Even better water.........

We always drink lots of good filtered water, but this does even one better with added electolytes and ionization!  You can read about the benefits of it here - and you can buy it by the case online with free shipping!  Whoo-hoo!  It's a great alternative for your sports kids instead of fake, sugary, dye filled, preservative full sports drinks.

New snack we are loving!

This is my Costco best buy of the year!! This stuff is soooo insanely good and it's only  $8.49 for 2 lbs. at Costco!!!  In the store it is around $3.00 for 5 ounces!!  It's a great healthy snack - full of fiber and good monosaturated fat.  It's a best food from the new Flat Belly Diet book!! Hooray for yummy snacks.  If I'm in the mood for a treat, I eat a dark Dove chocolate with it!

CASTAWAY BAY - OPENING DAY!!!

WE ARE SO HAPPY THAT MANY CHILDREN CAME OUT TO VBS TO ENJOY THE LEARNING AND FUN!

"HEY GIRL - DON'T YOU JUST LOVE VBS?"

GUESS WHO WAS IN CHARGE OF SNACKS?  IT'S A HEALTHY ONE!

LUNCH LADIES!  THIS IS ME AND MY #1 BUDDY!

COUSINS!

ARGH ME MATEYS!

TEACHER "D" BEFORE CLASS!

I CAN'T QUIT TAKING PICTURES OF CUTE BABIES!!

WE ARE SO EXCITED!   DAY 1 OF CASTAWAY BAY IS A SUCCESS!

Castaway Bay - The Prep!

LOOK AT ALL THE BEAUTIFUL CLASSROOMS!!!  SO MANY TALENTED TEACHERS AND HELPERS!

VOLCANOS!!

THE SEA!

JONAH'S BIG FISH!

WATERFALL!!

A REAL SURFBOARD!

CASTAWAY BAY VBS 2008!  So many hard workers showed up to transform our building into a jungle wonderland - thank you to everyone for all of your efforts!  

Jungle hallway leading to classrooms!

The "Stuff" Little Boys are Made Of..........

I just finished a marathon de-cluttering session in my boys' bedroom -whew! I'm actually sweating after this chore!  I had already worked a full 8+ hour day, so I began the job kind of tired.  Once I got de-cluttering, I got my second wind and went at it.  My boys were not home, so it made the job of getting rid of things much easier!  

As I cleaned feverishly, and started throwing things away, I stopped to see how many little "piles" of "stuff" my oldest boy had created - there were about 7 little stashes in all our homeschool bookcases - like a squirrel stashes nuts for the winter.  Truthfully, each pile looked like junk to me, but I know that he knows where every thing is and his system makes sense to him.  

Looking at his small "piles", that I usually become annoyed with, I stopped and started to cry. My little boy is going to be 10 soon and I can hardly believe it.  Time passes so quickly.  I prayed to God to give me patience and kindness and to see the "stuff" as he views it, little treasures, and to not get so caught up in how the room looks, but to just let him explore and collect and learn and grow. I am so thankful to God that I am able to spend time with him and watch him grow.  

After I thought for a while about my little guy, I took some things out of the trash and put them back - I simply couldn't throw away his stick gun, or paper clip invention, or the "snake thing" he built out of stuff he found after a baseball game the other day.  

I probably have less years left with him than he has lived with me already and I pray I will treasure every minute and learn to see the world through his eyes of wonder and put every memory away in my heart to hold on to forever.  I love you JS!!

School supplies for $.65!!! Thanks Staples!

Thanks to Staples $.01 sale for teachers, I now have 160 pencils, 20 folders and 20 containers of sanitizer to start off our year!  I just wonder how long it will take my 3 kids to loose 160 pencils? They are pretty good at it! Now, that WAS easy!

Financial Shape in 2008! July Check-in

I'm just checking in with Money Saving Mom's Financial Shape updates for July!

We are going along pretty well in 2008!  I am MOST proud of myself for keeping up with my Excel spreadsheet and entering all expenses as they happen so I have a "real-time" picture of where our money goes.  It's tremendously helpful!!  

1. This month I applied our extra funds to our remodel.  We used a credit card with no fees and no interest for 12 months and I will pay it off ahead of schedule!  I am so happy about this.  Since we have never carried a credit card balance in 17 years of marriage, I was a bit leary about trying the no-interest card for 12 months, but it made it possible for us to buy the needed items at the Home Depot at a 70% discount!! We were able to buy real wood flooring for our entire home.  So far DH has completed our bedroom and our home gym.  He is now working on our 2nd bathroom.

2.  No matter how hard I try, I just can't reduce my grocery budget!  We only eat real, whole foods and we don't buy much meat and we eat lots of beans and plant based dishes, so I still can't figure out where the $$ goes!  I include toiletries in my grocery budget too, so maybe I'm not doing too bad?  We are a "grazing" family and I want to stay that way for health's sake - so much of my grocery money goes for convenience items of this nature (organic yogurt sticks, nutrition bars, raw nuts, etc.)  I guess I'm resigned to live with my budget where it is!

3.  I was over budget on clothes for the month, but when I average it out, it works out fine.  The kids all had a growth spurt and were in need of shoes and some new dress clothes. 

Overall I am happy with where we are in 2008.  I do feel proud that we are able to live below our means even in this economy.  I credit my husband's wise planning since day one of our marriage in the area of stewardship.  I have learned so much from him in this area of our lives and am thankful to be blessed with his leadership in this area.