Snow Mud Day

Today was a beautiful day! Finally saw lots of sunshine after a mostly dreary and cold and windy week. After a morning in church, playing basketball at the YMCA, and catching a movie (Big Miracle) we came home for some Sunday relaxation. The kids decided to go outside and play - and their choice of outfits made me laugh! Shorts, rainboots, stocking cap and baseball cap. But heck, they had fun!

Batman and Hearts

I got a day away today to sew with my quilting friends. I left the house at 8:30 and didn't return home until 3:45. I got quite a bit accomplished, too, and had a good time chatting with all my quilting friends. James stayed home most of the day with the kids, but then had to take them all to a birthday party in the afternoon. Quite an accomplishment for him, since he hates crowds and especially hates going into social situations where he doesn't know anyone. But the party was a great success, and the kids got their faces painted. Austin chose not to have his done, but of course Gretchen and Daniel did.

My little ballerina

Gretchen has been taking another ballet class at the YMCA during February, and she loves it! She's more focused this year than last, so she has actually remembered the moves and positions. I think this might be something she is going to want to stick with for a while!

My new hairdo

Happy Leap Day! Did you do something fun to celebrate this rare holiday?

I got my hair colored red today. It was time to hide the nasty gray hairs that kept sprouting up overnight! A hairdresser from church was offering half off reds this month, so I took advantage of it. And she did a fabulous job. I can't believe how long my hair is getting. I'm liking the long locks lately!

Our new little chicks

The chicks arrived at Big R last week, and I decided to let the kids each have two brand new baby chicks. They were only 3 days old when we bought them, and now they are a little over a week old. They each got a yellow chick, which will turn red, and a black chick. Right now they are living in my craft room, keeping warm under swing arm lamps and my space heater. They are doing well, and since the weather is getting better, they will be able to move outdoors when they reach about 6 weeks old, hopefully sooner!

Little House in the Woods

It snowed again, and it coated our property in the prettiest snow. I took advantage of the setting sun tonight and took some pictures outside. I loved how this one turned out - our nice warm house nestled in the snow surrounded by trees. Home sweet home!

It's Santa Time!

For the first year ever, Gretchen likes Santa! She has been excited to see Santa, and at three different places, sat on Santa's lap and talked to him. It's so fun to see her finally get over her fear of Santa. I of course didn't have my camera with me to capture her first successful visit with Santa, but I did get photos of the second two Santas.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We spent the day at my Mom and Dad's for Thanksgiving. Very small affair - just them, our 5, and my sister and her daughter. It was a nice afternoon, and except for the pumpkin pie, it was full of yummy food! We had a lot to be thankful for - the previous weekend my dad had been in the hospital having two more stents placed in his heart after having some very high blood pressure and pains on Thursday night. So we were all extremely thankful to have him there at the table with us.

I hope that you found lots to be grateful for this Thanksgiving. I know God has truly blessed my life with gifts beyond measure!

Beautiful Eyes

The challenge on I Heart Faces this week is Beautiful Eyes. I had a few different photos that I wanted to enter, but I finally chose this one of Gretchen. We had gone camping one weekend this summer, and in a little town near our camping area they were having a festival. We drove in for it, and I found a great little fairy headband for her that perfectly matched her shirt. I took this photo as we sat to have some lunch along the river. I love her beautiful blue eyes, and the sparkle in them when she smiles!

Please click on photo to see it larger.



See more photos of beautiful eyes at I Heart Faces.

Happy Birthday Dad/Grandpa!

We celebrated Dad's birthday today. The kids painted a birdhouse village for him, and it turned out really cute! Dad loved it.

Water Play

We have not done as much water play this year as last year. The weather has not been cooperative for us! But we did find a nice little wading pool in our new town. It's in the main city park, and is right next to the big pool. But this one is perfect for the kids to just get wet - at the most, it goes up to their knees. The kids were very excited to discover it recently.

Daniel

Austin

Gretchen

My three musketeers!

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July from our family to yours! Here is how we celebrated the day.

Coppery Beetles

Uncle Chet helped the boys find a bunch of these coppery beetles on the bushes around our property. They came back from their little nature walk just covered in them - and giggling the whole time 'cause the beetles were tickling them and pooping on their hands! It was a little on the gross side for me - eww! They wanted to come into the house with them, and I told them not a chance in, well, you know! But, boys being boys, they thought the whole bug thing was pretty darn cool! Gretchen thought they were neat too - but from a distance, and not on her hands. Smart girl!

Sports Camp - Final Day

The kids just complete two weeks of Sports Camp, where they got to learn the basics of basketball, flag football, soccer and t-ball. They had a great time, and made some new friends. And surprisingly, Gretchen did good too, but did really well when I left the field for a while. If I stayed to watch, she just kept running over to me to sit and cuddle. But if I left to go run a few errands, she stayed in the mix of it all with the boys and the coach and did well. They all got new shirts and hats, and had a great time! Here is a pic of all the kids and coaches on the final day.

Farm Chicks Antique Show

I am a huge fan of the Farm Chicks. I went to a couple of their sales when they used to do them in Fairfield, and I loved them! But since they moved their show to the fairground, I haven't been able to attend - something always gets in the way of me going. But this year, I was bound and determined to go. After attending my Relay For Life event all day Friday, overnight, and into Saturday morning, I headed out to the fairgrounds. Holy buckets - there were a ton of people there - it was amazing. By the time I got through all the bays of beautiful booths - say that three times fast! - my poor brain was on overload. It was already mush going into the show, after getting only three hours of sleep on Friday night - or really Saturday morning, since I didn't go to bed until 3:30, and was up at 6:30. But after seeing all the fabulous ideas and items, I was really done for. I did manage to snap a few photos, and I did buy a few things, but mostly I got ideas of how to use what I already own. Now, to just get busy and remember all the ideas!

I will try to load up some of the photos later.

Last Day of Preschool

Today Daniel and Gretchen had their last day of preschool, and each of their classes celebrated at different parks, of course. Luckily, it's Friday, and James has the day off, so James took Daniel to his picnic and I took Gretchen to hers. It was Daniel's very last day of preschool - he gets to start kindergarten in the fall. So he got a great little diploma to bring home.



Gretchen still has one more year of preschool, and we already have her signed up for the same one, hopefully with the same teacher. She gave Mrs. Sue a little writing journal as a thank you.

Three New Heartbeats

Today we went to Spokane Family Farm to get three bunnies to add to our little piece of heaven. I had met these bunnies the previous week when my MOPS table went to the farm for a tour. They stole my heart, and since I had told the kids we would eventually get them each a bunny, I thought it was a perfect fit.

They are only 8 weeks old, so we are still not 100% sure which ones are girls and which ones are boys. But I have a friend who will help me get that figured out in a couple of weeks. And then we will separate them as needed!

Camo, Hoppity and Rosy - our new bunnies

Austin with Camo


Daniel with Hoppity

Gretchen with Rosy

A Soldier's Quilt

I belong to a quilt group, which I love, and one of our most recent projects has been a soldier's quilt. One of our members has a nephew who is deploying for his third overseas mission at the end of May. One of his wishes was for a warm quilt for his bunk. As a surprise to him, our group got together to make a patriotic quilt long enough for his tall stature. We had 20 different people work on this quilt in one way or another - piecing blocks, cutting sashing strips, sewing, machine quilting, binding, etc. I don't have a photo of the finished product yet, but here is a photo of all of our blocks laid out, ready to be stitched into rows.

Today's Albertson's Deal

I was very happy when I left my Albertson's store today. I saved 88% on my bill today! Woo Hoo! Here is what I got - and I only paid $5.41 for it all.
Transaction #1
2 Tropicana Orange Juice on sale for 2/$5
less 2/$1 off coupons (I got a batch from ebay, but they were in a Sunday coupon insert)
less 2/Albertson's doublers
Eggs - Free wyb juice
Transaction #2
Stovetop - on sale for 99 cents each x 5
less coupon for one free when you buy 4
Crackerfuls - on sale for 1.99 each
less 3/$1 off coupons (I got these off ebay, but there was one in today's Sunday coupon inserts)
less 2/Albertson's doublers
= 3 cents back from store - yes, they paid me to walk out with these!
Idahoan Potatoes - 49 cents each - bought them as fillers to get the reduced price on stovetop and Crackerfuls

Not bad for all this good stuff that we actually will use! I would have done more transactions, but James was waiting in the car with the kids, and everyone was getting tired! Perhaps tomorrow I'll go back to see what other good deals I can find!

One of the Coupon Posse gals told me about getting coupons from Ebay. I ordered two sets so far - Tropicana and Crackerfuls - and got them both in the mail two days after I paid for them. I was able to use them in plenty of time for the specials at Albertsons. From now on, when I get the Albertson's flyer, the first thing I'll do is see what is super special that I can find coupons for on e-bay!

Oh, I wish I were....

...an Oscar Mayer Wiener!

Guess what we found today - the Wiener-Mobile! We were in the drive-thru line at Jack in the Box, and saw it go down the road past us. After we got our Jr. Bacon Cheeseburgers and Fries - yummy! - we took off to try and find out where it had stopped. It was in the parking lot of the University. We parked nearby, and took some fun photos. The kids thought it was hilarious! And then I told them how their Uncle Nick made a replica of it when he was in Royal Rangers. I wonder if he still has that car?