~* New PeTs? *~

Sometimes things get pretty interesting around here with creatures that are found ;O) Kurt was so kind to bring these 2 home from the place that he was cutting wood the other day! aaaaahhhhhh ~ The boys had no problem letting the toad go, however Garrett cried his eyes out about setting the NEWT free! The poor thing was couped up for a couple days on the backporch in a Tupperware bowl until finally Garrett let him go!


"Mommy, are you really going to make Garrett set these crawly things free???

Not Successful.......

OK so it is not letting me add more....I created an account and all??? hhmmm One of Yan's friends took some AWESOME pictures, I wish it would let me post more! It was a beautiful shower! Jennifer and Susan did a great job putting it together! A memory for Yan to cherish!

~* A BuSy Weekend! *~

The future Mr. and Mrs. (or should I say Dr. and Dr.?)
Originally uploaded by karpatchi

For some reason, everything seems to happen on the same day for me! This weekend was one of those eventful ones! To start the weekend off I headed to Pittsburgh shopping Friday night with Missy! She had to get Josie's birthday present and I am always up for a shopping trip!

Saturday was where things got hectic! To begin, I had a bridal shower in Sharon at 11:00 a.m. which was beautiful! My cousin John is getting married in September so they had her shower on Saturday! I am trying something new here by posting a picture from flickr that was sent to me......I am having a hard time figuring out how to add more.........let's see how this works!

~* A PiCniC at Two Mile *~

We went to Two Mile today for a picnic with Kurt's family! His cousin Denise and her daughter Emily are home from CA, so we all got together to welcome them for vacation! Good food and fun was had by all ~ we spent most of the afternoon on the banks trying to catch some fish! None were biting where we were at ;o) It was a beautiful day for a picnic, not too hot and not too cold!
One of my favorites of the day..........

Poppy casting for Garrett after numerous attempts to get it "just in the right spot!"

Garrett patiently waiting on a fish to bite ~

Ethan studying the whole "fishing process" here with Kurt and Aaron~

All of the cousins together....Emily, the blonde on the far left was a flower girl in our wedding! She has grown up into a beautiful young lady!!!

~* Crazy Ideas! *~

I feel like I have been missing in action! Summer school started back the first week of June and it is going very well! I have a total of 5 kids and we are having so much fun! At first, it was difficult for me to adjust to! However, I soon learned to LOVE the kids that I am with! They are ALL boys, so it is right up my alley! A friend and I are teaching together....we used to share a room at the high school so it is GREAT to be back in action with her! It truly has been enjoyable!

Besides teaching, I got this great idea to strip the wallpaper in my upper living room....3 weeks later, I am STILL ripping it off! Ethan had started the process, which is what possessed me to do it.....I couldn't stand it having pieces missing that his little fingers peeled off anymore ~ no I realize that maybe it didn't look so bad after all :) LOL .....Now that he has my permission to pick away, he wants NOTHING to do with it!

Thanks for all the inquiries about my grandma! She is truly at a stand-still...some days are good, some are bad! She doesn't smile much and lots of times she truly doesn't have much to say! I took both of my boys to see her last weekend and it was the first time that we saw her smile in awhile! Garrett forces her to talk with him, which is good I guess! Continue to keep her in your prayers ~

I hope this finds you all doing well! Here is a snapshot of the mess that we are in .......and the reason why I think it didn't look bad afterall! :)

He doesn't look guilty does he??

~* The GiRLs *~

Tiffany had her friend take some really cute pictures of the twins........hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

~* I saved a TON of MONEY! *~

So I NEVER post about couponing or saving money, however it is something that I sometimes try to do! Especially when inspired by my great friend Michelle! If you have not checked out her blog, please do so! She makes it very easy to get started on your way of saving money! Now to be honest, she makes it look easy ~ I will tell you for me it ISN'T! It does take time and planning.....and for me, I have to be able to think when I am there putting coupons together with the sales! With that said, it is easier to do WITHOUT kids ;o) Tonight was a great trip for me....before coupons my total was $114.94, after coupons it was $25.89! This is what I got:
Thanks for pushing me to go tonight Michelle!

Garrett has himself a new found hobby! Shooting a bow with his dad at the archery club! He has been practicing and I was finally invited tonight to come and watch what he has learned! Needless to say, I was very impressed! All 36lbs of him, shooting a 15lb compound bow......he has a very good shoot! Hitting the target most every time! I guess he has had a good teacher!