The Beach House (and the STEEEP driveway)

So, the beach house we went to was awesome. It was huge and had a beautiful view. The only thing about it was the driveway--it was quite the experience. Every time we went up or down it, people would scream and tires would squeal. In the one picture you can see the smoke coming off the tire!! It was crazy steep. I have honestly never seen a driveway that steep in my life. The pictures don't do it justice. I wish I were a better photographer and knew the tricks of good pix.

The Lighthouse

We got to climb up to the very top of a lighthouse that is still used today. There aren't very many left that are still used. It was a gorgeous view from the top. I got quite winded climbing up the several flights of stairs. Outside of the lighthouse really reaked of a fishy smell and the kids were plugging their noses.

Our Sunday

Chandler bit the dust today (sundays seem to be dangerous for him lately). Poor baby, he cried and cried. Not sure exactly how he did it. Could probably just chalk it up to the fact that he's a boy, though. It's quite the dinger--his chipped tooth nearly went through his lip.

Marissa is so excited about her hair things, and she really wants to learn how to do her own hair. She came to me today-"I did my own hair mom, do you like it?" Very creative!! I think it's a concept we can work with. She's becoming very girly lately--she has worn sundresses, skirts, and jumpers nearly everyday this week. She has spent quite a bit of time in front of the mirror, styling her hair, and applying lipgloss. Today she asked me if she could get her ears "speared" (pierced). She bats her eyes at me whenever she asks me a question, and yesterday she turned to her aunt Kirsten after taking a drink, and in a prim and proper voice said, "Isn't this juice exquisite?" I tell ya, this girl is 5 going on 16.

Today we were blog-surfing, and Chandler saw a picture of some friends (Carter and Avry Johnson) at their old house. He said,"I remember going there. Can we go there again?" I said, Oh, they live far away now, it would take a long time to get there. Chandler quickly replied, "That's okay, we can just drive fast--dad can drive us there." I love how kids are ever optimistic. They aren't put out by a challenge or discouraged by a road block. They just come up with more creative options or compromises.

I may have gotten a little carried away...

I was at the park with the kids and Kirsten (my little sis) on Thursday and we had a picnic dinner there. While we were eating, we noticed these girls (who I went to school with) with displays of hair things. Marissa went to check it out, and came back with wide eyes, "Mom, they are sooooooo cute, can I have one?" So I went and looked with her, and I had to agree, they were cute! But, the price wasn't cute. $5.00 per bow (so if you want to do pigtails, thats ten bucks!!) I was like--I can totally tell how those were made, and I could copy them. So, on Friday we went to walmart and got hair elastics and ribbon, and Marissa, Kirsten and I made a few (ha, ha) of them--all kinds of cute ones in colors that matched their clothes. It was fun. We all got into it.

All in a day's work

I had a super busy day on Thursday. My parents are out of town, so my 9 year old sister is staying with us. My kids just play with her the whole day--it makes it easy to get things done. So, I worked on 4 things: Shopping, Food Storage, Blueberry Jam, and Raspberry Jam and this is my report of it all.

1- Shopping

I have been watching the sale pages for groceries lately. I've been store hopping between 4 stores to try and be economical for building our food storage. I'm kinda proud of myself--these are 2 of the reciepts. On one, I spent 115 and saved over 50 dollars, and the other, I spent 209 and saved 262. Pretty awesome, huh?

2- Food Storage

Food Storage has been an obsession of mine as of late. I finally have room for it-not just a closet, a WHOLE room!! The cost of food here is cut nearly in half, to boot. You can get a lot more bang for your buck. So, this is our start. I think we'd be okay for 3-4 months now, so we've still got a ways to go for a whole years supply, but we have more now than we've ever been able to have, so we're encouraged. It has taken so much work. So much, in fact, that I almost hate to use any of it. I kinda just feel like leaving it be, but I know that's not how it works. With gas prices hiked, and all kinds of things going on around the world, it's comforting to have it for me.