New Beginnings

A new school year is now in full swing. Once again, it was a year of change for our family. We moved here one year ago and started a new school not knowing what we were getting in to. It didn't take long before we loved it. I loved my kids teacher, I loved the sense of family that the school had and I loved all the friends I made through my kids. However, last spring they deceded to rezone the school district and our neighborhood was affected. So once again we started a new school year at a new school. At least this time they got to take a few of their friends along with them but it is still an adjustment. Plus, every time we drive by the old school my kids look out the window longingly and express their how badly they want to return to the old school. Mean while I am trying to stay positvie, telling them how great their new school is, yet on the inside screaming that I too want to go back! Yesterday we went back to visit friends and last years teachers and it was bitter sweet for us all. Upon leaving Jackson asked, "Mom, can we do this everyday?" He really loved his kindergarten teacher - she was the perfect teacher for him and as much as he likes his new teacher he kept telling me how much he wished he were still with Mrs. Ratcliffe. On a positive note, I am happy with the kids teachers and they seem to be liking it well enough. The adjustment for me is really the small things of coming from a school with an extremely active and way organized PTA and now not really understanding the organization or plan of the new PTA. Oh well, we have our first PTA meeting this Monday and their is a group of us ready to go in united and shake things up a bit. (In the nicest way possible, of course!) Should be interesting! :)

As always, I took some pictures on the first day of school. I didn't really look at them again until yesterday when I decided to do some editing. When I did I realized that I liked many of the pictures much more than I had remembered. Amazing what editing can do! Here's the video I put together yesterday. The music still needs a little fine tuning but all in all I am happy with it. Let me know what you think!

Memories of Madison

Lately I have been feeling unproductive. It is almost ironic because my house is more organized than ever - I've been running everyday (even beat Sean's time last night for the 2 mile loop in our neighborhood - woo hoo!) and getting a ton accomplished on projects around the house. What I am starting to realize is that sure, all of that helps, yet I really need to have more of a creative outlet in my life. Nothing else brings me the same kind of peace, stability or sense of accomplishment in my life. I also need to have a place to share it, so after a year of being a pathetic blogger - I am determined to come back in full force! I need to force myself to start scheduling time where my camera comes out of the bag - I need to quit watching videos, reading blogs and magazines on how to take great pictures and actually start taking them again!

This summer I went back to Wisconsin for the family reunion and to see my Grandfather. My mom and I spent a day driving around the east side of Madison, going to the parks, beaches and houses I grew up in. Next year we will hit Stoughton, the other main area of my childhood, but this was all we had time for this trip. It made me realize what an incredible and beautiful place I lived. At least I can say that when my visit took place during the summer months. In the winter....not so much. I made this video clip of all the pictures and video clips I took from the trip. Hope you like it!

Oh - on a side note, you can call me indecisive but I'm not changing my blog - I'll use my other blog for posting other stuff.

A Change of Address

No, we are not moving!  However, I have been considering a change of blog address for a while now and I am finally giving  the Mac site a try.  I may be back, I am not completely sold yet so let me know what you think.  You will have to tell me what you think on this site thought because I still can't figure out how to allow comments on the mac site (hopefully I figure that out soon or I'll be back REAL soon!)  Basically has anyone used it or have opinions about it?  Let me know! 

In the mean time here are the links to the new site.  The first link takes you to my websites home page which has tabs to the Blog.  But then I get confused on how to navigate  so the second two links are to the two posted blog entries!  Enjoy!

Welcome to my world

    I don’t know how or when it happened

    Reflections on the Day

Idol upset bigger than we thought???

Before I begin this you should all know that I DO like Kris Allen. I will probably buy his music and love it. However, as much as i LIKE Kris, I LOVE Adam. The talent is undeniable. Plus, whenever Kris sings and extended note he shifts his chin to the right and it bugs me to no end. It just.....looks seriously weird and some what demented.  I would cringe every time he did it, obviously he was way too modest because if he had ever tried singing in front of a mirror he would have fixed this.   I wasn't going to blog at all about the upset, I was able to vent to a friend who agreed whole heartedly and thought I was done with it. After all, it isn't like Adam wont have an incredible career without the title of American Idol! But, this morning as I was skimming through the news headlines on the internet I came across this story. Who knows how much of a difference all this made, but I thought it was noteworthy none the less. Plus it helped explain things in my own mind. 

Take it for what you will....
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/05/27/earlyshow/leisure/celebspot/main5042391.shtml

My Excuses, for what their worth...

*****OK, so I just went back and re-read my post. All I can say is WOW, I really need to proof read these thing before I press the publish button! My apologies too all who already read it. I think I have the mistakes out now! I think I must have been so excited to actually be publishing a post that I got carried away!


So I am sure there are a few of you (granted a small few - but a few none the least) that are wondering why I haven't been blogging these past few months. Well, I have reasons, they may not be the best reasons, but their mine. The first has to do with my latest obsession, coupons. I know it sounds lame, I know to a lot of you it probably doesn't sound nearly as fun as blogging, but you have no idea - so let me educate you! :) Like most of you, I would always see the news clips with ladies saving an unbelievable amount of money using coupons. I was skeptical, yet curious. I tried it a few times and decided it wasn't worth my time. It was always hard to customize it for the stores in my area and I figured that I would end up buying things I wouldn't use anyway, so I would eventually give up. Then last fall I gave it one more try. Except that this time I had a partner in crime. My friend Charity had started up the quest once again and was making more progress than I ever had. She had a cousin that told her about some great web sites and with that information, we took off and haven't looked back since. It took a while for us to perfect the process, the organizing and the all the local stores coupon polilcies, but doing it with a friend made it really fun. So... just how good are we talking? Well, last time I went to Publix I had a cart full of groceries, I spent $28.00 and saved $114.00. Not every trip is as good as this but I do save a least minimun of 60% most every time I go, usually more. I have always given them a higher value in coupons than I do in actual cash. I am sure you are now thinking that I must be buying things I wouldn't normally buy. Nope! I am buying things I would normally buy and also things I would have liked to buy but maybe wouldn't because of the price. My pantry and freezer are so full I have had to get creative on where to keep stuff! Last Monday I bought 5 boxes of Post Select Cranberry and Almond (It's Sean's favorite so I stock up when it's on sale) for $1.00, not $1.00 a box, $1.00 for 5 boxes or 0.20 per box! For those of you that know how much I love a good deal, you can understand how much fun I have been having! For anyone interested who lives in the south, my favorite website for help is www.southernsavers.com . For anyone else you can look up help for your area at the grocery gathering at www.becentsable.net . They have a compiled list of helpful blogs for different areas.
There is a cute story to all of the coupon madness. Obviously my kids are learning the value of searching for good deals and coupons. They love it when I buy something for nothing or when the manufacture actually pays me to take the product from the store. Apparently Jackson started collecting coupons when we would go to the store (he would take them out of the little red boxes, or blinkies, located in the iles or from tear pads...anywhere he could find them. Then, on Mother's Day he brought me a big old pile of wadded up coupons, and with a proud smile on his face gave me a hug and said, "Happy Mother's Day, Mom." It was priceless. Knowing that he had thought about what would make me happy, planned it out and had done it all by himself made it so special to me. Gotta love that kid! In honor of mothers day... here are some pix of me and my boys.

I know....I know....please don't remind me

Ok...so I KNOW it has been FOREVER since I last blogged. I got behind at Christmas and then it seemed like the more I had to blog, the more overwhelming it was to get it done. And now it's April and I can't believe how fast 2009 is going! I now there's lots I need to write about but first I figured I just need to rip off the band aid and blog something, anything, just get it done!
Highlights from this year so far....

January-I can hardly remember...it seems so long ago!
I think Jason had his first Pine Wood Derby for scouts.-

We headed home to Wisconsin (well, my home) for my uncle Bill's funeral. He was way too young and it was hard but I am grateful we were able to be there with my family. One of the benefits of living within driving distance.

February-Sean turned 36 and we had some friends over to celebrate

Jackson was chosen as the Star Citizen of the quarter in his school. I always thought he would be my trouble maker when he got to school but he is proving me wrong! This gives me enormous hope for Tyler...he is at that age that can be...trying on some days! :)

March-

My dryer started acting funny (more to follow)

New school boundaries for our city were announced and my life became consumed with canvasing the neighborhood with petitions, attending school board meeting and meeting with the superintendent. Surprisingly, I loved it. All of it, from the meetings to working with other moms to just feeling like I was making a difference. I had forgotten how much I enjoy stuff along those lines. It was a good wake up call for me to stay involved however I can.

April -

Dryer still acting funny. Bought new washer and dryer (which I LOVE!!! Seriously, I could write an entire post on it! Load of towels...30 minutes to wash, 30 minutes to dry!!) On removal of the old dryer we found a bird inside it! It looked like it had been stuffed, it had been cooked by the dryer. Then we found a complete birds nest inside the dryer vents in the roof. FUN! But, at least I got a new washer and dryer out of it.


Jackson turned 6!! I can't say much because this one has to have it's own post with pictures but it was a fun day and he is a great kid!

We started a major re-landscaping project on our house and I am loving it. As soon as I finish this I am heading outside to plant more and I can't wait! :)

My parents came for Easter. It was lots of fun and the boys all cried when they left. Tyler still asks me daily why Grandpa can't come over!

Swine flu... The kids school closed for a while but thankfully opened back up again last Wednesday. Originally they were going to keep it closed until May 14th!!

And now...it's May. I can't believe it. This year is going by so fast. I can't believe the kids are almost out of school!! I will try to be better in the coming weeks about keeping up with the blogging! Sean got me a mother's day present that should help greatly with that effort!! (more to come about this one if future posts!) Hope you're all doing well. Enjoy these few pictures that I will post to prove to everyone that, yes, we are still alive!