Thou shalt not judge...

Our car wouldn't start in the morning. Eric turned the key in the ignition few times, but - no luck. There was barely any time for us to compose our thoughts on what to do next - whether walk to a car parts store to buy a new battery or try jumping it. Well, we just got out of the car and here comes our neighbor with jumping cables and a box in his hands. He overheard our car's desperate plea and was on his way to help. Boy, was he prompt! And not only the boy, even his father came up and helped. This was the first time we spoke to our heighbors since we moved in. Just yesterday I posted about neighbors Christmas decor describing them in not such a nice way. And today I am eating a piece of a humble pie. Here is another thing to be thankful for: neighbors.

Thanksgiving craft

I know that we are well into November and a lot of people setting up their Christmas displays. Even our profanity-screaming-shoving-pushing-loud-neighbors got their nativity scene set up on the front lawn. It seems I can't part with my favorite autumn colors. We went for a family neighborhood walk recently and found some pinecones, which we were able to use in this craft project. All we needed were a vine wreath, hot glue gun and some festive ribbon. Misha and Valentina took turns using glue gun. It seemed to be the most fascinating part to them. Towards the end though, Misha wasn't amused any longer. The ribbon pulled the look together - and there you have it: a Thanksgiving wreath ready to be hung.

Maybe the day after Thanksgiving I'll pull off all that bright orange-yellow-red decor off and hide it away for another year, but right now I'll enjoy it for a bit longer and think about all the things I'm grateful for. Like fall colors. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Daily routine

Putting lego blocks together and building houses has become an almost daily routine for my kids. They often ask me or daddy to help them. For example, today I helped them build furniture for their houses like bunk beds and sofas. Before Halloween Eric played with the kids building some scary-themed scenes like this:

My little munchkins with their LEGO creations

Fancy Nancy

Valentina borrowed a Fancy Nancy book from the library and we read it together. It was really cute. So, as a little tribute to all things fancy, we had a dress-up night. Jewelry, tiara, high heels, sparkly dress and make-up - the more the better. And this is a final result. Ta-da!

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

And I say it is not because its holiday season or anything, but because November in Florida IS wonderful - not scorching hot and not freezing cold, yet it is comfortable enough to go to... Water Park! We went to Blizzard Beach on Saturday and had tons of fun. Misha is tall enough now to go on almost all rides which we did without waiting for parent swap. He kept asking me and Eric if we're going on a "wedgie ride" - Slush Gusher or Summit Plummet. I hezitated at first, but then got brave enough to try Slush Gusher. If you never experienced "burning bum" sensation, try it)) Eric tried the crazy one - Summit Plummet. I refrain from commentaries on this one. We all swam in the wave pool, the creek, and rode multiple rides. Yes, I can confess, I am a big kid at heart when it comes to water parks and Toboggan Racers ride is my favorite one.
Family favorite I should say is Teamboat Springs - Misha and Valentina couldn't stop giggling all the way down, and it is the one where you can go as a family and share the oohs and aahs together.

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.