What We've Been Up To

Well, we're in the last gasp of summer. Of course, like all of you, we've been pretty busy. Nathan's been running the Basic Seminar by Gothard at our church on Sunday nights on top of his regular work week. This is my first time through the sessions. I am thoroughly enjoying myself. Like 99.9% of speakers, he has some faulty info, but not everyone can be Nathan! ;o) (Ugh... that sounded totally cheesy... picture big AND toothy grin). In an attempt to tighten his end of the budget, Nathan's been suffering through Lean Cuisine lunches. I think he may end up voting for a sack lunch every other day or something. He's also looking forward to the soon-coming cessation of yard work. Bermuda grass LOVES Alabama summers, and as long as we get a little rain, grows like mad. He has been enjoying Despair.com's demotivators. One of my favorites: BLOGGING: Never before have so many people with so little to say said so much to so few. Hee,hee!

Kathryn is in full swing, as usual. She spends her days as a great indoorswoman (must take after her daddy). She's enjoying her daddy's old Nature Corner episodes, informing me that she wishes Vida the cat was diurnal, and that there are many species of potato chips. She does Dr. Gramme proud. Character-wise, I'm excited that she seems to be glaring at people less (she calls it shyness, but agh!) and has decided that heaven by death is not a good deal. She wants to be 'caught up in the air.' I happen to agree.

Alex is officially two. Pictures haven't happened yet, as he celebrated this milestone with 5 stitches to the forehead. Yep, full-scale, wonder boy destructo machine. Yesterday, some surreptitious red-ants scaled the outside of his jeans and headed in under his shirt. I couldn't find the Calamine, then remembered that he'd recently dumped the whole bottle into my carpet. Cortaid to the rescue. His favorite phrase is, "Mudder? You happy? (Yes, Alex, are you happy?) Yeth!" 5 seconds later: "Mudder? You happy?... and so on" He has adopted his first stuffed animal, a rabbit. Or as he calls it: "my waddit." Actually it was Kathryn's Easter rabbit from my Grammy, so it has a pink bow. But he has personalized it by systematically pulling out all its tail fuzz.

I'm about to begin teaching 4 homeschool girls Spanish I. I taught the same BJU curriculum at Tuscaloosa Christian 5 years ago, but I'm having to revamp everything for a totally different format. I've decided to teach completely in Spanish, something I was too chicken to do last time. The immersion is such a helpful, if intimidating, experience. It requires me to think a lot more about how I'm going to say things. Come to think about it, maybe that's a good thing ;o)

The next section is only for those attempting to save money...

The last few weeks, I've been working hard to plug money leaks around here, doing research, etc. I thought I'd pass on a few things I found in case you are interested. To give credit where it's due, let me applaud my sister-in-law, Marianne (the Queen of Frugality) for giving me some great tips. Her blog occasionally showcases her savings, so keep your eyes open. She recommended Aldi Grocery Stores. I was a bit skeptical, but I've tried cheeses, juice, milk, cereals etc. They were all TOP QUALITY. And where else are you finding milk for $1.50 a gallon?! A few websites that I heartily endorse:

www.southernsavers.com (gives great tips by store for saving megabucks, especially at CVS; my only ugh has been their 3 Day Sale starts on Sunday, leaving us Sabbath observers looking at empty shelves Monday morning. I'm going to revamp my strategy and work with their other sales)

www.paperbackswamp.com (free signup, legit site with millions! of books available; in short, you post any book (think kids' textbooks, or anything!) and other members request it. You have up to 8 days? to mail it at your expense via media mail (about 2.50 per book); now you can pick anyone else's book free. It's genius, really. You can actually exchange a child's Golden Book for an expensive textbook. I consider my account to be a 'book budget' of sorts)

www.swagbucks.com (free signup, also legit. This is a search engine. I must admit it doesn't return the best results all the time, but you can work with it. Just for searching through it, you get points. In about 3 weeks of regular web use, I earned enough points to trade for a $25 restaurant.com gift certificate. Starbucks, Target, Amazon cards are also available)