Can you believe it is already September? That just seems so crazy to even type that out. As we all know, when September comes in, everyone gets ready for one last weekend of summer vacation. We are looking forward to the long weekend here. One thing though, we started a new budget as of this morning. Why would we start before a holiday? Well, now is better time then never.

So, let’s see how we can have fun on a budget this weekend.

1. Visit a National Park – Kids are so fascinated by the outdoors, so take this weekend to visit a national park in your area and have great family fun. Hiking, canoeing, conservation projects, historical sites are just a few of the activities you will find. Take a picnic lunch or even items to BBQ there on-site at the park.

2. Enjoy a Museum Day – If you are a Bank of America customer, they are having free museum day this weekend. Even if you are not a Bank of America customer, you can do a google search for your area by typing in ex. Free Museum Raleigh NC. Recently, we took a day trip into Raleigh and had the best time visiting all the musesums and we did not pay one dime. The entire family enjoyed the day too.

3. Backyard Picnic and Campfire with s’mores – Let the kids help you make a picnic with easy items such as PB&J, pretzels, fresh fruit and enjoy a great picnic in the yard. Take out board games, frisbee, or balls and just enjoy the whole afternoon. Then let the sun set, and gather the family around a campfire. Marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers. Let the s’more making begin.

4. Park and Ice Cream - Visit your neighborhood park and be a kid again. Kids love so much when you get on their level and let your hair down so to speak. Turn off the cell phones and enjoy a day being a kid with your kid. Once you get to the point there is no moving your bones anymore, head to the local ice cream parlor for a delicious treat together.

5. Enjoy a craft day – You know all those pictures that you took over the summer? Now is the time to let the kids get creative and make a scrapbook. Lots of stores have picture deals right now, so do a search on Retail Me Not to see who is running best deal. Walgreens, WalMart, CVS, Target, Sams Club are just a few stores that come to mind. While the kids are crafting, you can make homemade cookies. Serve them up warm with a cold glass of milk then you could enjoy a card game to end the afternoon.

Hope you will enjoy these ideas. We plan to use quite a few of these ideas this weekend. Everyone have a safe and fun holiday weekend!

Parenting is the best thing that could have happened to me. As a young child, I would sit and dream of the family I would have one day. In those dreams, the amount of love that I have for my children was left out. I never knew I would have this undying love for my two beautiful girls. The love between my girls and I just brings a huge smile across my face. How do I know I have this special love? You can just look into my girls’ eyes when they look at me and the same when I look at them. BUT, there is another way to tell… love notes for children. I never know when I will get up and find a love note hid in different places throughout the house.

For instance, last week I came back home from dropping the girls off to school and found a note in the bathroom from L. Sweet little note saying how much she would miss me that day but she would see me very soon signed with love. The note is not just no ordinary note, this note will always be treasured and lives on my desk so I can look at it daily. Fast forward to tonight, I found another note. M had fell asleep fast but L was having problems falling asleep. I went to lay down with precious L and as soon as I lifted my arm under my pillow to get comfortable, I felt a little piece of paper. Sweet M had somehow managed to sneak a note to me. It talks about how much she will miss me while she is at school but she can’t wait till she gets home to give me the biggest hug ever, signed with love from sweet M.

As soon as I read that note, I immediately thanked God for blessing me with the two best daughters in the world. How did I get so lucky, I asked? It is not luck, God delivered these two sweet girls to me because he knew I dreamed for this family for so long.

I began thinking, love notes can keep your children talking to you all throughout their childhood. There will be times when your children may not want to talk face to face at first and needs something to break the ice. Love notes will be the right key. I leave my girls post-it notes all throughout the house and in their lunch boxes. They love finding them and seeing the smile on their face is priceless. You can be as creative as you want with the love notes or you can print free templates off the internet such as these Free Printable Lunch Box Notes from Get Buttoned Up.

Surprise your child today with a love note and you may very well just start a tradition in your house and find love notes popping up all over the place. You will love the notes and your kids will love them. Priceless feeling!

Life is beyond busy right now. I wish I could slow down time or even turn back time, but that is not possible. One thing I can do though is take more time and cherish each day of life. Each day my girls create priceless memories that I wish I could bottle up. I know all moments are not cherished (ex. screaming fits), but instead of telling your child to just wait a minute, we need to embrace this time and let them know they have our attention. M and L are my special occasions.

Hallmark is helping me celebrate these special occasions with their “______ is a Special Occasion” campaign.

Hallmark introduced a new campaign earlier this year called Life Is a Special Occasion. This is much more than a tagline — it’s a call for all of us to push the pause button on the blur of daily life, and think about the beauty of unplanned, perfectly imperfect moments.

During our trip to San Diego earlier this month, I was able to meet in person Hallmark and interact with their booth on the expo floor. The best part, my girls were there with me to take in this special moment. Hallmark had a special board where you could write your special occasion. The girls and I both were able to write on the wall.

Also, to take it a step further, they had these cute purple shirts on-hand so we could write our special occasion and wear the shirts proudly.

M’s special occasion was “Learning to Clog.” She got stopped so many times that day since she was wearing the shirt, so she could explain what clogging was. Once M would explain it, the person would want to see M clog. She was on cloud nine all day long. At one point on the expo floor, I was checking out the new Samsung tablets and I looked back to check on M. She had a crowd of Samsung representatives around her while she was clogging. Friends, this brought the biggest smile to my face. My sweet M was celebrating her special occasion all because of Hallmark starting this campaign. Beautiful moment between child and mother as M came running to me when she was done clogging and gave me the biggest hug. This is how life should be and life should definitely be celebrated more.

What is your special occasion in life? Let Hallmark help you celebrate!