end of summer, back to school, Biltmore

Ahh, summer....here I am with my sibs and Mum in Maine...but as nice as this was, reality is, right now, I am back in NC and the kids are already back to school!

So lets tackle b2s supplies. First of all...have you seen these lists that schools put out??? (Have to be careful here, my husband is the principal...and I really do love my school.!!!!!)Not just "dry erase markers" but "Expo brand, bold color, chisel tip, low odor dry erase markers." Wow. When I was in school, I bought a spiral bound notebook, and a pack of pens and pencils. Go figure....but I digress...what's an uber-mom to do? I mean, my kids get points off their grades if they don't have all 90 plastic page protectors turned in by a certain date...so I have to get them. First of all, I shop ahead. And when Staples has paper for 5 cents...I buy tons!!! But mostly, I reuse...yep, my kids use the same colored pencils and markers year after year. They've had the same LL Bean back packs for 5 years now (free with LL Bean coupon points from the credit card) and I always scrounge. When my daughter needed 90 page protectors, I tore apart my boys NC notebooks from previous years. No going out and spending $10.00 for me!! My son needed tabbed dividers. I found the ones I had 25 years ago in HS. I'm big on the "reuse" part of the three Rs. And of course, I shop around. As always, however, if I just gotta have...I go to Wal-Mart. Happy Shopping!!

And the Biltmore...OK, here's how you save on spending:)! For Christmas last year, I bought year passes for hubby and I @$99 each. For this, we get unlimited admission for a year, kids get in free and we get 10% off at the restaurants and gift shops. If I recall without looking it up, the cost for one adult admission is $37.00. We plan to go once a season. Yesterday, he and I had a great day-long date. We'll go again with the kids at Christmas.