Playing in the leaves

Just some fun fall pictures. Enjoy!

Couponing Revisited

Okay, I'll admit it. I am now addicted to couponing. This afternoon I almost called a babysitter to sit with my kids while I went grocery shopping before all the good stuff was gone. Today was my best shopping trip ever!

Here is a list of what I got:

10 boxes of cereal (the boys just love Cocoa Puffs)

9 cans of Progresso soup

2 Cottenelle flushable wipe refills

1 Lipton soup mix

1 box of Kleenex

4 Progresso broths

4 Yoplait Yo-plus 4-packs

3 Danimal 4-packs

2 Healthy Choice frozen entrees

6 Betty Crocker boxed potatoes (au gratin, you know)

4 cans of frosting

Bananas

2 lbs. of baby carrots and

1 gallon of milk

Grand total = $20.24

Yes, it was awesome! I did have a $10 gift certificate from a newspaper subscription special, but everything else was coupons and specials. I'm going back on Friday to get more Kleenex. I'll get 30 boxes for about $10 and then $15 of free groceries. Whoot - whoot!

The Flu

Isn't it convenient that they come out with the swine flu vaccine after most of America has already had it? We had our turn last week. George started it on Sunday night. Phin followed during my primary presidency meeting on Tuesday morning and Spencer chimed in on Thursday afternoon. I basically had a mild case all week long and I'm still fighting the runny nose and coughing even now, a week later. I wished I could be like the boys and just sleep for three days straight. Wait isn't that the dream of every adult at some point. Heck, you don't even have to be sick to wish for that one.

This was how our week looked:

In this next one George is trying to smile. Even when he's sick he's cute!

We are all well now. Adam was very blessed and escaped unscathed. He was a trooper helping with the boys every night and making sure I got plenty of rest. He even went in late one day to make sure I could sleep in. I love that man!

Halloween

Oh the fun of Halloween! Whoever invented a holiday where people give you free candy is okay in my book. The boys made out like bandits at the trunk-or-treat. There must have been four wards there. We walked around getting candy for nearly 40 minutes. It was HUGE!!

George was a cowboy (thank you, my boy, for choosing a cheap and easy costume). Phin wanted to be a frog (like last year) and then Tigger (another costume we have on hand) but finally decided on a pirate. Again, with a two dollar sword from Goodwill and party favors from a recent birthday party, the pirate was a snap. I should mention that Phin is crying in the picture because I lashed his saber to his side and he wanted to carry it. Which really means I ended up carrying it all night.

Spencer was the duck (like every previous sibling). He was still getting over the flu, hence the binkie and the sad look on his face. Poor kid.

Travels

I just downloaded all the pictures from my camera, so here is a long blog that is mostly pictures. This first batch of pictures is when we climbed Badger Mountain in August. The boys were troopers, walking the whole way up (about 1.5 miles). They call it a mountain, but it's more of a hill that sits on the west side of Richland. From the top you can see all of the Tri-cities and on a clear day you can see where the three rivers intersect as well as the Cascades far in the distance. They boys ran down, and I ran with them since Adam had the baby on his back. It was great fun and we'll probably make it a summer tradition. Note to self: bring toilet paper next time. (Ever notice how your kids have to go #2 at the most inconvenient times?)

Next we went to the fair - meaning me and the boys. Yes, I was a brave mama and took all three boys to the county fair by myself. Thank you to all the nice people on the bus (yes, we took the bus) and at the fair grounds who helped us out. The boys were excited to ride the bus, especially Phin. We looked at the animals, petted the bunnies, ate cotton candy and pizza, watched a lady do tricks with a lasso, got freebies at the commercial barn, got our free cowboy hats and almost rode the ponies (a fight broke out right before they were to get in line, so we had to get back in the stroller -- so sad.) I actually saw another lady there pushing a double stroller with an infant on her back. It was like seeing a mirror image and we stopped and gave each other pats on the back for being such good moms to take our kids to the fair alone. A bus ride home made it easy to get them to leave all of the excitement. I was pooped but we had a blast. Will I do it again? We'll see.

Next it was off to Seattle for the weekend. Our friends KC and Jessica put us up for the weekend, got us a sweet deal on some City Passes, treated us to German Pancakes and "Special Drink" on Saturday morning and enlightened us with their talks on Sunday. Jessica and her two kids, Julia and Scott also came with us on the first day. We had a blast. The first stop was the Science Center (after a delay at the ferry where we checked out the Naval Museum). We spent the entire afternoon there (after a jaunt through Pike's Market). The kids loved it and George still tells me he wants to go back to Seattle so that we can go to the Science Center. He even drew a couple of pictures for me to show me what fun it would be to go to the Science Center again.

The next day we went to the aquarium where Phin got to see the octopus that he had been looking forward to for the whole trip. He was fascinated with them before we went, and who can blame him. An animal the size of a small horse being able to fit through a hole the size of a quarter. Amazing!!! And check out this way cool video. Anyway, the boys loved the aquarium as well and wanted to sit forever in the dome watching the sharks and sting rays and fish.

We also went to the Experience Music Project where the boys got to play the drums, mix music and watch videos on a two story screen. Just a word of warning, this is more for older kids. Ours thought it was okay, but really wanted to go to the Science Center again.

Of course we had to go to the Space Needle. It was a good day and you could see probably 30 miles in every direction. Again, not that cool for kids (they can't really figure out how to use those telescope things, although they insist on you holding them up so they can "pretend" to use it) but a must when you visit Seattle. Don't worry, Phin was never in any danger of falling off the top, it just looks like it.

This was on the monorail on our way home after three days of fun. Isn't having a good time exhausting?

For the Labor Day weekend we went to Boise to see Adam's family. We were able to get the whole family together for a trip to the zoo on Labor Day. We always have a great time there (especially with Mom and Dad feeding us so well.)

To finish things off, this past weekend we made our way to the Country Mercantile for the Fall Festival. It was COLD but fun. They had a corn maze, huge hay bale pyramids, a carousel, bouncy houses, and the best salsa in the world (at least that comes from a store). They also had these very talented teens who played the xylophones. Incredible! They didn't even have music. They had all the pieces memorized.

Okay, so now you are up to date on the Gaul family and our travel. Things should be pretty quiet here, travel-wise, for the next little while. Snow in the passes makes driving next to impossible. That's okay, we don't mind being locked into our little heaven here in Richland where we are experiencing all four seasons, NOT shoveling snow and loving the fall colors.