How do you PB&J?

Its one of the greatest classic sandwiches for kids in my book. A PB&J is so easy to make and tasty. Recently I realized why I love the brands I use to make our sandwiches, they just taste better!

I use Natural low sodium creamy JIF. It taste very pure and peanutty unlike some of the other brands out there its not overly oily or bland. I tell every mom I talk to about Natural JIF. For our jelly I use Smuckers Simply Fruit. I like this brand since its like the jar says its just fruit. Its a bit more expensive but well worth it. When I was pregnant with my son everyday for lunch I would  have a PB&J and use the Blueberry Smuckers Fruit Simple. It was heavenly! I would also have green granny smith apple slices and a glass of milk. To me its the best lunch ever! Just writing about it I may need to go to the store for blueberry jelly and green apples.

What brands do you use for PB&J sandwiches? 

Do you add anything to them to make the special?

Linksys E4200 Wireless Router Review and Giveaway

For years now we have had wired internet. Cords all over the house and constantly having to find new ways to hide the cords from my son. I have know about wireless internet but did not make the switch. Now that my son is getting closer to being two years old he is all over the house and likes to mess with everything. Now that we have made the switch and have the Linksys E4200 Wireless Router installed I wish I had done it sooner.

Before we had a cluttered mangled mess of cords that were in our office leading to bedrooms and the living room. I would put them away when not in use and now I don't have to do a thing. Its wonderful.

The Linksys E4200 wireless router is perfect for anyone interested in building the ultimate connected home. The E4200 is the first building block that can handle gaming consoles, HDTV streaming video, Roku boxes, eReaders, smartphones, and anything other wireless device that needs screaming connectivity. Also, with back to school fast approaching, now is a great time for parents to make sure their homes are well-equipped for their kids to succeed academically and maximize learning from home to school.  A simple and cost-effective way to make the home an ideal learning environment is to transform the home into a learning hotspot with home wireless.

Today’s middle and high school students have grown up with mobile technology and feel most comfortable in a wireless environment for anytime/anywhere studying, interactive web research, easy collaboration and communication and parent accessibility.  The wireless home learning environment also more closely aligns with how they use technology at school. The Linksys E4200 router from Cisco lets parents easily set, use and manage their own home wireless. The E4200 is also perfect for college students setting up wireless in their first home away from home.

You can buy it at Target and Best Buy. Even if you don't need one for back to school its a great holiday gift for anyone with wireless internet in their home for great security and high speed performance. I know my husband was excited about playing the XBOX 360 with the wireless router and me being able to take my laptop anywhere in the house.

GIVEAWAY

 

Win a Linksys E4200 Wireless Router for your home or office

To Enter This Giveaway: 

What is your must have home office product?

 *Leave a comment answering the question and be sure to leave your email address if its not public in your Google account*

Extra Entries: Can be done after leaving a comment for mandatory entry. If the extra entry says 1 extra entry leave 1 comment and 2 extra entries leave me 2 comments and so on. 

-Like Cisco Linksys on Facebook +1

-Follow Frugal Family Tree on GFC ( right hand side) +2

-Like our new fan page on Facebook Frugal Family Tree +1

-Follow FrugalFamTree on Twitter +1

-Share this giveaway on Twitter or Facebook using the Share Button at the bottom on this post. +1 for each share you do. (can be done once a day) This means you have the chance to get 2 extra entries a day.

-Add our button to your blog and leave a link of where it is located +2 (right hand side) 

*Limited to US residents; 18 years old and above. Giveaway starts September 18, 2011 and ends on September 30, 2011 at midnight PST.  Winner will be emailed and has 48 hours to respond before another winner is selected. I was not paid for this giveaway or post. I was provide the item in this review for free by the company or PR firm representing them. The opinions on this item are 100% mine and may vary from others

Wedding Anniversaries

This weekend there will be two wedding anniversaries being celebrated in our frugal family. I was married a year and a day after my sister and even our sons were born around the same time 3 years apart. We think alike lol!

Sam and her husband have been married for 11 years. They were high school sweethearts and so darn cute together! They have the cutest pics of them at school dances together. My sister adores her husband and he adores her. They really are perfect for each other. Now 11 years later they are happier than ever with their two boys and little girl on the way. I couldn't be more happy for my big sis!

My husband and I are celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary. We are so happy to have our sweet little son to celebrate with. We are having a frugal anniversary celebration by going out to eat with a gift card I won on facebook to a local restaurant. I was so jazzed I won it! Then we will go to the park to watch our son play on the playground. Its simple and sweet! I am not the romantic type and we have done the flowers, the candy, the jewelry and all that stuff. This year I want to celebrate that we are a family.

My sister and I really are lucky girls to have married men we consider our best friend.


This is not our wedding cake but when I saw this cake I had to post it. This is awesome!

Barney: Big World Adventure Movie DVD and Timmy Time Hide and Seek DVD Review and Giveaway

We adore Barney and this movie was great. My son sat in awe when he heard other languages being spoken. I love the idea of Barney traveling and seeing other cultures. If your a Barney fan this is a great movie to own on DVD to share with your little ones.


PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

It's a super-dee-duper journey of dinosaur-ous proportions when Barney™ and his playground friends take a balloon ride around the world in the all-new Barney: Big World Adventure - The Movie coming to DVD, Digital Download and On Demand September 13, 2011 from Lionsgate and HIT Entertainment. This colossal adventure features preschoolers' favorite loveable, huggable T-rex, Barney, on a trip to Spain, Kenya and China where he meets new friends and learns about various cultures.
Trusted by moms and adored by children, Barney displays sharing, caring, imagining, dancing and learning on television, online and through live events, home entertainment, toys and publishing. The Emmy® award-winning series, Barney & Friends™ is one of the top-rated preschool shows today, airing on PBS KIDS® and Sprout®.

SYNOPSIS

Climb aboard a big balloon with Barney, Ben and Emma as they embark on a super-dee-duper world adventure! The friends visit everywhere they can imagine in this all-new movie! Together they encounter princesses and kings, musicians and magicians, puppeteers and artists across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. As the trio experiences new cultures and languages from around the world, Barney demonstrates the importance of the most universal language of all: friendship.

I thought this movie was perfect to watch at this point in my sons development. He has been playing hide and seek with me this last month. He will go hide in places I have cleared out for him to be baby safe for him. I don't like him to feel that everything is not for him so we had two drawers and one hall cupboard just for him. he makes me laugh so much when he hides in the hall cupboard I can see his feet sticking out and when I ask "wheres my baby?" he giggles and squeals. He even hides being his bed and toy box. We never taught him Hide and Seek he just figured out that its funny to make it so mama has to come looking for him. Its super cute and he really likes watching Timmy Time.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
Ready or not, here he comes! Preschool favorite Timmy and pals Yabba, Paxton, Bumpy, Mittens, Stripey and the rest are back for five all-new, antic-filled, good-hearted episodes in Timmy Time™: Hide and Seek, available on DVD September, 20 2011 from Lionsgate and HIT Entertainment.
With slapstick humor and not a single line of dialogue, "Timmy Time" follows a day in the life of preschoolers, where they learn lessons about friendship and trial and error to which every young child can relate. "Timmy Time" airs on Disney Channel's Disney Junior programming block for kids ages 2-7 and their families, airing in more than 99 million U.S. homes. The show is created by Aardman studios, the Academy Award®-winning creators of Wallace and Gromit.

DVD SYNOPSIS:
Come out, come out wherever you are to join Timmy and his preschool playmates for hide and seek and so much more! From finding the perfect hiding place for noisy Paxton to making paper boats with a sneezy Stripey, Timmy and his friends uncover adventure and surprises filled with fun and laughter in these five adorable stories that the whole family will enjoy.

• "Timmy Tries to Hide" - The class is playing Hide and Seek, but no one wants to hide with the noisy Paxton, who keeps giving them away. Timmy finally helps Paxton by hiding with him behind some hay-bales. But they're so well hidden that when it comes to Snack Time, no one can find them!
• "Timmy Gets the Job Done" - It's time for spring cleaning in the Preschool, but all Timmy wants is to go outside and play. Rushing his chores, he ends up making more of a mess, getting himself into trouble and being sent to sit on the Naughty Stump. Timmy finally learns to finish his jobs properly so he can join the others in their play.
• "Timmy Goes Bang" - After hearing thunder during a storm, Timmy becomes fixated with loud noises, banging anything he can find! But poor Apricot is frightened by all these sounds, until she finds something to bang for herself...
• "Timmy Wants the Beret" - Ruffy is wearing a beret... and Timmy wants it! After successfully getting hold of it, Timmy also takes Otus' hand-puppet and Mittens' wagon! But he doesn't know what to do when his beloved teddy-bear goes missing...
• "Timmy Afloat" - The class is making boats, but Timmy has been paired with a very sneezy Stripey, who keeps ruining his efforts. When Stripey accidentally breaks Otus' boat, Timmy is forced to give the little owl his boat. Finally, Stripey's sneezing comes in handy and pushes the pair's new paper-hat boat to the finish line!

GIVEAWAY

 

Win a copy of Barney: Big World Adventure Movie DVD and Timmy Time Hide and Seek DVD

To Enter This Giveaway: 

Which do you like to teach your kids about more Dinosaurs or Farm Animals? 

 *Leave a comment answering the question and be sure to leave your email address if its not public in your Google account*

Extra Entries: Can be done after leaving a comment for mandatory entry. If the extra entry says 1 extra entry leave 1 comment and 2 extra entries leave me 2 comments and so on. 

-Like  Timmy Time  on Facebook +1 
-Like  Barney on Facebook +1 

-Follow Frugal Family Tree on GFC ( right hand side) +2

-Like our new fan page on Facebook Frugal Family Tree +1

-Follow FrugalFamTree on Twitter +1

-Share this giveaway on Twitter or Facebook using the Share Button at the bottom on this post. +1 for each share you do. (can be done once a day) This means you have the chance to get 2 extra entries a day.

-Add our button to your blog and leave a link of where it is located +5 (right hand side) 

*Limited to US residents; 18 years old and above. Giveaway starts September 16, 2011 and ends on September 26, 2011 at midnight PST.  Winner will be emailed and has 48 hours to respond before another winner is selected. I was not paid for this giveaway or post. I was provide the item in this review for free by the company or PR firm representing them. The opinions on this item are 100% mine and may vary from others.

Frugal Fun!

I remember many fun days as a kid with pillows, blankets, chairs and couch cushions to build forts. Its so simple and FREE to have fun in this way. My son has a blast when I set him up a mini fort to read his books in and just hang out. He is too little to use chairs to make a fort so I just use a blanket and a couch cushion.

He often will curl up and take a nap in his fort after giggling and rolling around in there. After I took this picture I realized I could use another cushion as the roof to make it more fun and used a smaller blanket to make a flap door. I climbed in there with him and he could not stop laughing.

It was simple, frugal and fun! All it requires is some mama engineering and a bit of my time!