Tulsa State Fair

Whew! We have been so busy with getting school started and going on field trips, going to weddings, couponing and everything else that I just haven't had time to blog. I've said many times in the past few weeks, "Maybe I'll get to it this evening."

So, finally "this evening" is here!

Last Friday we went to the Tulsa State Fair. We hadn't been to a fair in about ten years. I got student discount tickets so we all got in for $16. Hooray!

We decided not to ride any rides, but we did have a lot of fun!

We saw and petted LOTS of animals....

"Okay. Take a left at the funnel cakes and turn right at the ferris wheel...."

Learning how to saddle a horse. This may come in handy if we get land one day!

I just realized this is a very "Tristan-heavy" post.

He must be photogenic.

One of my friends says he looks like a Duggar.

We also had lots of yummy food. This is a fried Snickers bar. It went nicely with the funnel cake, corn dog, hamburger, deep-fried-loaded bacon dog, roasted corn, fresh squeezed lemonade, maple nut fudge and shave ice.

Tums, anyone?

Reeces Rainbow

Jen over at Filling the House With Blessings is on a mission to adopt three adorable boys from Europe. As you know, adoption is very costly. She needs your help to bring these three little blessings home. Please prayerfully consider giving a donation to make that possible.



Grab This!

Is Blogger giving anyone else trouble?

Blogger will not let me comment on anyone's blog-for about a week now. It tells me even when I am signed in that I am not authorized to view this page. Is anyone else having this problem? Is there a way to make it stop doing that?

Although, I guess if you are having the same problem you can't comment and let me know.


Arrgh!

Monday Musings

I was explaining to Brittany the two most important things I needed to do the next day. "Okay, tomorrow I mainly need to catch up on laundry, and work on getting school stuff organized so I can help your aunt next week....."

Tristan says, "Oh, mom, that's gross! Ketchup on laundry?"

Book Signing with Author Kathryn Lasky

Last night we went to a book signing at the Tulsa County/City Library with author, Kathryn Lasky. She was being presented with the Anne V. Zarrow award.

This is NOT Kathry Lasky. This is a librarian holding an owl. Kathry Lasky is the author of the Guardians of Ga'hoole book series.

Awaiting Mrs. Lasky......I swapped a few kids with my sister in law. I took my nephew Devin and she kept the four youngest kids for me.



We had to wait in line for about an hour for the book signing. They had these really cute and tasty owl shortbread cookies and punch. We all wolfed them down before I got pictures.





The girls with their new iphones. (Shh! Don't tell the girls but they are really just cardboard cutouts of a library app advertisement.)




My kids aren't really into the Ga'hoole books, but one of Brittany's favorite books is one she wrote from the Royal Diaries Collection, Elizabeth I.







So, she had her sign that copy. Bethany and Brooke had her sign another of the Royal Diary Books and Devin had a Ga' hoole book to have signed.







I turned the flash off when I went to take the girls' picture and could NOT get it focused. And, we had to move on. Oh well.

Now, of course, I can't do anything without some sort of fiasco. The signing was at the library downtown. I hadn't been to the library downtown and, you know, parking is always somewhat difficult DOWNTOWN. (I have the sudden urge to break out into a chorus with Rick Moranis while a giant, man eating plant looms nearby.)

I couldn't find the parking area for the library, so we drove around for about fifteen minutes looking for it. I was following the signs, but, I couldn't find it because it was hidden down a one way street and I guess I just didn't go that way.

So, I went and parked at OSU Medical Center where I knew I could park, and not get towed. But, the only problem is that it is FOUR blocks away from the library.

We started walking and the street divided and I got turned around and called David saying, "And remind me why I though this was a good idea?"

And he said, "You KNOW that is not really a good part of town."

I said, "Hold on, I'll call you back." I saw the Double Tree Hotel (which is very nice indeed) and the lady said that we were half way there.

We huffed and puffed on the two more blocks (remember it has been the summer of Hades here in Tulsa) so I'm sure it was at least a hundred degrees, and we made it to the library. But, we needed to go around the building and downstairs to get in, which we did, and lo and behold, the correct entrance was right next to the parking area that we had been looking for.

Knowing that it probably wasn't going to be a good idea to walk all the kids back over to the van at 9:30 at night though DOWNTOWN, I called David again to see if he would just come and pick me up and drive me back to my van, then I could drive back over and park in the right area.

And, I had a blister.

So, my knight in a shiny white van came and saved me.

The end.

The Escape

Bye, Mom. Now that I can walk, I'm leaving.


Wow. It looks big out there.

Oh, well. I've got my popsicle. What more does a kid need?

Back to School the Thrifty Way!

I'm really excited at all the school supplies I've gotten, so I just had to blog about it. I've been diligently going to my office supply stores and buying their deals every week for about the last five weeks and it has really paid off. Literally.

Here's a big picture of what I have. (Keep in mind I have six kids that are in 1st thru 11th grades and two preschoolers.)


Here's what's in the picture:

30 pronged folders

10 vinyl pronged folders

3 3-ring binders

24 spiral notebooks

9 packs of notebook paper

2 packs of computer paper

25 bottles of glue

32 glue sticks

2 packs of colored pencils

11 packs of crayons

7 dry erase markers

8 highlighters

9 sharpies

72 pencils

3 pencil sharpeners

6 pencil cases

92 erasers

75 pens

1 pad sticky notes

2 packs card stock

1 sample of label stickies

1 pack paper clips

1 pack rubber bands

5 rulers

2 tote bags

and

a partridge in a pear tree

Now, you know all of that will last us at least the first week. Maybe two.

Seriously, I only need to get 3 more pencil cases and probably one more pack of computer paper, but that's about it. I had some construction paper and an primary paper pad for Tristan (first grade) left over from last year.

Now the big thrill for me is how much I actually spent. I've been going once a week for the last five weeks or so to my favorite office supply stores....

Office Depot

and

Staples......

who also both had teacher appreciation days with special breakfasts, give aways and totebags filled with goodies. They are so nice to include homeschoolers.

Well, I spent a total of about $30 for all of it. I just estimated and so I didn't figure it down to the exact penny.

I'm really excited about the cardstock. It came from Michael's and is on sale through Saturday BOGO for a penny. They also offer a 15% teacher discount, so I got both packs of paper for $3.67 or so, when one pack is normally $3.99- even at Walmart.

I'm not sure how much longer these stores will have their school supplies on sale, but I know Office Depot will still have penny deals until Saturday and Staples until Wednesday. They usually have a limit, and Staples usually has a required mininum $5 purchase, but you can easily purchase a rebated item and get most of the $5 back.