Vida. Risa. Amor.

I love helpful people....and they are rare to find in these times. I had a lovely cashier actually work with me and my insane stack of coupons to help me earn my free movie tickets. The deal was you had to buy 10 specific items that qualify and a free movie ticket would print out. Well I wanted 2 tickets not one, (like I'm going by myself), so I purposely found 20 things, (and as always, I had coupons for each and every item). I've done deals like this before and have learned to not buy a bunch of stuff you really don't need, and I was lucky that every item I bought happened to be something we use regularly...like toilet paper and french fries. The problem was that it was a limit of one free movie ticket per deal, so she had to ring up 10 items, and then had to start another separate order for the other 10. Well when you have a stack of 25 or so coupons, and a 3 year old who is sick of sitting in a grocery cart car seat belt, there really is no time to figure out which coupon goes with each different order. But this rock-star cashier lady really went the extra mile to sort my coupons out even though I was holding up her line. I was also sorry for the elderly couple behind me that were patiently waiting and though I kept apologizing to them, they kept telling me they were impressed and wanted to learn how I do what I do.

There's more to deals than just coupons. Since I have a few grocery stores I visit weekly, I've also learned who the cool cashiers are and who aren't...who are smart, and those who really should just run the self check lanes. My basic rule of thumb I live by, is to pick the lane with the male manager or the high school guy...even if it means waiting a little longer. They take every coupon. I have also discovered that most women cashiers are more likely to hand your coupon back to you if it doesn't work or stand there and analyze it for 4 minutes, call in a supervisor, and then still hand your coupon back to you. On occasion I run into extreme coupon Nazi's, and once was told I could be responsible for them losing their job if they didn't make sure each and every one of my coupons match up. I never forget a rude cashier. And if they can't pronounce my last name, they shouldn't ask for it, #1: because they won't remember me, and #2: I'll make sure to avoid their lane next time anyway.

I clearly spend a big part of my life figuring out grocery deals. I think even if I were wealthy, I'd still watch for sales...my conscience wouldn't allow me to buy milk at $2.99 when another store had it on sale for $1.58. I might be a little freakish for all this, but I'm tempted to save my reciepts from a year and figure out my total savings. I've noticed that I usually always save over 65%. In these times, I don't think there's anything insane about saving $2000 a year on groceries just by using coupons...especially for a family of 6 living off of one income. On this visit I bought about 30 items and spent only about $40....AND earned my 2 free movie tickets!! I really believe it pays off to spend a few minutes reading the grocery store ads every Wednesday, cut coupons on Sunday, and then match up coupons with the sales.

The best things in life aren't always free, or easy, but if you can save a few bucks on grocery expenses....that's a total bonu$!

I'm lovin my boys this week. No particular reason, except that I just adore them at both their ages right now.

Today Aydan had a double header for his football team, and he scored twice and grabbed 9 flags!! We weren't sure he knew how to play, but he sure did today!! They both make me laugh and amuse me with their crazy games they play. This week, my dream for them came true, as we finally splurged on a trampoline for them to jump away their energy on. Outside. The hot weather is coming and I don't think my couch can take any more of their leaps and kung fu bouncing. Another fun surprise is that a good friend of ours gave us their kid's jeep cruiser. I don't know the right name for it once again, but it's battery operated and is a kid version of a golf cart...(what every kid dreams of having!) So between the Jeep, the trampoline, the fort building, the light saber fights, the lego building, Star wars Wii, and zorro dress-up, they sure know how to find something to do!

I also hadn't taken them out to a movie in a while, and thought it would be fun to see How to Train Your Dragon with them. All I had to do was buy them popcorn and a huge icee to share, and they didn't ask for anything until it was over! And wow...What a great movie! I think I've always been fascinated with the idea of flying and the Dreamworks people really know how to entertain us with the idea of that experience! We're looking forward to a seeing a lot of new movies coming out this summer too...and I like the idea that I get to see a few of them with my boys!

I'm beginning to love Arizona. I'm probably saying that now, because it's April and this is our "bragging season" with the temperature only reaching the upper 70's while the nights are still cool enough to wear a jacket. When it starts reaching 117degrees in July, is about the time when I start considering other options of where might be a better place to move...but I try to remember to remind myself that for the 6 months of blazing heat we have to endure through, we also get 6 months of "perfection" to make up for it.

It was abso-freaking-lutely beautiful where I hiked with my friend today. Without a cloud in sight, the morning sun seemed to bring out the natural beauty of the wildflowers that are really making a statement this month. I've lived in Arizona for almost 7 years now, so I know that if you don't take the chance to get out and see them, you will totally miss it. The hot fuschia pink flowers are just blooming off the cactuses...(I refuse to say "cacti", which is the correct plural of cactus, because some words are just lame to me)...and the splashes of purples, yellows, oranges, and white against the green color of the spiky cactusES proves to me that only God knows how to make the best bouquets. There were also groups of butterflies chasing each other and birds chirping all around that made it feel like I was in a fairyland.

Of course I forgot my camera, so I won't be able to post pictures until I learn how to download them off of my cell phone....which also captured another amazing find. We found a 10 pound desert tortoise on our hiking path! My friend moved him under a shady tree and hoped when we came back down she could bring it home. At the rate it was moving when we found it we never would have imagined it would have gotten far, and I'm guessing maybe it didn't like the idea of moving to a new home so he figured out a way to hide. It's shell was the same color of the rocks, and it's obvious he had some skills in the art of camoflauge. I have seen a few coyotes in the desert, but I have yet to see a scorpion, or a rattlesnake, or a tarantula...but of all things today: a desert land tortoise!! (A.K.A.: A turtle!!)

So I'm hoping I can get out a few more times before Arizona turns into an oven soon. I'm getting more interested in learning the names of the mountains and their "secret" paths, the desert plant life, and yes, even learn a few actual names of the several different species of birds that I've been "informed" live here. But until I can get comfortable with saying big words like Cacti, strawberry hedgehog, globemallow, and brittlebush, I might have to rely on my expert mother to keep me informed....(she's smarter than google!) I might have seen a pair of golden eagles gliding at the top of the mountain I hiked today...which is just another reason I think we should be allowed to brag about for living in Arizona.

Well Spring Break has already come and gone, and before I forget some of the fun things we've been up to, I thought I'd try and jot it all down. My mind seems to be stuck in "list-mode" so I guess I'll just list off the top 10 things that have happened for us in the past few weeks:
#10: Hikes. We hiked to the top of Usery Mountain with the boys. After many water breaks, an hour and a half later we made it to the top! Aydan out-hiked us all, and Rylan didn't like the idea of coming in as the "2nd" Palacios boy to make it to the top...they are both very competitive! (He prefers to be known as the "first" 3 year old Palacios boy who made it to the top, and also allowed us the privelage to carry him most of the way back down!) We also went on a little trip to Papago Park with Aunt Jen and cousins Micah and Maddie....the rocks there are a little too adventurous, but the weather is too beautiful not to get out and enjoy!
#9: Lanie went on a one week road trip with Grandma and Grandpa to New Mexico and Colorado Springs. She loved the aquarium, botanical garden, and zoo, and came back extremely educated on birds! She also visited with her cousins Kenzie and Hudson and loved helping Bets & Jon with projects around their house and watching movies with them. One week seemed long and we sure missed her!
#8: Josie went on a 3 day trip with her youth group from church to California to visit the beach and Knotts Berry Farm. She had a blast, though she is still devastated to have lost her favorite unicorn.
#7: Our church is celebrating it's grand opening! We have been attending Mission Community Church for almost 7 years now, and have been there when they originally met in a high school...today the attendance has now more than quadrupled in size, and huge renovations have been made. I have come to love their "mission statement" taken from Micah 6:8...To act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. In the goal to keep God glorified in all our church does, 5 years of clean water has been donated to a community who had no access to it. Evidently more people die each year of water contamination diseases than from any war or other illness....and the majority of those people are children. I love to be a part of a community that cares to make a difference and I hope to find more opportunities to give back.
#6: Teeth & dental issues. Aydan had to have a cavity filled and bit on his lip while he was still numb so his face swelled up for 4 days. Rylan also had to have a cavity filled and after he was sedated, the dentist found out the damage was worse so they ended up putting a silver cap over the whole thing....he thinks he's got cool teeth like his Dad now. Josie finally gets braces!!...only 18 months to go!
#5: The girls had their birthday pictures taken with the coolest photographer in Arizona! Aunt Jen caught some amazing pictures of them and we can't wait to get them framed soon.
#4: We tried out the local YMCA. It was a free week trial and since it was just me and the boys most of the days, it seemed like a genius plan. There's a rock wall, a small square pool, and child care & plenty of treadmills. In my opinion it wasn't worth continuing for the price they were asking and I'd rather pay the extra $$ to get the benefits at Lifetime for a couple months during the summer...I actually miss the total body conditioning classes there....I think it shows too...I think I'd better hurry up and run another 8 miles soon.
#3: House projects. We had our house painted and it looks awesome. I love the way a new coat of paint makes everything look clean and fresh. I also fixed up a few room decorations I've had issues with....sometimes it just takes a while to notice things are lame until you finally see that a big blue painted square in your front room really isn't that cool anymore. We also bought another Ikea daybed to replace the Ikea loft bed we just got rid of. It only took us 4 hours to put together and it's always fun when you miss a step and have to undo a dozen screws to start again....but atleast it was on clearance. I also spent a morning rearranging the furniture in the boys bedroom...it seems to be some kind of an addictive thrill for me to find a new way to create more space in a small area.
#2: Sports. Aydan started up his flag-football season with the Cardinal's and had his first game today. Josie's Barca soccer team has had tournaments for the past 3 weekends and played 11 games and won all 11! Since they are the Open Cup champions, their next tournament could be in Oregon in June. Lanie is taking a break from softball until fall but has an upcoming overnight trip with her girl scout troop soon.
And the #1 thing we've been up to is................Life!
From cleaning, coupon organizing, yard-work, laundry, groceries, practices, homework, church, school, friends, vacuuming, van maintenance, blogging, cooking, and as usual....much much more.
Life is full, we all have our health, and the weather is perfect for opening windows and letting in fresh air.
Spring has never looked better.

I literally have a suntan line where my sunglasses cover my face, and I couldn't care less because today was the 7th game in 2 weekends of tournaments for my daughters soccer team....of which they won all 7 games! It has been an exciting end of season for both the parents and the girls and the competition isn't over as they still have semi-finals to continue with their Open Cup tournament next weekend. The team is playing at such a higher level of skill now, and each girl has their own unique moves and nicknames that the games are guaranteed to be exciting to watch.

The families and parents that show up week after week at their games have become a close bunch of friends too. There are Dad's that pass out sour candy after every goal they make...Mom's that bond about the "moods" our girls put us through and talk about everything from sickness worries to movies...kids wrestling and rolling down the hills and trees behind the chairs of parents watching the games..."occasional" shouts of offsides! penalty! yellow card ref! Who's the best goalie ever?! Good job defense! Look at those moves! Get that out of there! Take the shot!...And we all have a lot of laughs together and cheer each other's girls on with wup-wups and ton's of clapping and lot's of encouragement.

Signing Josie up for a club soccer team was a big decision for us to make, and after 2 years of great coaching, positive support from other parents, practice commitments, and team bonding, it has really turned out to be a great experience. We've been on "soccer time" for a while now...(always figuring out how long it takes to get everyone up and fed and caffienated and out the door and into the car and then to the games 1 hour early to warm up.....and then of course there's the snack planning, fast food and bathroom stops, and sun-shade & chair loading)....

I'm so proud of my daughter. She has become such an amazing athlete, and I'm not just saying that because she's mine, but because it is so true. She is quick, and it always puts a smile on my face to watch her outrun anyone who comes her way. As a defender, it is rare if anyone can get past her! Soccer is a team sport, and I love that she hung in there during some weeks she was burnt out, and for staying committed to finishing strong and doing her best. It has been a great season and I'm excited to see her progress and support her in whichever direction she chooses to go next....I'll always be her #1 fan, (as I am for all my kids).

So what do I love most about being a soccer Mom? Being there.
...the grass. the sun. the team. the game. the whole experience.
...knowing everything has a season, and enjoying every minute of it.

It feels so good to put my feet up after another busy week of birthday celebrating...the balloons have been deflated, the leftover cupcakes and pizza are slowly disappearing, the neglected laundry is done, and the kitchen is decoration-free once again. My girls turned 11 and 14 this week and it doesn't seem too long ago that they were only 3 and 6! I've done a gazillion different birthday themes throughout the years for each of my girls birthdays and it was fun to remember a few of them...

When Josie was one, we celebrated with a cake in the shape of a chicken since I used to call her my "little chicken"....(not sure why...but she just was and still is). Some of the themes throughout the years were Little Mermaid, Tarzan, Gold for her Golden 6th, Cowgirls, Flip-flops, Tie-die, Bowling, 70's Flashback, and Unicorns. Probably the most memorable was last year for her 13th when she invited 26 girls to come over for 4 hours to play Guitar Hero and jump on a rental bouncy thing in our backyard! We toned it down a little this year as she "only" invited about 10 friends to go see a movie and come back to just "hang out". I think we've finally made a turn in the road now where I don't have to plan games and crafts at her parties anymore...though she still let's me make a cute cake!

Lanie was born 3 days before Josie's birthday, so she's mostly shared her parties with her big sister for many years. She also had a Golden theme for her 3rd, Rainbows on her 5th, a princess dress up tea-party, monkeys, a Hawaiin luau, sleepovers, and decorate-your-own-cake with homemade aprons and crafts to paint! This year Lanie, (like her big sister), was all about Team Jacob from the latest Twilight movie: New Moon. I'm secretly a fan as well, but I'm constantly remembering that I'm exactly twice the character's age!...so boo for me getting older I guess, but yay for a fun party!

I also love decorating cakes that go with each parties theme. My favorite cake I made for both of them to share was a few years ago when I decided to try and die the cake batter with food coloring and stacked about 7 different rainbow layers to make a rainbow cake. Recipe following isn't my strongest character trait, so I just stick with cake mixes sold in boxes. Coupons is my other excuse, which sometimes makes their cakes free!! I'd also like to add that there will probably never be an exciting new recipe with cute pictures to go with it on this blog. Betty Crocker and I get along just fine.

So the girls "birthday week" is over and they're another year older. I love to be able to take the time with the little details for their parties because for one reason, I have the time, and also because it's a little way I want to show how much I just love them. They're both special to me in their own way, and they're both fun to watch when they're hanging out together...especially when they do their random 5 second dance parties together! They'll probably have to "share" their birthday celebrations every other year or so, if not for convenience for the family, but because they want to...because sisters are forever!

I like to listen to a lot of different kinds of music and one of the ways I find good songs to go running to is from hearing them in movies I've watched. The opening scene in the movie Legally Blonde plays a song called "Perfect Day" as Reese Witherspoon's character goes about her day all super happy in her little world with her little chihua-hua sidekick. It's rare to find songs that both pump you up and have decent lyrics. I even started my half marathon back in January listening to this song..."I'm in the race and I've already won...and gettin there can be half the fun, and don't you try to reign on my perfect day!"

"Perfect" days rarely occur for the average mother of 4 these days, and I don't have an adorable chihua-hua in a tu-tu named Bruiser, but I sure did have a random day where everything seemed to go right and so I just wanted to write about it so I wouldn't forget!

The first detail I should mention that made this day awesome was that it was Chemo's first day off in about 6 days so it was nice for all of us to see him home. After he volunteered to drop the kids off at school, I started planning my chance to "escape". I haven't had many chances to get out and run so I started my day with the hope I still had the ability to conquer 8 miles. The weather was picture perfect at 60 degrees with sunny blue skies and I was happy to finish without passing out and a little relieved to find out I didn't let too much time go by before this run would have been impossible. When I walked in the front door, I was surprised to find out Chemo had scrubbed our shower and toilets, had also disassembled our broken garbage disposal to find parts for to fix, and unclogged one of our bathroom sinks. (And I really just need to say, without any hint of sarcasm whatsoever, that there is nothing sexier than a man cleaning or fixing things around the house without having been asked....seriously.

This day was also between Lanie and Josie's birthdays and since their Dad had the day off, we thought it would be fun to take them out of school to go to lunch to their favorite place for chips and chili-queso with Grandma and Grandpa. It was nice to have a reason to actually style my hair and get to hang out with my parents since we've all been a little busy to just sit down and catch up. Grandma picked out the cutest trendy spring tops for them and gifted up their shopping cards very generously! They were so happy!

I had taken Lanie out shopping the day before, so it was Josie's "turn", and we really had a fun afternoon at the mall together. She found a couple of fun t-shirts for herself, and I was excited to find 3 shirts for myself for $10...(coupons always save the day!) When we came back from shopping, Chemo was in the mood to take me out alone so we took off for another happy hour date and left the kids alone with their Wii, T.V. show's, & frozen pizza. (I was seriously enjoying my day off of no dish washing, or meal planning!!)

The day ended with the kids going to bed on time and happy, and we were able to watch a movie alone together. Weeks where we have two family members with birthdays back to back are usually busy, so it was awesome to find a day in between where everything seemed to just go right. It really was a gift...just about the perfect day!!