One more

One more post. Is this not the CUTEST baby in the world? My favorite thing to do with him lately is give him a bunch of little kisses on his neck (well, neck and cheek since there's not much of a neck going on) until he giggles. So dreamy. Wish I could bottle up the sound of that laugh and the feel of those cheeks and the smell of that head and keep them forever.

Grocery games

So, I'm not the best coupon-clipper and sale-chaser, although I pretend once in awhile that I'm totally into it. It can be like a part-time job, so when I have time to sit down, look at the ads, clip the coupons, then plan which stores I'll use which coupons during which sales etc., it's really exciting. And being able to do it with Clark and Soren in tow is a serious accomplishment. It's the only way I can really contribute to finances, and the only "savings" I have some control over in our budget. Anyway, I'm really proud of this grocery trip I did today, so as weird as it is to POST about it, I'm going to anyway just to have some proof out there that I have done something perhaps smart, perhaps frugal.... :-) So I took a picture of all the groceries I bought today that totaled $38.00. With sales and coupons, I saved a total of $43.67. That's the first time I've ever saved more than I paid. I've seen a couple of news shows where this expert shopping/coupon woman goes up to the cashier with a cart full of groceries and pays 25 cents or something. I'm not going to aspire to that or else I'll get depressed. In any case, I must celebrate the few triumphs I get :-) (how can you tell Brad's been out of the country for almost a week? I can't stop babbling to a computer... and this is the third post on the blog in 30 minutes. Help me Rhonda)

OK, so it doesn't look like much, now that I've uploaded it, but I wrote that whole paragraph... There's a bunch of produce hiding back there, okay? I still feel accomplished, even if you're saying what a freakin' loser. Alright, that's enough.

Things and stuff

Neighborhood friends--We have the friendliest street I've ever lived on! The weekend usually ends up with lots of kids sharing backyards (one new neighbor has a big trampoline, and I actually feel a little sorry for them now that the whole street of kids knows about it!)

Cora and Nikki

Isabelle and Elisabeth with Elisabeth's dog - isn't he gorgeous? I love this picture because I get to imagine we have a pet, but not really have to go through with taking care of it :-) One day...


The Primary had an MTC experience for the children at church one Saturday. The girls really loved being "Sister Olson." It was weird for me to realize that if (when!!) they serve a mission like I did, they wouldn't be "Sister Duerichen," like I was. I hadn't really thought about it until they put those little missionary tags on. Boo. Couldn't they use their mother's maiden name just for their missions? Is that thought an indication that I would I just be trying to relive those 18 months through them? And if yes... so?!


Brad took the girls to the Renaissance Festival-- they have literally asked us at least once a month since last year WHEN were they going to get to go again. And we made the costly promise :-) But they had fun again, and this time I opted out to stay and chase Soren in the comfort of our own home :-)

Halloween!

I had a hard time getting pictures of the kids dressed up, even though they dressed up more than once this Halloween season! Clark was a strawberry--it's tradition! Cora and Soren both had turns wearing that costume. Isabelle was a mummy for one party, then a witch. Cora was a pretty princess! Soren was whatever. He was a "pop star" for a party, since I couldn't come up with anything original, I tried to spike his hair, but discovered that we don't own any gel in this house! Just mousse, which doesn't quite do extreme hairstyles. Anyway... here they are :-)