It's friday, here's some stuff to blog about.

Last day of school before fall break!! Yea!!!! Lindsay had a great first quarter. This school is tough and is a grade level accelerated. We know it isn't easy and we are so proud of her - often we don't understand all her homework, especially grammar rules. LOL! Yesterday I had her parent teacher conference and her report card was all 98-100%. Her teacher wants her to work on being more confident, assertive, and to bring out her inner leader. Today is a free dress day - she picked her pretty top she got at girls night out with Ellie and Maddy. Our school does this about once per quarter as a fundraiser for a charity - bring $1, dress non-uniform. This time it is to help 3 teachers who will be walking the breast cancer 3 day. Each needs to raise $2200 to participate.

We have some great plans for our 2 week Fall Break - Daddy is taking a couple days off so we will have him at home which is great because he has been working so much lately. Also, Maddy and I have some fun plans for the big girls - sewing camp and scrapbooking camp. Can you guess who is teaching what?!?

Stick a fork in my Jerry, I'm done! I have been chairperson for our annual Entertainment Book fundraiser at our school. I had a couple behind the scenes helpers too - thanks Danika and Maddy! A free book is coming your way! :) I did it last year and silly me, volunteered to do it again! I finally closed out the sale with our account rep on Wednesday and most goofy order problems have been corrected. I love working with the PTO board and committee members. I love being so involved at the school. I love knowing the teachers and staff across the grade levels and knowing they watch out for my kids too.

Caroline and I have been sick. This is Caroline last night with a 102 fever. I probably looked the same. I am feeling much better today but last night from 6:45-7:45 (when my fever came on) was probably the longest hour of my life! I had not been feeling "right" for about a day and a half and thought that late Thursday afternoon I was on my way to feeling better. Than the fever slammed me down. We are both much better now.

Katers snuggling on the couch with me. She loves to smile and we hope she is close to squealing and laughing . Her hair is almost in her eyes. I need to start pulling it back more often! The thing with all the hair - it is usually caked with spit up (in the back, as it rolls down her neck) or is sticking straight up from "car seat head." The hair is fun, yes, but it is requires maintenance! She can roll front to back and back to front. She is occasionally tricking us with sleeping 11 hours but usually sleeps about 9 hour stretch at night, eats a little, then goes back to sleep for an hour or two. She is a happy baby and loves her sisters, but, also has a healthy fear of them too, especially Caroline. We often see her get a look in her eyes of "Oh, no, here SHE comes again!"

And Caroline, I am so proud of this little lady! 6 weeks ago she couldn't write her name. She wrote repeated C's and i's as her name. Now, she can fully write her own name and has branched into family members names. I started making her homework packets to occasionally do after school with Lindsay and that really helped. This was her morning project. She had a play cell phone, a calculator, a tink pen and tiny post it notes. (Looks like a little office work!) These are the small 2"x2" size post-its. She wrote her own name 5 times in that tiny space. She asked "how do I spell daddy's name Steve?" She asked the same of Lindsay's name. She had to leave for preschool carpool before she got a chance to fully finish but I think she did a fantastic job! Writing and letters have clicked with her - I never thought it would happen.

Bountiful Baskets

Every other week I order a basket of fruit and vegetables from Bountiful Baskets, a produce co-op. I get up early on a saturday and go pick up a cooler or laundry basket full of a variety of fruits and veggies that are always a surprise. I never know what I am going to get, just that it is roughly $40-50 worth of produce at a regular grocery store all for $15. (Plus $1.50 handling/overhead charge.) When I order bread, it is about $23 total for all this produce and the bread. It is a great deal as long as we use it all, or at least most of it!

They often have bulk or specialty items available, like fruit by the box, berries by the flat, breads, cheeses, herbs, olive oil, spices, etc. We are all big fans of the bread - I wish I could make it this yummy, maybe some day. The sandwich bread we order is $2.00 a loaf, retail it would be $3.75 or so. It is delish! I took pictures of our last 3 orders - I have had fun getting up early and going to pick up the order with one of the big girls and then we sort and arrange it on the counter so we can put it all away. Sure, we get the usual suspects like apples and bananas but occasionally get treats like huge mangos & avacados. We do get some things that I know we will never use but more often than not, the odd items are a fun new experiment. I am really liking the challenge of figuring out how to best use all or at least most of what we receive - it is quite a challenge! Recently Lindsay and I made pico de gallo when we had an abundance of tomatoes, jalapenos, garlic, onions, limes and cilantro. Just yesterday when trying to think how to best use 2 large heads of cauliflower, I made mashed cauliflower (which Lindsay said was the best mashed potatoes she had ever had.) Tomorrow Molly and I are canning tomatoes from one of their bulk offerings.

No, it is not organic. (Though they do have a limited edition organic option.) It is not from a farmer's market. It is a group of people using their buying power to get the best deal on produce. They went through a bumpy patch where the goods could have been in better shape but I have been very happy with our last several baskets. I love being able to have my kids exposed to and loving all these great fruits and veggies - we all love it!

Another chance to help...

I have been corresponding with the woman who purchased my auction items from the Nie Day benefit auction. She lives in Texas and is still without electricity and running water in her home following Hurricane Ike but luckily is staying with family that does. I asked what their needs were; in her words: "Boy, Galveston was hit hard though and the Red Cross could use donations."

Click to HERE donate, if you are so inclined. You can choose how your donation will be used, select a local area, where the need is greatest, international relief, etc. Thanks!

It's that time of year again...

"Fall" (meaning, it is September 20th and still 100 degrees) soccer season games started today and we had a great day! Lindsay started with a 7:30am game which was tough to get going but the weather was pleasant. She is now in U-8, on a larger field with referees, throw-ins, keeping score, and goalies. They are the Blue Polar Bears and are wearing a pretty blue jersey. The girls ran the whole field up and down and I think wore themselves out - they need to work on passing and assists. It will take time. For the 4th quarter, Lindsay was the goalie and that was a little rough. She told us afterward she forgot she could use her hands! But, she was all smiles afterwards - that is what counts the most, right? Caroline has moved up to the U-6 division and had a total blast. We were total sweat hogs - the afternoon heat is brutal. Kate wasn't too thrilled about the whole day - it is hot and she coped the best she could. Classic Caroline..."I am cheering for the blue team because that is my favorite color!" The blue team was their opponent! (And happened to be the same color as Lindsay.) Oh well. By the end she was cheering for the Purple Unicorns. You can see by the picture I snapped of her in the van she was wiped out.

We came home and made smoothies for everyone. A great way to cool off and refresh! Here's to cooler Saturdays!

Thank you, Good Will!

Last year I pre-purchased soccer cleats for this year, having found them super cheap. Fall soccer starts and oops - we can only find one of Lindsay's cleats for this year and the other is no where to be found. I hate to spend the $ again especially on something that a kid cannot possibly wear out, so, a trip to Good Will was in order - take my chances on finding a cheap used pair. I loaded the van with my growing give-away pile from the garage and Caroline, Kate and I went to Good Will and made our donation. Just as I was pulling out of the drop off area, I saw a woman pull up with her van and start to unload a crib mattress. My eyes perked up! Our crib mattress has seen better days, the vinyl cover was cracked all over, probably from being stored in the blistering heat of the garage for a few years before being used again! I literally covered the thing in duct tape to keep from having to buy a new one - they aren't cheap! So, I asked the woman if she was donating it. We talked and tried to find the unload helper guy to ask if she could donate and then I could buy it of it was against policy for her just to give it to me. He was nowhere to be found so she said "you can just have it!" FREE. Nice. The duct tape one was OK but kind of weirdly bumpy in places. This will be better, of course! We go inside and go straight to kids shoes to hopefully find what I desperately need. Wahoo! A pair of size 13 Adidas soccer cleats. $2.99. Score!!! We stay in shoes for a while because, Caroline is trying everything on, and we see some roller blades just the size for the girls to use. $5.99. Super fun! We wander around the store, because, you never know what you are going to find there. Well, low and behold, I see a Baby Bjorn carrier. We have one but it is old - it was old when it was a hand-me-down given to us when we had Lindsay and had truly seen better days. This is one of the newest ones. $5.99. Wowza!!! I love my sling but a Bjorn adds versatility with the babes and Daddy can use it. Anyway, a new kitchen rug for in front of my sink, some beautiful wood candle pillars, a black bread basket that matches my kitchen, and a truly horrid mushroom needlepoint (I was after the frame for a project I learned about HERE) and I think I scored!

I love thrift stores. I need to go more often. The blog I referenced above, Joys of Home, has has great decorating ideas and almost everything she gets is from thrift stores or the dollar store. Consider me converted!

School Pictures...

So, I have mixed emotions about school pictures. I have bought them every year. Not a lot, but at least a few. I don't know, there is something about the canned school pictures that are tradition that I can't seem to give up. Of course, I much prefer the portraits we have had done over the years by Shauni or Yvonne or even candid ones done within the family. While I have done it a few times in the past, I am just not that in to the Penney's or Target or Sears studio pictures and it has been several years since I have done those. But alas, the new school year brings school picture time. And last year, I let Lindsay pick the $2 upgrade to the purple background. This year, she chose red. I think it is a cute shot and captures her 2nd grade "look." Could have been worse - I think she is adorable. I love this little 2nd grade munchkin!

2nd grade is giving me a run for the money. When did YOU learn your prepositions? I learned a specific list in 8th grade. Lindsay has mastered prepositions now. The other day she asked me to clarify what a "homonym" was and I could not quite remember. I sometimes have to re-read her story problems to make sure I pull the correct info needed to solve the math problem! Do you know how to map the Direct Object and Prepositional Phrase in a sentence? Was I doing multiplication and division in 2nd grade? (She doesn't think she is doing division but what else do you call it when you are asked on a homework sheet "How many weeks is 56 days?")

She is really enjoying her class and teacher. She is not super warm and fuzzy and I will admit - I was a bit disappointed, but only for a moment. Lindsay really likes her and I have come to really like her too. She says Lindsay is a great student and said she missed her and the class wasn't the same without her when she was sick 2 days last week. I love our school - it is not for everyone, the uniform, the strict dress code, the behavior expectations are stringent - but I appreciate every experience she/we have had at our school. She has great friends and I love being so involved with volunteering and being around the school. It allows me to get to know the staff at a more personal level and I appreciate them as friends.

Do You Know the Muffin Man (Girl)?

Oh, do you know the Muffin Man, the Muffin Man, the Muffin Man,
Oh, do you know the Muffin Man who lives on Bakery Lane?

This week in preschool has been Rhyme Week. Caroline's class has worked on rhyming worksheets and activities and the final part of Rhyme week is "Dress Up as a Nursery Rhyme Day." Caroline had a hard time deciding what or who she wanted to be so we went to one of our collections of nursery rhymes and old school stories. She immediately decided she wanted to be the Muffin Man but a "Girl Muffin Man." We looked at the illustrated picture and decided what she needed to wear - a baker's hat, white clothes, and an apron and bring, of course, some muffins. I remembered we had a nice large chef's hat from Steve's Cub Master days and the rest was easy. This morning we made blueberry muffins and filled a basket to share. We made sure a little dusting of flour made it to her face, because every good baker has a little flour here and there! What really made me laugh was when she wanted wiskers. "Wiskers?" I asked. She then reminded me that the Muffin Man in the book was a cat. Ahhhh.....animal theming in the story book! We ended up skipping the wiskers but chose everything else - the white shirt, some black pants, and a pink apron.

The Muffin Man Girl in action!

Thanks for making muffins with me - they are quite a tasty treat!