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Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Staying Cool

Wow, what started off as a slow day really was BUSY! I woke up yesterday at 8am (I KNOW! Sleeping in - hehehe) and decided that I wanted to take my kids to the water. Be it the pool or the sprinkler park, I didn't care. But, I also knew that I needed to get some food shopping done. We're trying to iron our budget out, and know EXACTLY where every penny is going, and to do that, I had to know how much money it takes for a weeks worth of groceries. And to do that, I had to have a food menu. So, since I already know what Captain America and I eat every day, I made up a menu for the kids. 7 dinners, 7 lunches, and 7 breakfasts. I planned enough fruit for each kid to have 1 apple and 1 orange each day (that's 35 of each - dang!). I planned in snacks. I typed up the menu, and typed up the shopping list.

I was trying to eat, and chat online, and on the phone at the same time, so it took a little longer than I wanted it to - ROFL! Sometimes multi-tasking can bite you in the butt - hehehe. Anyway, at about 9:30am I was finally ready to shop. I left Jake with the kids, minus Jimmy (since he left today for camp, I wanted to get one more chance to go to the store with just one kids - hehehe). I managed to get all of the groceries for one week for 7 people for under $200. I wish it didn't take so much money to feed us, but we ARE kinda like our own small army - LOL!

I wasn't able to get the yogurt at the commissary, because they were out. Grrrr. Now I needed to go somewhere else too. I got back home at around 11:00am. I put the groceries away, and texted my girls to see if they wanted to go swimming. My friend Laurie was busy with a project that needed to be done by Wednesday, but said that she could go on Thursday. My friend Andrea was babysitting, and couldn't supervise 2 babies at the pool at the same time. But the sprinkler park she could do. We decided to meet there at noon. I put all the groceries away, and hurried the kids along to get ready for the sprinkler park.

It was a different one than we went to the first time. And the good thing about the sprinkler parks (both of them), and the pool, is that their FREE to us. Woohoo! Army perks - hehehe. Anyway, back to my story.

We got to the new sprinkler park, and there were construction guys with jackhammers in there. Um, yeah, not open. Hello! Andrea said that she called last Friday, and they said it was gonna be opened on Monday. Um, not so much.

But, the girl that Andrea was babysitting for had her work appointment fall through, so she was now available to come with us to the pool! Enough Mommies to watch the babies! Yippee!!! We stopped at our houses on the way home to put on the ole swimming suits, and headed off to the pool. My kids were SO excited. The really wanted the pool, and were only mildy satisfied with the idea of the sprinkler park.

We were at the pool from about 2pm to 4pm. The kids had a GREAT time, and us Moms did too :) It was a BEAUTIFUL sunny day, and we all wore enough sunblock to keep from getting sunburned. Bless you, whoever invented Sunblock!

I hurried and cooked dinner when we got home, and had it all cleaned up by 6:00pm. Captain America helped Jacob get packed for his campout (actually, canoe trip and campout), and I started working on Jimmy/Joe's room, and Eme's room. We've decided to switch bedrooms. Eme's going upstairs, and the little boys are going downstairs. I just can't monitor what's going on with the little boys easy enough with them on a different floor (and one I hardly ever go to). So, I started re-arranging. Unfortunately, most of the stuff is in the living room. Another project for today for me.

At about 7:00pm, Captain America got done helping Jacob, and he and I headed over to some people's house to get a Swing Set. We met them at a b-day party that Tom went to for their son, Olen. They're moving to Virginia tomorrow, and said that we could have their swing set. A nice wooden one. I was SO excited. Captain America was able to help me last night, so we went on over. We took it down into 3 chuncks, and shoved them in the back of my old Surburban. It was quite a site. Only about a 1/4 fit into the truck, and the rest was hanging out the back. With the barn doors open on the suburban. hehehehe. I sat in the back seat, and hung on to the swing set as Captain America drove VERY slowly home.

When we got it home, he even helped me get it set up. What a GREAT man. He was tired, but took the time to get it set up. The kids were REALLY excited when we brough them in the backyard to see it. Jimmy and Joe especially. Jake and Tom are too big for it (weight wise), but Eme should be able to play on it. As long as she doesn't swing too high - hehehe. I'll get a picture of it today. It was too dark last night.

At about 8:45pm, we had everyone to bed, and I headed out to Wal-Mart. I still had to get the yogurt. And, I wanted to get a few things for Jacob for his trip today. He was supposed to bring a sack lunch, so I got him some goodies to put in it. I want to eat his lunch - ROFL! Yummy!

I got back home at around 10:00pm, and sat down to design/blog. What a long day! I wonder if today will be any better - hehehe. I wanna take the kids to the dollar movies (if it works out), and I have a Pampered Chef party in the evening.

Since I had SUCH a long day, I decided to use my WordArt from my layout from the other day. That works, right? hehehe. Click on the link below to go to my account to download the zip file (both versions included), and leave some love if you like my work.




FONTS:
Staying - Susie's Hand
Cool - Cafe Rojo
All rest - Pharmacy

26 comments:

bethrosler said...

Lovin' the summer word arts! I might actually even scrap some recent pictures (and ignore the backlog of hundreds! LOL).

Ashley said...

I have been reading your blog for a little while and have commented every once in a while. As one of seven kids, I know what you mean when you talk about grocery shopping and how it all adds up. My mom still has 4 at home between the ages of 14 and 9. My dad created a program where you can create a menu from your recipes(which you can upload yourself and/or choose from ones already on there) and it creates the shopping list for you. :) Sounds like something you might be able to use!
It is in Beta testing for the next few weeks and then it will be released to the public. =) If that is something you think you might be able to use, let me know!

Tracy said...

Wow...I think $200 for a week for7 people is pretty good! I spent that when there were only 6 of us and not that we are down to only 4 I still find myself spending that much lol...so way to go! Thanks for the wordart...I love reading your blog!

xashee's corner said...

thank you so much for sharing your FUN wa! :) i am sooooooooo GLAD that you have those sprinkler parks AND a pool too!! Have a TERRIFIC day!

Jani said...

Thank ou for sharing your fun word art. I was hoping you'd share this one with us soon.

Joelle said...

I love reading your blog! I read it everyday, although I don't always comment. Thanks for the great wordart

Cathrine said...

Thank you for sharing yor wordart! I like it alot!

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for this Freebie. I want to let you know that I posted a link to your blog in Creative Busy Hands Scrapbook Freebies Search List, under the Beach/Sea/Fish, etc. Theme post on Jun. 16, 2009. Thanks again.

Diane said...

THank you for the great word art. Will be great for the summer LOs I am working on. Diane

Jeanann said...

Thank you for the word art, I love the fonts on this one! I'm also looking forward to seeing pics of the kids on the swing set!

*Cornelia* said...

i love your great wordarts so much, and your stories are always fun and I have to smile

Hifam said...

Thanks for your fun updates. This will be a great addition to a summer page.

Thanks!

jmutchler said...

great job bethany. i just love your blog...i feel like i've known you for years!

Christy said...

I am tired just reading about your day. Thanks for the pool wordart, should come in handy this summer. :)

Unknown said...

Thanks so much. We just had a pool party and this will be great.

Anonymous said...

Thank you! Your blog post will be advertised on the DigiFree Digital Scrapbooking Freebie search engine today (look for timestamp: 16 Jun [LA 07:00pm, NY 09:00pm] - 17 Jun [UK 02:00am, OZ 12:00pm] ).

Jamie VanBeekum said...

Thank you so much, Bethany! I love your WA and will definitely be using this one this summer!

Rebecca said...

Thank you so much!

Sharon Kay said...

Bethany...I would love to see what a "sprinkler park" looks like! Please!

Thanks for the word art!

Michelle in MN said...

Thank you for the wonderful word art!!! I wish you would tell us how you were able to manage $200 for your food budget. We have six people but that is 2 adults a 17, 15, 13 and 11 year olds. If I could feed us on $200 a week I would be happy but in reality it really takes more like $300

Thanks again, so enjoy your blog!!

Unknown said...

Love your WordArt!!! Here's my most recent layout with the Stayin Cool WA.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrispencerachel/

Thanks for all your hardwork!!!

~Chris

Emily said...

Cute! TYSM!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the freebie!!!

Lisa said...

I LOVE your blog! I've been reading it for a long time now but never commented before now. As a mom to 5 boys ages 23 down to 12, your $200 grocery bill sounds really good! I spend twice that each week and I only have 4 of my boys still at home and one I babysit everyday. Ages 18, 16, 14, 12 and 4. I knew the day would come soon enough that I would be feeding little men, but it sure hit home this summer! I like the idea of menu planning! But I think I'll need a locking freezer, otherwise no food is safe here LOL

I love your WA and have used several of them in my pages. Maybe one day I'll start a blog :)

Rechie said...

soooo coooll...i grabbed it..thanks a lot for sharing..

Vera said...

I love it, thank you so much! :)