It's not everyday that Spiderman turns three

I am here to tell you that my third birthday was my favorite. Not that I remember it but judging by how much fun our kids have turning three it must have been a riot. Nathan, aka Spiderman, was the happiest boy alive this last Saturday. He proudly rang in his third birthday with Spiderman everything, pizza and macaroni and cheese per his request, bubbly juice (our term for sparkling cider), a mound of presents, a killer Spiderman cake that I did not make, and a boat load of sugar. He asked me today if it was still his birthday. Tough lesson to learn, that birthdays come but once a year. Have no fear though, it was a memorable one. I think I love the kids' birthdays as much as they do. The sheer delight of having a whole day to honor only you is perfectly perfect. We love you so much Nathan and are thankful for everyday we get to be your mommy and daddy. Happy Birthday little man!

Sunday, after Nathan's birthday, we had a "surprise" party for my sister KayLynn. "Surprise" because she totally knew what was going on but we all pretended like she didn't. KayLynn didn't turn three but made 27 look fun nonetheless. Have I mentioned before how much I love my family??

p.s. Yes, there are an obscene number of pictures.

p.p.s. I hate to label pictures. Hopefully they are self explanatory.






























Are your retinas bleeding yet?

I've got moves you've never seen

The Joneses sure know how to rock it. Prepare to be amazed.

A new way to shop

I haven't been mentioning my latest obsession because quite frankly, I can't imagine people really care. Today however my coupon shopping has taken me to a level that is just too good to pass up.



Using a combination of manufacturer coupons, doubler coupons that Albertsons puts out occasionally, and a promotion Albertsons was having (buy $10 worth of participating products and get $3.00 off automatically) I bought everything you see above for $2.49. Go ahead, take a second look. I DID buy two extra newspapers for the extra coupons in it so you can add $1.00 to that total. Still, the hot dogs alone were $4.00 full price. I figure $3.49 is still a respectable total. My total savings was $75.92.

I have seen posts like this before and thought, sure, that's great, but how do you feed a family on BBQ sauce and pudding? The more you do it though the more you realize you are just stock piling things for future meals. Pudding goes in a fruit salad I make. BBQ sauce for pulled pork and chicken. Thousand Island Salad dressing for our favorite taco salad. Boca burgers and hot dogs because it's summer! (With those two things I figure I can feed our family for around $2.00 for the meal. Not per person, the whole meal.) That way next time we have a hankering to BBQ I already have everything, it was ridiculously cheap, and there is no last minute grocery shopping to be done.

Coupons have changed the way I shop. They have halved out grocery bill and I'm getting way more stuff. You pay with your time but I figure as a stay at home mom it's a way I can financially contribute to our family. Plus, it's fun and addicting!

p.s. If you want to get information about local deals, go to www.frugalchicliving.blogspot.com. This is a Liberty Lake gal with three little boys who will do about 90% of the leg work for you. She is my new personal hero. I also have her button on my side bar.

You ought to know that while I am dedicating a post to heart warming images of heart warming children, in real life I have locked all three of them behind the upstairs baby gate because they are driving me batty. Just keepin' it real baby.

Making memories on Memorial Day

First of all, I would like to say that not only did we fly a flag this Memorial Day weekend, I even attempted to teach the kids the Pledge of Allegiance. Then we saw a bald eagle fly by, rang the Liberty Bell, and ate apple pie.

The rest of the weekend was fabulous conglomeration of staying at a gorgeous lake "cabin" with our friends the Gledhills (thanks again you guys!), soaking up fabulous weather, hanging out with friends of Greg's from high school, pruning the tree that was threatening to kill Greg during each mow, and a great bbq with Doug and Marian. We had a FANTASTIC weekend, start to finish. Thanks to all our awesome friends and family that make our lives so darn marvelous.

p.s. Greg and I plotted the whole way home from Priest Lake how to get ourselves one of those cabins. Lance, is your family willing to adopt us? It was wonderful spending time with you guys and we would be willing to inherit that place if no one else is interested. :-)

A Thursday fairy tale

Aubrey and Nathan decided to get married today. They were both dressed to the nines, Aubrey in her Halloween bride outfit and Nathan in his best tutu. I performed the ceremony and they even sealed it with a kiss. Aubrey immediately told Nathan that now they needed to have "lots of childwen." Aubrey said she was having two girls, Sally and Jelina Jones. Nathan said he was having two boys, Junior and Five. Then they have their first fight as a married couple and Aubrey said that his boys couldn't live with her girls. Then Nathan cried and said he was, "SO MAD AT YOU!" Then it was nap time. And they lived happily ever after.

Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?

Welcome to your pictorial guide on how to build raised garden beds.

Two key things to note before you look at these pictures. One, my mom did a lot of work, she just also took all the pictures so you don't see the evidence.

Two, I spent most of garden making morning with Nathan at the doc, tending to him while he was diagnosed with double ear infections and pneumonia. That counts, right? (And, since you all know I can't resist an opportunity to brag, I also broke up all the sod the day before. So there.)

If you need any fresh veggies this summer hopefully our place will be the place to be.

Mother's Day, part Deux

This year is a Mother's Day for learning lessons.

Mother's Day weekend got off to an auspicious start. Our little Nathan who has been sick with the rest of the kids, really had taken a downward turn the last few days. I took him into the doc yesterday and he was diagnosed with double ear infections and pneumonia. We were nearly admitted to the hospital but escaped to home with antibiotics and a nebulizer.

As we were leaving the doctor said, "Oh, I'm sorry, sick kids on Mother's Day! That won't be much of a break."

At the risk of sounding ridiculously corny, my first thought at that comment was, well, that is what being a mother is about. I am so grateful to be a mom and if I have to spend my Mother's Day mothering then I'll be happy to do it. (With a Starbucks in hand and promises of a bubble bath at some point.) That is after all what the day is about.

Second lesson. I know there are a lot of complaints out our health care system, but we in America are still blessed. In two hours time Nathan was seen by an educated doctor in a clean office, given Motrin, a nebulizer treatment, and two shots of antibiotics. We were then sent to the hospital where he had a chest x-ray with modern equipment and the results were called back to me before I got home. I then went to a pharmacy two minutes from my house and all the meds he needed were there on the shelves and in my hands in about five minutes. Need I say more?

Third second lesson is that family, good family, is of immeasurable worth. My parents were in town to help us put in a vegetable garden and while I was running Nathan all over creation my parents were here helping Greg. The three of them watched the other two kids and managed to put up the frames for the gardens and fill them with yards of dirt carried via wheel barrows. Then Greg's parents showed up with a fully assembled new bbq for us for Greg's birthday and we all feasted on meat. The day ended with two new raised garden beds, a new BBQ, Nathan on meds and under the watchful eye of six loving adults and one doting sister, and full bellies. WITH SICK KIDS! It was noting short of miraculous. THANK YOU FOR FAMILY.

Are you tired of my preaching? Well, sometimes we just need to be reminded of all the awesome blessings we have. I know I need that reminder and I have felt it all weekend long.

Mother's Day

To all you moms, soon to be moms, and praying to be moms. HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! Have a great weekend celebrating and insist on pampering. I know I intend to invoke the "But it's Mother's Day!" mantra all weekend long.

An interpreter is needed on aisle five

Do you speak snivle, snivve, wail, snort? If so, you're hired.

Aubrey has started a most maddening night time habit. (Note to new parents. There are many ways older children can continue to torture you in the middle of the night even after infancy. Sorry to blow the surprise.)

It begins when she wakes up crying. Greg or I go in, full of parental compassion. Are you sick? Did you have a bad dream? Are you hurt? Do you need to pee? She responds by making unitelligible gasping and choking sounds. Compassion continues. Honey, what is wrong? Do you need a snuggle? More wailing, gasping, punctuated by snorting efforts to breathe through a heavily plugged nose. She resists hugs and makes no sound that resembles anything in the English language. Snort, wail, gasp, cry, moan, eh eh eh eh eh, waaaaaaahhhhhhh. It's enough to make a saint swear.

This tends to go on until we have to take her out of the room because she's causing such a ruckus, or Greg or I lose our temper. Seriously. I hate it that we lose our cool but this little scene goes on forEVER with her providing no information, no calming down, and resisting all efforts of consolation. It is MADDENING I TELL YOU!

I used to think she wasn't awake but I've ditched that idea. She will occasionally once she has calmed down say something about what we said at the beginning of the ordeal. She remembers these episodes in the morning although can never provide any information about why she was hysterical. "I don't know mommy. Can I have more Cheerios?"

This just happened, thus spawning this blog post. I managed to get her to say, between the most finger nails on a blackboard nasal snorts you have ever heard, that she might be hot, no wait, cold, and that she was trying to get out of the way. Right. When I tried to clarify if she was hot or cold while I put her back to bed she would only grunt in response and then re-freaked out because I didn't properly smooth her quilt and her blue blankie was put on her fuzzy side down instead of silky. My parting words were, after praying that God would grant us both PEACE, "Aubrey, mommy has to leave now because she's going insane."

Serenity now!