Home from Holiday

I love how the Europeans go on "Holiday" instead of vacation. So, the Lathams (and my parents) went on holiday Sunday/Monday, to... of course, Holiday World.

I so miss the days of my youth when I went to Opryland every year. I was so distraught when I heard it was closing to build a MALL that I vowed never to shop there. Of course, that passed, but I still have very fond memories of every summer there. I should find and scan a photo of me with my friends back then at Opryland -- I have them.

Anyway, I digress.

Josh has been asking for two years for me to take him to Holiday World. Finally, I heard it was going to be cool weather (well, not 90*) on Sunday and we decided on a whim to head out. It turned out to be a classic Griswald family vacation. Those of you not familiar with National Lampoon's Vacation might not get that reference, but if you are familiar and LOVE those movies as much as I did, know that this movie will air on Nickelodeon on Saturday at 7 p.m. CST.

I digress -- again.

We had not gotten more than a mile down the road when Ellie threw up. She's never thrown up so imagine our surprise. Imagine the view from my parent's car behind us when all the windows go down and heads start popping out of the windows. We made it all the way to McDonalds and got her and the carseat cleaned as best we could with wipes and Febreeze and sat it in the back of the truck to air for a bit while we ate breakfast.

After breakfast, we gassed up and were on the road. Holiday roooo-aaaa-dddd (think the theme from Vacation). Ellie apparently has allergies or a cold and every three-five minutes she sneezed and (pardon the grossness) blew snot all over everything. Poor Bryce (Josh's friend), spent the three hour ride pulling out a wipe, wiping her nose and throwing away the wipe. We also had a bib we christened the "snot rag" on the trip. yuk.

We were almost there when we were pulled over by an Indiana State Patrol. Apparently we were doing 65 in a 60. (Reminiscent, again, of Vacation). Ironically, he saw us, all our luggage and three kids crammed in the backseat (all we needed was Aunt Edna on the roof) and said, "You must be headed to Holiday World." Uhhh.... what gave it away? He came back with just a warning, so we were happy about that.

I was beginning to fear we would arrive and find Wallyworld err, Holiday World closed and a big moose out front telling us it was closed for repairs. Fortunately, we didn't and we got in without incident. After making our way across the park to Splashin' Safari, we all got slathered up in sunscreen and everyone headed their separate ways. Do you know how hard it is to make sure everyone has fun when you have a toddler, two tweens, two adults and two seniors? Well, we somehow made it all work and only lost the tweens once. I suspect they found us instead of the other way around.

Ellie only played in the small water pools but seemed to have a good time splashing and wading. She took a nap in the park in her stroller and generally was such a good baby (other than the poor thing sneezing and having her nose wiped every few minutes).

My mom took tons of pictures because I was doing all I could do to make sure I knew where everyone was and keeping up with Ellie and all her accessories, to take many pictures. It was funny -- the few I took of Ellie show the skill she has recently decided she wanted to develop: feeding herself with a spoon and fork. She has become quite the independent little chickadee and wants to feed herself as much as possible. She is also all about drinking from cups with straws. She thinks herself too mature to drink from a mere sippy cup when everyone else has a straw. OY!

I only packed two regular diapers for the park (what was I thinking??) but packed four swim diapers. Near the end of the day, Ellie had to have a new diaper and we realized we were out. I had the great idea of just using a swim diaper. You'll see why this wasn't such a great idea in a bit. Interestingly enough, because of all the water, ummm... throw up, ummmm... snot, and pee, I didn't pack enough clothes for Ellie. Remind me, next time, to overpack for her. When I woke up in the middle of the night and her bottle had leaked all over, her, her pillow and the bed, I just about had my final breakdown.

I continue to digress. (Could someone try to keep me on task???)

We stayed until the park closed at 8:30 and then, like my parents before us, spent another hour wandering around Indiana trying to find our hotel in the midst of what seemed a massive cornfield maze (literally, we looked out our hotel window and were situated in a cornfield). Not realizing that our hotel was an hour ahead of us, we didn't eat dinner at the park and were all STARVING and could only find a Rallys and a McDonalds. I finally gave up on finding Ellie anything remotely healthy to eat and went into the local CVS and bought her a frozen Lean Cuisine.

When we got to the hotel and got Ellie out, SURPRISE, her swim diaper had leaked and her car seat was soaked and so was she. Joy.

We finally all passed out from sheer exhaustion went to bed around midnight. Ellie didn't sleep well and woke up about every hour - two hours crying. It must have gotten bad because this morning I found both Kevin AND Josh sleeping on the floor. Obviously, Ellie, Bryce and I didn't see this as an option because we were all still in our beds.

After breakfast, swimming and packing, we all decided to go by Abraham Lincoln's boyhood home/working farm and do the touristy thing there as well. It was pretty fun and the boys enjoyed it a lot. I told them it was their educational moment for the summer.

Since my mom took the pictures, it might be a bit before I get some posted, but I will as soon as possible.

Fingerprinted -- This Time for Non-Adoption Reasons

I joked when we were adopting that we got fingerprinted more than the "bad guys" and that it was to make sure we hadn't robbed the Piggly Wiggly. It was surprising to me that they are able to keep the criminals' fingerprints on file, but I had to be re-fingerprinted three times to complete one adoption.

Well, I have been fingerprinted once again. This time it was not for adoption reasons and was done sitting on the tailgate of our pickup truck in the parking lot of the Game Crazy/Hollywood Video. Lest someone think I committed a crime at the Game Crazy (although I'll admit I was capable of it for a few minutes), I did not.

Josh asked me earlier today to take him to the Game Crazy store to get some of his game DVDs buffed so they would play again. I told him as soon as I got home from work I would take him. So, I came home, ate and off we went. We parked along the side of the store and he hopped out to put on his tennis shoes and said, "Uh-oh. Get back in the truck." (Josh is certainly my watch dog). But, I didn't. It was a guy asking for money for gas. Yeah, right. I opened my wallet thing and said, "I'm sorry, I don't have any cash, but if I did I would give it to you." (I certainly thought I was being polite and nice). I would have given him a few bucks if I'd had it.

We went in and there was no one in there in front of us so we handed over the DVDs and I got busted on the whole Santa Clause thing. The guy working there said, "If you want to buy a membership, it's $10 or it will cost you $10 to get these buffed." I said, "Well, we might have a membership since I bought a game system here a while back." Josh's head SWIVELED around and he said, "You LIED to me." Busted. Year before last I searched HIGH and LOW for a Wii (back when they were "the" gift for the year). I found out that the Game Crazy store had gotten in a shipment and had a couple left. Bad thing was, I had both Josh and Braiden and no one to leave them with. SO.... I took them out there on the pretense of renting movies next door, slipped over, bought the Wii, shoved it in the back of the car, told the woman to tell the kids the woman in front of me just bought the last one (since I told him if they had one I'd buy it for him). I thought myself pretty smart and told him they didn't have any. Santa was the HERO that year and we bought ourselves another year of belief. Fast forward a year and a half -- busted. UGH.

FORTUNATELY (not!) I was saved from more of that discussion a few minutes later as a manager of Hollywood Video comes in and says, "How long has that truck been beside the building?" (Who? Me?). I said, "Blue Frontier?" She said, "Yes." I said, "I just came in a few minutes ago." She replied, "Was the window busted out when you came in?"

ARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!! Well, NO, it WASN'T.

Turns out in the five minutes I was in that store some stinking hoodlum broke my window, stole my GPS AND my purse (but left two cell phones, a power inverter, my lunch box (ha!), and a DVD player). Apparently, it was a "smash and grab" (and run).

According the the manager (who noticed this while she was out for a smoke break), no one parks where I do because of the crime in the neighborhood (how about a sign???). They all park right in front of the doors of the building. Also, there are no exterior cameras, only interior. I was polite in suggesting that as a person who inspects commercial properties for insurance companies that she might suggest to her corporate headquarters, that, based on the number of burglaries in her parking lot (and apparently her store too she mentioned), they might consider putting up some cameras on the exterior of the store not only for customer safety but for employees as well. (Leave it to me to get into a commercial insurance liability discussion with the store manager after my car is broken into, huh?)

A call to the police took well over the amount of time I was in the store as they were "experiencing high call volume". Wonder why? They did arrive fairly promptly though and spent a good amount of time investigating, asking questions, fingerprinting the car (and me) and writing up the report.

I have now filed a claim. Apparently, however, the auto policy will cover the window, but not the contents, which are covered under the homeowners policy (can you say large deductible? I can.)

The real joke, however, is on the person who stole my purse. You see, I don't USE my purse except for two things: bringing snacks into the free movies (yes, I do) and if I have to go into a store to shop, I use it to carry my phone, wallet and keys. All that I can think of in my purse was the set of keys to our other vehicle and receipts, melted candy bits from Tuesdays trip to the movies, and probably some gum. There might have been some other stuff, but I just don't remember it. I don't use the purse often enough to matter.

Josh was funny during our wait for the police to finish when he said, "Hey, the important thing is they didn't steal your coupon binder." Man is he right!! Take my purse -- leave my coupons!!

So, we are thankful that it wasn't worse than it was. No one was hurt. We have insurance. Not much was taken. We are lucky. But, let me go on record in case there is any confusion about how I feel: I CANNOT STAND people who steal. The Bible is clear: Thou shall NOT steal. Criminals stink.

Brothers from Another Mother

On Drake and Josh they called each other my "brother from another mother". Today, I was doing an inspection and was talking to the owner and out of the corner of my eye I saw a dog lying outside. I stopped, moved over and stared. Then I asked if this dog was a Rottweiller/Lab mix. She said he was and that he was nine years old. He is just like our dog, Bear. We compared notes and they have the same temperment and idiosyncracies. Wonder if this is Bear's "bother from another mother?"

Bear
Bear

Max

Max

Poor Max lost his mate a while back and continues to be very sad.

You Might Be a Redneck ...

... if you've ever used your John Deere to drive your dog up and down the road. *sigh* Imagine my surprise when I looked out the window and saw this. Poor Sunshine.

As an update on my Grandmother, she is doing very well today after a long sleep and lots of meds yesterday and last night. She will be dismissed Saturday morning -- how does she do it?? Thanks to all who were sweet enough to leave comments and offer prayers.

Grandmother

My grandmother was taken to the hospital last night after a fall. They have admitted her and thought she had pneumonia. Turns out it is her congestive heart failure and fluids have built up around her heart and in her lungs. She is on some high level antibiotics, but when we went to visit her tonight, she didn't look or sound very good. She did, however, report that she was feeling some better. She felt like she had a fever to me, too. I took Ellie and Josh to see her; Josh is her absolute favorite person in the world, I think. She just lights up when she sees him. I remember when he was little and called her "granmuddr". It was so sweet. I didn't want to take a chance that something will happen to her, and we didn't get a chance to see her and visit with her.

Granted, she's a strong woman and has pulled through many things before. But, she did tell one of her pastor friends that she was "ready to go". I don't think I'd be sad for her if she went home -- she's ready and the Lord knows it will be an upgrade to get to heaven. Who could be sad for someone headed there? I'm not saying I wouldn't miss her, but I know she's had a long life and that I will spend eternity with her.

If you can spare a prayer or two for her health, would you?

Tuesday

Catchy title. I seem to be out of words today.

Tuesdays, this summer, have been "Mom and Josh" day. We go to see the Free Movies around town on those days. Ellie is at MDO from 9-2 and that gives us just the right amount of time to do that, plus one or two errands if we need to.

Today we saw, Hoodwinked. I thought the theatre was showing Evan Almighty (which we have seen), and I was really excited about that. Turns out I was wrong. I was not excited about seeing Hoodwinked. To be honest, I didn't even have a clue what it was about, but it turns out it was probably just what I needed -- a lot of downright silly humor that made me laugh out loud. I think I'd probably like to see it again at home some time.

Afterwards, we ran into a couple of blogging friends who had taken their kids to the fountains to play. Next week, I'm going to bring Ellie to play in the fountains if it is warm and pretty so she can hang out with her friends.

I enjoy my "Just Josh" day. As much as I love Ellie and love being with her, I know that Josh misses the times before she came when it was just he and I. This is a nice compromise -- some one on one time.

Of course, after we came home, we started in on his room. OY! OY! OY! Eleven year old boys should just have a locker to live in. There were food wrappers stuffed under the bed, behind the bed, dirty clothes crammed in places I didn't know they would fit and a nice powdery film all over everything where he'd apparently played in the powder one day.

It took forever to get that room presentable, but it is now and I'm VERY HAPPY about that. I moved on over to Ellie's room and got all the stuff out that I'd been storing in her closet for the Encores and More North consignment sale. It's coming up very soon. Josh got a lot of him toys out too. I told him he could get his own consignor number and have the money he made from his stuff. It was a pleasant way to clear some things out of that room!!

So, we are making some progress at getting things cleaned out. It's a nice feeling to see a clean room after a lot of hard work. Nana is coming on Thursday. I'm sure she'll be glad to see the room she stays in is clean -- for a change.

Tomorrow -- back to work.

The Next Thing on My List

I haven't done much "Summer Reading" this year. There just hasn't been a lot of time. And, with my commitment to reading the Bible through, that is my first priority. However, I have found a book that has grabbed my attention and I'm going to try to tackle it in my "spare" time (right - not). As you can see from the picture above, it's entitled The Next Thing on My List.

The teaser on the back of the book got me. It reads:

After a car accident in which her passenger, Marissa, dies, June Parker finds herself in possession of a list Marissa has written: "20 Things to Do by My 25th Birthday." The tasks range from inspiring (run a 5K) to daring (go braless) to near impossible (change some one's life). To assuage her guilt, June races to achieve each goal herself before the deadline, learning more about her own life than she ever bargained for.

As I get older, I realize time is certainly not on my side anymore. Granted, I don't feel old (most days, that is), but the reality is that I'm not 25 anymore either. And I often wonder what things I'd like to accomplish with my life and if I'd really have the GUTS it took to do them if I were brave enough to even write them down. I think, somehow, it would be worse to write them down and never do them than to never write them down at all.

I'm wondering if there are those of you who have the guts to both write them down and do them. I'm going to ponder it -- while I read the book.

Let me know if you've read the book.

Bible Reading Update

So... I posted a bit ago about how I felt compelled to read through the Bible. And I also requested some accountability from "the readers". I have had the opportunity to hear from several folks and talk to some of you about my reading. I am moving along. The Bible I'm reading has 1142 pages. I'm at around 350. I'm currently in Deuteronomy and Luke. There are daily readings from Psalms and Proverbs as well.

God has revealed many things to me during our time each night right before I fall asleep. Many people indicate it's better to read in the morning, to "get your day started right", but for me, the best time is at night, after a sometimes long, hard day, to settle down and hear what God has to say to me. It's somewhat like climbing up in His lap, snuggling down and letting him reassure me before I drift off to sleep.

However, some of the things I've been reading in the Old Testament are strong concepts taking me to a new level in my thought process about the true God. God is a very serious God who I think we (mankind) have way, way, way underestimated. Everyone talks about "the loving God" and "grace" but no one ever talks that much about the God of judgment and vengeance. In the Old Testament, there is a whole lot of talk about God's requirements of an "eye for an eye", death to those who disobey Him, how a long, blessed life will be had by those who follow his commands and who love and respect God. The consequences of disobedience in the Old Testament was typically death -- and never an easy one: stoning, the earth opening up and swallowing you, floods -- you name it. Now, I am clear that we are living under the provision of grace as presented in the New Testament, but I can't help but think that God wanted us to read these stories in the Old Testament to gain insight into who He is and insight into others who have had relationships with Him -- in order to strengthen our relationship with Him.

And because of all I have been reading, I'm finding it considerably hard to continue to feel sorry for myself when bad things happen. God was disgusted by the whinings of Israel. He continued to want to destroy them and create a new group of "chosen" people from the line of Moses. Moses continued, time after time, to beg God to please forgive them and give them another chance. And, even though they didn't deserve it, God did. I feel like, in my life, God continues to give me second chances -- even when I don't deserve them. I continue making the same mistakes over and over and I continue to wonder when my lessons will be learned and will "take". Someone once compared our trip here on earth as "boot camp" for heaven. I think that's probably right. I hoping one day I will pass boot camp and get promoted to PFC. In the meantime, I continue to ask God to forgive me and to help me learn the lessons in life He wants me to learn. I see so many areas where I continue to fail Him -- and myself. There is no reason for haughtiness around here.

And, to close out, I'd like to take a moment to request prayers for our family. God knows the reasons, and He'll know why you are praying when you do. It would mean a lot to us.

It's Like Watching a Train Wreck

You've heard the phrase before, "It's like watching a train wreck" meaning, of course, that it's some horrible thing but you just can't take your eyes off it.

Let me provide some history. When I was in my early teens, I had the opportunity to visit one of my aunts (my grandfather's brother's wife), Aunt Kat, on multiple occasions. Aunt Kat was certainly like no one else I've ever known. Her major interest: the World Wrestling Federation. She went to all the live shows, watched it on TV and had autographed photos of all "the guys". It was the days of Hulk Hogan, Macho Man Randy Savage, Rowdy Roddy Piper and Dusty Rhodes (puh-leese!) (Anyone interested in knowing where some of these guys are now can click here or here for an article). Everyone knew that if you visited while wrestling was on, she was not going to talk to you or pay any attention to you. And, according to my mom, she was absolutely certain it was all real and woe be unto the person who mentioned it might not be.

Aunt Kat passed away a long time ago, but her memory came screaming back at me tonight as I was sitting at the kitchen table trying to work when Joshua turned on the TV and there it was: WWE Raw on USA. And that is when it started -- the incredible, morbid fascination. I'd try to work and then some wrestler would come on dramatically proclaiming to be the greatest ... blah, blah and then a match would take place and I'd sit there just drop-jawed. I turned to Kevin and said, "It's like watching a train wreck. It's so awful you just can't stop watching it."

We were exposed to the horrific antics of treated to Mark Henry, aka, the World's Strongest Man, Hornswoggle, a little person, fighting against someone with their hands tied behind their back, and the tallest, biggest guy I believe I've ever seen, appropriately named "The Big Show". He is purported to be 7' tall and 485 pounds. Actor Seth Green was the guest host and a member of tag team wrestling with John Cena and Triple H tonight. Anyone seen him lately? All of 5'4" (and maybe 140 pounds) of him. And through it all, I continued to remind everyone watching, who were just as mesmerized as I was, that "It's all fake!!" I think it fell on deaf ears. In true WWE form there were chairs, sledgehammers and lots of fake punches. Train.Wreck.

In all honesty, I don't think it's something we will be watching ... I'm almost embarrassed to report we watched it tonight, but it certainly made me reminisce fondly about Aunt Kat and wonder what ever happened to all those autographed pictures she had!!

Free School Supplies

For those of you who have a CVS nearby, might I suggest you RUN there BEFORE TUESDAY to stock up on some FREE school supplies. You have to have an Extra Care Card (which will earn you something called Extra Cash Bucks (ECBS) ), but we got several school items today and with the ECBs we earned for our next trip, they were essentially free!!

CVS 1-subject notebooks - 70-80 sheets - limit 2
Papermate Grip Pens (blue and black 8 count) - limit 3
12" Plastic or wood ruler - limit 2
CVS school glue - limit 2
CVS 5" scissors - limit 2


Not free but good deals:

paper pocket folders -- no prongs - $.05 each (limit 10)
3 or 5 subject notebooks - $.99 after ECB
Pilot Easy Touch pens - BOGOF
CVS Mechanical penciles - BOGOF


Not to be outdone in the school supply department, Walgreens kicked it up a notch too. While nothing there was FREE, there were some really inexpensive deals:


$.39 items
Index cards
Mechanical pencils (10 count)
5 count dividers
10 pack sheet protectors


$.59 items
5 count mechanical pencils
Elmers glue
Elmers glue sticks
Colored pencils (12 ct)


$.79 items
24 ct #2 pencils
Scissors
Compsition book


IN-STORE COUPONS
Expo Dry Erase Markers - $1.99 each - limit 3
Sharpies - 2/$1 - Limit 4
1 subject notebook - $3/$1 - limit 6
Filler paper - 2/$1 - limit 4

Legal pads - 3/$1 - limit 3
2 pocket folders with prongs - 8/$1 - limit 8


Shapener - $.29
Double pack pink eraser - $.29


And while we don't have a supply list yet, at these prices I figure whatever Josh doesn't need, we will donate to our church's school supply drive. Likely all we will have to get at this point is binders of some variety.


Can you believe school is just around the corner - YUK!!

I Hope You Have A Child JUST Like You ....

It's the curse of mother's everywhere, "I hope one day you have a kid JUST LIKE you." I can see Eve, finger wagging at Cain and Abel, exclaiming, "Oh. My. Goodness. You two. I hope one day you have kids just like you so you'll know what I go through."

My mother certainly wished one on me. I know she is laughing daily. My turn will come.

Today there was mucho-discussiono about whether Kevin, Josh and Ellie would go with me this afternoon to shop (coupon day, you know). Every single time I take anyone with me coupon shopping I swear it will be the last time that happens. And yet, my brain cells fry when I get home and I do it all over again.

Of course, I want to record this day for Ellie when she gets older and reads over her early years.

The child has lungs made of the same stuff Stretch Armstrong was made off -- they can fill to uber-capacity and then she can scream at the top of her lungs for hours and usually in the middle of a store or the middle of the night (as in last night for over an hour). As of late, she wants everything to go her way or there is an all out scream festival. The thing that will set her off the loudest and longest is if I don't CARRY HER through the entire store, while wrangling coupons and trying to think about if something is a good deal.

We lived through it in CVS. When we went into Walgreens, she and Kevin sat in the car -- until she threw a fit and he decided to come in. She had multiple screaming hissies in there. Target was the coupdegras and the store that caused me to give it up and go home. But not before strapping her in her car seat and issuing the proclamation, "I hope one day you have a little girl who acts JUST LIKE YOU DO."

If I didn't know better, I'd swear we had already hit the terrible twos. The girl is headstrong and wants everything her way. At home, I just ignore her and go about my way (for example tonight when she threw a fit over my not giving her any peanuts). It's a bit harder in the middle of a store when people obviously think there is a murder being carried out in the diaper aisle.

This too shall pass -- and much too quickly I'm sure -- wait, what am I saying?? This stage cannot pass too quickly!

Good Deals at Publix

Ok, so I know no one really cares about my good deals at Publix, but darn, I'm so pleased with some of them I just had to brag report for the sake of others who might want to run by/buy.

Publix had Huggies bath products BOGOF at $3.29, essentially $1.65 each. I had SEVEN (yes, thanks to all my friends who don't have babies, I get ALL the baby coupons -- yay!!) $1.00 coupons for bath products, essentially paying $4.55 ($.65 a bottle) for seven bottles of baby wash . I ALSO had a Publix Baby Club coupon for BOGOF on Huggies washcloths (the kind that already has the stuff in them -- great for travel), and I am CERTAINLY not a math genius so someone tell me: if they were already BOGOF ($3.29 for two) AND I had a BOGOF coupon, how much did I pay???? Well, according to my receipt, which I just looked at, I paid $3.29, got $1.64 off AND had another $1.00 off coupon (stacked those bad boys) and paid $.64 for two boxes. Not too bad!! Finally, in the baby department, I had a coupon for a BOGOF Publix wipes refill, so I picked up two of those for $2.49.

For those of you who have kiddos under two and have a Publix near you, SIGN UP for the Baby Club. They send you a sheet of coupons every so often and they are a real savings. For example, this most recent package, I got:

• $1.00 off meat
• $1.00 off a deli product
• $1.00 off produce
• BOGOF wipes refill
• BOGOF antibacterial wipes (like Lysol)
• $1.00 off a dairy product
• $1.00 off Stoneyfield Organic Yogurt
• BOGOF Huggies washclothes
• $1.00 off any Shout product

Seems like there might have been more, but these are the ones I used this time. You can stack them with a manufacturers coupon and save even more. Great deals.

And finally, another great deal: Spray and Wash was BOGOF at $2.69. I had $.50 coupons (several) and Publix doubles coupons up to $.50. So, I got each bottle of Spray and Wash for $.35 each. WOW!! I have a few more of those coupons so I might stop back by this week for more. We will certainly use those.

All the Kashi products are also 50% off this week, so with my (3) $1.50 off Kashi waffles coupons, I got 3 boxes of waffles FREE (my favorite price).

Smart Balance butter spreads were BOGOF, so with my two $.50 coupons, I got two tubs for $.69 (or $.35 each).

All in all, I save almost exactly the same amount I spent -- or 50%. Now, I would not have bought many of the things I had (or at least not the quantity) had I not had the coupons to get them so inexpensively, but I assure you, it has been a blessing to our family to have these products stocked up so that we don't have to buy them all at "regular" price when we need them.

THANK YOU to everyone who has been contributing coupons that you don't use to us. We certainly appreciate it. Hopefully, you'll be happy to know, we share the "plunder" around and have actually "taught" others how to do this and to save money as well so your sharing with us has helped others too!!

OH... and I made a CVS run last night and found a few clearance deals that were incredible.

• Chapstick on clearance for $.75
• Halls Naturals cough drops on clearance for $.57
• CVS Wild Cherry cough drops on clearance for $.32
• Children's Alavart (loratadine, which is the only thing Josh can take for allergies), on clearance for $3.00 a box with a $2.00 peel off coupon, making it $1.00 for a box
• Hylands (homeopathic) Sniffles and Cold pills on clearance for $1.32
• CVS pantiliners -- free with ECBs
• Dawn (small ones) 2/$1.00 (after ECB) but 2 - $.25 coupons makes them $.25 each -- of course, they were OUT at the store I went to. I think Jeff Land beat me to them.

All in all, not a bad week.

Play Date at the Library and Farmers Market

Ellie and I had a fun play date today with Kat, Jia and Charlie who we first met in Kyrgyzstan back in May 2008. We both think it quite funny that we had to travel almost 8000 miles around the world to meet someone who lives in our own community. But what a blessing to have met in that environment and to be such good friends now -- and to be able to let our kids spend time together.

Today we went to a marionette show of Cinderella at the local library. Afterwards, the little ones played at the library before we headed over to Farmers Market and to play at the fountains downtown.

All three kids were pretty much exhausted by the time we got to the fountains. Ellie even finally fell asleep while there. We had such a nice time visiting!!

Highlight pictures:

This is my favorite photo from the date -- Jia and Ellie modeling sunglasses (Ellie is actually wearing Charlie's). Kat gave us a sweet pair of sunglasses for Ellie while we were in Kyrgyzstan, so this is a sweet reminder of those.

This is Jia putting her glasses on Ellie.

Some of the kids were playing with the puppet show. Ellie LOVED listening to them singing "Old McDonald".

Anyone care to venture a guess what this is that Ellie is riding on? Well, I'll spare you the intense waiting -- it's an eggplant. Yeah, right.

I though this was a sweet picture of Ellie looking at a book.

Charlie and Ellie playing. Charlie has grown and changed so much since he's come home that it's unbelievable!!

What a SWEET face -- peek-a-boo, Charlie.

Ellie and Charlie playing peek-a-boo with the puppet stage.

This little girl and Ellie just hit it off. They played and played together. Poor Ellie, her dress was falling off!

Then it was off to the fountains. Ellie didn't like the fountains very much -- too tall, I think, but she did like following Jia in this wading area.

Charlie lost his shoe -- thank goodness mama was there to "rescue" it.

This sweet boy (that we didn't even know), would hold the water down so that all the little ones would play in it.

Charlie was in HOG HEAVEN when the trains went overhead on the tracks. Here he is pointing them out.

If you notice that Josh is absent in these pictures, it is because he spent the night with his friend, Mickey. They went to the Science Museum today and swam and watched movies. He had a great time with them -- better than he would have had with us he said. Oh my, my little man is growing up.

Virus?

I'm not sure if Ellie had a virus or not, but late in the evening on Monday, after I picked her up from Dee'Anna's, The Princess developed a fever. I contributed it to teething because with all the drool running down this girl's clothes, she HAS to be cutting some molars or something.

However, she had a fitful night, waking several times, and got up at 5 a.m. I found her and Kevin asleep on the couch when I got up. When I picked her up, she was burning up. No other symptoms. Kevin worked from home on Tuesday and I worked in the field, but when I returned home, she was still really hot. I decided it best to see if the doctor's office was open late on Tuesdays as I know they are a few nights per week. Luck was with us and they could see her at 6:40. I was primarily concerned it might be her ears again.

Poor girl HATES doctor's offices. You think the "hissy" photos are bad? Multiply that times about 100 and you'll get her reactions in the doctor's office. The doctor ran multiple tests, including bloodwork, a strep test and catheterization to check for UTI. All negative, but still running a fever of 103.3* even after Tylenol. When we left, they boosted her up with some Motrin which seemed to help some.

She was up and down through the night last night, sleeping in her bed, with me and in the chair with Kevin. Today, she has continued to be clingy and, of all things, hoarse. I called the doc's office today to check up on the strep and UTI tests that they were sending off -- both negative.

So, I have to go with viral. She is still hoarse, but hasn't run a fever all day. We gave her Motrin early this morning and then later this afternoon, just in case her throat is hurting. She was beginning to smile and not need to be constantly held this afternoon, so we are thankful for that. Knowing her (and all kids, really), she'll pop out of the bed in the morning like nothing ever happened.

Good Pix of Josh

Mom took these pix of Josh on the 4th of July. My, how he's changing and growing. Such a handsome guy -- even if he does seriously need a haircut. *smile*

And, of course, the obligatory fun picture. Josh had this John Deere Gator when he was little, but he is STILL fascinated with it and wants to play with it everytime he goes to Mee Mee and Dee Dee's house.

What Does a Kyrgyz Hissy Look Like?

We call the following a "Kyrgyz Hissy". There are no words required, really -- these are "outtakes" of the 4th of July pix. Needless to say, we quit. Interestingly enough, my mom got some really good ones too. Stay tuned for those.

It's so hard to be a princess.

Ellie - 4th of July

There were a few good pictures of Ellie -- when she wasn't crying -- from the 4th of July.

5th of July

So, while we didn't get many pictures on the Fourth of July, we did get some today. Today my mom and I photographed a wedding, followed by an ice cream social at church and then went to a creek baptism. We just all had a really good time. Josh and Ellie enjoyed playing in the creek after the baptisms were over.

Kevin is convinced that Ellie is going to be a "rockologist" (aka geologist) like her daddy because she loves playing with rocks. Little does he know that her mom is certain she is going to be an Olympic gymnast. *smile*

Josh is helping her play in the rocks -- in between skipping them.

She could have played in these rocks for hours, I'm certain.

Josh asked if he could take her out into the creek. She didn't complain about it; I'm really surprised.

Playing with a leaf ...

She thinks this leaf is pretty funny -- until she dropped it and it washed away down the creek.

Wading with mama.

Josh had a great time skipping rocks in the creek. Here he is searching for just the right rock.

Ellie playing with our friend, Sara.

After the ice cream social, Ellie grabbed her skirt and wiped her mouth. What a lady we are raising!!

Saving the best for last -- this was my favorite photo. They are so sweet together!!

Tonight when we got home, the neighbors were shooting their fireworks (likely since it rained so hard last night). After Ellie's bath, we all went out on the front porch and watched them. I was curious as to how she would react. She loved them, pointing and clapping during them. I'm glad. Maybe next year we can find a good show to take her and Josh to.