Flip Flop Exchange for Adults AND Kids!

Have you heard of the flip flop exchange?  It is super fun!

I received a flip flop exchange letter in the mail a couple years ago, but I didn't receive it until summer was almost over, so it didn't go so well for me.  My mom is who sent it to me and then I sent it out.  I got NO flip flops and she got one pair.  Disappointing!

That being said, I still think it is a super fun idea and if we get it going now, it should be successful for all of us.  It's very early in the season, so this is the perfect time!

I've never seen a child's flip flop exchange, but I thought it would be fun to include them too!  My kids love flip flops (especially my daughter!).

I also thought it would be better if we kept it all electronic so we could be a little more environmentally friendly.  Why put all that paper out when all of us do most of our communicating via email, facebook, blogs, etc??

Okay!  If you want to participate, just email me at somecallitnatural@gmail.com.  I will email you the letter and you can get started right away!  Make sure to let me know if you want the adult letter or the child letter (or both!).

All you have to do is send a pair of flip flops to the person in spot #1 in your letter, move your name to spot #2, send the email to 6 or more of your friends and you are done!

All the details will be in the letter, so you will know exactly what to do!

If we all send it to at least 6 friends, we should get at least 36 pairs of flip flops!!  How's that for a return??  You send out ONE pair and receive 36 pairs!!!

Another idea for this fun exchange is to donate some of your flip flops you receive to your local shelters or whatever cause you support (one neat cause is called Soles 4 Souls).

Don't care for flip flops??  Donate ALL yours to Soles 4 Souls!!  It'll be like your own little shoe drive for charity!

Alright, that's enough out of me.  If you would like to participate in this fun exchange, email me at somecallitnatural@gmail.com and send me the email address you would like the letter sent to.  Make sure to tell me if you would like an Adult Flip Flop Exchange letter or a Kids Flip Flop Exchange letter. (Also, please put "flip flop exchange" in the subject line)

Please come back later on in the season and tell me how many pairs of flip flops you and and your kids received and/or donated!!

***Note:  I promise I will only use your email address to send you the letters!  No worries about spam here!*** 

****Another note: Some people have been confused and thought that the flip flops they would receive/give would be used.  This is absolutely not true!  It is only called an 'exchange', because we would all be giving each other flip flops.  However, the flip flops you give and receive should be new, just bought at the store, flip flops!  Hope that clears things up for people! :) ****

Kids aren't the only ones that like to play in puddles!

I hope you all enjoy this as much as I did!  Have a great day!

 

New Facebook Page

This is just a quick note to let you know that I made a Facebook page for my blog!  You can keep up with all my posts there if you would like.  Just click here and it will take you to my page.  Once you are there, click 'like' at the top of the page and Voila!  You are done!  :)

Okay, I just wanted to let you all know this exciting news!  Have a great week!

I’m Blank…

Throughout the week, I will frequently have things that pop in my head that I think I would like to blog about.  My thoughts wander so much that I practically write the entire post in my head!  Of course, as most of you know, I homeschool my kiddos; so they are home with me every day.  Naturally, with that in mind, there’s no way I can just sit down and write a blog post any time I feel like it.

That’s fine.  I’ll just wait till tonight, then I will write it.

Well, here it is… “tonight”.

And, now, my mind is virtually blank!

I have a general idea of what I was planning on writing for you dear folks.  But, that’s it.  It would all be fragmented, incomplete thoughts.  Not pretty.

For all you other bloggers out there… anybody else have this problem?  Is it just me?  Especially you homeschooling bloggers!!!  Some of you seem to have a post daily!  How in the world do you do it?? 

Okay, I’ll stop my complaining now.  Thanks for reading if you made it this far in the post.

Happy St. Patrick's Day 2011!!

Good day everyone!

We had green eggs for breakfast this morning in honor of the day.  A little idea I stole got from Dr. Mom Online.   Her eggs turned out much more green than mine, but it was fun anyway!

I used 8 eggs (farm fresh from Rolling Hills Farm) and about 5 spoons full of zucchini pesto (I had some in the freezer from last time I made it).  Then I just fixed them like I would any scrambled eggs.

I forgot to mention we had toast and asparagus too.

My 2 year old was not having the eggs.  However, I took her toast away and wouldn't let her have anymore until she took one bite of eggs.  She finally gave in and took a bite. She got her toast back, but then it just sat on the plate while she ate the eggs!  She loved them.  My boy loved them too.  He said, "I love these eggs! Can you make them like this every time you make eggs?"

We will continue our St. Patrick's Day later with some studying on the holiday and what it's all about.  The study will include how much dye is used to dye the Chicago River and whether or not it is good for the fish. (By the way, according to this site, they use 40lbs of vegetable dye)

I hope you enjoy your day!

Vision Board Pic That Makes Me Smile

Just fMy 9 year old and I were talking about vision boards.  I told her that next week we would each be doing one. 

I explained to her that a vision board is a place to display all the things she wants in life…. happiness, love, friendship, and ‘stuff’ too.  She wants an ipod touch, so I told her that an example would be for her to put a picture of an ipod touch on her vision board.  She liked that idea for sure.

She then says she knows something else she can put on it… world peace.  That’s about the time my heart melted.  She is not thinking of other material things she can put on it.  She wants world peace.

This conversation all took place in the car on the way home from somewhere.  When we got home, we ate dinner and then she immediately got working on the world peace part of her vision board.

I wanted to share it with all you here.  Why?  No other reason than to brag!   That’s okay isn’t it?

No Eating Out Challenge-Who’s With Me?

For the month of March, our family is taking the no eating out challenge.
I got this idea from Christina at Northern Cheapskate.  You can check out her blog for all her ideas on how to make it easier on you and her reasons behind doing it.

For now, I will share my reasons for doing it.  They are pretty much no brainers – It’s not healthy to eat out and it’s not good for the family budget!

But wait, I don’t feed my kids bad foods, right?  So, why do I need to take a no eating out challenge?  I guess it’s time for my first confession.  My kids and I eat out occasionally.  Yes, this includes fast food.

I know, I know… that doesn’t seem very ‘natural’, does it?  That’s because it’s not!  Then why do I do it?  It really boils down to a lack of planning on my part.

We will go out of the house for an activity and I don’t pay close enough attention to the time we are leaving and/or how long we will be gone.  It seems kind of silly, really.  If you have to leave the house at 10:30am for an activity that will keep you out of the house past 12 or 1, you need to bring lunch with you! (sorry, I was talking to myself there)

So, for the month of March, I intend to be more conscious of the times that I am doing things and plan ahead accordingly.  This means bringing snacks or even a full meal out with us!  I will be spending some time making some peanut butter and honey sandwiches and put them in the fridge for a quick go to meal if we are running short on time.  Salad is an easy on the go meal that we use frequently.  I need to use it more often!

Alright, there you have it.  No eating out for us this month, whether it is fast food or sit down.  I know we will be healthier for it and the bank will see a difference as well.

Will you join us?  I know it is already the 2nd of March, so you're thinking it's too late for you to join in.  No Way!  Who cares??  Start tomorrow.  Or even wait until Monday if you would like some time to prepare mentally and to prepare the food in your house.  

Also, if you want to start with just no fast food and allow your family to go to a sit down restaurant together, then do that.  Then, next time you do the challenge, you can try for no eating out at all!  Bottom line is, no matter when or how you start, your body will thank you!