Free Range on Fairview

Ok so I'm pretty sure if I don't finish this thing now it will never get done so here is part three. I am not an organized blogger and am realizing nothing is special about this but here is then end of my grand idea. Sort of a two-parter.  Know your Store One of my favorite stores to shop at in my town in Fred Meyer. I used to know exactly where everything was (until they moved everything around when Washington changed the laws and allowed grocery stores to start selling liquor and now I am totally lost). I know where they put clearance items and love seeing this yellow and orange sticker. I know their coupon policy. I know several of the checkers. I know it and I am comfortable this makes my shopping trip so much easier.  Shopping with Kids Shopping with kids isn't always the easiest thing to do, but for most of the stay-at-home-moms that I know, shopping with kids is a part of the deal but there are tips to make it an enjoyable experience. Warner on the...

This was the only picture of me during my birthday weekend extravaganza. We went camping, out to dinner, had a family movie morning (couldn't miss the bachelorette finale), a shopping spree and even went out to a movie with the hubby. I don't think we've gone since Avatar was in the theater. I feel so blessed to have family and friends in my life!

We went camping with all three boys for the first time this weekend. We didn't go too far away (Easton) and we went with another family which provided extra entertainment for all of my boys (Shane included). We had tons of fun getting outside, the weather turned out really nice, and the baby did great. Luckily I was pretty organized and even prepped a meal before hand. I only forgot two big things, the creamer and the syrup.  Lincoln loved playing in the dirt.  Dylan and his friend spent much time biking.  All day fires are my favorite. Linc is such a cutie. Posing on his bike... since he can't figure that darn pedal thing out yet. Shane and Warner. Boys on the bed of the trailer. Lincoln's battle wound. I think the ground won.

And it's started already. Warner is 2.5 months and a little chatter box when he's not sleeping away the day. Yup he's vocal much like his brothers. Something is always going on when the house is silent :)

I ordered diapers the other day off of Amazon.com and they sent this extremely large amount of packing paper in with the box so things couldn't shift around in transit. I decided that rather than throwing the whole thing away, the boys could use it to make life size paper boys and decorate them however they saw fit. Dylan started his while Lincoln was still napping so he got pretty creative. He had a few lows when he couldn't get the Nike swoosh just how he wanted it, but he didn't give up. Lincoln wasn't too thrilled with laying down on the paper, or coloring in general but when I told him to color the face he started drawing on his  own  face. I guess I should have clarified. The boys ended up with some cool tattoos, some lifesized paper boys and some new buddies to practice boxing with. Yes, they had to put on gloves so punching didn't hurt so bad. Silly boys.  Measuring Dylan Measuring Lincoln The body art begins. Busy, busy coloring.  ...

Normally I feel like a slave to the kitchen so it warmed my heart yesterday when I turned around and saw this without any prodding. I don't really like the little one "helping" me with the dishes because he will usually end up pulling out dirty utensils (which he did with a steak knife right after this was taken) but it was so cute to watch and hear Dylan telling Lincoln how to do things :)

Dylan came up with this idea the other day after I informed him that he is going to start helping out around the house more, starting with putting his cereal bowl in the dish washer. After spelling out "clean" and "dirty" we decided which ever word was on the top was the state the contents were in. Man that thing gets a lot of use!

Man my boys are pretty rough and tumble, check out these legs. I guess it it just a badge to show all the bike riding, tree climbing, pool jumping and other activities the have done so far in this early summer season. I love how Linc is holding Warner's hand They also like to chill out and play computer games inside when Mommy says it's ok. I love how lvey they are most of the time.

I just can't believe how quickly babies grow up. Just last month Warner was a little scrawny thing without any chub rolls, he couldn't smile or interact and didn't really have a rhyme or reason for scheduling. Now he is starting to get those extra rolls in his arms, he smiles at people and tries to grab things and he pretty much set his own bed time. At his doctor appointment yesterday he was up to 11 lb 13 oz. and 21 1/4 inches. What a stud.  Showing off his sly smile. He loves to kick kick kick. Not so sue he likes this any more.  So tiny in the giant chair.

While in a produce stand at the farmers market this weekend I asked the woman if she had anything else to throw in the bag to make it an even $5 and when I first heard about garlic scapes. They are basically the cut off tops of garlic so the heads grow bigger. You can use them to add garlic-y flavor to many dishes but I wanted to give this pesto recipe a try. 1 bunch (about 12) Garlic Scapes 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese 1/4 cup Walnuts (I used sunflower seeds because that's what I had) 3/4 cup Olive Oil Place first three ingredients into a food processor. Chop finely. With the processor on slow, pour olive oil in. Continue chopping until the ingredients turn into a nice green smooth consistency. Refrigerate any leftovers. It is very garlicy so I knew it needed to be cooked to bring down the zing. Shane bbq'd up a bunch of chicken breasts so to go with it I smoothed the pesto on half of a wheat bagel, layered on tomato slices and broiled for a few minutes then topped with s...

Dylan has been cracking me up lately. He is so smart and is learning so much it amazes me, but then he will have moments where he doesn't even realize he's wrong but I love it. The other day he was using a flash light looking under a table yelling "We're investing. We're investing!" I do believe he meant investigating. You know, like a detective. Then today we were putting on a movie (both the younger boys had doctor appointments and we had assessors at our house today so I am wiped from cleaning and cuddling after Warner's shots and need some lazy boys)  and all the sudden after reading the screen Dylan says "Francis? We can watch this in Francis!" I'm not sure what he thought Francis means... but I know he was reading the language selection screen and read  français . What a goof ball. 

Shane's diet has been going great, plus he is working out and doing stuff in the yard, he has lost about 20 pounds already! We decided together that since both of us could still loose some more (yes yes baby weight should take 9 months but I'm still ready to get rid of those 10lbs left!) that we really need to make a small adjustment in the way we are eating. Hot pockets out, more fruits and veggies in. Saturday morning I took my two youngest boys, and the dog, to the farmers market. We had a great time walking around and checking everything out and even got some information on a CSA (oh that would be so fun to join but it would be the money up front part that I don't think I could talk Shane into). Lincoln acted like such a big boy but I could tell that he was getting sweaty just being outside for half an hour. This week is supposed to be a scorcher so we went over to the inlaws to cool off and feed the baby. For $15 here's what we got: 5# Apples - I see crock pot ...

My little Lincoln is now officially Mr. 2. He's been pretty busy the last few days since his birthday... He got a fancy hair do a la Danielle. He spent some brother lovin' time. He now sits at the table like a big boy. He loved opening cards from Auntie Lyn, and Grambetz and Richard (and yawning too). He didn't so much want to open presents with everyone watching. He had an Elmo cake and couldn't wait to eat it. 

Oh my how did my little boy get to be two so fast? I am so thankful to have this curious, determined, sweet, independent, silly little love bug in my life. I am just amazed at how much my little spit-fire has grown in the last year. Happy Birthday Monkey! No longer the baby but forever my little boy.

My tips on saving you money at the grocery store with Coupons This next section... well you either love 'em or you hate 'em. I've found that I can actually save money by using coupons, as long as I do it right. First of all couponing does take extra time and like in part 1, planning. I've seen this crazy show on TLC called Extreme Couponing and seriously those people are a little out of control. I applaud them for getting a truck load of stuff for a dollar but how much time and energy did they put into it. In my mind couponing shouldn't be a part time (or even full time) job. I have a job and it is to take care of my family. I don't devote days or even hours trying to get rock bottom prices. I just use coupons to get good deals on things I would buy even if I didn't have a coupon for it. Clip from the Sunday paper. Most newspapers come out with several manufacturer coupon flyers in the Sunday paper. If you subscribe then great you are already ...