June...and Roses

It's June...oh my...and what a lovely June it has been so far! 

The flowers are in full bloom...

...and so is my squirrel's smile. Nothing makes her happier then a fist full of flowers. 

June has brought us...

~ afternoons of crafting

~ a not so rigid homeschool schedule (not that it usually is)

~ mosquitoes that are DYING thanks to my new bug zapper. I got one that works for 1.5 acres...that ought to do it boys. 

~ afternoon thunderstorms and gorgeous evening lightening displays

~ an amazing deal on some blackout curtains

~ tornado sirens and awesome cloud formations

~ snacky lunches on the couch

~ the kids first viewing of Honey I Shrunk the Kids!

~ watermelon and more watermelon

~ Costco's awesome blueberries

~ Ice Cream!

~ You Scream!

~ We ALL scream for ice cream!!!

~ inventions

~bare feet

~ shaving cream smearing with sticks

~ pool time! 

~ roses... lots of roses

~ starting the mornings off the right way...with coffee and my Bible

~ David Nevue and his gorgeous piano music filling our home

~ loving our church more and more

~ new books

~ finding ways to give

~ enjoying today but smiling at the future

~ anticipation of meeting the cousins in July!

~ sundresses

~ sunscreen

~ long runs on the treadmill

~ cereal just because we are bored of oatmeal

~ ponytails...even for all of our boys!

~ bonding as a family

~ Papa John's Pizza of course

~ shades of pinks and reds and cream

~ rearranging our house as usual

~ mowing the lawn weekly

~ monarchs flying through our yard

~ Father's Day!

~ Big packages!

~ The WORLD CUP!!!

~ guacamole

~ soccer in the yard

~ ladybugs

~ learning about new things

~ seeing friends that we haven't seen in ten years

~ canopies in the yard

~ soccer goals made out of leftovers...one creative husband

~ bubble chasing

~ gnomes

~ fresh mint

~ chugging water on a constant basis

~ feeling content because I am loved and know the One that created me and mine

~ loving my husband more than ever

~ knowing that my kids are beautifully and wonderfully made and feeling hope for them and their future

FOF

I'm a few days late with my FOF post - my apologies. 

I finished my two week "no grocery store stops" successfully. My husband gets paid bi weekly so I made a goal to grocery shop on his pay days, then also put money on a gift card to pay for fuel for the next two weeks. I'm happy to report...we made it the two weeks with only one ice cream run (we simply couldn't help it... it was raining and we needed gelato and waffle cones) and we actually still had a third of our set aside fuel money left over! 

Last Thursday I scoured the internet for coupons and sales flyers, made up my two week menu plan (I make a list of meal ideas...and am flexible on which day I make which meals) and then took the stores with my envelopes of papers. When I go to the store I most definitely look like a "woman on a mission" (or a completely crazed person.)

Other ways I saved and spent this past week...

~ lined dried our clothes on all of the sunny days

~ ordered Zac's Father's Day using a coupon code

~ printed out my blog from January of this year until the beginning of May using a coupon code (I've been wanting to do this for awhile but have always been overwhelmed by the cost ... I decided that if I break my blog down into 6 month increments then I can make a way to afford it. I don't want to miss out on the opportunity to save precious memories for my children.)

~ Trinity finally had enough allowance saved to buy her first "amazon wishlist item." We have started giving our kids a small allowance each week so that they can learn to give and to save. I helped Trinity find something that she would like to save for...and she has worked extra hard the last 7 weeks to save up. I was proud of her accomplishing that goal!

~ we helped a family with a small grocery item purchase, donated our used stuff at the church thrift store and then also purchased some books and some children's clothes there (100% of our church's thrift store purchases go towards helping widows and orphans and is ran completely by volunteers. We LOVE knowing that we can donate our belongings to a really awesome cause. It's just a simple way to give when our wallets are rather empty.)

~ we stayed home almost all week and made crafts with what we had on hand

~ used a red box rental code for a free movie night

~ I ordered some supplements for the boys to try .... they were rather pricey but I found a way to get free shipping on them and also use my Citi points to help pay for them. This was one of those iffy things where I felt a little guilty about buying it from a cheaper source rather than the distributor. I had to pray about it honestly because I wanted to do the honest thing...but also what was good for our family. I love to support local businesses and try to buy handmade as often as possible...but this was one of those times I really needed to save as much as possible. I feel comfortable with our decision (I talked to Zac about it probably more than he would have liked haha.) I hope that the supplements will work well for our little dudes along with their gluten free diet. 

~ I included picnic foods in my grocery list for the next two weeks so that I would have easy lunches to pack if we are going out...that way we aren't tempted to stop off places for a bite to eat

~ Found Trinity her backpack for her "one day a week" of school next year... I got it 50% off and thankfully it has no "character" on the front so she should be able to use it for years 

~ uploaded some free children's apps

~ printed off free homeschool worksheets

That's how I did .... I also forgot to mention that Zac had the opportunity to work a lot of overtime this last week so God provided for our savings account. When he works overtime it is kind of hard on our family but I try to just tell the kids "daddy is a hard worker and we pray that God will provide for us and extra work is one way He does that!" The littles are being real champs about it. 

To link up to FOF go to  Rebecca's Blog ....it's a lovely place. :) I guess this is her last FOF post...I'm not sure if I will continue or not.