To Skate is Great!

Yesterday was Brynne's 6th birthday party at our favorite place ... Roller World!! We love to skate, so it was the perfect place for Brynne to have her party.

I spent the week making "SKATE" t-shirts for the girls, party favors of roller skate chocolate suckers and personalized pencil toppers.

And then there was the cake.

Brynne had so much fun with her friends ...

and her daddy ...

and her mommy ...

And she even convinced papa to skate!

The older kids had a great time, too!

Yep, Eli was there! He just skated around by himself, having the time of his life!

After skating we came back to our house for cake, gifts and playing.

It was a great day!!!

Happy, happy birthday, Brynne!!!

Busy, Busy Day for Mama

It's the last Friday before school starts next Thursday. It's the day before Brynne's birthday party. And I have lots to do today!!

This house needs cleaned like somebody's mama is coming for a visit! And that mama would be mine (and my dad and my niece). And I'll have a house full of Brynne's friends and their mamas tomorrow.

I have a masterpiece birthday cake to bake and decorate and party favors to finish putting together.

Did I say I needed to get my house cleaned? Yeah.

We are also going to throw in a trip to the bowling alley today. My kids just love to bowl. And, hey, it's still free, so we are going! Today though, this mama is going to show her kids who's boss! No mercy! And I won't be using bumpers!

And then I'm going to come home and clean some more.

Have a great weekend! Be sure to check back on Monday for pics of the Skating Birthday Party Extraordinaire!

My Family Belongs in the Zoo ....

.... because we love it so much!

I know moms that dread taking their kids to the zoo. I feel that way about the water park. I take my kids because they love it, but I don't really enjoy it. My joy comes from seeing the excitement on their faces!

But, the zoo ... I genuinely love going to the zoo. And my kids do too. (The jury's still out on my husband, although he seems to be enjoying himself in the picture above.)

We live about 15 minutes from the Tulsa Zoo. It is the perfect size for us. We get family passes every year. So, we can go for an hour here, two hours there, or all day. We can just go through the buildings, or just go and hit our favorite animals, or just go and ride the train to the playground and play.

We are there often enough that we know lots about the animals. We know when they come out of hiding, when they are sleeping, all about the new animals at the zoo, babies, etc.

Rick's company had a picnic there this past Friday. Of course we went! There are two new baby giraffes that we were dying to see!

We saw them from afar when we were pulling in on the train (didn't get a photo then), but by the time we went to observe them closer they had already retreated into their indoor habitat. But it was a treat to see them!

We were also pleasantly surprised to see a litter of new baby hogs. They were sooooo cute! My dream is to have a farm someday and have a teacup piggie that I keep inside as a house pet.

Then Brynne had the most exciting experience! A couple of years ago the beloved polar bear passed away. Last year they replaced it with a grizzly. But, he's been adapting to his captivity so has been hiding every time we have come to visit. Brynne ran up the hill to check on him and squealed when she saw him out playing with a ball. She was so excited! He is housed next to the carousel. It plays Disney music. I kid you not, that bear sat there, upright, and nodded his head back and forth, on beat, to the song, "Move it, move it" from Madagascar. The kids were thrilled! It was so funny!!!

Brynne named the bear "Grizzly Cool"

After the obligatory carousel ride and photo with the tiger statue outside the entrance, we headed home. It was a hot night, but so worth the trip.

The older kids had ditched us by this point.

Nicole's Daybook

Outside my window... It thundered, it lighteninged (not a real word, huh), the wind blew, it poured! In the night we had a glorious thunderstorm that soaked the ground. I cannot express how badly we needed the rain or the escape from the heat! Now it's cloudy, wet, cool.

I am thinking... about how stressed I feel this week. And unmotivated. All I want to do is sleep late, stay in my pj's, do what little I have to, read, and then sleep again. Maybe it's just my body's way of gearing up for the school year that starts next week. I tend to think it's because I haven't been exercising or being on my "good" schedule. Anytime I try to be 'laid back', it seems to backfire.

I am thankful ... that Dawson went to church with us on Sunday morning and went to the youth group gathering on Sunday night! This little group reminds me of my little youth group when I was in junior high. Those were the best days of my childhood, as I look back now.

I am wearing... like I said above, my pj's and robe. I'll have to get dressed at some point to take Eli to get his haircut this afternoon. If I didn't have to do that, I might not get out of them all day.

I am planning... 1st Day of School photo ideas. I think I have a good one! Then I'm going to update Journey to Excellence with the photos and a "Get to Know the Travelers" page.

I am creating...  the last three units of our U.S. History curriculum. I've had to take a break from it this week because I have been working on all of Brynne's birthday party things. And the girl has high expections.

I am going... to go upstairs and look for the "Animal" bucket for Brynne. She has been playing with her Barbies the last day or so and needs the animals.

I am reading...  Escape by Barbara Delinsky,  More Faith in My Day by Emilie Barnes (daily devotional). I have two more books on my nightstand and another waiting for me at the library. I'm not going to get them read in time. There is a hold list on all of them, so if I don't have all three of them read in about a week (yeah, right), then I'll have to just request them again. My favorite author, Kristin Hannah, has a new book out called Night Road. My mom said that if you have teenagers, it is a very disturbing book.

I am hoping... that Dawson is feeling better today. He has had a nasty cold, of sorts, the past two days and hasn't left the couch. He said that last night his hands hurt?? What could that be? If he is feeling worse today, or not any better, I might run him to Urgent Care. Viruses scare me.

From the learning rooms... Brynne and Eli have pulled out all of their board games and have been playing them a lot the past couple of days. We are more in "preparation mode" for learning, than anything. We are doing haircuts, getting school supplies together, etc. Kyndal ordered her backpack yesterday and I bought her favorite binder, the Mead Hybrid Flexible at Target. Seriously, it's the most durable binder. It will last her all year. I got the schedule for Dawson's homeschool guitar class. It's going to be so great! I am working on getting a meeting schedule with Eli's teacher and his IEP supervisor to discuss his year and my suggestions for making it successful. The closer he gets to going back to school, the sadder I get.

Noticing that ... I am the worst money manager. I've always known that. But, being as structured and scheduled as I am, you would think this would be an area I would have under control. I get so mad at myself!

From the kitchen... This week I have been cooking meals primarily from our freezer and pantry stock. In the next couple of weeks I will get back into Menu Plan Monday.

Around the house... the outside of our house looks terrible! The trees are just dead. The leaves have fallen all over the yard. My flower pots hold dying, lifeless flowers and my flower beds are weedy and look atrocious. I need one full, coolish day to just work on everything to get it spruced back up.

One of my favorite things... is seeing my teenagers make good choices. It only gains them respect and more freedom. I hope they realize that.

A few plans for the rest of the week... today is Eli's haircut. Tomorrow Kyndal gets her school schedule and then we have an orientation at the Tech building tomorrow night. On Friday, I might take the little ones to the water park one last time. But then when I get home I have to bake Brynne's cake and get my house clean! On Saturday, my parents and niece are coming and it's Brynne's birthday party!!! We are going roller skating. She loves to skate! On Sunday, we'll go to church and then I will likely spend the rest of the afternoon working on school stuff. On Monday I am taking the girls to the mall. Kyndal is school clothes shopping and Brynne is getting to use her gift certificate at Build-a-Bear. It's going to be a fun day!

From my picture journal.

The supplies for Brynne's birthday party.

Lots of women Daybook. See what they have to say at The Simple Woman's Daybook.

Sweet Six ~ And in no time "teen" will be at the end of that

 A timeline of Brynne's Special Day ~ August 8th

Midnight ~ Dawson woke up Brynne to tell her 'Happy Birthday' and took her from her chosen place to sleep the night before her birthday, the upstairs t.v. room couch, to sleep with him in his room.

6:45 a.m. ~ "I'm awake! It's my birthday! I'm 6!" (Well, technically you're not 6 until 7:40 a.m. Can we go back to sleep until then?)

7:15 a.m. ~ Opened presents. (Obviously the answer was "no" to the above question.)

With her new Kids Bop cd, Wii game, and Bella Ballerina sneakers

7:30 a.m. ~ Was upstairs playing Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games on the Wii.

8:00 a.m. ~ Was doing pirouettes in new Skechers Bella Ballerina twirling shoes in her new birthday nightgown while listening to Kids Bop 19. She had declared it a pj day FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY.

8:45 a.m. ~ Ate "special breakfast" of cinnamon toast and watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, asking every two seconds, "Can I wake Eli up?"

9:00 a.m. ~ Finished a picture for Papa and Grandma to mail to them.

9:20 a.m. ~ Was back upstairs playing her new Wii game with Dawson and his friend, because "NO you CANNOT wake Eli up!"

9:35 a.m. ~ Was back downstairs. "Gosh, when is Eli going to get up?"  Fine. Back to watching Mickey Mouse.

9:55 a.m. ~ ELI'S AWAKE!!! Went upstairs to show him the new Wii game.

10:20 a.m. ~ Took a 'Happy Birthday' call from grandma.

10:55 a.m. ~ Decorated the house with streamers. She wants to keep them up until her birthday party on Saturday. The ones in the kitchen may be a challenge. But, I am trying.

1:00 p.m. ~ Ate Subway and watched "Air Bud".

1:30 p.m. ~ Got bootie kicked by mom at Connect 4.

2:00 p.m. ~ Went upstairs to play with Eli.

3:00 p.m. ~ Made a "Happy Birthday Brynne" sign.

4:30 p.m. ~ Started to wear down. Could it possibly be because SHE WAS UP AT 6:45 A.M.!!

5:30 p.m. ~ Had yummy dinner of hot dogs, macaroni and cheese and brownies.

The birthday girl/boy always gets to pick what we have for dinner

6:30 p.m. ~ Daddy arrived with flowers for the birthday girl.

7:00 p.m. ~ Made a wish that "every day could be this great" and "for $1,000".

As you can see, Brynne is 'large and in charge'. It was an exhausting day for her mommy. I have always said that she is either keeping me young or making me old. I am tending to think it might be the latter. Although, you can't be a sissy to keep up with her!

I love this kid. Seriously, she is such a joy! Without her our life would be soooooo dull!

Happy 6th birthday, baby girl! Hope  your day was really as great as you said it was!

On Saturday she is having a skating party and her Grandma and Papa and Rylee are coming to help celebrate. Then on Monday we are going to Build-a-Bear because her final gift is a giftcard from there. She has been wanting to go there really bad! She will be so excited!

(btw ... she slept until 10:00 a.m. today.)

Nintendo 3DS Sale

My little two each want a Nintendo 3DS really, really bad! They are $249. Ouch! However, I feel like they are going to be that item that you can't find at Christmas. So I've been looking at them, debating about whether I should order them if that's what we are going to get them.

But we have been very squeamish about spending $250 on each of the kids for Christmas, plus all the little extra things we always get them (pj's, a dvd, a game, etc.)

So, our plan was to get them one 3DS to share, each a game, and each some little extra gifts from Santa. Then after they get their normal Christmas money from their grandparents, they can pool their money together and buy another one. Then they would each have one. We suggested this idea to them, to be thinking about this when they wrote their letters to Santa. They thought it was a great idea and were totally satisfied with it.

But tonight I just happened to check on them online at Wal-Mart and they are $169 pre-ordered!!! That's a savings of $80 each! We decided that made it worth going ahead and getting them each one. So the majority of Santa's work is done for these two. Now I can watch the sales to get them each a game and they can use their Christmas money to buy more games if they want.

I don't know how long this sale will last. So, if you are in the market for a Nintendo 3DS, I suggest you get yours ordered NOW!

Back to Cash

{Warning: Transparent Post}

I have a weakness. Although I am a frugal girl, I am a terrible money manager! This is why Rick handles all of our finances. He recently took a new job that required a salary decrease. It was a decision we felt was best on a short-term risk/long-term gain kind of thought pattern. Because of this change, it's necessary that I be very intentional with the budget I am given every month.

During lean times, I am a cash-only girl. I have an expandable that I keep in my purse and have cash in certain category slots: groceries, activities, clothes, allowances. Then at home we have an expandable with cash in it for: Nicole's extras and grocery overrun. Rick gives me cash every two weeks and I divide it up into the appropriate slots.

Over the last year or two, our finances have been pretty good so I have gotten away from my cash-only system. All of the money has gone into my checking account and I have just kind of kept the categories and amounts "in my head". But, of course, I have been taking money "from" one to use in another and have run out of money some months and asked Rick for more (this happens especially when a clothing sale comes up and I want to stock up). Or, I have used my little credit card (with only a $400 credit limit) when I am running short and Rick has paid it off.

With our budget changes, I am still getting the same amount of cash every month. But I don't want to ask for any extra money from Rick, because I haven't been a good steward of what I have; I don't want to use my credit card; and I want to be able to carry over any cash from my categories if I don't spend it all in one month (i.e. clothes).
Those are my goals.

I made the intention to do this at the beginning of this month. And, I failed. I used my credit card, I went over my clothes budget and so had to use all of my activity money (Old Navy was having a sale, and I went over), and a curriculum that I forgot I had not yet paid for came due. I am very disappointed in myself.

So, I am back to cash again, but this time starting on the 15th. My money will be divided back up into my expandable slots every two weeks. And when a category is depleted, then I won't be able to spend in that area anymore until the next two weeks. And I will do it this time!

This, ultimately, does a few things that are valuable:

(1) It makes me really consider wants vs. needs.
(2) It makes me budget.
(3) It keeps me from doing online purchases, because all I have is cash and in order for me to order something online I have to drive 5 miles into town and deposit cash into my account. By the time I get around to that, I'm usually out of the mood to buy it.
(4) It makes me really utilize all of the food in our home and purchase food carefully so as not to have any waste.
(5) It keeps my grocery budget in check, dramatically! (Nobody wants to get to the checkout and not have enough money.)

The best way I can help Rick during this temporary lean time is to be a good steward of the money with which he entrusts me. It makes me feel good if I am able to help him in this way.

Because of the financial mistakes I made in the past couple of days, I am going to need to keep my grocery budget to a minimum for this two week period. So, I inventoried my meat freezer, pantry and house freezer. I was able to come up with 12 full meals, with a need to purchase only a hand-full of items.

I know I can do better with my money. Anytime I am forced to do something, I do it. I need to do this. I want to do this.

So, here we go!

Medical Mission: 2011 Back-to-School Mission

Dawson and I, and his friend Wesley, got to be a part of something great yesterday! It was our church's annual Back-to-School Mission. From 8 a.m. until 8 p.m., we helped give away 800 backpacks full of school supplies, undergarments, shoes, free haircuts, scoliosis screenings, eye screenings and dental screenings. It was nothing short of amazing!

Dawson and Wesley worked so hard running up and down the stairs obtaining all of the appropriate supplies and bringing them back down to the grateful recipients.

I had the greatest job! I got to roam around and offer brand new shoes to toddlers. Most of the shoes were "character" shoes so the kids' little faces just lit up! Here are three little guys in their new sneaks. What a blessing I received from the joy of the kids and their parents.

We ran out of shoes early! So, let me tell you, I will be buying clearance shoes all year in anticipation of next year's Mission. I hope that not one child leaves the day without a new pair of shoes.

Of course the main goal of this day was to share the love of Jesus with others. We had an area where pastors and elders were available to pray with families. I was shocked at the numbers of people who wanted and received prayer.

It was an exhausting day, but one that I look forward to participating in every year from here on. I just have to mention that this church is one of the smallest ones in town. But it is definitely making the biggest impact in our community. I am so blessed to be a part of it!

And these two boys are awesome! I was so, so very proud of them and their giving spirits.

Nicole's Daybook

Outside my window... The heat index is only 109 degrees (at 6:30 p.m.). That's good considering the recorded temperature is actually 112 degrees. It's only projected to be 117 degrees tomorrow.

I am thinking... about school, school, school.

I am thankful ... that my Aunt Rhonda has learned that her breast cancer may not be cancer, after all, but appears to be late-stage precancerous cells. She is now weighing her options of what she should do.

I am wearing... a black and tan striped cotton skirt, a black t-shirt and black flip flops.

I am planning... Brynne's birthday party. Well, at least I should be since it's in 11 days!

I am creating...  the last few units of our U.S. History curriculum. Hoping to get it done by the time school starts! I'm starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel!

I am going... to do all I can do to keep my flowers and bushes alive and what remains of my garden. That's hard to do with scorching temps and water rationing.

I am reading...  Escape by Barbara Delinsky,  More Faith in My Day by Emilie Barnes (daily devotional).

I am hoping... for temps under 100 degrees soon!

From the learning rooms... Absolutely nothing this week. We are trying to have some fun before Eli has to go back to school. Next week we may do a little more reading and some math facts just to get our brains moving agian.

Noticing that ... I'm actually 40.

From the kitchen... It is so stinking hot that turning on the oven bums me out. But, I must carry one! 

Around the house... things are in pretty good shape. The house is pretty clean, pretty organized and is, at least, keeping my stress minimal as we head into our busy season!

One of my favorite things... is the excitement of school starting!

A few plans for the rest of the week... we are so busy! Tomorrow, Dawson and I are working at our church's Back-to-School Mission. On Thursday, I am enrolling Eli in school and then we are meeting friends for bowling. On Friday, we are going to a company picnic at the zoo for Rick's new company. And then on Saturday we have our Co-op Back-to-School bash at a pool in a nearby town.

From my picture journal.

This is what I wish it was doing right now. I would lay face down in it.

Lots of women Daybook. See what they have to say at The Simple Woman's Daybook.