David and I took McKenzie and 3 of her friends to Long Beach for the day. Those girls are a trip! We visited the lighthouse, ate at Chico’s Pizza, rented beach bikes, went on the GoKarts, got goodies at the bakery, played at the arcade and visited some shops. We stopped by Cool Scoops on our drive home for dinner and ice cream. Very memorable birthday for Kenzie-girl, and we had a good time too 
Coming out of hiding for a few minutes to post a Happy Birthday wish to my nephew Lane Happy 7th Birthday Lane! It’s been almost a full year since I’ve made my last post. That is sad!! I got a new computer earlier this year and lost all of my website editing software, so that was part of the problem. Figuring out how to still make posts, through a different program. Hard to teach an old cat new tricks But, I think I’ve got it!
Update from here… everyone is a year older… a little wiser… and a little busier… KT (our oldest) is getting ready to have her first baby, making David and I grandparents. Yipes. That’s hard to type still, but we are going to be the coolest grandparents on the planet, so once I realized that, it’s getting easier to come to grips with being a Grammy at 35 years old! She is due on the 8th and we are all excited to meet the little man. Everyone has their guess as to when he’s going to make his appearance. KT is doing great, no problems with her pregnancy and is excited to be a mommy. It’s a boy!! I’ll post pictures and more info when he’s born. Woohoo! Another generation being started. So hard to believe!
Will post more soon. I need to be better about posting, I feel terrible that I’ve let it go this long. Sorry family!
The kids have been spending a lot of time lakeside so far this summer. They are becoming little fishies! Here are some pictures from our last trip on Sunday (The LaFaves joined us which was fun!)
We went for a little drive last night down towards the river in Ridgefield. We were looking for this “beach” people had been telling us about. We found it, got out of the van to check it out and were instantly attacked by mosquitos. Attacked is an understatement. Not many things would send David running away, but we both RAN back to the van as fast as we could. Clearly, the skeeters thought we were dinner. I did snap this quick pic as I was running back. I thought it was pretty, with the sun setting in the background. Reminded me a bit of the opening of One Tree Hill. I could picture Chad Michael Murray bouncing his basketball acrossed it and Gavin DeGraw playing I Don’t Want To Be in the background LOL.
Love our pretty little town — and the hidden beauty we don’t see all the time.
Wanna give a shout out to Joel for starting his own handyman business in Clark County. Before and After Home Care Services is the name he came up with. Here is a link to his website www.baahcs.com Good Luck Joel!
Geez.. I guess getting geared up to go swimming wipes McKenzie right out. Uncle Joel and Aunt Carrie took the two little girl swimming today. This is Kenzie in the car on the way there.
This is Kenzie several months ago, camping at Cascade Peaks… waiting to go swimming there.
What a goof!
Well, it’s been awhile since I’ve seen my boy in a tux.
Year 2009
Ok this picture is not good. Again, it’s with my dingbat cell phone. I would have went to grab my beloved Rebel, but… we were running out the door, so the cell phone crapcam had to suffice. It almost looks like he was an angel sent straight from Heaven? Ehh, most days I’d agree 
But the lighting is kind of odd, isn’t it?
Anyway, Mr. Man is in the school band and their “uniform” for concerts is a tuxedo. Poor guy… his pants are 30’s. I think he’s MAYBE a 26… and in a pair of Tony Lama’s… He said there was only one pair smaller than what he ended up with, and they were snatched up by the other “little person” in the school band. LOL. We will have to get him a different pair.
He plays the clarinet, in case you are wondering. And he’s very good at it! He’s been playing for 4 years and just keeps getting better.
Miss Bailey had to decorate a turkey for school this week. She had crafts supplies from one end of the kitchen to the other. I watched her decorate it, but I didn’t do it for her…. she created this masterpiece ALL by herself. The only thing anyone helped her with was the hat, and that was Ashlyn’s idea. Just because little 6 year olds holding homemade turkeys are so darn cute, there are 3 pictures below all for your enjoyment
Save $5 off on a Family Size pizza at Papa Murhpy’s.
These coupons don’t come out very often, good deal. It is 1 per visit, and good through 11/30/09.
Walgreens Deal Match Ups
**The November Savings Coupon Book can be picked up at the front of your Walgreens store, as can the weekly ad if you don’t have one.
* KLEENEX ~ $1.09 with ad coupon (buy 3)
Use .50/3 coupon
Use $1/1 coupon from the November Savings Booklet
= FREE
* OCEAN SPRAY JUICE ~ $1.99 (with ad coupon)
Use $1 off coupon from the November Savings Booklet
Look for $1 off stickers on the bottom of bottle
= .99 or Free
* GOLD MEDAL FLOUR ~ 2 for $3.00 (with ad coupon)
Use .50 off coupon
= $1.00 each or you can use two coupons and get 2 for
$2.00
* CHEEZ IT CRACKERS ~ Buy 1 Get 1 Free
= $1.50 each
Specially Marked Boxes would be eligible for the
Kellogg’s Toy Cash Rebate
* GLADE AIR FRESHENER ~ .99 each (with ad coupon)
Use $1 off 2 coupon from the November Savings Booklet
= .49 each when you buy 2
* BETTY CROCKER FROSTING ~ $1.29 (with ad coupon)
Use .50 off coupon or this .50 off coupon
= .79 each
There is a $5 off $25 coupon you can print and make these deals even sweeter.
ADDED 11/12:
* NEXXUS MOUSSE ~ 2/$5
Use $4.00 off 1 coupon from the November Savings Book
= FREE (it should take the entire cost of these off, if you are buying 2)
* GLADE SPRAY
These Glade Air Freshener Sprays are on sale this week for .99 each with Ad Coupon. The Right @ Home coupons I posted about here included .75 off 2 holiday collection Glade Sprays. The November Savings Book (found at the front of all Walgreens stores) has a coupon for $1/2. Buy 4 sprays, use 2 of the printable coupons, the Ad Coupon, and the November Savings coupon and you should get 4 cans of the Glade Sprays (holiday collection only) for .46 cents each. We have 3 bathrooms, so I’ll do this deal and put one of these in each of our bathrooms. Good deal!
Not sure what it is about the rain that I love so much… but the sound of the rain on my windows is my absolute favorite sound.
Today, we had a big rain shower, that lasted maybe 15 minutes at the most…. it happened to coincide with my break (I work from home). The house was perfectly quiet, dog asleep, and everyone gone except for me. I sat at the top of our stairs and just listened/watched the rain. Grabbed my camera and took a picture of what I was looking at/listening to. I find it very calming, and forget about light boxes…. I wish I had a little rain box to watch and listen to the rain any time I wanted….
Can someone tell me why this one tree is still green? LOL. Kind of funny….
I wonder how many times I’ve watched “It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” show. A lot.
You’d think I’d have to force my kids to sit and watch this show with me. The animation that Charlie Brown was created with is not exactly what they are used to these days. But, there must be something about it for them too, that they are always just as excited to watch it as I am. They know that it means Halloween is just a few days away, and what kid doesn’t love the holiday that offers up a buffet of two of their favorite things? Dress up and buckets of candy. 
I made chocolate chip cookies tonight, in a pumpkin shape to have for dessert. They weren’t very appealing (I’m no Martha LOL) but they were fun to make and the kids liked them, so my goal was achieved.
