not bad

I have noticed that my coupon shopping escapades have slowed down with the boys home & on summer vacation. I hit Walgreens this morning & this is what I scored:



















2 pkgs. of tab dividers
3 pkgs. of glue sticks(6 sticks total)
2 pkgs. of mechanical pencils
2 boxes of Crayola markers
4 Smelly pencils(root beer, bubble gum, strawberry)
1 pkg.of toilet paper.

With the combination of Walgreens coupons & Register Rewards, I paid a whopping $1.37
for everything. Not pictured, but scored this morning(for free) were 3 bottles of Listerine mouth wash. Those were on sale, 3 for $9. I had 3, $2.00 off coupons. That brought my total to $3.00. For buying those 3 items , I received a $3.00 Register reward. I used that $3.00 reward towards those school supplies mentioned above.

I am so glad that the boys school sent home the "back to school" supply list during the last week of school. I have been slowly gathering their supplies as I see things go on sale. I refuse to be one of those Moms shopping @ Target or Wal*Mart the night before school starts. If you are wanting some awesome deals on school supplies, check out the in store ad @ Walgreens & CVS/Longs. Or, as usual, you can always check out the Abundant Food Saving site for Laina's deals/scenarios!

Happy back to school shopping!

too funny not to share...

Today was cow appreciation day at Chick- Fil-A. If you dressed up like a cow(yes, you read that right) you received your meal for FREE. Your meal included a sandwich, fries, & a drink with free refills. We decided to head down to our local chick-Fil-A on John's lunch break. I am so glad I have a husband who can & does humor me on a daily basis. The boys & I had fun tearing our cow spots. The Chick-Fil-A website had cow ears & noses that you could print & cut out. It was a hoot & hey, we figured we would have spent about $35.00 on lunch, had we not dressed up. We really enjoyed our lunch break today...they even had the cow spotted carpet rolled out for their guests.

A few more pictures for your giggling pleasure. I think the ears were the best part...my kids did not agree. I used packing tape to make them stick to their little faces. We can't forget about the cow noses...we didn't exactly cut along the dotted lines -LOL! You can't even see Garrett's cute face.

My top 40

I found this on another blog. I think it is a great "ALL ABOUT ME" topic to blog about. It will be fun to look back in 1 year, 5 years, 10 years, etc... & see how my taste in music may have changed over the years. This top 40 list reminds me of this past year & the things I was into & loving. For example, this list reminds me that I saw WICKED for the first time this year. I saw it,fell in love with it, & then ran home & downloaded the whole soundtrack. This Top 40 list shows me that I am still enjoying a mix of music from my friend, Kinsey. She made me a CD of all the songs that would have made the cut if she were in charge of the Twilight soundtracks :-). Thanks Kins, I am still listening to those songs. This Top 40 list reminds me that I enjoy a wide range of music. This Top 40 list reminds me of how much I LOVE music. It is the soundtrack of my life.

I will document the next 40 RANDOM songs that pop up on my ipod and challenge you to do this on your blog...just for fun!














And NO CHEATING....you have to write down the next 40 random shuffle songs that pop up. For this challenge, turn your entire ipod library on shuffle, push play and then push forward and that will be song #1 on your list!! Good times...just for fun!!! HAPPY LISTENING!!! If you want to do it quickly, you can do the next 10 instead of
40.

Let me know if you play along, I'd love to peek at your list. I am always on the look out for new music. Here is what you can find me listening to on my ipod when I hit shuffle :-)!

1. What About Now? - Daughtry

2. A Sentimental man - WICKED Soundtrack

3. Fools Gold - Katie Herzig

4. The Prayer - Bloc Party

5. Separate Ways - Journey

6. Sweeter than This - Katie Herzig

7. Ask the Lonely - Journey

8. Eyes on Fire - Blue Foundation

9. Thank Goodness - WICKED Soundtrack

10. The Way I Are - Timbaland

11. Infinity - Inara George

12. Finale - WICKED Soundtrack

13. I Wanna Make you Close Your Eyes - Dierks Bentley

14. Home - Blake Shelton

15. Happy Ending - Sugarland

16. Love Me Like the Worlds Ending - Ben Lee

17. Unwritten - Natasha Bedingfield

18. Upside Down - Jack Johnson

19. Bleeding Love - Leona Lewis

20. One Step at a Time - Jordin Sparks

21. Cry - Mandy Moore

22. My Little Girl - Tim McGraw

23. I'm not that Girl - WICKED Soundtrack

24. Just Dance - Lady GaGa

25. Ordinary Day - Emilie Mover

26. Not Even Closse - Katie Herzig

27. House Fire - Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin

28. The Ends Not Near - Band of Horses

29. When the Stars Go Blue - Tim Mcgraw

30. For Good = WICKED Soundtrack

31. Birds & Bees - Ben Lee

32. Don't Stop the Music - Rhianna

33. Breathe Me - Sia

34. Popular - WICKED Soundtrack

35. Spotlight - Mute Math

36. Ask the Lonely - Journey

37. Beat It - Michael Jackson

38. Rest of my Life - Michelle Featherstone

39. Clumsy - Fergie

40. Man in the Mirror - Michael Jackson

celebrating the 4th

I love the 4th of July! The colors just make me happy. I love to drive around town & see all of the flags waving proudly in the sky. I am very grateful for the freedom I enjoy as an American. I am very grateful for those great men & women who serve/have served to protect those very freedoms. Grateful for a holiday that reminds me to remember & appreciate this great land that we live in.
We spent the day in San Jose with family. Here ae a few highlights from our Independence Day.

We started the morning off by picking up some fire works. We are still amazed(even 6 1/2 years later) that you can purchase fire works here. There are stands, literally on every corner. You don't see this in San Jose so I had to snap a picture of John waiting in line.














The 4th of July festivities were held @ my parents house this year. My boys were so excited to see their cousins. They sure do have a great time playing together. They played all day long, moving from one activity to the next.

First up, the slip n slide. I think they spent a good chunk of the day enjoying the slip n slide.














Then the kids(and some adults, Sommer & my Grandma) enjoyed the cake walk on the drive way.















Carter enjoying his Cake Walk winnings!















Up next, was the water balloon volleyball. I have to get those pictures from my sister. We let the kids start the volleyball game off. It lasted for about, oh two minutes(as we knew it would). That game quickly turned into a HUGE water balloon fight. The entire family got into it, whether you wanted to or not :-). This photo is blurry but I love it. This is my Mom throwing a water balloon at me-LOL!


















My Mom, Dad, Carter & I filled a ton of water balloons for the party. Once the whole family got in on the water fight, those balloons went fast. Once the balloons were gone, the kids started resorting to the buckets & cups...smart boys.

















Chuck & Bandi thought they could avoid the water if they hung out on the kids toys-LOL!















**Warning, lots of pictures coming! It is so hard to narrow down all of my photos, they all become my favorites.


First up, my Grandma & Grandpa Shore. I love these two faces. They are the most amazing, caring people you will EVER meet!


















John & Brody. Be still my heart. You can just feel the love between them!














The boy cousins drying off in the sunshine!















My Mom & her brother, Uncle Wade.














My cousin, Kerstin & myself
















Sommer, Me, Kerstin & Amber














Our cute boys














Her are all of the cousins. Do you know how hard it is to get a shot like this -LOL?
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We ended the night with Sparklers in the front yard. We were a little bummed this year. One of our favorite 4th of July traditions was canceled this year due to budget cuts. The city of San Jose did not have their annual fireworks display, BOO! We were able to enjoy the Milpitas fireworks from the freeway on our ride home. We sure are thankful for another fun holiday spent with family!

Of all places...

to find another happy quote for my side bar. I found this great quote on the packaging of the Daisy sour cream container at the dinner table tonight -LOL. The new quote reads:
"Little acts of kindness can add up to a lifetime of happiness".
I love this & truly believe it!

Speaking of little acts of kindness, look what John & I received in the mail this week.


















My ever so thoughtful friend, Free sent these items in a sweet little package to John & myslef. First off, I loved the beautiful hand made cards that she created. She not only created a card for me, but one for John too. She wrote us each a sweet note. While she was visiting with us in June, John had mentioned that the violin was his favorite instrument(he took lessons as a child). She sent him a Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra CD for his car ride to & from work. For me, she included a darling little Trendy Trees stamp set from Stampin' Up. I love it & can't wait to play with them. Thanks for the sweet little act of Kindness, Free. You made our week! We love you!

Take a minute this next week & see if someone you know (or maybe even a complete stranger) could use a little, simple act of kindness from you!

Amusement Park FUN

We had the chance to spend the day @ Six Flags, Marine World today. Our friends, the LaPrays had some extra, free passes. It was so kind of them to treat us to a day of fun. Thank you Keri & Scott. We left @ 9 am & didn't get home until 10 pm. We opened & closed the park today...FUN

First up on the agenda, to ride as many rides,(especially)roller coasters as we could.

The weather was perfect, a cool 85 degrees. We could not have asked for a better weather, considering the 107 degree weather we've been having @ home.

We hit the Shouka whale show.

A few of the kids wanted to sit in the Splash Zone. Not only did they sit in the Splash Zone, but they sat in the front row! They were totally soaked by the end of the show but totally loved every minute of it.




















Keri & I( and a couple of the kids), on the other hand, wanted to stay dry.

Another perk that comes from sitting in the front row is the Chance to be picked for the trivia game. The MC picked 5 people out of the hundreds of us sitting in the stands to play her trivia game. She happened to pick Tanner. Here he is on the big screen.

His question was, "How many times does Shouka brush her teeth"?
Does anyone know the answer?

The answer was D, "twice a day". Tanner got it right & won a stuffed animal(a seal) & a t-shirt. He was thrilled & said he knew the answer because he had read it on a wall, in the park earlier in the day. See, it totally pays to read for fun! You learn something new every day!

We checked out the butterfly exhibit. I have never seen so many colorful butterflies in one place. They were amazing & beautiful.

Last but not least, we were able to track down a few of the characters to get our pictures taken with. Thanks again to the LaPrays for our super fun day! My boys are still talking about all of the rides we rode & what they want ride, over & over again.t ride, over &

escaping the heat

Our little family was able to escape to Lake Tahoe. On the way up, we watched the temperature gage in our car drop about 25 degrees, the Tahoe weather was a perfect 80degrees. We were able to enjoy some fun family time.

The fun started right away :-). The boys had a great time catching rides on the luggage cart. Poor John, it's not like we didn't have enough baggage(as a family of 6) already.



























We loved the condo & all of the amenities(thanks K & F)! Garrett loved the big jacuzzi, John loved the pool, Tanner & Carter enjoyed a football game with about 8 other boys their age, & I loved the kiddie pool for Brody. I only wish that Brody had loved it as much as I did. He didn't want to stay in that area at all. He is fast & was all over the place. He bounced from the pool, to the the jacuzzi, to the playground, then to watch the boys playing football on the grass. I turned to watch Tanner & Carter play football for oh, about 2 seconds & before I knew it, Brody had run over to a birthday party that was just starting. He climbed up onto the picnic table...ummm, did I mention that he is fast? In what, felt like VERY slow motion, I watched him put his chubby little fingers right into t heavily sprinkled, pink cupcake that was adorning the top of the cupcake pyramid. I yelled his name & he was off & running again. I did a quick wave & a sorry to the Mom in charge. Remember, he is fast & was headed right back to the pool. I have never been so embarrassed in my life. I really hope that that Mom knew how sorry I was.

We were able to enjoy so many activities. A few of our favorites included:

Swimming:

Games:

I beat Tanner & Carter @ a game of Scrabble. I tried to get them to play another game with me last night but they declined, saying they didn't want to get beat again.

A walk down to the North Star village:
We enjoyed checking out the village, roasting s'mores & watching a movie under the stars. The boys thought it was so cool to watch Clone Wars, outside.





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We wore these boys out. Here is proof that our boys really do sleep.
These photos were taken 15 minutes into the ride home!






















p.s. it was so hard to drive home & watch the temperature gage go back up. It went from a pleasnt 80 degrees to 106 when we hit our home town! We hope you are enjoying the lazy days of summer.