Fourth of July 2011

We always go to Coronado Island for the 4th of July. Well all but last year when I was so overwhelmed with having a new baby that I couldn't even think about dragging him and all of his gear six hours across two states. But that's another story. This year we finally took Jackson for all of the festivities and he absolutely LOVED it! I swear, sharing things you loved as a child with your own children is the best ever. So we did all of the typical 4th of July things, Coronado-style.

Mr. Blue Eyes

Landen practicing his soccer skills.

Reading (his favorite!) books at Bay Books

Bribing Landen to read. lol!

Handsome almost-man!

Superman

Running from his mama.

Happy 4th of July!

Digging for treasure.

Beach babes.

Building sandcastles.

Quote I Love

Coronado Trip

In June we decided to take a spur-of-the-moment trip (rare for me) to Coronado Island. Usually a trip involves lots of planning and preparation and this time I just let myself go without worrying about things. Pretty liberating! We stayed on my mom's boat, which is amazingly fantastic! Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and right on the beach. Who could ask for more? Jackson absolutely ADORED the beach and his first word when he saw it was "water!" Digging in the sand, chasing the sea gulls, and wading in the water. . . . . who could ask for more?

Jackson and my mom.

My boys!

Picking out candy.

Landen and his treasure.

Beach boy.

"Water!"

Ok, not so much a fan of the water.

Sandcastles

Seriously mom?? Get that camera OUT of my face!

If I have a baby girl. . . . . . .

This is what her nursery will look like.

Disneyland 2011

Wow! It's been a long time since I've bothered doing anything with this little blog. Catching up is hard to do, but I'll start with some of our pictures from our trip to Disneyland in May 2011. The whole family went, so it was quite the crowd! This was Jackson's first trip to Disneyland so I was a little nervous about how he would handle all of the sights and sounds, but as usual he absolutely loved all of the craziness (I swear this kid is such a social butterfly!) and really enjoyed the rides. We were there for 5 days which gave us plenty of time to go to both parks and get on all of the rides. Jackson's favorite was "Pirates of the Caribbean!"

Waiting in line for the Matterhorn.

My sisters and brother. We take a picture with this guy every time we go!

Maggie the cow. Did you know Disneyland has a pet cow? Neither did I!

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride

The whole family. Yep, there's a LOT of us!

Jackson and my Dad

Of course my Dad bought Jackson this giant balloon, which we then had to figure out how to get home. It popped in the car on the way back to AZ. haha!

My love!

Jackson loved the goats.

Tea cups!

Jackson and Uncle John

Quote I Love

Calling All Extreme Couponers!

I don't know about you, but I looove the show "Extreme Couponing." Well, maybe not the hoarding part, but the money-saving parts thrill me!! If you're anything like me scoring something for free feels like a huge accomplishment and I just can't stop myself. Unfortunately I'm starting to feel a bit like the above-mentioned hoarders. Not good. Check out the picture below for an idea of what I'm talking about.

So, I was thinking. Maybe there's a way I can put my coupon-clipping skills to good use and help out people at the same time.

 Here's my idea. It seems like pretty much all of the free stuff I acquire at the grocery store are mainly toiletries that I'll never end up using because I have so many of them. What if I got a bunch of people together and we all pooled our free goodies and made individual bags for the homeless? I'm thinking we could put supplies like razors, shower gel, deodorant, toothpaste, and a toothbrush in a gallon size ziploc and distribute them to a local homeless shelter. In Arizona the number of homeless (especially families with children) has skyrocketed since the beginning of the recession and I know that local shelters are having trouble keeping up with it. Providing individuals and families with the basic necessities they need to stay clean and healthy is one way we can directly give back and impact communities in a positive way. Other items we could think about including are feminine hygiene products, diapers/wipes, pain relievers, lotion, sunscreen, and washcloths.

So what do you think? I know that if we get enough people together we could donate a ton of products! If you're interested in helping please send me an email at christy.owens81@gmail.com. I'll coordinate things and post more details when I hear from people!