Long time -- no write :(

Wow--

Has it really been a month since I wrote a post?

I guess I have a new admiration for those bloggers that update daily.

We have gone on a Williamsburg vacation, had a missions conference, and I am trying to keep up with life. (Including homeschooling, Awana sections, picking up deals at Happy Harry's (Walgreen's), and my five different ministries. I really want to paint the bathroom downstairs too.

Oh oh oh I must organize my "to do list" there is too much on it and I need to prioritize.
Don't remind me that Christmas is less than 2 months away!!

Ok- I will put up a few pictures to show you our great trip. We want to make this trip a yearly event.

We have never used the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel before. What a great experience. It was like a field trip when we stopped at the rest stop in the middle. My batteries died after this shot. I missed the picture of the guy who caught a shark out on the pier. It was about 3 - 4 feet long.

Since I am still learning about posting the pictures here, I will finish up now. I need to learn how to turn my pictures. I don't want you to get a sore neck trying to look at the sideways pictures. I promise to return sooner than a month.

Wreck at Dover

Did you see Timothy's favorite driver that we waited for two hours to see? Obviously he didn't win that race.

But 6 days later he did win in Kansas.

What a turn around!

Crazy things we do for our kids :)

The race will be in Dover this weekend.

Yes-- most people stay away from Dover on race weekend. Not us---we've got boys. They love to go around looking for the free simulators and car displays. Me? I look for the deals. I got some great coupons when we saw the Kleenex car back in June. (I totally scored on 3 four-packs of Scott tissue for less than a dollar each- I stacked the coupons with the Walgreen ones on a deal in August. Yeah, I know, back to the race)

We went to Home Depot to see Joey Logano-- yesterday.

Last week, when we were on the hunt for a new grill, we saw the advertisement. TWA immediately went into plan mode. Over heard from the back of the van, " if we get up at 3 in the morning, and start our school work early... we could get in line early."

No, no one got up at 3am. They did get up at 6-- started early and finished early.(I love motivation:)) We had WAVE(our homeschool co-op classes) until 3:30. We then headed up to Home Depot. Yes, I had no idea what it would be like. I was not prepared like some of the seasoned "line waiters" (I have never done any "Black Friday" waiting or "free Chick-Fil-A for a year" waiting.) We quickly got in line and a worker gave us our wristbands. Only the first 700 that got the wristbands could see him and get autographs. We were 49, 50, 51, and 52.
We waited about 2 hours- we filled the time with making a little Home Depot race car, getting the kids picture taken in front of the replica race car, and I went into HD to look around and shop. Around 6pm they let the first 50 people in a fire escape door- the kind man did let A and I go in with the first 50. Joey was not there yet. About 5 minutes later he finally arrived with a few other men. I didn't know which one he was, at first. He is a young driver-- born in 1990!! He was kind to everyone, signed lots of autographs, and we took a picture too.Confession about the pictures-- I quickly grabbed my camera before we left the house. When we were in line, it occurred to me that I could not remember the last time I changed the batteries. I decided to wait until we took a picture with Joey before I took anymore-- nothing is worse than the camera going blank at an important moment. So after we saw him we went back out to the crowd that was still waiting to take pictures of the line.

Free food

We love to get free food.

So, today the boys all put on their NFL jerseys and went and got some free Chick-Fil-A. Daddy was happy to spend $1.85 for a lunch out with the boys. I sat this one out, since I was working on a project. (It was a day off from school for me too ;)

We love to eat at CFA---- but even better FREE Chick-Fil-A!!! Mmmmm!!! Last year we also did the "Get a free chicken sandwich when you wear a football logo on Labor Day" event. Even better is the "Dress like a Cow" event they have each July. We humbled outselves so that we could score some free combo meals.

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I also signed up Chris for a free birthday meal from Lone Star. This is the best birthday promotion for adults (you must be 18 or older to participate). I got one last year for my bday-- a free $15.00 meal. You can go sign up for it here.

Our abundance

A bit of history---

Our first vegetable garden in this home was 2 summers ago. We had a small traditional row garden. It was a lovely weedpatch with a salad mix of small tomatoes, green pepper and squash plants. We only harvested tomatoes-- not an over abundance-- and very late in the season-- I think I got my first tomato around the end of August. I continued my habit of buying local produce from little roadside stands.


Last year we started to experiment with our squarefoot garden. I read about the lack of weeds and was immediately drawn to try it. We had a 4foot by 4foot square. My garden was fickle. It was a slow wait as each tomato turned red and each one was savored. I had 4 tomato plants- 2 with large tomatoes and 2 with grape size tomatoes. Our cucmbers never produced a single cucumber. We had a few green peppers, a few egg plants. We also had very few weeds-- that was the goal. So I felt we had limited success. I continued my habit of buying local tomatoes and things from little roadside stands.



This spring my 4foot by 4foot garden became my spring and fall garden. I planted spinach and sugar snap peas in the spring. I harvested some spinach before it went to seed. I really had a wonderful harvest of s.n.peas. Wow, on a whim I bought the pack for $1.00 in Big Lots. They were sweet and delicious.

We expanded the summer garden to a 4foot by 8foot rectangle. I figured that I needed to plant a few more tomato plants so I could enjoy some fried tomatoes this year. I started some seeds in the house in the early spring. I planted 3 kinds of tomatoes-- Small, medium and large. There were ten plants altogether. I also started a few green peppers and some flowers. None of the flowers made it. When we planted the garden outside, I put in a few cucumbers, one zuchini, one yellow squash, one cantelope, and a few marigolds to keep away the bugs-- in addition to the tomatoes and green peppers.

This is a great size garden. We have enjoyed squash and zuchini for dinner on a regular basis. I have plenty of cucs-- aren't they just great sliced in sour cream-- mmmm!! Tomatoes--- well they are a' plenty. The sweeties and fourth of July's are keepers-- I will grow them again. But those beefsteaks-- ugh! they are history, not worth the time and effort.


Oh yeah --- this year I haven't stopped at one roadside stand yet =D

First day of school

Summer is gone. Well, the free days are gone. Back to the organized days of schoolwork. We started the '09-'10 school year today.

We are just putting our 'toe in the water' today. We will do 2 subjects only. This week we will slowly work our way in... toes today, knees tomorrow, full bodies by Wednesday. Next week we will be ready to dive in from the high diving board.

We took our school pictures this morning on the swing set. Daddy's patch of small sunflowers was a great background.

'T' wanted me to take a picture of him ripping his book in half or sticking out his tongue. He is in 8th grade this year. Can you tell? :) I conned him into smiling for one. It may be close to getting those braces off. Orthodontist appointment is on Thurs, so we will know soon. God has blessed 'T' with such a wonderful brain. He rarely needs help with his schoolwork. He is doing Algebra this year. He is really thrilled to be doing US History - he loves History but the US History is his favorite. He knows a lot more than me.

'W' is in 6th grade. Wow! Time sure flies.

He needs to go to the Orthodontist too. Time for him to get braces.

He was trying to smile for this picture but the bees that were pollinating the sunflowers had him a bit worried.

'W' loves to read-- like all of my boys. He is a good speller and has a great imagination. He is really interested in getting his own blog this year.

My baby is 9 years old and in 4th grade. (He doesn't mind me calling him my baby-- I asked him and he said,"I am your baby.......... just don't call me a baby in public.") The dentist told us he can start at the orthodontist also. Whew-- I hope they have a family discount plan!

'A' loves to read. He probably read a hundred or more books this summer. He likes all subjects but not really math. ;) ( His Math book was the only one that had a big 4 on it)

We are thankful to the Lord for strong minds and obedient hearts. This is an exciting day. The start to a great year!

Busy busy week

In and among the everyday mommy chores that need to happen on a regular basis- i.e. feed the family, wash the clothes, clean/vacuum/etc. I have a few extra "to do's" on my list this week: I need to finish organizing books on our bookcases, move A&W back into their newly painted room, and get our school room ready for some learning.

This week is our last week of freedom. We (mostly I) plan to start school year '09-'10 next week. Once we start school, TWA know that I am a mad woman about days off -- we don't take too many. I love to be done with the school year by Mother's day in May-- it is my little gift to myself --- but the boys love to be done then, too.

Once again-- I was too ambitious in my summer project list-- I still have too many things on the list. Well-- maybe it wasn't too ambitious- just possibly I was too lazy. So to prompt me to get busy on this room- I think I will post a picture of the room.

Yes-- stay tuned-- for the ready for school photo that I will post when I finish cleaning it up.

Wow-- a new record for me !!!

I went to Happy Harry's (Walgreen's) on Saturday. I knew that there were a few items in the circular that I needed. Walgreen's had a "spend $25.00 get $5.00 off" coupon out. As I was shopping, I saw that there were a lot of items on sale that I also had coupons for. I then began to use two carts-- well their carts are small. I realized making 2 purchases would be beneficial. I could go through a litany of deals here but to cut to the chase. I got 32 items--- for $2.46!!!!!

Writing it all down

Here it is.
Finally-- I have read a ton of blogs. There are so many topics I love to read about. Couponing-- decorating-- thriftiness-- decorating while being thrifty-- homeschooling--gardening-- etc. etc. etc.

This blog will have a bit everything.

It is time for me to put it down on paper, well, on computer paper, well not really.

Actually-- my brain is not remembering like it used to, so I want to blog so I can remember it all.