Through The Canon

Planning Ahead

2012-02-03T09:56:00.000-08:00

There are so many things to be excited for this year. Right now I am craving a little green. Something other than the brown trees, leaves, and grass that cover everything. Right now, there is not much green outside.

So instead, I am planting seedlings indoors, just the slow growing herbs for now, and writing in my garden journal.

A garden is something that I have dreamed of for years. Two years ago we attempted while we lived at the condo, and turned a large area of our flower garden space in to an herb garden, and planted a few small plants around there, and in pots.

Last year we knew we would be moving, but did not know when. I didn't want to leave a planted garden, but did not want to miss out either. I started a lot of seedlings, hoping we would be moved and I could plant them at our new house. However, with a moving date no where near, and plants outgrowing their starter pots, I transported them to my parents garden, where we grew over 18 tomato plants, watermelon, and pumpkins. At the condo, we mostly planted herbs, and a few carrots, beets, and onions, all in pots, so we could take them when we moved.

Here we are, all moved, and plenty of garden areas set up around the yard. We will be building a few raised beds in addition to what is already on the property.

Here are a few areas that we will be planting in, warning, it is very drab and boring with nothing growing right now. For those of you that visited last summer or fall, you may remember the overgrown jungle that was all of these flowerbeds.

This area is right by our garage, Last year we had a few pots here with herbs, carrots, beets, and onions in them. I am hoping this year to just have a few potted herbs and/or flowers here. The square pot is thyme, we brought it over from the condo, I am hoping it will come back this spring, as it was actually planted two years ago, and came up again last year.

This area is between the back of our house, and the garage. It is all brick back there, with a few small garden areas, the doors to our basement, and a compost bin that we are using during the winter (beats walking to the back of the yard to get to the other one). Half the area covered in straw is already garlic, probably about 24 bulbs that the kids and I planted in the fall. They started sending up shoots, which was not supposed to happen until spring. They are very confused with this unusually warm and near snow less winter that we have had this year.

I the picture below, there is a rose bush, and there was a trellis there that we removed as it was damaged. Hoping the rose bush will be a little fuller this year, I plan on planting something there with it, not quite sure what yet though. Probably an herb as there is not a lot of space next to the rose bush.

I have no idea what kind of tree this is, but we love it. The top gets covered in leaves and makes a big canopy. There are a few hosta plants below and cone flower/echinachia (sp?), hoping I can find something that we are planting that loves shade, and if so, that is the place for it, because the bottom gets a lot of shade. Eventually along the left side of the fence we want to put berries, still deciding on raspberry, strawberry, blueberry or a mix. That will probably be a next year project.

This is the back of our garage, I love this beautiful arbor thing, but I don't know how to use it quire yet. Thinking we may put a garden shed in the middle of the back of it. The seats are spaced pretty far apart to sit there, and there is not a table so we wouldn't eat out there. The kids like to play back there though, the beginning of the arbor makes a great goal for soccer. Miked talked about taking the fence part down, but I may plant a climber there like the green beans. This garden was so overgrown when we moved in, bit by bit we have been weeding it and trying to clean it up. I did some weeding in January (no kidding), and found a raised bed in the back on each side. The people who lived in the home prior to us did not like to garden, so everything in there, has been there for years. It is filled with lavender, lemon balm, a LOT of mint (peppermint and spearmint), about peonies that are different color, a Hawaiian looking flower (hibiscus?), some lilies, a rose bush, and much more. We plan to clean up the mint a bit, we like it for mojitos, but seriously there so sooo much, and I know we could make better use of the space. I am probably going to put mostly herbs in here, because it is pretty much an herb garden on both sides.

This is at the back of the yard, we put a hammock up on the tree, and the garden area is mostly ground cover, actually I think it is all ground cover. You can't tell very well because of all the weeds, but it is lined with stone. I want to clean it all up and I am thinking about putting the spreaders there. The watermelon, cantaloupe, zucchini, luffah guard, and cucumbers, and let them use the area all around the tree.

The garden area that goes along the back is partial sun, it gets a few hours or direct sun, but mostly indirect sun. After it is cleaned up, I am thinking of planting our corn, and maybe tomatoes? We will be putting a potato bin somewhere too, and I am thinking it will be back there somewhere. We get rabbits that come through the back of the fence and in to our yard, we need to come up with a plan to keep them out of the garden area. Whether we do a wire fence along the bottom of the wood fence, or find a natural repellant to use, I do not want them eating our garden!

The tree in this picture came down during a tornado a few years ago that went through town. We have put up birdhouses, it was that or grips for the kids to climb up it like a rock wall. We went with the birdhouses. Behind the dilapidated bench thing is our other compost bin. I plan to use it late summer and fall, and use the one closer to the house in the winter and spring. That area is all weeds right now, all weeds and ivy. After it gets cleaned up, I have no idea what we will plant there. Something, I just don't know what yet. We have more of the brick that is between the house and garage, I want to make a path with it going to the compost bin.

Also in the back yard, we will be building our raised beds. And planting an apple tree.

This little area is by our house, near the neighbors yard. If i remember correctly, I think there were black eyed susan's there? If not some similar sized flower, along with some hens and chicks. I plan to keep the hens and chicks, and hopefully get them to spread, as I like them, and I think I am going to take out the flowers and maybe put some of the ground cherries there, or move one of the peony plants there. Who knows. I will probably get denied by Mike and do something totally different.

Not sure what to do with this area. It is by the deck, a you can see, and there is a large Japanese Maple there. I want to clear out the ivy, just not sure what needs to go in it's place. I may put more calendula there, I put some by the stairs of the deck but want to plant a little more.

This is the window that goes in to our kitchen. I love the trellis here, but it is all ivy along the side of the hose, and we do not like ivy. I want to rip it out, and plant peas along the trellis, and maybe some marigolds in front. Sorry for the horrible picture, it was the last one we took, and Lilah started crying because she wanted to go for a walk, no time to retake.

The front of the house is a large flower bed, but it already has a few shrubs, Japanese Maple, lavender, hydrangea, roses, and a few other plants, and I think I am going to keep it as is, and maybe add more lavender.

There it is. My garden plans for 2012. Not that anyone else probably cares to see all of it, but I am excited, and wanted to share.

One more reason I have not been posting . . .

2011-10-24T10:51:00.000-07:00

As most of our family and close friends know, Jonathan was diagnosed when he was 3 with ADHD. We made changes in his diet, switched to mostly whole foods, eliminated artificial dyes, very limited processed foods and foods including preservatives. We saw great changes in the behaviors we though to be ADHD, and then slowly, we started noticing a whole new set of symptoms. Some have always been there, and others we have noticed in the past 6 months to a year. Some are symptoms are very consistent, and others are very inconsistent, but none the less, they are all part of our life.

For the most part, the average person with occasional contact with him, will probably not even notice anything out of the ordinary. And even for me somedays, I see everything he does as typical behavior for children his age, and think that the doctors are wrong. And everything is normal. And it is, just a different kind of normal. Because there are other moments, other days, where I know that this is not typical.

For he looks typical, walks normal, and carries on conversations.

But when you are pushing your cart with a screaming and crying 5 year old out of Target, the looks that you get are not normal. They tell you that you need to be disciplining your child, and your child should not be having a meltdown at that age. But he is. Because he needed vanilla milk from Starbucks. Once a meltdown starts, you rarely have a chance and making it out unscathed. Regardless of the cause. As your voice rises to discipline him, his emotions go in to overload.

Or when he is sitting in the movie theatre with tears streaming down his cheeks and hiding, because it is just too loud and too scary. Covering his ears when a toilet flushes, power tools are used, trucks drive by, people are singing at church, music is too loud, or leaves are being raked . .

Having to be carried over puddles becuse his shoes can't get wet, walking only on the dry spots after it rains. Yet, swimming in the lake, or splashing in the bathtub or shower is a lot of fun.

Changing a shirt or pair of pants immediately if a sleeve get's wet, or drop of water falls on his clothes. He goes in to a panic.

He's a runner. As in he will take off running. When you are at a busy mall, a crowded farmer's market, a grocery store. The lights are too bright, the noises are too much, the smells are everywhere, all at the same time. And he breaks free. So we try to hold hands, and we hold them tight (but it's hard to do when you are holding bags, pushing a cart/stroller, and also walking with a three year old).

He eats great. He loves fresh fruit, raw and steamed vegetables. But eliminates food from his diet, more and more. Because it is too melty, creamy, too hot, too spicy, not the right brand. He has always loved pizza, but now we order pizza withouth cheese, just sauce and pineapple. Because he does not like "cooked meat" or cheese anymore. Foods he use to love eating, now make him gag, or he will just plain out refuse to eat. Instead he fills his plate with carrots, apples, pears, and a banana. He's not just beng picky, or spoiled, but his tactile senses are out of sync. Anything with a "bad" texture, taste, smell, or look will not be eaten.

Only wearing shoes that can get tighter and tighter. And stopping to tighten them when they get too loose.

There is so much more to this, and I could go on and on, but I wanted to give a little insight in to a typical day.

Jonathan was misdiagnosed with ADHD. He actually focuses very well, when in the right environment.

He is excelling in school , and loving every minute of it (after 2 1/2 weeks of meltdowns each day as I walked out of the room). What he has is called Sensory Integration Disorder, a.k.a. Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). Most of his symptoms are tactile and auditory. We received the diagnosis which is considered a neurological disability by a pediatric neurologist, and will received an additional evaluation by an occupational therapist as we begin sensory therapy. This may remain the sole diagnosis that we receive, but there could be more to come in the future.

But for now, we will do our best to help him cope with this crazy world in the best way possible, with the tools that we have available to us.

So please be patient with us, as we navigate this uncharted teritory. As we learn and grow, and find new ways to cope. Your senses direct so much of your every day life, much more than we realize, and SPD, effects much more than just what you eat, or how your shoes need to fit.

If you are interested in learnig more, I would suggest reading "The Out Of Sync Child". It's a great resource to actually explain what is going on, and how it effect's our child's life.

Reason #1 I haven't been posting . . .

2011-10-24T10:48:00.001-07:00

We moved. In July. To Fenton. We totally outgrew the condo, and the association/builder/property management companies are wack. Yep, wack. So we now live in a house, in downtown Fenton. And we love it. The kids each have their own rooms, we have a decent size yard, and the house has so much character. We have room to play, and have a nice size garden next year. Did I mention we can walk downtown and to the Farmers Market? Now all I need is chickens, and Mike says no. I will post pics . . . . later.

Yes, we have a 3 year old!

2011-10-23T05:52:00.000-07:00

Our little firecracker turned "free" (3) a month and a half ago, I know I am a blogger slacker. But I have excused, and they will come in another post! I couldnt' think of a better time to do a little update on what she has been up to. Lilah brings so much love and joy to the family. When she get's hurt or is tired she needs her "dada". Loves playing with her babies, specially her Bitty Baby "Hoho", which has become a part of the family. Like she goes to doctors appointments for checkups and everything. Loves "hosies", or "hee-hee's". Loves to read Amelia Bedeilia, Fancy Nancy, and American Girl catalogs. Her favorite book right now is "Ponyella". When she is tired, she wants to be held, and let's you know by following you around the house saying "upies". Has done great sleeping in her new bed, in her new room. Stays in her bed all night long most of the time. Likes to ride bikes, but apprently her Dora tricycle at home makes her sad. "Momma, Dora bike me sad. New big princess bike, me happy." She got a big bike for her birthday and it even has a baby carrier in the back. She loves riding it in the driveway, and down the road to the school behind our house, as long as she has a baby in back she is good. If you as me, she goes way too fast for a 3 year old, but she's just trying to keep up with her brother. She follows her brother around wanting to play, or just be in the same room as him. Likes to watch Angelina Balerina, Princess And The Frog, Tangled, Cailou, and Dora. When we dropped Joanthan off for his first day of kindergarten, we had to carry her out of the room crying for her "Bubba". I will randomly tell Jonathan that I am leaving when he is not listening or following us when we are out and about (I know, mom of the year award, but I would never do it), and Lilah throws a fit crying for Jonathan because she doesn't know it is all a trick to get him to move along and stick with us. Anyways, we love this little girl we call Lilah, and I just wante to share.

Updated Bucket List

2011-05-31T06:52:00.000-07:00

I am trying at least. That is what I have to say.

I made pasta. From scratch. And it is yummy. Perfect for chicken noodle soup, or anything else.

I have tried to plant a larger garden. I have planted more plants, so many that I have no where to put them. And the kids have helped.

I edited the 365 project, and made it a weekly thing. Then it dropped off the face of this planet in March when we started packing things, showing the house, and preparing to hopefully move some day. Or in a few hundred years or so it seems.

Jonathan and I are on book 31 of the Magic Treehouse Series, on track to complete the series this year.

I have not blogged more, but the year is not over yet :)

Photography business on hold until this twister puts us down somewhere.

We have been doing great budgeting, paying off debt, and saving this year, Dave Ramsey Style.

I caught a fish! This weekend! With Jonathan's fishing pole, and I made my sister take it off the hook and toss is back in the water for me. After wioshing him well, he started swimming again. Success!

Not many date nights yet. But next weekend is our anniversary, and we are committed to going on a date Saturday night, Mike has to work on our anniversary. So I will celebrate it with the kids! Maybe we'll have a romantic dinner or something.

Lilah uses regular cups not all the time, unless we are on the road, or she cries for a lid. Down to a few plastic plates yet, but they use our normal dishes a lot. They will be gone soon. Promise.

I still need to write my matron of honor speech, Sarah get's married in less than 3 weeks!! Someone help me!!

I made toothpaste. It was okay. I don't think I will make it again though. No one else would use it.

Homemade Laundry Detergent

2011-01-11T10:54:00.000-08:00

I have been making our laundry detergent for about 10 months now. I have hesitated sharing the recipe until I was sure that we really liked it. Granted we still have about 6 bottles of All/Tide left, I thought I would make up another batch and share the recipe.

I have made a few batches of powered detergent, and a large 5 gallon batch of liquid detergent, and I think I like that best.

The ingredients you will want to make sure you have on hand before you get started are:

Washing Soda - This is not baking soda. It must be washing soda. I have had the best luck finding it at Kroger or Meijer. Normally under $3 a box, it is almost always on the top shelf in the laundry isle.

Borax - I have been able to find this at Target, Kroger, and Meijer, all in the laundry isle, normally on the top shelf. This normally runs around $4 a box.

Water - I can normally find this in the faucet of my sink :)

Bar of Soap - I have used Ivory, Fels Naptha, and Irish Springs. Depends on what we have in the pantry. For this batch I used a bar of Johnson and Johnson baby soap that needed to be used up, I won't use it on their skin so they need to be used up somehow! I would love to use Dr. Bronners instead but I have so much free stuff so I am going to be frugal until it is gone.

Oxygen Cleaner - I am adding this for the first time. After a few loads with my previous recipes I felt like some of the kids clothes looked a little dingy. I have read that added Oxy Clean or a similar product will take care of that issue. I use SUN brand because it's around $2 a Walmart and this is all that I use it for.

1 Cup Washing Soda
1/2 Cup Borax
1/2 Cup Oxygen Cleaner
1 Bar of Soap (grated)

Bring a quart of water to a boil. While waiting for the water to boil, grate the bard of soap. I use a had grater for this but you could also use a food processor. Once the water is boiling, stir in the soap a little at a time until it is all in and melted. Fill a 5 gallon bucket with 3 gallons of water. Mix in Washing Soda, Borax, and Oxygen Cleaner. Add boiling water/soap mixture and stir. Add in another gallon or two of water and mix together in the bucket.

Don't make the mistake I did of mixing all the ingredients in the boiling water after the soap melted. All was well for about 30 seconds, then I had a big foamy mess that was all over the stove, kitchen floor, and sink. Make sure they go in the 5 gallon bucket.

Cover the bucket and let it sit overnight. Next day the laundry detergent will be done. It will be a silly texture. Somewhere between clumpy slime, jello, and egg drop soup. This is normal. Just stir it all up, or mix with an immersion blender. Now you can put it in smaller buckets, jars, or empty detergent bottles. Just add 1/4-1/2 a cup to a load of laundry.

This saves a ton of money! We go back and forth using homemade detergent, and bottles that I "purchased" near free last year. Once those are gone, we'll be strictly using homemade.

52 Project - Week 1

2011-01-01T19:14:00.000-08:00

I think the 365 project is going to be a 52 project, a picture of each of the kids, every week. That I can do. Every day though, specially in the winter, would be a huge struggle to do a 365 project, and missing a day would give me anxiety. It's hard enough to fit in dinner and a bath before bedtime, let alone a picture. But week 1 was a success, I have photos of each of the kids. Tomorrow starts week 2 . . . You can follow along on my Flickr page as well . . .http://www.flickr.com/photos/moorephotography/?saved=1

One picture, of each child, every week. That I can. Bucket List items can be modified right?

Picture 1 for Jonathan is a photo of him watching Tessa play on the computer with grandma. I think they were playing a Barbie game.

Picture 1 for Lilah I LOVE. She climbed up on grandpa's lap exhausted and within a few minutes fell asleep. Too cute. You can even tell what team grandpa was hoping would win today.

2011 Bucket List

2010-12-30T11:54:00.000-08:00

2011 Bucket List

It's that time of year. Instead of setting new years resolutions, that won't last longer than January, I decided to do a bucket list. Too many things to list for the rest of my life, so I will just start with 2011. I will try to revisit this as items are accomplished, as one item on my list is to blog more :)

Make Pasta

Plant a larger garden, let the kids help
Complete a 365 photo project on my children

Make more meals homemade and from scratch
Use more natural and homeopathic remedies for first aid and minor colds, aches, and pains

Pack lunches for the kids and myself consistently, and pack breakfast for Jonathan on school days

Finish reading Magic Treehouse Series with Jonathan

Share more. Blog more.

Finish reading "The Jesus Storybook" with the kids, and continue rereading it with them.

Complete my photography website, and work on marketing materials
Expand photography business and skills.

Continue sticking to budgeting Dave Ramsey style, and working on baby steps
Can more applesauce
Make more of an effort to recycle consistently

Catch a fish

Have a date night with hubby, once a month, we need it!

Eliminate the kids plastic plates, they are just fine using the small plates

Move Lilah to using regular cups unless traveling

Write a good maid of honor speech, because someone is getting married this year!

Spend as much time at the cabin as we can this year

Spend more time with friends
When my backstock of toothpast runs out sometime this year, start making our toothpaste

Lead Me

2010-11-15T11:50:00.000-08:00

I see their faces, look in their innocent eyes
They're just children from the outside
I'm working hard, I tell myself they'll be fine
They're independent
But on the inside, I can hear them saying...

“Lead me with strong hands
Stand up when I can't
Don't leave me hungry for love
Chasing dreams, but what about us?

Show me you're willing to fight
That I'm still the love of your life
I know we call this our home
But I still feel alone”

If you are wondering, the song is by Sanctus Real. Love it.

It just amazes me every day how all the little things we do, and the decisions we make, the way that we live our life, it effects the little one's more than we realize. That is their reality, what they hear from us, the values we have, our reactions to every day life, it makes them who they are. Absolutly amazing that I have a hand in who my children become.

It makes me want to be more patient, show the unconditional love that is given to us to share, it makes me want to be a better person.

Both of the kids are doing wonderful right now, here is a little insight in to what has been going on in our four walls.

Jonathan is enjoying school and learning a lot. He is learning to be responsible. He has homework almost every weekend, and each week there is a little project or activity that we do together and initial off on his monthly calendar. We are about to start book 18 in the Magic Treehouse series, he still loves listening to his books at bedtime. We got the top part to Jonathan's bed, he is now sleeping on the top bunk of the same bunk beds that Becky and I shared when we were little. The bottom bunk is currently reserved for Mike or I if we are needed in their room, it's not very comfortable though, but I would take it over our full bed with four people in it. Since moving to the top bunk though, Jonathan has slept all night in his bed all but one night. He has been doing great with his chore chart the past few weeks. Almost every day last week he made his bed, set the table, and cleaned either his bedroom or the living room. He is getting very good at cleaning too, when he cleaned the living room last weekend he even picked up all of Lilah's doll house and set it up nice and neat. He loves quietly playing in his room with his Lego's or Playmobil guys. He'll shut the door and play in there for hours, the trick is keeping Lilah out of there and from ruining what he is building and setting up. I really wish he had his own room with a little more privacy so he could keep some of his toys our safely, but they do need eachother at bedtime! He got a Nintendo DS yesterday. I wanted to get him one for a while, and I totally shoudl have saved it for Christmas, but he has one now. And he loves playing Club Penguin. It's good to help him calm down before bed, or in the car, or when his little mind is running a mile a minute. For the most part, he just loves his sister so much. He wants to marry her, when I explained that he couldn't, he cried and was very upset. For some reason, this is a regular topic of conversation, who he is going to marry. Ideally he would marry Lilah or his cousin Tessa. I know he'll change his mind when he is older, but how do you tell him that now when it breaks his heart. Each week he thinks of someone new he can marry. Last night when he said his bedtime prayers, he prayed that God would take care of Lilah and keep her safe. This little man just makes my heart melt. He may be a little wild and rambunctious, but he has the best heart. I can't wait to see the man that he grows up to be.

Miss Lilah is on to new and exciting things. All of a sudden in the past two weeks she has become potty trained. We'll not all of a sudden, it has taken a lot of hard work and patience, but it has paid off. She still has about one accident at daycare each day, but she is dry at home all day long, even when running errands and leaving the house. I am very excited. We use Pull-Ups at night for her, but 90% of the time they are dry in the morning, they are more of a precaution so I don't have to wash sheets more often! Her digestive issues seem to be finally getting a little better, I am sure it is because we finally have an appointment with a pediatric GI specialist at the end of the month. I am still going to take her though, just feel like something isn't quite right still. I am thinking it is a food intollerance still, just not convinced it is the dairy anymore. She is learning new words and phrases all the time. One of her new favorites is "oh my" (not sure where she gets that from ), and she has called me a "cookoo head", that one comes from her big brother. It's too bad she's calling names because it is almost too cute to stop her from saying it. My favorite Lilah'isms are "my lololololo",which could be cereal or stroller, depending on the conversation. I really need to get a good video of it, she is already starting to say it a little better. She loves singing her preschool songs. She tells me what to sing, and then we sing it together. Both of the kids LOVE Sugarland right now, they request the cd everyy time we are in the car. They looks so cute singing "Stuck Like Glue" in the backseat together, and then following 3 songs they also have memorized. This little girl has more independance in her than I have ever seen. Everything is "me do" or "I do". She has to climb in the van and her carseat herself. If you help her, we have to start all over from the beginning. Very time consuming. After going potty, she has to put her panties, pants, and socks all back on by herself when we are at home. Usually ends up with her looking like a mermaid and me having to help, but she has to decide she needs help, or it is a fight not worth fighting. Rather than every little task turning in to a battle, this is one I have chosen to let her win. Kind of sad she is so independant at some times, but then when she clings to me and I have to carry her around the house, or around my leg, I feel a little more needed. am already dreading the teenage years, if this is a view of things to come, we are in trouble!

I just love the little people they are becoming, I just wish they weren't growing up so fast.

* I do still need to do another post or two about our vacation. I still haven't even had a chance to go through the photos though yet.

Vacation Part 2

2010-10-10T17:14:00.001-07:00

Tuesday morning we woke up early and were out of the house by 6:45 to head to Mackinac. It was about a two hour drive to get there. We stopped through a drive through to pick up a quick breakfast and just a few miles down the road Jonathan started throwing up. Lovely. Tried to determine if it was from riding in the car, a stomach virus, or just some random kid puke. Whatever it was he seemed to be feeling better so we kept going and got on the 9:30 boat ride to the island. The kids loved the boat ride, Jonathan packed binoculars so he was able to look out and see the island, bridge and other random items close up.

Our plans to borrow a backpack carrier fell through and after much searching to buy one before going to Mackinac were unsuccessful, I don't think the sell those things in stores. We ended up picking up an umbrella stroller, I always wanted one. Sounds silly, but we never got one. Well we have one now, and it is hilarious to listen Lilah say "stroller". We used the umbrella stroller around the island for Lilah. It ended up working out just fine, a little hard up the big hills but it was manageable. First we went to the fort. The kids loved it, specially the kids room. Jonathan kept wanting to go back there. We walked around going in all the buildings and saw the gun and cannon demonstration. We hiked to Sugar Loaf, Arch Rock, Skull Cave, and walked through the cemetery. Jonathan hated the horses because he hates horse poop. He would randomly say he could smell the horses coming and he did not like them or their poop. Can't blame him, I like horses, but I also am not a fan of horse poop. I don't know if it was because most kids were in school, or maybe it was senior day, but the island was filled with blue hair. Tons of carriages went by filled with seniors, and they loved the kids, and the kids loved waiving to them all. We stopped for a picnic lunch at Skull Cave, and Mike and Jonathan, and then Jonathan and I walked around the base of Sugar Loaf. He did awesome hiking all day.
We walked down all the streets downtown and went in a few stores, then decided to take the boat back to Mackinaw City. We packed a bag for overnight in case we decided not to drive back to the cabin. And we did. We stayed in a hotel in Mackinaw City. We were exhaused and so were the kids. We ate dinner at a really nice little restaurant called "Pizza Palace", had all the intentions of getting pizza but the rest of the menu looked so delicious. A few bites in to dinner Jonathan started covering his mouth and saying he was going to throw up. He needed some fresh air outside, so we took turns taking him outside for fresh air. If I didn't know any better I woudl say my 4 year old son was pregnant. He never got sick that night, but he did not feel good for sure. We walked around Mackinaw City and let the kids play on a playground we found in the outside mall. After that we decided to go drive around. We drove over the bridge and back. Stopeed to take pictures a few times and look for the best view. Love how my husband is always thinking of me :) After a few meltdowns abotu wanting to stay on cousin Jace's island and drive to see him, we headed back to the hotel. I am sure we all fell alseep before 10. Mike woke around 1 and the lights were all still on and so was the tv. Guess we were a little tired. Bummed I missed Parenthood, I was so excited we had tv for the night, but grateful for a fun day and a somewhat good nights rest.

Vacation Part 1

2010-10-09T18:26:00.000-07:00

We absolutely love my parents cabin on Horseshoe Lake, and decided to spend a week there for our vacation.

While Mike headed up for his annual (and I mean annual as in it is one day each year, and the remaining 364 days are spent talking about it and planning for next year) golf tournament, the kids and I headed up to the cabin, and met Reema (Grandma Moore), Aunt Lacey, Tessa, and Lili. It was great having them up there with us. It was very cold, but the kids enjoyed walking to the beach, boat dock, going on a nature scavenger hunt, playing playdough, making their own pizzas for dinner, decorating pumpkins, and eating popcorn by the campfire. Mike, papa Moore, and Mr. Gary arrived just in time for an awesome breakfast, and afterwards the kids went fising. Lilah and Lili enjoyed their fishing poles made by Reema with a stick, yarn, and paperclip. She is crafty! Jonathan and Tessa used their "real" fishing poles and attempted to catch fish with corn. I think they liked the popcorn the kids fed them the night before better though. After fishing Reema, Aunt Lacey, and the girls headed home.

The four of us decided to take a much needed family nap, and relaxed at the cabin for the rest of the day. There is no tv at the cabin, so the kids play with the few toys we have up there, read books, do puzzles, and play games. Nice and quiet, however the neighbors may not have the same response.

Monday we spend the day trying to track down a backpack carrier to use at Mackinaw, unsuccessfully. We did got to one of our favorite nearby towns, Tawas, for some awesome ice cream at the Mackinaw Creamery, and walked around downtown.

Where did all the coupons go?

2010-08-17T06:55:00.000-07:00

They are still sitting in the newspaper stand. While couponing taught me a lot about smart grocery shopping, my cart was often filled witth boxed, processed foods, and cleaners containing harmful chemicals. It did allow us to start saving money, and learn how to budget, well couponing and Dave Ramsey at least.

However, in the past 6 months, our shopping cart has changed drastically. We still manage to stay in our grocery budget, $2oo a month, but what is in our cart has changed. If you were to look in it now, you would not see any cleaners, any boxes of processed foods, no disposable diapers or wipes, it is filled with bread flour instead of a loaf of bread, organic meats instead of marked down meat from the discount section, organic fruit strips instead of "fruit" snacks, organic milk that is not ultra pasturized instead of free gallons of regular milk for buying processed cereals, whole oats and organic cereal instead of Frosted Flakes and Apple Jacks, whole grain rice, whole grain pasta (which I will be making soon), and real maple syrup instead of maple flavored high fructose corn syrup.

We fit this in to our budget by making our food from scratch. We don't buy or eat as much meat, but the meat we buy is better quality, hormone free, and organic. I am not spending $5 on 5 things of deoderant at a good price, I am making our own for around the same price. We don't buy boxes of pancake mix, we make it, normally from soaked whole wheat flour. I have found that 90% of the coupons in the paper, are not for items we regularly by anymore.

Every now and then there will be a coupon for a safer toothpaste without artificial colors/flavors, sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), or a cereal without artifical colors/flavors such as Cascadia Farms (I can get this for normally under $1.50 a box with coupons, and we stock up!!), Annies Mac And Cheese which also has no artificial colors instead of Kraft glowing orange mac and cheese. Why consumers think we need all of these aritifical ingredients in their food are beyond me, honestly all of the artificial colors and flavors are covering up how crappy the food really is. They put them in there to make it more appealing to consumers. I could go on forever, really I could. I still love coupons, but only for products that we will use and are safe for my family.

Instead of spending money on "deals", for foods that will not be "deals" for our health in the long run, we are putting our money to better use. We have a small garden (and I do mean small, remember we live in a condo), we shop at local Farmers Markets 1-2 times a week, and we preserve the fresh organic produce that we can get right now in season. Through canning and freezing. I will no longer have to buy cans of tomatoes that have BPA in the lining, or spend a fortune on safer, organic, canned tomatoes. Instead, I spend $10 for a bushel of fresh, organic, tomatoes, that shoudl last us through the winter. I may still buy another if I can get it at a good price, but you get the point. I can buy better with the same amount of money. After the Farmers Markets are over in October, I may go through a breif periof of depression (jst kidding), but we will be signing back up for Michigan Door To Door Organics to supplement what we have preserved, so we can stilll have high quality, organic produce,throughout the winter. Maybe I can even find 3 more people to order from them with me, so we can have a co-op and get even better prices.

What started out as a small diet change for Jonathan, turned in to our entire family eating better.

A Little Bit Of Life

2010-07-23T13:02:00.000-07:00

Mr. Jonathan is doing great. I think he has gone from getting a few time outs a day to getting just a few a week. Our modified diet is going great for him. He's always been such a good eater. He loves his veggies, and he has never refused to try anything. He may not like it, but he will at least always try it once, and that is perfectly fine with me. We love Summer Reading time at the library, and we almost read our 600 pages for home, and I think they have both exceeded that at daycare. Mike and I have been reading The Magic Treehouse books to Jonathan at bedtime. We are on book #10 and he is loving them. I think reading chapter books with minimal pictures is really helping him to focus on the story you are telling him and he is doing great with it. We ahve also been reading his Bible Stories for Boys book, and he loves learning about the Bible and listening to the different stories. His favorite place to go right now is Nana and Papa's cabin, he loves going up to spend the night and go to the beach. He is getting much more adventerous in the water this year, he is real interested in learning how to swim but still kind of afraid. He will however let his lifejacket holdhim up and he'll play around and try to swim. Soccer and tennis season are both done and he had a great time. I think he has a little more interest in tennis, I may try to find him indoor lessons to take this fall. He will be starting preschool this fall, I'll admit I am a little nervous, however excited to buy school clothes and a cute little backpack. So sad though to think that once he starts school, he is not going to stop until he graduates. The kids have been going to Bible School every Wednesday night and they are loving it. Filled with music, activities, and stories. They even end the night with a campfire. I love hearing Joanthan tell me the new verses they are learning and hearing him sing new songs. He asked me last night if he would meet new friends in preschool like he does at Bible School, when I told him yes, his reply was "Good, I like to meet new friends and see all the different colors of their shirts". Love that little man.

(And the scrape on his nose, yea, that was from book surfing)

Miss Lilah is finally starting to say a few more words. Not to mention growling at her friends to scare them. Who could be afraid of little ol' Lilah you say? Well she has made a few of them cry. Joanthan went through a growling phase around the same age, maybe my kids just like to let their inner animal out. She LOVES playing with her baby's and feeding them, and us. She has a new baby doll, Mater Kangaroo (named by Jonathan), and her other baby's name is "Joey" (also named by Jonathan). I can't believe she is going to be 2 in less than a week. Went from this little baby hooked up to a monitor to a very adventurous little lady. Still struggling to get just about any form of vegetable in her, so I make secret smoothies every other day and fill them with kale, zucchini, cucumber, or whatever veggies I have handy. She has liked most of them and drank them just fine. Makes me happy. Add a little fruit and yogurt in there and she has no clue. Pretty soon I will no longer have any babies :( I think when you turn two you are automatically a toddler, I am not ready for that. Lilah als has a lot of interest in going pee, she'll tell me she has to go, and run to the potty real fast, yet she never goes. Just wants so sit there, FOREVER, and use lots of toilet paper. It's becoming a wasteful hobby. Secretly, I could care less if she potty trains anytime soon. Then I would not have anyone to put in her cute little cloth diapers. She is getting a doll house for her birthday from us, the Fisher Price Loving Family dollhouse. I can't wait. I just may take it out of the box and play with it myself. She is going to love it. Lilah will also be starting "preschool time" at daycare this fall. She has done a good job listening at Bible School and paying attenting so I hope she will really enjoy it and soak it all up. Maybe even add a few new words. I know, once she starts really talking she will never stop.

So that's it. Not much new, kids just keep growing. We just keep feeding them!

All You Ever Wanted To Know About Your Armpits

2010-07-23T05:23:00.000-07:00

Mike thought I had totally gone crazy last week when I told him what I made while I was home with sick kids. Everytime I make or do something new, he thinks I am becoming a hippie.

For a few years now I have been trying to find a deoderant that would work for me, that did not contain aluminium. That has been a losing battle. Every time I tried a deoderant different from my trusty "Secret", I seemed to stink a bit. They didn't work for me. So I just kept on using Secret.

It worked, don't get me wrong, but I was very concerned about what was in it. There are studies showing that the aluminum in deodorant can travel throughout your body after being absorbed and has been known to cause cancer. I know what you may say, doesn't everything cause cancer these days? And that is a big yes!! Because everything is so processed and artificial, what do you think all those things are made of? Chemicals. Anyways, I will do anything I can to eliminate my family's exposure to them. And this is one small way to do it.

So back to making my deoderant, I ran across this recipe from Passionate Homemaking and it looked easy to do, and we had all the ingredients.

Ingredients

7 tbs coconut oil (this is in a liquid form over 76 degrees, and a solid if it is cooler)

1/4 cup baking soda

1/4 cup cornstarch

5-10 drops of essential oil (we use tea tree)

I mized together the powdered ingredients and then added the coconut oil mixing and tea tree oil. I stirred it with a wooden spoon until it was completly mixed together and pasty. After I got it mixed, I set it on the warm stove to melt a little. It removed any air bubbles and smoothed out the top filling in all the little spaces. Then I put it in the refridger to solidify. I took it out after an hour or so and it has been solid since. We keep the jar in our bathroom or bedroom.

It was so easy to do. Took literally just a few minutes, and now have a jar of completly natural deoderant. I put it in a small canning jar, because we have a lot of them, and just scoop out a little every morning. You can also put it in an empty deoderant container. I might try that next time. I just thought it looked nicer in a jar.

And my armpits smell lovely, if I do say myself. I have been using it over a week now with complete success. No end of the day stinky armpits, we even went up to the cabin last weekend and it was a complete success after being in the sun all day with no air conditioning. Even with Secret I would have been stinky by then :)

Homemade Yogurt

2010-06-27T07:51:00.001-07:00

I have been making our yogurt for a few months now, and it is just too easy not to share. I make because it is healthier than most yogurts, and I know what is in it. It is a lot cheaper than buying organic yogurt in the store.

The recipe does take a lot of time, about 13 hours, but the effort is very small.

I use all organic ingredients, but you could also substitute for non-organic.

Items needed:

Crockpot or Slow Cooker
8 Cups of Milk (Horizon Organic Whole Milk)
4-6 ounce container of yogurt, plain or vanilla (Stonyfield French Vanilla)
Sugar
Real vanilla

I noted the brands that we use,but you can pick your favorite. I use all organic ingredients, but you could also substitute for non-organic.

First, put 8 cups of milk in the crockpot on low, cover and let it heat for 2 1/2 hours. After 2 1/2 hours, unplug the crockpot and let it sit for 3 hours. After 3 hours, pour 1-2 cups of the milk from the crockpot in a bowl, and mix with the container of yogurt. After it is mexed well, pour in to the crockpot and mix thoroughly. Wrap your crockpot in a towel to insulate it, and put in a warm place for 8 hours. ( I like to put it in the oven, with the oven light on). After 8 hours, stir the yogurt, a few teaspoons of vanilla, and add sugar to taste. If you just want plain yogurt, you do not need to add sugar and vanilla.

I like to separate the yogurt in to small containers. I will sometimes add fruit to the containers. I also like to put a little flax seed, wheat germ, granola, and jam in it for a yogurt parfait.

For us, the best time to start the yogurt making process is on a Friday or Saturday evening about 6 hours before you will go to bed, or Saturday or Sunday first thing in the morning.

Miniature Gardening Adventure

2010-06-24T18:55:00.001-07:00

I always had a garden growing up and have wanted to start one for my family. Being that we live in a condo, our options are limited, but we make due.

We started our herb garden last year. Sage, Oregano, Dill, Cilantro, Chives and Mescaline Lettuce Mix all came back up this spring. This year we added in more Basil, Parsley, Thyme, more Dill, and Spearmint (for Mojitos!). You can also see two of our tomato plants in the picture, on the top left container is our Tumbling Tom, no tomatoes yet but lots of blossoms. Sitting in the herb garden in a green planter is our Patio Princess tomato plant. This one already has about 7 little tomatoes starting. Planted in the herb garden right below are a few tomato plants that Jonathan started from seed.

The area above is where we planted a few vegetables. I do have some lavender near the planter on the left, but other than than we have zucchini, green beans, green peppers, red peppers, kale, and onions. If all goes well I think I will add more next year in another area.

Jonathan started this little pot of marigolds and he is so excited a few of the flowers are blossoming.

Cleaning Without Harmful Chemicals

2010-06-02T17:44:00.000-07:00

One of the first attempts I made to rid our house of harmful chemicals, and save money while doing it, was replacing the harmful chemical cleaners in our house. I wanted something more natural, that cleaned just as well, and didn't cost more than the .50 bottles of Lysol or Windex I could pick up with coupons.

After trying a few recipes, we have found a few that we love.

Here are the ingredients and instructions on how to make our favorites.

All Purpose Cleaner
1 tsp Washing Soda
1 tsp Dish Soap (Seventh Generation - Lavender)
Fill container with hot water

Disinfectant
Fill bottle half way with hot water, and half way with white vinegar.
Add 5-10 drops Essential Oil (We use Orange as an extra disinfectant)

*we use this mostly in the kitchen. Takes a while to get used to the vinegar smell, but now we associate it with cleaning.

Glass Cleaner
Fill bottle half way with rubbing alcohol, and half way with water

*The smell of the alcohol is a little strong, make sure the room you are cleaning is well ventilated

Homemade Baby Wipes

2010-05-31T11:31:00.001-07:00

After Lilah received a chemical burn from the Pampers Dry Max Diapers a little over a month ago, and then reading what disposable diapers are made of, we have decided to start using cloth diapers. We have a few boxes of disposables to use up, thanks to a little email I sent to Pampers, but we have already started using cloth at home. I totally wish I started this earlier. Along with cloth diapers, we have been using cloth wipes.

I toyed with making my own wipes when Jonathan was a baby, using paper towels. But I never fell in love with them. They always seemed too wet, and didn't clean well.

These wipes, I have fallen in love with. Well, as much as you can love something that wipes your kids butt.

For the fabric, I purchased some homemade cloth wipes from a vendor at a mom to mom sale. Love these. But at $1 a piece, I decided to make my own. I cut up a flannel receiving blanket of Lilah's. After a few washes, the sides are not fraying as much, and these have been working perfect. They are so soft. What would take 5-6 disposable wipes, only dirties 2 cloth wipes.

I stack the cloth wipes in a wipes container and they fit perfect.

Next I make the wipe solution. There are many different versions that you can make, but this is one that I have tried and loved. And it is made from ingredients that we always have on hand.

1 1/2 cups of boiled water
1 tbs white vinegar (keeps bacteria from growing)
1 tbs baby body wash (we use California Baby Calming)
1 tbs Coconut Oil

Mix all the ingredients until coconut oil dissolves and let cool to room temperature.

After the wipe mixture cools, pour over the container of wipes until they are soaked through.

Now your wipes are ready to go!

* You can also put the solution in a spray or squirt bottle and wet each wipe as you use them. For us, I want them ready to go so I keep them wet. I have never had a problem with them getting moldy as the vinegar is a disinfectant and keeps it from growing, we also use them up every few days.

I keep a little bucket in the bathroom, and toss them in there along with our diaper inserts. Evert few days they get washed in HOT water. I will start keeping them in a wet bag as soon as I can get one.

Have you ever made homemade wipes? What works best for you?

Out Little Firecracker

2010-05-03T18:32:00.001-07:00

My how this little thing fills our life with light!

Fresh Baked

2010-05-03T18:17:00.001-07:00

Mmm. . . this picture makes me hungry.
We have been making our own bread for about 3 months now. I wanted a bread maker for a few months before that, but they are expensive, take up room, and I wasn't sure how much I would use it. To test our my craving to make bread, I picked up a breadmaker at a resale shop, for $6.99. It is one of the wide ones that can make a 1lb or 2lb loaf. Ton of different setting on it. It even had the original receipt and instruction book with it. Purchased from Target for $169.99, for $6.99, a great deal!

As I looked through the manual preparing to make my first loaf, I noticed that the previous owner had added notes, adjustments that she/he made to the recipes. I have made almost all of the recipes in the original manual, with the recommended adjustments. She even had a separate recipe in there for English Muffin bread, one of our favs!

I would be happy with this breadmaker had I been the one to pay $169.99. I LOVE it. One of the best investments we have made. Since making my first load, we have not purchased a single loaf of bread from the store. As a matter of fact, the only bread product we have purchased has baan 2 packages of hotdog buns (I have even made those, just did not have time).

I make all of our "normal loafs", loafs that we bake in the bread machine, use for sandwiches and lunches.

Mike makes all of our "special breads". At first I wasn't sure how he would feel about us making our breads, but he has really taken to the idea, and joined in the process. Mike will make french baguetts occassionally, and french baguettes with garlic (the larger loaf in the picture), and other fancy little loafs. The 3 in the picture are my fav. He made those today. the mini loaf of bread I am using to make the kids sandwiches, Jonathan is going to love it. The other small one I am using for a sandwich tomorrow, and I can't wait.

This saves us a lot of money, is more nutritious than store bought breads, and we have fun doing it.

Early Easter

2010-04-01T18:03:00.001-07:00

We started taking Jonathan to Sunday school about a month ago, he is still a little hesitant when we leave him, but he is learning so much and has a good time if you ask him when we pick him up. Lilah goes to the nursery too, a few tears at first, but then she does pretty good. Jonathan's teacher, and the ladies in the nursery are awesome. We really love the church a lot. Mike is transfering his membership over, and I am acutally taking a class that starts in a few weeks to become a member.

Last weekend we took the kids to an Easter Egg hunt at our Church. They had a great time finding eggs, making crafts, playing games, listening to stories, and eating treats. It was really nice that we were all able to go, as Mike is working all weekend, including Easter.

Warning, all the photos below are completely uncropped and unedited, yea, that's my new thing. Snapshots. I really don't take enough.

I made it!

2010-03-17T10:57:00.001-07:00

Over the last few months, I have been trying to find ways to make things better for my family, and save us some money as well. There are two major things that have changed, and have made a big impact.

1. I have made all of our bread for the past 2 months

2. I made laundry detergent

1. I picked up a breadmaker at an excellent price and decided I would no longer buy bread from the store. Normally I tried to spend as little as possible, and would often pick up the $1 loaf from Kroger, even better sometimes I would get it marked down to .50 . Decent price for a loaf of bread. But do you know what is in it? Either do I.

Right now, I can tell you exactly what is in the bread used to make my kids sandwiches. 3 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour, 2 tbs mollasses, 1 egg, 1 1/3 cups of water, 1 tbs honey, 2 tbs dry milk, 1 1/4 tsp salt, and 1 1/2 tsp yeast.

Literally, it takes about 2 minutes to put the ingredients in the bread maker. Every single loaf I have made has turned out great. I make about 2 loafs a week. We have tried French Bread, Country White, Graham, Whole Wheat, Sourdough, French Baguette, and I have even made hotdog and hamburger buns.

It's better for you, and cheaper. It's a win, win situation.

2. Even though we currently have around 10 bottles of Tide and All in our laundry room, it's going to run out someday. Eventually, I am sure it will. Even though each of those bottles were purchased for less than $2 (most around $1), it still adds up. Even though we use cold water to wash most of our clothes, they still fade a lot. I have been wanting to do this for a while, so I researched a few recipes and decided to make my own laundry detergent.

It was much simpler than I imagined.

1 bar of soap (grated)

1/2 cup Borax

1 cup Washing Soda (not baking soda)

We used Ivory soap because I had 3 free bars, and I made a triple batch. You only need to use 1-2 tbs per load. So far it has been working great. The clothes are coming out clean and smelling good. I think the next batch I make I am going to use Fels Naptha soap. I bought a bar, I think it will help keep Mike's work shirts clean and the kids clothes.

It's simple, and a great way to use up some of the free bars of soap I can get with coupons.

My next goal is to make dish detergent, when my last 8 boxes run out.

A Day In The Life Of . . . Jonathan

2010-02-06T17:38:00.000-08:00

Not too much new to say here. Mr. Jonathan got a new bed this week. The bottom bunk of of the set of beds Becky and I shared when we were little. The top will be soon to come. Both of the kids love climbing and playing on it. We thought it would be a good time to get rid of the night time Pull-Ups, Jonathan has been potty trained during the day since he was 2 1/2, but we can't seem to stay dry overnight. The first night went okay, we got up and took him to the bathroom at 10, 12, 3, and 5. Stayed dry. The following 3 nights though he wet the bed, I guess we need Pull Ups a little longer at night. He has been wanting to learn how to spell EVERYTHING, and he can read a few words. Did a great job helping me make French Toast this morning, he pretty much did everything. Following these pictures, I found him in his camo pants, a Detroit Lions jersey, wearing his Lightning McQueen backpack (filled with his camera and playfood), wearing his guitar, pushing a pink shopping cart filled with his Linus Blanket. I love this man.

A Day In The Life Of . . . Lilah

2010-02-06T17:19:00.000-08:00

My little gymnast. Today, she has been obsessed with the kitchen table. Seriously, I can't hide all 5 chairs. She will climb up on a chair when I am not looking, and from there on to the kitchen table. I have rescued her from the laundry basket, a stool she got up on in the bathroom and couldn't get down, climbed up on the toilet and could not get down, climbed in to a very small plastic bin that holds her Legos and could not get out (3 times today), standing on her rocking horse and could not get down, and she climbed under her brothers bed and could not get out, and tried fitting in her baby stroller, on top of the baby. I really do love this stage though, good or bad she is learning so much.

Using Upromise

2010-01-28T12:11:00.000-08:00

We have really been trying to find new ways to save money this year, and earn money. As most of you know, I am an avid coupon user. I get coupons from the paper, print them from online, and even tie coupons to my Kroger card. I have also had a Upromise account from before either of the kids were born, and it is attached to my Kroger and CVS card. I had it tied to a friends account, and when I purchased certain items, it would make a contribution to her kids college funds. I have since added my kids and I am still using it. Little by little, it helps to save for their college. I want to be able to pay for at least half of the kids college without having to take out any loans or use credit cards.

If you do not already have a Upromise account, or do not want to set one up for your family, please sign up to help us save. There is no committment, you do not have to buy anything special, but little by little when you do purchase items that qualify, a small deposit will be made.

I have a link you can click on to sign up and tie your shoppers card to(Kroger, CVS . . . ).

http://upromise.com/guest/2427436130

Double Bedtime Trouble

2010-01-10T19:32:00.000-08:00

My kids go to bed at 8:00. Just about every night. It's now 10:32 and this what I am dealing with. Somehow I went from two kids sleeping in their own beds, to two kids not sleeping in my bed.

Through His Eyes

2009-12-28T19:20:00.001-08:00

As I mentioned in my previous blog, Jonathan got a camera for Christmas. I think he has been watching me because he was setting up shots and really getting in to taking pictures. As you can tell, with his camera the pictures are pretty grainy, but I think I like them that way. Did some minor color editing but these are all pictures he has taken with his camera. It's so interesting to see what he sees. I think I might have to use his photography skills for some regular blog posting.

Total Slacker

2009-12-28T09:16:00.000-08:00

I have totally been slacking on posting blogs and pics for a few reasons.

It doesn't seem that anyone has missed postings so I don't feel too bad. Not quite sure what I want to do with my blog right now. I haven't been taking many pictures lately, I have got a ton of good deals but by the time I get to blogging about it, it's too late, and I am not sure how much I like sharing about the kiddos. Every now and then I get very umcomfortable and right now is one of those times.
So to hold you over, if anyone is reading this, here is a brief update.

Kids are doing great. Jonathan got his first "report card" . Very exciting to see what he is doing great it and what he could still use some help with. Like using Scissors. He really struggles with that. I think because he is left handed, he complains that it doesn't feel compfortable holding them the right way. I think I need to get him some left scissors. He really enjoyed Christmas. Got a lot of fun presents that he has been playing with non stop. A Scooter he has been trying to play with all weekend (I promise we will put it together soon), his BatCave, and a digital camera. He has been taking a ton of pictures. He even sets up shots to take. I would guess that 80% of his pictures on the camera are of Lilah. He loves her to bits! I think I am going to have to set up a Flickr account for him. Or post a pic a week or something. One of his new favorite new words is "Yummylicious". He uses it if he likes something a lot. The pizza I made for lunch yesterday and the peanut butter and jelly pancake sandwiches we had for a snack both received a Yummylicious review.

Miss Lilah has been battling something that involves a runny nose and a fever. She has had it for almost a week now. It comes and goes. She weighs 20 lbs and is 29 inches tall. Still likes rearfacing in her carseat and I am hoping to keep her that way until she is at least 2. She really enjoyed Christmas, even letting Jonathan open up most of her presents. Loves playing with her babies and her new cradel and changing table. Pushes them around the house in her shopping cart or stroller playing house with Jonathan. Likes playing with her Little People house. She's really in to her books and making animal noises. Her favorite is when you ask her what a Lilah Bear says. Go ahead and give it a try, ask her.

The Coffey Cabin

2009-11-22T19:13:00.000-08:00

I am so excited for next summer! This fall, my parents bought a cabin up north. It's just north of West Branch. Perfect location if you ask me. An hour and 45 minute drive, about 20 min outside of West Branch, near Clear Lake. Close enough to go away for a night or so, far enough to get away. I guarantee we will be spending a ton of time up there next summer.

My great grandparents owned the cabin from 1940 - 1969 and then sold it. The woman my parents purchased it from is the niece of the woman that purchased it from my great grandparents. We have the deeds all the way back to the 1800's. My dad started vacationing up there when he was 5 and has a lot of great memories.

It's an older log cabin and a few additions have been put up. There is a bedroom downstairs, and two upstairs, with 6 beds total, and a couch that pulls out. It has a lot of work that needs to be done, but it has a great view. It's right on the lake and has a sunset view. There is also a small sandy beach just a few houses down.

We went up over the weekend and met my parents and sister. We got a lot of yard work done, some unexpected roof repairs (done by Mike and Becky), and got the cabin closed up for the winter. Can't wait to open it back up!

Moore News

2009-11-16T09:50:00.000-08:00

Sitting here on the couch, still with a low fever, recovering from a stomach virus over the weekend, I realized I haven't update our blog in a long time. Not to mention that I need to redo the layout. I have the best of intentions, just seems a lot harder making them a reality.

All 4 of us, and my mother in law, were plagued by a nasty stomach virus. Nasty meaning in comes on within 15-20 minutes (no kidding), and it is violent. At least it came near the beginning on November, and not on Christmas this year. Here's to healthy holidays this year.

So what is new with us? Not much new here. Mike goes on his holiday schedule this week. Meaning he only gets one day off a week. I have been warned that he only opens 4 days over the next month. Sucks, but I am thankful he has a job.

Jonathan:
Cracks up us, everyday. He is getting good at reasoning and debating for what he wants. Normally involving computer time or a piece of candy. Is starting to get more protective over his "guys" and toys, hiding them in forts so Lilah can't get to them. His cough is gone, and has been ever since he started the Sigulair and Flovent(inhaler) daily. Is growing. He has pretty much skipped through 3T pants and is in 4T. Is very excited for Christmas, wants everything, literally.

Lilah:
Is so vibrant. I think that might be the best way to describe her. LOVES reading books. Countless times a day she will grab a book from the shelf and back herself up in my lap to be read to. Her favorite books right now involve flaps, textures, and animals. Quacks at Haley. She somehow thinks Haley is a duck and not a dog. Quacks at ducks in books and on command. Quacks and Woofs at dogs. Moos at cows in her books. Enjoys pointing out her belly to anyone that will watch. I hope no strangers are watching. Teeth #15 and #16 have finaly broken through. She has a full set of teeth so I am hoping we are done for a while. Likes to try to pull out her piggy tails. Is a mini Aunt Sarah, nuff said.

We made it to Hallmark, again!

2009-11-02T07:52:00.000-08:00

Yea!! My card goes on sale today online at Hallmark's website! This is the second card I have had for sale through Hallmark. Right now it is only for sale online, but several cards will be selected to be sold in stores next year. Boy would that be nice!

Halloween Lunch

2009-10-27T19:29:00.001-07:00

He is also getting a yogurt and more than likely an apple to go with his lunch. I am taking bets as to if he'll eat the egg salad sandwich or not. Though I might have a chance if I make it cute. We'll see.

Recent Quotes

2009-10-13T16:11:00.000-07:00

November 3rd,

Jonathan: Mom, this shirt is Lilah's, not mine. I like pink on books, not on shirts, and not on fancy shirts.

October 26, 2009
I asked Jonathan what he wanted for dinner.

This was his reply:

Jonathan: Mom, can you get me a sack from Donalds (McDonalds)?

Me: No sweetie, we had Donalds a few days ago.

Jonathan: But mom, I just want one, two, three, of those sacks for dinner.

Me: A Happy Meal?

Jonathan: Yea, that's what I'm talking about.

October 13th, 2009

I told Jonathan no more snacks or drinks until dinner. He hasn't been eating dinner good recently.

This was his reply:

"Mom, that's a bad word. When you say when I come home and I can have no food, that's a bad word."

Jars of Goodness

2009-10-11T09:52:00.001-07:00

After receiving a pressure canner this spring for my birthday, I have started preserving some of our favorite foods. I love canning. You can get fresh fruits and vegetables all year long. We love going to the farmers market every week and this way we can make it last a little longer by canning. When you can, you do not need to refrigerate the jars until you open them.

In this picture are a few of the things I have made so far, Apple Butter, Pumpkin Butter, Cherry Jam (whole cherries from TC), Cherry Jam (cherry pieces from TC), Garlic and Dill Pickles, Dilly Beans (my fav).

No pictured: Raspberry Jam (we are currently eating our last jar)

Silly Girl + Silly Kids Contest = Winner

2009-10-05T12:05:00.000-07:00

I am entering Miss Lilah in a "Silly Kids" photo contest to win $1,000. She is such a wild and silly girl, how could I not?

Moore updates . . .

2009-10-01T06:42:00.000-07:00

*I know I totally just used this photoon my photo blog, but I love it!

Miss Lilah:

Is such a little stinker. She has such personaliy. She definatly gets it from her brother. She thinks she is so funny. Every time someone else laughs, she liks to join in, regardless of the situation. Thinks whoopie cushins are hilarious. Has WILD hair. I don't know how to do her hair. Instead, I brought little hair ties to daycare and Miss Aimee does her hair for me. I need to learn. Is a marathon runner. Seriously, she's got speed. Loves bottle time. She runs to her bean bag and waits for you to bring it to her when she is tired. Tries to put her socks on by herself, unsuccessfully. Is very proud of her climbing capabilities, whether it is the stairs, Jonathan's bed, or random objects.

Lilah's ever expanding vocabulary:

Momma
Up

Duck (Dah), and quacks

Sings her "Momma" song that Jonathan and I sing

Uh -Oh (she will say "Uh" before she drop something and then fished up with "oh")

Nana

Bubba

Mine (seems to be her favorite)

She does a pretty good job of understanding basic commands. She almost always sits down when I ask her to (mainly in the tub). I can ask here to go get basic items like her blankie, nuk, baby and sippy cup. She will also feed, hug, and kiss her baby when you ask her too.

She has so much personality, such an amazing little girl.

Mr. Jonathan:

Is hopefully finally over "the cough". Oficially diagnosed with asthma. He know uses an inhaler every day, along with Singulair, and has a rescue inhaler for when he needs it. Likes playing with his little sister, then banning her from all things Jonathan in a matter or seconds. Likes picking up Lilah and carrying her around "helping" her. I don't like it so much. Is starting to avoiding discussions that make him uncomfortable, specially those involving him being in trouble. Had a girlfriend, got dumped because he needs to be bigger and stronger. Can fit in to his sister's 12-18 month Halloween costume. Is insisting on being a ghost (or The Riddler) for Halloween. Wants to go to Vegas. As in every day. We have never been to Vegas, probably never will. Is finally starting to wear shoes other than Crocs. Finally. Is such a loving child, most of the time. Still likes to be held and cuddled, all the time. Takes part in our nightly discussions about the best part of our day. Holds us accountable if we forget to say grace before eating, at every meal. Has the sweetest singing voice when he sings to Lilah.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-09-29T12:51:00.001-07:00

Due to Wordless Wednesday being more photography related, I am moving it to my photography blog. If you are a follower, you can also sign up to follow my photography blog.

www.yourlittlewonders.com

Click on "Get The Scoop" and you will be taken to my photography blog. Thanks to everyone that comments.

Unwanted Guest

2009-09-23T19:37:00.000-07:00

After being concerned about a small spot on the ceiling above Jonathan's bed, we bought a home mold test from Home Depot (Jonathan's favorite place to get a hot dog). We did two tests, a surface test, and an air test. Our results, the photo. After a few days the ceiling and walls were cut out, an issue with the ventilation pipe from our basement bathroom was fixed, and the insulation and drywall have been repaired.

I am hoping this help with the kids chronic coughs, particularly Jonathan's, his has been the worst. We have another visit scheduled for him next week. They both had allergy profiles ran last week, generic allergy tests, and mold specific allergy tests, both came back completely negative for any allergies. I am a little shocked, I was actually hoping something would show up so we could know what is wrong. Hoping to get some results next week.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-09-23T05:16:00.000-07:00

Wordless Wednesday

2009-09-16T06:57:00.002-07:00

Wordless Wednesday

2009-09-08T18:58:00.001-07:00

Hallmark, here we come! Again!

My Crazy Kids

2009-09-08T13:17:00.000-07:00

Jonathan:
Started "school time" at daycare again. Was very excited. Has started quoting his favorite movies. Is 30 lbs exactly. Has had a horrible cough since July 20th, multiple dr trips. First a "virus", then "asthma/allergies", now a "bacterial overgrowth", however none of the medicine is making a difference.Can be very sassy. Loves riding his bike. Will yell at you if he thinks you are not buckled up in the car. We always buckle up. Tells on himself when he get's in trouble. Blames everything on Aunt Becky.

Lilah:
Is one. Has a 12th tooth. Yes, all 4 molars. One is all the way in, the other three are all poking through, but not in all the way across yet. Says "Momma" when she wants me, says "mine" when she wants what you have, and likes to sing her favorite song "Lilah" that Jonathan and I made up when she was a newborn. Loves to give kisses, which could be confused with eating your face, until you hear the kissing sound she makes when she is finished. Walks. Runs. Loves shoes. Loves to feed her baby dolls bottles, then attempt to help herself until she realizes they are not real. Is officially done nursing. Tear. Sob. Crying a river.

Lunch Menu Monday

2009-09-08T05:00:00.000-07:00

I normally pack both of the kids lunches everyday, sometimes breakfast too. I recently fell in love with the LapTop Lunches that I ordered for both of the kids. I love the bento style lunches and have been doing them for over a year. I have been wanting to order bento boxes but the majority of them come from Japan or China, and they are not microwave or dishwasher safe, and those are a must. Not knowing what the heck is in the plastic also was a concern for me. Hence the purchase of the LapTop Lunches. BPA free, dishwasher safe, microwave safe, and all of the containers have lids. The box itself even has a spot for silverware and a napkin. Love it!

I cook dinner about 90% of the time. Once and a while we will grab something on the way home, but we have a lot of food in the house, so we might as well use it. Every week we try to stop at the Farmers Market on Sunday to get out fruits and vegetables. I stock up on meat when it is on sale, the basics we buy each week, and everything else I stock up on and store in the pantry. We always have leftovers, so I like to put them to use, mainly for our lunches.

I thought I would start doing pictures of the kids lunches on Monday.

Welcome "Lunch Menu Monday"!

I cook dinner about 90% of the time. Once and a while we will grab something on the way home, but we have a lot of food in the house, so we might as well use it. Every week we try to stop at the Farmers Market on Sunday to get out fruits and vegetables. I stock up on meat when it is on sale, the basics we buy each week, and everything else I stock up on and store in the pantry. We always have leftovers, so I like to put them to use, mainly for our lunches.

I just took a picture of Jonathan's lunch this week as him and Lilah have pretty much the same thing. Tomorrow is his first day of Preschool at Ms, Di's, so he wants to take his lunch in a backpack. Too funny, they do "school time" for an hour or so, and he is sooo excited to start again.

Monday's Menu:

Whole wheat pasta, light smoked sausage, olive oil, diced tomatoes, zucchini, onions, and eggplant. The zucchini and eggplant came from Nana and Papa's garden, and I think it might have been the biggest zucchini EVER!

2 plumbs from Spicers Orchard which we visited on Sunday.

Raspberries and Blueberries that we picked from Spicers. Well, Mike and I picked them. Jonathan put 4 raspberries in the quart and everything else he picked, he ate.

Corn Bread that Grandma made, mmmmmm!

One of Jonathan's favorite drinks, Milk!

Chocolate Teddy Grahams for a treat!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-09-02T05:59:00.000-07:00

Special Lunches x 2

2009-08-30T18:28:00.000-07:00

The kids Laptop Lunches came in the mail last week. I am LOVING them!

Lilah:
Breakfast - Cherry/Blueberry Pancakes and Sausage
Lunch - Grandma's Homemade Macaroni and Cheese, Meat Sticks, Mixed Vegetables, Strawberries and Apples

Jonathan:
Breakfast - Cherry/Blueberry Pancakes, Sausage, and Syrup
Lunch - Peanut Butter and Raspberry Jam(Homemade) Sandwich, Carrots, Grape Tomatoes, Strawberries and Caramel Corn

They sent Jonathan a purple lunch box by mistake, they are replacing it with a blue one. Now we get a free purple one too!!

Trip to Walgreens

2009-08-30T12:02:00.001-07:00

I had $13 in Register Rewards that were about to expire next week that I needed to use up. Jonathan spent the night at Nana and Papa's so that allowed Lilah and I some time to hit up Walgreens this morning.

I spent $4.76, and earned $15 in register rewards. I was able to roll all of my Register Rewards and not loose a dollar. The Walgreens in Grand Blanc is one that will normally let you use multiple RR in one purchase.

I never use to shop at Walgreens, until I started using coupons. But if I can pick up a few things here and there, for just pennies, I'll make the extra stop.

The only item I really NEEDED was coffee creamer, my work bottle was almost empty. Every time we get sick, we seem to be out of cold medicne (other than Samboucal), and we end up paying full price. I got the TheraFlu for free. I am going to try to stock up more on cold medicine so we don't end up having to buy it at full price because we need it.

That is the thing that I enjoy the most about using coupons. Very rarely am I getting groceries because we NEED something (other than milk or eggs). I get the items that we will use, at the best price I can get. That way when we need them, we have them. I don't mind paying .24 for a can up Tomato Soup today, rather than $1.59 when I need it.

Gone Krogering

2009-08-30T11:50:00.000-07:00

I have been slacking on me deal posts. Don't get me wrong, I have been getting deals, I just haven't had the time to take pictures and post them.

Last week's trip to Kroger was just too good not to share.

I spent $42.46, and saved $126.97

That includes:
8 boxes of cereal (6 Cherrios and 2 Cinnamon Toast Crunch)
6 boxes of Hamburger Helper
Nighttime Pullups
2 packages of English Muffins
5 Containers of Juice (5 Juice Juice, 1 Ocean Spray)
2 packages of Gatorate G2
4 Kraft Sundried Tomato Pasta
2 Macaronni Grill Pasta Dinners
2 Wachai Ferry Asian Dinner Creations
4 Packages of Yogurt
2 Packages of Yogurt Drinks
Jenny-O Turkey Ham
Plenty of more, those items were just harder to see in the picture.

I love Kroger!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-08-26T06:36:00.000-07:00

She's one. A glass of wine(for me), and a box of Kleenex.

2009-08-23T11:04:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that my little Lilah is now one.

This past year has gone by faster than I ever could have imagined. A year ago, we were a family of three. This little lady was safe and sound in my belly. Then after a trip to the hospital, Lilah was "boring"(Jonathan insists that is what happened).

The first few months were rough. When she would stop breathing it was terrifying. Her intollerance to so many things that I was eating completly changed my diet, along with hers. Now, she will often eat just as much, if not more, than what Jonathan eats at a meal. And he is a good eater. She no longer wants anything to do with babyfood, and eats whatever we are eating.

This little girl that was carried around hooked up to a monitor for months, now walks and dances across the floor.

That little dark head of hair is now lighter, and very curly (wonder where that came from).

Those little toes that were too chubby to fit in shoes, still only fit in a pair or two :)

That little mouth that would utter a cry here and there, now argues back and forth with her brother. And yells "momma" when I am needed, will say Lilah, Bubba, and Dadda occassionally.

The little body that slept next to me in the co-sleeper, still sleeps next to me in her pack and play. And I imagine she will stay there a few months longer. Just not quite ready to make the move to her big bed yet.

I don't know why I am more emotional about her turning one, with Jonathan I was just so excited at each and every new thing he was doing. Maybe it is because she could be our last, maybe not. Either way, she was just born, and now she is one. A toddler. My newborn is now a toddler. I think this deserves some wine. And some tissues.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-08-18T19:44:00.001-07:00

Sunny Summer Days

2009-08-16T19:32:00.001-07:00

Mike has started a week of closing 7 nights in a row. Lovely. The kids and I made the most out of the weekend with a trip to the splash pad, some late night shopping for party decorations, Birch Run with Aunt Becky, and a fun evening at Nana and Papa's. In addition to that I feel rather accomplished. Cooked, cleaned, got laundry done, cleaned the kids room, and worked on editing (should have done that more, I have 4 sessions left to edit still).
Now this week will be busy. More editing to do, lots of cleaning for Lilah's party this weekend, and another (possibly 2) photo session, and next weekend we have a family reunion and Lilah's 1st Birthday Party. Did I mention she is turning one in a week? I can't believe it.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-08-05T06:46:00.001-07:00

Wordless Wednesday

2009-07-28T20:19:00.001-07:00

Summer Vacation Day 3

2009-07-27T18:00:00.000-07:00

Monday morning after the kids played for a while, we drove to a beach in Marquette. We really went to see the lighthouse from the beach, so we didn't swim. The weather was warming up , but Lake Superior sure wasn't. The kids played at a playground at the beach and then we drove about 45 minutes to a trail. We hiked with Maggy and the boys to Laughing Whitefish Falls. Poor Maggy let us use their backpack carrier for Lilah, and she pushed Boden in an umbrella stroller. I think the hike itself was only 1/2 mile, but the stairs went on forever.

Somehow I let Mike convince me to crawl over the deck area and go to the bottom of the waterfall to take pictures. Of course Jonathan and Jace wanted to follow. So Mike and the bigger boys joined. They had a great time walking on the rocks with Mike. They saw large frogs and turtles. We then made the long hike back up the stairs. Jonathan just about ran up all of them. I tried to keep up as he had an "opporunity" with his listening skills (she still insists he left his listening ears at Nana's), but he sure gave me a run for my money.

I think Jonathan's favorite part of our hikes was the fact that if he had to pee, he could go outdoors. He doesn't get to do that at home. If it were only that convenient for all of us . . .

After our hike we met Uncle Craig at the Marquette Lighthouse. We went on a tour and went through the museum. We were able to walk out on the grounds of the lighthouse too. We ordered some of the most delicious pizza, and while it was cooking we took the kids back to "Wood Park" to play. After we ate dinner at Craig and Maggy's, Craig took us all on a tour of his golf course. We took an 8 passenger golf cart around the grounds. I think this was one of my favorite parts of our vacation. The golf course is absolutly beautiful. It has AMAZING views. Jonathan loved riding on the golf cart. He found a ball and Jace tought him how to wash it in the ball washer. The kids found a patch of wild raspberries and filled their little bellies. Lilah loved the green. The grass was perfect for her to crawl around and stand on. The boys also enjoyed rolling down the huge hills. The perfect ending to the perfect day.

Vacation Day 1 and 2

2009-07-25T17:54:00.000-07:00

Day 1

We planned on leaving for vacation Saturday they 18th, around 3pm, a few hours in to Marjie's open house. That morning we changed our plans and decided to drive straight through to Marquette to stay with Craig, Maggy, and the boys. It was going to get cold that night and we wanted to wait until it was a little warmer to camp.
The kids were great for the 8 hour drive. They both slept until we got to Mackinaw City and stopped for dinner. Once we crossed over Lilah slept off and on, and Jonathan stayed awake watching movies and playing. We got in around 10:45, chatted a bit and went to sleep.

Day 2

We lucked out and Uncle Craig had the day off, overseeing the golf course, he doesn't get very many of those. We started off the day with a hike up SugarLoaf Mountain. The kids had a great time. Jonathan and Jace would take off ahead of us and explore. They enjoyed climbing up the rock and picking and eating wild blueberries. Jonathan was stealing all the berries everyone was picking. The grabbed some sticks and stones on the way up and loved "launching" them off the top of the mountain. The view was amazing. Most people forget we have all of this right here in Michigan.
After our climb, we went in to Marquette and picked up a family size sub to split from a local sub shop. We took it to Presque Isle Park and had a picnic lunch facing Lake Superior. This was where we had Craig and Maggy's rehearsal lunch at. The boys spend a good hour throwing rocks in to Lake Superior while Boden and Lilah splashed in the little puddles of water that gathered on the rock. I think they could have spent all day doing that.
We headed back home and let the boys play outside. They had a great time running across the rumble bridge and playing in the sandbox. Mike and Craig went golfing at Craig's golfcourse, Greywalls, while Maggy and I took the kids to "Wood Park". Jonathan and Jace were "booming" on the older kids when they started to play back. Jonathan ended up getting pushed down and mommy had to lay down the law with a few kids. I can't stand bullies. After a nice dinner and baths, we were all ready for bed.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-07-14T20:34:00.001-07:00

Goodbye Caliber, Hello New Life

2009-07-14T19:58:00.000-07:00

I never thought I would be saying this, but I L.O.V.E. my new van. Yep you heard me. There is so much room, and it is very comfortable.

Anyways, I have been slacking on the kid updates, so here is goes.

Jonathan
is loving summer. This week is his last soccer practice. I am afraid to tell him because he is going to be DEVASTATED. He has also been taking Tennis lessons. He loves to play tennis with his cousin and his girlfriend (his cousin is not his girlfriend, they all happen to take lessons together). Mike even bought a tennis racket so they can play together. I think he has to be home to be able to do that though. His methods of playing have been changing over the past few months. In addition to playing with his trains, cars, and legos, he now likes playing with his "guys". These "guys" include Rescue Heroes, misc. fast food toys, and a few Super Heroes (Batman, Human Torch, Silver Surfer, Green Goblin, New Goblin . . .) It's very entertaining to watch and listen to.

Jonathan and Lilah have started arguing, It's actually pretty funny. I am sure I won't be saying that in a few months though. He'll yell at her, and she yells right back. She will purposely wait until he yells "No" to yell back.

Lilah
Wow. What can I say? She is now 10 1/2 months old. I can believe she is going to be 1 in just over a month. I need to get working on a Smash The Cake session. She is becoming quite the little lady. She loves to "talk" and is eating just about everything we eat now. We have added dairy back in to her diet and she is doing great. It looks like she has outgrown the MSPI and Reflux. This makes us so happy. I feel like I am feeding two teenagers the way they eat. I have not come across anything she will eat yet. Drinking, now that is another story. I have started trying to introduce cow's milk to her. It's starting to get a little better,she'll now take a sip or two. I think weaning her is going to take a little longer than I expected. Miss Lilah has also taken a step. She'll grab your hand and start walking at the pace of a mall walker. Seriously, she takes off. I give it a few weeks. Lilah's favorite toys are matchbox cars, monster trucks and trains. She does like to play with the occasional motorcycle or super hero. Yea, I think I need to get her some girl toys.

Not much else is new. We are about to go camping with the kids for the first time. That should be interesting.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-07-07T19:43:00.001-07:00

Why daddy sick?

2009-07-02T05:02:00.000-07:00

Preface: Mike has not been feeling well. His muscles and bones have been hurting really bad to the point where he can barely pick up Lilah. He had the day off, but I took the kids to daycare so he could rest and go to the doctors.

Jonathan: Hey mom, you take medicine and drink water and it make you feel better?

Me: Yep, sometimes that helps.

Jonathan: Oh. Why daddy no do that all night long? Why him still sick?

Me: I don't know baby. Daddy doesn't feel good.

Jonathan: Mom, I have so much bones in my body.

Me: Yep, you have lots of bones in your body.

Jonathan: Yes. Daddy have big bones in his body. Daddy's big bones hurt mom.

Me: I know, daddy's bones hurt. Hopefully the doctor can make him feel better.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-07-01T05:43:00.000-07:00

Super Krogering

2009-06-26T19:06:00.000-07:00

I am so proud to be able to bring good healthy food, even some organic, home to my family, and spend less than half of what I would have spend 6 months ago.

I spent $46.10 and saved $182. I didn't even buy a single store brand item. Yes, it sounds decent, here are some of the highlights:

3 lbs of ground beef
6 packages of Oscar Mayer hotdogs
18 individual containers of Horizon Organic Milk
3 boxed of organic O's (cherrios)
3 bottles of laundry detergent
5 bottles of dish detergent
8 jars of baby food (for vacation)
fresh produce
3 packages of yummy sandies cookies
4 Kraft bbq sauces
3 Kraft salad dressings
2 packages toilet paper
2 boxes hefty freezer bags
3 boxes of popcorn
dog food
3 packages of Johnsonville breakfast patties
3 frozen meals
6 tubs of Kool-Aid
Cran-Pomegranate juice
Rice Milk
3 packages of pepperoni
and more!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-06-24T05:05:00.000-07:00

Summer, Summer, Summertime

2009-06-21T19:43:00.001-07:00

Soccer Time

2009-06-20T18:28:00.000-07:00

Jonathan has an exciting 5 weeks coming up. He is playing soccer and taking tennis lessons. We started soccer on Thursday and tennis will start on Monday during the day.

I never played soccer as a kid so I had no clue what we needed to get. At his first class, we ended up getting shirts, shorts, socks, a ball, and 4 cones. I had already picked him up shin guards and soccer cleats. No clue what the cones are for, and I thought the shin guards went over the socks. Good thing Mike played soccer, otherwise all of the kids would have been picking on the poor kid that was dressed by his mom. He looks adorable all dressed up.

He had so much fun playing soccer with his friends. Cousin Tessa, best buddy Emerson, and Violet and Rory, our neighbors twin granddaughters were there too (they adore Jonathan). Grandma Moore and Ms Di came to watch the kids too.

If you ask him what his favorite part was, he says doing his exercises.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-06-16T19:28:00.001-07:00

The deals keep rolling . . .

2009-06-15T18:55:00.001-07:00

Just when I thought we were starting to get low on laundry detergent (down to 3 bottles). I always find sweet razor deals for myself, but slack when it comes to finding razors for Mike. After this week, neither of these issues will exist. I plan to roll this deal a few more times.

I am excited to try these Purex Laundry Sheets, detergent, fabric softener, and anti-static in one. I paid just over $4 at CVS for all 3 items, and then I got back $3 in extra care bucks. Not too bad for just over $1. I am going to do this a few more times this week.

The lunches are packed on the counter with care . . .

2009-06-15T18:40:00.001-07:00

I always underestimate the amount of time that it takes to prepare for the next day. I haven't taken any special lunch pics in a long time. The special lunches have been growing as Lilah has added new foods in to her diet, and after getting two more teeth in this weekend (yes, 9 months and 8 teeth), I am sure it will expand even more.

Lilah's meals: Two mommy milk bottles (yea!!), 1 home made pancake (thank you Mike), and 2 cubes of spinach, sweet potato, and chicken (which a little brown rice cereal and prune juice will get added to).

Jonathan's meals: Two homemade pancakes, a dish of homemade Raspberry Jam (my first canning success) to go on the pancakes, 2 little rolls of deli turkey, cheese crumbles, 1 Roma Tomato, little dish of bowtie pasta with cucumber and onion (based on Stephanie's pasta dish, from Karen's recipe), 3 slices of cantaloupe.

Mmm. I wish I was eating their lunch tomorrow (minus Lilah's mommy milk).

,

Wordless Wednesday

2009-06-09T19:21:00.000-07:00

5 years and 2 kids later, Happy Anniversary to us!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-06-02T20:08:00.001-07:00

Farmer Jonathan

2009-06-01T19:44:00.000-07:00

After helping Mike plant our herb garden, Jonathan now considers himself "such a good farmer". He helps me water the plants and flowers at night and always comments on how they are growing. Sunday he was invited over to Nana and Papa's house to help plant the garden. The process started days/weeks before getting the garden planned out and ready to plant. The made a special trip to Home Depot, complete with a hot dog and "just ketchup", to pick up some of the plants.

Jonathan has his own set of gardening tools at my parents, and I think he pulls them out almost every time we go over there. So he had his rake, hoe, and shovel all lined up with Papa's. He even wore a farmer hat just like Papa.

He had a great time digging, raking, hoeing, planting, and watering the garden. Aunt Sarah even joined in the festivities and Jonathan was sure to follow right behind her "helping".

I am excited, they have a lot of new and different varieties of the classics we all love. Can't wait for it all to start growing. I am secretly hoping the have an abundance and I will have enough to can a few items.

I would say the day was a success. Jonathan was filthy dirty, he had to shower before we could even head home. He was asleep by the time we drove by the high school. 2 minutes from my parents house. I could probably judge how much fun he has had by how long it takes him to fall asleep after we leave. We rarely make it 5 minutes down the road.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-05-26T19:05:00.000-07:00

Pirate Hunting

2009-05-25T19:15:00.000-07:00

It is with much sadness that I am closing up the long weekend with a blog. We had such a wonderful weekend, I hate the moment when it is coming to an end. The bottles are packed, clothes laid out, diaper bag full, and the washing machine is running. A typical Sunday evening, now Monday.

Every drop of the long weekend has been savored and well spent. We have spent countless hours with friends and family.

We had an awesome time yesterday at Crossroads Village and Huckleberry Railroad, we even bought an annual pass. And we were thrilled that daddy got to spend some extra time with us today before heading in to work. We celebrated Memorial Day at my parents house. Jonathan was in his glory with all of the girls there, Andrew, Brian, and Aunt Dorothy, Aunt Ruth Anne, and Uncle Earl. So many people to entertain him, and they sure did. While Lilah was down for a nap, I went out to play for a bit. While Jonathan was swinging in Papa's hammock he just put up (we bought it for him well over a year ago for his retirement), I filled a little baggie with some candy and buried it in the sandbox, and marked it with a "X". I quickly called him over and told him I thought I saw some pirates over by the sandbox burying treasure. That was all it took, the hunt was on. After digging up the treasure, Jonathan was on cloud 9. Somehow he decided to find the pirates that left the treasure. The girls egged him on yelling pirate words as he would walk away and the search would head in another direction. He was decked out for pirate hunting. If you have never hunted for pirates before, take note if you want any chance of catching them.

The proper attire includes:
Binoculars
Bucket Hat
Sword (Bubble Wand)
Dandelion bracelets and anklets (to protect you from the pirates)

He crept through the woods with Nana trying to catch up with them. We thought they were getting away until we blew on a dandelion to watch which way the seeds blew, then we were back on their tail. We hiked through the field and across the woods. The pirate hunt took on a good 2 hours.

2 hours well spent.

Shake Your Groove Thang

2009-05-18T17:36:00.001-07:00

Miss Lilah has been getting in to EVERYTHING the past few weeks. And I mean everything. I have pulled multiple items out her mouth and I have walked in and found her standing a few times. She wants to pull herself up on everything. She also got another 2 teeth in over the weekend. Lilah is starting to find her groove, when a good song comes on or Jonathan and I start singing, she starts dancing. It's funny, every now and then she throws in a new move.

Look At Those Pearly Whites

2009-05-18T17:25:00.000-07:00

Jonathan had his first dentist appointment this evening. He has been grinding his teeth so I wanted to get them looked at. I guess there is not much they can do about it at this age, but he got excellent reviews on his teeth. I guess brushing them before his teeth even came in has paid off. A little polishing and I think I even saw my reflection in his smile. He walked away with a new monster truck, CARS toothbrush, Spongebob toothpaste, and some cool animal dental flossers. Loved it. His cleaning took up his entire attention span however, when it came time to get my teeth cleaned, I could not keep him away from the tools and out of the drawers. Don't worry, I have rescheduled my cleaning.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-05-12T19:50:00.000-07:00

Have you voted yet today? Vote for our Hallmark card here .

Wordless Wednesday

2009-05-05T19:31:00.000-07:00

Going Green

2009-05-03T19:34:00.001-07:00

Lilah did a little exploring this afternoon at Nana and Papa's. Yea, not a fan of the grass. She was curious at first, then started getting the heeby jeebies (yea, that's spelled right, looked it up with Swagbucks). Eventually she would start shivering by looking at it. She put her hands on her legs so she wouldn't touch the grass and put her chin to her chest for some reason.

Breaking My Heart

2009-04-29T19:59:00.000-07:00

Jonathan has been going through a phase where he is telling us he does not like us. He does not say it when he is mad, but brings it up in casual conversation. We talk about it, and tell him how wrong it is, we are family and you always love your family. I don't think he really knows the meaning of what he is saying, other than the fact that he gets a reaction from us for saying it.

Last night as I was tucking Jonathan in to bed, he said something that tore my heart out. He had a great day, he was being very good and loving. When he said it, he got all quiet and serious.

Jonathan: Mommy, I no like myself

Me: Who did you learn that from? We don't talk like that.

Jonathan: Nobody mom, I say it.

Me: Baby, you should love yourself, I do.

Jonathan: I no like myself mom.

Me: Sweetie, I love you. Do you know why? (I then told him how special he is and what makes him such a good person).

We hugged for a while and I thought I fixed the problem.

See, that is why you should love yourself like I do.

Jonathan: I still no like myself.

(heart breaks). I sure hope he does not know the meaning of what he is saying.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-04-28T19:40:00.001-07:00

All Too Wise

2009-04-23T06:35:00.000-07:00

This evenining on the way home from daycare, after listening to Jonathan explain to Lilah how rainclouds make rainbows, we had an even more intersting conversation.

Jonathan: Mom, Lilah loves cookies.

Me: No sweetie, Lilah is too little for cookies.

Jonathan: No, her loves them mom.

Me: Baby, she can't have them.

Jonathan: Yea mom. You eat cookies and then Lilah eats cookies in your boobie milk. Lilah loves cookies in your boobie milk.

Not A Pretty Penny

2009-04-22T20:14:00.001-07:00

I have been on a roll today. All these items were absolutely free today. All I paid was tax.

3 4 packs of toilet paper
6 travel packs of Huggies wipes
2 eco friendly shopping bags
2 Glade The Fragrance Collection candles
4 packages of Steamfresh frozen vegetables
2 bottles of Lawry's marinate
4 McCormick Grill Seasonings
2 cans of Muir Glen Organic tomato paste
1 package of Kotex
2 Kroger Puffs
1 Edge shaving gel
1 box Gauze
3 boxes of Capri Sun
1 box Ronzini pasta

I can't believe we have gone from spending over $300 in groceries a month, to around $150. $150 a month for a family of 4. That even includes diapers and participating in Michigan Door To Door Organics. I am spending 1/2 as much and getting so much more. I love coupons and smart shopping.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-04-22T02:51:00.001-07:00

What A Wonderful Day

2009-04-19T18:10:00.000-07:00

I love the first few days where the weather is real nice. Everyone is out doing something. Mike had a meeting first thing in the morning to do, so we packed up the kids and dropped him off. Jonathan and I grabbed a quick breakfast and we ran over to Target to pass the hour or so until we could go pick up Mike.

We headed over to Indian Springs for the day. We always go the weekend before or after Earth Day. We headed to the pond dome first. I think Mike and I like it a little more than Jonathan does, he's always so excited he just runs around looking for the next thing to go to. We headed down one of the nature trails going up a big hill, and two a few bridges overlooking a pond. Jonathan loved it and was constantly discovering something new. That is why this is one of our favorite parks.

After that we picked out a spot to lay down our blanket for our picnic lunch. Mike packed us Bologna sandwiches, sugar snap peas, apples, grapes, rice cakes, and fruit snacks. Mmmmm. Jonathan must have been hungry (surprise, surprise) because he ate a ton. After Lilah ate she fell right asleep. She has had a fever since Friday so we didn't want to wake her. I laid her down on the blanket and covered her lightly with a receiving blanket.

Mike took one for the team and laid down next to her while Jonathan and I explored a new playground we had not gone to before. When we made it back to our blanket they were both sounds asleep, so we headed to the other side of the park. Tackling the toddler playground, the huge sandbox, the maze, the rope climb, and the rock climbing wall. After running around everywhere, we headed back to find them both still asleep. Mike got sunburned, but Lilah was nice, covered, and cool.

Exhausted from playing, and sleeping, we headed over to Mike's parents to visit for a few hours. Played and visited there for a while and headed back home for a light dinner and some family time. Perfect day.

Mr. Jonathan

2009-04-19T13:22:00.001-07:00

Jonathan has been doing real well the past 2 weeks, he is starting to listen a lot better. Sometimes you have to remind him to turn his listening ears on or up, but he is getting a lot better.
He still does not want to watch any movies other than Cars. We kind of force him to watch other movies like Bolt, Wall-E, Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar, Pinocchio, and other non scary Disney movies. She sits through them but complains the whole time that they are scary and he does not like them, Yet he sits there and watches most of the movie. I don't want to push him to watch things that he thinks are scary, but I want to show him that they really aren't. All he wants to watch is Cars, Baby Einstein movies, and the occasional Dora, Diego, or Barney.

He has been potty trained since I went back to work last October but we are still struggling with nighttime. He wears Pull-Ups still at night. He says he wants to wear underwear but normally his Pull-Up is wet in the morning. I think I am just going to try it one night and see how it goes. Maybe when it warms up a bit and he does not have 5 blankets on his bed.

He is doing real good at learning his letters. He can pick out most of them by sight and he is still working on learning his name, sorry it's so long baby. He is starting to sing a lot, and I mean a LOT. As in the whole car ride home from daycare. He loves singing to Lilah. ABC's, Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, GodSpeed, and Lullaby (Dixi Chicks, his naptime music). It's real cute.

He is also turning in to quite the commedian, he loves making people laugh. He wanted to put on Lilah's jacket the other night. I told him it was too small and he told me, "I put it on, and I go show Daddy. He think it's funy, it make him laugh". It was pretty darn funny.

I love my little man.

Miss Lilah - Almost 8 Months

2009-04-19T13:05:00.001-07:00

This picture is actually from last weekend, but it pretty much describes the past month. Lilah has been teething like crazy the past month. Almost every day we have had to give her Motrin for the pain. Nothing seems to help. This weekend has been especially rough. Her fever is running around 102, with Motrin. Poor girl. I have been wearing her all around the house in her Peanut Shell because as soon as I put her down she starts screaming. You can see the white tips of the teeth right at the surface. She has at least one on the bottom almost through and one on the top. She's at such a fun age, it stinks she is not feeling good. Jonathan follows us around kissing on her and singing to her trying to make her feel better.

She is just growing and developing like crazy the past few weeks. She has a new found love for Puffs. I try not to give her too many but she is going through about a canister a week. I need to find a healthier alternative. Too bad she is not old enough for the freeze dried veggies yet. I forgot to back Lilah's mommy milk on Thursday and she went though a hunger strike. Refused to take formula at daycare. She didn't even have a wet diaper all day. Poor girl. She is getting picky. I gave her a jar of sweet potatoes and chicken and she threw a fit. Give her the same thing homemade and she will eat it all. She's got good taste, what can I say?

She is starting to babble a lot more. Her favorite things to say are "Bubba","Mama", and "Dada". I thought she was just babbling but she is starting to say "Mama" when she wants me or when I pick her up. I have also been working on signing with her. We did it a little with Jonathan and will probably just do a few signs with Lilah too. We are working on "milk", and "more". She'll eat anytime I try to feed her, but I know that is not always why she is crying. Hopefully this will help her comminicate her needs a little better before she can talk. She tries to sign back but i don't think she is quite coordinated enough to do it. But when I sign to her she starts moving her hands and opening and closing them trying to do it too.

She is able to get from one end of the living room to the next with a combination of rolling over and turning herself around. She get's up on all fours and tries going forward, It won't be too long before she is crawling.

I keep thinking of her as my little newborn, but she is getting big so fast.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-04-15T02:43:00.001-07:00

Wordless Wednesday

2009-03-31T19:13:00.000-07:00

3 Years And Counting

2009-03-31T18:48:00.000-07:00

Jonathan had his birthday on Saturday. I can't believe he is 3.

Going out for ice cream has become a tradition for his birthday. On his 1st birthday we went to Dairy Queen with my parents and sisters for his first ice cream, on his second birthday Aunt Becky and I took his to Cold Stone, and on Saturday Mike and I took him to Cold Stone. He picked Cake Batter ice cream with white chocolate chips, and he ate every bite.

It seems like yesterday we brought him home from the hospital. It amazes me how fast children change. In the past year Jonathan has learned so much. He has learned to count and knows his colors in English and Spanish, he knows his shapes, his ABC's, and can almost spell his name. He loves playing with all of his friends, singing songs, and shaking his booty. He has always been an affectionate child, but since Lilah has been born it's amazing to see how a child can love so much. He is constantly playing with her, taking to her, and singing to her. I love it when he will randomly walk up and give her a hug and kiss. I love our drives to and from daycare every day. We talk for the entire 25 minute drive. What we like to do, what what we are going to make for dinner, what he is learning during school time, the weather, family, his friends, and we sing. He tells me when he got in trouble and what he did. I hope he never loses that. His ability to talk to us about anything and everything. Every day I am amazed at the person he is becoming. Happy 3rd Birthday Bubba!!

Come Swag With Me

2009-03-31T18:11:00.000-07:00

Sounds slightly dirty, however I promise it is not. Just by using Swagbucks as my search engine, I have already earned a $5 Amazon gift card, and I will have another one by the end of this week. I will admit, I was skeptical at first, but I like them. Seriously, I just use them when I need to search for something, and I earn Swagbucks. You can cash them in for a lot of different things. I am going to save mine to either go towards camera equipment or Christmas. You can also earn more "bucks" by following their blog and shopping through their website, but I don't do that. If you have not checked it out yet, give it a shot. Come Swag with me Here .

Wordless Wednesday

2009-03-24T19:29:00.001-07:00

I really can't believe he is almost 3!

Happy Pet Week

2009-03-23T18:13:00.000-07:00

I should save this for Wordless Wednesday, but seriously, try to the the three of them to look at you for a photo. Specially in the middle of a messy living room. Try, I dare you.

It cost me a Blowpop and a Pupperoni.

It's pet week at daycare and I needed to get some photos of the kids and their pets to send later this week.

New camera + somewhat willing subjects = success.

not pictured: Blue (the blue crayfish) and Black (formally known as "Green", the Black Molly's)

Reccent Jonathanisms

2009-03-22T19:00:00.000-07:00

"Tell me about a story when you were a little boy mom."

When my parents were leaving yesterday, Jonathan was staring at my dad's eyebrows.
"Hey Papa, why you have a mustache on top of your nose?"

I yelled at Jonathan earlier today for getting in to something he shouldn't and his reply to me was "Mom, you my best friend".

Mike and Jonathan have been working on a project together for the past 6 weeks. The cleaned out our old fish tank one day, another day they went shopping and got rocks and a filter, one week they filled it with water, another they bought plants for it, and last week they got fish. He now has 2 Black Molly's named "Green", and yes, they both have the same name. Seriously, how you are supposed to tell them apart? And he has a blue crayfish, named "Blue". It is his responsibility to feed them every night. We have already had a few discussions on how much to feed them , too much will make them sick.

I can't believe he is going to be 3 on Saturday. I keep trying to get an idea of what he wants for his birthday, and ever since his cousin Tessa's party, all he wants are blue things.
A blue birthday party, with blue cake, blue candles, blue present and blue toys.

Typical Saturday

2009-03-21T07:13:00.000-07:00

Why is it only 10:13 am, and I have already:

Nursed Lilah 3 time since she woke up
Fed her
Made homemade corned beef hash for breakfast
Gave that plus 3 snacks to Jonathan
Done dishes
Started laundry for the day
Have a huge crock pot of homemade spaghetti sauce cooking
Cleaned the kitchen, twice

I was wondering why I was getting a headache, I forgot the coffee!

Late Night Krogering

2009-03-19T20:07:00.000-07:00

Did some late night Krogering with my sister.

Spent $41.59, saved $102.61.

I am bummed I took the picture and still had 3 bags full of groceries sitting on the counter. Strawberries, Collard Greens, 2 more Tropicana Orange Juices, Eggs, and I don't remember what else.

I also noticed something new this week. My Kroger is no longer paying me to buy groceries. In prior purchases, you could get Mentos gum at the normal price of $1.59, use a $1 coupon, and that coupon would double taking $2 off your total. The bonus coupon is now adjusting down to the price of the item, taking off an additional .59. Still free so I shouldn't complain, but I did like getting paid to shop.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-03-18T03:00:00.000-07:00

To be blogged later . . .

Special Delivery

2009-03-16T18:22:00.000-07:00

I am really liking Michigan Door To Door Organics. Fresh organic fruits and veggies delivered to the house . . . what's not to love?

Jonathan went right to the fridge just like he always does when we get home. Pulled out a carrot and started munching away. I remember when I was little going to the garden, pulling out a carrot, washing it off with the hose, and eating it. I am glad my parents still have a garden and I hope that my kids will have some of the same memories.

I can't wait until summer!

How To Make A BFF

2009-03-15T06:26:00.000-07:00

Jonathan: Hey Tessa, you my best friend?

Tessa: Yea! Your my best friend too Bubba.

Jonathan: Oh, okay.

No More Nightly News

2009-03-12T06:17:00.000-07:00

I don't know why being a mom makes you worry so much, and that is one thing that I struggle with often. The things that are out of my control. Like last night, I made the mistake of watching the news while I was feeding Lilah before bed. I sat there crying because I thought our house was going to burn down, and the smoke detectors weren't going to work, and I wouldn't be able to get to Jonathan fast enough, and he is not old enought to understand to go out the window or strong enough to break it to get out. Yea, I know. Then I was terrified someone was going to try to offer him candy to kidnap him or take him out of his bedroom window. So I went and got him out of his bed, at 11:30, and put him next to me in our bed. And I sat there holding him and Lilah terrified something was going to happen to my babies. Finally when I was almost asleep, I put her in her co-sleeper next to me, rolled over and went to bed.

I wish I had printed this yesterday right away after I got it from a good friend. Sometimes I get so caught up in what I do not have control over, I forget someone else does. I hope this gives you the peace that it gives me.

Dear Lord,

I thank You for this day, I thank You for my being able to see and to hear this morning. I'm blessed because You are a forgiving God and an understanding God.

You have done so much for me and You keep on blessing me. Forgive me this day for everything I have done, said or thought that was not pleasing to you.

I ask now for Your forgiveness. Please keep me safe from all danger and harm.

Help me to start this day with a new attitude and plenty of gratitude. Let me make the best of each and every day to clear my mind so that I can hear from You.

Please broaden my mind that I can accept all things. Let me not whine and whimper over things I have no control over.And give me the best response when I'm pushed beyond my limits..

I know that when I can't pray, You listen to my heart. Continue to use me to do Your will. Continue to bless me that I may be a blessing to others. Keep me strong that I may help the weak... Keep me uplifted that I may have words of encouragement for others. I pray for those that are lost and can't find their way.

I pray for those that are misjudged and misunderstood. I pray for those who don't know You intimately. I pray for those that will delete this without sharing it with others I pray for those that don't believe.

But I thank You that I believe that God changes people and God changes things. I pray for all my sisters and brothers. For each and every family member in their households. I pray for peace, love and joy in their homes; that they are out of debt and all their needs are met.

I pray that every eye that reads this knows there is no problem, circumstance, or situation greater than God. Every battle is in Your hands for You to fight.

I pray that these words be received into the hearts of every eye that sees it in Jesus' name. Amen!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-03-11T05:32:00.000-07:00

Flashback - A Year Ago Yesterday

My New BFF

2009-03-04T19:07:00.000-08:00

Walgreens. Yep. Never went there much before, but I am slowly learning how they work and getting some good deals. I pass 2 Walgreens on my way home from work, and there are 2 other ones close to my work. 4 Walgreens that I am by daily. I am trying to only get items that we will use, unless they are free or I get paid to buy them.

I spent $42.77 out of my pocket, and got $32 in Register Rewards, bring my total cost to $10.77. I was hoping it would be a little less, but I saved $78.81. Most of the cost was tax and the Dimatapp I needed to get for Jonathan.

Not too shabby.