a little about the littles

Speaking of saving money -- the last post about Halo and a Kindle -- Foofie decided she wants money for Christmas ... "Because I'm saving up for an emergency ... or else a car!"

More Foofie fun ... I've noticed she sometimes writes little notes to her writing teacher on her assignments ... "HI! How are you? I can't wait to give you my assignment." And on her paper for next week titled "Last Thanksgiving" ... she wrote on the bottom "THE END. BY FOOFIE. THANKS FOR READING THE LAST THANKSGIVING." And then she put a little rhythm or such below the story ...

ME MY MO MO MO ME MY MO MO MO
A CHERRY OH ME MY MO MY MO MO MO
MO MO MO LA LA LA

And speaking of fun quotes ... when Little Dude and I were on the way to pick up the kids from co-op yesterday ... he was holding Buddy's big nerf gun and he said, "The girls they always jump on me ... BUT ... I will keep them OFF ... with my SHOOT gun!" Then he began to list off the names of most of the girls he knows ... and it seems he wasn't talking about his sisters :)

Little Blondie likes church. Nearly every morning he asks me, "Can I go to church, Mommy, on Sunday?" Tonight, while we were driving he spotted a church and said, "Look at that cool church!" And then ... "There's a church at Disneyworld." He knows we are going to Disney sometime -- he has heard the bigs excitedly talking about it -- so apparently ... in his mind ... there must a church there if it's so wonderful :)

We also have plans to visit South Dakota on the calendar ... and the kids are all jabbering about that as well ... and so Little Darling has been talking about "Fouf Akota" too :)

Oh ... and one more thing ... when I tell Little Fellow that he can have only one of something ... he seems to think it means only one at a time. So ... he has his first one and then when he is wanting a second ... he often waves his pointer finger at me while he asks, "Just only one, Mommy?" He's hard to refuse :) Then ... he'll request a third thing ... "Just only one, Mommy?"

a little app

Perhaps the most exciting thing this week -- for Halo and I at least -- was my discovery of the kindle app. Is that even how you spell app??? I don't know. I'm usually late to the party in terms of technology ...

Anyway, Halo is possibly saving up for a kindle ... rather unofficially though ... so we'll see. Nonetheless ... she knows she'd really like one if she could afford it ... and she truly has an unbelievable appetite for reading. In the meantime however ... we now have the kindle app. It's not quite as convenient or portable or nifty as a real live kindle ... but it was FREE :) Maybe you want to get one too ...

All I had to do was download the app from amazon -- and I was set to start selecting titles for our virtual library! Oooh exciting! And then I picked out a dozen or so books for Halo ... and they were all free as well! Can it get any better than that???

If you want any suggestions ...
here are some of our kindle picks so far ...

Teddy's Button
Probable Sons
The Lamplighter
Christy's Old Organ
Tales of Daring and Danger
Me and Nobbles
The Treasure of the Incas
Little Meg's Children
A Peep Behind the Scenes
Cobwebs and Cables

I'm eager to read some of these myself :)

a little savings

http://www.shopathome.com/?IAFCG=IlLeZ94mSGid5hg4nktauA==

Here's a new little online thing I just recently learned about. If you are going to buy something online ... first check the "shop at home" site and see if they have a "coupon" for that store. Most of the coupons are 3% "cash back". If they have a coupon for your desired store, all you need to do is click on it ... and it will direct you right to that online store. By going to the store THROUGH THE SHOP AT HOME site ... it will generate a trackback number. Then, if you purchase something (and do not return it) ... the store will credit shop at home -- and shop at home will credit your "account" with the 3%. Every time you have earned at least $20 ... they will send you a check! How's that for easy savings???

I was just checking to see what stores they have connections with -- and it turns out that they have "coupons" for most everything I already do online. They have coupons for Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Gap, Target, and Walmart. {I noticed Wal-mart only offers 2%.} L.L. Bean and Sierra Trading Post -- pretty much any store you can think of. Today they have a K-Mart hot deal offering a 10% cash back coupon ... and 6% at Home Depot. I cannot understand HOW K-Mart stays in business though ... whenever we drive by it {on the way to Sam's Club} their parking lot is always empty! Some of their offers have free shipping coupons ... Toys 'R' Us and many others.

So ... if you're interested ... please find SHOPatHOME through my special link below and BOTH of us -- YOU and I -- will get a $5 credit if you set up an account and make a purchase through SHOPatHOME within 60 days. Happy savings :)

http://www.shopathome.com/?IAFCG=IlLeZ94mSGid5hg4nktauA==

a little fair

A couple of months ago ... we went to THE FAIR ... the state fair. We aren't regulars. It's fine if we go and it's fine if we don't. Personally, I would rather spend the money at a waterpark or out to eat at a favorite place -- in fact, you could probably do both considering how expensive the fair is. But since we did do the fair this year ... we opted to enjoy ourselves and be happy about it :)

The highlight for Little Bumper might have been the bus ride to and from the fair ...
"Look-eee dat, My-Mommy!"
After a bunch of fried stuff -- which didn't photograph well -- we headed off to the barns.

Hi Foofie :)
Its' fleece was white as snow ...
Riding on Daddy's shoulders is one of the benefits of being two :)
Isn't this a fun looking pig???
That pig has the right idea. Time for a little zzzzz ...
Okay, I'm back in action!
Of course we had ice cream! About every third blog post seems to have pictures of my kids with ice cream! Perhaps we eat too much ice cream???
This is his ice cream face ...
There wasn't much need for the umbrella ... but Buddy found opportunity to use it anyway. Did you know this kid is overly fond of umbrellas???
And then we checked out the horses -- and this young lady is overly fond of horses :)
One of the horses quickly started towards the kiddos ... and their heads are pretty large you know. Buddy was genuinely scared -- at least that's what it looks like. And Little Dude??? He appears to be more excited than afraid.
And we got some pig crowns. Oh, the things people will wear at the fair :)
Halo took a picture to document that I was indeed along :)
Little Fellow is excited to get back on the bus! Daddy is too :)
Oh, summertime ... we miss you already!

a little blogger

Like mother -- like daughter. Halo started a blog :) Her plan is for it to be creation/evolution type of stuff ... because "that's my thing right now," she said.

http://thetheoryevolution.blogspot.com/

a little stewart

I am not too familiar with this Jon Stewart fellow -- and Jeff tells me he is liberal -- so I probably wouldn't endorse most of his stuff. Nonetheless, this short four-minute video does a good job of showing how the media can be biased and sometimes will use their position to achieve their own ends -- in this case trying to shape political outcomes.

Please NOTE: There is a bleep in the last few seconds of this video. I don't know what is being bleeped :) But all you can hear is a bleep ... so I hope you will not find this offensive. Just stop it at about 3:50 if you like bleep-less videos ...

http://gawker.com/5831167/jon-stewart-why-is-the-media-ignoring-ron-paul

a little whatever

Hello :) It's been awhile again ... my apologies if you've been checking the blog only to see the sweaty mommies photo over and over. Here's a few random pix from the past buncha weeks ...

So happy together :)

















So conked out together ...


































And this is all I got for "first day of school" ... the oldest two had already connected with friends before I dug out the camera ...

















This little guy thinks he'd like to go to school ... "Can I go to 'cool' too, my Mommy??? Can I go to 'cool'???" This is what he's been asking on Tuesday mornings when we drop the big three off at co-op. He started calling me 'my Mommy' a few weeks ago :)

















We lost our kiddie pool in one of the recent windstorms ... as well as a croc and a couple of plastic bins I was going to hose out ... and who knows what else! Guess we need to pick up our yard a little better :) Anyway ... Halo put up a "missing" poster for the pool on the bank of mailboxes ... haha :)

a little racing

Some friends of ours invited us to go to a race last night :) The mothers ~ my friend and I ~ did a six mile relay together. It was really fun -- but rather hard :) It was hilly and bumpy ... and on grass. There were six one-mile legs of the relay ... so each runner does three miles. I'll probably be sore tomorrow ...
There were quarter-mile and half-mile races for those fourteen and under ...
Foofie did her quarter-mile in 2:06 ... wow! I was surprised :)
Her competitive little self said to me afterwards, "I need to practice on my speed."
I didn't catch his time ... but he wowed me too :)
And this gal got third in the half-mile ... 3:40! More wow! I had no idea she could be so fast :) Our friends' son came in second!
Smiles and ribbons all around :)
And Little Spectator with some watermelon blush :) "I have a hoo-mongous one!" he said excitedly.

a little firepit

Are you a Black Friday shopper??? Well ... this here firepit is my first ever Black Friday deal -- and we used it for the first time last week :)
I don't know if we've ever bought hot dogs before! Possibly when we were going camping once ... but that would be it ... so the kids thought this was pretty special :)
All were in good spirits ...
I had these colored flower-shaped marshmallows on hand ... so we did a little marshmallow roasting too ...
Halo said I should be on the blog more ... so she snapped a photo of me and Little Dude :)

a little fiftieth

We recently went to a fiftieth anniversary party for an aunt and uncle of mine. Here's my middle two with Great-Grandma. She is largely Swedish and this is her "big smile" :)
Here she is visiting with her son-in-law {who was having the anniversary} ... and daintily nibbling a cracker. So poised! She is quite forgetful these days ... and sometimes thinks I'm an old classmate or co-worker. It's interesting that she doesn't seem to gather that she is six decades older than me. She was impressed with the food and said, "A party like this??? And all of these kinds of food??? Is this some new thing or is this the usual???"
My Mom and some of her homemade raspberry tarts ... delicious!
Halo is almost as big as me now! She surpassed me in her shoe size this spring ... her hands are a bit larger than mine now too! Crazy! It doesn't seem so long ago that she was 8.75 pounds ...
My husband monitoring Little Blondie ... and asking Great-Grandma what it feels like to have a child who has been married for fifty years ... "Oh, I don't know," she answered with a little laugh.

a little firecracker

Hello. It's me. I haven't given up blogging ... although I seem to have missed July altogether. Here's a few pictures from our July though ... from Foof's Third of July Birthday Party at the cabin.
Fun with flags ...
Fun on the boat ...
Fun headbands ...
Fun with corn ...
Fun sleeping ... our newest nephew :)
Fun on the Gladiator ...
P.S. Little Guy ... clasping his hands while sleeping during the car ride ... it makes me smile :)

a little June

Remember when June was HOT??? I think I do ;) Today it is 54 ... and it's been damp and gloomy ... coolish and stormy ... for nearly two weeks.
It had been hot enough to go shirtless :) Actually ... he had been dressed ... but I stripped him down to protect his clothing while he was eating watermelon.
I don't know why Foof has long sleeves on ... but she remarked, "I would take off my shirt if I was an immodest girl or if I was a boy ... I would definitely take my shirt off!"
Little Dude and what he calls the "scooter sheen" ...
Remember this??? http://lotsoflittles.blogspot.com/2009/08/little-ritual.html
And this??? http://lotsoflittles.blogspot.com/2009/09/little-ending.html
Well ... my children still like to visit with the mail carriers {we have a couple} ... and the mail carriers still like to visit with my children :)
Halo (and Buddy) are working on a "case" concerning a questionable character they call "Tonka". Halo is trying to gather information from the mail lady ...
All ready to record important clues in her trusty notebook ...
The mail lady is trying to sketch a certain vehicle she often sees ...
The kids are pleased with her cooperation ...
and Foofie is happy to be included in such confidential business :)