Three Scurvy Dogs, a Lass (and Their Mamas)

 Carlos is 9?  Where has the time gone.  Sounds so cliche but seems I was just driving him home from the hospital yesterday.
This birthday was all about Magic the Gathering, Baseball and GUM!
Family dinner of shrimp wraps and shrimp pasta and cake with Nana and Papa and Maymay.

 I'm too cheap to buy $20 picture packages for each of the boys (that get tucked away in their memory bins and only seen 20 years later) so I take my own.  I think it's a decent job, gets the team shot and individual as well and preserves the memories!

 Can't believe our little guy is ten years old!  Celebration on the day with family dinner (grilled cheese with tomato soup and pineapple juice was his choice) and presents!
Lots of Lord of the Rings, Magic the Gathering and Minecraft this year.

 We had quite the adventure today, the kids got to do a faux commercial shoot for survival gear (in exchange for a family portrait session) up past the Hood Canal Bridge.
The scene was post-apocalyptic showing the "resilience of youth."  I think our kiddos pulled it off!  They loved getting dirty, having weapons and cool gear and even posing for the pictures.  They were bad ass!
Proud of the kids, excited to see the pictures from the photographer.

First off, know that there is NO benefit to me, personally, by posting this.  I just have to make your life easier and SO much better!
I did an H2O at Home Party last month so I could get free products and learn more about how they work.  Little did I know, my friends were all totally onboard already and many reordered things and I got LOTS of free stuff to try.
If you are thinking about getting the nasty cleaning chemicals out of your house, please look into these.  I will also even give you a demo with the products I have.  Why?  Because they work and you only use water (and non toxic things like the dish soap, laundry soap, etc but really it's mostly just water and amazing cloths).
My windows have always been nasty, we live by the water and it rains quite a bit...that's only the outside of them.  Inside we have a bunch of little hands who can't possibly resist wiping any condensation or putting their little paws on the window just because.  So, I got the damp H2O at Home window cloth and really, in about 5 seconds my windows were amazingly clean.  I wouldn't have believed it (just like you aren't right now) if I hadn't seen it myself.
There are different cloths for different jobs and a mitt that is just like a huge Mr Clean Magic Eraser without the chemicals and completely washable.  Dee and I are actually having fun finding marks to wipe away (we have done the walls, pen marks, the microfiber couch, spots on the carpet...gone!).
So if you want to see it in action, come over or talk with me and I can hook you up with Connie the H2O Goddess!
Oh yeah, and the kids can safely clean with it, too...great news, right?  No guilt for having them do chores with nasty chemicals.
And....you will be saving the Earth.  That's a big one.  Just try it.
Wait, this just in...I honestly just washed the entire van in about 15 minutes using the heavy duty and multi purpose chiffonettes.  Here is the after shot, and the bowl of water.  No soap!

 Could this girl get any cuter?!?!

I have spent a lot of time on the blog over the last few months talking about Living on One.  The film has inspired our family to do something to help raise awareness and fight global poverty.
Now you can see what all the fuss is about...for free!  Just go to www.hulu.com and watch the movie this week.  It is one of their featured, front page films!
If you want to read more about Carlos' efforts (in case you've missed my bazillion posts).  Click here for the Inside Bainbridge article or cruise back over the blog to see more.
The movie is amazing, and gives a glimpse into the daily lives of the people in a small, Mayan town in Guatemala (much like the one Carlos' birth family is from).  Go watch, you will be glad you did!

Three years have passed since we first put the kids in the mouth of Frog Rock (just for grins).  I think I prefer the later pic, as you truly get the drama of the situation.  He is being eaten by a frog rock!!!

In our community, we make quite a bit less than the average family.  With that being said, we have a LOT.  Our kids aren't hungry.  We have electricity and fresh running water.  They have clothes and shoes. They get to go to an amazing school.  Yes, we are frugal (ok, I've often been called "cheap") and very careful with the money we have and really try to make the most of what we have. We make it work.  Our kids know we aren't rich, they rarely get new clothes or new toys or go on vacations like so many of their friends, but we have a roof over our heads, food in our bellies and a little for the extras.  We are blessed.
I saw this challenge posted on the Living on One blog and knew it was something I wanted us to try.  We will be living on $1.50 per person for food for 5 days.  We will brainstorm with the boys about what kinds of foods and how much we will need to not feel hungry.  We will go to the store, price out what we can get for our money and come home and lock up the rest of our food.  I imagine after day one they will be hungry, I can't imagine how hard it is going to be to see my kids truly hungry.
In the end, my hope is that it will help us teach our boys just how fortunate we are to live where we live and be thankful for what we have. Maybe gain a sense of compassion for others who may go to bed hungry each night, maybe gain a sense of the cost of food.
They are excited to talk to their friends, excited to start the adventure and proud of what they are about to do.  Me to.
Join us, push yourself, take the challenge!

Click here for more information on Live Below the Line

One of my favorite events of the year...our annual flashlight Easter egg hunt.  This year the plan was to be low key and mellow, but you know what they say about the best laid plans.  As always, SUPER FUN!  The kids played for awhile in the yard, we BBQed and then waited for it to get dark before we started the fun.  This year we changed it up a little, the toddlers had a pre-hunt and then went to bed, the big kids each had a symbol (we had premarked 15 eggs with each symbol) to find.  It wasn't the free-for-all of years past but it was great to hear so many kids helping eachother out so that most of the eggs were found!
Another successful party in the books!