will be drawn tomorrow.  Go enter now!

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What I didn’t know is that you NEVER need to bring snacks when you’re visiting a food company!

At every turn of the visit there was food – seriously – in nearly every room we entered or hallway we walked down.  They were even holding a bake sale in another part of the building while we were there!

The Kraft foods family of brands is pretty impressive and all-inclusive.  There is hardly any kind of food they don’t make.  We had drinks and drink mixes, 100 calorie snack packs, desserts, deli fresh Oscar Mayer lunch meats, and much more. 

The photo above shows the poster that is on their refrigerator in the Oscar Mayer test kitchen (no kidding).  Talk about some positive motivation for the chefs creating Kraft’s recipes in that pristine kitchen.  They get to use delicious fresh ingredients to design their creations every day; what a dream job.

Below are pictures of the fresh lunch table we were shown to the first day (in the room right next to the conference room, exactly 10 seconds away!).  We got to make up our own sandwich creations from all the fresh fixins and enjoy the many sides (potato salad, fruit salad, fresh breads in all different varieties).  Fresh veggies, fruits, and low fat Kraft salad dressings were prepared and waiting for our use.  I could use this kind of service at home!

View Full Album

I even ended up bringing home a full tote bag of snacks that were parting gifts (Oreos Cakesters, Ritz Bitz, and more).  Seriously, a trip to the Oscar Mayer headquarters was this pregnant mama’s munching dream!

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Important Reminders & News

An amazing blog has been closed last week. Crystal Paine’s Biblical Womanhood is no more (for the best of reasons). You can read the explanation of what happened to Biblical Womanhood by clicking that link. Not to worry, though, you can still catch Crystal blogging at Money Saving Mom.

In other news, after a 6 month break, my husband and I will be going back to playing our other first love (besides each other), World of Warcraft. Our level 71 characters (all 5 of them) are way behind now that you can get all the way up to level 80!

We’ve been downloading patches and updates for the last 2 days, and will finally get our WoW back on shortly.  No, I’ll never disclose my realm or character name publicly (I treasure my peaceful playing time), but I CAN tell you that…

I’ll be starting a World of Warcraft blog very soon with WoW leveling guides, playing tips, and more!

New at Homemaker Barbi

Hot Blogs & Websites This Week

Top 10 Things I Learned In The First 2 Weeks With Baby Number 3 at Lattes and Life.  She says, “Just because I’ve done this mommy thing twice before, doesn’t mean I can coast on auto-pilot. Apparently each baby is different (the nerve!), and requires me to figure out all new ways of soothing and mothering.” Read the rest here. [Baby]

Organizing a Garage at Organized Life by Design.  Melissa is currently working on a project with Consumer Queen and @consumerking to virtually help them organize their garage so they can finally park their car inside.  Read her great tips for organizing your garage in this article.

The many uses for a wok at The Happy Housewife.  This is hilarious- you have to check out the pictures of Toni’s family demonstrating all the crazy things you could use a wok for!

• Nessa had her Oscar Mayer house party last week.  You can check out the photos here (including her sweet new apron and Oscar Mayer wiener whistles!).
• Our friend Krisy did a review recently of EA Sport’s Active game for Wii. 
• Tips for great storytelling for your kids by Courtney.

Contests

• Tiffany also had her Oscar Mayer House Party recently, and is hosting a giveaway for an Oscar Mayer prize pack and coupons for free hot dogs!  Enter here.
• Wear Clean Underwear Book Review and Giveaway at Moms Who Save.  They’re giving away the new busy parents’ book by Alexis Martin Neely.  Hurry to enter; this giveaway expires 6/30/09.

Do you have something new or noteworthy that you’d like mentioned in The Watercooler? Let us know at tips(at)homemakerbarbi.com.

Barbi

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