Fevers don't stop me

I don't know why but for the past 2 weeks our family has been sick. First week we each got a stomach bug that we were each able to kick within 24 hours of getting it. 

However this week we've been miserable with a cold. Maybe it's because we'll play in the water then come into our A/C house. Or maybe we don't rest long enough to ensure we're back to full health. Most likely both :) 

But the kids are doing much better. 98% healthy. But me.... I have it. I tried my best to not get this cold but being a mom- it's almost inevitable that I was to get it. So this weekend it's my turn but I have too much I planned to do to just lay around at home.

Tonight Mike and I went to a wedding reception from someone in our ward. It was nice to get dressed up and to support my friend and her family on this wonderful celebration. 

 But it wasn't nice that I was running a fever the entire time. Sweating and sneezing is not photo worthy :(

So we left early so I could go home to get some medicine. Within a few minutes I was feeling alittle better. So we had 1 hour left before we needed to pick up our kiddos from a friends house. So we went on a small hike up the canyon.

A friend of mine keeps telling me that there's a waterfall up the canyon. So Mike and I tried to find it. But by her descriptions and from where we found this waterfall- it's not the same. But pretty cool that we found another one.

I know....I have a cold and fever.I should rest and take it easy. I know I should take care of myself but I couldn't pass up some quality time with Mike. I'll rest next week :)

Completely Random

This week a cold has been passed around between kids. 

With summer almost over there was so much on my list that I planned to do in the next 2 weeks. But then plans changed. We're home passing Vicks, essential oils, and cold drops around instead. Hopefully within 1 or 2 days everyone will be good again. 

Meanwhile I had time to work on a few projects. 

#1.

 I framed Mason's tag from his first race along with a photo. He really liked it. Now it hangs on his room wall. He's excite to hang some more up. 

 #2.
 Right now Krispy Kreme is having a promotion. For every 1 school supply item you bring in they'll give you 1 donut for free. So with all those supplies I picked up last week Lily and Hailey helped load this backpack up.

 
 When I went to pick up Mike from work I swung by the store and got these for FREE! A nice dozen of yummy gluten donuts. A dozen donuts cost around $7. We paid $.75. Not bad!
Cati and I sacrificed our Celiac for one of these.

 #3.
I've had a chance to go through the girls clothes. It seems to be a seasonal event. And Cati had this dress that is so stinkin cute on her.

 But she stained it so with something. But since it's so cute I didn't want to toss it....just yet. So I put it in the "think-of-something pile".

But while at Joann's they had dye's marked down to 50 cents and I instantly thought of Cati's dress. 

She's so happy to have her dress back.

 I'm happy that all it took was a 50 cent save. :-) She already accessorized her new dress.

Wellies

Miss Lily has been begging us for a pair of rain boots for some time now. But like most of what the kids want I just wait to see if they ask me in a week. In some matters if they even ask me the next day. Most of the time their impulse passes. But not Lily's. Months later she was still asking me for a pair of rain boots.

So in my inbox one morning I seen a daily deal site where they were selling wellies.

(In the UK the people called rain boots "wellies")

So for SUPER freakish cheap I ordered her a pair. Expected ship time 1 month! It's from England so Mike and I said we'd put them aside for her birthday

On delivery date: wrong size. I converted the sizes wrong so I ordered Lily her current size. So to ensure she could enjoy them before she outgrew them I left them on the kitchen counter. In plain sight for her to see.

And oh. my. She was EXCITED!!!!

 She's kissing them because she loves them so much.

 But since there was no puddles she ventured outside to make her own puddle.

 Nope....not splashy enough.

 OK....it's good now :-)

 Cati being Lily's helper and making sure the mud stays splashy.

 So worth getting the wrong size to see this smile.

Till we meet again

Last week my Grandpa Edward pass away. I haven't seen him for a long time. But despite the distance and years I have more memories with him than any other family member. 

 I remember his oddly shaped house, his smoky laugh, the way he called my mom, "Bird", his Christmas cards, his fridge...I know :-) but he always had some sort of sweet treat that I could have a bite of.

For the past 3 months he's been helping me with my genealogy. When I found something fun, educational, or just odd I would tell my mom who then would tell my grandpa. He found it interesting and supported me on this quest. 

 I know it's a hard time for my mom and uncles. My grandma passed away a couple of years ago as well. But I'm finding it difficult for me to grasp that I no longer have grandparents. Something about writing that statement makes me teary eye. During the week I've tried to stay focus on my life ( more like distracted with my life). Take care of my kids, clean my house, plan for a wedding reception, get back to school ready, etc. but it seems I'm doing everything wrong. Most of what I've been doing is half-way since I can't focus. Which in turns leads to people getting angry with me since I'm not following through. So I thought I would write it down, get it out, and try to get back on track.

I'm going to miss you Grandpa. ♥

But like my favorite hymn, ♪

♪ " God be with you till we meet again

Till we meet, till we meet, Till we meet at Jesus' feet

Till we meet, till we meet, God be with you till we meet again." ♪

Here's his obituary I got from a Chicago newspaper.

Flores, Edward Beloved husband of the late Helen (nee Vega) and Maryann (nee Eifler); loving father of John (Jessica), Kathy (Sam), Felicia (Ben), Rachel (Mark), Paul (Susan), Steven (Nora), Rolando, Ricardo, Sylvia, and the late Edward; cherished grandfather of 12 and great-grandfather of 8; dearest brother of Gloria, Anita (Albert), Roy (Cheryl), Stella (Victor), Janie (late Vincente), and the late Fred (Carmen), and Joseph (Lupe); uncle to many nieces and nephews.

Bourne Legacy

Mike was so excited to see the new Bourne Legacy movie.

photo source

But me on the other hand...I never made it through the first Bourne movie with Matt Damon. So we rented the trilogy from Redbox and the local library. Then we had a Bourne marathon. 

And Oh. My. Goodness. 

Such great movies!

So with the opening of the new movie Mike set up a surprise date night for us to see the movie.

And yet again.

Oh. My. Goodness. 

It was awful!

I hate to be a spoiler but please don't see this movie. It puts shame on all of the Bourne movies. It's a bunch of lame shooting, drug dependency, and really confusing. 

Mike and I compared it to Lion King 1 1/2. Where Puma and Timon make the movie that shows what and where they were while Simba is on his journey. So imagine the same thing for this movie. LAME! 

Ok...I'll get off my soapbox now. 

The best part of the movie experience is we paid 65% off ticket price due to a coupon and we got a great photo of us too. :-)

After the bad movie experience Mike treated me to Chili's for dinner. With yet another coupon we enjoyed a nice sit down meal and talked about....how bad that movie was :-) No really...we decided since we're such movie junkies that we need to start learning about directors and not actors. Since the actors portray what the directors wants.

Anyways...enough about the BAD MOVIE...it was nice to get 2 dates in 1 week with Mike.
The other date my mom tended our kids while we went to the temple. It was a nice retreat :-)

Under $20

photo source
Is it possible to get school supplies for only $20?

Being on a tight budget this years school supplies needed to be carefully planned. So with the help of some coupon sites I planned to visit 3 office supply stores and stock up on whatever they had.
And I made my budget only $20 for supplies. And all was purchased I was excited that I was still under budget by $2.81. Yeah! Total retail value around $150!

Here's what I got:

Some items aren't in photo since Mike took some things for work, the girls colored on our walls with working markers, and we gave some items to charity

2- lunch sacks
2- 5 pack black sharpies
7- packages of erasers
3- book covers ( if the kids don't use them then I will :)....)
7- packages of markers
5- pencil sharpeners
5- composition notebooks
3- notebook filler paper
2- pencil boxes
2- boxes of color pencils
5-boxes of crayons
2- 2 pack white outs
10-folders
3-boxes with cases index cards
1-box of index cards
2-glue combos with scissors
4-glue sticks
3-metal compasses
3-protractors
2-packages of tape
4-packages of pens
6-spiral notebooks

I love back to school shopping!
Now to tackle school clothes shopping. *sigh*

Let's go Fly a Kite

After Boondocks we came home to eat dinner when Lily noticed that the wind outside was kicking up. A storm was brewing but she didn't notice that. She noticed that there was enough wind to fly kites...something she's wanted to do since I picked some kites up on clearance for 50 cents.

So we ventured outside to see if we could get a kite up.  First we tried in our backyard. The kite flew but only for 1 or 2 seconds and only a few feet off the ground. (too many trees)

 So we went in the cult-a-sac and tried again.... And from Lily's facial expression- SUCCESS!!!

 Mike got the kite going so high that Lily and Cati just stood in the street and stared.

 Then Lily wanted a turn. She was so happy that she got her kite up and going.

You can see her kite and the storm coming.
After her turn Ducati had a turn. And while Cati was flying her kite Lily went inside and grabbed an umbrella. When she came back outside and asked for help to open it. As I opened it and pulled it up I expressed to Lily that she doesn't need an umbrella. Then right when I handed it back to her the rain started.

Lily laughed at me so much. She danced and sang,

 "I told you it was going to rain. ♪ I 'm dry and you're wet ♪♪." 

Mike gathered the kite in. Cati and I ran inside since I've already broke 1 camera due to water damage. And Lily....she danced in the rain for a minute. Such a great night.