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I have found an exceptionally cute children's book. It just makes me smile. My daughter tells us it is magic.



So simple, so sweet, so completely original. It is impressively interactive. I would never have dreamed a book could be so hands on. Next visit to the library, look for this one.

Couponing, to do or not to do.

I am considering stepping into the world of couponing.

Considering.

I am not committed yet.

I am not even entirely convinced it will help my family's situation.

Luckily I do not have access to cable or satellite television so I am spared the shows about people who save millions of dollars devoting their lives to using coupons. I do admit there is a bit of jealously though. It is an impressive skill. It obviously pays off. Not only do you save money but apparently people want to watch you on TV too. I hope they get paid for those appearances.

Here are some of my hang ups with the world of coupons.

• I am lazy. I don't know that I want to devote hours to finding deals for every single item I intend to purchase.
• I also don't want to spend the money to buy news papers I never intend to read only to get the coupons inside.
• My observations thus far have lead to me to believe that simply buying the generic brand saves me more money than a coupon ever will. I was recently introduced to the idea of looking for things on sale and then adding a coupon. I guess that could lower it below generics sometimes.
• Coupons seem to be nearly 80% for foods I have no intentions of buying. OK, so yes, I have a discount for Captain Crunch . But I don't need 2 boxes, I wasn't going to buy any to start with. It doesn't save me any money if I am buying foods I wasn't going to get originally.
• Shopping with children and trying to use coupons never seems to end well. I always end up standing there for 10 minutes per item trying to make sure the product and coupon line up. Half the time I have missed some detail like the expiration date, wrong ounce, incorrect number of items etc. So I didn't save any money when I get it wrong on a product I probably wouldn't have bought otherwise.
• Things I need to buy- lettuce, apples, chicken, fish never seem to have coupons. When is the last time you saw coupons for fresh produce? (It is possible you have, I don't come across them.)

I did however clean out an abandon email account and signed up for some free coupon sites. I have stumbled upon a few that are things I do want to buy such as Vanilla Almond Milk. I love that stuff. I don't mind getting a dollar off. Especially since I don't drink regular milk, it is my replacement.

What about you? Do you use coupons? Are they worth devoting lots of time to? What are your tips for shopping? I would love to hear your suggestions.

Relax already

I feel like I have been holding out on you. I am finally ready to share.

A year ago my husband and I stumbled upon Ludovico Einaudi. ( No, I can not pronounce his name either.) He does mainly piano music, some orchestral arrangements. As Ethan has noted "Primavera is like the perfect piano piece." Everything you ever imagined a piano piece to be is in this video. OK, as long as you wanted it to be peaceful, inspiring, beautiful and fun. We have his CD and highly recommend it. Put it on in the background and just enjoy. It is fabulous. This is one of our favorite pieces. There are many more. Take the next few minutes and just listen.

I hope you loved it as much as we do.

Let me hold your crown Babe.

I wanted to share with you one of my new favorite artists. Her name is Sarah Bareillis. I really enjoy her music.

This is "Love Song." The piano part is fabulous. I also love this video. I think the concept fits so well with the lyrics.

Next up is "King of Anything." Yet again, the video has some neat ideas. The silverware piano is something I would never have thought of. There are moments where I think it is hard to look at due to the disrupted focal points.  The beat in this song is so fun.

She has another hit out right now called "Uncharted." Still very distinctly her style, thus I enjoy listening to it. Though there maybe some mild profanity and I watched the video and am not sure I am ready to share that one.

I hope she keeps making great music. I really enjoy her songs.

Here are some of my thoughts from the day.

• I love the library. I also love looking up a book before I show up and then knowing exactly where to go, thus speeding things up for my less than patient children.
• Today's weather was perfect. Seriously. Perfect.
• The green beans in my garden are doing fabulously.
• My strawberries are growing so well. Mulch them in pine needles for bigger sweeter berries. I tell you it works.
• Maintaining a level of cleanliness should be easier than a massive over haul. Why can't I remember that?
• My son Caleb gives the best hugs.
• My daughter Naomi can radiate bad attitude from 20 feet away.
• A week when the weather is so hot you keep the fans on high all night long is an excellent week for having a broken dryer. At least I won't be using the electricity on the dryer. I will have to spend that money on the bills the fans bring in.
• I recently finished the 3rd Hunger Games book. I really enjoy that series. It is so well thought out. I love the concept and how they each fight back in their own way. I also enjoy that although I may think I know how it will end, and maybe I'm right, she still throws in some serious curves. Whoa, wasn't expecting that.
• Phebe can sing the "clean up" song. OK, so there aren't distinguishable words in there, but the melody and intent is definitely recognizable.
• Pizza is positively one of my most favorite breakfasts.
• Tomorrow is my son's last day of school. Yes, I am celebrating!
• Today, I received a phone call saying not to allow my son to talk to school using a certain route that was only a few blocks from the school.  It was blocked off due to a show down with a SWAT team and a veteran suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. It was kind of a bizarre morning. 

Summer deep thought #2

In the summer I can run the dishwasher or the washing machine without worrying about it effecting my shower. During the winter running them to close to bathing time is terrible.

In the summer however, hot water is less desirable. Thus I can run my appliances and happily take a cool refreshing shower at the same time.

I enjoy that.

Teaching the Bedlamites

In my opinion this was one of the most humorous, uplifting and educational talks. I really enjoyed it. Sometimes I was laughing, sometimes the spirit touched my heart. Please take time for this talk. You can read the text here.

I know there were some questions about what general conference is. He speaks quite a bit about the actual event of general conference. He answered a lot of my questions concerning it.

Clearly anyone who thinks Jesus taught no-fault theology did not read the fine print in the contract! No, in matters of discipleship the Church is not a fast-food outlet; we can’t always have it “our way.” Some day every
knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ and that salvation can only come His way. 


^{This one made me laugh out loud.}
We know that most in our audience are not guilty of such things, but we are under a solemn charge to issue warning calls to those who are—wherever they may be in the world. So if you are trying to do the best you can—if, for example, you keep trying to hold family home evening in spite of the bedlam that sometimes reigns in a houseful of little bedlamites—then give yourself high marks and, when we come to that subject, listen for another which addresses a topic where you may be lacking.