We had a pretty fun week. It started last Monday, when I went to the zoo with some of my favorite people. Weeks ago, I promised my friend, Harnet, that I would be delighted to spend time with little Danait while she worked that day. Her regular day care took the week off, and different friends pitched in to cover. I chose Monday, and Patsy and I planned a zoo trip, using my zoo membership. Then, much to my surprise, Jake and Michaela’s older sister decided to take them to the zoo that same day, too. So, we met up, of course.
Danait immediately started fixing Caitlyn’s hair. Over and over and over. Caitlyn loves kids. Good thing:).
….because Danait rode on Caitlyn’s shoulders for most of the zoo. Notice the zoo cup way up on top. Danait is trying to be as tall as a giraffe. Those cups are great. You can just keep bringing them back over and over and fill them with soda for $1.25 with your membership. This time, they told Caitlyn that refills were free in that certain cafe, so even better. Patsy has 2 cups from years past and we brought both–one for her and one for Danait to use and filled them up to go with the picnic food I brought.
The week continued full of fun and frugal activities. We had Jake and Michaela on Tuesday and mostly drove Michaela to appointments and did errands like shopping at Costco, etc. We took them to lunch at Costco. It is such a great bargain to eat there. Then, Wednesday, we only had Jake. One activity that day was making cupcakes for the 4th and Grandma’s birthday. We used ingredients we had on hand, and made them from scratch.
She loved them! We celebrated her birthday on the 4th, as often happens, as her birthday is the next day.
She never seems to mind the red, white and blue wrappings on her birthday presents. We do set fireworks off for her, though, and have a “blast” doing that:)
With Alissa and her dad in charge, every kid got a turn to choose a firework to be set off, poppers were thrown down, and lots of smoke bombs and sparklers were lit.
The kids had a ball! (The number of guests was somewhere in the upper 20’s, a mixture of friends and family) Jake was really into playing with his friends that were there. At one point, I was handed a light saber and a toy gun and told to sit in my lawn chair and I would be “safe” from the storm troopers that were coming! (We could see a group of lights across the river, which were dubbed storm troopers….). I also got invited to play Legos, which I did for a while. Otherwise, I just had fun being with everyone. Except Rob. He didn’t feel well, and decided to stay home with the new dog. It was a good call. Safari wasn’t fond of fireworks, but did ok with Rob there.
The best part of the 4th, though, was that Lovana flew in from Hawaii for a visit. We will be enjoying her company for a week. She was so glad to spend time with her cousins, aunties and uncle this week, and has more plans in the few days she has left with family and friends.
So, I’ve been cooking up a storm, since Ja’Ana was here to eat as well one day and I have been feeding extras. I also spent quite a bit of time restocking at Costco, Grocery Outlet, Azure Standard, and Natural Grocers. I’m almost finished. For 3 months, I have been using quite a bit from my pantry, freezers and canning cupboards. The truth is, if you cook from scratch a lot, sooner or later, things run out. (Thank you Mrs. Obvious). The only surprise to me is that so many things ran out at once. I’ve actually been substituting on some things for a while now. So, now I’m good to go again for a while, except for a couple of items I still need to get, like tin foil. I bought things where they were the best deal, to the best of my ability. I got a very few Ibotta rebates, but most things were not qualifiers for that program.
To give you an idea of what I bought, here are just a few of the items: 25lbs rice, baking powder and soda, salt, pepper, bulk spices (lots), cleaning supplies, laundry aids, ziplocks of all sizes, parmesan cheese, lots of gluten-free pasta, produce, cheese, and so on.
I made Rob hold the bag of rice to illustrate that he’s lost more weight than 4 of them so far!
To end the week on a high note, we visited the Salem Farmer’s Market with friends. The kids participated in the “Pops” program where this week, they tasted honey, and received little toys and each got a $2 voucher to spend at the market. Patsy bought a little carton of blackberries with hers and ate them while she wandered around.
They all had a great time at the market, and then Patsy’s friend came over to hang out for a while afterwards. The girls played a long game of Monopoly and painted their toenails. I fed them sandwiches and fruit for lunch. I love to see that there are still kids around who can enjoy themselves with simple things, and am especially glad that Patsy is one of them.
How did your week go?
Monopoly was my favorite game as a kid, still is really. My bestie and I would play it for hours and often keep a game going over a few days.
Congrats to Rob on the weight loss – it’s really showing in this photo. My dog didn’t much like fireworks or thunder either. He’d just start shaking, poor boy.
My week has been divided between garden time and cleaning my apartment. You could call it the ‘big purge’. I’ve already taken two loads to the thrift store – little loads but two nonetheless. I’m finally feeling well enough to do some long neglected chores here. I’m still only doing them in 1 hour spurts of time, but slowly things are improving.
And just in time – I found a breeder who accepted me and will have a puppy on Aug 10 or 11th. I can hardly wait. I get to meet the litter on July 28th. Mine will be another little boy.
Cheers. SJ
I’m glad you are getting both cleaning and gardening done! Every single morning, I’m taking our new dog on a walk–usually around a mile. Yesterday, I walked her to a nearby community garden, just to look around. I thought of you and all your community garden plots. Most of the beds in this garden were lovely, with a few random ones that were quite bare, or overgrown, but those were very few. With all the chairs sitting around in the shade, it looked like a place where people not only garden, but enjoy visiting–there was even a barbecue! I’ve always driven by, but it was a whole new perspective walking by.
I’m glad you are getting a new dog! Congratulations:)
Happy belated birthday to your mom. Everyone looked like they had a great week. Sorry Rob hasn’t been feeling well. You would think with losing 100 pounds the doctors would get moving with the surgery. Sending lots of prayers that he gets the help he needs sooner rather then later.
Thanks! They want him to lose 120 before surgery. He’s getting pretty close, but no matter who tries (him, the regular doctor, etc.) they will not budge on that number. Rob does want the surgery to work, so he’s just trying to lose the weight, as instructed.
Bless Rob’s heart! What dedication! You may remember I mentioned that my husband, like Rob, needed hip surgery. He had it on the 9th. He’s doing very well. I hope Rob makes the progress he needs to as quickly as possible so that he can get in the road to recovery.
That’s so encouraging! I’m glad your husband is seeing good results from his. I know he is probably so glad to be out of the tremendous pain.
Oh my goodness Rob looks wonderful! He has worked very hard on this journey and you both should be proud of what had been accomplished. I so enjoy your blog and following your family and cooking adventures. I believe that if more people took a “page out of your book to follow” the world would be a much better place!! Thank you for sharing your life with us!
Thank you! That’s so nice of you to say:)
Rob looks great! I am glad he stayed home with Safari and comforted her during the fireworks. There is a product you can buy (although a bit expensive) called a “Thunder jacket”. It wraps the dog in fabric, pushes on certain pressure points and calms them down. It works on Scooter.
Jeannie@GetMeToTheCountry
Our next purchase for this dog is a little halter to put around her face to help her learn not to pull on walks. We know the one we want–it’s been highly recommended as humane. We think she is starting to feel better and better on the joint medicine, so now she wants to go fast! I’ve got short legs and I’m trotting along like crazy trying to keep up. I like the exercise, but do slow her down at times. By the time we’ve walked so briskly for about a mile, she’s ready to slow down, too. But, I want to teach her to go fast when I say, and slow down when I say in a better way than planting my feet, stopping and saying “easy” which works for about 30 seconds. I’m sure it’s a sight:)
Happy belated birthday to your mom and WOW does Rob look great. I have been thinking about him (and you) and hoping he is getting closer to getting some relief with the surgery. It looks like you had a fun and productive week! Being in California, we have a no fireworks law in most of our county, but it didn’t stop some people from lighting off illegal bottle rockets near our home. I kept praying they didn’t start a wildfire, but thankfully, we were okay. We’re gearing up for the fair where my daughter is showing her rabbit, lamb and dairy heifer for 4-H. It will be hot and busy, but we love it!
We did the 4H fair for SO many years, but the kids always did cooking contests, static food and clothing, horticulture, etc. I love the whole thing! Have fun:)