This meme comes with the following requirements:

Give the meaning of your kids’ names, and write about what or how or why you gave the name to your kids. Tag five people to play along and leave a comment at their blog to let them know they have been tagged.

I’m not actually going to give you my kid’s names, but I’ll tell you some things about their names. First off, I’ll tell you that I’ve been a teacher for nearly 10 years. I’ve heard all sorts of names and unfortunately, some names are associated with certain children I’ve taught. Need I say more?  lol When naming my children I wanted something different.  I didn’t want a name from the top 50 most popular names.  When I was pregnant, my husband and I were having a hard time agreeing on names, so we decided that I would read the baby name book, make a list of names that I liked, and then he’d look through the names and circle the ones he liked. 

Alligator – This is my firstborn’s nickname. My dad gave her the nickname. He is the Crocodile.  Alligator’s real name was one of my favorites from the list of unusual names I had picked out.  It was also one of my mom’s favorites.  As a bonus, her name is a combination of my MIL’s first and middle name.  Her first name means “oath of God”.  Her middle name is also my middle name and it means “born again”.   I’ve received lots of compliments on her name.

Cuddlebug – When he was a baby, we would call him Tigger because he would sit in his exersaucer and Johnny Jumper and he would bounce up and down repeatedly.  He was so loud while jumping in the exersaucer.  lol  Well, since he doesn’t seem to do much jumping anymore, I’ve started calling him Cuddlebug because he has always been a very affectionate child.  He loves to cuddle.  His real name was chosen by my husband.  He is named after a friend that we met at summer youth camp.  Our friend was the worship leader at camp for several years.  Now he has his own band and record label.  Cuddlebug’s first name means “hunter” or “pursuer of truth”.  His middle name is my deceased grandpa’s first name and also a form of my mom’s first name.  His middle name means “small” or “humble”.   I’ll also let you know that we didn’t know what his name was going to be until right before we left the hospital. They were actually waiting on us so that they could fill out of the papers.  I wanted to name him Micah, but Micah didn’t sound all that great with our last name.  To make a decision, we started asking people their opinion on the two names.  The women picked Micah and the men picked the name we gave him.  I decided since he was a guy, we’d go with the name the men picked.  And that’s the long story of his name. 

I have to tag 5 people, so I tag Kelly, Robyn, Judy, Char, and Julie. 

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

• Revka at The Porch Light,  shares the recipe for her family’s Favorite Meatballs. This versatile recipe can be used to top spaghetti or subs.
• Beth The Expatriate’s Kitchen graciously gave us two enticing entrees: Gnocchi with Duck and Porcini Mushroom Ragout and Chicken Scallopini with Lemon, Artichokes and Capers (this recipe includes tips for creating true 30 minute meals).

Revka’s meatballs sound great for making a yummy sub.  Beth’s chicken recipe using artichokes and capers makes my mouth water.  I’ll have to check out her 30 minute meals.  I hope you’ll stop by Revka’s site and check out the many Italian recipes.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

My friend Revka at The Porch Light recently began a new venture of making custom blog headers.  To get more experience, she has offered to make 25 free blog headers.  Stop by her blog and check out some of her beautiful work.  Hurry, there are only 14 headers available.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Even though we are still almost out of debt, our monthly living expenses are high.  I just keep wondering where the money is going.  I sit back and look at the checkbook and it makes me sick.  There are deductions for the cell phone, cable and internet, water, electric, gas, house payment, student loan (almost paid off), Wal-Mart, Target, etc. 

I know that there are some things you just can’t do without.  I look back though and remember a time when I was in college and we made less than $12,000 a year.  It was hard painfully difficult, but we made it.  What has happened?

I’ll tell you what’s happened.  We got cable, cell phones, a computer, internet, and so on.  Now we see them as necessities instead of luxuries.  We don’t dare cut off the cell phone because we live in fear of what we would do if there were an emergency.  I’m not making light of emergencies.  It’s just that all these things that we somehow managed to live without, now seem to be essentials.

With all this thought, I have wondered which of these necessities luxuries we could do without and I’m thinking it’s the cable tv.  I’ll admit, during my days without children I was addicted to television.  I would sit and watch television for hours a day.  It was really enjoyable to me.  I just don’t have the time now to sit and do that since having kids.  And blogging has taken away the other time that I would have to watch tv.  I really enjoy blogging, but it has taken away some leisure time. 

I figure that I’m not watching tv much and my kids are in preschool.  When they come home from school they take a nap.  After nap they get up and play and watch some tv.  If I got an antenna, they could watch PBS and possibly some other networks.  I think they’d really miss Noggin though.  However, they do have a ton of DVDs and videos.  Also, Nick Jr has videos on their site that you can watch, but then I’d have to give up my computer for a bit.

Here are some posts about using antennas.  These have caused me to think even more about cutting the cable.  Let me know what you think.

Our New Channel Master CM 3020 Deep Fringe Advantage TV Antenna

Cutting the Cable TV

Picture from businessreform.com.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

 Just as promised, I have some pictures of the Valentine crafts that I suggested for this week.  At the top are samples of the heart collages we made.  (Once again, I love the die cut machine.  What a time saver!)  Next, are the painted hearts we did with marbles.  And finally there are the Valentine cards for the parents.  The card on the left doesn’t have the handprint made into a heart.  It is way too hard to get a toddler to hold their hand still to make a heart. For instructions on these crafts, click over to my post on Valentine’s Day Craft Ideas for Kids.

I really like to do the golf ball paint/marble paint activity.  This works for many occasions.  For Christmas, you could paint on a green Christmas tree and add some sequins or beads for ornaments.  For St. Patrick’s Day you could use this activity for a shamrock.  It’s very versatile and the kids really enjoy this activity.

For other Valentine ideas or preschool activities, try Revka’s Little Fun; Little Learning.  I met Revka online through her first blog, The Porch Light.  We began exchanging ideas and soon began calling one another on the phone.  A few months ago, Revka began her educational blog Little Fun; Little Learning.  I told her how my preschool class was studying a letter each week and Revka began doing posts on ideas for studying a letter each week.  It has been really helpful to me.  I just click on over to her site to see what links she has.  I have used quite a few of the ideas she has listed.

Let me know if you have any questions on the craft ideas.  I hope I explained everything ok.  And if you have any Valentine craft ideas, just let us know by commenting below.

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I will be hosting the March edition.  If you have an article that you would like to submit, please submit it here.  Posts can be submitted until March 4th and space is limited to 10 submissions. 

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Heavenly Hot Chocolate Mix

10 2/3 c. powdered milk
6 oz. jar nonfat powdered dairy creamer
4 c. confectioners’ sugar
3 1/2 c. cocoa powder (can use hot chocolate mix like NesQuik)

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. (I recommend processing the powdered milk in a blender to break down the large particles into a fine powder.) Stir gently to mix well. Store in an airtight container in a cool, dark place. This makes about 18 cups of mix.  To use mix, add 3 or 4 tablespoons of the mix per cup of water.  

Be sure to stop by “The Porch Light” for more information on this recipe. 

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Post from: Thrifty Mommy

To remove crayon scribbles spray with WD-40 and wipe off with a cloth.

Note:  This tip is only for regular crayons and does not work for those horrible water-based crayons.  Also, I do not recommend this for material; but if you do use it for that, you can use dish soap to remove the grease spot from the cloth.

To remove ink marks use rubbing alcohol or a hairspray with a high alcohol content, such as Aquanet.

Depending on where the ink mark is, you can try either rubbing it with an alcohol-moistened rag or pouring the alcohol directly on the mark.  If the mark is on the clothing or other material, follow this treatment with a little bit of soap and warm water.

Thanks for the cleaning tips, Revka, although I hope I never have to use them.  And by the way, see the lady in this picture?  Why in the world is she smiling while she is cleaning crayon marks off the wall?

Do you have any thrifty cleaning tips/remedies you would like to share?

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Basic Wood cleaner & polish
1/8 cup oil (either linseed, olive or vegetable)
1/8 cup vinegar
1/4 cup lemon juice

Laundry Detergent stretcher
1-2 tbsp borax
1-2 tbsp. baking soda
1-2 tbsp. of liquid detergent

You can mix the borax and baking soda half and half and keep it in a tub; then just scoop 2-4 tbsp. of the mix as needed depending on how dirty your laundry is. Start the water in the washing machine, put in the borax and soda mix and add 1-2 tbsp. of liquid detergent, then put all the clothes in. This works REALLY well and makes the detergent last much longer.

I like to use Borax, or some other laundry booster for my whites.  I seem to have a hard time getting my whites clean and I cannot use bleach because I have such terrible problems with eczema.  Borax is definitely a good solution for getting your whites clean. 

Post from: Thrifty Mommy