Today

Today...I am copying Lynne's blog post.

Today...was the last day of Tiger Ice for this school year and I was able to make it through without getting a single drop on my clothes. That might be because I was only there for third grade.

Today...I ran to Wal-mart to buy lunchables after dropping the kids off at school because they informed me that the sliced ham being served in the cafeteria was "disgusting." I bought a pound of my favorite Jennie-O Sun-dried Tomato Turkey (sliced on a #1) while I was there.

Today...I got a much needed pedicure and indulged myself in a recent copy of Us Weekly while there. When I say much needed, I am serious.

Today...was the last day of after-school choir practice for Taylor. I played bubbles with Hayden while we waited. The big High School Musical concert is on the last day of school. I can't wait.

Today...I went to 3 stores looking for the elusive perfect brown flip-flop. My old ones are RAGGED but I will wear them until I find the perfect replacement.

Today...I was lonely, just like everyday. You would think that after an entire school year, that I would be used to being alone during the day, but I am not.

Today...as usual, I cried when I read Lynne's blog.

Today...Mrs. Funk was nice enough to take Payton home with Elle and then on to soccer practice. The end of the season tournament is this weekend and their team is in second place.

Today...I am sad that the school year is almost over and that means the kids are getting older.

Today...I am excited that the school year is almost over because that means no more ironing uniforms, packing lunches, signing reading logs, etc. for 2 1/2 months.!!!!!

Today...the DVDs were returned on time to the library. That is a first in a very long time.

Today...Hayden came home and promptly changed into her pajamas. Oh wait, that happens everyday.

Today...I was not as concerned about the dog roaming the neighborhood as my neighbor was. He is way nicer about dogs than I am.

Today...I am going to my first mutual activity in a long time since I am now serving in YW after serving in RS for almost 4 years.

Today...I counted the days again until the Benhams get here. Only 10 more days. I can't wait!!!!

Run, Taylor, Run!!

Taylor decided to join her school's cross country team at the first of January. The team was formed this year in the fall. She didn't want to join then but after our family ran the Senior Bowl 5K in November she decided she wanted to. To make the team she had to run 2 miles in 26 or 28 minutes (I can't remember.) When she made the team she was very excited and committed. They had practice every Monday and Friday and meets a couple of times on Tuesdays. They also had one mandatory Port City Pacers 5K a month to run on Saturdays and several other optional races. Each of the 5K races gives awards based on age divisions. She is still in the lowest division, 0-9 girls. This is mostly 9 year old girls. A couple of times there have been younger participants (like her sisters) but not very often. Taylor's hardwork has paid off. At her most recent race, she ran her best time ever - 33:10. This is almost 7 minutes faster than her first 5K. She ran this race with her coach, Ms. Green who was encouraging her the whole way. Here they are together at the end of the year banquet. She is a great coach and sacrificed alot for this team. She ended the season with knee surgery after running a little too hard with Taylor at that last race.

It hasn't always been easy for her. She has finished a couple of races in tears after pushing herself. Hayden has been willing to help her out a few times. Knowing that there were treats and awards at the end of each race also helps.
This was after the Bunny Chase 5K where I think she placed first.

This was part of the ERD team before one of the races.

This was at the end of the year banquet. It is such a great group of kids and parents. Everyone cheers each other on and waits at the end of the race to high-five their team mates. She is excited to be on this team again next year.

These are her other 3rd grade team mates and the rising stars of ERD cross country team.

Butterfly release

Several years ago, our PTA decided to set up two outdoor classrooms, AKA the butterfly gardens. Thanks to several hardworking parents and teachers, they have gotten bigger and better each year. What started out as a couple of canopies with nets thrown over the sides, is now two full size green houses with planters, benches, stepping stones, etc. Parents also donated flowers that butterflies are attracted too and will lay their eggs on. Each year every classroom in the school is given two cups with 5-8 catterpillars in each. The children are able to watch them progress from catterpillar into caccoon in their classroom. The cups are covered with a coffee filter and this is what they attach themselves to. After they become caccoons, (or is is it a chrysallis?), they are transferred to the greenhouses. Clipping these coffee filters to the lines strung across the greenhouses is not the most fun job in the world, but it was all worth it. After a week and a half, we had hundreds of butterflies just waiting to be released. On the day of the release the students gather around the greenhouse as the sides are rolled up and the butterflies start to fly out and sometimes land on the children. Obviously, they all loved it!
I didn't get any pictures of Taylor because the two greenhouses are released at different times and her grade level was scheduled for the second release.

Coastal Cuisine

Part of Taylor's science curriculum this quarter is studying marine life. For the past couple of years at our school, the teachers have ended this unit with a Coastal Cuisine luncheon. This allows the students the chance to sample the local cuisine that includes some of the things they have learned about. The teachers put this whole thing together and the kids make decorations for the hallway. On the menu this year was gumbo, hush puppies, crawfish, bowled shrimp, and banana pudding .

Taylor willingly put everything on her plate but was not willing to try everything. She tasted the gumbo and said it was too spicy. She didn't want anything to do with the crawfish. She was willing to try the shrimp once a classmate offered to peel it for her but, when she saw the inside of eat, she changed her mind. She liked the hush puppies and banana pudding and asked for seconds. I was surprised at how many of the kids actually enjoyed the crawfish. I guess because it is not my thing, I figured kids that age wouldn't like them either. Yet, a lot of the kids were cracking those things open and sucking the heads like pros. Yuck!

Here are some gratuitous seafood pictures for the Benhams. Just a few more weeks and you can partake in your very own Coastal Cuisine.

Thanks to Maureen for being my hand model.

Confessions of a Shopaholic

I have a confession to make. I have a slight shopping addiction. I don't spend my time hunting bargains for clothes, shoes, purses, makeup, or scrapbook supplies. I am addicted to finding great bargains on groceries. I like getting the Wednesday grocery ads a little more than I should and the Target ad is the first thing I pull out of the Sunday paper. I try to keep my coupons clipped so I can make good use of them. This isn't a new found love. This has been part of me for many years. Back when I was first married and when Taylor was a baby, Lynne and I used to spend hours clipping coupons and shopping at Delchamps when they would double and triple coupons. Sometimes we would close the store down trying to stock up on tinfoil, toothbrushes, cereal, etc. for free or just a few pennies. Delchamps eventually closed and those middle of the night grocery runs were history. But my need for a good grocery bargain lives on. You don't want to get behind me in the checkout at Walmart. I love to ad match and use coupons and it usually takes awhile. I also love to get my coupons doubled (up to 50 cents) at Brunos. I have recently discovered Targets $5 gift cards with certain purchases. But the story doesn't end there. Just a few weeks ago I was getting my weekly fix from the Wednesday grocery ads when I saw it.....Brunos was tripling coupons up to 55 cents on Saturday. Oh My Gosh!! I was so excited. And if that wasn't exciting enough, it has continued every Saturday for the past month. So what is a girl to do that has a stockpile of coupons and a addiction to good grocery bargains?! Go to Brunos. My first trip a few weeks ago yielded this bounty:

Any guesses on how much 5 bags of frozen biscuits, 5 boxes of Hormel lunch meat, 6 tubs of country crock spread, 10 large jars of Ragu, 8 tubs of frosting, 2 jars of wostershire, 1 box of crunch n' munch, 10 5ct. packages of Pringles minis, 12 boxes of Ziploc bags, 1 bottle of hot sauce, 1 bottle of Hungry Jack syrup, 4 bottles of Pine-sol, 11 rolls of Bounty paper towels, 2 bottles of shampoo, 2 bottles of detangler, 16 boxes of granola bars, 16 boxes of fiber one bars, and 17 1-lb. bags of rice costs? (That is 130 items -- all of which, we use)

Drumroll please......$117.00 with a savings of $232.97.

But it doesn't stop there. Here is the receipt for the day I spent 54 cents TOTAL on 6 boxes of cereal.

This is the other day at Target when I got 8 boxes of cereal and 8 jars of peanut butter for a cool $16.43.

Last Saturday's haul at Bruno's yielded this result:

I got these 17 1-lb. bags of rice, 25 rolls of Bounty paper towles, 16 boxes of Betty Crocker muffin mix, 16 Betty Crocker Warm delights (for when the Benham's come), and 5 boxes of Ziploc bags for $42.41.

The only drawback is that Bruno's will only let you do 10 coupons at a time so I have to stand in line dividing up my order into groups of 10 and try to keep the correct coupons together. My bank actually called me a few weeks ago because there was "suspicious" activity on my account. Apparently multiple small transactions at the same place sets off some sort of fraud alert.

I love finding a good deal, I love seeing my cupboards full for my family, and I love knowing that I am getting my food storage in place.

Sorry about the music...

I don't ever have the sound turned up on my computer. So, I had forgotten that I had such a depressing song leading off my playlist. I am sorry about that. I have now changed my playlist and added a new song to the top. I have loved it since I first heard it a couple of months ago. Every word of it describes how I feel about Bryan. It is such a sweet little song and I can't get it out of my head. So turn your speakers up and listen to The Plain White T's singing "1234."