Monday, June 30, 2008

Handcrafted Jewelry

In case people stumble across my blog, I wanted to mention that I sell hand-crafted jewelry on etsy. I'm actually excited because I had a big sale this week, but it was a custom order for a friend, and it wasn't through my etsy site. I've been having a great time making my jewelry! If you would like to check it out, here is the website: www.hiddentreasure.etsy.com

Back to Work



I know I just said in my last post that I'm staying at home with my kids. That is true for the summer at least. Yet, I'm seriously thinking about going back to work. I even have an interview lined up for next Monday morning, 8 a.m! Pray for me, because I have a lot of decisions to make. Money has been getting tighter lately because of the economy. Phil has a long commute, so that means lots of gas. The big problem is childcare for my younger two kids. I don't want them to be in a regular daycare center. I always have said that one day I would go back to teaching. This might be the year.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

I love Grocery Shopping!!!!!


Sundays after church are so fun. I gather up my coupons and go grocery shopping. I play the grocery game. We have so much great food in our house, and most of it is name brand stuff. This week was fun because I got some free stuff, matching coupons up with sales. It helps me to continue being a stay-at-home mom.
I feel like bragging about my savings.
At the first store I would have spent 60 dollars; I only paid$29 and I earned a free gallon of milk for next time. The second store I would have spent 106 dollars. I only paid $63. Before you start thinking I bought a bunch of raemen soup or something, I didn't. I bought fruit, vegetables, meat, and many other things. It is so much fun!!!!! What a great hobby! I get to shop and save my family tons of money. The website is grocerygame dot com. If you sign up, please let me know so you can list me as the person that referred you. I will never shop the same again. It is truly awesome. And, it is my hobby!

Friday, June 20, 2008

Life

I'm happy with my life. But, then, there are some people that are not happy in life. One guy is so tired of his life, he has decided to sell it on ebay. Pretty crazy. He's not suicidal, but he wants to start over. He is selling everything he owns, including his home and job. The auction starts soon if anyone wants to move to Australia. Check out his page at ALife4sale.com

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Happy Anniversary!

Phil and I celebrated 8 years of marriage yesterday. He took the day off work and spent time with me and the kids. Also, his mom offered to watch the kids in the evening so we could go out on a date. Not only did we get free babysitting, she also gave us money to go out. It was very sweet.
We went to Rio Grande for Mexican food. Still no tomatoes in sight by the way! I think they used canned tomatoes to make the salsa. It was all very delicious anyway. We even ordered dessert. We were very stuffed. We almost went to see a movie, but we decided we would rather be able to talk and hang out instead of sit in a movie, not talking. So my wonderful husband took me to a craft store! That's true love! We bought beads for my jewelry making. Anyway, we got home late because my mother-in-law spent the night, so we didn't have to rush back. Phil took me for a spin after that in our neighborhood in the Eclipse convertible that he finally got running. It felt great to cruise around like old times, looking up at the moon and stars, wind blowing in my hair. It still needs a little work, but it runs! Oh, and Phil gave me a great card too, saying that he would choose me all over again. I love my husband! I'm so glad we had a chance to go on a date.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Father's Day

We had a very nice Father's Day. We didn't go out anywhere too fancy, but definitely places we like. We are saving our money for our anniversary dinner on Tuesday. 8 years! After church, I took Phil to Chipotle. For dinner we went to Five Guys for hamburgers. It was all very delicious. Yet something was missing. Tomatoes! Who else misses tomatoes at restaurants? At Chipotle I absolutely LOVE the tomato with cilantro. Yet, they couldn't serve it. They were in the process though of having tomatoes overnighted. At Five Guys I couldn't have a tomato on my burger. I missed the tomato! All the food though was still really good.
I spent the afternoon grocery gaming. I have so much fun with this. I save an unbelievable amount of money. This week my savings were about 50 percent off my grocery bill. If anyone decides to sign up, ask me for my email so you can put me in the referral section. It is grocerygame.com.
In the evening we spent a little time outside. Phil had a sudden idea about his car that has been broken for 2 years. It worked! He got it running again. That was the best gift for him ever. For Father's Day, we gave him rocks the kids painted at MOPS. I gave him a pair of shorts he wanted at Target. For his birthday last month, I gave him an Ipod and a Sidekick LX, so Father's Day was not as huge for him this time. Here's some pictures from the day. Some of these are probably also on Phil's blog.

Phil the Daddy with Christina, David, and Andrew


Phil and Andrew


Phil and David


Phil and Christina

I'm so grateful my kids have such a wonderful Daddy.

Family Reunion Time at Lake Anna

Well Saturday at the lake went great, and Phil managed not to have any allergy issues. I ate some crab and shrimp, a special treat since I try to keep most of that stuff out of our house for his sake. Yummy! We played in the water too, but unfortunately a thunderstorm came up, so time in the water was limited. 43 family members showed up for the Sowers reunion. Andrew was very shy and stuck close to us. He said, "I didn't know we had so many people in our family!"
I got some great pictures that will follow. A relative even asked if he could use my camera to take a couple pictures wilth me in them. That was very thoughtful because I am almost always the one behind the camera, and so we have very few pictures of me. Maybe its kinda of on purpose, I don't know! The truth is, I love photography. Here they are:


Ready for crab feasting!

Walking to the water



Christina wants to get in. Time to put on her swimsuit!


Christina and Mommy


Mommy, Christina and my father-in-law Mike

Look what I found! Phil took this pic.

Anyway, we had a great time. I think we will head back down to the Lake for 4th of July weekend, Friday and Saturday. Oh, how I love days at the water!

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Signs we read on the way to Lake Anna

On our drive to Lake Anna the other day, we saw a couple amusing signs that made us laugh. The first one:

This was seen outside a roadside bbq stand .
"Get free gas. Eat our beans." Ha ha! Phil and I felt very junior highish laughing at that sign.

The other one was on a church sign.
"Dusty Bibles lead to dirty lives". While true, it still made us shake our heads and laugh. I'm sure that sign will lead many people to Jesus, right? ;)

We had a wonderful weekend, and soon I will post some pictures.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Tag

I wasn't tagged, but I'll fill it out anyway since I'm a lurker of A Little Mischief.

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?
I was graduating from college with a degree in Elementary Education.
I moved back to Virginia and started teaching second grade.
I started hanging out with Phil, my friend since I was 10.
I shared an apartment with a roommate that threw coffee grounds and eggshells on my bed and called the cops on me when my parents were visiting. The cops came and laughed at her and shook my hand.

2. 5 things on my to do list
laundry is always on the list
read lots of books to my kids this summer
lose my last 15 pounds
make more friends
get ready for the crab feast today

3. Snacks I enjoy
That is easy since I'm on Atkins. I enjoy anything with carbs. I love chocolate and I miss salty snacks like chips. Actually this diet is perfect for me because I love meat and cheese anyway. I could really go for some Olive Garden pasta about now though.

4. Things I would do as a billionare
Give money to church
Give money to my parents to pay them back for college; thanks to them I have no student loans
Buy a huge house in the Tampa Bay area overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. Beachfront property of course.
put money away for my kids' education
cook less, eat out more
hire a maid
travel

5.Three of my Bad Habits
too much tv watching
need to exercise more
too much worrying

6. Five places I have lived
Stouffville, Ontario
Vienna, Virginia
Herndon, Virginia
Cedarville, Ohio
Winfield, Illinois
Fairfax Virginia (that's 6)

7. 5 jobs I've had

nanny

envelope stuffer for SIDS awareness

Resident Assistant at college

Paul Harris clothing sales associate(I think they went out of business)

Frito Lay warehouse worker - the only female worker, yikes,lifting potato chips can get heavy believe it or not, especially the pretzels. I loaded and unloaded trucks, and I put orders of chips together for grocery stores. Of course I got all the free chips I wanted, but I was in great shape from all the warehouse work. I actually LOVED this job.

elementary teacher- one day I'll probably go back to this, I miss it, but I want to be home more

stay at home mom

8. How I named this blog
Well, we are the Sowers family. Students I used to teach would laugh and say my name sounded like sour candy. But, just because you have a sour name, it doesn't me you have to be a sour person. Just add a little sugar!

I tag no one except all the same people Mischief asked to do this.

Crabby Day

The Sowers family is getting ready to go to the annual crab feast. We will be at Lake Anna; it is a perfect day to hang out at the lake. We are kind of slow getting out the door to leave, but thankfully it doesn't official start for 4 more hours. It is 10 a.m. now. I have the kids all dressed in crab shirts, which is almost becoming expected of them at the reunion since I do that every year. We are resorting to McDonald's for breakfast. Christina filled the potty this morning with toilet paper, thankfully she didn't try to flush it. The boys are hyper, but I'm sure they are just excited about seeing their grandparents. I'm always worried at the crab feast, because Phil is DEATHLY allergic to crabs. Anyway, after we get past all this chaos and start driving to the lake, it will be a wonderful day. I'm a water nymph. Give me some sun and a body of water and it makes instant happiness. The jetski is the icing on the cake. So except for the crabs on the table, this won't be a crabby day at all.