if at first you don't succeed...

Every once in a while we'll pull out Jason's bike to see if he can ride it. Last night, Cameron was riding her beautiful princess bike around the garage and Jason got it in himself to give his bike another try. He and Darren set off down the sidewalk, and what do you know.... he did it! The hardest part is getting going and we have those pesky dips in our sidewalks, but within a half an hour Jason was riding like a pro. He even rode down to the mailbox to pick up the mail for us.

Also yesterday Cameron did more weird things with her hair.

She is a major source of embarrassment for her very mature older brother.

And Hayden continues to be adorable.

b hawk

Cameron says the weirdest things. Lately I've been pulling her bangs back into a clip or a headband so that she can see and hopefully grow out her bangs. The other day she called the pulled back bangs her "b hawk". I guess it's like mohawk, only for bangs. Little weirdo!

edible art

Today we had a delicious art lesson. Cameron and I whipped up a batch of chocolate pudding. While it set we cleaned off the table, stripped off the kid's shirts and found some colorful paper. In less than 10 minutes the kids were happily settled in to make pudding art. Jason made a truck of course and Cameron declared her piece to be a family picture with a few friends included. The art quickly turned into snack time as the painting decreased and the licking increased. The kids decided this was by far the best art project we have done!

arting results

Here are the final results of yesterday's arting experience. Jason made a street scene complete with truck and In n Out while Cameron made a roller coaster. Enjoy!

arting

Last night Cameron announced, "Mom, I need to do some more arting." We had a good laugh and then got her supplies out. Cameron enjoys gluing pictures into a notebook. At back to school time I stock up on notebooks (usually 10-15 cents each) and gluesticks (20 cents for a two pack). Then I spend a few minutes cutting out pictures of kids, animals and toys from catalogs and magazines. I did this when Jason was 2 and 3 years old and now Cameron is enjoying this activity too. She calls it her "family album".

We're also starting a long term art project today. A while back I bought a 2 pack of artist's canvases at Micheal's. I got out all of our acrylic paints, paintbrushes and plenty of newspapers and set up a painting studio for the kids. Jason is diligently working on a background for his cool car creations. Cameron is diligently working on smearing every color together in a big brown splotch. They were very excited to learn that they could let the paint dry and then paint over it some more. I'll take pictures of the process... after all, arting is a process!

cheap chick

Tonight I spent $35.20 on groceries for this week. I'd like to say that I did it all with coupons, but in fact I didn't use any. This week we'll be eating from our pantry and freezer, making meals from all the odds and ends that get forgotten or ignored in the deep corners. I bought just a few supplies like eggs, butter, flour and coffee to stock up the basics then added in a few extras like lunchmeat and fresh vegetables to round out my menu plan. I went through the freezer and took stock of what meats and frozen vegetables were lurking there, then I went over to the pantry and pulled everything to the front. It's amazing what you can find when you look! I'm looking forward to a few meals this week, especially spaghetti with sauce made from fresh tomatoes from Nanny and Pops' garden.

This summer I decided to really get down to the business of saving money with coupons and store deals. I've discovered that there's really no need to pay full price for beauty/ health items ever again, and there's always a way to get these things for free. Last month I worked on a deal at Rite Aid and soon I'll be getting a $25 gift card and a voucher for a free package of diapers just for buying the things I normally would but taking the time to register for their rewards program.

My favorite and most thrilling savings come from the clearance racks at my favorite stores. I scored a pair of jeans for $5 at Target recently and I can't tell you how good that feels (actually it feels just like the time I found a pair of jeans at Old Navy for $5...). I love finding kids clothes for less than $3 and in fact I've actually put things back because $4 felt like too much! Saving money has become a game in our house and it's pretty fun. Please post your money saving tips and stop by my new favorite blog www.moneysavingmom.com

*warning*

I might crawl soon... I don't know, I mean, I've got all this space, there's toys everywhere, none of them belong to me so maybe I ought to just start taking over. It might make the big kids pay attention to me a little more... maybe. I just need to get a little stronger, push myself up and figure out how to move these arms and legs with a little purpose. I'll get back to you, maybe I'll crawl soon, maybe not... stay tuned.