Wow... it's been a month!

So, I may have gotten a bit behind, and haven't posted here since before Spring Break.

Let's see, what all has happened.... well, Spring Break, obviously! This year, I decided that since Chris will be gone for part or most of the summer, I wanted to do something with the kids. We had limited options both money wise, and distance. Because funds were limited, I opted to do something close to home, so that travel time wouldn't take up a big chunk of what we did.

We ended up renting a hotel room in Grand Rapids for the night. I chose a hotel with an indoor pool, which fit into our budget. The day we arrived was gorgeous, so we went to the zoo. It was packed! It was a gorgeous day, and it was Spring Break just about everywhere. I was not the only parent with the idea to have some outdoor fun!

After the zoo, we went back to the hotel to swim- the room the pool was in is surrounded by windows, and was nice and warm- steamy from the sun, with warm water. The kids swam, but I hadn't thought I would want to just then, so I didn't wear my suit down- wish I would have, though!

Later that evening, we went to the public museum- one of my favorite places in Grand Rapids. I'm a total museum buff. I love looking at old things! Well, once more, thanks to Spring Break, plus a special night time event, the place was packed. I decided at the time to buy a membership, since it was only $20 more than we were already paying for admission, and I'm glad I did. It means we can go back anytime we want for a full year for free. And, I've already taken advantage of that twice since then!

Because the place was SO packed, we didn't get to see everything that night before closing time. We wound up heading back to the hotel, where the kids could swim again. Because of how nice it had been, I decided to swim- only now, it was dark, and the room was almost cold, and the water was freezing. I dipped a toe in, and opted to not swim at all.

We rented a movie to watch in the room, but the laptop I brought wouldn't play the movie, so we watched TV instead. I also couldn't get connected to the free wifi the hotel offered at all, which was kind of a bummer as well.

The next morning dawned cold, dark, and wet- just as I knew it would. We enjoyed a free breakfast at the hotel, then packed up, and headed out. We didn't get far- a huge hail storm hit, and forced me to pull off the road at Denny's. We tried to leave once when it quit, only to have it start up again, even worse. We finally decided to wait it out inside. We had all just eaten, but I let the kids pick out something to eat and get a fun soccer ball cup of soda to drink. The cups are neat- it has a divided middle, and is shaped like a soccer ball. You fill it with 2 drinks, and it has 2 bent straws that can be turned so they rest together, or turned away so each side can be drank apart.

I got online with my cell while we were there, and posted an update on the weather to the local news channel down there- which I found out later was featured on their noon news that day! How fun! They only post first names, but several family members noticed it and realized it was me because of where we were stranded.

When we finally got back on the road, we went back to the museum. I had hopped that due to the special night time events they were holding that week, that it would be less busy- I was wrong. It was MORE busy! We enjoyed visiting, though, and got to go through the entire museum again. The kids saw everything we missed, and they each got to revisit their favorite exhibits.

Later on, we stopped by my sister's apartment to see my niece, who turned 3 that day! Gillian and Raegan wound up staying in Grand Rapids for the rest of the week with family, so it was just me and Chris on the way home. We had a fun time for Spring break.

Victory!

Tonight, I sat down and planned a small, over night get away for the kids and I during Spring Break. I had a few places in mind, but cost, and distance, and in some cases, area, put me off of them.

In the end, I opted for safe & simple- we're going to be going back to my hometown area over night. We do that a lot, actually, several times a year. However, we rarely partake in the fun, tourist type things to do. Often, we're rushed from point A to point B to point C, and leave feeling unrested, tired, and frazzled. Well, me at least.

Instead of focusing on doing things with my family, I decided on two places we'll go see, each taking a good portion of the day on two separate days. The in between will be filled with us staying at a hotel with an indoor pool- that was important to me, because if there wasn't a pool, we might as well have just stayed with family for free. This way, though, it's something fun for the kids to do.


It also has free breakfast, and, get this- under $60/night after taxes. Score!

For things to do, we are going to the local museum one night for a big celebration- they will have admission to the museum, admission to the special exhibit, a planetarium show, unlimited rides on the carousel, and a kid friendly meal, all for $10/person (or $5/person for members- which we'll be). Members normally get in to the museum, special exhibits, and planetarium free. Carousel rides are $1/each time, and meals cost whatever in the little cafe they have (which is horribly over priced).

The other thing we'll do is go to the zoo over there. We almost never go to that one. The year we moved to the Lansing area, we lived near the zoo and had a membership. The kids and I went probably 6 times through out the summer, once at Halloween, once at Christmas, and 2-3 times that following Spring before it expired. I can buy a membership to the zoo over there, and use it at the local zoo, and half price at another, larger semi-local zoo, so I may do that.

After settling that, I asked the kids all if they knew where their bathing suits were, and if they still fit in them after last year. Chris has been using his for swim class at school, and Gilly found hers right away. Raegan couldn't locate hers, but said that it was really tight last summer.

Last year, we went frugal, and bought in the girls department, even though she fit in a woman's XS or S (but, have you SEEN how LITTLE fabric covers those? For DOUBLE the cost?!?!). Some people didn't understand why I laid down "the law" last year, and told her NO BIKINI. They said, "She's only young once!"

Well, I have little interest in 15 & 16 year old boys oogling my 13 year old daughter, so... I went with what I was comfortable with. It was a tankini with boy short bottoms- as covering as you can get shy of a skirted 1 piece.

This year? OMG. I was looking online and cringing at each suit I saw. CRINGING. I jokingly said, "Hey, Rae- you don't mind just going with  a pair of boys swim trunks and a tankini top, do you?"

....She totally loved the idea- except wants a bikini top. I may concede- besides, you can wear T-shirts over top. ;) My favorite part, though, is that boy trunks will cover hips, thighs, legs, and rear ends. She's almost 14, but on a good day? She could pass for 16. I have no desire to bring boys knocking at my door just yet. None at all.

This weekend, I'll take her shopping and see what we can decide on mutually. Maybe I can talk her into one of those wet-suit type t-shirt tops in lieu of a bikini top? Hmm.... Nick said she'd better like what I come up with, or she can spend the summer in a turtleneck. The idea has some merit.

When did she grow up?

Today, I went to Goodwill, as I tend to do. I love finding good deals. Today, I found a steal. Two semi-formal, satin dresses good for a certain-almost-a-freshman-girl's first homecoming next fall.  Brand new, with tags from Target. Sure, they were only $24.99 to start off with (I have never seen such cute, satin dresses there!) but I snagged them for just $4.99 each.

And really, have you seen the prices of dresses for teen dances lately? Certainly no better in quality, sometimes cheaper quality, but slap some sequins and glitter on a dress, and the price triples. I've been saying for 2 years now that the summer before Freshman year, I would take Raegan to DEB's and let her find a post-Prom clearance dress for her freshman homecoming. Because, I'm too frugal to pay $80 for a dress.

Both dresses were her size. So darling, so cute, so perfect! The tricky part? I honestly didn't know if she would even like either of them, but I didn't want to risk waiting, and have them be scooped up out from under me. I did what I had to- I asked for the return policy, and bought em.

Upon further inspection when Rae got home, we found that the one I really loved, a grey satin tank dress with a twirly skirt and a bold, burgundy and green floral pattern, had a broken zipper. A doubly broken zipper. Once it was down, both on and off, the zipper refused to zip past the waist going up. And, the hang tag was missing from the zipper. So, it's going back.

The second dress, though, was perfect. It looks great on her- the color is good. The dress is short, but Raegan is only 5'0", so the dress is almost knee length. Much longer, I'm sure, than intended. The only real down side to me, is that it IS strapless. However, I intend to fix that. I'll try and find some matching or coordinating fabric and add straps to it. Raegan requested halter straps. If I have to go with a different color fabric, then I'll use black, and add some around the waist to "tie it in", so to speak.

Either way, that dress has aged Raegan, myself, and my husband, Nick. She looks beautiful in it, but so darn old!

Grey hair, here I come, party of 1 please.

Life... or something like it

I'm not new to this whole blogging thing. I run another little blog called My Frugal Family. It was started out as a blog to show what we are doing in life to the family and friends we don't regularly see.

It turned into a whole lot of something else, which I love, but I felt we still needed something for those family members and friends we don't see much.

So, here it is, my corner on the web- Minions x 3. Those of you who know me well, know that we often call the kids our minions. Or brats, or kiddos, or kidlets, or "Hey, you!". They even respond to numbers, which is both kind of funny, and kind of scary.

I have 3 children, which are both a blessing, and at their worst, penance for past sins, I'm sure.

Raegan is our oldest. She's 13 going on way too young to be acting so old. She'll be 14 soon, and starts her high school career this upcoming fall. It scares me to no end to realize how old she's getting. She loves to read, and (to our relief), would prefer an old t-shirt and ratty jeans to a mini skirt, hairspray, and makeup.

She's a great kid, but she is a teenager. You'll hear me venting about that at times, because it has reared it's ugly head more times than not. All in all, though, we often get compared to Lorelei and Rory Gilmore from The Gilmore Girls. We laugh, we hang out, and we have fun. You know, when that teenageryness (that's a technical term I just coined) is hiding, and she's being her sweet lovable self.

Next up is our only son, and biggest challenge, Christian, or Chris for short. Chris has sever ADHD. We've had him on 8 different types of medication for ADHD, plus 3 others not specifically for ADHD. We've tried no meds, we've tried vitamins, we've tried stimulant drinks (coffee first, but he wouldn't drink it, then small doses of no sugar or low sugar energy drinks). We struggle with him.

I'm not looking for judgement or advice- I have tried just about every "trick" out there, and the only thing that keeps him in a classroom all day is medication. He's in the 5th grade this year, and slowly but surely, it's getting easier every year.

He is an amazing kid, though. In 1st grade, before he was diagnosed, he wasn't reading at all. He was unable to focus on anything long enough to learn. Within a month of starting his first type of medication, he was reading at a 3rd grade level. The kid is a sponge, he picks it all up!

Last we have Gillian, our little Silly Gilly, the lil Gilly Bean. We were calling her Gilly Bean before she was even born. Well, kind of. We decided that since we had a girl and a boy, we would be surprised in the delivery room. We had names picked for both a boy or a girl, but I was really hoping for another girl.

Gilly (never Jill. It's why I went with a G instead of a J) is a bit of a challenge herself. She's 8 right now, and acts rather young for her age. We still have issues with her doing what she's asked to do, and she has some struggles socially with other children. She's also very similar to what Chris is like, though she has never been diagnosed with ADHD. She functions in the classroom right now without resorting to medications, so at this time, we're content to let Gilly be Gilly.

She has the most amazing natural sense of humor, though. Sometimes, she reverts back to that "it sounds funny to a child, but really isn't funny at all" kind of humor when she's trying to be funny. Other times, things just come out of her mouth that make everyone stop and have a good laugh. Or, make us pull over to a gas station on Christmas Eve because Mommy just spewed soda all over her clothing, the windshield, and the review mirror. Just sayin'.

All in all, my kids are not perfect. They fight, bicker, boss each other around, and tattle. They are real kids. I won't gloss them over- sometimes, I just go in my bedroom, close the door, and hide under the covers.