Trash Talking

After months and months, Joe has victoriously finished another home improvement project. Our trash cans have a home.

I may be the one who talks about frugality, but my husband can squeeze the blood from a turnip, too. This trash can rack was made with boards we got for free when we were picking up firewood (free also) off of Craigslist this Spring. The paint was leftover from our front door. Total cost: whatever we paid Home Depot for the screws to hold it together + Joe's blood, sweat, and tears.

And, if you live in the area, don't even THINK about trying to steal our trash rack like some punk stole my newspapers filled with coupons (this is like stealing money from my hands) from the end of the driveway last weekend. The joke will be on you. This thing is anchored in the ground with concrete three feet below the surface (something about the frost line). Personally, I think Joe just likes to dig holes. After all, he did dig the holes twice. I guess the old addage: cut once, measure twice applies to hole digging, too.

One question: Would it defeat the purpose of a thrifty trash rack if we spent some money on matching trash cans?

Now, at our home, taking out the trash brings a smile to your face.

Impromptu Picnic

A few Sundays ago as we were arriving home from church, Joe suggested we have a picnic in the yard for lunch. We threw together some sandwiches and crackers and headed outside to enjoy the beautiful sunshine and warm temperatures.

We ate and watched the girls as they played about the yard.

Xandra pushed Theia on the swings for awhile,

and then abandoned her to run in the yard.

Theia sat happily drinking her milk and waiting for Xandra to come back and give her another push.

Joe played with Aliyah, helped the girls on the monkey bars,

and then we reluctantly headed inside for naptime.

The Porcupine at My Place

At 3 years, 3 months old, Xandra is:

quick to tell you that she likes butterflies, pink, purple, and green.

good at taking care of her dollies. They often get sick and need medicine (but not shots!), and she will put them in little baskets and cover them with blankies until they get better.

wanting to help me bake and cook in the kitchen. She often gets her stepstool out and uses it to stand next to me and watch/help when I'm cooking.

saying that she misses her Grandma & Grandpa (both sides, in case you're wondering), but that she'll get to see them at Christmas.

often gathering her blankets, bears, and pillows and bringing them to the living room to "take a nap."

Xandra in her Cubbies vest eating dinner

highly enjoying being in our Awana Cubbies program at church. She is OBSESSED with Mrs. Tallman (the director of Cubbies) and Cubbie Bear.

starting to experiment with eating new foods. In the last month she has eaten chili, hot dogs, chicken, and tomato soup. We're really enjoying this change.

learning her letter sounds. She likes to ask what words start with, and then have us sound out the first letter. Sometimes she guesses the letter we are making the sound for, but most of the time she guesses "J."

loves playing in water. Bathtime works and so does a sink with a trickle of water turned on and a few cups.

making up her own songs to sing.

still entertained by throwing all of the couch cushions on the floor and jumping into them.

still liking to organize things and put things in their place.

getting very good at picking up toys and putting them in their proper place. I think she likes being a big helper.

obsessed with folding the reusable flannel wipes we use with our cloth diapers. She insists that I save them for her to fold when she sees me folding laundry.

full of questions. She will ask why until you drop. I like her curiosity, although sometimes, for my sanity, I have to limit the questions.

an explorer. We have had so many instances this past month with her getting into things around the house: a bag of M&M's in the van, board games in the sunroom, socks in my dresser, candy corn in the kitchen, and water in the bathroom. I don't appreciate the disaster that she creates in her exploration, or what she explores, oftentimes, but I love her hunger for information.

still loving a lap and a good book. Especially her Highlights magazines from Grandma DeShon.

getting better at playing CandyLand. Much of the time she can actually move her game piece on her own and in the correct direction.

free with hugs, kisses and I love you's.

"growing bigger everyday." She likes to tell us this and it's a good reminder of how quickly she's changing and how I don't want to miss a moment.

I love you little porcupine.

Operation Fill a Shoebox

I've been filling shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child since before Joe and I were married. Samaritan's Purse does a great job of distributing shoeboxes to needy children around the globe at Christmastime, all in the name of Jesus. While I've been filling these shoeboxes for many years, this year was extra fun because it was the first year the girls were big enough to help me.

We filled three boxes (one for each girl) and Xandra and Theia had the best time sorting out the items for the boxes and then putting each thing I gave them into their box. Since one of Theia's favorite pastimes is filling boxes and bags will small objects and carrying them around the house, she was a little (okay, a lot) disturbed once the boxes were filled that I no longer let her play with the box or fun things inside.

Liyah even crawled over and got in on the action after awhile. She was mostly hampering rather than helping our progress and Joe rescued her (or rather us).

See the CVS bags in the pictures? It warms my heart! We used many of the free and cheap items I have been collecting this summer and fall from CVS and Rite Aid to fill the boxes with good hygiene and toiletry items, all for just pennies. It makes me feel good when my money-saving work allows our family to be extra generous to others.

After the boxes were packed, Xandra and Theia colored some pictures to go in the boxes with a little bit of information about our family. We dropped them off at a local Chick-fil-A who then delivered them to a drop off point in the area. As a bonus, we got a free chicken sandwich from Chick-fil-A for donating the boxes.

The girls also helped me pick out a teddy bear and dolly with accessories at Target last week to wrap up for Angel Tree. Again, Theia was quite disturbed that she wasn't to keep the bear, but Xandra understands and she gets very excited at buying and wrapping gifts for our "angel friends." As our kids grow, I hope they will always have fond memories of the joy it is to give to those who have less.

Thanksgiving Turkeys

These two turkeys have been helping me get ready for Thanksgiving. No, not the actual turkeys, the girls, Xandra and Theia. Since I didn't have a picture of both of them, I thought their turkey placecards could stand in for the actual girls.

We'll be spending the day today with friends, Tim & Jennifer, in Northern Virginia. We'll be leaving in a few hours and so far we've made our place cards (using ink and fingerprints),

(even Aliyah has one),

made our pilgrim hats,

(marshmallows, chocolate chips, fudgestripe cookies, and frosting (yum!)),

taken a bath after the pilgrim hats,

and made some other turkey day decorations at church and MOPS last week,

I'm somewhat sure that the teacher who wrote that helped her think of it, but it's sweet anyway, isn't it? I'm thankful for your sisters, too, Xandra.

Theia's turkey is more of a turkey hunt. Can you see the purple turkey made from her hand under all of the feathers?

Xandra also made a beautiful turkey from a brown paper bag on Sunday at church. Now that the important things are taken care of all we have to do is make some rolls, sweet potatoes, a relish tray, and desserts. Then we'll load up the kids and half of what we own and drive to Virginia. But first, Joe's running a turkey trot this morning.

Amidst our day of running, driving, cooking, and visiting with friends, we'll take some time to reflect on all of our blessings and give thanks to the One who gives them to us. Beyond fun decorations and desserts, we so desire for our kids to see and learn what it is to live lives of gratitude to the One who gives so much more abundantly than we could ever deserve. Happy Thanksgiving and if you're reading this post, we probably said a word of thanks for you today.

From Scrubbing to Speaking

In October, I took a break from regularly scheduled activities (see above...and below*) to make a presentation on couponing and frugal living at my MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group. The presentation was a lot of fun and has generated a lot of interest in money saving madness.

For anyone who's interested, the resource booklet from the talk can be found here and the powerpoint from the talk can be found here (probably not that useful if you weren't there, but you never know).

Also, if you're interested, click over here to see the blog for our MOPS group. My friend, Naomi, and I have worked hard to put this blog together this year. It, like couponing, has been a fun project, too.

*No, the picture wasn't staged; yes, I do occassionally clean my floors; and, I have no idea why Joe took this picture.

Marine Corps 26.2

On October 25th, Joe completed his sixth marathon: The Marine Corps Marathon in Washington DC.

The girls and I ventured into the city with Joe to cheer him on. We left bright and early Sunday morning at 6:00. We drove the van to the metro station and rode the train into the city.

Thankfully, the ride was uneventful, although we did almost get on the wrong train, going the wrong direction at one point.

Joe and the girls at the start line.

After cheering Joe and the other 35,000 runners on at the start line, we headed for mile marker 10 where we would wait to see him again.

On our way to mile marker 10, we spent a long time on the Arlington Memorial Bridge. The weather was beautiful and the girls loved watching the planes overhead, the cars below, and racing each other in front of the stroller.

We saw Joe at mile 10 and again at mile 16 with the girls shouting "Go, daddy, go," and "Good job, dadda," at each stop. Before we saw him at mile 16 we met up with a family friend, Eric. He came down to watch Joe in the race and hang out with the girls and I. After mile 16, we headed back over the Arlington bridge, with Eric pushing this time, to go to our next rendezvous point.

By this time, Xandra and Theia were tired of walking, so they both rode in the stroller. We estimated the combined weight of the stroller at this point to be over 100 lbs.

We rode the metro to mile marker 23 where Aliyah briefly got out of the stroller to say hi to Joe and Trisha ran in the race with Joe for about 20 steps. After retreating back to the sidelines and putting Liyah back in the stroller we sprinted to catch Joe at the finish line.

All of our hurrying was for naught because we missed Joe at the finish. It was impossible to get there with the 35,000 runners and all of their fans congregating at or near the finish. We did eventually find Joe. He finished in 3:55, just one minute off of his personal best.

We had a few snacks, changed some diapers, took Xandra potty in the single grossest porta-potty I've ever seen in my life, and then headed home for naptime and pizza. There's been no talk of another marathon, but I know it's only a matter of time...

Next up on the running schedule: Thanksgiving Day 10K Turkey Trot.

Score: Theia 2, Carpet 0

What would ever, ever, ever give me the idea that it was an okay (we're not even going to say good, here, just okay) idea to leave Theia without panties for a few minutes before her bath? Just because she's almost two, and nearly potty trained, just because I've said, "Poopy goes in the potty," or "You tell mama when you have to go poopy" a million times, just because she's actually gone poopy in the potty more times than I can count, or just because she can tell me that she has to go poopy in the potty and then go poopy in the potty, does NOT mean that if I leave her unattended and bare bottomed for even 2 minutes, she will be trustworthy enough not to poop on my living room carpet. In fact, I can guarantee that she will. How do I know? I've left her twice in the past two months in this condition and TWICE she has pooped on the carpet. How likely is it that she would need to poop right at the very moment that I'm not there and she's naked standing on the living room carpet? And, even if it's somewhat likely, how likely is it that she would do it TWICE in two separate incidents a month apart? It seems, very likely. But who's keeping score, anyway?

Wanted: Full-time Bethss

A young friend from church, whom Theia calls Bethss (translation: Beth), is a regular visitor at our house. Every few weeks she comes over to play with the girls (aka Mother's Helper) while I work around the house. The girls love when Beth comes and so do I.

A few weeks ago her parents needed someone to keep Beth for the night. We happily volunteered. The girls kept her busy playing playdough, building forts, reading books, playing kitchen, jumping on pillows, and various other little girl games. When she wasn't playing with them, she was helping me bake pumpkin bread and clip coupons, all at her suggesting. I've come to the conclusion that raising three small children would be a lot easier with the help of a full-time Bethss. I just haven't figured out where to get one for free yet.

The girls in the "fort" they made from our barstools, couch pillows and a blanket.

A Cabin in the Woods

After our visit to the pumpkin patch, we travelled to Cunningham State Falls Park for a few nights of camping. We stayed in a very simple cabin. It had two rooms, a bunk bed, a full-sized bed, a table and chairs, a futon, no insulation, and no heat. The cabin was also equipped with a brought-from-home potty chair for Xandra and Theia to use. Boy were we glad to not have to run to the bathroom everytime one of the girls needed to potty! For the record, Joe and I did NOT use the potty chair.

The girls got to experience their first dinners cooked over the fire. We had hotdogs the first night and hamburgers the second. Xandra also got to eat her first smores from the campfire. This was a big hit!

It was October and it was chilly in the evening and morning. We bundled the girls up in layers of clothing each night before bed and then piled blankets on top of them once they were in bed. Xandra and Theia slept in the bedroom with us and Aliyah slept in the pack n play in the front room.

Breakfast time was chilly, but delicious. Muffins one morning and pancakes from the griddle the second morning. The cold made for some unhappy children our first morning, so after breakfast we headed into town to warm up. We landed at a mall about 40 minutes away (one of the closest places to go), and they played in a play structure and we enjoyed our sack lunches in the nice, warm mall eatery. Joe even bought me ice cream for dessert. After lunch, we returned to the park for naps and afternoon fun.

Our last morning there the girls spent a few hours playing with the gravel on the walkway. They scooped it up and dumped it in their buckets and containers all the while talking about the chocolate chip cookies they were making. Joe and I watched nearby reading books while Aliyah slept happily in her carseat.

It was so nice to be away as a family enjoying the changing colors of the outdoors and each other. While the weather was cool, it made for a quiet park. The only other campers in our area were the newlyweds in the cabin next door. Never did a honeymoon provide better birth control than to have three very young Pull children playing, crying, laughing, and carrying on next door.