Wreaths Across America

Last year, we took the kids up to the World War II Memorial in Racine, Wisconsin for a wreath laying ceremony connected with the Wreaths Across America program. If you have not heard of Wreaths Across America, please visit their website at www.wreaths-across-america.org to learn more. In a nutshell, the goal is someday to decorate the grave of every veteran with a wreath (as appropriate). For now, there are many sites where all the graves are decorated (hey Georgians, check out the one in Canton!) and even more where there is a wreath laying ceremony for the whole cemetery. That is what they had in Racine last year - a simple ceremony that was over in about 20 minutes. Other than the ROTC people, we were the only ones who went. This year, there are a couple of ceremonies in our area, so I don't know which one will will attend, but we will go to one.

This year all of the ceremonies are taking pace on December 13 at 12:00 pm Eastern Time. I know December is a busy month, but please consider taking your family to one of these ceremonies. You won't regret it .

Snow!

We finally got our first real snow today (about 4 inches or so). The kids were so excited. I was too- I love snow in December. Of course, my attitude changes by the time it is March. But for now I will just enjoy it. We got our Christmas lights up on Saturday, so we are set.

After so many years of living in Atlanta, every time it snows up here I get the same shocked feeling when I see that we are expected to go on with our lives as if nothing is going on. Shouldn't we be huddled up in our homes with all the bread and milk we could clear from the store shelves, waiting for the snow to melt? No, people go to work, kids go to school and things are not cancelled. It still feels very odd to me. I am not planning on going anywhere today. I am just going to enjoy looking out the window.

By the way, the best purchase we have made since moving here was the snow thrower. Love it! Love it even more when Rich is the one operating it.

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving, although the girls were disappointed that we did not have any snow like we did last year (it looks like we are to get that snow today, though). Our friend Kristen came up to visit from Atlanta. It was so good to see her! Kristen clerked with Rich at PoGo when they were second year law students, so we have known her for a long time. We miss our friends in Atlanta so much!

I made the Martha Stewart Turkey 101 again this year and it came our AWESOME. It was great day with yummy food and friends! Hope yours was just as great.

Super-Couponing!

About a month and a half ago, I was reading the little local paper we get here and there was an article about this pair of Chicagoland moms who were saving a ton of money by "super couponing". We have all heard of these types ofwomen - $200 worth of groceries for $5, right? According to the article, they were teaching classes about their technique. Curious, I went to their web site and discovered that there was a class scheduled for our local library, so I signed up & went. It was very interesting.

To make a long story short, my shopping has totally changed. This is NOT your mother's couponing. It involves using different web sites to monitor the 12 week sales cycles and then using coupons to save money while stocking up on products at their rock-bottom lowest prices. I have been doing it now for 4 weeks and the above receipts shows my greatest success so far. The store was having a promotion that gave you $15 dollars to use the next time you shop if you bought $30 worth of certain items. The items you had to buy were on sale and were things like laundry detergent, cake mixes, cereals, etc. (things I could stock up on). Well, the finally tally was that I bought $77 worth of groceries and after my coupons and vouchers from a previous trip, the amount I had to pay was $39 PLUS I got $30 back to use on my next trip. That means I got $77 worth of groceries for $9! Woo-hoo! And yes, it was all stuff that we use. I have a new hobby!

Violin Recital

ME played in her third violin recital on Saturday. She played beautifully and we were very proud of her. She has even inspired MC to go and start lessons. We are becoming pretty musical for a family with a tone-deaf mom! :)

Happy Halloween!

We had a great Halloween. Most importantly, it was about 68 degrees outside. It felt like an Atlanta Halloween- no coats! H was a 1950s girl, complete with poodle skirt made by me (with quite a bit of long distance consulting - thanks, Jan!) ME was corpse bride, MC was a witch & S was a firefighter. It was so cute because his little buddy next door was a Dalmatian so they made a great team. We love our neighbors and our neighborhood and Halloween is one of the funnest times to live here.

What a Difference a Month (or so ) Makes

Okay, so it has been a little while.. I clearly need to get into the swing of this blogging stuff. So here is a summary of the last month:

The girls started school (6th, 3rd & 1st grades). Yes, you read that right: 6th grade! How did that happen? I am beginning the Middle School nightmare and so far it is just as promised.

S. turned 4. Yes, 4. I am not sure how that happend either because I just had him.

S. sarted the 4 yeard old class at preschool.

We went camping twice. The second time was not so fun. I am sure that I have fulfilled my camping quota for the next 12 months.

Rich had a birthday & was FINALLY (after much paper work and running around) sworn into the Illinois Bar. He did not have to retake the exam, but boy he had to earn his admission!

I will try my best to be a little more timely with our comings and goings, but here are some pictures from the past month: