• Travel & Vacation: We Made it to Bangalore! (part 2)

    A little critter on their porch…..thankfully the little lizard is on the outside of the house!  One of them did make it into our room but thankfully Jake and the kids were able to catch it quickly.

    A little critter on their porch…..thankfully the little lizard is on the outside of the house (at the moment)!

    Fresh watermelon stand, you can buy a whole watermelon or a slice from the box.

    Burning the fields and underbrush, you see this often in India!  You will often see a pile trash burning on the side of the road or paths.

    A village near Bangalore

    Monkeys on the side of the road!

    A lady walking on the side of the road carrying a pile of sticks on her head.  A common sight in India!

    Two ladies carrying potted flowers on their head.

    PVP Indus Day 2011 – 2012…..Respect, Love, Discipline, Empathy.  The kids school put together an amazing presentation.  It was really neat to watch all the performances that the kids had worked so hard on over the past couple of months.

    Rachel dressed as the wind!

    Erica all pretty in her beautiful costume!

    David up on stage

    Mike up on stage as a panda bear….his class did Noah’s ark!

    Rachel on stage as the wind!

    The “Travel and Vacation” series is an insight into our trips together as a family and ways we relax.  Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away.  Explore with a good attitude, look for fun, and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories.  It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine.  Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn.  You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!

  • Living on a Budget: Groceries $40 for 4

    Another week of doing Groceries $40 for 4. I was able to stock up on some items for our freezer and pantry so we should be good for awhile. I stocked up on a mix of perishable and non-perishable products this week.  A lot of the items we picked up will be great for the upcoming road trips we have this summer!  Below are my grocery shopping adventures for the week!

    Aldi’s Groceries Deal:

    • $30.02 at Aldi’s for Graham Crackers, Tator Tots, Vidalia Onions, 4 Cotton Candy, 3 packs 93% Lean Ground Beef (on clearance), Sandwich Wheat Bread, Celery, Ice Cream Cups, 3 packs Easter Frosting, Cheese Sharks, Baby Carrots, Cucumber, Parmesan Cheese, 2 cans Cut Green Beans, and Watermelon.

    I am excited to be back doing our Groceries $40 for 4 budget again.  This week I spent $30.02 on groceries.  Even though I was close to budget I was still able to stock up on several items.  Thankfully I was able to keep the amount within reason although I would like to see a little extra left over for those weeks when I find a really good deal or go a little over.

    It is my goal to give you regular updates on this budget section so you can celebrate the good weeks with me and thump me on the bad weeks!  As always you are welcomed to join the journey with me.  I would love to hear your story and how you are doing too.  The purpose of our family doing this it to watch our grocery spending while allowing us to feed our family, enjoy life, share with others, and yet stay on track with our budget.

    Living on a Budget is a series of ways our family uses a budget to help keep us accountable with our finances.  Life doesn’t always go as planned.  We have used some of the ideas I will be sharing for years while others are ones we are just starting to implement as we continue finding ways to be creative and have fun with what we have been given.  Having a plan in place allows us the freedom to be smart with what we have been given, get more creative when it is a tight (week, month, year or a season) and when necessary live a much more simplified life.  A budget helps us stay on track so we have more opportunities to enjoy the many blessings we have been given as well as share what we have with others.  There is so much more to life than having all the stuff.  We may not have the newest or greatest items in our house, we drive used cars, and wear hand-me-down clothing…..however, if our family is taken care of and have love for each other and others we have more than all the riches in the world.

  • Summer Activities: Enjoying our First Juicy Watermelon of the Season

    Thanks Daddy for the Yummy Watermelon! Yes I made the girls eat it outside, we know how messy they can get with this juicy treat!

    As a special treat Jake brought home a watermelon recently!  It was our first watermelon of the season so we were super excited to dig into the juicy melon.  The last watermelon I purchased wasn’t great but this one was AMAZING!!!!  Maybe the key is to have dear hubby pick them out in the future.

    Eating watermelon brings back memories…..the first few watermelons the girls ate were the sweet yellow watermelons because we got a bunch on sale at the local Farmer’s Market.  When we gave them the regular “pink” watermelon for the first time they didn’t believe us at first that it really was watermelon because it wasn’t yellow!  Every summer season we enjoy sharing our first watermelon together, this year we kicked off the season with a traditional seedless pink one.  Maybe we’ll have to head to the local Farmer’s Market and get yellow to enjoy soon.

    Brina munching away on the sweet watermelon! Too busy eating to even look at the camera!

     

    Karlie licking off her sticky fingers! Ummm.....Mom where's the napkins? She was more concerned about the mess she was making!

    Thanks babe for the delicious treat, it hit the spot on a hot day!  All of us enjoyed eating our first watermelon of the season and are already looking forward to the next one!