Mommy Said No

Can't Write

2012-02-06T10:33:00.000-08:00

Can't write, watching for the UPS Man

Can't write, trying to look out the window every time I hear a car drive by.

Can't write, trying to will them to deliver faster.

Can't write, getting everything done so I can enjoy what we ordered.

Echo, Echo

2012-02-02T16:58:00.000-08:00

Doorbuster is becoming quite the echo.

I can go to the store and say "We need to buy a trash can." and he will repeat "Buy trash can! Buy trash can!" Whatever Princess says, he will also repeat the last word she says, but always like he's asking a question. It's funny!

He also likes to steal everyone's shoes and wear them, especially Princess' ballet and tap shoes. I have to agree, tap shoes are very noisy and very fun.

Now when everyone is working on schoolwork, Doorbuster will sit with his crayons and color in a note book. He likes to work too, most of the time. He is giving up his daytime nap some days, taking it some days, and going to bed really, really early some days. Today he acted like a 2 year old and spent all of lunch wailing because he wanted the pop tarts in the cart more then he wanted his hot dog.

Doorbuster misses his Dad while he is away at work, and if he hears the garage open he will run to the door saying "Daddy's HOME! Daddy's HOME!". It's so cute. He rolls his arms when playing patty-cake too.

Doorbuster's new favorite game- Hullabaloo. If you have little kids and haven't played, it's a blast. It's almost like twister for little kids, but it calls out shapes, colors and items. You can rearrange them and play over and over again. It's better then memory (aka 100 card pick up). I've hidden the memory cards so each set only has half for the time being.

Everyone is doing good and working hard on their schoolwork and activities. I've been working extra hard on making everyone practice and watching them for a bit while they do. We are heading to the Happiest Place on Earth (after a year break) this week, and it's a great motivator on getting all the chores and work done. I'm also hosting a friend's baby's first birthday party, so my house is extra sparkling clean. The biggest project was reorganizing the school/play room, as it was becoming a dumping ground for Princess' toys.

Our digital camera has died (it wont let you take a picture because it says there is an error with the memory on the camera and on the chip.) The only way to fix it is to shake the camera and pray it works. So I am off to research and price out some cameras.

30 years of FUN

2012-01-30T09:27:00.000-08:00

I turned 30 yesterday.

I'm writing this while one child throws wadded up paper snowballs at the other, and I'm being stabbed by a pencil wielded by my 2 year old. I'm going to write, get everyone dressed, and then take them for a long lap around the neighborhood. That will get the antsy out. As a present from the CA government, for my birthday I have to go to the DMV and renew my drivers license. Which I tried to do online but it said I had to do it by mail, which I never got. At least I have an appointment.

So, back to being 30. When I was at the store the other day (buying more bread due to sick-gate 2012), I heard a lady say to her guy, "40 is the new 30, and 30 is the new 20, so it doesn't matter". I got the gist from them that they were older and just starting out, but it was ok since everyone starts on their own lives later.

Which makes me laugh because I've already got the kids-house-job-grind, and I just hit 30. I've been doing that for the past decade. There's no settling down and straightening up for me, just continuing on what I've been doing. In some ways I feel way older then my 30 years.

I spent my 30th birthday enjoying my hubby's (awesome) cooking, playing with the kids, playing some WoW, raiding with friends, eating cookies and eating cake. It's impossible to feel old when most of my day is spent teaching, playing, and making our house a warm place to be. It was perfect for me.

Sometimes I look back through the hazy memories and try to remember what I wanted to be or do when I was 30, and none of them are anywhere near the importance of what I am doing now. Raising my kids to be wonderful, smart, caring people, will make more of an impact then anything I could ever do. When they are grown (in the blink of an eye), maybe then I'll decide exactly what I want to do for a job. Or, I'll be watching some grandbabies, getting to lunch with friends, and volunteer for worthy causes. Maybe. Maybe my hubby will do those things and I will work for awhile. If the past 30 years have taught me anything, I know the next 30 will be quite the adventure.

For now though, one foot in front of the other, one day at a time, one load of laundry at a time. Since that's what really makes up our lives- the little moments in between the big ones.

MIA- In the Trenches

2012-01-26T09:51:00.000-08:00

This post is not for the faint at heart or those of a squeamish stomach. It's probably best read with an empty stomach and lots of sympathy.

I have had a few blog posts sitting in my head that I was going to blog about this week.

Then Doorbuster threw up. We figured it was something he ate. No big deal. There was no fever and it came out of the blue.

Then 2 days later, I get the P & P's. You can guess what the P & P stands for. I hate being sick. I don't ever want to think about that night again. I was fine after a few hours, thank God. Every time I get the flu I wrap myself in a ball and want to be left alone in my misery. I'm not the best sick person. I get rather crazy. I have so much that needs to be done in a day that it drives me crazy when it doesn't get done.

The next day, Princess says she isn't feeling good. She felt warm, but the thermometer said she was fine. I thought she smelled rather sick (Am I the only nutcase who smells her kids to decide if they are sick?) we stayed home from PE class. Good thing, since she got sick about halfway through class time. By drum lesson time, she was fine, everyone seemed to have a ton of energy, so I took them to drum lessons and decided we'd try to make it to Target for a few things. Namely a training potty, since Doorbuster likes to take off his diaper and do his business on the floor. I still feel dragged out and have a horrible headache from being sick, but that's why they invented Tylenol, right?

We pull into the parking lot and bam.... it's Doorbuster's turn again. I clean him up best I can, realizing that I have no extra clothes or anything, just a pile of everyone else's sweatshirts, a blanket, a single kleenex, a box of cracker jacks and half a baby wipe (since someone used the wipes to clean their matchbox cars). I sanitize my hands really well, and eat the box of cracker jacks to soothe my feelings at missing a trip to Target while I drive back home.

We make it home, and Doorbuster is fine. Bath, clean clothes, call Hubby for back up (Having a Hubby who can work all day, and come home and cook because you're going crazy = awesome). He went to the store and came home and made dinner and took over the sickies, and watched Wheel of Fortune with them. Everyone went to bed early, and I stayed up for awhile playing with my newly-made WoW Arena Team. I was really excited since we won quite a few games, and I was really excited about how well we did. It was nice to not have to think about sickies for awhile.

I make it to bed, doze off, and hear the thunking of feet running down the hall. Running down my hall should be considered an Olympic event, since it's full of legos and laundry baskets at the moment. The older two alternated being sick overnight. I'm rather relieved, because the sooner it goes through everyone, the sooner we will be over this horrid, horrid illness. I attempt to sleep while dreaming of healing myself, pushing buttons, trying to get Doorbuster back to sleep since he wakes up every time someone else gets up (and gags in sympathy), and listening for kids. I managed to sleep until 8:30, where I stagger into the disaster area of the living room.

When Daredevil was bragging about how he threw up in a bag....he didn't. Not exactly. I'm very glad I hadn't made it to eating breakfast yet. I'm also very thankful for the steam cleaner, and I am going to get a wet-vac, thanks to the suggestion of one of my friends. She's super smart, because that wet-vac would have saved a lot of time. I also now have a dishwasher full of Wii Game cases and toys, and I think the new very enforced rule will be Princess needs to either A) go to bed the same time as everyone else or b) play in her room until I am up. Because....it was bad. Dealing with that mess, while not being awake at all, with her incredible amount of energy and MOM! MOM! MOM! MOM! Oh, there are days when this mothering business is too much!

Thankfully, it seems like everyone is on the mend now, and by the time everything makes it out of the dishwasher sanitized and squeaky clean (and thanks to a good stock up of lysol and hand sanitizer), and I make it out of my pajamas and into the shower, things will be looking up. It's a beautiful day, and we wont be outside enjoying it (well, the younger two will since I am making them go out and PLAY since they feel great), at least I can throw open all the windows, spray some lysol, and air out the sickies.

Thankfully, next week is a new week.

4 Moms, 35 kids- Clothes, Clothes, Clothes

2012-01-19T09:53:00.000-08:00

Today the Moms are talking about organizing, washing, buying and wearing clothes. Who doesn't have piles of laundry in their house? The more people in your family, the bigger that pile can grow.

Buying Clothes- Most of my kids clothes come from clearance racks at Target, thrift stores, hand-downs (really pass-arounds), or any other place I can find cheap clothes. For some reason, yard sales out here don't have much in the way of kids clothes. I will look on craigslist and ebay, but I haven't had luck lately on either. My kids are not picky about what they wear. Well, Genius is, but he's easy enough. He only likes plain shirts, and one color of jeans. So when he needs clothes I buy one of every color shirt at Target and a few pants and he's set. I try to keep everyone's clothes simple- plain pants and shorts, shirts that match everything, white socks. Easy! I also try to shop a size ahead, unless I am at the twice a year kids consignment that I love. It's easier to make something big work then something small.

Organizing Clothes- I do the washing and drying. The owner of the clothes does the folding, hanging, and putting away. We don't fold socks and underwear (I buy all the same brand and style of sock- every one matches every one). I also buy a different brand for each kid so it's easy to know who's is who's. The boys have a dresser for their clothes, and so does Princess. Plus, she has a low bar on her closet so she can hang her own dresses up. When someone outgrows something it's either put in the next person's drawers, or put in a bag to be passed on. I have a lot of Mommy-friends and we are always passing sets of clothes around. At the moment, only Doorbuster has a bag of clothes to grow into, but he is the only one who's growing fast (I know Genius will be sprouting up soon, but again, his clothes are pretty inexpensive new). I also try to keep the amount of clothes down to a minimum- 7 shirts, 7 pants/shorts. Running out of clothes is usually a laundry problem, not a needing-to-buy-more problem.

Washing Clothes- I try on most days to get a load in at breakfast, switched at lunch, and put away after dinner. The usually on the weekend I run a bunch of loads to get caught up and do towels and blankets. Lazy weekends are the best days for doing laundry, since it's really just switching and sorting and waiting for the washer to be done. I also make my own laundry soap. I can't believe I spent all that time buying detergent! I do have some back up store soap I got for almost free with coupons, so I have a back up if I need it. A little more then once a month Princess and I mix up a batch. The recipe I use is 1 bar of Fels Naptha, one cup of borax, one cup of washing soda. Mix it up in a 5 gallon bucket and let sit overnight. I use a about a half cup a load. For stains, I keep a bar of Fels Naptha on my bathroom counter, I get the stain wet and rub the soap on it. Easy!

Those are my clothes tips. Is it bad I really love the Duggars laundry room? To be able to wash that much laundry at one time is great. Someday I dream of having two washers and dryers. But, by the time that happens, I will probably have a lot less laundry to wash.

Check out the other Moms over at The Common Room, Smockity Frocks, Raising Olives, and In a Shoe, for their helpful tips!

One Week

2012-01-17T13:48:00.000-08:00

Last week was busy (what week isn't?) and hopefully I'll be a bit better at blogging this week. I really need to come up with a new blog header because the one I have is over a year old. It's definitive time to change it! Doorbuster is not a baby anymore, he is very much a toddler.

Last week we had a ES meeting, and the kids are all going great and progressing. I am loving Lexia and Singapore Math. I can see the kids making lots of progress with them. After the meeting we met a friend at the park and played for 4 hours. It was a perfect day- blue sky, 70 degrees, slight breeze. It doesn't get more beautiful then that. The best part of the park was this funky, brushy grass. The kids could burrow down and hide in it so we couldn't see them. We even lost Daredevil at one point. We were yelling and he couldn't hear us, and he was well hidden. It was a blast.

There are 5 kids in this picture. See them?

For the weekend, we stayed home and did nothing but change from one pair of pajamas to another. It was great. We played video games, computer games, made popcorn, made open faced meatloaf sandwiches and cleaned the yard. I even managed to get 90% of the laundry done, and to lay on the couch and watch some TV. I watched an hour of it before I was bored. I rarely, rarely watch TV. If I am, I usually cut and organize coupons at the same time. I also did a little bit of couponing. Managed to grab some clearanced hair dye I had coupons for, some cheap blistex, and ziploc baggies.

Now it's back to our usual routine of schoolwork, cleaning, lessons, work, etc. I've got to figure out what I want to buy for them to do for Science, or if we should go back to snap circuits for a bit. Or maybe both. I want to take everyone on another field trip, just need to decide where!

Simple Daybook 1/10

2012-01-10T14:24:00.000-08:00

FOR TODAY

Outside my window... Beautiful, sunny, blue sky, not too hot or cold, lovely day.

I am thinking... About how I was slacking on my WoW toons, slacking on learning the fights, and I need to come up with something for dinner tonight between dance class and raid, since hubby will be home late. Also thinking about needing to put in some laundry, and that the kids can't do Awana games practice because it is the same time as drum lessons.

I am thankful... For having enough. And for glass jars for applesauce, since I will wash them and reuse them for something else.

In the kitchen... it's slightly messy, don't go in there! I need to empty the dishwasher and reload it again with all the odds and ends stuff that needs to be washed. Then I am going to make some chocolate chip and peanut butter chip cookies sometime this week.

I am wearing... Running shoes, capri shorts, pink shirt.

I am creating... I'm creating smart children at the moment. My new kindle is taking up my creating time, I've read the Hunger Games series, and am reading a really good kindle book I got for free.

I am going... Crazy because two children are going at it and annoying each other, and bothering their brother who still is working on schoolwork.

I am wondering... When the w-2's will get here so I can do taxes, and how to get Princess to quit changing her clothes a million times a day.

I am reading... The Witness by Dee Henderson (because it was free, and it's pretty good so far)

I am hoping... for our teacher meeting to go well, for the kids to remember all they need to remember, for the leaves to just finish falling off the tree so we can be done raking them up.

I am looking forward to... The kids teacher meeting since after it we go out to lunch and visit with friends. We'll trade coupons and deals.

I am learning... How to be patient

Around the house... We have all the Christmas decorations down except for the lights in the front window. We also got the backyard and front yard straightened up so they look nice. That was my big goal for the weekend.

I am pondering... The kids keep fighting and it's driving me batty, but I know they need to work it out themselves at this point.

A favorite quote for today... “Destroying things is much easier than making them.” ~Hunger Games

One of my favorite things... how helpful the kids were at our grocery trip. They unloaded the cart, bagged the groceries, put them in the car and brought them in. They were so helpful!

A few plans for the rest of the week: Dance class, PE Class, C2 5k day 3 (I've been slacking, oops), drum lessons, Awanas, Teacher Meeting, Maybe the park, room reorganizing.

A peek into my day... MOOOOOOM! Moooom! NOOO! That's MY CAR! It's MINE! He toook my CAAAARRRRR! MOM! He's sitting on my car!!! I don't want him playing with meeee!!! NO!! Don't play that waaaaaaayyyyy!

(Me thinks a nap is in order very soon)

Link up your day over at http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

My Hubby is Awesome!

2012-01-08T20:59:00.000-08:00

My Hubby is awesome because.....

He goes to the store and uses my $.80 off coupon because it was important to me, and even took 2 kids with him.

He's not afraid to get messy with the kids.

He makes dinner, and will even arrange my plate so everything looks as pretty as a picture.

He goes on a bike ride with all the kids to get donuts in the morning, while I can stay home and enjoy some quiet (well, I mopped the floor without anyone walking on it).

He is always willing to help anyone who needs help, from taping a video to fixing sprinklers.

He waits with the little one(s) so I can ride roller coasters for the 93483 time.

He wins all the tickets at Chuck E Cheese, so no one is sad they didn't get a prize.

He knows I work hard at home, and that my work is more important here then anywhere else.

He helps out with homeschooling.

He works really hard at making the grass in the backyard green and perfect, just because I like the grass to look that way.

He comes home from working his 10 hour day and makes dinner so I can raid, and keeps the kids out of my hair while I do.

He gets really dirty and fixes our cars, so we can save money. He will even dig in and fix things after watching a you tube video for it. Like the Wii, and the dryer.

He doesn't complain or call and bug when I say, "I'm just running to Target, be back in an hour", and that hour turns into 4 or 5 and a few different stores.

He gives the best back rubs and lets me have 11/12ths of the bed, and all of the blankets.

He dresses up like a cow for free food, without complaining.

He doesn't mind what I spend money on, or that I spent most of the summer going from water park to water park.

He works hard for our family at work every day.

And.....he's awesome because he started his own blog. Go check him out at Daddy Said Yes!

Walmart Trip- Price Match + Coupons are awesome!

2012-01-06T14:39:00.000-08:00

If you haven't been price matching at Walmart, you are missing out! It's easy, really, and you don't even need the ad. Our Walmart is usually overpriced in my opinion. Sometimes I can find an item cheaper but most of the time, it's more expensive then I can get it. To make it easy on myself and the cashier, I split my items into the ones I price match and the ones I don't.

Today I did:
General Mills Cereal- $1.38 for the Cinnamon Toast Crunch, $1.13 for the Cheerios (Price matched Staters $1.88 each, used $.50 off CTC, $1.00 off any two General Mills Cereal, $.75 off Cheerios)
Old Spice- Free + $.2 Money Maker (Price matched Food 4 Less at $1.98, used $2/1 coupons)
Always Pads- $.98 (Price matched Food 4 Less at $1.98, used $1/1 coupons)
Reach Floss- Free + $.3 Money Maker ($.97 each, used $1/1 coupons)
Colgate Toothpaste $.19 each ($.94 each, used $.75/1 coupons)
Colgate Toothbrush $.19 each ($.94 each, used $.75/1 coupons)

Not a bad trip, and we are well stocked up on cereal now. Daredevil is very excited, it's his favorite cereal and he likes it as a snack too.

Getting the New Year off to a Good Start

2012-01-02T19:29:00.000-08:00

We've spent our new year so far at home, packing up Christmas decorations and removing the trees. The good thing about the fresh tree leaving pine needles everywhere means I have a really, really clean living room! I had to move all the furniture and get under it. I still have the manger left to take down (somehow I threw out the packing material for it, thankfully I have a lot of Sunday papers to wrap them in), and I need to dust the frames when I put them back up. Aside from my regular cleaning, I also went through the fridge and tossed out all the expired stuff that was in the door of the fridge. I didn't know that most of the salad dressing in there was expired. No wonder I had no space!

My stepdaughter is now back with her Mom in another state. In some ways it's a relief, and in other ways it's not. I'm not going into very many details because it's better that way. Most of my relief is because it was a temporary arrangement while she was here- if she lived here, we would move some things around and make everyone more comfortable space-wise. Other issues, I'm sure it's the same things any mother of a 17 year old goes through. At some point, you just have to hope that you've made some impact in their life and that they will make the right choices on their own. Of course, it's also hard because she's not my child, but she is. Step-parenting is something else.

Doorbuster and I stayed home while step-dd and the 3 older kids went to the Griffith observatory the night before step-dd went home. They got to see both Planetarium shows too. It was a Friday evening, so it was very crowded. I was glad I stayed home with the wee-one, as I would have spent the time freezing outside or trying not to lose him. We'll all go again another day.

Genius says the Planetarium is his favorite place. I'm hoping all that space will stick with him. School starts up tomorrow, so it's back to the schoolwork-dance class- PE class- drum lessons- park days routine. I do want to try for more field trips this year. There are some places we haven't been too that we should visit- like the Discovery Cube, the LA Natural History Museum, and the Western Science Museum. Six Flags also has a homeschool physics day, and I think that Genius and Daredevil would love something like that.

It's been so nice and warm these past few days I called the water park to see if they were open. They told me they open it on warm days when there is demand, like today, unless they are doing maintenance on it, like today. Funny! We will have to wait until their maintenance is done the end of January, and if this weather stays nice, we'll be hanging out in our swimsuits in February. I suppose this is why we have such a "high cost of living". Though- in some of the money saving blogs I read, we pay a lot less for produce then they do, but we pay more in rent. In some places, the rents pretty close too. I wonder how it would work out when you add in the cost of heating oil/propane/ whatever else they use to heat their houses when it's snowing.

On Sunday I restarted couponing again. I took November/December off and used up what was in the stockpile. Now my stockpile has room for more stuff, finally. No, I don't have huge shelves in my garage (not yet anyways, those suckers are expensive), I just have my cupboard at the end of the hall. In good coupon fashion, I started off buying toilet paper and paper towels. We have enough to last us a few months I'd guess. It wasn't free, but it was lower then if I bought it at Walmart/Target.

Our tree has finally lost almost all of it's leaves. So far we have filled up the green can to the top twice, and we will probably fill it up once more. Next weekend we are doing a good deep cleaning of the backyard, it's been neglected in the whole month or so that we had of cold weather. I think we finally got caught up trash-wise from Christmas, so we should have a pretty empty bin to fill. Just watch, when I get it cleaned up then it will rain buckets. That's just the way it works around here. I bought Brad more long sleeve shirts since he outgrew them, and now it's sunny and he doesn't need them.

My friend Vixi is having a giveaway on her blog. Head on over to her page HERE, and enter to win some of her beautiful jewelry! If you like steampunk type stuff, she has some neat things, and tutorials too.

Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012!

2011-12-31T20:40:00.000-08:00

The year has flown by, and here I am recapping how my 2011 resolutions were accomplished (or not). It's amazing how we all look at this time and reflect on where we have been and where we are going. It's also almost my blog's 2nd birthday too! So, let's see how I did the past year (here is last year's post):

1) Budgeting- Well, I wrote down a budget and followed it from Oct- Dec. I have been really strict with the it's-only-a-dollar's.

2) Home ownership- I looked at houses online but haven't looked any farther then that. We are going back and forth between where we want to live- out of the wind and sort of away from friends, or in the wind and closer to Hubby's work.

3) Character Traits- We worked on these, and I am happy where the kids stand.

4) Date Nights- We've been having date evenings when the kids are in bed and we are up. I'm happy with how this resolution has been!

5) Blogging & Books- I haven't moved the blog to it's own domain since I can't figure out how to do it on my own, and I'm not thrilled with my domain choices. I did manage to read and re-read a lot of books this year.

As I was in the car flipping radio stations today, and thinking about what my resolutions would be, I heard a sermon on the radio. He was talking about doing one thing well. I think that was God's nudge that I should make my resolution to do one thing well too.

So my resolution for this year is to do one thing well- be myself.

Christmas Recap

2011-12-28T14:20:00.000-08:00

I don't think I've had such a busy Christmas in a long time!

We started off by having my stepdaughter down for two weeks to spend Christmas with us. My Mom so very helpfully paid for her ticket (It was a huge help!). My stepdaughter is 17 and lives with her Mom in Oregon, so this will probably be one of the last visits for awhile. Who knows when we will get another long visit once she starts school and work. We've been treasuring this time very much.

My Mom and her new hubby also flew down my step-sisters and nieces and nephews too! At family pictures, we had a party of 19, and then a party of 16 at dinner. We tried to spend what time we could with them, as they were only down for a few days. It was fun to see the kids all play together and have fun. We spent Christmas dinner with them and their side of the family (And my favorite Aunt from the Avocado farm). It was a crazy dinner! Plus we had my Dad, my brother and sister-in-law over for breakfast Christmas morning, and saw my other brother, sister-in-law and Niece too.

Thanks to all the overtime my hubby worked, we had plenty to go around for Christmas. It was really fun to think that I was shopping for all 5 of my kids. That then made me laugh because if each kid got 10 things, that was 50 presents. Crazy! The kids got lots of things they wished for, and things they didn't wish for but loved. I love surprising them. My hubby is awesome and got me a kindle. I LOVE to read, and now when I'm waiting at all of the kid's classes, I can read any of my books that I have.

Now we are enjoying our last week with no places to go, before we get back to schoolwork and lessons and regular chores. The house is a mess, the laundry is piling back up, but we are going to make homemade pizza, play games together, and enjoy the rest of our vacation together.

I hope your Christmas was as special as ours was!

Full

2011-12-21T23:13:00.000-08:00

My stepdaughter is here- our house is full

My stepdaughter is here- the van is full

My stepdaughter is here- the table's full

My stepdaughter is here- there's little voices full of excitement

My stepdaughter is here- and she's full of stories to tell

My stepdaughter is here- and we are fully enjoying every minute she's here.

Priceless

2011-12-17T21:46:00.000-08:00

Leotard, $12: Tutu, $14

New Tights, $2; Hair bow, $1; New Tap Shoes, $15

Tickets for Us and Family, $35

Watching your daughter dance on stage....

Priceless

At Least I'm Not....

2011-12-15T08:23:00.000-08:00

I love to read different blogs. I read blogs of every type and size. I like crafty blogs, and blogs from large families and blogs from thrifty people, and blogs from other homeschoolers, funny blogs and many others. My feed reader is full of entertaining and informative people that I pop on to read in the mornings.

Sometimes when I'm reading, I start to wish. I wish for that person's decorating skills, or that person's cooking skills, or that person's house, or that person's super organized kitchen. Sometimes I compare myself or my kids to whatever their kids may be doing. I start to wonder if I should start waking up at 4 am so I can jog 10 miles and cook a homemade breakfast before I sew matching outfits for all of my kids while singing hymns in perfect harmony. I come up with grand plans to do schoolwork from the time we wake up, to the time we lay down, and chore systems.

There was a Mom blog I read for a long time. The Mom had a son who was sick, born with a heart condition. I prayed and wished I could do more. I used to wonder why I couldn't keep my house as pretty and clean as hers, that my food wasn't as healthy as hers, and I had 4 healthy children, not 4 healthy and a sick one like her. I even wondered how she could stay home with her kids and have tons of nice, beautiful stuff. Then I found out she was a complete and total scam. I was angry that I was made to feel inferior. And I also realized that it partially was me who was making myself feel that way.

So now when I read blogs, I remember to take everything with a grain of salt. Blogs are just a little window into a person's life. And when I look at that bloggers 700k worth of bankruptcy debt, I think at least I am not in her shoes. I may have a un-glamorous mommy-van, but at least I'm not owing 90k on a expedition. At least I'm not plastered all over the internet as an example of how not to do things.

And at least I'm not going to have to write a I'm-flawed-like-an-onion post about Jesus (like that blogger does every time she is trying to get in reader's good graces...when it's not their graces she should be worrying about). Ahem.

Boys Will Be Boys

2011-12-14T17:54:00.000-08:00

"Sometimes being a brother is better then being a Superhero" -Marc Brown

"A friend is a brother who used to be a bother" -Author Unknown

I'll never get tired of playing cars, trains, boats and legos, and neither will these 3 (even though they may not admit it). Some days I am in awe of the people they are turning out to be. Some days I think they are conspiring to drive me nuts. You can see that your teachings are actually being heard when you see them teaching each other, and taking care of each other. They are very quickly becoming not my babies anymore. Sniff. Sniff. Genius will be 11 in 6 more days and Doorbuster is 2. The baby door is shut and we are heading full steam into the land of no strollers, diapers, and onesies.

I know when you are worried about holding your child for naps or getting them to sleep in their own bed, it seems like the most important thing to take care of. But, looking back, I never, ever look back and say, "I wish I cuddled them less often". My kids may not be that old, but they are too big to hold for naptime (aside from Doorbuster, who I cuddle whenever I get a chance).

11 years has gone by so fast, and so slow, all at the same time.

This, That & The Weekend

2011-12-12T15:42:00.000-08:00

We had a pretty busy weekend. I think we are booked almost solid until Christmas. Tis the Season!

We went to Home Depot and picked our tree. First tree we saw and opened was the one we took home! We went early and they even helped us get it on top of the car and tie it down. It's probably about 8 feet tall.

We got the tree lighted and decorated, and even cooked a yummy ham dinner and had Grandpa over too. Plus, we went shopping at Sam's Club and ate lunch there. On our shopping list- 35lbs of frying oil for the deep fryer, a 8lb jug of Ragu, 5lbs of pizza cheese, 3lbs of pepperonis. I see lots of pizza and spaghetti in our future. After frying up some frys and tacos in the deep fryer with the new oil, I like it much better then the corn oil we were using.

Then there was waking up at 4am to see the lunar eclipse. Well, only Hubby and Genius woke up. They had fun watching until they couldn't watch anymore.

Then we went to my Niece's 1st birthday party. I always tear up over singing Happy Birthday. They are tears of joy over how much they have grown. It also makes me feel incredibly lucky to see each birthday come along. So, if you invite me to a birthday party, I'm the one getting misty eyed.

They also had the cutest pinata. The kids took turns pulling the string until the bottom opened. It's so much better on your nerves then giving a kid a bat and then blindfolding them, and hoping they stop when you ask them too. Much, much better! I also have the cutest Niece in the whole world.

On Sunday we didn't make it anywhere we were supposed to be. My poor van needed new brakes very, very badly. We bought the parts on Saturday night. Took the brake pads off and needed a bolt that one Auto Zone and one Pep Boys didn't have. Finally found one that did, and got them on. Then we bled the air out of the brakes (we because I did the important job of pushing the pedal). Now my cars brakes feel like new. It only took us.....all dang day! At least it only costed about $60. The brake pads alone were $40, and I have no idea how much labor would have costed to get the parts unstuck that were stuck.

So, we didn't make it the places we were going to go, but now we can get places safely.

And that was our weekend!

More Pictures from Princess

2011-12-07T09:00:00.000-08:00

By her desk

What our living room really looks like

He's very proud of his trains

There's something in the way of the window!

Family, or friends

Schoolwork

What's up!

Posing with props now?

Stuffed Friends

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas...

2011-12-06T09:00:00.000-08:00

My favorite part of Christmas is decorating the house. The kid's favorite part of Christmas (aside from the presents), is helping to decorate the house. I am super thrilled- my hubby re-covered the kitchen chairs to match the table cloth. It was a good practice run for when I decide what fabric we are going to upholster them in. I also know how much fabric I will need. Total cost for 6 chairs and the table cloth- $10.

Fishing line, snowflakes from Dollar Tree, and 3 rolls of scotch tape....snowflakes on the tree, snowflakes on the wall.

Our snowflakes blow over the hall and into the living room. It's the only snowflakes we will see around here.

It's a bit hard to see, there is white snowflakes in between the blue ones.

Our snowflake parade keeps on going over the entryway.

And eventually the snowflakes will end at the other tree. That empty spot on the right is for the real tree we will go pick on Friday. Our tradition is to go to home depot, pick a tree, look at a dozen others, and then go home with the first one we picked. Then we continue on with our jam-packed holiday month. We have two birthdays down with two to go; a Christmas Party for Hubby's volunteer work; Step-child is flying in for 2 weeks; my step sisters and their kids are flying in for Christmas; I still have two kids and two couples to finish shopping for; and we need to see Santa for our pictures; Sears for a family picture; Princess's dance recital; drum lessons; PE class; Awanas; Dance Class; and schoolwork. I think we have one day with nothing scheduled between now and Christmas.

But....We are looking forward to every second of it!

Practicing for Her Future Facebook

2011-12-05T21:05:00.000-08:00

All self taken by Princess...."Mom, Can I take a pickturk?"

I especially admire the messy face, and the marker.

Fossils

2011-12-03T09:48:00.000-08:00

The past month the kids and I did a unit on Fossils. I think the only thing missing out of our unit was a trip to the La Brea Tar Pits (who had a free homeschool day on the day we had everyone's lessons), or to the LA Natural History Museum to look at the new dinosaur wing. Maybe we will do that this month.

The idea for my unit came from the Science in a Nutshell Fossil Formation kit. I love these kits because they have everything you need to do the experiments. The only thing I change is the Activity Workbooks- they are probably more for a 4-5 grade level. I just ask the questions and have everyone answer.

You could do the same experiments at home by pushing shells and other objects into clay, and then pouring plaster into them. Then you can take the plaster cast you made, and push the clay in to make another imprint. You can also make reverse casts by pouring plaster into your plaster mold, and then splitting them apart (which, didn't work for us). Another experiment was to make footprints in clay (we used our hands and plastic dinosaur feet), and then cast them in plaster. The kids had lots of fun playing with the plaster and trying to get good imprints from the fossils.

I also matched the Let's Read and Find Out books to the kit. The books we read were Digging Up Dinosaurs, Fossils Tell of Long Ago, Dinosaur Bones, My Visit to the Dinosaurs, and Dinosaur Tracks. They matched up perfectly with what they learned in the kit. The books are a little young for Genius, but I think he likes to take a little break every once in awhile.

Our next month- Breaking Earth's Hold....space, the moon, and the planets. And probably a trip to Genius's favorite sport, the Griffith Observatory.

Terrifically Two

2011-12-01T11:31:00.000-08:00

We had a big event over Thanksgiving weekend......Doorbuster turned 2!

It's hard to believe that he's 2 already, and not my bitty baby. Time flies when you have kids. Especially ones as sweet as Doorbuster is.

He still gives us this look. He always seems older then what is age is. I suppose it's all the big brothers and big sister that play with him.

I think he is the first one to figure out how to blow out his candles at 2. He wanted us to hurry up and light them so he could lick the frosting off. I love looking back and seeing how they grow.

Monkey Pizza Bread

2011-11-21T19:31:00.000-08:00

I made this for lunch as a test try as something I saw off Pintrest. That pintrest is dangerous, espeically when you search for bread. There is some good looking bread on there!

I followed the recipe and directions at The Sweets Life. I don't think I put enough butter around each little ball, but it really didn't matter. The top of mine was a golden brown, but the bottom is pepperoni colored. Oh well, it tasted really good. I used the dough recipe from Our Best Bites. I just stuck all of the ingredients into the bread machine, and it was enough to make two pans full.

My food critic (Genius) decided that he didn't like it with sauce (I had Ragu, so I used Ragu). He liked it better with real pizza sauce. It was flaky and pulled apart easy. It was also pretty easy to do.

Now to find something else to try.

Coupons, Diapers, and Full Price Gasp!

2011-11-17T09:49:00.000-08:00

I went to Target yesterday since we were almost out of diapers. Usually, I get diapers for pretty cheap by stacking coupons with store giftcard deals/ECB/+UP rewards, or the time that Toys R Us ran the $5 diaper deal.

But last night I reached the end of my stash of diapers. No one has them with a deal that I see, and I only have a few coupons- $2.00 off a box or two bags, a Target one for an extra $1.50 off a box, and a $4.00 off a Huggies Slip on Diaper.

Even with the coupons, the Huggies Slip-On Diapers were the most per diaper. Even though it would be great to blog about the pack of diapers I got for $5.50, it would have cost me more per diaper then buying the big box with $3.50 off. And after 20 diapers (My son is a size 5- so there is 20 diapers in their Slip-On pack), that would last him about 3-4 days. They call them Slip-Ons, but my son thinks they are Slip-Offs. As soon as they are the slightest bit wet, or scrunched up, he slips them off. And if it's #2, your chasing a messy kid, and then finding where he left the messy diaper.

I almost went with the Target diapers, which are great and I love, but usually Doorbuster gets a all over his bum rash with them. So in addition to diapering him, I have to powder and slather him with A+D. So I went with the box of pampers. Who'd of thought buying diapers would be so complicated? I had to figure out the per-diaper cost on each of them. This is why I don't like shopping with my kids!

I also used my time at Target to get started on some Christmas shopping. I like their dollar isle things around Christmas and they are perfect for stocking stuffers. I found quite a few things for everyone, before it was all picked through. Now to move some things around in my closet so I can stick all the gifts together.

I also bought dishwasher detergent. I had a bunch of free cascade that I got with coupons. I was so happy to get the Cascade for free- until I tried it. I usually use Finish (costco had a buy one get one free, so I was well stocked), but since it was free I got a bunch of packs. Finish spoiled me, I didn't have to do very much pre-rinsing, I could load up and run it and my dishes would come out sparkling. Then I switched to Cascade, and it stunk. I had to wash the dishes before I put them in. Then our water bill started creeping up. So even though I had a couple coupons for Cascade, I bought the Finish. I have not paid full price for a box of detergent in a year and a half. It was worth it between the money it may save on the water bill, and the kick in the pants to watch my couponing and deals a lot closer!

Around Here...

2011-11-15T08:41:00.000-08:00

We've been working on projects around here (when we have time) since Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming up. I've been working on a few big cleaning projects and trying to get things decluttered and cleared out. It's no fun to decorate for Christmas when you have to wipe dust off the walls to put things up. It's also cold and flu season, so I make sure to wipe doorknobs and doorframes off pretty often.

I tackled my dirty oven after trying to use baking soda and vinegar to clean it. I saw it on pintrest. It didn't work. I used my old standby of comit and brillo pads. Now I have a back ache from leaning over into the oven, and from cleaning up the whole bottle of shampoo that the kids spilt behind the toilet in their bathroom. That was loads of fun to clean. Soap is a controlled substance around here now- they get the bottle when they are taking a shower and then I put it away. Today I need to do the oven racks and the top of the oven. I'm very thankful for my laptop, I put it by wherever I am cleaning and watch a movie while I scrub.

I have to get Princess's room cleaned and gone through. My stepdaughter is coming down for Christmas break, and I don't think she will want to sleep on top of a ton of toys. I like to make sure she has room for her stuff too. Currently, you can't even walk INTO Princess's room, so I am NOT looking forward to cleaning it. At least it will be easy for her to clean when I am done.

I've been in a craft mood lately and made Princess a very fluffy tutu. I think the best tutus are super fluffy. Hers makes me think of cotton candy. She only goes to dance once a week, but she has three leotards and a bunch of tutus. She is also outgrowing all of her socks, so I've been putting beads on new ones for her. It's her favorite, and it gives me something to do while sitting at dance and drum lessons.

It's almost time for 2nd semester already. I have everything planned out for next year except for Genius's extra activity. He needs to try something new. Maybe he will take music lessons too. I've been forcing everyone along in their books at a good pace, and I'm happy where we are starting the next semester at. Taking the time to plan out everything well sure helped. The older boys have been riding their bike every weekend for about 6 miles or so, and playing with the neighbors when they can in the afternoons. It gets dark pretty early, so they don't have too much time to be out playing.

Doorbuster plays "Where'd it go?" with his belly button, and it's the cutest thing ever. He'll play it with anyone's belly button. I love this age, except for wanting to walk very slowly through the store, and then protesting very loudly when I put him in the cart. He knows how to undo the baby latches in the kitchen, and will even bend the latches down and re-latch them when he's done. I may have to buy some magnetic locks for under the sink, even though he is very good about leaving them alone.

The rest of this week we are busy with our usual, but we may try to visit a friend later in the week. One of our friends had his appendix out. Poor guy!

Thrift Store Treasure Hunting

2011-11-13T17:25:00.000-08:00

.We went out and took a trip all over town to a few different thrift stores. I was looking for kids pants (which is rare to find, since they wear through them most of the time). I didn't find any pants, but I did find some cool things. The kids favorite part of the trip was looking at all the old stuff.

Here's what we found:

A basketball hoop for Doorbuster, that he absolutely loves. The jeans Princess is wearing were a whole $2.50 at goodwill. Sometimes you can find what you are looking for.

Brand new rollerblades, with a bag and wrist guards for $3. Now when the kids take their scooters to the park, I can take my skates and push Doorbuster in the stroller.

And a floormate. It's my new best friend. It was $15. I thought it would leave the floor dryer then it does, but getting it for this price I don't care much. It got all the stick off the floor in a few passes, and I really, really like that only clean water is going on the floor. There's just something about mopping and wringing the mop into a bucket of dirty water that just seems...dirty. Most of my house is tile. The hall is tile, the baths are tile, the living room is tile. I love it, but it's a PAIN to keep clean. Especially when it's wet and rainy. Then I have to keep a towel and a mop by the door to collect wet shoes. This should help a lot.

Now to get back to my "job" for the day- getting the hall cleaned. I have one wall and baseboard done, the junk that was piling up on the end of the hall is put away, and my stockpile is organized and sorted. I just have to finish the last wall and baseboard. It's covered in little dirty hand prints.

And the cutest thing ever- Doorbuster snoring

Rice-capades

2011-11-09T13:33:00.000-08:00

I bought a 50lb bag of rice the last time I was at Costco. I figured we ate the 20lb bag of rice pretty quick, so I'd buy the 50lb bag this time. After I got hubby to bring the bag of rice in (I got it into the garage, he put it in a baby stroller to carry it in), I tried to fit the bag into my bulk container for it.

It wouldn't fit.

So I figured I'd put it into gallon sized ziploc bags inside the bin. I got about halfway though of filling bags when one of the kids needed me for something. By the time I got done with all of the things everyone "needed" me to do, I sat down for a minute.

Then I heard the sound of rice being thrown everywhere. Not exactly the sound you want to hear when there's at least 20lbs of rice still in a bag on the floor.

Doorbuster had "helped" me put the rest of the rice away. He put handfuls in the bulk bin, handfulls in all of the kitchen drawers, and since he ran out of places to stick them, he started throwing them on the floor.

That was some good incentive to get the rest of it put away!

10 Goals for the Week

2011-11-07T14:00:00.000-08:00

I linked up with Money Saving Mom! I'm hoping to get all my goals DONE for the week.

Family/Mothering Goals:
1) To tell each Child 3 positive things per day.
2) To have movie night and watch the whole movie with them
3) To make everyone practice their 15 min per day, and their bible verses 2 times a day.

Personal Goals:
4) Exercise for 15 min per day
5) Take my Vitamins & Allergy Meds every morning
6) To increase my WoW raid healing by 1.5k (Hey, it's a personal goal!)

Home Management Goals:
7) Everyone does 15 min morning pick up of their room (including me).
8) To clear off the kitchen counter that collects junk every evening.

Business Goals:
9) Clear Out, Organize and Inventory my pantry & hall cupboard.
10) Cut out and sort all the coupons on my bedroom floor, plus cut this Sundays and organize.

I'm Back!!!

2011-11-07T10:11:00.000-08:00

I haven't blogged in awhile. It's a long story. Well, not really. I ran out of picture space on my blog, and it's no fun to blog without pictures. I was using imageshack, but it was a pain and stunk to use. Then I looked and saw I could upgrade my Picasa storage, and I figured I'd pay the $5 and be set. Except I kept leaving my card in different places then my computer was. Add in our normal busy stuff, and my hubby working lots of overtime, and I've slacked. So here I am again!

We had a great Halloween Trunk or Treating at our church. The kids carved pumpkins (they picked the pattern and we handled the sharp tools). They also dressed up.

I got the transformer costumes last year on clearance for $8 each. Princess picked a princess dress she already had (she has tons and tons of costumes). Doorbuster was the only one I bought a costume, his was $9. I was going to put him in his costume from last year, but for $9 I bought him the train one. Which he hated.

But once he realized he got candy when he wore it, he was much happier. Now he is happily inspecting himself as I write this. I still have our Halloween decorations up. I need to take them down today. We are going to make some thanksgiving decorations today to replace them.

I'd also like to thank Pinterest for sucking the time out of my days. I sure got some good ideas on some craft projects though. I also got some holiday cleaning and purging done. The boys room was a disaster, the schoolrooms was a disaster, and now its all sorted out and cleaned.

Doorbuster is practicing to be a stripper. I'd say it was time for potty training, but it's not.

Nano-Bugs

2011-10-29T10:28:00.000-07:00

Daredevil got Hex-Bugs for his birthday. They are these cute little robotic (vibrating) "bugs" that go down tunnels and run in circles. If they are upside down they flip over, and the two of them will run into each other. They are silly and fun. Doorbuster really likes them, and will put them on the floor and watch them run everywhere.

There's only one problem with them. They play with them so much they run out of batteries. They don't use batteries I can get at the 99 cent store, they use tiny button batteries. They sell "Hexbug food", a set of two batteries for $4 or $5.

Want to know our secret on buying these batteries? We buy them off ebay in a hundred pack for $5. Now it's really easy to replace the batteries when they run out, since I have 100 of them. Not to mention all the princess wands and other toys that occasionally need a battery.

MKWW- 22 Things I Have Done

2011-10-27T08:58:00.000-07:00

We've been crazy busy over here, and my kids are keeping me super busy, and so's the house and the laundry. So I'm joining Mama Kat's Writing Workshop and using her prompts once a week.

The prompt I picked this week- 22 Things You Have Done

1) I marched in the Rose Parade my Senior Year. A friend and I auditioned on a whim, because it sounded like fun. She tried out on the trumpet, and me on the Cymbals. Little did I know, every one of the college kids who didn't make it on snare, bass or tenor, automatically made it into the cymbal line. Walking out to the car, we saw a group of people with bells and xylophones. Turns out they had marching ones! I auditioned, and marched the whole parade with a 45lb xylophone strapped to myself. I even took my picture with it, because I figured if I was marching with it, I sure was getting a picture with it!

2) Made and Met friends off the Internet. Including meeting a friend and her son and driving them to Vegas with us to meet another Internet friend. That was the best Vegas trip.

3) I stood in line for 10 hours to get my Wrath of the Lich King collectors box signed by the people at blizzard. I didn't have to potty once. I would have been in trouble if I had too, because I went by myself. I have never been so tired of a Fry's before, but it was well worth it. Getting to tell the lady who does the quests that questing stunk, made me feel much better. I didn't go for the Cataclysm launch, but I may go for the Pandaria one, just so I can ask all of them why on earth someone would pick Pandas.

4) I've ridden every ride at Disneyland, every ride at Knotts, and everything at Raging Waters except drop out. I love roller coasters.

5) I've had 4 kids, that's defiantly something I've done.

6) I was a fire explorer back in the day. I loved the medical side of it, but not the hauling of hose or running. I got to drive a firetruck around the parking lot too.

7) I've been in the same room as 5 astronauts. When I was little I wanted to be an astronaut. I think I just wanted to float around in space.

8) I've gotten things for free with coupons. We have more and spend less then I ever thought we would be able to.

9) I've been friends with the same friend for 22 years. We've known each other longer then our husbands. Most of my friends I've known for longer then 10 years.

10) I've been in a car crash when we were rear-ended, and once when someone ran a stop sign.

11) I walked onto a car lot swearing I wouldn't buy a car, and I bought one anyways.

12) I've eaten lunch at Costco by eating all the free samples until I was full.

13) I've dressed like a cow for free food, and got people to like facebook pages for free food. Chickfila is awesome.

14) I've made my own laundry soap. I never thought I'd be the laundry soap making type. The whole time I was grading soap and letting Princess stir it, I was really hoping it would work out so my hubby didn't laugh at me. Some things I've tried flop really bad!

15) Is it awful that I'm sitting here at 15 wondering what I've done? I'm trying to come up with some more interesting or exciting things, but I'm pretty boring. Let's see.....I've been to the midnight premiers of all the Harry Potter Movies. It is more fun to watch them with a theater full of screaming fans. I usually go by myself, it's easier to find one seat then two or three.

16) I've also been to midnight book launches. Looking back, I wish I dressed up too. That would have been fun.

17) I've also stayed up for Warcraft launches...like Cataclysm. Only to have the game crash and go to bed instead of being exasperated over it. To make my day after even better, I let the kids stay up too.

18) Oh look, getting closer to 22! I've home schooled now for 6 years without strangling anyone. I think the key is knowing when everyone is having a rotten day, sometimes it's better to take a tiny break and try something else.

19) I've learned to make my own bread and my own pizza dough. And my own Cinnamon rolls. I will never buy anything from a can again.

20) I've been to Blizzcon, and I've been to NAB (National Association of Broadcasters). One is small, the other was HUGE. One made my feet hurt from all the walking and one made my behind hurt from all the sitting.

21) I googled what zzyzx road is, and what's on the end of it. And googled the Rock-a-hula water park, and every other thing on the way to Vegas.

22) I made a double batch of fudge and ate almost all of it myself. I was testing for the holidays!

Mom needs 5 minutes

2011-10-19T17:33:00.000-07:00

Have you ever read the book 5 Minutes Peace? If not, you should.

I am having one of those days. I haven't had more then 2 seconds without some child needing all of my attention. The first few times it's cute and funny, and the last hour I've been sticking a fake grin on my face and telling them how great it is that they've gone through a whole ream of paper in an hour.

One wants to be inside, one wants to be outside, one wants to ride a bike, one wants to know why we can't go to dance class any old time, one wants to know what are we doing when we wake up, or tomorrow, or tomorrow when we wake up, and one wants to go in the back, and one wants to take a bath and the other wants to know what's for lunch even though it's dinner time. Are you tired reading that? That's my past 5 minutes! Now it's "Are we going yet? Are we going now? When are we leaving? Can we go now?" When it's actually time to go, it will be a complete shock to everyone that we are leaving. Go figure!

We only got math and reading done, along with PE class, drum lessons and Awanas. I should be happy with that, but I wanted to get more done. Unfortunately, not much gets done when one person needs to be worked with and the other 3 are keeping up the MOM chorus. I had a phone parent council meeting and had the whole time with someone going Mom? Mom? Forget thinking about running for president or treasurer, I need to see if I can manage being on the council first!

In typing this, I've had to answer to "Mom, look at the snake, Mom, look at the snake, Mom! Look at the snake!", cut a pizza, put the desk the kids keep taking apart back together, changed a poopy diaper, broke up a fight, sent someone to time out, and told one to put the books back on the shelf.

The answer to the Mom, Mom, Mom, grumps and the before break slumps? A field trip. I think we are all due for a change of pace and a change of scenery. Now to decide if we should do the Science Center, the Observatory, or to pick pumpkins.

I love my children dearly, and I love being home with them. But there are just some days when they drive me crazy.

4 Moms, 35 Kids- Trying Not to Pass Out Over the Total at the Grocery Store

2011-10-13T09:13:00.000-07:00

Today the Moms (and the link up Moms) are talking about keeping your grocery bill low. I try to keep my bill below $100 a week. Some weeks we spend that, some weeks we spend way less. It depends on if it's a stock up week, or a eat from our store week.

The number one tip that I can't share enough is to know what things cost, and what's the cheapest you can get them at. Keeping a price book can be really helpful. It's great to be able to look and see what the price for milk, or cheese, at all the stores you shop at. This will help you know if you are getting a good deal. If ground beef is regularly $2.99 a lb at Store A, and $4.99 at Store B, and one day you see it for sale for $1.99, you would know to stock up. You want to stock up on the sale items so you don't ever pay full price for anything you are buying. Then if you add in coupons, you can save even more.

My general rules are meat under $2 a lb, fruits and veggies under $1lb. We are lucky enough to live in the middle of a lot of stores, so I only shop the very best sales from all of them. I shop to fill my cupboards, and then I make menus with what I have. If beef is above my price point, we do without. Sometimes we will buy a little more expensive meat as a treat if I stay under budget. We love making carne asada with flap meat, so when it's on sale, we eat up!

It also helps to buy in bulk- but make sure the price per ounce/lb/unit is cheaper then you can get on sale. I buy rice, bread flour, yeast, popcorn, (very soon regular flour), milk, cheese, and sometimes frozen chicken patties or nuggets at Costco/Sam's club. Again, we make sure what we are buying in bulk is cheaper then what we would get with a sale or coupons at the store.

We have a lot of Mexican markets by us, and they run really good sales on meat a lot of the time. I've also used handy-dandy google to check cuts of meat and how to use them. I was making my shredded pork from an expensive piece of meat, when I could of been using a much cheaper cut and getting the same result. Many of them have great prices on produce too. The only downside is they smell much different then a regular grocery store would, and I am not hungry at all when I shop or afterwards. So it also saves me money in that way too, I guess.

I also save time and gas by price matching at Walmart. I save all the sale ads each week and write myself a list and price match. It's actually really easy and painless. I wrote about my trip here. It saves me going to a ton of different stores to buy one or two things each.

I've been taking baby steps on making things from scratch. Instead of buying crackers and cookies, I make my own cookies at home, and the kids are more then happy to eat homemade bread, or make some popcorn. When fruit is on sale I buy it in huge amounts and they snack on that. I also will double a meal that I am making and freeze half of it for later. Then when I am running late or have no idea what to make for dinner, there is something waiting to be tossed in the oven. I also purchased a rice cooker (off ebay!), and that's make cooking rice quick and easy. I used to buy instant rice. Now I feel pretty silly for wasting all that money on something that is so easy to do (yes, I could just watch a pot, but I usually burn stuff if I have to watch it).

I also follow websites that encourage saving money and spending wisely. Money Saving Mom, For the Mommas, Southern Cali Saver, Milehimama, Hillbilly Housewife, are all favorites of mine. I also read the forums over at We Use Coupons and A Full Cup, so I know what sales and coupons to use. I probably spend about an hour a day checking deals, writing my grocery lists, checking my inventory, and cutting coupons. It's an hour well spent.

You can check out more grocery saving tips with the other Moms over at the Common Room, Life in a Shoe, Smockity Frocks and Raising Olives.

Endeavour LA

2011-10-12T09:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I got to go to the California Science Center as a social media guest for the official title signing for the Endeavour space shuttle. It was so much fun! The science center is one of my favorite places to take the kids. It's the only museum I know of that you don't have to tell the kids to not touch or climb. It's an amazing place, and it will be even more fun when Endeavour makes it there.

I was really impressed with how many people were there to direct us to where we would sit and to answer any questions. They gave us a cute goody bag with treats inside. I brought the Astronaut Ice Cream home and all of us had a bite. It's really good!

There were many important people, but the real important people were the astronauts who flew the Endeavour the last time. I don't think I've ever been in a room with a astronaut before! They showed a video that made me want to sign up for the next space shuttle flight. It looked like lots of fun to be floating all around the space shuttle.

They also had a lot of the kids from the Science Center School there. They got to ask the astronauts questions. It was really cute! I hope many of them were inspired to become a part in the space program.

I love the look on their faces. They are very excited.

I had no idea that NASA hosts tweet ups pretty often. It'd be pretty unlikely that I'd ever make it on a space shuttle, but through youtube, twitter and facebook, NASA has made it really easy to see what is going on in the space program. They also have education centers that have free resources for teachers (that includes homeschoolers!) to teach about space and science. I've been to the Pomona one, and the lady there was so helpful. I walked out with stacks and stacks of posters, games and ideas.

After the ceremonies, I had to take a trip to my 2nd favorite place in the museum- the entry to the Ecosystems Exhibit. I lucked out, no one was in there so I could sit and watch.

Then I headed to my favorite spot, the fish tank kelp forest. Kelp can grow up to 2 feet a day. I didn't know that until I came here. After watching the fish tank for a bit (it was no fun without the kids), I strolled the paths to the parking lot and headed home. I can't wait to go back and spend the day with the kids at the science center, and I can't wait for the parade to bring the Endeavour home.

Visiting the California Science Center is free (they do suggest a donation). They are seeking donations to help build the new wing and exhibits for the Endeavour Space Shuttle. I have full faith in the Science Center and their vision and I know the exhibit will be amazing.

Thanks for inviting me to the event!

Fire Department Open House

2011-10-10T08:05:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went to the Fire Department Open House. Or, you could count it as a field trip to the fire station (for kindergartners, that's Social Studies!). Genius worked on his photography skills by taking pictures. Daredevil and Princess loved climbing in and out of the fire trucks. Doorbuster just looked and watched. I carried around everyone's stuff and drank all the leftover red punch. That's a very important job.

No trip to the fire station is complete without testing out their chairs. I loved that there is enough recliners for everyone. I want to redo my living room like that!

I told Princess she needed to grow up and be a fire fighter so I can use this picture in some graduation stuff.

If Daredevil does something, Doorbuster will follow.

He is ready to go! I could see him as a firefighter, too.

Here we are learning about the EOC and discussing the different jobs and what they do. It was decided that Genius is Intelligence and Daredevil is planning.

I'm administration. Hubby is finance.

Doorbuster is Operations.

Princess wants to be the PIO. I hope she gets a few inches, or we'll have to get a step stool for her to see.

Steve Jobs, Computers, & How Quickly Things Change

2011-10-07T10:36:00.000-07:00

The passing of Steve Jobs is sad for everyone in many different ways. He changed the way we use computers, how we do business, how we listen to and buy music, and so much more.

I can remember using my first Mac (Apple) in elementary school. We had these old computers that had a huge screen and a huge bottom part with the processor and the keyboard. We would write down in the classroom lines of code and if we typed them out right, we'd get a box. Then the next time we'd write a longer section of code and get a box, and then the box would turn a color. It was a HUGE deal if you got it right.

I remember the apples getting a little smaller, and being able to play Oregon trail and number munchers. These were the dark ages, before the internet. I can remember playing the seahorse game on our old Comadore 64. I can remember my science teacher having a Mac that he carried around that was about the size of a computer tower today, with the screen and the processor, and the keyboard was separate.

I can also remember when Prodigy and AOL first came out, and getting to go to my Grandma's house and use her prodigy account to play games. We also loved to play a game called manhole, but you had to uninstall windows to get enough space to play manhole, then remove manhole to put windows back on. You would turn on a computer and get the C:\ prompt, instead of windows just opening up.

I remember BBS's and talking to people who lived in your area, and the meet-ups that we would go to (or have at our house). I remember playing MUD- like warcraft, but all text.

With all that's changed in the past 20 or so years in computers, I can't imagine what things will come up next. Whenever I hear about people like Steve Jobs (and Mark Zuckerburg), I always wonder what their Mom and Dad did to help them on their way. Did they find them tutors? Did they read to them from only classical books? Did they send them to special schools? Or were they just there to support them in whatever they did? Or did they just become what they were meant to become.

Steve Jobs, you will be missed. But I will be anxiously awaiting what technology will be coming up next.

13 days to the Shake Out!

2011-10-06T10:34:00.000-07:00

It's Thursday and it's 13 days left until the Great California Shake Out! Last week I started my water supply with 2 gallons of water. This week I have.....

Only those 2 gallons of water!

I forgot when I went to the store to buy another two. It also didn't help that I still haven't found a spot in the garage to put the water. You can't leave bottled water on the cement or the cement will leach into the water. Or so I hear. I also questioned my thoughts of putting the stuff in the garage, because if it was a bad enough earthquake to need the water, my garage may not be standing. Or, it could be badly damaged. I don't have a shed or anything for the backyard, and I don't want to get one (it'd be a pain to move if we left this house). So one bottle of water is on to of my dryer, and one is sitting on a diaper wipe box.

I did see some cheap shelves at Big Lots that might be a solution to both the earthquake supplies and my couponing supplies, but I wanted to look around a bit more. They were plastic, and I'd rather spend a little more and get the metal shelves Target carries.

Not to mention finding a spot for shelves and stuff means I need to clean and reorganize my garage. My hubby has been gone almost all day for the past month, so I have no time to watch kids and clean the garage, let alone homeschool, keep up with the house, shop and stay sane. Oh, and it was too hot, and then it rained. Half the stuff in there has no purpose at all, but it's important to keep. I really wish I did not come from a family that tends to hoard stuff (I spelled that horde, lol).

So, I didn't get much done in terms of preparedness this week. We are well stocked in canned food and cereal, so I figured we have 3 days worth of food just eating what would go bad in the freezer and fridge, and probably another week of stuff going through the pantry. I'm not too worried about that. If we have water and food, that cuts down on the things the kids can whine over if there was an earthquake.

Instead, they'd spend there time arguing over who used up the electricity, and who used up the internet.

Simple Daybook 10/4

2011-10-04T12:21:00.000-07:00

I link up at the Simple Woman's Daybook!

Outside my window...
It's actually cold enough outside I put my jacket in the car last night. I love it! For now anyways. I really need to pull weeds and clean up the front flowerbed, but I have no motivation to do that when it's 90 degrees outside, and I'm too busy to do it today.

I am thinking...
Whatever got Doorbuster back to napping twice a day for 45 minutes has got to stop. I'm making Mr. Grumpy stay up so he can go back to his once in the afternoon 2-hour nap. I'm thinking about how I need to get back onto our schedule, I've been letting it slack a little.

I am thankful...
That the pay cut my hubby will be taking (15%!) will be done gradually instead of all at one time. I'm also thankful for having a clean rug in my living room.

From the learning rooms...(if this applies)
I am getting exasperated over Princess thinking it's funny to suddenly "forget" everything she learned in the past few months. It's not funny, or silly, or cute. I'm trying to be patient, but firm, that the work needs to be done and it needs to be done right. Same goes for the other too. Actually, just Genius, who thinks he can just stop when he wants and do something else. Daredevil works at what he is working on until the time is up or he is done.

In the kitchen...
I am going to bake some cookies, even if I have to make everyone sit in chairs facing the wall to get it done. Yes, today we are having one of those days. Maybe it's the weather. Maybe we need to go for a jog or something.

I am wearing...
Pants for the first time in forever

I am creating...
Cookies, bread and dinner. Does that count? This blog post?

I am going...
Nowhere lately, aside from my usual stuff. Hubby keeps joking that he wants to take a trip to Vegas. Just a road trip, he says. I told him I'd be mad if he didn't take me, since I'd like to go someplace too.

I am wondering...
Hmmm Now I'm wondering about what I'm wondering about. Wondering how I can add some extra hours in my day.

I am reading...
Nothing at the moment. I need to cut and organize a HUGE stack of coupons before I go reading anything.

I am hoping...
For the mail I am waiting for to actually make it here.

I am looking forward to...
Tomorrow, since we are busy enough everyone has no time to fight, dwadle, or otherwise misbehave.

I am hearing...
Thomas the tank engine and quiet, since the two offending parties were sent to their room. Calling each other names quietly still gets you sent to your room. I think the word "Idiot" is going to start costing $.25 every time I hear it.

Around the house...
We got quite a bit of decorations up. I got them all from Dollar Tree. I'm working bit by bit to get rid of the clutter that is adding up. It's time for another Yard Sale, maybe. Or a Free Sale.

I am pondering...
What kind of cookies to make. I was looking at the chocolate chip isle last night. They had some yummy stuff there...peanut butter chocolate chips (both mixed together), butterscotch chips. Yuuuuum! Big Lots also had really cute (and pretty cheap!) little boxes and trays for cookies for Christmas.

One of my favorite things...
Listening to music really loud in the kitchen, and dancing with the kids. Doorbuster puts very serious effort into his dancing.

A few plans for the rest of the week:
Work, work, work- like always.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...
They grow so fast!

http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

Menu Plan Monday

2011-10-03T20:45:00.000-07:00

I'm Linked up over at Organizing Junky!

Here's what we are eating this week:

Breakfasts:
Waffles, Cereal, Try #2 of Oatmeal, Toast

Lunch:
Sandwiches, Frozen Pizza, Dino-chickens, Hamburgers, Soup,

Dinner:
Monday- Jambalaya, Corn, Green Beans
Tuesday- Pot Roast (in the crock pot) and mashed potatoes
Wednesday- Hamburgers & Fries for the kids, Eat out night for me and hubby
Thursday- Chicken Pot Pie (doubled, one for the freezer and one to eat)
Friday- BBQ Chicken, Veggies
Saturday- Spaghetti bake (and make 2 to freeze)
Sunday- Chicken Tacos

We are actually getting cooler weather here, so the next few days while it is cool I want to do some baking and try out a few recipes. The last time I was at Dollar Tree I bought some foil pans with lids, so I can have some containers to do some freezer cooking the next few times I make something. Last time I did them in my Pyrex pans, and I don't own enough of them to keep doing that.

My Rite Aid Trip- 10/2

2011-10-02T23:16:00.000-07:00

I havn't been to Rite Aid in quite a few months! They used to be one of my favorite stores to coupon at, but then their deals died a sad, sad, death. They did redeem themselves a bit this week with the covergirl deal. Here's how it worked for me.

Transaction #1:
Pantyhose- $2.99 - $2 UP - $1 VV Q = FREE
Blush #1- $4.39
Blush #2- $2.19
Foundation #1- $7.99
Foundation #2- $3.99
Concealer #1- $5.59
Concealer #2- $2.74
Blush #3- $4.39
Blush #4- $2.19
Cover Girl Total before Qs- $33.47
Used 4- $8 off 2 Q's = Paid $1.47 plus tax
Received a $10 UP= $8.53 MM!

(I also submitted the codes on the bottom of the receipt in and will be getting a bunch of Taylor Swift stuff)

Transaction #2:
Aveeno Shampoo- $5.99
Aveeno Conditioner- $5.99
Aveeno Itch Creme- $7.29
Aveeno Itch Creme- $3.64
Aveeno Itch Creme- $7.29
Aveeno Itch Cream- $3.64
Total: $33.84
Used $10 UP
Used $2 UP
Used 3 $3/2 Qs = $9
Used $2 off any haircare VV Q
Paid $12.84 + tax
Received $20 in UPS- $7.16 MM (if I figured that right- either way it was free!).

I guess Rite Aid will be seeing more of me, now that I have UPS to roll.

October Already!

2011-10-01T10:03:00.000-07:00

I am in denial that it's October already. It's still 90 degrees and the leaves on my tree are still green. So I'll just pretend it's August again.

Doorbuster turns 2 the end of November, so he is 22 months now. I'm starting to see little bits of his 2 year old personality coming through. He wants to be a big kid but doesn't quite get the big kid rules yet. I think 2 year olds are funny. Aggravatingly so.

Genius will be 11 in 3 months. That's scary! He's heading into teenage-hood, and there are days when you can see the grumpy hormones coming through. I try to give him the space and grace he needs when he is moody. I'd be moody too with 3 other siblings to bug me. He's reading a C++ and a Java book at the moment. I may take him to do a website design class through the city. At least he can tutor me afterwards, right?

Daredevil is working hard at reading and hard at math and really improving. He is also getting good at his drumming. I think it worked out well that he has his own special activity to do.

Princess is looking forward to turning 6 next year. She loves doing Math. I think she just loves her math textbook. I have to admit, the Singapore books are very bright and colorful. She begs to do Lexia, but when it's her turn she dislikes it. I used to make her do 30 minutes a day like Daredevil, but I think that was just too long for her.

Since it's now officially October, I'm going to wash the windows today. I'm only washing them because my Halloween decorations wont stick if the windows are dusty. I also got some inflatable decorations to go outside. Hopefully the neighbor's kid doesn't take them. At least, I had two up to see how I liked them, and one of them went missing. I figured it must have blown away since it was kinda windy. We looked around the house but didn't see it anywhere. 3 days later, the decorating was sitting on my doorstep. I don't know if it blew into their yard or if someone pulled it down.

Not to mention I'm rather ticked about their kid that screams outside all. evening. long. I can't be too mad since my kids can be a bit loud outside anyways (usually during daylight hours). But during the evenings all I hear coming from their yard is crying and wailing from one of their preschool aged kids. Of course, I have to go look to make sure no one is hurt or anything. Even my hubby looks because he worries too. Oh well, such is having neighbors, I guess.

More Science

2011-09-30T09:00:00.000-07:00

This is Brandon's experiment he learned at AWANAS and then set up and taught everyone at home.

(Excuse the crying baby, I was baby sitting and she was grumpy)

21 Days to the Shake Out!

2011-09-29T10:05:00.000-07:00

It's that time of the year again! It's time for the Great California Shake Out. I never used to do any sort of disaster drill with my kids until a few years ago. We had a small earthquake and I realized they had no idea what to do in case of an emergency. Not to mention there is 4 of them, and one of me, and I can't carry or drag them all under a table (I'd probably find a way, if I needed too).

So we make the October Shake Out our yearly earthquake drill. Last year we duck and covered, we checked the house out and identified exits and safe places to cover, made meeting spots, and learned how to shut the gas off. This year our goal is to start organizing a disaster kit.

With all my couponing I have built up a pretty good stockpile so if we couldn't leave the house, we'd at least smell great and have plenty of diapers. I don't think we'd last too long drinking mouthwash and eating toothpaste. So now we will be focusing onto non-perishable foods and water.

I do have a tight budget, so I'm not running out and buying a ton of new (expensive) items to stock up my kit. It's recommended that you have a gallon of water, per person, per day (the Los Angeles Fire Department recommends 5 gallons per person total). If we go with the minimum, 6 people times 3 is 18 gallons of water at the very least.

For practical reasons, I wont be buying a bunch of 5 gallon containers. I may get one or two, but logistically carrying and pouring these would be hard work (or I'd have to buy something to pour or pump them). I'd like to get a combination of small bottles, gallon, 2.5 gallon, and a 5 gallon or too. Plus, I have to find a place to store these and my other items. Baby steps!

Here is my first baby step. 2 gallons of water from Winco for $.62 each. One is sitting on top of my washing machine and one still hasn't made it out of the car (where honestly it might just stay). Every time I make it to Winco, I'm going to purchase one more bottle to add to my supply. Then in 6 months, I'll start rotating the supply around.

Every Thursday I'll be sharing how we are getting prepared and practicing for the great Shake Out! Hopefully this will motivate me to get better prepared.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-28T07:51:00.000-07:00

Our hot air balloon! You filled it with air (by running back and forth) and then let it sit in the sun. After an hour or so it floats like it was filled with helium. It can really get going in the breeze, and it could float around with a full water bottle attached to it. I got my exercise chasing it down the street until I found something heavier to tie it too. The kids had lots of fun with it.

The Fair!

2011-09-27T08:58:00.000-07:00

We made it to the fair twice this year. It was nice to get to spend two different days there so we could see everything (and we still didn't see it all). Both times it was really hot! I was hoping for some cooler weather on our last trip, but no such luck. The kids wanted to stop and get their picture taken at every single one of these picture things, so walking around the fair took some time.

I've also put so many pictures on my blog, I can't upload anymore. So I've been hosting them on imageshack and then putting them on here. It's a pain though and ruins the way my posts look. It also refuses to space things out right or line them up. That has nothing to do with the fair, but plenty to do with posting pictures of the fair. Doorbuster got a big bruise on the side of his face from falling off the step on one of the picture things. He forgot he was on a step and fell right off. Poor guy.

Hubby took Genius to watch the horse racing. They also bet on a few horses. I think it was a good lesson on probability. It was also way more fun then playing with dinosaur eggs or looking at animals for him. He's growing up so fast. Doorbuster was really excited over the garden trains and spent a long time watching them. He also spent a long time talking to one of the volunteers about the track and trains. We need to go back over to the OERM, but I want the weather to be a little more cool before we do that.

Daredevil went to knight school. I was really glad the put some knight stuff next to the princess stuff. Since we had 4 adults and 11 kids on this trip, we were able to split up the girls and boys and everyone got their fun. They also got to watch some sword fighting.

Every good knight knows that after he's had a long day sword fighting and slaying dragons, he must come home and run the vacuum a few times.

Everyone did do more then just play, we learned about chickens, eggs, incubating eggs, eating eggs, eating chicken, and looked at other animals. We watched the goats rock out to their invisible ipods, as Daredevil was convinced that the goat that was panting? breathing? rather hard was rocking out. I agree, he did look like he had a tune playing.

Here's where I give up on posting pictures, as imageshack ate up the last of that picture. I really need to get dressed and go outside so we can parachute some clothespins and fly some kites. That's science for today.

It Never Fails...

2011-09-21T12:12:00.000-07:00

It never fails that....

When I have to use the restroom, someone needs something...like the back slider opened right that very second.

When I'm pulling something hot out of the oven, someone needs to hand me something, or come running over.

When I wash all the towels, someone spills something and uses all the clean towels to clean it up.

When it's time to leave, someone loses a shoe.

When it's time for schoolwork, someone has lost their favorite pencil.

When I'm typing a blog post, someone is arguing loudly with someone else.

When we have a lot of things to do, everyone works at half the speed and takes twice as long.

No matter how many times I answer the question "What are we doing tomorrow?", No one listens to the answer.

When I am not being in the best mood, that one of the kids will do something really sweet or nice, and make me feel worse for being in a bad mood.

When we leave the house, someone will have to use the bathroom. They'll have to at the one store that doesn't have a bathroom to use, and they will do it with a cartload of stuff, and have to go right-that-very-second.

When I'm trying to checkout, watch prices, check my coupons, and make sure everything is right, someone runs off and someone talks 50 miles a minute. Someone will also bag the groceries very slowly, with one item per bag, and then have no idea how to get the bag into the cart.

When it's time to get in the car, someone is wandering around the parking space next to the car, singing songs and walking in circles, even though someone else is trying to park there.

When they are told to "Bring something quiet to play with", they will always choose a big, made with many pieces lego that they swear they are just bringing in the car, that will break into a million pieces as soon as they step outside.

When you open the fridge, there is a lego or two inside.

When I push the water button and no water comes out, I check the water line, the water in the sink, and the water tank, before noticing that someone pushed the "lock" button on the water/ice dispenser.

Simple Daybook 9/20

2011-09-20T12:35:00.000-07:00

Outside my window...
I really need to mow the lawn. Hubby usually mows, but he's been working & volunteering tons. I also need to pull weeds. None of this will be done today, as we have lots of work to do.

I am thinking...
I need to come up with some better ideas for lunch. I also need to do the dishes and put in something for dinner. Actually, I think I'll marinate some chicken to BBQ tonight, and make my crock pot night Thursday.
I am thankful...
For overtime and for coupons. I hate that gas prices are staying up when it looked like they were going to stay at a bearable level. Especially now that we drive a whole lot more then we used to! I used to be able to put in about $20 a week in gas, now I spent $50-$60.

From the learning rooms...(if this applies)
Multiplying and dividing (yes, still); adding numbers up to 40; counting to 8; following directions printed on the top of the page; doing what Mom says to do, now that you feel like doing; forces make things go; maps; the Constitution and why it's important.

In the kitchen...
You don't want to go in there, it's quite messy. There's also no forks in the silverware drawer. Someone should tell the maid she needs to get busy! I still have patty making on my to-do list, and I want to bake some cookies. That's a good incentive for cleaning the kitchen, cookies.
I am wearing...
Yoga pants and a warcraft tshirt. I have lots of cleaning to do, schoolwork to supervise, science projects to do, and I did a good 45 min of exercise this morning. I'll get dressed nice tomorrow.

I am creating...
I was going to buy tulle and make another skirt for Princess for dance class, but I don't have time for that. I need to sew up a few things of hers, and that should be done before I make projects.

I am going...
Crazy! No, I keep saying this week is busy, that week is busy....I've come to terms that we are just going to have very busy weeks until school ends. But I'm very glad to be busy and very glad the kids get all these opportunities.
I am wondering...
Why did I think it was funny to teach Doorbuster to go "Ma,Ma,Ma,Ma,Ma,Ma,Ma"?
I am reading...
The Shattering by Christine Golden (yes, still)

I am hoping...
That I get time to wash the car today.
I am looking forward to...
Thursday and Friday
I am hearing...
Phines and Ferb. Cute show.

Around the house...
We are starting to decorate for Halloween.

I am pondering...
The phone calls I need to make, what to do next for Science. If we should move the legos to the boys room or keep them in the playroom.
One of my favorite things...
Water bottles

A few plans for the rest of the week:
Work, work, work!

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...
I'll pass on the picture right now, as I need to get moving and get kids started on the next activity.

Super Saving Saturday-Yard Sale Finds!

2011-09-17T18:15:00.000-07:00

I am so pooped! My hands hurt I am so tired, and I am looking forward to bedtime.

I figured that since I needed to go to Walmart for some chicken (they sell boneless, skinless chicken breast for $1.88 normally which is a really good price) that we would go stop at some yard sales along the way. I know that Genius really needs some new pants for the colder weather, and so does Daredevil. I was hoping that I'd find some kids clothes but there wasn't anything! I just might have been too late. I did score something I had been looking for at a good price.

I found a bunk bed (with a bed and a futon) for $35. Everyone on craigslist was selling them from $50 on up. The boys room is small and the two futons took up the whole room. Now Princess has one futon, her mattress is on the top of the bunk bed, and the other futon pad is on here, and I have a futon frame in my garage. Maybe I will luck out and find another mattress for it. To get the bunkbed here, I loaded it onto the roof of my van all by myself, and unloaded it and set it up by myself. I even went to home depot and found replacement bolts for the ones that were missing. I'm pretty pleased with myself over that.

I also got Princess a new bike:

She has been riding Daredevil's old green bike, and we put a pink basket on it. It was really getting to be time for a bigger one, and time to learn to ride with no training wheels. This one is perfect and she has some room to grow. I paid $20, which was probably a little on the high side, but it was in really great shape (still has the tag on the front wheel).

Aside from my yardsale finds, I bought 15lbs of chicken breast and 2 loafs of bread. I have tons of ground beef (and it's $1.50 a lb on sale so I may buy a few more pounds so I don't cry when it's $2.50). I will probably buy some more beef too, once I figure out what's on sale. We are pretty well stocked up on sides, and we don't cook anything really fancy.

I do have a patty maker I am dying to try, but first I need to finish cleaning my house! I am too tired to do that right now.

Simple Daybook

2011-09-13T09:46:00.000-07:00

Outside my window...
It's sunny and going to be a beautiful day.

I am thinking...
About the debate on food stamps being used at restaurants that is going on over at The Common Room's blog. I think it should be restricted to people who don't have kitchens (the homeless), or the very disabled or very elderly. You can buy frozen TV dinners and frozen meals, that's plenty simple and easy as it is. Last time we ate Mcdonalds was 3 weeks ago. Eating out is way to expensive.

I am thankful...
For all the blogs out there that teach how to cook from scratch. I'm thankful for all the activities that the kid's school pays for. I'm thankful I can be home to teach my kids. I'm thankful for Doorbuster's "I lub you!"

From the learning rooms...(if this applies)
The difference between i,a and O; dividing by 4,5,6,7; counting and writing 1-5; learning letters, speed reading, rules and being helpful.

In the kitchen...
Pulled pork sandwiches in the crock pot, since I only have an hour between dance class and raid time, and hubby works late. Homemade rolls too! My rolls were turning out funny, and I found if I make them in the morning and roll them into balls and let them rise all day, they come out much better.

I am wearing...
Yoga pants and a tank top, until I do my "dancy-dance" (exercise), and then take a shower and get dressed. I'm running a smidge late in my schedule today.

I am creating...
Like I have time to create anything really creative right now! I'm going to create a neat house a little later, and create some clean laundry. I'm creating an "alt" on WoW so I have another toon to fill in raid spots when we are short people. It only took over a year to get to 85, because I hate leveling. Besides, I had to figure it out for when hubby gets his guy up there.

I am going...
All over Southern California it seems. In the next 7 days we have dance class, PE Class, Drum lessons, Awanas, babysitting two days, church, a doctor's appointment, and visiting friends. Whew!

I am wondering...
Someday, I'd like to have two washing machines and two dryers. Then I could do double the laundry at once. I am very happy with my one I have! I am also debating if it's worth it to keep WIC, as I only have Doorbuster on it, and I haven't used a single check this month and I have no idea when our next appointment is. Nobody drinks the milk, and no one eats the cereal they give. Hmm.

I am reading...
The Shattering by Christine Golden

I am hoping...
That we all stay sane tomorrow.

I am looking forward to...
Watching the kids in all their activities this week, visiting friends.

I am hearing...
Kids laughing and giggling behind me. Kids sniffling.

Around the house...
It's a bit messy around here, but everyone has been busy working on school stuff.

I am pondering...
My shopping list, and once the sale ads come, dinner for the next few weeks and what I want to stock up on. I also need to cut the massive stack of coupons I have before I go shopping next.

One of my favorite things...
Doorbuster now dances on command. You tell him to dance and he stands on his tip toes, puts his hands over his head, and turns in circles. It's the cutest thing ever.

A few plans for the rest of the week:
Don't ask.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

This is the corn that Genius helped plant, transplant, watch grow, harvest, husk, clean and cook. We had it with dinner last night, and it was the best corn ever. There was a lot of pride on his face!

Monday Menu

2011-09-12T09:36:00.000-07:00

This week marks the start of our OMG, we are busy busy week! We have dance class, music class, Awanas, and PE Class. So here's what we will be eating this week:

Monday:
Breakfast: Yogurt/Cereal/Toast
Lunch: Ham & Turkey Sandwhiches
Dinner: Sweet & Sour Chicken with Rice

Tuesday:
Breakfast: Yogurt/Cereal/Toast
Lunch: Leftovers/Sandwiches
Dinner: Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Veggies

Wednesday:
Breakfast: Waffles/Pancakes
Lunch: Pizza
Dinner: Sandwiches at the park/Dinner out for Mom & Dad

Thursday:
Breakfast: Yogurt/Cereal/Toast
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Carne Asada with Rice

Friday:
Breakfast: Waffles
Lunch: Sandwiches
Dinner: Meatloaf on Garlic Toast and mashed potatoes

(Saturday and Sunday I'll decide a little closer to then, depending what is on the sale ad this week)

Where Was I?

2011-09-11T12:06:00.000-07:00

I never thought when I woke up 10 years ago I'd be remembering exactly what I did 10 years later!

I woke up to my alarm, flipped back the covers, planted my feet on the ground and turned on the TV to Fox 11, just like I did every morning. Instead of the usual 2 newscasters talking about the usual assortment of new stories, there was a shot of the first tower with smoke billowing out of it. I remember sitting on the edge of the bed wondering what happened, when they explained a plane had hit the tower. At first I thought it must have been an accident, but when the 2nd plane hit it was very clear that it wasn't.

I debated with myself if I should keep my stepdaughter home from school and if I should stay home from school. I figured since whatever was happening was back east, that I might as well take her to school and I could always pick her back up if it was needed. Hubby headed to work, I dragged myself from the TV, and took Genius and I off to college (he went to class with me).

When I got to school (I was going to school for TV Production), hardly anyone was there, and we ended up going to the studio and watching the news on TV. The school radio station was broadcasting over the campus the NPR stuff, and we flagged down anyone who wanted to watch what was going on. Another one of the students (who worked as a flight attendant), had her daughter there with her. She didn't know that morning if she should send her to school or keep her with her. Eventually, we all headed home, as I believe they cancelled classes for the rest of the day.

I picked up my stepdaughter from school, and spent the rest of the day watching the news in disbelief over the amount of lives lost in one single attack. All these innocent people who just woke up and went to work like anyone does, and they changed the course of millions and billions of lives forever.

What will I teach my kids about this day? I'll teach them what happened, about evil in the world, about the heroes that ran into the building and lost their lives. I'll teach them about conspiracy theories, our government, and what freedom means. I'll teach them about the brave military forces that fight for the freedoms we enjoy, and how we must be watchful and prepared to protect our home. I'll teach them that every day is a gift, and to never miss an opportunity to tell someone you love them.

Maybe when the 20 year anniversary comes around, I'll have scratched the surface on everything that could be learned from 9/11. So much has happened in 10 years. Today we will pray for peace for those who have lost loved ones, and pray for the safety of all of our rescue workers.

4 moms, 35 kids- Hubby's Lunches

2011-09-08T23:30:00.000-07:00

This was a much needed link up over here, as my hubby has forgotten to bring his lunch the past few days. It's ok, I know he was very busy! My favorite lunches are over at The Common Room. They are so pretty! You can also check out the other Moms too- Life in a Shoe, Smockity Frocks and Raising Olives (which all make me feel good about being bit of a slacker on my hubby's lunches!).

My hubby doesn't like leftovers. He doesn't (sort of) like to eat the same food groups for lunch as for dinner (if you eat chicken at lunch, then there has to be anything but chicken for dinner). He doesn't like greasy food. It has to be a decent portion. He has a fridge, microwave and freezer at work, but no place to do more then rinse a dish. So after much trial and error, this is what he gets for lunch:

Boston Market Frozen Lunches/Dinners. They are about $3 at Target (a bit expensive) but he says they come in a good size and don't cook up too greasy. $3 sure beats out eating out (which runs $6-$15 each time). Sometimes he likes to take soup, or chilli. It's really rare that he will take anything that's leftovers!

If I made him pretty lunches he would probably think I was nuts. It would be fun though.

A Science Lesson

2011-09-08T17:10:00.000-07:00

Daredevil & Princess are learning about forces, friction and gravity. After powering balloon rockets along the strings, I let them loose to see what they could come up with. Genius joined us for this one.

And a variation on the strings- probably a little hard to see, but it's a Lego ski lift.

Wahhhhh!

2011-09-06T11:55:00.000-07:00

I am so, so glad that my hubby puts up with his old car, and not having fancy vacation, so that I can stay home with the kids. I don't think I could manage all the housework, school stuff, and activities while working or working from home. I know with my last job, there was no way I would have been able too! It is so worth it. To us, at least. I know there are lots of Moms who have to make choices to go to work. Working from home worked great for a long time, but it was work! It was double duty- watching the kids and attempting paperwork and phone calls.

We now have P.E. class for all once a week, dance once a week for Princess, Music lessons for Daredevil, Awanas (Genius does an extra class at home on the computer- so don't think he is left out), I watch 2 extra kids once a week, raid nights 2 times a week, church, we should join small groups so we meet more people, then monthly ES meetings, I like to do a monthly field trip, and all of the normal errands and schoolwork that must be done each day. I usually like to have 2 days that are stay home days, but it looks like that's going out the window really quickly. Plus, add in park days and visiting family and friends.

I guess if we aren't home, that's less to clean! Princess' first Dance class is today and I don't know who is more excited, me or her. She is asking to leave every 10 minutes, so today we are learning to read a clock.

Speaking of clocks, I use Google Calendar to text me for all the activities the day before and 15 minutes before I have to leave for the activity. It's also nice to use since my hubby can see the calender from his phone and wherever else he goes. We all update to the same calender, so it makes planning things really easy. You can also set it to email you your agenda for the day. Or, to remind you to put out the trashcans on Monday night. It's very helpful for us, and free!

Doorbuster Says......NO!

2011-09-01T10:05:00.000-07:00

Doorbuster is getting to be quite the echo. He can say:

Mama
Dada, Dad, Daddy,
Train, Track, Choo-Choo, Whoo-whoo, ding-ding
Hello, bye-bye, HI!
Drink, juice, cup, cheese
Car, Go, No, (NOOOOO!), Mmm-Hmm
Thank you, please
Shoes, Whereditgo? (complete with hand guestures), There IT IS!
(We loose shoes around here often, can you tell?)

We went to Walmart on Monday and you would of thought he owned the place. He was walking around telling everyone bye! and waving. It was really cute (although very time consuming). It was worth it though, he looked like he was having a blast! It's also nice to have some big helpers- Genius and Daredevil can now take things and price check them, or go a few isles over and bring stuff back. They even carry in the groceries.

Wordless Wednesday- 1st P.E. Class

2011-08-31T23:37:00.000-07:00

This & That

2011-08-28T23:10:00.000-07:00

All week I've been trying to come up with something to write, but never come up with a good post. This week flew by! Everyone is getting used to their routines and the amount of work they need to do. I've been adding a little more work each day to get into the swing of things. This week coming up adds in one activity- P.E. Class, and next week will add in dance for Princess and (hopefully) music for Daredevil. I think it worked out rather well in that regard.

Princess is going to be part happy and part confused over P.E. class. She likes to do schoolwork and she wants to do PE, but she wants to do them her way and in her time frame. I make both her and Daredevil do Lexia Learning for 30 minutes a day. Daredevil focuses well and works for his 30 min, as long as there is a timer set by him. Princess will beg and beg for her turn, and then do one lesson and stare into space. They both know that when they finish a level, they get a nice certificate to go on the brag wall (Daredevil has one!). Princess is just hoping hers will magically do itself I guess. I'm sure she will get used to it this week.

Genius is working on his game design still, and this semester actually has to complete a game. He comes up with some neat ideas, so it will be interesting to see what he comes up with. He has been really good at entertaining Doorbuster when I need to work with someone for awhile in the afternoon. I've been looking at some homeschooler's schedules online, and some families schedule blocks for one on the computer, one being taught by Mom, and one playing with the baby. Doorbuster has figured out that he is left out of school-time, so he gets really whiny sometimes. There are days when he is happy and colors or plays with his track, and there are days when he is Mr. Grumpy.

Every Sunday everyone goes to bed early and I plan my menus, lesson plans, trips, etc for the week. This way everything is organized and ready to go, and I don't have to spend time wondering what's for dinner. I already did that tonight! I've also been starting the habit of switching laundry after every meal to keep up with it. This weekend I got all the deep cleaning (aka removing dust from everything) done, along with wiping fingerprints off the walls. Next weekend comes carpet cleaning, and I may be brave one day and bleach the grout on the floors. Or not. That's quite a bit of work. It's been too hot to do much of anything outside!

Now that everything is planned, and I've written something here, I'm heading to bed. Poor Doorbuster fell off the couch and has a fat lower lip. I imagine the falling had something to do with him and Princess being a bit wild on the couch, then add in the recliner being out and a ton of blankets, and some misjudgment, and down he went. He has a big bruise under his lip where he bit it. There's also no more blankets allowed on the couch, and no one is allowed to open up the recliner. I'm sure they will find some other way to get hurt (or hurt each other), but one less thing in the way is one less thing I guess.

Goodnight!

Day 3...so Far, so Good!

2011-08-22T16:48:00.000-07:00

We've now been doing school for 3 days. So far everything is going well, and everyone is remembering to wait patiently or do something quietly while I help someone else. They've even been really great with only taking 5 minute breaks and not complaining too much. Daredevil even did an extra page without asking, and read 2 books to Doorbuster.

That's a milestone in itself, Daredevil is reading simple books. We have a set of I See Sam books, and I told him when he reads through all 23 of them without help (not at the same time), I will take him out for a milkshake at Chick-Fil-A, all by himself. We have a chart on the wall, and when he completes the book he colors in the fan. He likes seeing the progress the more he reads.

We save Science for the end of the day since it's the most fun to do, and also involves big messes. Genius even put on a show with a happy birthday playing circuit and a alien alarm. It was fun (and I LOVE the snap circuits set). When everyone was done with their work, I taught Genius how to make snow cones with the snow cone machine. I did not realize how tall he is getting. He will be as tall as me pretty soon, and I'm sure even taller then that.

We went to the train museum on Sunday for a few hours, and got to spend a good amount of time looking at the Middleton collection. If you go, you must ask someone to open it for you if it's not open. I love the old metal trains that are about a foot to a foot and a half long. They look so fun to play with! We also went to a Auto Show and IKEA. This week we are staying home and doing school work (aside from a possible park day), because next week we start being busy, busy, busy.

These pictures don't have much to do with schoolwork, but I feel like my blog post needs a picture or two or three. I was going to try for a trip to the CA Science museum, but we are going to the fair pretty soon, and that's enough of a trip for the month (especially since we are going twice). In science we are studying gravity, forces, and how plane's fly. I say "we" since it always ends up being a family thing anyways.

First Day of School

2011-08-18T12:09:00.000-07:00

She thinks she's a star.

Kindergarten

5th grade

2nd Grade

Pre-Pre-K

Working hard on YDACS, glad that the boring stuff is done.

Getting to bike ride after work is done.

Off he goes to cruise with Dad around the neighborhood.

What will I be working on this school year? Praise and Rewards. I set up an area to put up good work, drawings, and awards. I am armed with lots of good jobs, stickers, and other small treats for when work is done. Also- organizing work to be done, and done work. Oh, and our schoolroom needs a trash can and a clock, so this weekend I will fix that problem.

Simple Women's Daybook (Pre-School Starting)

2011-08-16T17:20:00.000-07:00

Outside my window...
The neighbors I don't particularly care for are moving, and the house next to them I love and it's for sale. And it has a pool. I so need to call a mortgage person to see if it's even a possibility.

I am thinking...
It's raid night tonight, my favorite night of the week. I got everything done I wanted to get done today, so my reward is very much earned.
I am thankful... For my loving and patient hubby, electricity, and kitchen appliances.

From the learning rooms...(if this applies)
School starts Thursday! Everyone is ready to start their work.

In the kitchen...
I am making homemade rolls, BBQ pulled pork in the crock pot, rice, and fruit. Yummm!

I am wearing...
A grey skirt (that has pockets), a peach colored shirt.

I am creating...
I got out the fabric and put it on my bed to make Princess a dress. I haven't cut, sewed or otherwise moved it, so maybe tomorrow. Walking to the store and letting Daredevil ride his bike kinda ate up that time. Oh well.

I am going...
Out to the other city to pick up our school curriculum. We'll maybe visit my Dad, and maybe go to lunch. Maybe the mall. Maybe to a museum. Who knows.

I am wondering...
Exactly how bad can next week go. It will be awesome! It will be the first full week of teaching 3. If we can get through the first week, the rest of the year will be easy.

I am reading...
Nothing at the moment. I'm being a bad example.

I am hoping...
For the watermelon and corn to keep growing! We have a watermelon about 2 inches long, and some 2 inch ears of corn.

I am looking forward to...
School starting, getting into a routine, watching the kids at their classes, and our fair trip.
I am hearing...
Kids building and playing with legos.

Around the house...
I cleaned out the refrigerator and pantry. In the fridge I found a can of playdoh, a lego table, a pink lego brick and a shelf bracket. I also learned the shelves of the fridge come out for easy cleaning....after I was done.

I am pondering...
Buying a few more chairs at IKEA, or maybe buying some little school desks. The chairs are probably the cheapest route.
One of my favorite things...
Watching Doorbuster and Princess play Just Dance:Kids. It's a great game.

A few plans for the rest of the week:
School, school, school, cleaning, playing, bike riding.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

Best way to hang out at the water park!

Blackjack Birthday

2011-08-13T23:25:00.000-07:00

Our little Daredevil was born on 8-13-03

He weighed 8lbs, 13oz

He was 21 inches long

8 + 13 = 21

His initials are BJ

Yes, he wore the same shirt on his birthday two years in a row.

I didn't notice until now.

He is our lucky charm.

And the only one who wins any money off the lotto scratchers.

Happy Birthday to YOU!

Our BIG 8 year old boy!

While I'm At It...

2011-08-12T10:16:00.000-07:00

I was sharing this on the Stroller Swap Yahoo Group and figured I'd stick it on my blog too. This is my 2008 Uppababy Vista with a Lascal BuggyBoard. I love this stroller, and the buggyboard is really handy. I'm 5'3 and occasionally I will kick the board, but that's only if I am not paying attention. My kiddo always tries to sit on the board instead of standing out it.

I've used this stroller so much it's almost time to order a new set of rear wheels for it. I LOVE this stroller and the buggy board too.

I also cheat and sometimes let Princess sit on the front bar of the stroller, because sending my stroller to uppababy for the frame tweaking and buying the 2nd toddler seat is expensive. Princess is too heavy for the toddler seat, and she would be way, way to comfortable in the big seat. I'd have to spend all my time lifting her in and out, and at 4, that's not going to happen. It would be a nice option to have, but this works for now.

I was not paid nor compensated for this post, or for the stroller. Just sharing what I like.

How Does Our Garden Grow?

2011-08-11T13:05:00.000-07:00

Well, so far we've managed to grow a nice crop of grasshoppers.

Our corn is taller then the kids, so maybe we will get some corn husks soon?

Here is our watermelon plant, no watermelons yet, but some flowers (and weeds, I'm not a patient weed puller)!

Word-Full Wednesday

2011-08-10T09:50:00.000-07:00

Now that the schoolroom is clean and Princess has books on her shelf, she asks every day, repeatedly, if it's time for school yet. She'll ask every 10 minutes until I show her the day on the calender and how many days are left. I'm just ready to get started and get into a routine for school. Getting Princess to do her work the way she is supposed to do it, when she is supposed to, is going to be a pain. She really wants to play school with herself, she doesn't want to do it the way it needs to be done. I have a feeling Kindergarten will be more learning to follow directions, and learning to work quietly. I like kindergartners, but I don't think that is a grade I could ever teach.

Daredevil turns 8 on Saturday. When you ask him what he wants for his birthday, he says he wants to go shopping at the dollar store. It's not so much the stuff, it's going and picking a bunch of things. He doesn't quite get the quality over quantity yet, but he's getting there. I explained that I spend the same amount on each of them for their birthdays, so if they wanted 2 Wii games, or 22 things from the dollar store, or a few legos, they had to think about what they asked for. We've also been working on being thankful for what we have and what we are given (like when he got a $3 gift card from toys r us in the mail, and he said he didn't want it, he wanted a $4 one). I know he'll get it soon.

We went to the water park with my Niece on Monday, which was lots of fun! All the kids got to play and run (and so did all of us adults). I found out they have an annual pass to a few of the regional parks for $35 a person for the year, so I'm going to find a way to put that in my budget. We go almost every week, so it would pay for itself really quick. School seems to have started by us, so hopefully the other water park we go too will be a lot less crowded.

I'm trying to be better about exercising every single day, since I saw a picture of myself at the water park and was not too happy! I don't want to look good for "having four kids". I know if I got motivated and kept at it, the pounds will fall off. The hard part is eating a little less, but my hubby cooks such good food it's hard not to eat tons of it. Like his carne asada, and the apple wood smoked chicken. YUM. I've also been raiding almost every night in the evenings (it's progression time, which takes some work), so I've been forcing myself to do an extra 15 minutes of exercise for every hour I raid. I can't wait until the weather cools down a bit, then Genius and I are going to start walking and jogging in the evenings. He has to do the presidential fitness test this year, and I'd like him to feel comfortable at walking and jogging the mile.

My kitchen is currently screaming for attention, I need to straighten up the backyard while it's not a million degrees outside, and my stockpile is overflowing, along with the laundry baskets. I think I broke a finger, but I probably strained/jammed/something to it, so yesterday I didn't do more then load the dishwasher. My finger feels much better, so I've got to get three days worth of housework done today. It's not too much stuff to do, I'm just trying to organize and sort things out a little bit so I don't have as much to do when school gets underway. I also have coupons to cut, and I need to check and see if there are any deals I need to shop before Sunday.

Our Schoolroom!

2011-08-08T10:25:00.000-07:00

My hubby was so nice and took the kids off to visit relatives so I could clean! I wish I would of been enjoying some relaxing time to myself, but it sure saved my sanity to get everything cleaned and done! I spent close to 6 hours cleaning, dusting, moving things, and picking up the lego bin that fell over. I also found all of the missing pencil sharpeners, most of the math counting cubes, and a ton of pens and pencils in the lego bins.

Here is is looking in from the doorway. The computers on the right used to be right next to each other, but it was causing a lot of "stop looking at me" fights, so I rearranged so there was room between them. I know it wont make the fighting go away entirely, but I hope it helps. If it really came down to it, I could probably make some PVC pipe partitions.

All the way to the left we have bookshelves and legos. Each kiddo has their own shelf with their workbooks, discs, etc. They each have their own pencil box, and there are two boxes full of extra supplies. I stack all the extra stuff on the top shelves that they don't need to be playing with. The white bins are all legos.

Back towards the door we have a table for doing work (or to separate kids out). I was kinda undecided on leaving the table there since that is the path from the house to the garage (and the washing machine), but it gives way more space to the room.

And that's our classroom for the year! NASA has lots of posters you can order from them for free, and Dollar Tree has a lot of posters and school stuff for $1.

Looking Forward to School Starting!

2011-08-07T23:54:00.000-07:00

Things have been quiet around here while I finalized all the curriculum we will be using this year. I actually managed to get everything ordered the first day the funds were released. Aside from planning the next school year, we've been soaking up the warm weather.

We'll still visit our favorite hang outs once school starts, but it's nice to enjoy without worrying about getting work done. The kids are ready for all the other kids to go back to school so it wont be so crowded! I agree with them, it stinks when unattended children are running around with no manners.

I planned out the whole school year. Go me! The kids helped give input on what they'd like to learn for the next few months. Here is what we will be using:

Reading: Genius will be using Reading Plus, Vocabulary in Action, and Voyages in Reading. Daredevil and Princess will be using Lexia Learning and I See Sam books, along with writing and penmanship.

Math: I almost, almost went with Math-U-See, until I showed the kids the video sample. That wasn't going to fly around here. So we went with Singapore Math. Funny thing is- I had a math workbook I really liked for Daredevil, and I went to check who it was by. It was a Singapore Math book! I got a good laugh out of that one.

Science: Science was a hard pick for me. I really, really love the Science in a Nutshell Kits, but the included activity book is too hard for Daredevil to write on, and Genius would rather learn other things. I finally came up with a solution- Genius will continue working on circuits (I bought snap circuits and the book that goes with it), and the younger two will do Science in a Nutshell. I picked Science in a Nutshell kits that worked with two sets of Let's Read and Find Out Science books, since we have a few of those books here and Daredevil loves them. So the two younger's can do the activities with me reading and assisting, and we can read the books to learn the why's of the experiments. I think that works as a good middle ground, as I wanted a book to go with the kit.

History: I took the simple choice here and did the McGraw-Hill history for each grade. Genius will learn about the USA, Daredevil will do whatever 2nd graders do, and Princess will do the 1st grade stuff, since we still have the book from last year. Genius and Daredevil did best with the read the book, answer the questions and be done History, so we are going to stick with that. There wasn't any other History that was like that.

PE: We are going with EMH sports, since that was who we used last year, and they are awesome. At $20 a month for classes, that all 3 go to at the same time, you just can't beat it. I also loved not having to fill out PE logs, or worry about what they were learning. It's done and taken care of! As a bonus, it even works out that we can do PE class, and then head to park day afterwards. That cuts down on the trips we make!

Life Skills: Each of them picked an extra "fun" activity to do. Genius will be taking two classes in YDACS, Daredevil will be taking karate (once we figure out the specifics), and Princess will be taking Ballet/Tap. I'll be working on keeping everyone occupied during all these classes. At least when it's cooler we can always watch movies in the car.

We will also be taking field trips to the LA County Fair (even though we didn't enter any contests this year), the California Science Center, the Raymond Alf Paleontology Museum, the Western Science Center, the LA Natural History Museum, the Griffith Observatory and hopefully Sea World when they have their homeschool day.

I think they will be very busy once school starts up! I just can't wait for the field trips, I love going places.

Things Sure Change in 11 years!

2011-08-01T08:23:00.000-07:00

Friday we celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary. It's been an interesting 11 years! We've most certainly gone through better & worse, and we've been richer, poor, sick, well and everything in between.

We got married back in the dark ages, when you got your wedding pictures printed out, and people were just starting to use digital cameras. We had disposable cameras with film at the tables. This digital camera used 3.5 floppy disks. Things sure change in 11 years.

In 11 years, the two bridesmaids are both married (my maid of honor with 5 kids now), the best man is married, and the groomsman has fathered the cutest Niece ever. The two little flower girls aren't so little anymore. They've turned into beautiful teenagers. Don't tell them, but I still see them as these two little girls. Things sure change in 11 years.

We had a luau theme wedding reception. We aren't stuffy people, and a pool party was perfect for us. The ladies in the picture above are my Great Aunt (the avocado farmer), my Grandma, my Mom, and my Great Aunt. My Grandma & Great Aunt on the right are no longer with us. Things sure change in 11 years.

My hubby still drives this car. It now has all 4 hubcaps, and a new engine, and plenty of scratches from kids & their scooters. When hubby and I were dating, I drove his car to go get lunch. On the way back, I hit a bump and spilled some soda on the cupholder/center thing. I didn't want to get his new car dirty, so I tried to grab a napkin or two to wipe it up. Instead, I hit the tire on the curb, popped the tire and lost a hubcap. He still married me, what a guy.

We've been fruitful and multiplied.

We've moved a lot.

Changed a lot.

We spent our anniversary taking Princess to the dentist, buying woodchips for the BBQ, playing at the Bass Pro Shop, meeting a friend for lunch, and hubby then got called into work for a drug bust or something. We spent the rest of the weekend laying around the house, BBQing, mowing the lawn, and riding bikes. Just us. No work, no people knocking on the door complaining about their toilets, and it was absolutely perfect.

Things sure change in 11 years!

Back To (Home) School

2011-07-25T22:43:00.000-07:00

It seems like July just started and now it's almost over. Thanks to my dear sister on Facebook, I am now informed that August 1st comes Monday. There's no denying it now, August is staring me right in the face, teasing that school will be starting in T minus 24 days. Slightly earlier then that comes- curriculum ordering.

I'll have $2400 worth of school funds to spend. Then when December comes, I'll have another $2400 more to spend. No, don't come to my house asking for it, it all stays with the school. We are lucky to have such a wonderful charter school, and I am thrilled to be able to pick exactly what the kids need for their learning styles.

There's just one problem. I have no idea of what to get. Well, I have reading planned out, both Princess and Daredevil will do Lexia Learning for reading/phonics. Genius will continue with Reading Plus and Voyages in English. So there, that's one subject down. I'm still on the fence about Saxon Math. I have no idea what they will be using for Science and History. Some curriculum is too simple, and some are too complicated. I like Science in a Nutshell, but Genius needs more detail.

The kids want to take PE again, which I was on the fence about, but I think I'll sign them up again. Gas didn't go above $4 a gallon and stay there, so it is doable again. Princess wants to take dance class, and I found a studio in our city. Daredevil mentioned Karate, and I think we can fit that in, since there is a place in our city for it. At least when things are within a few miles, it's not as big of a deal. It's when it's a 30 min trip both ways that we run into problems.

But before we plan all the fun stuff, I still have to figure out what will be done for Science and History. And Math. In 24 days. Genius will be a 5th grader, Daredevil in 2nd, and Princess in K. Plus, I am on the Parent Council for the next 2 years.

There are days when I feel like I just started down the homeschool road, and days when I think I am an old pro. This will be our 6th year of homeschooling. I still can't believe that we have all stuck through it. We haven't had anyone run off to the public school yet, so something must be going right.

I'll just have to have a parent-teacher conference with myself and plan out the next school year in the next week or two.

Birthday Countdown!

2011-07-23T09:00:00.000-07:00

Zero!

One!

Two!

Three!

Four!!!!

And here comes....

FIVE!!

Happy Birthday!

Giggles

2011-07-22T22:47:00.000-07:00

I was looking through pictures to pick some for Princess's birthday post. I came across these picture that sum up her birth perfectly. I didn't remember seeing these, but when I did, I laughed. I sure got a giggle out of them.

Me. Pregnant & laboring.

There's a baby, and off we go!

Princess was born in the same hospital that Octomom had her babies (a few years later). They aren't very modern there- you were screened in one room, labored in another, delivered in a third, recovered in a fourth, and then had a fifth room until you went home. I was convinced from the start that I was going to have her in the labor room. The labor room was a wall, a foot and a half, the bed, and another foot and a half, then the wall. There was a tiny bathroom about the size of a closet. I asked the nurse if anyone had delivered in the labor room and she told me it didn't happen very often. Needless to say, the Doctor didn't listen and I had that baby (just about grabbed by my hubby), in the labor room. They rushed us to delivery to weigh her (I thought they had the wrong weight- 6lbs, 6oz). Then off to recovery. Princess is also the only baby that my Mom missed her birth, by about an hour. She was also my smallest baby, and the only girl.

4 moms, 35 kids- Lunchtime!

2011-07-21T13:05:00.000-07:00

Share your lunch ideas and get more from Smockity Frocks, The Common Room, Life in a Shoe, & Raising Olives!

For lunch around here we have a few things we like to rotate around:

1) French Fries- not the healthiest, but sooo yummy! We fry them up, and sometimes eat them with cheese. I like cajun seasoning on mine. Sometimes we put season salt on them too.

2) Rice & Chicken- I make rice in the rice cooker, and add some frozen chicken (I usually get the orange frozen chicken) into the top tray. It cooks the chicken and the rice through at the same time. I also do rice and frozen veggies too.

3) Sandwiches. PB & J, or on the special occasion, ham or turkey- I'm working on the kids to be specific on if they want ham or turkey- they call them both ham, but get mad when I make them a real ham sandwich, because they wanted turkey.

4) Hot dogs- Again, not the healthiest, but it's quick and easy on the grill.

5) Hamburgers- I buy frozen patties and grill them. Usually with fries.

6) Fruit- They pig out on fruit and don't ask for lunch. Yum!

7) Pizza from Little Caesars- $5 for a medium, $10 to feed everyone, and I didn't have to cook for anyone. Frozen pizzas are around $4 for a decent one, for the extra $1 it gives me a break from cooking!

8) Soup- only when it's cold. It's too hot for soup right now.

9)Grilled cheese sandwiches- We have a grilled cheese maker so the older kids can do this on their own.

10) Leftovers from dinner- Usually I eat these.

11) Chicken or cheese Quesadillas- Yum! Especially with some leftover grilled chicken from the night before!

Hopefully some of these ideas are helpful! I use Money Saving Mom's menu planners to plan out 2 weeks of food at a time, since they give you space for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I plan out the month roughly with the name of what meat will be served, then figure out the specifics later. I'm looking forward to finding more lunch ideas!

Busy, Busy

2011-07-21T12:16:00.000-07:00

Summer is quickly coming to an end for us. School starts relatively soon- August 18th! July has flown by so fast, I know August is going to go by even faster. This Saturday is Princess' birthday, then comes hubby's and Daredevil's. Then school.

So we are trying to fit in some fun (not like we don't do the same fun during the year, but at least there's no schoolwork to be done). We've been to the beach, we've been to the park, we've been to the waterpark.

Finding a park with enough swings is quite the challenge!

First beach trip of 2011

Princess is still confused over going to school. There are a lot of schools in our community that we drive by on a daily basis. She still thinks she is going to one of those places. No matter how many times we go over and over that she is doing the same school as her brothers, she still thinks she's going somewhere. I know if I did send her, she'd be disappointed that she can't talk all day there. Since seriously, she talks non stop all day. She can't wait to take dance class and do schoolwork.

I'm just trying to figure out how on earth I am going to get her to stop talking and follow directions enough that I can still teach the other two. Genius is pretty independent, but he still needs help and explanations. Daredevil needs his own post for his difficulties. Oh, and Doorbuster spends most of his time expressing his displeasure at weaning. Especially in this heat!

Now I must go and clean and feed the masses something. And forget about school for the next week or two.

Well, We Did It!

2011-07-16T19:35:00.000-07:00

We finally had our yard sale. It only took a few months to do. Finally I had enough of my garage being a huge storage shed and decided that today was the day. We were going to sort stuff the day before, and then put it out the next day. Upon further discussion, that just seemed like a waste of time, so we woke up early and just organized it in the morning. I priced everything at $.25, and only marked the things that were more. It was really quick and easy. We made about $100. I was just happy that it wasn't 100 degrees outside, and I didn't have to make lunch.

While we were outside, we got the garage rearranged, swept, and reorganized so everything is on one side, and you can actually park a car on the other side. It hasn't been that way for a loooong time! Now maybe I can get hubby to fix my parent-proof van door. For some reason (well, we closed it partway on something) only the inside handle works. The outside handle to open the door doesn't work. You have to open the passenger door, reach around and open the van door. You try doing that and not hitting the car next to you, while holding a baby. It's really hard. We park far away so I have room when we get back to the car for my door gymnastics. On the bright side, it opens, so I can live with it.

I meant to take a picture of our yard sale, but I forgot. I also went to the midnight Harry Potter showing the night before. When you add that to waking up at 5:30am for a yard sale, your brain starts to get a little fuzzy. Yesterday I tried to take a nap, but all I did was sleep very lightly and dream some crazy dreams. It was not restful and really make me groggy. It just stunk! Then I had to return the Potter movie I rented, and the machine was broken. I had to drive to another machine, then went to Target, and they had their summer stuff on clearance (YAY!). I got a picnic market basket, and a picnic blanket. That made my day a little better, I guess.

I'm very much looking forward to a shower and some sleep tonight!

Simple Daybook

2011-07-12T08:50:00.000-07:00

AKA- Simple Thoughts From My Simple Head

(hahaha)

Outside my window...
Is someone's car that I haven't seen before parked in front of my house like they are visiting. But I don't have anyone over, and now I'm rather ticked that they are parked in front of my house and blocking my mailbox. Usually if someone blocks the mailbox, I wont get my mail. Today is the day that I get all the ads to plan my grocery trips, and I don't know who's car it is to get them to move.

I am thinking...
That I'm going to have to mail my netflix movie back at the post office instead of my mailbox, because I don't know if that car will be gone or not. I also think it's funny that I am aggravated over my mail. It's usually just ads, bills or Netflix.

I am thankful... That my wonderful hubby braved the heat and mowed the lawn. It looks so neat and pretty. I'm thankful he finished making dinner last night, and let the kids eat outside. I'm thankful for nice, clean floors.

From the learning rooms...(if this applies)
School's out for the summer! But the corn & watermelon are growing, and we will hopefully get some fruit.

In the kitchen...
The kids have requested cinnamon rolls. I need to do the dreaded pull out the appliances and clean the sides and behind them, but I think it's too hot for that. It's been too hot to cook and too hot to eat. I'm very thankful for the crock pot and the BBQ.

I am wearing...
Right now, my pajamas. When I'm done with this, my bathing suit and a cover up, probably. We are heading to the splash park (was going to be for breakfast, but I think it's too gloomy). We will probably go for lunch.

I am creating...
I'm inspired by other people's blogs/facebooks where they have beautifully decorated homes. Most of them put a little time and a little money and have beautiful rooms. I think I'm going to pick a room and get around to finishing up the little pretty things. Other then that, it's new expansion time for WoW, so I'm working on dailies, dailies, gear, and points. It's something I really enjoy and is a nice break from wiping hand prints off everything.

I am going...
To the splash park, to the new Harry Potter Movie Midnight showing, maybe to another water park to visit friends. I'd also like to take the kids to LA to the Science Center again. I want to sit and watch the fish swim. Oh, we will probably also make another trip to the train museum too.

I am wondering...
What days I should plan all the trips on, and why people feel the urge to do back to school stuff already. It's too early!! Time for me to stock up on a year or two of crayons.

I am reading...
I just finished reading a Lee Child book, and the book Deja Dead. I need to go to the library and get a library card. Or go back to the $1 book store. Probably the library.

I am hoping...
To actually have a yard sale this weekend. I'm leaning towards putting the stuff on the lawn and marking everything a quarter.

I am looking forward to...
The park, Potter, Raid Tonight, Cinnamon Rolls, & planning a date with my hubby for our 11th anniversary.

I am hearing...
Toy Story 3, the clank of wooden blocks, the ding of silverware, and metal somethings. Hmm.

Around the house...
I stayed up until midnight mopping floors. It's the only way to get all the stuff swept up and then mopped really well, without everyone walking on it repeatedly. No one can stay out of the kitchen for more then 30 seconds, and no one can stay in one room for more then 60 seconds. Yesterday someone (Doorbuster) kept finding cups and dumping water on the floor, until someone would track the water (or slip on it), and the floor looked awful. Oh, and the chocolate donuts that looked like someone pooped by the front door. I guess that's the best spot to enjoy your breakfast.

I am pondering...
That I should really go sweep up the back patio, organize the toys and weed the watermelon while it's nice outside.

One of my favorite things...
Princess singing I'm a Barbie Girl, while playing with her Barbies. It's neat that she just started actually playing Barbies. Usually they just lay around. Yesterday they all got married and went on a trip.

A few plans for the rest of the week:
Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning, sorting, sorting, sorting, laundry, laundry, laundry, water-park, water-park, water park. Trains, maybe,

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

More Simple Daybooks can be found here- http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

Super Saving Saturday- Goodbye for now, Rite Aid!

2011-07-09T15:32:00.000-07:00

After looking over the sales from last week and this week for Rite Aid, I decided to use up all my +Up rewards and take a break from Rite Aid. I still have CVS Extra Care bucks that I will be rolling, and I'll still be couponing, but Rite Aid is looking to be less and less worth my time lately. I had $14.99 in +UP rewards that Expired today, so I used them to purchase things I usually don't end up getting for free.

Paper Towels- 2/$10, must buy 2 for sale price ($10)
3 purex at $1.97 each (they had none of the Zout kind that I have Q's for).
Total $17.16 (if I remember right), paid $14.99 in +UPs, paid the remainder in cash.

I almost expected some sort of final music to play- a funeral tune, or maybe a Game over song from Mario Bros, but no. The cashier threw the receipt at me and hurried off to another register. Thanks for the send off!

I also bought 15 lbs of frozen french fries for $2.89 a bag. I walked to the store to buy these and walked back, and it's really hot, so I filled up the fridge with my fries. I like to have these on hand to go with hamburgers, sloppy joe's, etc.

This was all free thanks to the WIC program. Your tax dollars at work!

(Pretend there is a picture here)

I also went to Costco and bought Ground Beef Hamburger Patties (6lbs/18 patties for $14), 24 Hamburger Rolls for $2.50, Tyson Breaded Chicken Patties (29 in a pack) for $12.97, and Strawberry Lemonaide Drink Mix (It's the best, and makes a lot of gallons!) or $6.67. It was $38.something when I checked out. Not bad for 2 weeks worth of lunch and quick dinner ideas.

I can't wait to actually do some couponing at Target later this week! I may also be doing a giveaway in the next week, I just have to decide what I am going to give away. Maybe a gift card? Coupons? Who knows!

Cow Appreciation Day!

2011-07-09T08:23:00.000-07:00

Oh the things we do for some free food! Thanks to Chick-Fil-A, we got to eat our favorite lunch for free. We joke that this will be our Christmas card each year.

Not to sure about the cow- Doorbuster kept a close eye on him.

Boy's side

Girl's side

I guess I'll wear spots if I get my own cup!

Not too happy about the cow thing.

The Tatums!

Dress Like a Cow Day is Tomorrow!

2011-07-07T10:54:00.000-07:00

Free food is great, free Chick-fil-A is awesome!

We will be using the same idea that we did last year- shelf paper! It's easy, and sticky, and about $3 for a roll that did all 6 of us.

Big thanks to Manager Ryan for taking our picture!

We don't own a lot of white clothing, but we do have lots of black, so we went with black with white spots. A big sticker worked for covering up the picture on the front of Daredevil's shirt, but that was just me being picky. The youngest two wore brown with white spots, since that's what they had.

Have fun dressing like a cow!

The Free Gum That Wasn't Really Free

2011-07-06T09:05:00.000-07:00

I hate Gum. Chewing gum is evil. I hate the smacking, I hate it when I have to clean gum out of the washing machine, I hate it when it's on my shoe, I hate it when it gets on the kid's shoes and they track it everywhere, I hate it when there are gum wrappers everywhere but the trash can, and I hate it when I find gum on the floor inside my house. It's my nemesis. I do not buy gum. Since my stepdaughter hasn't lived with us, and hubby knows my hate of gum, we've been a gum free household for many many years.

Until I started couponing and I got some gum for free. I couldn't pass it up, and since it was free I figured there was no harm in buying some. I hate chewing gum when it runs out of flavor, so I chew it for a bit, and then wrap it in tissue and toss it. Most of the gum I sent with hubby to work. It was just a few packs. Except for one pack that I left ontop of my dresser.

Princess has a kiddie partial- a row of fake teeth that are cemented to her back teeth. On Friday night she came to me crying with her teeth in her hand. "My teeth fell ooooouttt." On a holiday weekend too- great! I felt sorry for her that they fell out. Until later that night I went to her room. What did I spy?

Gum wrappers all. over. her. floor. And the plastic outer wrapper stuck behind the bed.

She's been told repeatedly she can't have gum or anything sticky because it will make her teeth fall out. The older boys have spacers and they understand this very clearly. But Princess apparently figured Mom was just being MEAN and didn't want to share. So she stole the gum off the dresser, chewed it, had her teeth come out, and then blamed it on Doorbuster to boot. Ohhh was she in trouble. Big trouble. Not to mention she had no teeth for the weekend, and a stomach ache from all the gum she ate. I didn't find any gum spit out, so she must of ate half the package.

I am going back to my not buying gum, not even if it's free rule. If there is no sticky stuff in the house, then it's much easier to keep it from a certain child. Same certain child isn't allowed in Mom and Dad's room at all, because I know what's coming next- stealing makeup, or getting into my sewing stuff.

So the free gum is costing us a trip to the dentist. X-rays too, before they re-cement it in at the tune of $65.00. Not my idea of a fun afternoon, and unfortunately, I have little sympathy for Princess. She's had them fall out before, and she knows the fun that goes with putting them back in. Oh well. At least now if you offer her a piece of gum, she will tell you NO very firmly. Hopefully the point has gotten across.

And I will not be buying any gum, no matter how free it is.

Mom, Can I take a pickturk?

2011-06-29T09:22:00.000-07:00

Some more of Princess's photography- then I must get to what I'm supposed to be doing, cleaning. I am having 10 people over tomorrow for lunch and the assorted chaos that happens before and after. The funny thing about the 10 people, that's just two families. 7 kids and 3 adults. Isn't it great! The weather will be nice enough for the kids to play outside in the sprinklers and with squirt guns.

A picture of a picture. Interesting

If Dad needs a picture of the BBQ, Mom needs one of the vacuum.

A hairbow, with a hair.

Self portrait, again. For Spacebook!

You make a better door than a window

Awww

Summer= books +sandals + grass

A Tours of...My Stockpile

2011-06-27T13:04:00.000-07:00

One of the new cool things about being a couponer is having a huge stockpile. Some people have stores in their homes, some have a extra closet with some things in it. You wont end up with a huge stockpile overnight, but little by little things add up. I started out with one shelf, then two, then three, and now I have stuff stuck all over.

No, you can't come over and shop my stockpile. The stuff may have been free or very cheap, but it did cost me my time in cutting, planning, shopping, and printing. It was well worth it though. Sometimes I do share, when I have extras. :)

I think this is supposed to be a linen closet. I don't like clutter, and I think it's silly to have a closet full of linens. Everybody has sheets for their beds, and a spare set in the closet. This held board games for awhile, but it got taken over.

This is the top cupboard. The top has shampoo, conditioner, body wash, air freshener, and tons of toothpaste. The second shelf holds pads, liners, razors, body was, lotion, sunblock, diaper rash cream, veet, lotion, and probably more toothpaste. The bottom shelf holds baby bath, baby shampoo, baby bath, kandoo wipes, deodorant, heat pads, and on the side a basket of toothbrushes/toothpaste, and a basket that was once just makeup and fingernail clippers, and now it holds a bunch of medicine too. If I lined everything up all pretty, it wouldn't fit.

I started to run out of room on the top, so stuff on the bottom is being moved. Well, tossed, since it isn't stuff I need anyways. This cupboard needs a baby lock on it before I put much more in here.

You wanted to know how much stuff was in the basket right? The other basket I don't dare move, as the stuff will fall over.

Yeah, so not moving it. We do not have a lack of fingernail clippers in this house! I got the baskets at the $1 store, I will probably get two more and move some stuff around.

This is the top of Princess's closet, where I toss the diapers I am not using. The pampers box holds a munch of individual bags of diapers, and (not pictured) is some little swimmers stacked up too. Along with some magic cards, and Keith Sluder pictures. If you want some pictures, I'm your (wo)man. I also keep the diapers and wipes I am using, plus an extra pack, on a shelf by my bed in my room. That's where I change most of the diapers.

I also try to keep an extra bottle or two of what I use under my sink. It stinks when you realize you are out of shampoo or soap and have to run out into the hallway. I also cram all the toilet paper under the bathroom sinks.

Food doesn't last long around here, but it's all crammed into the pantry cupboard. The whole top pantry section is all spaghetti noodles & ziplock bags. The very bottoms is filled with boxes of cereal. I stack bread on top of the fridge until we are using it. I tell my hubby that I want a kitchen with a big long row of cupboards someday. Someday soon, as we will have 2 teenage boys that eat a lot before we know it.

So that is the beginnings of my stockpile.

Menu Plan Monday

2011-06-27T08:51:00.000-07:00

For this weeks menu we will be having:

Breakfasts:
waffles (freezer cooking)
scrambled eggs
cereal
toast

Lunches:
Pizza
Sandwiches & Fruit
Grilled Cheese & Fruit
Hamburgers & Fries
Hotdogs & Fries

Dinners:
BBQ Chicken & veggies
Spaghetti (Going to try making my own french bread)
Tacos & Rice
Shepherd's Pie
Chicken Tacos
Teriyaki Chicken and Rice
BBQ Pork Chops & Veggies

I link up over at Organizing Junkie! Head on over to get more menu ideas.

Ka-boom!

2011-06-26T09:09:00.000-07:00

So yesterday was one very interesting day. I was planning on cleaning the house so that Sunday we could bug bomb it. In the summertime our neighborhood seems to collect a lot of (disgusting) bugs. We'd been having a pincher bug problem too. Hubby swears the bugs are hiding somewhere, and we need to find where they are getting in from. Our house is in good condition- it's not like it's old and falling apart. And I keep it really clean. So bugs drive me bonkers. We bombed the house a year ago, and I think it just needed to be done again.

So I started some laundry, put two kids in the tub. I switched the wet stuff in the dryer (we had been to the water park, and swimming, so I had lots of dirty towels and swimsuits). I went to pick up the towels by the back door (Our house is all tile, and when you add in wet feet from playing outside, you get wet dirty slippery floors) and when I moved it to wad it up, there were maggots. From the kids leaving the door open and flies getting in (and not killing them), I guess under that towel was the only spot they could find. Gross.

So I threw out the towels. Not for the life of me was I washing them! Hubby swept up the maggots, while I watched the kids in the tub. Then the power went out. Then it came back on for a second. Then it went off again. I took the kids out of the tub and looked for a towel. Nope. None on the back of the door, none under the cabinet. So I grabbed the two towels in my bathroom and got them dried and dressed. We still had no power, and now we heard fire trucks. Not just one, 2 engines, a ladder truck, and a battalion chief, going up our street.

The kids were flipping out over the power being out (it'd been out for about 30 minutes by now). "The power's out! Mom need to buy more batteries. We're never going to have any power. Can't you turn it back on?" They are flying around the house like the world ended. Oh, and add in the favorite "What are we doing today? What are we doing tomorrow? MOM! What are we DOING today!?" Times 3. I kept telling them I didn't know. So we went outside and looked at the neighbors and looked at the firetrucks. At least there was no smoke.

So we decided to go to Walmart and out to lunch. At least it kept the kids from going crazy, and me from going crazy with all their questions. I don't mind questions, and answering them, it's when they ask the same ones over and over and are either a) not listening or b) hoping for a different answer. We bought bug bombs and two doormats. After a Walmart trip that ended with 3 unhappy children who were not behaving (like Daredevil being told not to touch the stuff on the shelves, and he kept doing it, and then standing on the wheels of the stroller while leaning against shelves of stuff). We went home to, no power. No power, and a bunch of electric trucks. That did not look promising!

Luckily, my electric bill came in the mail that day, so I called the emergency outage number. They estimated the power would be back on at 12:15 AM. It was about 3:00. There was no way I'd stay sane with all the question asking and panicking my kids were doing. Genius understood what was going on and was fine. Daredevil and Princess were a tag team of annoyance. "There's nothing to dooooo. What are we doing to doooo, What are you dooooing?" Hubby and I decided to bug bomb the house since we were going to go out someplace anyways.

So we emptied the cabinets, bagged up the food, and got the house ready to be bombed in about 30 minutes. All to the tune of- "Since we have no power, we're blowing up the house. Bye, Bye House." I promise, I tried many, many times to explain we were not bombing the house, it was just to kill the bugs. My kids get so dramatic sometimes. I can't imagine who they get that from.

We took a drive to the mall. Not the close by mall, the far away mall. Hubby and I got new shoes (It's so hard to pass up a buy one get one 50% off sale, when you are already buying one). Doorbuster walked holding his Daddy's hand all around the mall and he looked so proud and happy he was walking with the big kids. We ate dinner (there goes the eating out budget, but it was worth my sanity), then headed home. We stopped at the 99 cent store to buy flashlights just in case. Well, I figured if I bought them, the power would be home when we got there (no such luck). We needed flashlights for our earth quake kit anyways.

So we get home to a pitch black neighborhood, lit up with lots of flashing lights from all the electric trucks parked down the street. Princess is hysterical that it's dark, her stomach hurts, she wants to sleep with Dad, she's scared, it's awful, etc. etc. She acted like the flashlight I gave her was poison. It's 9:00. It's bedtime, and the house is open and airing out. The boys had a grand time playing flashlight tag, making shadow puppets, and hide and seek. Finally Princess went and played too. After the house finished airing out, we sent everyone in and to bed.

Once everyone was in there beds, the power came back on. YAY. Luckily all the food stayed cold, and nothing (aside from a underground transformer and the side of a neighbors garage) blew up. I still have most of my sanity too.

Super Saving Saturday- Ka-BOOOM! Edition

2011-06-25T22:45:00.000-07:00

So today was interesting. First, I put the two younger kids in the tub while I was cleaning the bathroom. I took some towels to toss into the washing machine, when I figured I'd throw in the towels by the screen door to the backyard.

I picked it up, and there were maggots in the towel. Ewwwwww. Triple Ewww. Threw out the towels, hubby sweeps up maggots while I Ewww some more.

Then comes the awful sound of the power going out, then quiet. So I get the kids out of the tub and realize, there's no towels. They are all in the dryer being dried, or the washer. I plan ahead so well, don't I? I remember I had 2 towels left hanging in my bathroom, so they used them.

So 12 hours later, the power is on! Yay! I'll tell the rest of the no-power tale tomorrow after I have taken a shower and gotten some sleep. On with my savings!

I went to Rite Aid and bought more toothpaste (I was paid to bring it home with coupons), some gum, and some heartburn medicine. Total OOP was $1.95. I didn't take a picture.

Then to CVS, where they were out of the free with ECb stuff. I ended up with two toothbrushes and some Pantine Pro V shampoo and conditioner.

I also went to a new (new to us) store- DD's Discounts. I found some good deals on clothes for Princess. For $30, Princess got 3 shirts, 1 shorts, 1 leggings and Daredevil got a pair of shorts. They had a few short/shirt outfits for $4.99, for us is a really good deal. Better then Goodwill prices.

I also went to Walmart and price matched all the good stuff out of the ads- 6lbs of bananas at 3 lbs for $.99, Strawberries at $.89 a lb, and soda at $4.99 a 24 pack. We went through 6 lbs of bananas and 5 lbs of strawberries in a day. Today we went to Walmart and bought a new outside rug ($10), a inside rug ($7) for the back door, a door weather strip for the bottom of the garage door ($5), and some water balloons. It was a odd feeling to go through Walmart without any coupons.

So that was it for my Sunday. I've now got to see how our food are doing after being in the fridge/freezer with no electricity for 12 hours.

Princess's Photography

2011-06-23T22:44:00.000-07:00

Princess asked for the camera and said she had some pictures to take. Well, pickturks as she says. Here's what I found on the camera:

She was taking this picture to put on "spacebook" for Grandma

Trains everywhere

Schoolroom wall

She was very proud over this one. She took it just for Dad.

This is Ugly Baby. She has a ton of new pretty babies, but she likes Ugly Baby.

I have no idea how she got this red

5 Minutes for Mom Interview

2011-06-21T18:35:00.000-07:00

I'm listed over at 5 minutes for Mom! You can check out my interview by clicking on the link above. (Good luck finding 5 minutes to read my interview! I've gotten interrupted a dozen times just writing this).

Princess is convinced Santa is coming tomorrow, she needs to make gifts for people, and she has lots of letters to write.

Mommy Said No

Can't Write

Echo, Echo

30 years of FUN

MIA- In the Trenches

4 Moms, 35 kids- Clothes, Clothes, Clothes

One Week

Simple Daybook 1/10

My Hubby is Awesome!

Walmart Trip- Price Match + Coupons are awesome!

Getting the New Year off to a Good Start

Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012!

Christmas Recap

Full

Priceless

At Least I'm Not....

Boys Will Be Boys

This, That & The Weekend

More Pictures from Princess

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas...

Practicing for Her Future Facebook

Fossils

Terrifically Two

Monkey Pizza Bread

Coupons, Diapers, and Full Price *Gasp!*

Around Here...

Thrift Store Treasure Hunting

Rice-capades

10 Goals for the Week

I'm Back!!!

Nano-Bugs

MKWW- 22 Things I Have Done

Mom needs 5 minutes

4 Moms, 35 Kids- Trying Not to Pass Out Over the Total at the Grocery Store

Endeavour LA

Fire Department Open House

Steve Jobs, Computers, & How Quickly Things Change

13 days to the Shake Out!

Simple Daybook 10/4

Menu Plan Monday

My Rite Aid Trip- 10/2

October Already!

More Science

21 Days to the Shake Out!

Wordless Wednesday

The Fair!

It Never Fails...

Simple Daybook 9/20

Super Saving Saturday-Yard Sale Finds!

Simple Daybook

Monday Menu

Where Was I?

4 moms, 35 kids- Hubby's Lunches

A Science Lesson

Wahhhhh!

Doorbuster Says......NO!

Wordless Wednesday- 1st P.E. Class

This & That

Day 3...so Far, so Good!

First Day of School

Simple Women's Daybook (Pre-School Starting)

Blackjack Birthday

While I'm At It...

How Does Our Garden Grow?

Word-Full Wednesday

Our Schoolroom!

Looking Forward to School Starting!

Things Sure Change in 11 years!

Back To (Home) School

Birthday Countdown!

Giggles

4 moms, 35 kids- Lunchtime!

Busy, Busy

Well, We Did It!

Simple Daybook

Super Saving Saturday- Goodbye for now, Rite Aid!

Cow Appreciation Day!

Dress Like a Cow Day is Tomorrow!

The Free Gum That Wasn't Really Free

Mom, Can I take a pickturk?

Coupons, Diapers, and Full Price Gasp!