September Acres

The story below is not intended to offend or hurt anyone and I apologize in advance if it has that effect. It is intended to really demonstrate that our kids are always listening to us . I know that most of us have nicknames (some nice, some not) for places we shop. Here, we refer to Walmart as 'the Curry-Mao-Mart'. Let me explain so I don't offend anyone (I never intend to offend, I promise). Many years ago, even before LM was born, a friend called Walmart "China Mart", referring to the many products made in China. I had never heard this and thought it was funny. A while later I read an article in the Arizona Republic (I have a nickname for this paper, too) in the business section about Walmart. It was a hypothetical story about how life for all of us would change if we kept sending jobs overseas & importing everything from China. It also told the story of what life would be like if we brought jobs back & started manufacturing here in the US agai

Little Miss is at her friend's house today so I am HOME ALONE! No little people, no big people, no car. Oh, I took the car to the shop today, too so I couldn't go anywhere if I wanted to (which I don't). Well, I could venture out in the Ranger but seeing as it has no top and therefore no A/C & it will be 113, I don't think I will. I like being here alone and it happens so sledom in the summer time. I will be attemping to clean & declutter in hopes that none of my rooms look like this when my husband gets home: And if I have time (quite optimistic) I will start reading the first book in the 'Twilight' series. LM wants to read it but I need to read it first to see if it's appropriate for her (which I don't think it is). Have a great day...

The weather in my neck of the woods: Hot and sunny One of my simple pleasures: watching my daughter sleep On my bedside table: the latest issues of "O" & Coastal Living On my TV: nothing On the menu for tonight: Quesadillas On my To Do list: the usual: laundry, change sheets, mop, tidy up from the weekend. New recipe I tried last week : nothing In the craft basket: nothing Looking forward to: back to school shopping and lunch on Wednesday Homemaking tip of the week: Keep your bathroom cleaning supplies in a little (or big) plastic basket (like a rubbermaid kind of thing). And keep it in one of your bathrooms. I have one that I keep in our hall bath and I can just pick it up and take all the contents (sponges, cleaners, squeegees, paper towels, vinegar & water-for mirrors) to the master bath without leaving anything I will need behind. Favorite Blog Post of the week (mine or other): This one on Confessions of a Semi-slacker Mom. Love the idea of the 'car bag

You're gonna want this back You're gonna wish these days Hadn't gone by so fast These are some good times So take a good look around You may not know it now But you're gonna miss this ~Trace Adkins The dolls on the bean bag in the living room (all 5 dolls come out each week after we watch 'Raising Sextuplets' . The dolls (twins only) AND the stroller travel with us. I suspect I will even miss seeing this guy everyday! (we'll see about that!) Polly Pockets. Everywhere. The sign for the apple juice stand. Taped on the wall. The living room wall. I'll miss all this when Little Miss gets older. You can already tell she is growing up. She wants to take the Dora things down off her wall and has even mentioned getting rid of the Dora kitchen (yikes). She carries a purse with her many places we go. The Little People are being played with less and less (we could probably sell all the Little People we have and pay for a year of college tuition. really.)

Okay, not so much. But yesterday I went to get in the car so I could pick Little Miss up from her friend's house and I thought 'my it's feeling cooler this afternoon'. It was only 110 today. Downright chilly compared to 119! But it gets better - tomorrow we're expecting a high of 107. Break out the coats! It's amazing but you really CAN feel a difference. Really.

to Starbucks? I dropped Little Miss at her friend's house this morning (thank you Mr & Mrs. O!), headed to the bank and post office. And Starbucks. Since it was on the way home. I noticed that it wasn't too crowded - yea! But it was 9:30 so I wasn't terribly surprised. So I go in, walking behind a totally clueless woman on her phone walking at a snail's pace. Pick up the pace lady, I need my decaf, non-fat, no whip mocha!, I am thinking. She finally turned around - I guess I was invading her personal space and she could feel it. She tells me to 'go ahead'. Thank you! I didn't want to be rude and 'cut'. :) THEN, I get behind a couple who clearly have ventured into Starbucks for the first time ever. Either that or they are always a pain. The woman ordering was so confused as to what she was ordering - ' 2 pumps on the cold one, no, I mean the hot one. Wait, it is 2 pumps on the cold, 3 pumps on the hot. Wait, what do you usually put in the Ven

The weather in my neck of the woods: What else? Hot (about 115) and sunny. On of my simple pleasures: the quiet of the early morning. On my bedside table: Finishing up 'Queen Takes King' by Gigi Levanger Grazer. On the menu for tonight: Not sure, I haven't done my menu plan for the week yet. On my to do list: menu plan, grocery shop, laundry, bank, car wash New Recipe I tried last week: none In the craft basket: nothing Looking forward to: listening to my new Daughtry CD that my husband got for me & hopefully a quiet week with Little Miss before the rush of getting ready to go back to school. Homemaking tip of the week: We all try to keep our house clutter free - paper seems to be a big problem for many of us (whatever happened to the 'paperless society' we talked about years ago). Keep things under control by making sure the 'no-brainer' toss items get tossed ASAP. Things I pitch as soon as possible: junk mail (some people don't even b

As summer vacation winds down here (only 2 weeks left until school starts!) and vacation budgets have been spent, I am always looking for some fun, frugal ideas to keep Little Miss busy and entertained. After racking my brain (well, it wasn't that bad) I have come up with some ideas to keep the peace for the next 2 weeks. I have printed out a few of our summer pictures, brought out the colored paper (scraps) and will help LM work on her very own Summer of 2009 scrapbook. Most of us have tons of construction paper, scrapbook paper scraps, markers, stickers, crayons, etc that are just dying to be used so this is the perfect way to 'use what you have' while keeping your kids busy as well as doing something productive. Even the littlest of kids can get in on this one with help from mom or an older sibling. Another 'crafty' idea is to take your summer magazines and let the kids tear them up & make a collage about their summer vacation. Take pictures of them with the

Part two Dixie National Forest, Utah. Little Miss on a hike to Alpine Pond. Wild Lupine @ Dixie National Forest Alpine Pond Dixie National Forest Me with Little Miss @ Cedar Breaks National Monument, Utah Cedar Breaks National Monument (a miniature Grand Canyon) This view made the trip.

Part One Clown Fish @ The Living Planet Aquarium Definitely worth a visit. Little Miss enjoying a concert in the Park. She is becoming quite the hool-a-hoop-er. Brian Head, Utah View from our condo. Not too shabby. Me with Little Miss @ 11,000 feet in Brian Head. View from 11,000 feet. Brian Head. More photos tomorrow....

8:45 am 99 degrees Would you like to meet me at the pool???

It was 67 degrees when we left Brian Head this morning. It was 114 when we pulled into our driveway. Unfortunately, this refreshing drink is not helping. Our A/C just went off for the first time in 6 hrs (we keep it at 79 so it's still pretty balmy in here). It was so nice to sleep with the windows open. We won't do that in this neck of the woods until about November. Until then, can we go back? Pictures of the Utah Mountain Tour 2009 will be posted soon. I promise...

The Utah Mountain Tour 2009 continues as we head south to Brian Head. It is our first time there and I am really excited. We have friends who ski there every year and love it. I always want to turn off the highway to check it out when we are headed to Park City but my husband never wants to. So, it is now our destination for the weekend. There should be some good hiking and horseback riding. If the weather holds out that is. It is supposed to rain a bit today but let's just hope the meteorologist is wrong. And it will be a heavenly 62 degree high. What more could I ask for being that it will be 114 at home today...

All Little Miss asked to do while we are on vacation was go to Chuck E Cheese. Since we don't (thankfully)have one in our town I thought we could go while we're here. We headed out Wednesday morning and went to this fun aquarium first. It was really neat. They have a little pool with stingrays which we could 'pet'. That was a hit for Little Miss. Lots of neat fish & a shark tank - I swear one of the sharks was looking at us like 'my, you all look tasty.' :) After we left the aquarium we headed off to Chuck E Cheese. I have only been one time about 12 years ago with a friend and her kids. I remember it being noisy and not too fun - probably because I was not yet a mom. So I was prepared for the worst! I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. It was clean (a biggie for me), well laid out, had nice, helpful employees and tons of games for the kids. We had brought our coupons that we cut out of the paper a few weeks ago - LM ended up getting about

I had to run to Kmart the other day to pick up a new hair dryer (my old one was becoming a fire hazard). Aside from being packed, they were putting out school supplies. Yes, already. Seems like summer vacation just started and now we are thinking about school supplies. Little Miss only has 4 weeks until the first day of school. Second grade. Yikes.

Says my husband when he sees our newly slipcovered chair and ottoman. Here's the before. Not my cup of tea fabric wise but my mom was getting a new chair and asked if we wanted this one. A free chair - of course I want it. So I lived with this pattern for a few months and my mom asked if I would like to have the chair & ottoman recovered as my birthday gift. Of course! And here's the result: I LOVE it. My husband likes the feel of the fabric but thinks it's too red. But I wanted it to be RED! The rest of our family room is beige, cream and black. It needed color! It really looks like a whole new chair. I have to say that the picture doesn't really do it justice but you can tell it's better than before. Way better...

The weather in my neck of the woods: Hot (111), sunny One of my simple pleasures: Sitting outside during a full moon, quietly. On my bedside table: "Queen takes King" by Gigi Levangie Grazer. Thanks to Tickled Pink & Green for the tip on that. It's good so far! On my TV: Spongebob - keeping Little Miss busy while I do this. :) On the menu for tonight: Almond crusted chicken, sauteed mushrooms, corn on the cob, macaroni salad. On my to do list: Laundry & lots of it, errands (post office, library, bank, gas station, car wash), finish packing New recipe I tried last week: none In the craft basket: nothing Looking forward to: what I am calling "Utah Mountain Tour 2009". Leaving tomorrow for Park City to visit my sister then to Brian Head on the way home. Homemaking tip of the week: Before leaving on a trip get your house in order - trash emptied, beds made (get up extra early if you have to in order to get this done), dishwasher empty or with clean dishes

Jenny Sanford. She should be up for sainthood. I mean, really, what else does her Governor 'husband' have up his sleeve? What else does he think the public needs to know about his 'soulmate'? What else does he need to have smeared all over the media for his young boys to see? Mark Sanford is nothing short of a dirty rotten scoundrel. Being a Republican, I had high hopes for him to help lead the party in the next few years. Guess we can cross him off the list. And this guy , too. I am sure there are others or will be all too soon. I have been reading about both of these politicians lately and so much runs through my mind. Most of it I can't write down though! Both of these men still have children living at home. Boys. What a great example they are setting for them, don't you think? Thank goodness these kids have strong moms taking care of them, helping to protect them from their fathers' indiscretions. Is this what you sign up for when you ma

Not too bad for all this, I think. The condiments were all on sale & I had a coupon for each of them - so I am stocked up for a while. Little Miss has been asking for Kool-aid since I don't buy soda for home. I gave in when I saw Kool-aid packs 10 for $1 AND I had a coupon for $2 off sugar when you by the Kool-aid. So for $1.49 I got 10 packs of Kool-Aid and 5lbs of sugar. I still think Kool-aid is better than soda- at least I can control the amount of sugar that goes into the pitcher. It's not water but it's a nice summer treat. I feel the need to explain a couple of the purchases since I go on and on about eating healthy & organic when possible. :) First, the Doritos were on sale for $1.88. We are going to the mountains for the 4th and LM & my husband like to have chips w/ their sandwiches. They are definitely a treat around here & I figured $1.88 was a great buy. Second, the milk. I have said in the past that organic milk is non-negotiable around here. T