We have a new guinea pig named Maverick. He needed a new home and we wanted something cute and furry. The boys love him and he is so good with the kids. Even Bella is trying to be very careful around Maverick.

Getting ready for back to school

Back to School Deals I found:

Gymboree.com just sent me a 20% of entire order in store and online as well. If you haven't received it go to Gymboree.com and sign up to receive notices.

I just got my Gap shirts I ordered online last week. I took advantage of their $5.00 shipping and got 5 shirts. I probably could have got the same deal in the store, but probably not as good of selection. I went to our Gap Kids over in Bridge Street here and didn't find any of the shirts they had online and they were not on sale. So, going online was definitely worth it.

Also, Gymboree has a sister site that runs great deals with a low $5.00 shipping as well. It's called crazy8's.com. It's worth a try if you are looking for quality clothes and bargain prices.

Ok here is my Old Navy rant for my shopping experience there. I got a great deal on jeans for the kids and track pants, BUT their shirts are horrible. The prints didn't appeal to either one of my boys and they looked like gang shirts. Maybe it was just our Old Navy, but we were not impressed with the selection of styles. Maybe we were late and it was picked over too good.

Looking ahead on how to start the school year:

I did get all of the boys school supplies and have them separated and ready to hall down to the school for supply drop off day next week. The boys are super excited about going back to school and can't wait. I plan on keeping the boys super busy with sports and after school activities to help us with the coming year without dad for a year. Sean has decided to play soccer and Colin will be gearing up for the spring season by keeping his bat warm for some fall baseball. My family will be coming first with our activities and my job's after work hour activities will have to just understand.

I will be performing with a former student and his family as they share a tribute of music to a loved one who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. I am enjoying practicing the music for that and looking forward to a great rehearsal for that this week. This next spring IMP will be doing the musical Rent here in town. Auditions are in November and I will be contemplating auditioning for that one. December I will be singing the soprano solos in the communities Messiah sing along that is performed every year for Christmas. I was honored to receive and email inviting me to sing that great Choral Masterwork. I haven't sung the Messiah solos in over ten years, so I will be practicing quite a bit. That will also mean I will be raising my voice less and less to the kids at school.

I am working on a project for Ryan that will allow him to see photos of us whenever he wants to see us. I am also working on catching up on some photo albums on shutterfly.com. I absolutely love the high tech scrapping booking. It's so easy to upload and let them make my books look beautiful. I also dug out our photos of our wedding way back when. They are so simple and nothing fancy. We do have a few dramatic ones that a local photographer did for us as a wedding present.

School Shopping

School shopping has begun and I've been trying to find the best deals on clothes and school supplies. I found that Target has some great deals on name brand crayons and other items. So, I stocked up there and will get the rest at Walmart with my coupons.

Dinner lately has consisted of frozen and boxed foods. There has been an occasional restaurant or pizza trip.

Ugh I sort of got busy and left this post off. But yes I was trying to blog about how boring and uneventful this part of my summer was. I did get to some stores and as you have probably already read I did get all of our school supplies before all the stores were out of items. The week before school I will be getting my coupons ready for back to school lunch items for me and the boys.

Oh and I lost 5 lbs in two and a half weeks with the help of a few slim fasts everyday. They are a life savor so I don't over eat from going so long with out food. I also have been working out on the elliptical the neighbor threw out, so that was a freebie. It's a little creeky, but it does the job.

Catching up!

Ok...I am horrible with keeping up with this. I think every one should just be on Facebook and just ask me what's going on.

We have a had a pretty relaxing summer. We did visit Texas for a week in a half to visit family and friends. The boys enjoyed visiting with their cousins and going to the museum there.

Dad is busy with the reserves and working. He has a few projects going on that he wants to complete this summer. Our summer break is really only 2 months long. I will be going back to work in a few weeks. The summer really does fly by quickly and I wanted to go to Graceland in Memphis before the summer ended and not sure if we will make that trip yet or not.