Bee Stings

A few days ago, Matt was stung by a bee while working out in the backyard with dad. He got stung on one of his fingers. Dad got the stinger out, gave him Benadryl and put on baking soda and water (grandma always said to). Over the next few hours his hand began to swell. He went to bed with ice on it. The next morning, it looked worse. He also said he felt sick. So, I took him to urgent care to get the scoop on allergic reactions to bees. The Dr. said it just looked like the bees gave him a good dose of venom and to wait it out - the swelling should get better. Before I left the Dr. said "let me give you a perscription for an antibiotic in case the swelling spreads or if you see a red rash develop up his arm". That evening before sitting down to dinner, Nate said to Matt "dude, your arm is totally buff" As dad and I checked it out we saw the swelling had gotten worse and a red rash was up and down his arm. We got over to the drug store and gave him the medicine. Today, the rash is much better and the swelling is going down. We took him out to lunch after music lessons. For some reason, my kids always expect some kind of special treat after being at the doctor or being slightly injured. I guess I have spoiled them with that. So, now we know, Matt is allergic to bees!

*** I did take a picture of Matt's arm but he said "mom, don't put my arm on your blog!" Don't you hate when they catch on :)

I Heart Saturday AND......this extraordinary VP pick

Celebrity Collage by MyHeritage

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebs - Collage - Morph

Nate's First Week

This is me trying to get a good shot of Nate leaving for school. I have been so slow in the morning that I hardly get a chance to see him off. I knew the grandparents were interested in hearing how their grandson was doing so I sent off the following e-mail at the end of last week :

Nate had a good first week. Here is a little summary of his comments:

Monday (first day) -
"school is great"
"Im going to love it"
"I like all my classes"
"I sit by Josiah in French"
"my biology teacher already likes me a lot" (he answered a lot of questions)

Tues -
"I do not like my Geometry teacher"
"I still have not gotten my locker"
"Im soooo hungry"

Wed -
"School is like a prison"
"Today was so boring"

Thurs -
"I got my locker today and Im so glad I am sharing a locker with a someone I like"
"Im happy beacause I found the school does have one vending machine - with Snapple"

Friday -
"Today was fun"
"Tues and Thurs Juice it Up comes on campus!"
"I got a perfect score on my English quiz, wrote an essay on Thomas Jefferson and got the highest score in my biology quiz"
"thanks for being such a great teacher mom and for not sending me to school before now" :)

That is about it. Ups and downs of high school begin. He has been great about getting up and dressed, making breakfast, reading his bible and having his stuff by the door by 7:20 am. He practices piano and guitar after school and then starts on homework. I know, I know, its just the first week.....

....and then there were two

Thank you Lord for the special year ahead, homeschooling these two sweet ones. We are going to have some special memories! I am looking forward to seeing them grow and change.

I Heart Saturday AND......Living with a Princess

Day in Laguna Beach

We spent the day in Laguna Beach. Picnic lunch at main beach, ocean swim and reading on the grass with ocean view. We passed by a fabulous Gelato shop - we must remember it is there and go next time. I have always wanted to go to the Sawdust Festival. I have driven passed it so many times but never had the time to go in.

It was really great. Cool art work to look at , but the best part was the kids being able to see some great demonstrations with pottery, glass blowing, painters. You walk by the art booths and watch them work. The kids were able to join in on a cartooning class. The cartoonist was a great teacher and Bria and Matt spent the next day drawing what they learned.

As a special bonus - I ran into my friend Laura, who I had not seen in five years. She is an appraiser too. She and I shared an office when we were pregnant (me with Nate). Her daughter was born 3 days after Nate. We had such fun being pregnant at the same time. We always had so much to talk about and got so little work done. After the babies were born we would bring them to work and still just talk about babies! Her daughter Hannah and Nate were able to meet - both starting high school this year and both all grown up a gorgeous :)

End of Summer Fun

How we spent our last week of summer.....

Made peach cobbler and Nate practiced making sushi - I wish I could say we did not do this on the same day. I know, gross - it was not on purpose. We were supposed to BBQ and then have the cobbler, but we were out of charcoal. Nate had already started his sushi rice so and I had already make the cobbler......

We spent a day hiking in Fallbrook.

Thanks Mom for hiking with us instead of going to La Jolla. I will make it up to you :)

First Day of School and Looking Back

Then.....


First day of homeschool co-op - 5th grade, pre-school and Kindergarten


Now.......

First day at high-school prep. school 9th grade and still homeschooled 2nd and 4th graders (pretending they were going somewhere besides the dining room table and couch)

I Heart Saturday AND.. The one on the right

I Read like a Dude

Just looking at the books I have read this summer and I think it looks a little heavy on the testosterone!?!

As a side note, Manhunt - the 12 day chase for Lincoln's killer, is one of the best historical-account books I have ever read. So much they left out in my history lessons! Did you know the night Lincoln was killed, three other killers were out there, planning to assinate the Vice President, the Secretary of State (who was being stabbed in his home while Lincoln was being shot) and U.S. Grant. I bought this book on the recomendation by CJ Mahaney - it was on his summer reading list. Here are the other books on his list.... http://www.sovereigngraceministries.com/Blog/post/Books-for-the-Beach.aspx

I Heart Saturday AND......Backyard S'mores

Summer is ending and I still need to .....

1. Take my mom to La Jolla

2. Make peach cobbler

3. Watch the sunset at the beach

4. Have the Phillips over for Sushi Nite

5. Go to an Angel's baseball game

6. Spend a day in Laguna Beach

7. Watch early seasons of Gilmore Girls with Jessica, Nicki and Elani

8. Meet Beth for coffee

9. Lose 10 pounds (this is left on the list every summer and I can tell you right now 10 days is not going to do it)

10. Hike to "fallbrook falls"


Let's see how the next 10 days go and if I can do it all before August 18th :)

Before and After - "The Pup"

Matthew and Snickers - Before haircut (which one is the stuffed animal?)

Matthew and Snickers - After haircut (look at his rodent-like tail)

Mystery Meat

In an attempt to be creative with our finances (lack of) right now, we have adjusted our parts of the budget that we can be flexible with. Such as food. Although I have never been a big spender at the grocery store, using coupons often and buying what is on sale, I saw a flyer from the Angel Food ministry that was providing a box of food for $30. They listed the items that would be in the box. I decided to give it a try.

I just picked up my box a few days ago. Something kinda did not sit right with me. The lables on all the meat have just the "angel good ministry" sticker on them with a brief title of what the meat is, but no expiration date or other FDA sticker labels. The quanities were also pretty small. Because I am feeding 5, a 2-4 serving meal does not really work. It did include rib meat and meat seasoned for fajitas and the above bag of chicken nuggets (my kids told me it was really popcorn chicken which made me feel a little better.)

But really what bugged me was that I think because of being a frugal shopper, I can maybe get better quality food (and know exactly what it is) at Trader Joes or with coupons for sale items, for $30. We are not in a dire situation with our budget, just trying to be creative. I know the Angel Food ministry is attempting to meet the needs of families, but I think if its not really the best deal for me, it is not for them either.

Anyway, here is our mystery meat lunch.

With the various sauce options, it wasn't that bad, but there was soooo much more fried breading than meat it was crazy! :)

On a side note, Nate and I went to Trader Joe's on a mission to spend only $30. Because they have such tempting food items and we are so weak when we see Gouda and baguettes, we got salad (two bags), frozen bags of asparagus, corn, potatoes, bread, cheese, shrimp, chicken tenders, milk and yogurt for $46. Won't last a week, but for about $20 more at Staters I can be set for the week. That is $66 of healthy food that does not include eating mystery meat!

Summer Reading

Summer reading has been a sucess in our home. The library has such a great reading progam every summer. They give out great certificates. During our current extra lean times, we have been able to eat free at Chic-Fil-a, frozen yogurt, In-N-Out and Rubio's :) I love to read in themes during the summer since most of our reading during the year is surrounded by our history and science topics. So, before camping Bria read...

Fourth of July weekend we read....

During music lessons and before the beach we have been looking at this book,

The kids have loved going to the library this summer.

and while our summer reading has been so much fun, I have yet to buy a stich of curriculum for next year. So, while I end up waiting for my school books to arrive, I will be at the library reading borrowed books :)

I Heart Saturday and....Kids Still Losing Teeth

Raggedy Anne

"Im just a Raggedy Anne in a Barbie Doll World"