Lately...

...Monkey is taking a step here and there, and she's so great at standing unassisted, but she still likes a hand to hold.

...Chick is old enough for longer story/picture books. I'm thrilled. All along the path of parenthood there have been little, "THIS is what I love about being a parent" moments...storytime is one of those things. We've read some good books lately:

"In a Blue Room," which has beautiful illustrations & a nice soothing lyrical quality.

Though I didn't appreciate this one until we'd read it 2 1/2 times, I liked "Rain Makes Applesauce." While we were out for a walk Chick was repeating, "You're just talking silly talk" which is kind of a fun phrase in and of itself.

...I haven't done any sewing. I had layout, and then I opted for reading a book ("The Romanov Bride" - the second that I've read by Robert Alexander) which made me very grateful that we are not having a revolution in this country right now. Both of his books (the other was "The Kitchen Boy") do have some swearing & inappropriate parts, but were fascinating nonetheless. Another revolution/ communist "must read" is "Wild Swans." It's hard reading, especially because it's not fiction, and much of China's history would have been better left in the realm of fiction/horror.

...My only project has been to reorganize the girls' clothing. Out with the summer clothes, in with the warmer fall & winter wear. Darn kids, just seem to keep growing. Anyhow, it's fun because it's like getting to wear new clothes myself : )

...We got our plane tickets for the cruise, which makes it feel very close. Which is good, because it is giving me motivation to get moving. I went for a jog a couple of days ago, a walk yesterday, and am considering joining the local YMCA. (I'm also going to play biggest loser with some friends, starting Aug 30th...I'll keep you updated).

...I've had fun grocery shopping--this is my favorite time of year for groceries because of all the "back to school" promotions. We've gotten a ton of pantry items for very little money. Some of it, like Skippy PB, isn't as healthy as we usually eat, but it's good to have on hand for when we run out of Adams. Anyhow, I love free food. Last night I spent $8 out of pocket and got: 2 cans of olives, 2 6-packs of Dole fruit cups, 8 boxes of cereal, 1 pk of M&M's for HH, a pkg of bacon, and 3 bananas. I have our year supply of pop tarts, totally unhealthy, but I like to have them on Sunday mornings as a special Sunday treat...and at 30 cents a box, who could resist? We also used coupons in combination with the Kraft promotion at Albertsons--so I got over $30 worth of Kraft products for $0. Yay!

...I thrifted.

The first pic is the rest of my $50 trip (I returned some). I didn't read the coupon carefully, though, and so when I returned it I forfeited the discount on the additional stuff. Oh well. The arm and the turtle weren't included in the purchase...she just wanted to help with putting things in the picture. (the items pictured are what I got for free--it's not $50 worth, but free is free)

I used a second "spend $100, get $50 back" coupon and got this: (Not pictured are 2 chairs, a stool, and a Little Tikes bike for Chick). The Halloween dress is for Monkey's costume this year--she's going to be a Halloween fairy. Chick is going to be the cutest little bee you've ever seen, but I'm making that one, so don't hold your breath. In the back are 2 red blankets to use in the living room. Better than the purple that we had that didn't match at all : )