A New Pet

This morning the girls found a worm out back and decided they wanted to keep it for a pet. I gave them a plastic container then forgot all about it. Next thing I know, I'm hearing little squeals coming from outside...no one wanted to pick up the worm to put it into its new habitat (cracked me up). Brenna ran into, then out of the house. She must have grabbed something to pick up the worm with, because she came back into the house a minute later, proudly showing off their pet worm. It was a short lived excitement, though--the poor worm's celebrity lasted less than 5 minutes before he was dumped back into the "wild".

Girls Day Out

Last week I looked at the calendar and saw that my daughter had written "Disneyland" in Friday's square. With a question mark in my head, I went about my business. Then I saw it on the table-the school calendar, and it clicked. I had told Kaitlyn and Brenna that when summer was over, and they had a minimum day, I would take them to Disneyland. Kaitlyn had done her own research and scheduled the event for us. She was helping me keep my word.

So, it started out as a Disneyland trip with Kaitlyn, Brenna and myself. Then I remembered I don't have parking on my pass, so I invited Rose, my mil, to come. Tori took half a day off work to come too, and with that many adults there was no reason Larissa couldn't come . So our girls day out was born.

My girls were great -no complaining, and the lines were short. That, combined, made for a fun day. Here are a few pics:

It was Brenna and Kaitlyn's first trip to Toon Town. They had a blast!

Checking out Mickey's House.

When the fish started going up, her face had a look of pleasant surprise, and she let out an "ohhh!"

We ended the day with dinner and a carousel ride at California Adventure. I would have been better off without that ride, but the girls enjoyed it.
More fun memories made.

School Days

I sent my kids off to their first day of school with a sense of giddy delight. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids, and love spending time with them, but the thought of running errands with only two kiddos was heavenly. And, oh, it has been so much quieter with the two at school. It's amazing how the volume multiplies with each person present.

Kaitlyn was excited for school to start too. She had gone to summer school (that was great for her confidence), and within a couple days of it ending, wished it was time for the regular school year to start. "I love school," she said. As do I.

Post cards with the kids assigned teachers, arrived the week before school started. Kaitlyn checked the mail daily, and when they finally came, she ran into the house waving them in the air. She read the post cards herself, and when she saw who her teacher is exclaimed, "Yea! Ms. Norwood!" "So you like Ms. Norwood," I stated. "No." she said matter of factly, "I don't know who she is." She had complete faith that whoever Ms. Norwood is, she would be awesome.

Here they are, holding up their fingers to signify which grade they starting.



When I picked the girls up after school, they were all chatter about school. They both informed me that their teachers are old. I laughed silently to myself. "Old" has a wide range of years to kids, and I couldn't wait until open house to see how "old" they really are. As it turns out, they were right. Ms. Norwood has been teaching 47 years and Mrs. Allen looks like she's been teaching about as long.

See that bag hanging from Brenna's backpack? For the first time, they had to bring their own supplies to school. It was a heavy load for a little girl. There was so much stuff, it wouldn't all fit in her bag.

Kaitlyn's bag is huge, so she was able to fit everything inside. She has informed me that she has the best teacher ever. "She lets us take off our shoes!"

Card Club

I've been bringing home some mighty cute cards from card club lately. Take a look at my collection from August's get together:

Summer made this really cute fancy fold card. Loving the soft filter look it has? That's courtesy of little fingerprints on the lens.

Chere made this sweet spinner card. The folded flower rolls along that oval cut out, revealing "happy birthday" underneath.

Jen made this buckle card. That striped paper at the bottom is "buckled" into the oval cutout. You pull the paper out to open the card. Clever.

This was my card. It's a spinner too. Looking at the picture now, I realize I didn't get the zoom tag in straight. I added it after the fact, and was having difficulty getting enough adhesive up to fit the tag in. I think it turned out cute. I'm thinking of making more for Cards for Heros, an organization that sends letters to soldiers as well as homemade cards for the soldiers to send home.

Brenna's frogilicious birthday

Brenna had a great birthday. Like her sisters, she went to Disneyland with her aunt Tori. The next week we had birthday cake at grandma and grandpa's house. She received,among other things, all kinds of frog presents, and she had an adorable Tinkerbell cake.

Here are her answers to her interview questions:

What instrument do you want to learn to play? The recorder and the trumpet
What do you want to be when you grow up? a pool monitor or a musician
How many kids do you want to have? None, because I'd have to clean up after them (maybe Frank and I need to share our joy in parenthood more)
If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be? Idaho, because they make french fries there. Or Florida, because that's where Disney world is. Or Washington, because they grow yummy apples. Is it obvious she's learning about the US right now? She finally settled on Florida though...Disneyland beat out apples and french fries.
What's your Favorite...
Food? Spaghetti
Color? Green (lime green)
Thing to do? Swimming
TV show? Imagination Movers
Animal? Frog

"If you won't feed me, I'll feed myself"

Kaleb is a take charge kind of boy. If he wants something, he'll find a way to get it. Look at some of his recent finds...

Shouldn't have left my dessert lying around. See that look of pure delight? I feel the same way when I eat a piece of good chocolate.


uh-oh. Someone's been caught!
Kaleb's learned how to climb. Now almost everything is accessible to him. Look how much damage he did before I found him. That cake was supposedly made with the same recipe Loma Linda market uses for their chocolate prune cake. Don't think so! Ended up more like a heavy (really heavy) brownie than a moist fluffy cake. Frosting was good though.


Kids aren't supposed to have peanut butter until they are what? two or three? Guess he can't wait

He's so happy about the food he finds and messes he makes. It's hard to be upset...although the peanut butter thing happened twice in a row, and it got old fast. Mommy's a slow learner sometimes.

Adventures in Couponing

I've been browsing on couponing blogs lately. Some people seem horribly fanatical, and all of you who know me, know that's not me. BUT, I can definitely appreciate a good deal and I decided it was time to get my feet wet in the world of couponing.

My MIL gave me her Sunday papers (Thank you Rose!) and I went to work. Today was my test run. I decided to head to CVS and Albertson's since they are in the same shopping center. I left at 9:30am, giving me enough time to get the shopping done before Kaleb's nap time. Unfortunately, I didn't consider Kaleb's extra early waking time this morning, and shortly after we got to the first store he started getting cranky. We also ended up with a few runs to the bathroom for Larissa. Maybe I should have ended my trip then and there, but I had set out to do something, and I wasn't leaving without getting it done--and I did, eventually.

With all of it behind me now, I consider my first adventure in couponing a success. I bought items we normally use or would use if it weren't so expensive. The retail value of the items was $112.78. I paid $75.89 out of pocket--NOT a big savings, right? But with the mail in rebate and store "cash" coupons, my total came out to $36.90 or a two-thirds savings. If not for the distraction of a cranky boy, I might have remembered the other $10 in coupons in my wallet and I would have ended up with a 75% savings.

I'll definitely try this again. And, I've been assured, that as my stock pile of coupons accumulates, I'll save even more.