A Dobbins' Day

Nothing says summer more than some fun on the slip 'n slide! The kids are having a blast! We've been doing a lot of work in the front yard getting our garden prepared and because its so hot the kids want to swim. Since we can't be in the front yard working and watching them in the backyard swim...wahlaw the slip 'n slide! Its been perfect. The kids are entertained and supervised while we get some work done. It's kinda funny that they get so cold, while we're dripping in sweat. Water really cools you off! I might just have to go jump in the pool! Or join in the slip 'n slide fun. My husband would love that! Have I ever told the story of how we met?

I have been SUPER excited that my BIG summer plans are only 12 days away. I (with 3 of my kids) are driving (with my MIL) to MO on June 9th. We will spend about a month there, then I'll head off to Chicago for a few days with my awesome friend from college that I haven't seen for 5 years. Then its off to MN to spend time with my parents. My Dad will drive back with me to LV sometime in August. Yes, friends I plan on beating the LV heat by being GONE for 2 months. Yes, I do feel guilty for leaving my husband home alone and Yes, I feel guilty for leaving my job as primary president, but I really need to get away. This is my last chance to do something big before Hunter starts kindergarten, so I'm going for it! The plan was for Isaac to join us whenever he could. We had originally had a plan with his Mom that we would do a week with us and a week with her. Which meant that Isaac could spend a whole week in MO or MN. He was super excited. I was super excited. If you...

Its been a tradition to go to Cool Cuts 4 Kids for the first haircut, and Cannon got his turn today. Since this is about a $20 visit we don't do it very often. I've since learned to cut Russell and Hunter's hair and I've even done Audrey's. That's much better on my budget! Well, on to the best part.... the pictures! So grown up looking. Not my little baby anymore!

We recently sat down to eat some delicious strawberries.They were HUGE and sooooo yummy. Everybody loved them. The container was gone in minutes. Yum Yum! Now our big wish is that our strawberry patch will turn from this: to this:

Sara saw a post about someone who was going to make their own laundry soap and thought that we should try it. Being the couponing woman that she is, she called the company that manufactures the ingredients that we would need. They were happy to send her some coupons and 6 to 8 weeks later we were ready! Unfortunatley at this point in my post the pictures that we took are lost forever . I can tell you that it was easy to make. The reciepe made a TON of soap. I love it! It smells good, works great and saves me a bundle! I've also used 2 of the main ingredients, Borax and Super Washing Soda, to clean my house with great results. These two ingredients are now used for my dishwasher soap , (combined with jet dry, I didn't like the effects of the vinegar that you were supposed to use) and for cleaning the floor of my shower. It is starting to get sparkly white! So maybe I'm not quite like a pioneer woman but a lot can be said about these woman that used everything they...

My sweetheart and I had a wonderful weekend. We slept in, ate at great restaurants, relaxed in the jacuzzi and went on a pirate ship cruise around the lake. It was great! A perfect vacation. Thanks Honey! Happy Anniversary! And THANKS Grandma for watching the kidos! I also went shopping at some scrapbook places. Check out my savings on my other blog .

In an effort to save my memory card from the hands of my 2 year old that was grabbing it, I took it away and put it in a "safe" place. Later when I went to use my memory card to upload some pictures I couldn't find it. I made everybody stop what they were doing and start looking for it. To my dismay I found it under my rolling chair. It looked o.k., so I put it in the computer. Nothing happened. I put it in the camera. Nothing happened. I waited for my sweetheart the techie to come home and look at it. He couldn't get anything to happen either. I am so sad. So many memories lost. So many pictures gone. So sad. I had a crazy Tuesday and amidst all of the busyness I was doing laundry. When I went to take out the wash my cell phone fell out. I immediately pulled out the battery so it could dry out. The next day when I tried to turn it on, nothing happened. So I ran to the At&T store and saw my friend Jacob. He told me that my phone was a goner. So sad. I loved that p...

This is so true and very funny! http://www.thebargainjargon.com/2009/05/note-for-others-from-my-husband.html I've saved my sweethearts inbox from a flood of photos by creating this blog with my sister. That way I can brag all I want, but the faithful readers of this blog won't get bored of all my saving stories. We're the ones that get excited about this stuff and now we can show off! If you are interested you could start reading this blog and then leave us a pat on the back comment. We really are proud of how much we can save. I did get my sweetheart to help me out on my couponing quest. You can read about it here and even see a picture! I guess you can say that I'm a "coupon clipping bargain shopper" and proud of it!

"MOM, There's a weird smell in my room!" Is never a great thing to hear from your 12 year old. Apparently over the weekend while he was at his Mom's house his snake died. With his door closed all weekend the smell was quite strong. Unfortunately his Dad wasn't home when this discovery happened. So I had to deal with it. After we figured out that the smell was the dead snake, we took the entire cage outside. Then we doused his room in air freshener. It was so gross. Then to make matters worse the cage sat outside for a few days before the yard started to smell and there were flies circling. Russell told Isaac that he needed to dispose of it. So thankfully I didn't have to get any closer than taking a picture. IF you are interested in those pictures keep reading if you are my sister then... close your eyes Sara, there's a couple more pictures coming!

I LOVE the Smith's case lot sale! I LOVE having a full pantry. It makes me feel good. It makes me feel happy. It makes me feel safe. It also made me feel tired and not wanting to go to the grocery store for a loooong time. Good thing I'm all stocked up!

Getting the mail can be fun. You never know what surprises will be waiting for you. Unless you only get junk or bills then I can understand why you wouldn't like to get your mail. For me I always think there might be a chance that I'll get a letter. I love getting letters! With emails and other forms of instant communication this chance of a letter becomes few and far between. Except in December. I LOVE getting the mail in December! So a few weeks ago (sorry I'm a little slow on posting this, I took the picture right away because I knew it was blog worthy, but then never got around to it.) I went out to get the mail. To my delight there was a package. To my surprise it was for me! I didn't order anything, so I had no idea what it could be. While examining the package I saw some clues that it was going to be a good one. I couldn't wait to get in the house and open it up. After I opened it I just laughed! Then I hid the entire box in my room! My wonderful MIL sent t...

Audrey seems to have a permanent red, dry skin section above her lip. We've tried everything to help it heal. I think it comes from her saliva. Then when she has a binky in, that area doesn't dry out. So our latest remedy has been to put some vaseline on it and then on top of that some zinc oxide. I think zinc oxide is normally used for lifeguards' noses, but it seems to work o.k. The only thing is that she ends up with this white moustache. It is hilarious!