What I’ve Been Up To

On my Google Reader I subscribe to many of the "Deal Alert" and money saving blog sites. They are useful to a certain extent. Sometimes, by the time I get around to reading a certain post, the deal is no longer available either because of limited supply or expiration date. Another problem I have with the sites is the regional limitations. I am constantly marking all "as read" because the posts are not relevant for stores in my area.

This is where Twitter comes in. While Twitter hasn't replaced blogging (yet), it has replaced the necessity of subscribing to so many blogs. By following the Bloggers themselves on Twitter, I am alerted to deals when they break. If it looks like a deal that is worthwhile, I can click on the URL that often accompanies the Tweet.

Works great…but it can be better. What I need is a "network." I have no desire to start my own deal blog, but I want to somehow alert others about deals in my area. For example, Fresh & Easy recently had their grill packs marked down to $2.50. This is a great deal for 4 lbs 11 oz of chicken, sausages, and hamburger patties. I found out about it by a phone call from my mom. Of course, I didn't want to keep this info to myself. I wanted to enlighten others in my town with this knowledge. To do this I could either a) call everyone, thus intruding upon their lives or b) direct message each of them on Twitter, which ended up doing, thus taking up more of my own time than necessary. I could have just updated my Twitter status, but that would have also updated Facebook and not all my friends in the world of Twitter really care about coupons and grill packs.

The answer to this is GroupTweet. Instead of sending out individual direct messages, anyone in the "group" can send out a direct message to the "group" name and it will send out a Tweet to the whole group. (If that is clear as mud, just click on the link above.)

I have been working on this for a while now, and I think I have a pretty good grasp on how it all works. So… if you live in Hemet or San Jacinto (or are just curious to see how this all plays out) come check out the group's Twitter page: Hemet Valley Savers. You do not have to follow each individual in the group to see the updates. You just have to follow Hemet Valley Savers and the group has to follow you.

My goal is to not be the only one alerting everyone to great deals. Hopefully, others will share their deals, tips, strategies, and extra coupons (hint, hint!) I have been thankful for my friends that have helped so far and I am eager to have them share their shopping tips with others.

Ice Cream Cutie

Believe it or not, she ate this whole thing by herself!

Into the Wilderness

My husband is very concerned about the health and well being of his family. In order to ensure our fitness and also to create some family togetherness time, he took us all out to the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve. By the end of this "quality" time. I am sure he had a lot more sympathy for Moses.


This is toward the end of our journey. Right after we saw the coyote. This encouraged the kids to walk faster. No one wanted to be at the end of the line; just in case the coyote was especially hungry.

This is actually at the beginning of the hike. Notice the happy faces.

Yes, Jericho is carrying a purple backpack (with Tinkerbell on it!) No, Ransom is not practicing to be a rapper. I think he just likes to look like his Uncle Jonathan.

Hero and her tiny frog. This was one of the redeeming qualities of our trek.

Jericho's Graduation

Here are the photos from Jericho's Kindergarten graduation. Jericho had quite a big speaking part, but he managed to memorize the whole thing. We are so proud of our big boy!

In the cap & gown.

Saying his part.

Getting his dipoloma

His cool squirt gun from Grandpa & Grandma. He was able to use it on the last day of school. They had a "Water Day."

Jericho's First Lost Tooth

Jericho pulled out his first tooth...then he lost it. Actually, to be more accurate, we lost it. I put it in a baggie then set it on the mantle supposedly out of harm's way. Well, the time came to place it under the pillow. I reached up to get it to no avail. The tooth was gone! Our theory is that the baggy was thought to be trash and since Monday is garbage day, well...needless to say, Jericho was heartbroken. Thankfully, he found some cash under his pillow the next day that cheered him up.

Hair Today....

...gone tomorrow.
Jericho really did want his hair shaved off; Mommy just didn't want it so short. I was all for cutting his hair off for the summer, but I made the mistake of cutting it without the "cheaters." I normally cut Justin's hair and I never use a guide. So, when I started to cut Jericho's hair, I just took the razors and made a buzz right down the middle, starting in the front. At that point it was too late to do anything but cut the rest off too. Jericho loved it. Of course, Ransom had to have his done as well. Just like Daddy. Good thing they have such a handsome Daddy!

Ransom Recents

Here are some pics of my wild two year old. He definitely has lots of energy, but he is getting better at channeling it (somewhat.) He seems to finally have the potty thing down, although he still has accidents from time to time. I am just glad to be diapering one kid. He plays really well with Mercy. She follows him around everywhere, like a little puppy. He is loving toward her in a rough sort of way. I especially enjoy listening to him explain things to her. I can see the role of a scapegoat in Mercy's future.

Ransom has gone back to taking naps again. I hope it means he is growing.

He loves jumping. Especially when Daddy is home to show off to.

For Ransom, every day used to be "crazy hair" day.

Fingerprints Field Trip

A couple weeks ago, Jericho's class took a field trip to the Fingerprints Kid's Museum. I was happy that I was able to go along on this little excursion.

"Row, row, row your boat..."

Jericho and Michael climbing the rock wall.

My twin cousins, Mitchell and Michael. Hopefully this is not a glimpse of things to come.

Easter '09

Well, I guess this is a case of better late than never... Truth is, I actually had a post ready to go with lots more Easter pics, but either the computer or the user (my bets are on the user) had issues that night. When I went back to edit the post, none of the photos were saved. Story of my life. Anyway, this is as close as we get to looking like a "happy" family.

Justin's New Blog

I will get the link up in my sidebar soon, but fyi, my husband has a new blog. You can check it out here.
I will try to get more photos up soon. We are actually having issues trying to get our photos off the camera. Yes, we tried taking the memory card out and putting it in the slot. That's not exactly the problem.

For Your Information...

Just to update you: we have decided to leave Hero at CCS for the next school year. Thanks to everyone for your prayers and encouragement!
Oh yes, and for total randomness:
Ransom is teaching Mercy how to pet the dog. He said, "Pet her gentle," then showed her how to do it. This coming from the boy who literally pounces on her whenever she is laying down.

Decisions

We've been faced with a few challenges these past few weeks. The first major one was Justin's job. Right after we came back from vacation, he was told that he would be transferring to Palm Springs to open the big new store. This was a difficult transition for us. We have been rather spoiled having Justin work so close to home. We now see this as God making His leading more evident in our lives, although at first we were very uncertain of where His path was taking us. Please pray for Justin as he continues with his schooling, internship, work, and also his safety as he travels.
Another decision that has arisen is one that I thought we had pretty much settled. We decided to home-school Hero and leave Jericho at CCS for one more year. We have now been given the opportunity to leave both of the children at CCS for only a little bit more than it would have cost if we home-schooled Hero. While financial issues were not the main reason we were home-schooling, we are thinking of taking advantage of this opportunity. Other factors have arisen that are leading us to this decision. Please pray for us in this issue. Our decision needs to be made very soon and we are still weighing our options. We want to glorify God in all areas of our life including the way we educate our children.