Thanks to our troops!

I stumbled across this video and it really hit home... not sure if it's because I was feeling emotional or if it's because I have a son the same age but it made me realize how appreciative we should be to our troops, the work they do for us and the sacrifices their families make for our country. Grab the tissues before watching - it's a tear jerker! Let's say a word of thanks for the troops!

Did I miss my chance?

Tonight I noticed that one of Eddie's lower middle teeth is awful
loose. The other lower middle tooth is loose, too, but not as loose as this
one is... so I told Eddie I was going to take his picture tonight because
I thought it was the last chance I'd be able to get a picture of him
with all his baby teeth... but then he fell asleep... So, did I miss my
chance? We'll find out tomorrow... of course, I usually have a gold
dollar or two on hand for this occasion but actually gave those to Eddie
one day for lunch money (gasp!)... so my stash is depleted and it's a
weekend. The only place I can think of where I can obtain a shiny gold
dollar is at the post office stamp vending machine - so if it happens
tomorrow, maybe I'll make a trip to the post office.. if not, I can
visit the bank on Monday when the kids are at school... I can't believe
my baby is growing up and losing his baby teeth - where has the time
gone???

Tiger Scouts

I'm officially one of the Tiger Scouts Den Leaders for this year. I'm very excited about it - we had a meeting yesterday and there are two other leaders... one is a Mom and one is a Dad so we'll have two female leaders and one male. They both seem cool and I'm excited to get started!!! Our den meetings will be held at the elementary school right after school so the kids just need a note dismissing them to the caf and then the parents pick them up after... I think it's going to be great fun! Anyone been a scout leader before?

Wholesale Clubs??? Worth it?

I have a membership to BJ's. At my last trip to the store, the check out girl brought it to my attention that my membership will expire at the end of this month. I'm not sure I want to renew it. Is it worth $40 to shop there per year? Are there certain items that you get really cheap at BJ's or Costco that you couldn't find for similiar prices at Wal-Mart or the Dollar Store? There's nothing worse than going to BJ's and filling the cart and finding out the total of your bill is more than you thought because, oh yeah, they tacked on your annual membership fee... which I'm all for renewing the next time you go shopping (not "pre-renewing" through the mail) but I think I can find bargains at Walmart... now once we get a Super Walmart, I'll be psyched. I just have to bring up the example of my favorite cereal again - Oatmeal Squares by Quaker... in a past post I mentioned that my Stop and Shop sold a box for like $4.50 and I found the same exact product at Target for $2.79. Since then, my Stop and Shop has come down to $3.79 (did they read my blog? tee hee)... However, I went shopping at Shaw's last week and I kid you not, one box of Oatmeal Squares was literally FIVE DOLLARS!!!! Are they KIDDING? What's up with the total variance in prices???? So, I ask you - convince that wholesale clubs are the way to go (or not to go!).... I'd love to hear about your favorite bargains (wholesale club or not)... inquiring minds want to know!!!! Thanks everyone!

A Challenge!

OK everyone! I have a challenge for you guys and am looking for some advice - what are your favorite / best ways to to save money for the winter (and anytime!)... I've been reading some financial books and hope to have a really good budget in place by January! New year, new plan! Do you get really good deals at certain stores? Do you think BJ's / Costco have really good deals? Do you have any tips or tricks to save money? And lastly is my challenge - how long can you go without turning on the heat?

Soccer

Soccer season has started! Eddie is enjoying it... he has the same coach as last year and a few of the players from last year are on his team this year as well as a new friend who is in his first grade class. They had practice yesterday and will keep up practices every Wednesday as long as the weather permits... that's great because I can't make it to any games. They are on Saturdays when I work... the practice was cute to watch and you can tell they are starting to "get" the skills more this year than last. Go Eddie go!

Do you drain your cup?

I know that sounds like an odd question - doesn't it?

I typically only read non-fiction... I enjoy reading it and I appreciate the fact that the story I am reading is true... I think real life tends to be way more interesting than fiction anyway. That being said - this summer I decided to dip my toe into some fiction... Loosen up a little if you will - I did have some interesting reads as I jumped into the literary genre called "Chick Lit"... they were pretty fun but I'm glad to be back into my non-fiction mode again. I kid you not when I say that every single book I read this summer mentioned that someone "drained" their cup of coffee, vodka, whatever. I thought that was really funny... it's such a "writer" type comment. I mean, really, how many times have you found yourself saying "Hang on a sec, just let me drain my coffee and I'll be ready to go"...

What are you reading???

Right now I am reading one of Dave Ramsey's books... it's a small question and answer book just to get the basics, after this one, I have "Financial Peace" on the deck ready to go.

Have you read "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell? It's about the power of thinking without thinking. One of the girls at work has told me this is such an awesome book and totally changed her life. She is a young girl in her last year of high school and I think she has a really bright future... she does really well at school, volunteered over the summer to run camps for kids, is now getting into coaching football and works at night with me... What was I doing when I was 17/18? Working at Sears Children's Dept! I just ordered "Blink" from the library and am looking forward to reading it...

The Great Fence

The fence is 99% complete is and is such a wonderful thing! I feel like I can finally relax in the yard... and I'll feel even better when the final section is complete so
I can BE SURE Kevin and Ryan can not get out of the fence. Today I was cleaning up in the kitchen and thinking it was waaaaayyyy too quiet outside... just when I started to run outside in a panic, I looked out the window and there were Kevin and Ryan happily swinging together on the swing set! PHEW! The fence rocks! Here are some pictures - enjoy!

Here's the front view of the house, you can see the one section of fence that needs to be finished. I currently have it blocked by a pretty heavy trash can.


More of the front... I'll be moving 3 hydrangea bushes from inside the fence to the space along the fence to the left hand side in the picture... and if you can see in the area where the existing bushes are, we have a nice butterfly bush that I will be putting in a corner inside the fence as it will get quite large. The kids love the butterfly bush and really does attract butterflies (and dragonflies!)...


The side yard where our garden was last year - not sure what we will do here quite yet. This is the corner where the butterfly bush will go.


Sitting area / "baseball field":


"Backyard" - Now that we have the fence, I don't have to worry about people looking at my clothes on the line! Tee hee! Our rabbit hutch is over here - Ed is going to start patching up the paint on this side.. that will be nice!


Max the Bunny


My finished paint job on the swing set... OK, well I did miss one spot but it's mostly" finished...

Coudn't resist...

OK, here are the pictures from today... I am doing them during my "alone time"... then I'm off for a quick bike ride before picking up Kevin and Ryan at school.

Here are our standard back-to-school pictures: on the steps, on the kids' bench and in front of the tree. I couldn't get Kevin to pose for me at school but I do have a nice picture of Ryan hamming it up for the camera. Drop off was great for Ryan but Kevin didn't want me to leave and the teacher had me walk him in and I ended up staying for 30 minutes. I am more into the not going in theory but I guess that's her style. The same thing happened last year when Ryan had her. Hopefully tomorrow will go better.

Front steps - Kevin is emphatically saying "CHEEEEEESE", he's not really angry like he looks:


The Bench:


The Tree (notice Kevin's boots)...


Ryan hamming it up:

A morning of firsts

Today, for the first time in history, all my kids will be in school at the same time. (Last year Kevin and Ryan had AM preschool and Eddie had PM kindergarten)... I will drop Eddie off for first grade at 8:35... Kevin and Ryan will go to their first day of preschool at 11:30 am and will need to be picked up at 2:00 pm. That will leave me 2.5 hours (well really 2 if you count the time it takes to drive back and forth to the school but that's OK!) to do... well.... whatever I want to do! I'm quite excited about the idea of going into a store without anyone hanging on me, fighting to sit in the cart, fighting with each other or saying "UPPPPIIIIEEEE" while I try to shop! I've been "scheduling" myself in for a nap today... other ideas include going or a bike ride... the weather is kind of lousy today so I'm not sure about that one... I do have some things I could return to the store...hmm, I'm sure I'll come up with something!

Kevin and Ryan are excited about their first day back to school. I'll be sure
to post pictures this afternoon! Although, my new "promise" to myself now that I have my alone time is that from the time I pick up the kids from school to the time I leave for work, there will be no "computer time" for me... Those couple hours will be focused on taking the kids out to ride bikes, having a afternoon snack, making dinner and helping with homework... no more me telling them "just one minute", etc. That's gonna be tough for me but I think it will be worth it... so, that being said, pictures won't be posted til tomorrow unless I stay up after work tonight to do them.

Have a great day all!

Hello Preschool!

We had our open house at preschool today! Kevin and Ryan are in separate classes as they were last year. This year Kevin has Ryan's teacher from last year and Ryan has a teacher we haven't had before. Right now in Ryan's class there are 4 boys and 4 girls. I didn't get the total number of kids in Kevin's class but two of the kids are siblings of Eddie's friends from his first year in preschool. I think it's going to be a fun year! Here is a picture of Ryan and Kevin playing at the rice table in Ryan's classroom and a picture of Kevin in his classroom. They start for real on Monday.

Baa Baa Black Sheep

Kevin and Ryan think Baa Baa Black Sheep is the most rockin'-est song they've ever heard (aside of High School Musical) and sing it all the time. Here's the dynamic duo singing their favorite tune:

He's Off!

Just like that, Eddie's at his first day of first grade. I wasn't as prepared as I should be and was running around sharpening pencils, trying to find an eraser, looking for some sort of a snack (he wanted an apple - easy enough!), etc. After all that, I still forgot to put his smock in the backpack but we were on time so that was a bonus! Eddie rode his bike and I trailed behind with Kevin and Ryan. It took us 15 minutes to make the 1/2 mile trek to the school and 30 minutes to get back. Tomorrow I am going to use our bike trailer as a stroller and hope to figure out some way to hang Eddie's bike off the back so I can carry it rather than push it home. Eddie was excited to see his friends in the line up and I think he's got a good class, a good combination of boys and girls. (Last year his class had 11 boys and 4 girls). Good luck Eddie! I'm proud of you!

Watch him grow! Here's our annual first day of school picture in front of our new tree.... who will grow faster, the kids or the tree? You can see our nearly completed fence in the background... and if you really look closely you can see our swingset that I've been painting.


"Look out first grade, here I come!"

My Big First Grader!

I can't believe Eddie is starting first grade tomorrow! Wow, time has surely flown by. He'll start tomorrow morning at 8:35 and I'll pick him up at 2:50. We are walkers so no bus service. We'll probably walk in the morning. The school posted the classroom lists this afternoon and we saw that Eddie has a few friends in his class! I was excited because there are only 17 kids in his class! I was worried it was going to be 20-25... he's very excited! I'll be sure to post our usual first day of school pics tomorrow!

Point Sebago

Hi Everyone - we are home from our trip to Point Sebago! We had a great
time and have already booked our stay for next year. The street we
stayed on this year is actually all booked for next year so we have
chosen another street that we think we will like just as much. One of
the reasons we like the street we stayed on this year and last is
because it's a circle and the kids can ride their bikes around the
circle and we can see them... this year's street - Fawn Circle is
across the street from the beach and our street next year will be
between the marina and the beach so a good location! We had a nice
house this year. Last year we were in a travel trailer but Point Sebago
doesn't rent travel trailers anymore... they are now "park homes" and
they are really nice and have plenty of room! I really tried to narrow
down the number of pictures for you so here they are!

The BOOTY!
Everyone has been asking me about the pirate booty. I had everything
neatly packaged into a cardboard box covered with a big fish net. It
looked really cool. Inside were 4 wooden treasure chests, 4 lanterns, 4
flashlights, 4 telescopes, sea shells, lots of gold coins, necklaces,
chocolate coins, tattoos, pirate hats and the infamous gold nuggets...
If you ever plan to do this, don't use the recipe I did for gold
nuggets because they really looked like gold cookies and therefore were
very messy. They didn't break open that well and the rings inside were
all gunky and nasty... not as I had envisioned, I thought it would be
hard and crack open easier... Oh, well - the kids didn't know the
difference and thought it was the coolest thing ever. The box was way
too big to bury and I didn't do the map, we just took a walk around the
house when we first arrived and voila, they found it! They loved it and
on the way home when asked what their favorite part of the vacation was
- they all said finding the pirate treasure... Here we are painting our
treasure chests... well the kids are anyway, I am painting a sign to
hang in the kitchen:


Here are Ryan and Eddie showing us the house:


Kevin and Eddie relaxing in the living room:


Here's Ed with Eddie and our nephew, Sean, on our first hayride of the week. Sean came to Maine with us for the week!


Me with Kevin and Ryan on the hayride:


Hayride with Chippy:


The Welcome Show / Pizza Party! This show is always a hit... the kids love
the characters - from the left: Chippy the Chipmunk, Mortimer the Moose
and Squeaky the Squirrel.. there are a few more that are not in this
shot.


Here are the kids enjoying the feast at the Welcome Show.


Sean, Eddie and Ryan at the dance party with Flamin' Raymond and Sizzlin' Suzzin which followed the Welcome Show... Kevin was too tired to party so he went home to bed.


Who likes s'mores??? Anyone up for roasted sneakers?


Ed and Eddie in a kayak...


Our first sandcastle fun - we made a big square with a big moat around it!


Here's our castle we entered into the sandcastle contest.... sadly, we didn't win...:


Gotta love that clean Maine water!


Chillin' Out


Kevin in the splash park:


Eddie, Ryan and Sean getting cozy with the moose in the General Store.


The mini golf course... I think maybe the Sun is in Eddie's eyes?


This rock was in the middle of the circle/our street - the kids loved climbing on it:


"Princess Cruise" on the great big pontoon boat:


We went on an awesome pirate boat ride. The great big pontoon was
decorated with pirate stuff and there were pirates on the ship doing a
show... after a while, a small "pirate ship" circled our boat and soon
the pirates boarded our ship as part of the show... Here's Kevin and
one of the pirates:


Here's the gang with the "pirates" at the end of the show:


The World's Tallest Sandcastle! Did anyone happen to catch the CBS Early
Show on Friday morning or the Today Show on Saturday morning? Point Sebago has built the world's tallest sandcastle as a fundraiser to support Camp Sunshine. Camp Sunshine sits next to Point Sebago and is for families with terminally ill children. Each family receives a free week of camping. I think it's an awesome organization. It was really neat to see the sandcastle being built.. they have been working on it since June. Saturday was to be the big reveal and the official measurements... we tried to get on camera Friday morning but no luck. Point Sebago passed out flyers saying whoever had the best sign would win a free trip and there were some really good ones! We were standing behind those signs - ;o)


We miss you Maine!

Got budget?

OK, we need to crack down and get a good budget going on. I understand the concept of it (sort of) that you are supposed to set aside certain amounts of money for certain things but I just still see it as one lump sum in the bank. I need a really good book on how to get started. We already booked our trip for Sebago next year and I want the kids to learn that money doesn't grow on trees... we are going to save our bottle and can return money in a jar for Sebago... Do you know of a really good book for learning about money, finances, and budgeting? Norma, I think you said you had a favorite?