Okay, I remembered what I was going to say… I added the link on the right there to my new free menu planning report which then leads to our new site. www.menuplanningcentral.com Feel free to go check that out. Also, on the graphics on the right there that lead to all my sites… do the graphics run off the blog for you – look kind of off the main template? Just curious, because they do for me, but I had someone else look at them and she said they look fine on her computer. So I guess if it is just on mine, I can get used to it… but if it is on everyone else’s I should figure out how to fix it.

Oh, and I started my diet again today – did really well today. I am trying out the Weight Watchers Core Plan this time where you don’t have to keep track of points for everything you eat, but only eat certain foods – mainly lots of fruits and veggies, some meats and minimal breads and sugars. Not all carbs are erased – you still get fruits, whole grain pasta, potatoes etc. I actually have tried eating like this before, and I generally feel a lot better when I do. So I’m hoping I can stay motivated this time – I’m going not just for a diet but for an overall lifestyle – healthy eating change. I’m still finding lots of yummy foods to keep me happy. The first week on this type of plan is always hard giving up the cravings for white starches and sugars. So if I can get over that hump, I should be doing good.

So our “vacation” at home is over. Hopefully we can take a real one at the end of July. It was nice to just sleep in and be lazy though. That hardly ever happens! The kids didn’t sleep in, but inbetween little sibling rivalry events, we managed to stay in bed until at least 9:00 a.m. every day! We’re glad we didn’t go tthough as it rained lots here and the kids left their sleeping bags out in the tent and then after the rain brought them in DRENCHED. That would have been so miserable camping!

We did go on a big EXCITING outing on Tuesday. Most of you are going to laugh… We did our hour drive to the larger town and then adventured just a couple miles down the road from there and found a new town that had a super nice great big giant “real” grocery store! It was called Jewel-Osco which is the same as Albertsons in WA. When you shop at the little country grocery store for a year, it is a big treat to shop at a big store with selection. LOL We spent $260 something (two huge cart fulls) but saved $250. So almost half off after all the coupons and sales. You just don’t sales like that in the little store. I have a hunch during the school year next year when I just have Dane during the day we will be making that trip quite often. I figured out I have to save at least $20 to make it worth the trip… but obviously that wasn’t too hard this time around. I joined the Grocery Game which is what sent us off to search out the store in the first place. They tell you exactly what is on big sales, what coupons to use etc. Very fun! You can try it for $1. If you by chance decide you want to sign-up I would be honored if you would use my e-mail address as your referral (christine@dinewithoutwhine.com). I also signed up for Refund Cents I’m all about saving pennies these days I guess.

It really cooled down here tonight. It was 66 when I went out last and I felt like it was freezing! I had to come in and put on a fleece pull-over to warm up. The kids were asking if they could get their winter clothes out. LOL Lots of rain lately too. The garden is pretty happy. I went out and weeded for about an hour this morning (when it was still hot) and everything came up quite easily in that nice wet dirt. I still for the life of me can’t grow sweet corn though. I’m not sure what the deal is there. That and lettuce. (and a couple other things….) but those were the two I was the most disappointed about. That and my raspberries that died a few weeks ago. I hauled the boys off to Big R this afternoon to see if they had any of their lush looking raspberry bushes left (that I should have bought in the first place) but of course they were all out. Next year…

We were in Wal-Mart this afternoon and they were putting all the school supplies out.. It’s still JUNE… Ho Hum.

I forgot to mention in the last note that Matt finally went to the Dr. for his back (it has been hurting on and off for a year or so) and found out he has two herniated disks. So he went to physical therapy and they taught him some excercises he is SUPPOSED to do every two hours, but I think he does like every other day.

I’m trying to think if I have anything else to say. I think I did, but of course can not think of it now. So, I guess that is it for now!
C-

I found a fun deal tonight. www.restaurants.com has gift certificates that are discounted a great deal – $25 gift cards for $10. THEN.. when you use the coupon code FREEDOM before 6/30/07 you get 60% off. So that is $25 gift certificates for $4. I haven’t tried using one as they don’t offer restaurants in our area. However, it comes from a reliable source, so it should work fine. ENJOY!

Allrighty, it has been far too long since the alst update. I can’t believe June is almost over. Our summer is just downright crazy.

So let me see if I can do a speed version to catch you up…

The first week of June brought us Vacation Bible School. We had Bible School College Students from MN come to help. So I had a house full of middle school, high school and college kids all week as we had various activities. Lots of fun, but we were worn out! We also celebrated Christian’s 5th Birthday and our 11th Anniversary in there on the 8th.

The following week we headed to Sioux Falls, SD for the AFLC Annual Conference. Picture a 3 day long church annual meeting (all day long) sitting on bleachers. That pretty much sums that up. Although it was very fun to see many people we hadn’t seen in quite some time. The kids programming was also exceptional. I wasn’t sure how Dane was going to do since he hasn’t really been away from us at all and his “class” was not with Ryan and Christian. He loved it though. He even took a nap with 14 other kids in the same room 2 out of the 3 days. (I’m not sure how they managed that… but they claim he slept good! LOL) The boys had a really fun VBS program in the morning and then went on field trips in the afternoon – they went the the Children’s Museum, the Zoo and to a Rodeo. They of course had a blast.

We came home on Saturday the 16th from that, and my parents and brother arrived on the 18th and stayed until the 22nd. We had a nice visit with them – although the time seemed to go by way too fast.

So yesterday, the 24th we were supposed to leave to go to Holiday World in Santa Claus IN. However, we were all exhausted and the weather called for 60% chance of rain. Considering we were planning on tent camping – we gave in and cancelled our reservations. It was kind of disappointing, but maybe we will still make it there sometime this summer. So we are actually staying home this week, but the kids are camping in the tent in the yard. LOL (well, not Dane…)

Next week Matt goes to Estes Park, CO for the big Youth Convention that happens every other year. He was going to ride the charter bus with our church and another church, but we ended up adding an extra student and now he has to drive. It is a 16 hour trip, so I’m not super excited about that, but I’m hoping he can find someone else to ride with him. We will have the big church 4th of July bash (early breakfast that I will have to get up in the wee hours of the morning to cook egg casseroles for) church service (that I guess have I have to read something at) parade in Watseka, naps and then go to the party we went to last year at our friend’s home. It’s nice that we can start traditions now that we have been here a full year.

Then as soon as Matt gets home his parents arrive. It is kind of scary to think about how fast school will be starting again since it starts the third week of August! YIKES! We go to TX Aug. 6-13 for vacation / I am taking a class and then I think school starts the 21st. Crazy! I guess sometime amongst all that I have to school shop and do all that too. Actually the first couple months of school they just wear their summer clothes, so that works out well – buys me a bit more time.

Anyway, so that is our life in a nutshell.

Some things in our garden are growing really well and others not so well… but I’m happy with it overall since it is our first year. I was a bit bummed that some of our raspberries died while we were in SD, but what do you do…. The neighbors were watering, but it was extremely hot and dry that week.

The diet plan pretty much fell apart with all our crazy outings. I hope to jump on the band wagon soon here. I feel way more energetic when I eat healthier.

Oh, we had a big kitty fiasco as well. One of our kittens from last year had kittens (she wasn’t even a year old yet…) She had them too early I think as they were tiny tiny. I found one dead and two alive, but she didn’t want to have anything to do with them. We tried for hours to get her to nurse and she wouldn’t. Then we had our other mommy kitty nurse as she is still nursing her 4 month olds. LOL That worked okay, but she didn’t take to them enough to stay with them like newborns need. So… they ended up dying after a day. Then, the mommy of the newborns disappeared and hasn’t returned. I am worried she might have died as well, I think she might have still had kittens in there that didn’t come out. Very sad. So now we’re down to 7 kitties. The lowest number we have had in a long time. Who would have thought. LOL We told our kids we weren’t getting animals, but Snickers choose us and of course multiplied. We love having them around now and we haven’t had mice problems at all!

Oh, and amongst all this craziness I also somehow launched a new business with my business partner Susanne during the 1st week of June. It is Menu Planning Central – www.menuplanningcentral.com We do offer a free menu planning report there so do at least grab that if you’re interested!

Alrighty, I guess I should jump into bed.

C-