Loved this

I was reading through my blogs this morning and there was a blog post from Antique Mommy that I just loved. So I wanted to share. Enjoy!

Antique Mommy: 50 Things in 50 Years

This is for you, Leah!

So, I talked about my most recent transaction yesterday on facebook and got such a huge response and a request for me to detail how I did my deal at Rite Aid. So here we go!

In this particular transaction I bought:

1 Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower cleaner (regular retail $17.99)

2 Boxes of Ziplock bags (regular retail $3.99 each, $7.98 for 2)

8 packages of stayfree pads (regular retail $4.29 each, $34.32 for 8)

So the total retail price of these items would be: $60.29

So here's what I did to MAKE money on this transaction:

*I had a coupon for $5 off of a $25 purchase at Rite Aid that I printed off the internet. (-$5)

*I had a raincheck for the scrubbing bubbles (they were out last week and I asked for a raincheck) The coupon was for a sale price of $12.99 PLUS a store coupon for $3 off. (-$8)

*I had a coupon for $7.00 off a SB starter kit that I was able to print by signing up on the SB website. (-$7)

*The ziplock bags were on sale for $1.99 each (-$4)

*I had a coupon for $1 off 2 ziplock products. (-$1)

*Okay, here's the BEST part of this transaction: A couple weeks ago Rite Aid was having a Buy One Get One FREE sale on the stayfree pads. There was also a Buy One Get One Free coupon in the paper. It doesn't happen at every store, but at Rite Aid, when they're having a BOGO sale and you have a BOGO coupon, they cancel each other out so BOTH items are FREE! How awesome is that?? So when they had that sale, they happened to be out of the Stayfree that was on sale, so I asked for a raincheck. I used my raincheck (-$17.16) and then used my 4 BOGO coupons (-$17.16)

So my total out of pocket that I paid for all this was $.97. I was totally excited about that. But after I got home, I realized that the ziplock bags and the scrubbing bubbles qualified me for a rebate put out by the company that makes them. The rebate is for $5 when you buy 3 participating items. So I submitted my rebate and I will be getting back $5.

Which makes my grand total for all these products: + $4.03.

Cool, huh?

Other New Stuff

Warning! Warning! Proceed with caution! I posted a blog last week and now I'm posting again! Do not fall out of your chair! It's true!

Just thought I'd get that out of the way first! I wouldn't want anyone to get hurt by seeing a new blog post so soon after my last one.

So two of my "new" goals that I decided on back in October of 2009 was that #1 I need to focus on cutting our grocery budget...drastically. #2 was that I needed to focus on feeding my family healthier. And you know- those two things do NOT go hand in hand. Organic foods are more expensive! So I didn't really know how I was going to accomplish these two goals at the same time. But so far, it's been working. My plan as you can see from my last post is to use coupons for things such as toiletries, paper products, cereal that I consider to be healthy (not so much fruit loops or whatever), and some snacks that I know are not loaded with sugar and/or things that aren't healthy. So this, over time, will enable me to save money so that I can spend more money on higher quality items like organic meat and dairy.

The first thing I started with technically was switching from milk in the store to buying raw milk. And really, I did this starting in the Summer. But you know what? Since beginning raw milk, our family has NOT gotten sick. At all. Not even with the h1n1 floating around that everyone is so scared about. Not a cold, not a flu. Nothing. AND...the best part? Bryce has almost completely eliminated his need for asthma maintenance medications AND for his resuce inhalors. Hallelujah!! I cannot attribute either of those two things to anything but the raw milk...it's the only thing that we've been doing differently. If you'd like to find out more about raw milk including where to find it go to www.realmilk.com.

Okay...so the second thing that I've been working on since October is incorporating whole grains into our diet. I've done research: read books, read internet articles, watched Food Inc, etc...and I'm seriously freaked out about the condition of our society...but that's another blog post. At any rate, I know that as the sole food provider/preparer in this house it is MY job to make the food that comes out of my kitchen as good for you as possible. So I've been doing things like gradually replacing the white flour in my recipes for whole wheat, learning to cook with dry beans (much cheaper) and rice. Learning recipes with lentils and black eyed peas and WHEAT BERRIES. If you would have asked me 6 months ago what a wheat berry was, I would not have been able to tell you. I asked for and received for Christmas the Betty Crocker Whole Grains cookbook and I LOVE it. I use it almost every day now. It's a great transition book if you're interested. It has been a totally gradual thing. I remember the first time that I altered our homemade pancake recipe. I used half whole wheat and half white flour...all the rest of the ingredients were the same. No one ate them. (kids anyway) The boys complained and the girls wouldn't touch them. But last Saturday I made pancakes with almost entirely whole wheat flour, flax seeds, honey instead of sugar and coconut oil. The kids (and Josh and I) LOVED them. The girls each ate 2! And the boys didn't do too bad either. So it takes a while, but we're getting there. And you know? I feel so much better about feeding that to my kids than I did about giving the pancakes with white sugar, white flour, vegetable oil and topping them with corn syrup. =)

There's definitely a learning curve to this as well as a taste transition curve. I've probably scortched more pots in the last few months than I have in my entire marriage career. But I'm getting it. And it's SO worth it.

Oh! Two more things I'll add as a last note on the subject of cutting my grocery bill. First, the bulk food section at Winco has been my friend. Did you know that in the bulk food section they have buckwheat flour and spelt flour and wheat berries? I never knew that. But they do and I have been buying all my rice, beans, lentils, whole grain flours, etc there and it is saving me a TON of money. My last two trips to winco (where I shop for 2 weeks worth of food at a time) has been around $130. For 2 weeks of food for a family of 7! Not bad. And those are with so many whole grain items from the bulk section. (Although this does not include meat- I'm getting organic meat elsewhere.) Second: Meal planning. I've been wishy-washy about the whole meal planning thing forever. But I found something that totally works for me. These meal planning worksheets have been super handy to me. I plan 2 weeks at a time and it's not at all overwhelming like planning/cooking for a month used to be. I save the old ones so I can look back and just repeat things. And the grocery list is right there, so I can just take it to the store with me. It's been great and works for me and my schedule.

I'm totally getting into this coupon thing!

One of my goals for this year (No, I'm not calling it a New Year's Resolution...I don't believe in New Year's resolutions because they're stupid...Plus, I made this goal back in October of last year.) is to focus a lot of my time on saving money when it comes to my grocery budget. I was convicted several months ago about my lack of discipline in this area and as a result, our grocery budget was out of hand. One of the ways that I have chosen to do this is by using coupons and learning how best to use them. It just so happened that Josh was building a website for a client who had created videos on coupons and how to use them. Because I had "connections" I was able to gain a free membership and watch the videos to learn the beginning process of shopping with coupons. Just in case anyone's interested, the website is: http://www.moneymaniac.com/ Yes Josh built the website and yes this is a plug. And I'm sure that they'll get so much traffic from me posting this to the 5 people who read my blog. =) I'm still totally in the learning process of this, but this has been a GREAT month for coupon shopping and I'm totally getting in to it! So I thought I'd share some of my deals! I'd also like to state for the record that I am aware of the fact that the process of taking photos of my coupon deals and posting them on my blog does take me to another strange dimention of some sort...but I think I'm okay with that.

This was the first coupon shopping trip(s) I did this month. Rite Aid and Walgreens. I spent approximately $50 for everything and SAVED about $150!

This was from Albertsons. I spent about $4.20 on all this peanut butter and SAVED $53!

This one was/is probably my favorite so far this month. I spent $0 on all this chapstick and SAVED $42!

I don't know if you saw all the stayfree packages in the first picture, but I still have some more to "buy" of those...Rite Aid was out and I got a rain check...but when I go, I will get another 8 packages for FREE!!! Free is my favorite! The total amount of free packages when I'm done will be about 14 I believe!

Christmas Thankfulness

I was just thinking the other day about my life. Not everything is always peachy keen and perfect...but I have been so incredibly blessed! As I was thinking about things, I started to get overwhelmed at everything that God has blessed me with. I know that Thanksgiving is usually the typical time to "give Thanks" but I think Christmas works just as well. As my friend Katy pointed out, every day belongs to God and the word holiday really means, HOLY day. Awesome! So in the spirit of Christmas and reflecting on my life and all that Jesus has done for me, I thought that I would write an incomplete list of some of the things that I have been blessed with and that I am grateful for.

*Josh- I'm thankful that he loves me. I'm thankful that he works so hard to provide for our family so that I can stay home with the kids. I'm thankful for his kindness, his heart, his sense of responsibility, the way his personality balances out mine and often times calms mine. And lots of other stuff about him that would take up the entire list if I kept going.
*Bryce
*Jayden
*Kynden
*Ellyanna
*Adelynn
*My kids all are so different and each bring such a different bright spot into my life.
*Our house- even in spite of all it's shortcomings.
*Food
*Clean water
*Appliances that make life easier
*Clothes
*My family
*Josh's family
*The ability to learn, study and read about new things
*I'm thankful for the responsibility of being a mom to 5 awesome kids...even though some days the responsibility feels overwhelming.
*Friends...especially the ones who know me best and I know that they've always got my back.
*Opportunities that God continually puts in my life to serve him...These seem to be coming more frequently lately and I feel honored by them...completely undeserving but grateful.
*My naturopath doctor. I love her!
*The absolute certainty that God has a good plan for me...and everything that happens will be used to bring me closer to Him if I let it.
*Christmas and what it means


The list could go on and on, but it's time for me to get the girls some milk and send them to their rooms to play...One thing I'm NOT thankful for is no more napping...however it does free up about an hour of my time each day and at least they like going in there to play together...so it's not all bad.

With the rate I've been going, it's probably safe to assume that I won't be blogging again before Christmas....So, Merry Christmas everyone!!

I'm not really blogging right now

I don't know if anyone reads this anymore....=) I've been very neglectful of my blog unfortunately. There has been lots of stuff going on for the last few months...but not much that I've really wanted to be blogging about. Lots of personal stuff. It's not that I don't want to talk about personal stuff, it's just that I'm still trying to figure it all out.


At this moment, I still don't have much to say...So I'll just leave you with this: Josh and I did a little photo shoot a few weeks ago and this was one of the better ones....

What's in a day?

One of the main reasons that I keep this blog is because I want to have a record my kids' lives. Memories from their childhood recorded here so we can go and look through and have reminders of what our life was like. So today I came up with an idea. I'm starting this post at 7:30am and will add paragraphs throughout the day about what goes on. I've thought of doing this before, but never thought I'd get a 'typical' day...because every day is so different...but I've realized that different IS typical. This may be a really boring post for most of you. Although you never know. It might be an interesting day!

I woke up this morning at about 5:15am. Don't know why, but I was wide awake. Josh got up around then to get ready to leave for men's fraternity at church and I laid in bed for another hour, thinking about different things until 6:30 when I got up to get the boys up for school. Picked out their clothes (it's supposed to be an unusually warm end of September day here at 94 today). Got them ready- they decided in the 3 minutes from when the bus passed our house the first time, that they'd prefer to have cold lunch instead of hot. So we threw in a couple lunchables and some cookies for them to take to school and rushed out to the bus. The bus driver was a substitute today. He waved hello to me as the boys got on the bus. I went back into the house and looked at myself in the mirror to find that I still had messy bed hair and makeup smeared under my eyes. Nice. Oh well. Grabbed a piece of toast and some coffee and checked facebook/blogs and began to write this. Now I'm going to stop so I can get some bible reading done before the girls get up. (I'm trying to memorize the entire book of Colossians...I've been slacking in spending time doing that and need to work on it some more.)

Okay, it's now 10am. I got my bible reading done, and another couple verses added to my memorization. Then I went upstairs, gathered up all our laundry and took the sheets off the bed (it's Tuesday so it's bedroom cleaning day), tidied the room and came downstairs to start a load of laundry. Then I worked out (Hip Hop Abs) and then went to take a shower. Finished my shower, dressed and then went to let the girls out of their room. When I opened the door, I found their ceiling light hanging from the cord in the ceiling. It's a chandelier...And now it's like 3 feet from the floor. Nice. I washed out some sippy cups for the girls and got their morning cocoa. They each get 2 cups of cocoa in the morning...but don't worry, it's very watered down. And then I put on a 'show' for the girls. It's our normal morning routine. Today they wanted to watch "Buzz Light". While they watch the show I'm changing laundry, cleaning up from the remainders of dinner last night, dumping poop from the potty chair into the toilet, stopping the girls from eating spoonfuls of sugar and from dumping out bottles and bottles of spices onto the counter.

At 10:15 Kynden begins throwing a temper tantrum which begins because of cereal and continues because of underwear. It lasts for a full 8 minutes before I help her find a pair of underwear that is acceptable to her. She wanted ones with bugs on them.

Alright. It's now almost 3:30. Nothing really all that eventful happened, but here goes anyway. I've folded about 4 loads of laundry while the girls watched their show...Oh and I talked on the phone for about 30 min. And I figured out where to put the "new" armoire that we got last night...it's going to go in the girls' room...and I started organizing their clothes in the drawers of the armoire. The girls ate lunch about 12:30 and then we went outside to play for about an hour between 1-2. At about 2 I came in and put another load of laundry in the wash and start getting the girls ready for nap time. But then I realized that the chandelier was still hanging 3 ft from the floor, so I called Josh in to help me with that. It's fabulous having a husband who works from home! He just took it off because whatever part kept the light attached to the ceiling had broken off and we might just need to get a new light. Bummer. So then I got the girls' milk and put them down while I read a book in their room. It took about an hour.

So now it is about a quarter after 6. Let's see...shortly after my last paragraph, my mom came by. She is leaving tomorrow morning to go to Kansas for my cousin's wedding and wanted to see everyone and say goodbye. She stayed for a bit, helped me fold some laundry and just sort of visited for a while. The boys came home from school while she was here and the girls woke up from their nap. Except for Ellyanna, who slept longer than the other two...she was the last one to fall asleep. Really not much to report. At 5 Josh got off work and I made dinner for everyone. In just a few minutes, I will be leaving the house for the evening to go and meet with Natalie. She's a pretty cool 18 year old from church that I've been meeting with to watch the Peasant Princess series. Not sure when I'll be home, but I won't add any more for today.

So now you know! A typical day! A pretty boring and unevenful one at that.

A day late and a dollar short....

This is how I feel my life has been for the entirety of my summer. From having my cousin Lea come and live with us for 2 months in June/July and everything that went with that, to Bryce's birthday, to the girls' birthday, and every one of my kids being home day after day after day and trashing the house with no hope of ever getting it clean....yeah, that pretty much sums up my life the last 3 months.

But now....school has started and I'm feeling like I've at least in part, gotten my life back again. Allison just posted about Macy going back to school and asked if you were a summer mom or a back to school mom. I had to think about that for a while...it's actually kind of a hard question for me to answer. I like the summer time. Naturally I'm a very laid back, go with the flow kinda person so it's nice to be in my "element" of no structure, no schedules kinda living. But on the other hand, the kids (boys mostly) fight and argue and I'm never alone during the summer. Ever. And I really DO like structure and schedules but can't keep one on my own...so it's nice to be forced into one. So I guess I would say that I'm a back to school mom. September is turning into a time of "new beginnings" for me. Coming in with the bite of fresh fall air also comes my motivation to do something....anything! I get to start over. Regroup.

Part of the reason (okay, most of the reason) that I haven't blogged for so long is because I feel like there's been so much to blog about that I'll never get caught up. And it would be terribly overwhelming to try. So I'm going to go through some highlights of our summer. Then I can at least feel caught up. And then I can go back and re-visit some of the events if I want to add more details. But let's be honest. I probably won't.

*The first highlight that happened was my cousin Lea coming to visit. She lives in Kansas and I hadn't really even seen her in person for like 15 years or something like that...so she was little. But we've been instant messaging/emailing for several years back and fourth and knew each other fairly well. So it was very fun and interesting to have her come stay with us. She's 18...I knew her pretty well on the inside, but not on the outside. Such as what she liked to eat for dinner, etc. So that was fun trying to figure all those things out. Lea is at a pivotal point in her life. I felt like God used (and is using) Josh and I in her life to help her get some things figured out. I don't see an end in sight yet...but it is exciting and humbling to experience God working through you.

*Bryce turned 9! Ahhh! When did my kids get so old? Because last time I counted, I was like 24. For Bryce's party, we asked my mom to host so we had a little bbq and water party at her house. It was a great time and lots of people came out to celebrate with him. His big present from us was a rabbit. He had really wanted one and we decided that he was responsible to be able to keep one. She is all black and really very sweet. He named her Cali.

*From about May to the middle of August, I lost 14 lbs! Whoo hoo!

*The girls had their 3rd birthday. **sniff** It's so hard on me that they're getting older. However, I do have to admit, that so far 3 is shaping up to be far better than 2. They each got a little two wheeler bike with training wheels for their birthday and helmets to go with of course. They got the idea of riding right away! They were super excited about the bikes. We celebrated their birthday at Blue Lake park.

*Potty training is in full swing and honestly just about completed! It was sort of a natural progression. I knew they were ready...they'd been ready for a long time, but I wasn't ready to deal with it. But one day I just stopped putting them in diapers in the morning and they just sort of did it. Sounds easier than it was. But they're learning now that there are bathrooms in places that we go away from home, and they tell me when we're in the car and they have to go and I can take them out of the house now without too much fear of accidents. The only thing that is still a struggle is Ellyanna with her poop. It's a very dramatic thing each day. She fights the idea of going in the toilet or potty chair. I think the issue is mainly that she stands to do it...and obviously she can't stand to do it while on the potty chair. I'm kinda ignoring it for now and 'hoping' that eventually she'll figure it out.

*Kynden had surgery! We found out that Kynden had a hernia almost a year ago. They had told us that she needed surgery to get it fixed but that it wasn't super urgent. So we waited. Mostly because we were trying to juggle health insurance etc....but for the last few months, she was obviously in pain or at least discomfort when she needed to poop and we felt so bad for her. There was a LOT of drama and tears. So we decided we needed to do it sooner than later. It was an outpatient surgery, lasted less than an hour and boy was she funny on those relaxing drugs that they give before the surgery. Josh and I were laughing so hard at her that I got tears in my eyes. And lo and behold, a few days after the surgery, she pooped without any crying, or drama and she's been going in the potty chair or toilet ever since! We're thrilled!

Well, I know there's more, (such as the church camp out in August that Bryce dubbed as the "best weekend of my whole life") but I won't make this any longer than it already is. Looking forward to writing a current blog post pretty soon!

Bored?....

No...more like desperate for some mindless stress relief.

1. Can you fill this out without lying?Sure
2. What was the last thing you put in your mouth?Salad with salmon
3. Who was your last text message from?Lea
4. Where was your default picture taken (on facebook) ?Backyard
5. Last person you rode in a car with under the age of 20?the kids
6. Name someone that made you laugh today?Josh
7. How late did you stay up last night and why?10:30ish Bible study and talking to husband
8. If you could move somewhere else, would you?No
9. Ever been kissed under fireworks?Yes...every 4th of July for the last 12 years
10. Which of your friends lives closest to you?Josh
11. Do you believe ex's can be friends?Depends.
12. Calling or texting?Yes
13. How do you feel about Dr. Pepper?It's my favorite
14. When was the last time you cried really hard?Wednesday
15. Where is your biological father right now?Probably at home.
16. Where are you at right now?Living room.
17. What bed did you sleep in last night?Uh, mine.
18. What was the last thing someone bought for you?I honestly can't think of anything anyone's bought for me lately.
19. Who took your profile picture?Josh
20. Was yesterday better than today?No
21. Can you live a day without TV?Every day is without tv.
22. Are you mad about anything?Yes
23. Do you think relationships are really worth it?Yes
24. When was the last time you were disappointed and why?Today- Lack of trust
25. Are you a bad influence?I am a rebel for God
26. Night out or night in?Yes
27. What items could you not go without during the day?toilet, husband...not necessarily in that order.
28. Would you share a drink with a stranger?you mean share a cup? NOOOO
29. Who was the last person you visited in the hospital?Does taking my cousin Lea to the ER count?
30. What does the last text message in your inbox say?Sorry, can't reveal that due to confidentiality
31. How do you feel about your life right now?Overwhelmed, emotionally tapped out, disappointed, done.
32. How many times have you been pulled over by the police?Once while personally driving
33. Do you hate anyone?No
34. If we were to look in your inbox, what would we find?a smorgasbord
35. Can you easily tell if someone’s fake?Yes
36. Has anyone ever called you a perfectionist?Yes.
38. What song is stuck in your head?Nothing at the moment, but don't get me started on the VBS songs
39. Someone knocks on your window at 2 AM, who do you want it to be?Good Lord, I hope no one is knocking on my window at 2 am
40. Wanna have kids before you’re 30?Been there, done that...finished before I hit 30
41. Name something you have to do tomorrow?Cleaning
42. Can you whistle?not really
43. Do you sleep on your side, stomach, or back?Side. Have to start on my right side, but spend most of the night on my left
44. Do you think too much or too little?depends on the situation, right now...too much
45. Do you smile a lot?Not lately, but generally yes
46. Who was your last missed call on your mobile phone?Too lazy to get my phone and look
47. When is the next time you will see the person you like?I just have to turn around
48. Are you happy with your life?generally, yes
49. Can you handle the truth?Bring it.
50. What book are you currently reading?Breaking Dawn for the 4th time and Romancing the heart of your child.
51. Do you hate the last guy you had a conversation with?No
52. Is there something you always wear?deodorant
53. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?Eating dinner
54. Honestly, who was the last person to tell you that they love you?Josh
55. Did you have an exciting last weekend?Exciting? Eventful maybe
56. Have you ever crawled through a window?Yes.
57. Have you ever dyed your hair?Ever since freshman year
58. Are you wearing a necklace?Usually...not right now
59. What's something that can always make you feel better?Shopping
60. Will this weekend be a good one?Sure hope so
61. What do you want right now?trust, validation and maybe some alone time
62. Have you ever worn the opposite sex's clothing?Yes
63. Look behind you, what do you see?Bryce doing P90X
64. Have you ever worked in a food place?No
65. What would you name your future daughter?Olivia
66. Any summer plans for 2009?Church camp out later in August
67. What’s on your schedule for tomorrow?laundry, cleaning
68. Does anyone know your Facebook password?yes
69. Would you like some cake?No way...that would totally take me out of the fat burning zone!

Summer Commandments

**I'm reading a lighthearted book about motherhood right now called, "Humor for a Mother's Heart" and I came across this poem and I was laughing so hard that I had to share it.**

Summer Commandments
by Joey Earl Horstman

You may freely climb of the climbing tree of the lawn; but of the other trees you may not climb. You may not climb of the apple tree or of the maple tree or of the cottonwood tree or of the willow tree, or of any of the bushes of the lawn, for in the day that you climb of them, they will die. Of all but the climbing tree you are forbidden. Lo, you will be tempted to climb of the other trees, but climb them not, nor hang from their limbs, nor strip the bark from their trunks. For my eyes will be open, and I will call unto you and you will be sorely afraid.

Bonk not your brother with the tennis racket, lest you be bonked. Again I say, bonk not. Though your brother's head doth appear as a tennis ball, and his taunting has made you angry yea, even to the nth degree, bonk not his head with the racket, nor, roll him down the hill when he does not want to roll, nor use him as second base, nor tie him the fence post with your jump rope. He is your brother. Afflict him not.

Your friends will say unto you, "Leave your toys on the driveway and play in the lawn with us"; but I say to you leave not your toys in the driveway. Pick up in the garage that I may drive the minivan into it. Your roller skates and baseball bats, your Hotwheels cars and bicycles, yes, even your wagon, pick them up, I say, for do they not also have a selected place to be?

Keepest thou not the refrigerator door open, for that is an abomination to me. Decide what you want before the opening of it, be it juice of a pear or a carrot. If you cannot decide, and are sorely confused, open it not. Do not open the refrigerator door and then stare inside, for it is as if you stare inside for hours. Verily, I say unto you, "Am I made of money?"

Throw not the baseball at the picture window, nor the soccer ball, nor the basketball, nor the football, nor any ball of the air or rock of the ground. For the glass it doth break and shatter from it's holding and causeth thy mother great suffering. Throw not and you shall not be thrown into time-out.

Tattle not on thy brother. Again I say, tattle not, for it is as if you tattle all the time. If your brother calls you out when you are safe, scream not for your father who art mowing, for he cannot hear you and has turned his face from you. If your brother squirts you with water when you do not wish to be squirted, ask of him that it shall not be done again, but leave your father in the peace that passeth your understanding.

Mumble not under your breath when you walk away from me. Neither whine, nor slam your bedroom door, nor throw your shoes across the living room even if you cannot have a cookie or cannot stay up past the appointed time of your bed. Why do you mumble so? Am I Not your father, and can I not hear?

Eat not of the grass of the yard, nor of the dandelions, nor of any weeds we cannot identify and which will not depart from us. For doth not your parents feed you well and provide you with every good fruit and vegetable of the grocery store and garden? Ask and they will be given to you. But eat not of the grass, lest you be sick and being sick make thy brother sick as well.

Touch not the poison oak, nor the poison ivy, nor rub your face with it's leaves, for it will afflict you for seven days and seven nights. Red will be the color of you skin and in Aveeno will you bathe.

Of the number of showers you must take in a week, the number shall be four, for I am a clean father. Do not shower three times and claim that it was four, nor shower twice and claim that it was four. Do not say that you have showered yesterday and need not shower today, for that is a lie and you are not yet good at it. Shower four times, and soak thy head with soap and clean thy body, yes, even under the arms, for thy skin perspires and drives me from you.

Wear not those pants with that shirt. For the colors they do clash. And the stripes do not conform to the plaid. It pleases me not and hurts mine eyes to look upon you. Wear your underwear clean, and do not change it several times a day so that you have no underwear at the end of the week. Seven times shall you change and the time of the changing will be morning.

Giggle not when you are supposed to be sleeping, no, not even if your brother tells a joke, for he is four and his jokes do not make sense anyway. Nor hidest thou Milk Duds under thy pillow to be eaten later, for the Duds they do melt and soil the sheet and the pillow case, yes, even thy hair. Sleep when it is time to sleep, and jump not on the bed, for it is as if you have ants in your pants. Your bed is bunked, and the ceiling is low, so jump not.

There is a time for everything, as you will know when you are wise: A time for playing on the playground and a time for feeding the dog; a time to be in the pool and a time to be on the land; a time to run and a time to sit still. Celebrate this time, for though the summer is long, it lasts not forever.

Stitches

Well, to finish off a busy weekend, what could be better than a trip to urgent care to get some stitches? Last night Bryce was playing with the girls and picked up Kynden in a piggy-back. He started running with her across the living room. While I watched in horror, he sort of jumped over a backpack in the middle of the floor and lost his footing. He then crashed face first into the scooter which was laying in the hallway. I have to commend Bryce here...as he was falling he held on to Kynden and didn't try to catch himself. The result was worse for him in that he got the full impact of the fall, but Kynden wasn't hurt at all and just was able to roll off of him. He is a hero in that regard for sure.

We thought that what he had was a normal bloody nose and had him sit with a cloth on it for a while. And then when the bleeding slowed we realized it was more serious than we originally thought. The place where the center of his nose connects to his face had totally split. My mom had just come home to bring Lea back (they went to Idaho for the weekend) and I had them both look at his nose and they both thought we needed to take him in. So- worried grandma that she is, my mom offered to drive us and we headed to Gresham Urgent care. The nurse actually was called out and took him right back to the room. As we were waiting for the doctor I snapped this shot of him.

They put some numbing gel on his nose and we had to wait for that to numb the area. Then the hard part came when they had to give him a shot of medicine in the area to numb it totally. That's when he screamed for a few seconds. After that it was pretty easy.

After it was all numbed the doctor stopped being super gentle with it and started cleaning it before putting the stitches in. The tip of Bryce's nose was flapping around and I had to look away. The doctor looked at me and said, "Are you okay?" I said yes. "Are you SURE you're okay?" "Yeah, I'll be fine" But I was feeling a bit dizzy. "Please let us be the first to know if you're not okay." I looked down at my arms and they were white. I can't imagine what my face must have looked like. But I didn't faint. It was the flapping, gaping wound that did it. For the rest of the time I just stood there an held his hand and looked in the opposite direction.

So Bryce ended up with 6 stitches! He was very brave. He's supposed to go back in in a couple days for a wound check and then the stitches get taken out in 7 days. So he'll turn 9 years old with 6 stitches in his nose. Maybe we should have asked for 9 stitches, just because.