Thursday, August 27, 2009

desperate

So I must be desperate for summer not to be over. This week has been full of fun things, making it feel like I am trying to fit it all in before the kids go back to school. The kids had friends over Tuesday and Wednesday and we had friends over for dinner one night. Today we went with friends to Salem's riverfront park. Plus I made peach jam Wednesday and tomorrow Alicia and I plan to go to Enchanted Forest. Where did my summer go!


And while I am at it I should just admit something. I only did one month of summer school. :) I knew if I planned things out I would do great. So before school was out I made lesson plans. Well, I made lesson plans for 4 weeks. :) I figured I would just work on the next 8 weeks in June. NOPE. There just wasn't time and I just didn't want to spend summer making lesson plans. So this next school year I am going to work preparaing for next summer. I will have 9 months to work on it and it should really help me. I plan on doing the same thing as this summer. The 7 continents. There are plenty of countries to study and it was fun for the kids. But I will be buying what I need now and putting it away, I will be writing out what I want to teach each day and I will be looking for books that go along with each weeks lessons. That way when the time comes I can go to the library ready!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

About time . . . camping on the Southern Oregon beach

So we left Friday morning, a couple weeks ago now, and meandered down to a cabin I reserved at a State campground back in April. First, we stopped and got ourselves a Jamba Juice!!! I had found buy one get one free coupons and Alicia was all over that. This was a HUGE treat for the family. The last time we went there was when Ben was working extra hours at H&R. Yep that long ago. I am a full fledged Jamba Juice lover now though! I could have one every day and it is a good thing we do not live close to one.
Anyway, along the way, we stopped for lunch, rest stops and boat docks to stretch our legs and got there about 2:00 pm. It was a great place. I want to go there every summer. Ben isn't so sure he wants to drive that long drive every summer though. We'll see who wins.
The kids loved the ride because we rented some Nancy Drew books on CDs, from the library, and they run about 3 hours long. We listened to one the way there and one on the way home. Made for fast traveling.

The cabin was great. This cabin had a double bed and bunk beds. It worked very nicely for us. And for $35.00 a night it was GREAT! We could see the ocean from our fire pit and there was a little forest for the kids to climb trees right beside our spot.
Sadly the picture is supposed to show the ocean but it just shows a lighter area. Just IMAGINE you can see the beautiful blue ocean through the trees.

We went to the light house a mile away, checked out a fish hatchery, played on the beach, and just enjoyed ourselves. Here are some random pictures. The first is Cape Blanco Lighthouse. Rich with history. The others just the "kids" goofing off on the beach.





It now feels like summer is officially over. Our last summer family plan is done and I am ready to send the kids back to school.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Updated Aaagggain

I got tired of the darkness of my blog. And now that I know how to change my backgrounds I feel I may do this A LOT. Sorry guys. :)

random coupons

Here are some coupons I have stumbled upon the last few days. Sometimes I share sometimes I forget or think you don't care but then I get reprimanded so here I go.

smithfield.com
$3.00 off when you buy 1 bacon. go to the site and "sign up" after you sign up they will let you print 2 coupons. Safeway has the bacon for 3.00 this week so FREE
NOTE: Safeway official internet printable policy allows only up to 50% off an item price - your cashier may or may not read and compare the price and can refuse this coupon. It will help if you only use one at a time and it is part of a larger order.

lunchboxbuilder.com
allows you to print some coupons for uncrustables, goldfish and motts applesauce

at coupons.com they have the pepperidge farms cookies coupon for $1.00 off. At safeway this week they are $2.00 so you can get them for a buck.

I will add more today as I find them, so keep checking back.


*********************************************
Went to safeway this morning and got a few things with my coupons. I did really good but when I got home I realized the cashier lady did not take off the coupon for the free bacon, though she did use the safeway doubling coupon for it!!! GRRRRRRRRRRRR. So I did not get $3.00 off but I did get .50 cents off.

I will have to go back and try with my other coupon and get real free bacon.

I will also go get more uncrustables. I know I can make pb&j sandwiches but Ethan LOVES uncrustables and when I find them for $2.50 plus use a $1.00 off and double it I feel like I can almost justify buying them.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Garlic Jim's gluten free

I have many posts I could write. We have been camping and then spent another night at a beach house in the last week. This makes for some fun times and good posts but I am going to write a post screaming from the roof tops that I had pizza! I had heard there was a gluten free franchise called Garlic Jim's in the US. I just assumed it wasn't in Oregon. But. . . Salem has one! So on the way home from the beach Wednesday we stopped by and ordered a pizza. It was a bit pricey but I would pay anything, and I mean anything, to have myself a tasty pizza. It was goooood. I have been craving a pizza for months now so maybe that was it. I could eat there every night. I am bummed it is in Salem and not closer. :)

They also make regular pizza's, but for the price I would just go somewhere else.

Monday, August 3, 2009

Charles Martin is my favorite, so very good


I have read many many books over the years. I started to read ferociously as a child. I remember as a child thinking if I could be forgotten and locked away in a bookstore that would be the greatest thing in the world. My grandmother would give me gift certificates to book stores for presents. I was the kind of kid that loved that. So it makes sense that over the years I have read many different authors in many different genres. Sometimes I go through spurts where I read everything a particular author has written sometimes I read a lot in a certain genre before switching to another. I have favorites that have stood over time. But today I finished a book that has jumped one of my favorite authors to my all time favorite. It isn't that this book was better then his others but it is more that this book is as good as his others. He is consistent. Each book is different from the others. Most authors write and after awhile those books all sound the same. Martin's books are rare. They are special. Charles Martin is the best author I have read to date. I know reading is personal, we all have different reasons we read, styles we like, reasons we choose to read what we do. But I think you all should run out and read everything he has written. I love his books. I love his writing style.

I just finished Chasing Fireflies. By page 39 I was crying. He has that kind of control on his writing. In 39 pages he had me connected to his characters and able to feel with them.

He has also written, When Crickets Cry, The Dead Don't Dance, Maggie, Wrapped in Rain, and Where the River Ends.