Albertsons Grocery Savings

So some of you know that I have been doing grocery couponing for some time. But at the request of some friends here is my lastest trip to the store, and the wonderful savings. I haven't done a shopping trip like this in months! It was so refreshing to finally see a sale worth stocking up on, and one that I could benefit from and get my fingers on at the same time. So here is my breakdown:

Total Value of Purchase: $258.13
Total Savings: $192.25
Total Percentage of Savings: 74%

The best part I only paid this amount for all of that stuff: $65.88

Huge savings, gotta love that!

July Pictures

I love the month of July, the red, white, and blue. I have always tried to attempt to get pictures of the kids dressed up in their festive outfits. This year on the fourth I took the camera with us to the balloon festival in Provo that we go to every year. Only to get there and realize that the memory chip is at home plugged into the computer. NO Pictures! And to top it off last year, the camera battery died after taking I think two photos! So this year I thought I was all prepared and charged the battery the night before. As luck would have it we didn't get pictures other than the ones on my cellphone! For my birthday we took the camera in to get fixed! So we have gone an extra two weeks without it. But after 4 long years it works again and I'm so excited! I don't profess to be a fabulous photographer by any means. I leave that work to Dave's sister Jen who is the professional and master and taking pictures! But for me, these didn't turn out that bad considering we were in a hurry and rushing out the door to go to his parents for a party. I really wanted to take these before they took off there clothes and jumped in the pool at grandmas house. I wanted to capture them before the end of the month slipped away. So here are just a few randoms shots of the kids, my favs!

Pictures??

I would make a post with some fun pictures, but my camera is finally in the shop getting fixed. Hurray! After only having it for almost 5 years we are getting it fixed and to think it has been broke since the first month. Brody was little and pulled if off the table! You can only use the camera in AUTO! So I will finally get to put all the good learning lessons from Dave's sister to use when I get it back from the shop. I am hoping it doesn't take too long. I hate going without a camera for very long. I can't wait to have it back!

When dad is in Charge

So I go to my piano lessons on Mondays and when I leave Dave watches the kids for me! So this past monday when I left I came home to this! This is what you get when dad is in charge. Lucky for me it was after they made the mess and Dave cleaned up the cereal that they dumped all over the floor. YOu know when it gets to quite and you aren't sure what they are doing that it can't be good.

The Ducks

We have this awesome place to feed the ducks that is close by to our home. I have been wanting to take the kids there for family home evening. So we packed a picnic lunch and went and feed the ducks. The kids loved being able to get right up to them. While we feed the ducks Shelbie insisted on getting as dirty as possible. She is still crawling right now, which makes outside activities an adventure with her. Needless to say, she discovered the dirt and the drink and everything in between! We sure do love this stage and watching her discover new things!

The Princess Festival

Dave's sister invited me and Maggie to the Princess festival this year with her little girl Sidney. We don't get to do things with her very often so we took advantage of some cousin time and went with them. It was really fun, other than the horrible weather that we endured during the first part. I wasn't prepared for rain and freezing cold when we got there. But the girls didn't seem to mind once they started the festival. Maggie wasn't to sure about the whole thing in the beginning, but by the end she was loving it. Her favorite princess right now would have to be Ariel and when we getting ready to leave she asked for a picture with her. I thought that the festival was well put together and age appropriate for them! Thanks Jackie for the invitation!

Canyon BBQ

We love living so close to the caynon and taking advantage of being able to go there for BBQ's. Mapleton canyon is just up the street and is actually closer to go to for picnics than the canyon that we live by. So we headed up there and had a fun BBQ with the kids and did smores afterwards. We brought the wrong type of coals though and forgot the lighter fluid, so Dave spent the majority of the time with his face planted in the fire blowing in an attempt to start a good fire to roast hotdogs which would could later use for the marshmellows! This campground picnic area was really fun, the kids brought there scooters along and road around the area while we went for a short nature hike! I love the outdoors. This was our first outdoor BBQ up the canyon this summer. I'm sure we will have more of these outings!

Brody's Kindergarten Graduation

Graduation! Dave still doesn't understand why we have to have a graduation for Kindergarten, he gets the graduation from preschool to kindergarten. But why Kindergarten? Well for me they are advancing to real school and are going to be gone all day long. They don't seem so little any more and have learned lots of new things throughout the year. Brody did so well this last year, I am so proud of him and all that he has learned. I love watching his curiosity in new words and being able to pick up a book and start to read certain words he has learned throughout the year. He really is growing up. The school kindergarten classes put on a great performance that showcased the years in time through music. His part, included the song from MC Hammer "Can't touch this" in which he got to do a solo breakdance! It really was a cute program, and they video taped it for the parents so we can show him years down the road. So Graduation graduation, a great way to end the kindergarten year in my opinion!

Out of Character

After the race!

Before the Race!

So I did something last weekend that was totally out of character for me. Something that I have never done before, but totally enjoyed and most likely will do again. I rode in a bike ride called the Little Red Riding Hood 15 miles. I should say more like 13--14 minus the mishaps that Jen was having with her bike and the short ride we got in the truck to the rest stop! But needless to say I rode a bike, I wouldn't call it a race because there were to many of us just enjoying the scenic back country, and taking our time! My mother-in-law convinced me to do it with them and I will admit I really enjoyed myself. But after we finished and I thought about it, I surprised myself because I don't normally do things like this. Its fun to try something new every now and than to discover something we like doing. Now I won't go out and run a marathon like the rest of them do (Dave's family). You can't convince me into that one! And next year, instead of riding on a mountain bike I think I will try using a road bike, it looked lots easier!

Birthdays!

So we started out the beginning of last week with Brayden's birthday and ended the weekend with Shelbies birthday! I can't believe my babies are growing up, now "2" and "1" what an adventure this last year has been! They are both so much fun, and have such unique personalities.

Brayden is such a boy, he loves playing cars, trucks and loves his dog Scooter. He is talking more and more each day and I am amazed at how much he actually understands. His favorite new word would have to be mine. Which he will clearly say when someone takes something that clearly belongs to him. We just recently got him a scooter, and he is now zipping around on it with one foot! I'm sure by the end of the summer he will have it mastered and be flying down the street with the rest of them! We just moved him into his big boy bed and he is loving it. Couldn't fit the fact that he knew how to climb in and out of his crib by himself and open his door at night. The big boy bed has seemed to help keep him in bed most nights!

Shelbie is my baby! She doesn't look anything like the others, nor does she even resemble them in any way! I am always looking at her wondering where she comes from, but than look at Dave and see the resemblance in his family. She is my snuggle bug! She loves her blanket just like all my kids do, I would rather deal with a blanket than a binkie! She has just a few words she says all the time, "Hi" mommie and Daddy and her new one "OHH" I swear its oh boy! She still isn't walking but getting really close, she pulls up on everything and tries to take off! She loves following everyone around the house! I still can't believe how fast this last year has gone by. We are so lucky to have her!

The kids celebrated their birthdays together with family this year. Grandma made the perfect cake, cupcakes and Shelbie devoured her, Brayden as you can see from the picture carefully took each bite in between racing his truck across the table! Thanks to all the family who came and helped celebrate!

Happy Birthday Brayden and Shelbie

Dog Valley

So we grew up going to this place called Dog Valley and camping and shooting guns with the family and friends for a Mountain Men Rendevous(?) anyway me and my brother decided to take out the grandkids and enjoy a saturday afternoon with my parents and surprise them! The kids loved it, its a kids dream come true and the dirt in the world. Freedom to run wild, and lizards to catch if you can find them. Brody begged to take the BB Gun and shoot with grandpa, so we tagged it along. After the men got done shooting the shotguns we told the kids to round up the clay pigeons and we would shoot them. So we lined them up and Brayden decided he wanted front row seats to watch, what he didn't understand was that by placing his chair right in the center he was in perfect position to be the center target for the kids shooting practice. He wasn't to happy when I moved his chair back, but got all excited when they started shooting the guns! I think he enjoyed going out there more than anyone, he played in the dirt, drove his cars around and even took a bath before we left in grandma's sink! It was fun to take the kids out there and brought back lots of childhood memories!

Entertainment Baby Style

So as you can see we have had an extremely busy week, finishing out the end of the school year and than we celebrate the babies birthdays this week, plus Brody's graduation and last day of school parties. Needless to say it has been busy, and this post is me admitting in the running around and needing to accomplish a few things I am guilty like I'm sure others are of putting my kids in front of the television. The funny thing is, these two eat it up when it comes to Baby Einstiens. They imediately sit down in front of the TV and it gives me at least a half hour to finish up and hurry to get what I need done! So this past week here is my two little ones glued to the TV while I finished trying to get dinner on the table so we could head out the door! I couldn't resist taking this picture of them!

Face Painting

So last week for family night we decided to enjoy the school carnival at Brody's Elementary. SThey provided some fun entertainment with the generator filled air rides, slides and a rock wall. The kids were having a blast. But they insisted on getting their faces painted, I wouldn't of done it had I known in the end that we would be standing in line waiting for over an hour to get it done. The lady who did it, was very detail oriented and did a great job! Not worth the wait in my opinion though, anyway when we got home the kids wanted there picture taken of their faces. Brody as JOKER, and Maggie with a BUTTERFLY!

Maggie Preschool Graduation

So this past week was Maggie's Preschool Graduation! Now its on to Kindergarten next year. I can't believe how fast time has gone by, and how big she is getting. And how much she reminds me of me. I look at her and see myself as a child, the only difference is her locks of curls! She performed so well, wasn't her usual shy self and I am so proud of her for singing and reciting her poems! She has been working hard the past month to memorize them, and was more than willing to recite them for me in the car! I loved hearing her recite the "Dandelion" that glistens in the spring time air! The way she says it makes me smile everytime. My little Maggie is growing up!

Confusing!

So I will admit I have spent some time trying to figure out how to change the background on this blog with no success. I keep reading all the tutorials about it and still can't figure out why I didn't have an HTML option. Well today I'm convinced to try and figure this out, mostly I am tired of staring at the white background. Well I figured it out and now can say I feel like an idiot for not figuring it out sooner. It helps when you don't have your Blocker on and are clicking on buttons and nothing happens! Anyway now that I have that figured out I can add some new posts! Tomorrow though, I'm tired!

Brody Photo Shoot!

So I have been taking this photography class from Dave's wonderful sister who is a Photographer by profession. Me I'm just an amituer learning how to take photos. Anyway it has been a great learning experience! Thanks Jen. So tonight we went to this neat little spot and took photos of Brody and I have to tell you it was freezing cold, he didn't want to take his hands out of his shirt and was being a goofball when he would. Other than that, I will admit I did get some good shots of him under the circumstances! Next time I will know to bring a warm jacket, he picked the sleeveless SuperMan vest, not me! Anyway here is a fun slide show of the shots I got, and I haven't edited any of them yet. Its amazing what your camera can do when you know how to use it!

Springtime Fun!

So on a good day when it isn't snowing around here we enjoy going to the park that is down the street. We love our new neighborhood and the fact that the park is within walking distance. It is so nice! So we ventured out this week and took advantage of some sun! Shelbie couldn't quite figure out how to crawl through the tunnel no matter how many times I tried to convince her to come get me!

Maggie's Final Haircut

Here is the end result, a bag of all the curls and a smile from her!

Maggie and the SCISSORS

This is blog worthy. Yesterday I was upstairs cleaning, the kids are out for spring break and Maggie and me just got home from the movies. She was playing in my office, not sure what she was doing until she came to find me upstairs and said mom, I was using the scissors. She took the scissors to her hair, which I cried. If you fully understood the consequences of this, I have cut Maggies hair maybe 3 or 4 times since she was born. She is five. Her hair takes forever to grow and because it is curly it gives you a false mispresentation of how long it really is. Luckily it wasn't right to the root. So after her attempt to cut it, I took the scissors to her long locks of curls in the back and sadly cut them off. At least 5 inches worth of curls. And she is going to have to wear a bret in the front till her cut bangs grow out so more. She loves the new do, I miss the long lock of curls we took forever to grow. And she has been threatened with her life she ever uses scissors on her hair again. After we got done, she said look mom my hair is short like yours. I like it short. :( for now its going to have to be, we can't glue hair back!

New Family Blog

I'm not sure what is wrong with our old blog, but I can't change the background to make it cute. Plus the links on the side are messed up. So to avoid further frustration with it, I moved back to my blog that I started thinking I would have my own little area, never happened. But for now I'm going to update our family events here. So save this as your new link!