Looking forward to fall family fun

Well, summer is officially over and I have to admit I really miss it. The weather has been mild, but I don't want to give up the shorts and flip flop weather and think about bundling up even though I know it's coming.

I also miss the lazy days at the pool with the kids or running out for an impromptu ice cream trip. Fall does bring it's own fun, though. Soon we'll be raking leaves and the kids will be jumping in the piles.

Hopefully we'll make it out to go apple picking and make a visit to our favorite pumpkin patch - Bengston's Pumpkin Farm in Homer Glen. It's become our family tradition to pay the farm a visit every year in October. We started when my oldest was an infant and he's now 15. The farm has made some changes over the years, but has maintained some of our favorite features. It is an expensive day, though, and my husband suggested not going this year, which met with much resistance (as much from me as from the kids.) The kids look forward to the visit to the farm all year. Even if we don't make it there, fall is a great time to spend time together -- even if it's just a visit to the park on a crisp day or a walk at a local nature preserve. Summer will be missed, but I'm looking forward to all th fun fall has to offer.

September 11th events will always be remembered

I only had about three weeks to go before maternity leave, but woke up feeling nauseous and fatigued and decided to stay home from work. I was in the shower when my husband stuck his head in the door and said my sister called and said the twin towers had been hit by planes.

The next several hours were spent in front of the television viewing live coverage. Watching the towers fall was like watching a movie. No one wanted to believe that there were real people in those buildings that were burning and crumbling. The horror just continued as the Pentagon was hit and it was reported that another plane was suspected to be hijacked.

I spent the last weeks of my pregnancy crying almost daily, although I didn’t even know a single person in New York, at the Pentagon or on any of the planes. I wondered how many expectant mothers had lost someone that day. I thought about all the emergency workers who died doing their jobs. I felt appreciatve of those who worked at the scene and was touched by the overwhelming wave of patriotism. I was a mess. While we had our new baby’s first name picked, we were in limbo about a middle name and had considered several names, one being Christian. That name was cemented when I saw it printed below a large photo of a firefighter missing at the WTC on television.

My son, who wasn’t due until October 15 arrived a few days early. It was one month after the terrorist attacks that I sat in a delivery room at the hospital watching President Bush’s request for a moment of silence to remember what occurred on 9/11.

Though the memories have faded a bit and the emotions, have lightened, I’ll never forget the details of that day. I know I’m not the only one.

Birthdays bring back memories

Today my fourth son turned 6 years old. Yesterday I reminded him it was his last day to be five. He pondered for a moment and said he’d like to stay five. Why? I think he had quite a crush on his Kindergarten teacher. He said he wanted to be five again and again so he could be in Miss Kistner’s class forever!

I had to do some shopping this afternoon and invited him along on a trip to Kmart. I love when I get a chance to spend alone time with each of the boys. I told him he could pick out a birthday toy since it was his birthday. I was expecting Legos or an action figure. Nope. He wanted the SpongeBob skateboard. I tried to sway him toward something a little less dangerous, but he was set on the skateboard. I explained that he’d have to wear a helmet and pads on his elbows/knees. Tonight he tried it out. Within 15 minutes he had a wipeout. For some reason I’m envisioning an ER visit in my future!

Also, I’ve been working on a feature story on baby name trends. I LOVE writing about baby names. Reminds me of when Brandon was born 6 years ago today. I was due July 23 and was having contractions on my due date after my OB stripped some membranes in the office that morning. While I was on the sofa trying to take a nap, the door bell rang. It was a delivery of my second book which was set to be out in stores that week. I was so excited, but didn’t even open it to look inside. Within a couple hours I was on my way to the hospital.

We knew we were having another boy and I loved the name Conner. My husband wasn’t so keen on it because we already had two boys with “C” names. So, the alternates were Brandon (his choice) and Justin (mine.) All three of the other boys were named before they were born, although I did have a last minute change on my second one’s middle name. When our fourth one was born, we still weren’t sure what we’d call him. We pondered it for a couple days and figured we needed to decide. Neither my husband or I had a strong preference, so we decided to let our oldest son, who was 9, choose the name. When I was pregnant with my second son and he was four-years-old, he was adamant about naming his brother Elwood Butter. He was crushed that we weren’t as enthusiastic as he was about the name choice. This time we gave him three choices: Brandon, Conner or Justin. He settled on Brandon and Conner seemed a good fit as a middle name. I think he liked it because it sounded like his name, Bradley. I did have second thoughts and considered calling him by his middle name, but after calling him Brandon for a few hours it seemed to stick. Hard to believe it was 6 years ago today. He was my easiest of the labors and the largest of my boys (go figure) at 8 lbs. 5 oz. He didn’t quite make it in on his due date and waited until the wee hours of the morning to arrive. Wow how time flies!

Lazy days of summer are so nice

Well, it’s been a while. Thought I’d check in. Summer has been busy and going fast. We took a nice trip last week through Indiana Amish country and Michigan. I always manage to pack quite a bit into one trip. We toured an Amish farm, spent time at an indoor water park, fed giraffe at the Binder Park Zoo, toured the Adventist Village in Battle Creek, tried out exercise equipment like that used on the Titanic, went to a butterfly release at a children’s garden, pet a baby alligator and sat in a spaceship cockpit simulator. It was a fun adventure.

Today I was up before 5 a.m., which is very unusual. I tried to go back to sleep, but by 5:45, I realized it wasn’t happening. I hopped on the computer and figured I’d spend an hour tending to e-mails and try to clear out the inbox a bit. Nearly three hours later, I’d gotten through only the last month of e-mails. I take care of those that need immediate attention right away, but it took a while to sort the older ones into folders, delete them and respond to them.

Working at home, the summers are always challenging. Not only am I maneuvering around five children and keeping up with their schedules, there’s the constant distraction of the beautiful weather outdoors. Sitting by the pool is way more fun than sitting at a computer. I sometimes push work back until late in the evening just to enjoy the boys and enjoy the day. Some days, however, deadlines are quickly approaching and have to be taken of. As is the case today. Good thing it’s chilly and gloomy outside this morning.

Cooking under the hood

My husband's co-workers and I are forever giving him hard time about all the stuff he collects. He likes tinkering in the garage and before he was a firefighter he was a fabricator and a maintenance mechanic for a food manufacturer. Here's his latest project, a towable grill made from a 1995 Jeep. Lift the hood and you can do your grilling. Pretty cool!

Hi, all. Not much time, but it's been a while, so I wanted to check in. I've been extremely busy between writing and the boys being home for the summer. Having the Mommy guilt today...it's a bad, bad, bad nutrition day. We had Burger King for lunch and it was PB & J, Ramen Noodles and watermelon for dinner. My dinner will probably be an order of nachos at the ball field tonight. At least the chicken tenders this afternoon were accompanied by apple fries (rather than French fries) and we went to the park after lunch, so they ran off some of those awful, fattening calories. Laundry is piling up, a stack of bills to get paid, toys getting scattered...life is crazy. However, I try to pause and be thankful for all the blessings at the end of the day. I really should start a gratitude journal again. My mom gave me one years ago and each day before I went to bed I'd write 3 things I was thankful for that day. I never had trouble coming up with 3 and usually listed 5 or more. I think I'll start right now:

I'm thankful for
1) my cute little boys - each one has their own unique, darling qualities
2) my husband - I don't tell him quite often enough how much I admire the work he does as a paramedic and firefighter
3) the pink petunias on my porch
4) healthy teeth that have never required a root canal or extracation
5) a reliable, comfortable vehicle (especially the sunroof, good sound system and butt warmers on the seat - which I don't really need right now)
6) Pleasant weather
7) Being able to celebrate Independence Day this weekend in this beautiful free country we live in
8) My pooch
9) a good fitting pair of jeans
10) a dishwasher
Ok, I could go on and on...I have much to be thankful for. I'll bet you do to.

Joining the ranks of the coupon queens

I was talking to a friend of mine who went shopping recently with her mom (who is a coupon fanatic.) She said that they learned that the SuperKmart near our house does double coupon days about once a month. They both went there that week and stocked up on groceries and saved a bundle.

So, when the store did another double coupon offer, I thought I’d see how big a savings I could get. I used manufacturer coupons that were doubled and a few that I got off the Kmart website that couldn’t be doubled. I also found a coupon online for $5 of a $50 purchase.

Here’s how I did. I had two transactions. My first total was $52.36 and I had $27.23 in coupons, so the total I paid was $25.13. My second transaction total was $42.59 with $14.46 in coupons, so my total was $28.13.

I also got three register coupons on my way out. One was for $5 off a $15 purchase, one was for $4 of a $20 purchase and another was for $5 off of $25.

I got a box of cereal that's normally $4.59 for 90 cents. I got Pringles for 50 cents a can. I got a pack of razors that are normally $7.49 for $1.00 because they were on sale for $5 and I had a $2 coupon that was doubled. I also got a $5.49 bottle of shampoo for free because it was on sale for $3.33 and I had a coupon for $2 off that got doubled, so I didn't pay anything for that item.

I actually enjoyed it. I can see why it’s almost an addiction for some women. I got a few items I wouldn’t have if I didn’t have the double coupon offer. For example, I’d never pay full price of $5.49 for a Sara Lee Cheesecake, but since it ended up being $2.49, I got it. I chatted with another shopper who suggested some other websites and we swapped some coupons. Another lady told me that the Chicago Tribune has a lot of coupons and that you can buy a copy at the Dollar Store.

I also figured out an easier way to organize the coupons. When I remember to bring along coupons, they’re usually all stuffed into a small envelope or I have them in a little coupon caddy with about a dozen different categories. That sometimes makes it harder because you have to search through so many places to find them. I brought along a file folder and had some sheets inside as separators. I had four sections: one for frozen and refrigerated foods, one for foods that aren’t refrigerated, one for non-food items and one section I left empty. As I went through the stack, the coupons I realized I wouldn’t use that day went in the fourth compartment so I didn’t get them mixed up. It worked out well with the way the store was set up.

This morning I also made a stop at Walgreen’s. It was Saturday afternoon, but they were already putting up tags for the sales starting on Sunday. I knew I was almost out of peanut butter, so I went to that aisle to get a jar. I saw that it was on sale for 2/$4. I think the normal price was around $4. In smaller print, it said that if you bought 8, you’d get an $8 off coupon for your next purchase. So, it was like getting them for $1 each. Now not everyone goes through that much peanut butter, but the expiration date was more than a year away and the way my boys are eating lately, we’ve been going through a jar of peanut butter every two weeks. It will probably last us through the end of the summer. And if I had gone tomorrow, they would likely have not had eight jars on the shelf since they run out of sales items quickly. Now on my next visit I can use that coupon and get three gallons of milk for free.

Well, happy shopping! Can’t wait to get the Sunday paper in the morning and start clipping.