Aug 25, 2008

Holy cow, I'm tired

Every. Year. I. Forget. I forget how little they are. I forget how needy they are. I forget how weepy they are. I truly believe this is the same type of forgetfullness that gets you through childbirth more than once. Because if I really remembered these first days of Kindergarten, I'm not sure I could come back each year.

Day One- Again

We are off to the races. 4th and 5th grade. Unbelievable!!! I chose Chris Tomlin this morning to play (loudly) while we are getting ready. This particular song is my prayer for the kids and for me not just for today but all year. Lord we want to sing, dance, live the way we were made- in Your image. I pray we bring honor to You Lord, place a hedge of protection around my children like You said in Your Word. Calm their spirits. Ease their fears. Shine through them.

Aug 17, 2008

Almost...

So while I can pretend that I just happen to be going to a workshop tomorrow morning and then that I am choosing to spend a few hours working in my classroom, I can't even pretend that I would ever willingly set the alarm clock to the ungodly hour of 5:45 am. I haven't seen 5:45am since that glorious day in June that we celebrated the last day of school.

Sigh.

It isn't the job I mind. It isn't the school. It's the *should be illegal* start time of 7:30. Wait a minute....Maybe it is illegal. Has anyone checked this out? Maybe we need to check with child labor laws...

Aug 15, 2008

So Sad

Grab your Kleenex, finda comfy chair, and take a few minutes to read this sad story.

No Chinese For Me

Give me a break. Even Maci and I know enough about gymnastics to tell these judges are quite bias and inconsistent in their gymnastics scoring. Combine that with stories like this and you've got scandal my friends. I think I will boycott Chinese food for awhile to show my disgust. Think a week will do the trick?

Aug 12, 2008

Totally Random

I've started and deleted a zillion posts tonight. I'm having trouble putting a string of coherent thoughts together about any particular subject. So...I'll just be random...I am often accused of being random (look, a chicken!) anyway.

I'm not into the Olympics this year. Does that make me a bad American? I am trying to watch tonight. I love the gymnastics but I think the synchronized diving is poke my eyes out now boring. Who made that a sport anyway?

I'm purposely avoiding any blogs about school getting ready to start. I'm fully aware of how many days are left in summer. Let's not talk about it and hope it goes away.

These Chinese gymnasts are machines.

The picture above is my flair corkboard from Facebook. I love flair. Maybe that is because of my fondness for randomness?

Apparently blue eye shadow is part of the costume for the Chinese gymnasts.

15 minute. (had to throw that in...anyone that orders from Li's knows what I'm talking about.)

Ever get the feeling your life is going to go from 0-60 in 3.5 seconds. I have that feeling. I get that feeling every year about this time.

Lets not talk about it and hope it goes away.

Aug 10, 2008

Make Your Own

Here are some pics of the much anticipated "Make Your Own..." night. We made pizzas, salad, and tie dye tees. Of couse we also made lots of memories...and a little bit of a mess. :)


Aug 7, 2008

Amazing Grace

I'm sitting here watching the Chapmans on Larry King Live. I'm amazed by their strength and composure. They are speaking the Word. I believe people are hearing it- some for the first time. And those kids. Bless those kids. Amazing. That is the word for the night. Amazing- and amazing grace.

Get Real

I just spent the better part of the last half hour reading a new (to me) blog. As I'm reading, I'm amazed at how there are words on the page portraying this picture yet I've witnessed polar opposite actions from the person. If you're going to take the time to blog, do it however you like. Be serious. Be silly. Be whatever you want to be. But above all- be real!
Seriously.

Aug 6, 2008

GMA link

If you missed it, you can watch the entire Chapman interview on GMA here. The family will be on Larry King Live Thursday, August 7.

Aug 5, 2008

We Will Dance

I have shared this before but in honor of the 16th anniversary of our first date, I'm sharing it again-- with a few new pictures added.

Aug 4, 2008

Shop On

I started a new little hobby this summer- couponing. What started out as an innocent search on google one day has now taken on a life of it's own. So, as Jana offered some retail tips the other day, I am going to attempt to add a few coupon tips to the blogging world.

The best coupons are in your Sunday paper. The Charlotte Observer was PACKED this weekend with over $194 worth. (so the ad says, I didn't check the math) Tip #1- shop around for the paper. I was happy to pay $1.60 at On the Run until discovering WalMart sells it for.99!

Now the key to saving here is Tip #2- ONLY cut out coupons for things you already buy. It's not a good deal if it isn't something you would ordinarily purchase. Organize your coupons so they are handy and not a hassle. I picked up this organizer at the $1 spot at Target.
The greatest savings I have found is Tip #3 combine ads from stores with the manufacturer coupon. Drug stores have tremendous deals if you look for them. For example, at Walgreens this week you can get 4 boxes of Kellogg's cereal for $10. Combine this with the 2 Kellogg's coupons from the newspaper for $1 each bringing the price down to $8. Now watch this...at check out, Walgreens gives you $5 in rewards bucks for the cereal. So...simple math...4 boxes of cereal costs you $3!!!
Now, if you get into rebates...it gets even sweeter because Kellogg's has a $10 rebate out there by submitting 10 upc codes. If my math is correct...you can buy 12 boxes of cereal for $9 and get a check back from Kellogg's for $10. Free breakfast...for a month my friends! This would require usage of Tip #4- on really good coupon weekends, buy multiple copies of the paper. You would need 3 copies of yesterdays paper to make the above work. Yes, that could potentially mean you end up paying $2 for 12 boxes of cereal but that is only if you didn't use ANY other coupon in the paper.

Tip #5 Rather than buyint items when you need them, stock up when they are at their lowest price and paired with a coupon. By the time you need it again, it should be back on sale. Storage is the only issue here. We did some rearranging under the stairs and now have a second pantry area.

Tip #6 Buying in bulk isn't always cheaper. Check the price per unit. And when buying medication- the generic is almost always cheaper- even if you have a coupon for the brand name version.

I am far from the coupon queen. If you check out Coupon Mom you will learn there are many deeper levels to this thing that I have yet to conquer. Honestly, I am probably not willing to put in the amount of time it takes to go store to store to save the most but just from what I have started, the savings has been DRAMATIC. Yesterday alone we bought $95.83 worth of groceries and back to school items. We only paid $51.01- immediately saving $44.82.

Shop on!