And the Couponing Begins...

If all your friends were couponing, does that mean you have to coupon to??? Yes, apparently it does if they are getting all sorts of awesome deals and you are left paying $2.00 for tube a toothpaste instead of .50 cents! Or getting stuff for free... or actually getting money back!!! So this week I bought three Sunday papers and have been saving all the coupon books for several weeks. I was able to buy six boxes of ziplock bags and will actually get money back (after two $5.00 rebates, three coupons, and three double coupons at Albertsons). I also got free kitty treats and Tony's Pizzas for $3.00 each plus three free redbox movies... Life Cereal for $1.00 box, and Quaker Granola Bars for about .80 a box.
On the down side - it did take me several hours to figure out what I was doing. But hey, I'm new at this, it's only going to get easier. I also bought Toll House Cookie pre-made cookies for about .75 each package (Usually about $3). The nice thing is I can cook up just six in our little toaster oven and we can have warm cookies every night. The bad thing is... I can cook up just six in our little toaster oven and we can have warm cookies every night!!!! (I ate two tonight....) So - those are going in our freezer so I only make them for special occasions. I told myself when I started this that I would only buy stuff we normally eat, not junk food just because it's cheap!
It's a fun adventure - seeing how much I can save. Especially when our food bill is usually about $600 a month. I know - I like to cook! The other up side is I usually mostly shop at Walmart, but since I'm going into other stores I am able to buy other things that are on sale (like grapes at Freddies for 99 cents a lb.), or clearance meat at Safeway, because I am already there.
I'm trying to save money on groceries so I can buy new furniture!!!

Back to School!

Back to School Time! Katie and Liz are in 3rd grade in Mr. Izer's class. Ally is going to 6th grade at West Orient Middle School (yikes! middle school!) Katie informed me as she was going to bed the day before school started that she WAS NOT going to school the next day. No way. I told her she didn't have a choice, but for some reason she still thought she did. When I asked her why she said there were three reasons. #1 - she didn't want to be away from me. #2 - Ally wasn't going to her school anymore. #3 - She didn't know her teacher (he's new to the school this year.) I told her if she had a good attitude about going to school the next day, I would lay with her that night. She said no. A few minutes later she came into my room and said she changed her mind, she would like me to lay with her and would try to have a good attitude about school the next day. She went to school just fine :)
Katie and Liz are mad that Ally doesn't have to wear a uniform. I loved that I didn't have to buy Katie and Liz one speck of clothing for school - they get all of Ally's and her friend Michelle's hand-me-downs. Gotta love that! I also had fun going school shopping with Ally. She's no longer in the girls section - it's juniors! It was a little hard to find pants that weren't really low cut on the waist. I found three pairs of great jeans at a garage sale for $2 each. My only frustration now is that Ally would like to wear the same two pair of pants and two t-shirts all the time. She has enough shirts for at least three weeks, if not four, but she wears the same thing all the time. I know I shouldn't care if she doesn't, but for some reason I do!

Contemplating Life

Hello, long lost blog. I spent part of today, this beautiful, relaxing, Sunday - contemplating life and trying to figure it out. I made a schedule for our family. It involves getting the girls up at 6:30 so we have time for brushing teeth, making beds, and even practicing the piano for 15 minutes each. The after school schedule involves the kids unpacking their lunches and backpacks right as we walk in the door and *gasp* even hanging them up on the hooks where they belong. I even scheduled free time, because, especially after a long day of school - I like to give them, and they really NEED an hour of good play time, unobstructed by a "let's get things done" Mom.
But the thing I'm struggling with is this, what good is the schedule if I drive myself nuts (and my family) trying to force everyone to follow it? Yes, they are all good things on the schedule. But why am I the only one who cares about it???? (Not counting Mike, who does care about important things like scriptures and prayer, FHE, and family fun night) I just am struggling to teach my kids the value of hard work. Maybe it's because I don't work them hard enough??? Maybe it's because life is just to easy for them? If I am all grumpy because we aren't on schedule, or even remotely close to on schedule, should I have one at all? But to me that's like saying "I'm not going to set any goals because it's too hard to keep them." I don't know. Just thinking out loud. And not looking forward to dragging the girls out of bed in the morning.
I've been reading a lot of zenhabits.com - my favorite blog and another new blog by the author - mnmlist.com about minimalistic living. About doing less. About enjoying the moment. I loved this part of an article I read:

Inspiration lives in the present
There is an amazing short video with Brother David Steindle-Rast – a Christian monk. As a boy, he experienced the last years of World War II in Germany. He tells of great hardships: never knowing where the next meal would come from, having to queue for hours for a small pitcher of water, and seeing bombs fall all around him.

Would you be anxious in a situation like this?

Surprisingly, Brother David wasn’t anxious – his experience was completely the opposite: it was one of the happiest times in his life! How could that be? His explanation is quite simple. Because there seemed no possibility of survival and no hope for the future, all he could do was to be in the present moment. This created a deep sense of happiness – in the midst of all that suffering.

Back to me - I want to live in the now with a deep sense of peace and happiness. Not sure how to do that. I am making some little goals for myself, like meditating. Like enjoying each moment. I am laying with my girls for 10 min. each at bedtime. That's my gift to them and to me and to their childhood. I want to enjoy those moments with them. A Schedule is good. Being happy is better. Organization is good. That brings peace of mind.

I'll end with a favorite quote, something I really am working on: “Be Content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.” - Lao Tzu

I'm trying out the movie feature in Picasa with pictures from the 1/2 marathon I ran with some friends. We had a great time, although I was pretty nervous. I kept telling myself the morning of the race that I was just going out for a fun morning jog, and I didn't have a time I was trying to beat or anything, so no pressure! The day was gorgeous, sunny and cool. We saw an amazing bald eagle just sitting and watching the runners go by, and I actually ran faster than I thought I could - I finished in 2 hrs. 19 minutes - which is about 10 1/2 minute miles when I trained at about 11 1/2 or 12 min. miles. I felt good pretty much the entire run, although the last mile felt like five. I was VERY sore for two days afterwards, but it was definitely worth and something I would probably do again. (if convinced by friends :)

The Worst Day of Katie's Life

I am confused about how to do both Facebook and blogging. Because it seems kind of redundant. Do I really have to post pictures in both places? And it's so much easier to post pictures on facebook because I can do a whole album. Maybe there is an easier way here in blogspot and I just don't know about it yet. The other thing that makes is redundant is the monthly newsletter I do for my family that has pictures and everything we did over the last month. I need to combine all these things together somehow! Any suggestions???

But I do want to update my blog because it's more like a journal while facebook is more my life as one-liners. And I can make a book out of my blog. So there it is. I'm going to attempt to update my blog more often and spend a little less time on facebook. The nice thing about facebook is that it's more social and interactive. So I will do both, but need to make an effot to update the blog, especially for our own family history.

We had an awesome FHE tonight (other than the fact that Liz was sick with a UTI). It was based off this article: http://zenhabits.net/2009/07/how-giving-changes-everything/
on "giving". What made it great was the conversation - the girls told stories (The quilt maker, the princess with the magic dresses, and even Garfield and Family Circus comics) about people who were happiest when they were giving something away. This lesson wasn't a "we should give service lesson", it was a lesson on happiness and how if you forget yourself and concentrate on others you are really happier than if you just worry about yourself. I need to remind myself of this fact, too!

During this conversation, we learned something about Kaite. She said, "When I'm having a bad day I just think about the worst day of my life and then realize - it's not that bad!" Mike and I looked at each other with raised eyebrows, wondering what was this terrible day.... Mike asked her what it was. She said, "It's the day we went over to Nicky and Joshy's house (our neighbors) when they were building snowmen. I got hit in the face with a snowball so I just sat by Daddy's car and was sad. Then I wanted to build a snow fort but we had to go inside. I then reminded her that was Christmas Day last year and we asked her (with straight faces!) if that was really the worst day of her life. Apparently it was, so I think she's had a pretty good life :)

I have had so much fun teaching my girls all the girls camp songs. I wish I knew the tune to more of them in my camp book. The girls really like Horsey, Princess Pat, and Linger. I can't wait to go to camp with Ally next year.

Rules about Reading

Yes, in our house we have rules about reading: when and where it's o.k. to read and when it's NOT o.k. to read. For example, no reading while we are walking (they like to read while we are walking to the car or into a store), no reading before school (unless you're all ready and Mom has given the o.k.), no reading at the dinner table, and finally no reading in the bathroom (because they disappear for hours and come out with a really red, deep ring around you know where!) Here is proof these rules are often ignored - I found a book curled up inside the toilet paper holder when I went to replace the roll!

Half Marathon Training

My friends and I are training for a half marathon. Today I ran the furthest I have ever run in my life, nine miles. Ouch. But at the same time, it feels good. The race date is the end of June. I think I'll be ready. I also started the program from a trainer from the show "Biggest Loser" with some girls from Olympic Gym. It's a book by Jillian called "Making the Cut". It's a 30 day intense program of eating and working out. You can check out my progress at that blog - www.letsmakethecut.blogspot.com, or just follow the link on the right. I am trying to actually eat right so I can be lighter and run faster. Plus, I've been training for this half marathon since February and haven't lost any weight so I figured I'd better do something different.