365[33]

Lemons.

They say summer to me.

Fresh. Clean. Crisp.

365[32]

One more thing I will miss about summer. Walking around/running barefoot around the house and in the back yard & flip flops. These cute little chubby feet remind me of a great summer.

And can I just mention that we went sneaker shopping for my big boy and his feet grew two shoe sizes!

Sad, sad.

365[31]

Rainy day activities.

365-should i start back at 2?

Ok, seriously. I'm not a lover of photographing flowers. Please, don't get me wrong- I love them, appreciate them, even appreciate photos of them- it's just not my preference for shooting. But on a day like this [where it was raining and gloomy and a lazy Sunday afternoon kind of day] I made the best of it :) And hey, something about it still does remind me of summer.
And while I realize that I mentioned not blabbing for every single one of these, I decided I wanted to explain this one and since it's my blog I can ;)

dare I say, 365??

Ok, I know- my 365 project has been quite the ordeal, or maybe not. To say the least I have not been consistent- it's been interrupted, on some sort of hiatus, or just plain non-existent. I could come up with a zillion excuses but i'll spare you.
But I'm back at it. My friend Leah and I decided that we'd both give it a shot. And while I'm disappointed that I hadn't kept up with it to begin with, I won't whine about it and just get back on the wagon [again]. I still have several months until the year is up and maybe I won't feel like a complete failure if I can make it through until then (since it was[is] one of my goals for 2010).
This time I'm coming at it with some sort of plan/structure. Figure it'll help keep me focused and perhaps it'll be a better gage at my progress. Since I just got back from vacation and am seriously mourning the end of summer (sob, sob) this week i'm going to focus on things that remind me of Summer and everything that has made it special and memorable this year.
Here we go again :)

Song in my heart.

We just got back from an awesome vacation with my family. It was so much fun! It was super relaxing, lots of napping (already in withdrawal), great beach, lots of laughs and memories. As an added bonus, our friends Paul and Amy and their kids, came to spend a day with us there. It will probably be the last time we will see them for awhile. Paul is getting ready to go to tech school and then they will be moving to either New Mexico or Las Vegas. The good news about that is that we will have a new place to visit and friends to stay with.

During this trip to Virginia I realized just how much my littlest boy loves to sing/hum! I've noticed it before but while having this entire trip to relax and spend time together I was really able to notice it. It is the cutest thing, he wakes up singing, falls to sleep singing, sings while he plays, while we are in the car, while he's browsing through books, literally all of the time! On our [very, very long] drive home yesterday I was listening to him sing and thought about we should always have a song in our heart. I am so blessed, I have so many things to be thankful for and instead of worrying about all of the things that aren't or how things should be, I should be singing and thanking God for all of the things that ARE. Thank you Cartie for reminding me to keep a song in my heart, I <3 you.

Psalm 28:7

The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy.

 I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.

super cool, super saving thrifty mom.

Have you ever met one or read about one? If you saw my coupon binder or even my previously separated coupons with my "to buy" list, you might be fooled to think I am one.

But the truth is that I'm a long ways from being this super cool, super saving thrifty mom. As a matter of fact my binder had been neglected for so long that when trying to find and organize my newest coupons I came across all of these

{gasp} expired coupons.

Please, don't get me wrong. I'm a believer. I have seen the savings rack up and have smiled with pride when showing my hubby my savings. But I have been weary in this department- perhaps it's the summer lull, all of the times we have cooked out at my parents and I haven't had to cook, maybe i've just been lazy?

But I haven't given up. I choose to coupon :)

*for inspiration and couponing made easy check out Hip2Save