I LOVE a good deal!

This morning, I went out to run a few errands.  Cereal was something we desperately needed...but I've started trying to only buy it REALLY cheap--so I was waiting for some good deals PLUS coupons.  Well, this morning I found some!  Combining sales at Walgreens, a raincheck for cereal from LAST week, and great coupons...I got 9 big boxes of cereal for $17!  Now, I'll admit--this is a lot of cereal--but it will last us MONTHS!!!  I was very excited.  (I'm not a super-couponer yet...so I'm SURE there would have been a way to get this even CHEAPER--but I thought less than $2 a box is a great deal ANYTIME!)

Another thing my kids and I are hooked on for breakfast is Cream of Wheat.  My kids ask for it most mornings!  We make it and then add cranberries, blueberries or raisins to it.  It is YUMMY.  Normally, it's almost $4 at Walmart--which is okay, cause it lasts a long time.  But I found a box in perfect condition at Meridian Grocery (a damaged goods store in our town) for $1.09!  What a deal!  So I bought it.  I LOVE that store!

 

If you haven't tried Meridian Grocery yet--I'd recommend it--today they had boxes of Cocoa Krispies on sale for $.50 a box!  (If I hadn't bought 9 boxes right before that...I would've grabbed a few!)   Most of their inventory is VERY discounted--like 50% or more!

First Day of Pre-K!

(And DON'T you call it preschool....it is Pre-K!!! insists Ollie.)

Today was the first day--and BOY has he been ready. We've have our supplies packed in his bag for almost a month now...and he's been talking for weeks about what he'd wear the first day. (Although that changed suddenly last night.)

I finally convinced him to let me take a picture with his teacher...and then of course, he wanted a few with some friends of his. (Funny how he doesn't just give a nice smile, huh?...that's Joel's genes.)

Here he is with Mrs. Helsel. Wow does he love her!!! He talked about her all summer, and when pointing her out to us in pictures, just grins. We absolutely LOVE her: she is the most sweet, giving, loving teacher. He is SO BLESSED to have her a second year in a row!

Here is his friend, Cooper. Cooper is Mrs. Helsel's son--so these boys have spent LOTS of time together. They both love to help set up and take down after preschool. (They can be pretty ornery, too!)

This is Taylor, our back-door neighbor. Taylor and Oliver go WAAAAY back--they played together starting when they were just 4 and 9 months old! So it's a lot of fun to have them together in pre-K this year.

We're hoping for another super year--where he'll learn a lot, have fun with friends...(and be a little bit more worn out at home....)

Main Floor Bathroom

Our main floor bathroom was BY FAR the most interesting when we moved in. It had AWFUL wallpaper, a vintage mirror (which I can't wait to repaint!), and some really ugly lights. Oh yeah, did I mentioned it didn't have a floor? Just the old plywood sub-floor.

Instead of taking the time to pick the wallpaper off piece by piece, my dad (wisely) suggested that we just re-sheetrock....so we did.

We had to tear some of the wall out anyway to address some slight plumbing issues...so it was easy to just rip it all out.


Last weekend and today, Joel and my dad worked to hang sheetrock and then mud over it all.


Hopefully this week we'll paint it and get the sink and counter tops in! (It will be nice to NOT have to walk upstairs every 30 minutes to use the restroom...)

The "yard"

I use quotation marks because it's more accurately a field of loose dirt...but eventually, once the jet stream moves and Kansas receives rain and cool temperatures again...we'll be planting grass. Hence, a 'yard'.

Joel has been busy prepping this mass of space for what will certainly be a beautiful expanse of grass in the near future:

Kill the yard: Check. (actually, mother nature effectively did that, too--but Joel had a good excuse to walk around with his pump and chemicals.)

Till it with the tractor: Check.

Kill the yard again: Check.

Hook up the pump: (YES, we have a WELL!!!) Check.

Drive a 4-wheeler around and around and around for 3 days to make sure it's smooth: Check.

Dig a trench to connect the well to the sprinkler system: Check.

Rake up mounds of grass: Check.

Scoop up mounds of grass: Check.

And my piddly contribution? I drew a fantastic map of our sprinkler system zones for Joel.

I should mention....all of this hard work was done in 100+ degree weather...so yeah, Joel's a rock star. (literally...)

Today--the basement pins are being installed to every-so-slightly pull back a wall...so now--LET THE PLANTING BEGIN!

Paul is my new hero....

But I'm sure he wouldn't want to be.

I have a new-found appreciation for Paul in the Bible. (Saul of Tarsus--you know the one, who killed Christians until he met Jesus?)

I just finished reading the book "Paul: A Novel" by Walter Wangerin Jr.
It is an incredible story based on the real-life players of the New Testament: Paul (of course!), Titus, Timothy, Priscilla and Aquila, Lydia, James....as well as real-life historical people: Nero, Claudius, etc. Although it is a novel--it weaves together Paul's writings and journeys in a way that makes his life (and therefore the spread of the Gospel) come ALIVE!

I used to read Paul's writings and think he was a bit of a pompous, sexist guy. (Women can't talk in church??? SERIOUSLY???) But after reading this, (and his New Testament letters again and again...) I'm starting to see instead a guy who was absolutely transformed by Jesus Christ. Who didn't give a single thought to his own life...or his reputation...or his own past, for that matter...but rather, was so consumed with sharing and preserving the TRUE gospel that he stopped at nothing to make that happen.

I was reminded through this book that:
1. God can use ANYONE to accomplish His purposes....
and
2. An encounter with Jesus Christ is JUST as powerful and life-changing today as it was 2,000 years ago!

Ohio/Indiana 2011

We were fortunate to be able to take a relaxing trip to visit Joel's family again this year. It's always so fun to spend time at the lake house! It's so fun to see the cousins (all 8 of them!) playing so well together....and we are very thankful that Joel's family is able to come up to the house when we are coming.

We left at 3:30am both trips (there and back) which worked WAY better than trying to sleep in a motel. The kids were PUMPED that we were getting up "in the middle of the night"....so excited that Oliver didn't sleep until Kansas City. (2 1/2 hours later)

But they traveled VERY well, and really were so good for the whole trip. Here are some highlights--we were so busy having fun we didn't take a great variety of pictures--but boating and swimming was DEFINITELY a highlight!
(playing Polly Pockets all together...)

(supper out on the deck)

(jumping and swimming off the boat--couldn't get a good 'in the water' one...)


(jumping in the water...this guy got so good he was turning somersaults UNDER the water! A big step for him!!)




(Oliver mid-dive)

(playing in the sand)

(guess who decided to pull out the cherries in the van on the way home?? Me. It got a little messy...)

(Thankfully, we all got lots of rest on the way home!)

A Visit

A few weeks ago, we had a special visit from my aunt and uncle, and grandparents! It was so fun to see them, and Oliver and Lily loved seeing Grandma and Grandpa GG again! ("GreatGrandma"--that's where the GG comes from)

Oliver played catch with Grandpa GG and loved sitting by him at supper. Those two are buddies!


(These are NOT great pictures....and my camera must have been on a funny setting...but you get the idea!)

It's too bad they had to come during July--we couldn't even spend time OUTSIDE!