Media Mommy–I am a plugged in Mom. I love my kids, social media–and a good deal!

It’s amazing how much teachers spend out of their own pockets in order to get their classrooms ready for the new school year. For many, it’s hundreds of dollars. If you’re willing to possibly wait in line–this Thrifty Thursday tip might help you!

The first 100 teachers at Staples stores in Southern Colorado this Saturday will get some free school supplies for their classroom. It’s part of their Teacher Appreciation Day. Here are the details.

Saturday, August 7, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The first 100 teachers will receive an Avery Binder filled with paper, a pencil pouch and other supplies to assist them with their classrooms.

Locations:

4520 Centennial Blvd., Colorado Springs

2955 New Center Point, Colorado Springs

16096 Jackson Creek Parkway. Monument

1411 Highway 50 W. Pueblo

Yes, dear friends, I paid for a movie. For my entire family. And it was worth every penny.

Of course we’d seen the first two and loved them both. So my expectations were high and I just didn’t think we could wait for the DVD. So last Sunday all five of us went to the evening show. I believe the tickets were $33.50 (we saw 2D not 3D) and the popcorn and drink set us back another $10.50. Ouch. But so worth it.

The movie starts off with scenes of Andy playing with his Buzz and Woody dolls in old home movies, then cuts to Andy as a teenager. He’s heading to college and hasn’t played with his toys in years. What’s left of the old gang are in his toy box in his room. With Andy leaving his Mom has an ultimatum–attic, trash or donate.  Andy chooses to put most of his toys in the attic, and surprisingly he planned to take Woody with him.

Here’s where the plot twist comes in. As usual, I don’t want to give anything away–you’ve just got to see it. In the end, grown-up’s and older kids will cry, but the young ones will love it. The next day my son told me he had rearranged all his stuffed animals on his bed to show them he loves them. How cute is that?

Toy Story 3–A+++

I’m a little behind on my movie watching, considering Iron Man 2 is out on the big screen, but I recently watched the first Iron Man–twice.

It was pretty good, lots of action, some adventure. Robert Downey, Junior did a good job convincing me he was Tony Stark a cocky, super-intelligent jerk turned superhero.

I didn’t appreciate the fact that this movie was targeted at kids. Foul language, innuendo and the beginnings of a sex scene don’t really go hand in hand with Burger King kids meals in my opinion. I’m not sure why the movie producers thought the movie needed the adult content. It didn’t.

I give this one a C, glad I saved my money.

The family classic, “E.T.: The Extraterrestrial,” will be shown free in Bear Creek Regional Park June 24. Film will roll at dusk, around 8:30 p.m.

Bring blankets or lawn chairs for preferred seating and take in a fun, summer evening of outdoor theater in the park.

The movie is sponsored by the El Paso County Parks Division.

Bear Creek Regional Park is located at 21st Street and Argus Road in Colorado Springs.

CLICK HERE for more information on El Paso County Parks.

My Netflix red envelope contained The Last Unicorn this week. This was one of my favorite movies from childhood. Growing up, it was a rare treat to go to the theater to see a movie. This was one of three I can actually remember seeing on the big screen.

I loved it as a girl. My girls loved it, the rest of us thought it was pretty bad. Too bad, I’ve ruined a childhood favorite by watching it as a grownup. Oh well.

I’m not even going to rate it. Yes, it was that bad.

I couldn’t sleep the other night and luckily had this movie on hand to watch.  I know it’s based on a book and a lot of people say the book was better, but since I haven’t read it I can’t compare the two.

It’s set in the 70’s and centers around one family. Their little girl Susie Salmon was murdered and she’s stuck in the “in between” place.

She can see everything that’s happening from a sort of emotional wonderland. The actress that plays Susie is amazing. Her name is Saoirse Ronan.  I have no idea how to even say that. She’s not only the center of the movie, she’s the narrator taking you through the entire storyline. She has a great voice and fit into her 70’s girl look just fine. Many young actresses couldn’t pull off the bell bottoms.

I was surprised to see Rachel Weisz and Mark Wahlberg as her parents. Besides pretty poor wigs, they did a good job showing the kind of emotion you’d expect from parents who have lost a child. The standout star is Susan Sarandon as the drunk grandma. An unexpected role in this story.

Stanley Tucci is amazing as always. This time he plays the murderer. He’s disgusting and I hated his character–very believable.

I don’t want to give too much away about this one. If you haven’t seen it, you’ll want to see the surprises. It made me fear for my children (especially because it was the middle of the night!) because these kinds of men are out there. A good lesson for me to remind the kids not to go anywhere with strangers. Even neighbors.

I give this one a B+. Good actors, some silly imagery that had me tuned out at times.  And LONG–more than 2 hours.  Rated PG-13 and not for kids. I would watch it with my older niece maybe, just to show her what’s out there.

Did you see this one? What did you think?

Today my husband and I took another look at the house we’re planning to rent for the next 2+ years. It’s $200 more than what we pay right now. I’m definitely worried about that. But it’s an amazing home. A place like this in Denver, Colorado Springs or even Tucson would certainly be much more.

While we walked around, I thought about the furniture we currently own. It won’t even begin to fill the place. When we left Arizona nearly two years ago, we got rid of so much. In hindsight, I wouldn’t have done that. It was all paid for and in truth I really loved some of it, even though I told myself I was “sick of” the style choices.

Oh well.. it’s just stuff anyway.

What I did find in this home was room for more stuff. More than I ever want to have. The homeowners haven’t moved all the way out yet. But they’ve been living in their new place for about six months. My guess is they don’t need even 1% of what they’ve left behind.

I worry about doing the same thing. Filling the house up, just because I can.

Part of living a more frugal life is not having a bunch of “stuff” around.  I told the homeowners they could leave what they don’t want, we’ll use what we’d like and pass on the rest. I wonder how much they’ll leave behind? I kid you not there were 12 baking pans in the basement.

I’ll keep you posted on this one. In the meantime, it’s time for me to start packing up the current home. I wonder how much I’ll leave behind? Well, I won’t actually leave any of it–I’ll be Freecycling it and donating it, but you get what I mean.

What do you think about the amount of stuff in your home?

This Friday, June 4th, all kids ride free at the City Park Rides in Pueblo. The rides include one of Colorado’s historical carousels, along with a mini roller coaster and a dozen other kid size rides.

The rides are open from 5 to 9 p.m. Normally the carousel rides cost just 50 cents, the other rides 25 cents, so this is a bargain all summer long.

Park hours are Tuesday-Thursday 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Friday-Sunday 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

This is a blast, my kids love to ride the mini train. Just be sure to bring a bit of cash for the cotton candy at the concession stand. This is not free, but worth it. Yum!

Friday is another free day for Coloradans at the Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield.

The Gardens are open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. but no visitors are admitted after 4:30.

Click here for more information and directions.

Have you been to the gardens? It looks like my kids would have fun there. I’ll have to wait for another free day before I can take them!

If you have a Thrifty Thursday tip to share please email me at sboe@NewsFirst5.com

If you’re like me, you’ve wanted to take the kids to Santa’s Workshop on Pikes Peak–but sticker shock has stopped you. $17.95 PER PERSON 2 and up. For small families–that’s doable. Larger families like mine–ouch.

Luckily, they’re offering $5 off regular admission until June 13. That’s still quite a bit of money, but I well deserved treat for my kids.

Click here for the coupon. Thanks Carrie for finding this deal!