Up, Up, and Away

Here are a couple of pictures from Alyson's track meet. She made the varsity team--hooray!--and is now figuring out how to do all of this track stuff. Her natural ability combined with skills she learned in gymnastics have served her well. Maybe too well! Her hurdling coach is trying to get her to not clear the hurdles SO high--she's used to beautiful split leaps that need to stay in the air--not fast, flex-footed leaps that barely clear the obstacle! :)

This coming weekend she'll be competing the 4 x 100m hurdles, 4 x 300m hurdles, long jump, high jump, and triple jump.

Go Seahawks!

Kroger deal for some hungry kids

Here's a deal we scored this weekend:



Kroger stores were offering, with the purchase of the Bolt DVD,

• Free rotisserie chicken
• Free 1 liter Dasani water
• Free 6-pack yogurt raisins
• Free deli salad
• Free package of Almond Accents
• Free 13 oz. bag of pistachios

I found a link for $5 off the purchase of the DVD, as well as a $4 mail-in rebate.

We don't have any Kroger stores up here, but they do in North Carolina! I sent Jarrett $15, and he printed out the coupon, went to Kroger, bought the movie, and he and Chelsea had a free dinner while they watched North Carolina win the game last night!

He is under strict orders to bring me the receipt (and the DVD) when he comes for Easter, so we'll end up with the movie for $11 and they'll end up with full stomachs. :)

And, for those of you interested, we are tentatively planning on having the couponing class here April 25. Email me or post a comment if you want more details.

Homeschoolers Out and About

This morning Joshua had an ophthalmology appt. to check up on a little problem he was having with his eyes (everything's fine by the way--he has "eagle eyes" according to the doc.)
Anyway, Joshua was getting a little uncomfortable and worried after the drops were into dilate his eyes and paralyze his focusing mechanism. I was standing with him, holding his hand, trying to comfort him. I leaned over and explained what exactly the doctor was doing. We just finished a unit on the five senses and during the unit had learned the major parts and functions of the eye. I whispered to Joshua that the doctor was going to check his optic nerve and the capillaries in the back of his eye and also look at his retina to make sure everything was still "upside down."
After the exam was over, the doctor looked at me and said, "So what do you do in the eye world?"
Huh? "I'm not sure what you mean-"eye world', " I replied with a cocked head.
He said, "Well, I heard you talking to Joshua about his optic nerve and such. I figure you must do something with eyes."
"Oh!" I nodded, figuring out what he meant. "We homeschool and Joshua just learned all the parts of his eyes and what their function is."
"Wow-" said the doc. "Nice to hear a little guy like that is already learning so much. Good job, mom."

aaah, outside affirmation. It's nice every now and then.

Friday Fun

Here is a little Friday silliness for you. Joshua has decided he LOVES the Princess Bride movie. I think he has the entire thing memorized. In fact, the last time we drove down to North Carolina, we watched the movie three times! As you wish.......

Inigo Montoya

couponing update

I set out today to try using my new couponing skills at Target. I still haven't decided whether or not I can stick with it. What I have yet to break is the FOOD barrier. I get how to save on household supplies, personal care, etc. But I am seriously lacking in the food department. As a result, my boys will be eating that box of Bagel Bites you see in the picture for dinner tonight! :)

Actually it is a lot of fun. It is frustrating to go with a list and have my store not have the item it is "supposed" to have. But it's great to pack up my basket with the things I'm getting so close to free.

Today I organized all of my coupons. I spread them all over the kitchen table, sorted, and separated them into different envelopes that I labeled.

Something I learned today was to bring ALL of my coupons--not just the ones I think I need. I came across some sales I didn't know about and wasn't able to take full advantage of them because I didn't have the coupons! I've heard of many different organizing and storage ideas--I've got to get one going for myself.

Here's what I snagged today on our lunch hour:

• 1 more Johnson's Buddies soap
• 2 Soft Scrub 26 oz.
• Pledge Multi-Surface Spray
• Pledge Dust and Allergen aerosol
• Renu Multi-Purpose Solution (travel size)
• Bagel Bites
• Herbal Essence Hydralicious shampoo
• Herbal Essence Hydralicious conditioner
• 2 Pop-Secret 3 packs
• Schick Quatro titanium razor w/ 4 blades
• Schick Quatro for women razor w/ 4 blades

total retail cost: $40.49

Amount I paid: $14.99
plus I received a $5 Target gift card, so my total cost was actually $9.99!

The razors were a great deal! They are normally $9, on sale for $6.99. Target has a deal that if you buy 2, you get the $5 gift card. I had two coupons out of the Sunday paper for $4 off each one. So I got 2 razors, which would have cost me $20, for 98 cents!!!

Full Speed Ahead...

The pace of life has picked up dramatically around here since spring arrived and with it, spring sports.

Nick is playing high school ball on a homeschool team up in Baltimore. As one of 3 freshmen on the team, his new name is "rookie." It's an excellent program--with several alumni going on to college ball.

Alyson made the varsity track team-hooray! She'll be long-jumping, high jumping, hurdling, and sprinting.

Our life now consists of cramming in school, making up a bunch of snacks, and hitting the road every afternoon for one sport or another.

(check back for great pictures of them as soon as I get my camera fixed...or borrow Alyson's again)

Since I'm on the road so much, I have been looking for ways to save money. Some of you have noticed a couple new blog addresses on my sidebar. My sweet, Duke-loving friend (is that an oxymoron?) has gotten me interested in serious coupon clipping. I've heard of the "grocery game" and of people getting great deals at places like CVS, but figured it was too complicated for me to handle.

And it may be....but I'm still giving it a go!

Today, on my way back from NE Baltimore, armed with my lists and carefully printed, clipped, and organized coupons, I made my first go.

Here's what I got:

1. Ziplock round containers 5 count
2. Ziplock sandwich bags 50 ct
3. 2 packs Mentos gum
4. Veg-All frozen vegetables winter mix
5. Super Pretzel frozen pretzels
6. Welch's light strwbry-mango juice 52 oz.
7. Rold Gold Honey twists
8. Pillsbury ready-to-bake oatmeal choc chip cookies
9. 5 Johnson's Buddies bar soaps

Total retail price for all of the above items: $23.97

Amount I paid: $4.96!!!

It was pretty exciting looking for the deals and then walking around the store with a cart full of stuff that was going to cost me almost nothing. It was really nice when the cashier at the grocery store said, "wow!" when she rang me up. I was glad to see that this can be done at regular stores with regular items and it doesn't take me completely changing my shopping habits to do it.

That being said, it is somewhat time consuming. I've been emailing back and forth with Lori, the "coupon consultant," whose blog you can link to from here. She, and many other people, do a lot of the work--figuring out where the best deals are, linking to printable coupons, and spreading the word. Lori said when she started it took her hours each week to go through it all but she had no one to show her where to look. Now she spends 1-1/2 hours each week, clipping, sorting, and making her lists and meal plans. She's obviously more organized than I am. That's about what I spend just thinking about going to the commissary!

I am really excited at the prospect of this, though. I've heard people say they've saved $500 a month following this "plan!" For those of you who live fairly near me and are interested in learning how to shop smartly and save money, email me. Lori lives in Virginia Beach and teaches classes. The 3-hour class costs $35 and Lori guarantees that you will save the cost of the class within one month. If not, she'll refund your money! Since she spends $200-$300 a month feeding her family of 5, I'm very interested in figuring this thing out. She will come up here to teach us if we can get enough people interested.

I'm going to periodically update you with my savings--even if you don't live nearby, you can definitely learn a lot by checking out those two websites on my sidebar. Email me if you'd like me to send you a couple more as well!

And an extra-big thank you to my friend, Lori Graham, for getting all this rolling for the rest of us! Go Heels!

GO HEELS!!

I'm putting this up just so that Lori Graham will have two of these on the sidebar of her blog...... :)

Working for Half Pay

20 years ago yesterday, Dave signed his name on a dotted line, not having any idea of what the next 2 decades of his life would end up being. We were young and needed direction and the Army looked like the quickest way to get some! I don't think either of us really ever considered that what we thought of as a quick fix to needing some money and education would end up becoming not only our way of life, but our life as a whole.

We have loved our life in the Army. There have been hard times, difficult jobs, tough moves, and lots of stress. But there have been blessings beyond measure. We have both grown up and grown closer--something we didn't have much choice about when we moved so far away from our families. We love our country and truly understand what the cost of freedom is. We've travelled all across America and Europe with the family, and Dave has gotten to see a good bit of the rest of the world on his own! :) We've met friends who are like family-we've learned to depend on people we've only known a couple of weeks. And we've learned that we can always depend on each other. There are some other, more tangible, rewards, such as 4 babies for a total cost of $136. Mess hall food is pretty darn good--and great for feeding hungry teenage boys. We love standing for the national anthem at the movie theater. The commissary prices just can't be beat, even if I get frustrated with the layout occasionally..... ;-) Free grad school.....

Dave's had a great career. A lot of people expect, when they hear he's at 20 years, that he'll be putting in for retirement. Nope. Why leave a job you love so much just because you can. I think he'd work for LESS than half pay!

Here are some career highlights of the last 20 years:

• March 15, 1989 signs enlistment papers
• April 20, 1989 leaves for basic training
• Defense Language Institute, Monterey, CA
• MP school, Ft Rucker, AL
• Airborne School, Ft Benning
• Operation Desert Shield/Storm
• Officer Candidate School
• Air Assault School, Ft Campbell
• Advanced Airborne Team, 101st Airborne
• Battery Command, 101st Airborne
• spokesman for 1st Armored Division in Iraq
• secretary to the general staff, Wiesbaden, Germany
• graduate degree from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
  

Places we've lived:

• Fort Benning, GA
• Fort Sill, OK
• Fort Knox, KY
• Fort Lewis, WA
• Fort Leonard Wood, MO
• Fort Campbell, KY
• Bozeman, MT
• Wiesbaden, Germany
• Cary, NC
• Fort Meade, MD

how do they let kids this young enlist???

MP keeping us safe

Desert Storm

they don't feed them in Officer Candidate School....

getting his gold bar

leaving for Iraq

graduation day

Thank you for a wonderful, exciting, challenging, and proud 20 years, my love. I'm looking forward to the rest!

Indulge Me....

I'm not going to put up a bunch of pictures or smack-talk any "supposed" friends on here about the game tomorrow, but I want to tell you how sad I am that we have come to the end of an era.
When we were in Germany, Dave's boss (now 4-star Gen. Marty Dempsey) encouraged Dave to apply to UNC for the Army's grad school program he had recently been accepted to. Gen Dempsey went to Duke and since the program Dave wanted wasn't offered at Duke he said Dave just had to go to Chapel Hill--that it would be the best experience we could have.

He was so right.

Living in North Carolina was wonderful. We all love it--we hope to retire there someday, I plan on spending at least part of every summer at the beach there, Jarrett stayed there for school, we keep in touch with many of our friends from there.
But the best thing about North Carolina is the Tarheels.
We moved to NC the year after they won a national championship in basketball (they win nat'l championships in all kinds of sports...). Dave is, as most of you know, an avid sports fan and already knew just about everything about the up and coming team of freshmen. That year, 2006, was supposed to be a rebuilding year. Most of the national championship team was gone, we were left with a couple of guys off the bench and a bunch of newbies.
That year was magical.
And so have been the 3 after it.

Our family has grown to love those boys-following their statistics and records and injuries just like we've always known them. We've bought scalped tickets for the nosebleed section, sat in the student section, taken vacations down to watch their first practice and "Late Night with Roy." We gather around the television for every game now, wearing our Carolina Blue gear, cheering and groaning and yelling at the refs, and hoping that THIS will be their year. And wishing it would never end.

Tomorrow will be the last game those "freshmen" will play in the Dean Dome. They play Duke. On their senior night. Their first year they played Duke in Cameron for the last game of the regular season and Dave and Jarrett were on hand to witness our group of inexperienced boys take it to JJ Redick on HIS senior night. I hope they win. Of course. But, really, I wish they didn't have to play tomorrow. I wish they could stay there and do this again every year. There will be new players next year. We'll grow to like, maybe even love, them and it'll still be exciting every October when practice starts.

But, just like when we lived in Georgia in 1991, the memory of Sid Bream limping around the bases ("Braves Win! Braves win! Braves win!") remained one of our fondest memories and we never wanted that season to end. We still think of the Braves as that particular roster (Glavine, Smoltz, Justice, Sanders...).
Maybe it's because we move so much and when we get someplace we want to latch on to something to make it "home." Maybe it's that both of these times, we had just finished going through a long deployment and the sports gave us all a connection and relaxation...I don't know. I do know that watching them brings my family all together-and keeps us together even as everyone is growing up and away.

To Tyler, Bobby, and Danny, thank you for the great times the last 4 years. Thank you for playing with courage and tenacity and integrity. And thanks for just being so darn good. It has been a pleasure to watch you. I know there are still two tournaments to play. I hope you go far. But the end of the era in the Dean Dome has come and I'm sorry about it.

Tomorrow we'll probably get some trash-talk email from Gen Dempsey. And we'll give it right back....
then we'll gather around the TV, with Jarrett calling and texting, and watch the "boys" in their home whites play one last time in the Dean Smith Center.

Through the Wardrobe....

and into Narnia....
[Edmund] forgot all about Lucy and went toward the light, which he thought was the open door of the wardrobe. But instead of finding himself stepping out into the spare room he found himself stepping out from the shadow of some thick dark fir trees into an open place in the middle of the wood.
There was crisp, dry snow under his feet and more snow lying on the branches of the trees. Overhead there was a pale blue sky, the sort of sky one sees on a fine winter day in the morning. Straight ahead of him he saw between the tree-trunks the sun, just rising, very red and clear. Everything was perfectly still, as if he were the only living creature in that country. There was not even a robin or a squirrel among the trees, and the wood stretched as far as he could see in every direction.

In Like a Lion.....

Late winter snow slams the East Coast Monday
-Fox News

Dave's flight to Ft Leavenworth was cancelled, Alyson's school was cancelled, there are 6 inches of snow on the ground, and we've got cider on the stove top and chili in the crock pot! IT'S A SNOW DAY!!!

Hopefully the last bit of winter before a warm, sunny spring. My daffodils and hyacinths are already sprouting, we've had spring birds at the feeder, and I am ready for spring.

Today is fun, though. You really can't beat a "forced" day at home--

Weekend Refreshment

This weekend I was blessed to get to attend the first-ever Apologia Live Homeschool Moms Conference in Baltimore. It is something that is difficult for me to write about because it was so meaningful to me and I haven't completely finished processing everything I heard and learned. Since we are in the middle of a big winter storm (the last before spring, I hope) and I know I'll want to post snow pictures tomorrow, though, I want to get this posted.

We heard about the conference from HSLDA, the legal defense company who handles many legal issues that homeschoolers face. Apologia, who is well-known in the homeschool community for its challenging, award-winning, Creation-based science curriculums has decided to branch out into another area and that is specifically encouraging and inspiring homeschooling moms. There were 5 speakers-all of whom are "biggies" in the homeschooling community. To tease those of you reading this who are homeschoolers, we got to hear Debra Bell (Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling), Sally Clarkson (Whole Heart Ministries), Elizabeth Smith (wife of HSLDA president, Michael Smith), Zan Tyler, and Rachel Carmen. These women paved the way for those of us homeschooling now, facing unbelievable pressure and resistance--to the point of even being threatened with jail!

I went with three friends of mine from three different areas of my life. None of them knew each other before the conference, but I have a feeling they will stay friends long after. Each of us is in a different place on our homeschooling journey. And God spoke specifically to each of us in our area of need.

Because my heart and my mind are still so full of emotion over all that I heard this weekend, I am not able to clearly explain to you what it meant to me to be with three moms who feel the same calling that Dave and I do about homeschooling our children, and to hear such uplifiting and encouraging messages from the Word of God, affirming our decisions and calling us to keep Him the center of our studies.

This is too long already-I knew I'd get rambly. Have you ever had a time in your life when you just KNEW God was speaking to you? When you could almost hear His voice out loud? That was this weekend for me--confirmed over and over again. In my quiet time Friday morning, I read Scripture from John 4, where the woman at the well met Jesus. Saturday night after the conference we went to a service at church during their evangelism conference and that same Scripture was used. Scripture quoted during my conference was used by the speaker this morning in church. This weekend has been full of words from God meant especially for me, as I teach, discipline, encourage, and train my children. I am so reminded that I have a choice of who and what I want to follow when I'm doing that. I can follow fear or flesh or even a proven formula---or I can follow God in Faith. I choose Him.

I'll leave you with this quote I wrote down on one of the many pages of notes I took:

The secret of living joyfully in the presence of your children

is to live your life in the presence of God.