Garden

This was a beginning of my little garden in our backyard. I dug the grass and weeds out of a rectangle-shaped plot and left it as it is. I planned to make a raised bed, but was really anxious to plant something, that's why I couldn't wait and went ahead without building anything. After it was cleared of weeds and sod, I made few little rows and planted seeds that I've been collecting over the years - sunflowers, poppys, zinnias, I even tried planting dill.

Well, as you can see here, nothing grew except for zinnias. I was really surprised they grew either. In fact, I was amazed when I saw flower buds on all the plants.

And here they are - my backyard pride, zinnias grown from seeds!

From buds to flowers...

Stop!.. And smell the roses, I mean zinnias.

October has come and gone...

...and with it a lot of activities, holidays, few sick days, new calling and of course, sweets. The kids attended 2 birthday parties - Kevin from Valentina's class and Peyton from church. There was a Fall Festival held at church with costumes, trunk-or-treating, games, face painting for which I volunteered to help. Well, I also had my own birthday this month. There was also a Community Garage sale at Eagleridge, which was worth mentioning because this was my first ever garage sale as a homeowner. Yay!

Yes, we all did get sick this month - no fun, I tell you. Cleaning after two sick kids at the same time gets your stomach turning for sure. I am grateful this is now a thing of the past and everyone feeling much better.

I mentioned I got a new calling, now I get to serve as a Relief Society secretary, which I am excited about. There is a lot to learn and to do, but it sure is a new step for me towards progress.

Valentina is doing good at school and learning so much every day. I am amazed how much she's improving with her reading. That is of course, if she works hard enough. Math is very eazy for her at this point, and I really hope she continues this way. It is math she chooses to do first every day for her homework. I am thinking though, easy tasks should be left for later, when you're done with harder ones or less desirable ones. Well, good luck to me convincing Valentina)) Misha on the other hand, is learning everything from his sister. He is a very smart little guy. His vocabulary often amazes me.

Halloween was another new experience this year for us since now we could walk in our own community. There was a day-time community party with games, free hot-dogs, cotton candy, treats, costume contests and fun. And there was a night time trick-or-treating. Tons of candy yet another year worth. )) I made kids' costumes this year. They both wore matching pirates outfits, which I thought were cute.

And one more thing I loved doing this month was saving money for our family with all-new saving trick I learned. Check out my previous post to learn about it.

Kevin's birthday party

Valentina and Misha at Peyton's birthday party

Being silly - find Waldo, aka Valentina and Misha

This little trick Misha does every time he watches TV

Everything ready to make a birdfeeder - pinecone, peanut butter, crushed peanuts

Halloween treats

My two little halloweeners

I heart Publix

Over $100 dollars worth of groceries for $38 - myth? No! It is real. And I am looking at my Publix receipt right now for proof. Using Buy One Get One free (BOGO) sales combined with coupons - is a recipe to thrifty shopping. And it also allowes to try products I usually don't buy, for example Luigi's Real Italian Ice. Of course, coupon search and collection can be a little time-consuming, but I believe it is worth it.
Check out here and here for coupon matchups.

Happy Birthday to me ;-)))

Butterfly on the wall is a clock, my friend made for my birthday gift

Seaworld

Polinesian show Makahiki Luau

I am not going to tell you how old I am now, the clue is there is a zero at the end. It was a big date, so thanks to my wonderful husband, the day was really awesome. My family surprised me in the morning with yummy breakfast, Eric baked cake, and at night there was a surprise dinner/show at SeaWorld's luau. I know it was hard for the kids to keep it a secret, but they did a great job. At one moment during the show all the children got called on the stage to dance. Valentina did a great job.

Kidfest

9th annual Central Florida Kidfest was held September 26th in our little town of Clermont. I really missed activities like this. We used to go to fairs, fests, you name it a lot when we lived in Minnesota. And you know that when you go, you'll end up with loads of promotional information and business cards that you'll never look at, well, who doesn't like free stuff? Eric calls them "crap shops" (so Eric). Well, we weren't disappointed this time. Kids had their arms painted, got balloons, dominos, pens, coloring books, and so much more.

There were horses to ride

Spider-Man

prises to win

funky beds to lay on

Smokey the bear

Radio Disney sponsored games

Valentina won free tickets for a new Tinkerbell movie

'Tinkerbell and a Lost Treasure'

We went to see the movie and it was very cute.

Terrific kid!

Positive attitude, good character and responsible citizenship - this is what this reward is about. Even though I don't completely understand the criteria on which the child is picked out of the class, it is a positive reinforcement and proud moment for any parent when their child gets recognized. It means I did something right. Maybe all those hours spent helping with homework and reading count for something. The kids that are picked have their picture in the local newspaper. They also receive the Terrific Kids certificate, bob-cat buck (school currency), pencil, free sandwich certificate at Chick-fil-A.

Congratulations, Valentina!

Happy 4th birthday to Misha!

Misha turned 4 on September 12th. We had a little family celebration with his favorite Spider-Man themed cake and gifts. I think he is taking his growing up really good, with high expectations for the future. In his own words: "Now I am three, and now I am four, and now I am five, and now I am six..." and so on. I just love his use of the word "now", because for him it means "was", "now" and "then". He can't quite grasp the meaning of present-past-future, but I love to notice how he tries. He also has a very diversified vocabulary, sometimes even superior to that of Valentina's. Sometimes I can't help but compare them.
Happy Birthday, my little man!

Misha with his giant Spider-Man balloon

Surprise!

Birthday phone calls

...more Spider-Man

...and Cars to match his outfit

And of course...

...LEGO!

Misha in his full gear

We went to Disney to celebrate. It wasn't busy that day. It rained the moment we got there, but the rain stopped and we were able to enjoy our stay. We rode few rides, visited with few characters and just had fun.