thrifty bargains{REI members only sale}

1. women's keen targhee hiking boots

original price $140

REI members only sale price (used good condition) $19.95

2. women's keen alamosa shoe

original price $120

REI members only sale price (brand new returned) $49.95

 3. men's Keen targhee hiking boot

original price $140

REI members only sale price (brand new returned) $49.95

4. thule raceway 3 bike car rack

original price $250 +

REI members only sale price (new return) $25!!!

on Saturday we went to the REI members only sale.

REI is one of our fave stores 

& this time being a member more than paid off!

we are a Keen loving family.

they are THE most comfie shoes ever.

 my kiddies all time fave, most worn shoes & the only ones that hold up to their abuse (even after a year or two).  

this time hubby & i were on the hunt for hiking boots with ankle support to add to our Keen collection 

& we also wanted a multi bike rack for my car.

we also got a few other little fun things super cheap.

WE DID GOOD!!!

  

teenager + homeschooling {it is official}

it is still unbelievable that my oldest brownsugar K turned 13 in January!!!

(blogger ate that post grrr)

BUT THIRTEEN PEOPLE!!!

& we have had a teenager in our house every since but not at all

(as of yet) in the negative sense of the word "teenager". 

we are proud & pretty fortunate to be blessed with such a mellow, kicked back, all around good kid in our beautiful 1st born girl.

this is definitely the beginning of new season for our little fam & it has actually been a lot of fun so far. 

Monday was the last ptc of the school year with K's charter 

(thank goodness all 3 girls will all be at the same charter this year) 

& IT IS OFFICIAL!

this next school year,

along with new 2nd & 5th graders

 our little homeschool will have an 8th grader!!!

YIKES!!! 

i have had 2nd & 5th graders before,

but for some reason 8th grade is a tad bit scary

(& it came so dang fast!).

but with it brings some exciting changes for this

 upcoming homeschool year.

so this summer along with thoroughly enjoying myself,

i'll also be getting a head start on my homeschooling thru

high school research.

thankfully a couple of dear homeschooling mama friends who have been thru this season & lived to tell about it have recommended a few books to order to get me started.

i have never researched or planned our schooling so far ahead before, but it's getting serious over here & i'm on it!

world oceans day {day 2}

 

 

 Friday the girls & i spent World Oceans Day at the Carlsbads Inn.

since Hubby was with us for the weekend we decided to make a weekend of it.

1st we hit the REI members only sale in Encinitas.

(sooo glad we did! thrifty bargains coming soon)

after lunch we hit one our favorite beaches:

Moonlight Beach.

it was so nice to have Hubby off for the weekend.

so glad he finally had some time to relax.

he deserves it.

 we decide to grab ice cream at The Forum shopping center before heading home.

i was such a happy girl!

Anthropologie, Free People, Urban Outfitters, H&M,

& many more fab stores in one shopping center!

with a super short time limit,

 i took off to the shops while the fam enjoyed their ice cream.

*HEAVEN*

guess which store i spent most of my time in.

anthropologie

i could live in Anthro forever

& miss living less than 10 minutes away from one of my fave stores.

 i came home with lots decorating inspiration & a long wish list.

(poor hubby)

                free people                

urban outfitters

bummed i only got a quick look around at

Free People & Urban Outfitters.

i miss living less than 10 mins from UO too.

sooo much fun stuff but i needed more time.

even though she still hates shopping, i keep telling my oldest brownsugar how much she NEEDS to go to Urban Outfitters.

i think it may change her mind ;)  

world oceans day {day 1}

Friday was World Oceans Day!

it was also our last day of this school year & the last parent teacher conference of this year for the two younger brownsugars.

coincidentally, on this World Oceans Day, 

our ptc was held at the FAB Carlsbad Inn Beach Resort.

after our brief ptc, we were treated the rest of the day to fully enjoy the resort & its' private beach.

playing in the warm sunshine, amazing turquoise water,

fantastic waves, etc...

all of it such a fantastic celebration of World Oceans Day, 

an awesome reward for the end of all our hard work this school year

& THE perfect kick off of MUCH awaited summer break

for us beach obsessed brownsugar girlies.

many thanks to our more than gracious master teacher {D. K.}

for a successful parent/teacher partnership this year.

see you next school year!

until then...we will be thoroughly enjoying our summer.

BRING ON SUMMER!!! 

thrifting{rocks, minerals & fossils}

the brownsugars & i just wrapped up our rock & mineral unit.

seems like we were on it FOREVER!

we are rock hounds & out of natural curiosity we tend to study rocks alot. But this was our second (& probably last)time doing a formal rock unit.

some of the stones & fossils in our collection are from when i was a curious young rock collector.

the others we're mostly gathered or found super cheap at estate sales, thrift stores & yard sales of teachers that were purging their materials or retiring.

we took the entire collection out 

& identified, classified (igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary), observed (physical & other properties) etc...

we updated & revised our old lap books, did a few projects & dug deeper into some of our other resource books.

this year also i ordered new fossils & break your own geode kits that were both fun.

we were actually kind of surprised by the amount of stones we have accumulated & decided to clean it up a bit.

some we donated, some we used in crafting & some we used in the garden.

now feeling confident that we have thoroughly exhausted studying rocks, minerals & fossils (formally)...we are onto our weather unit.

*post edit-somehow my computer flipped out overnight (somehow went Google+ & Babylon search???) & now it is automatically taking words in my posts like "study & estate sales & linking them to advertisements...need to figure out what's going on...sorry bear with me :( *FIXED*

weekending. saturday & {unplugged sunday}

saturday

[beginning]

[middle]

[end]

{unplugged sunday}

saturday

[beginning]

we were instructed to lounge around in bed & not to come into the kitchen.

my smallest brownsugar A & i caught up on some reading while

my middle brownsugar M pulled off a fantastic fam breakfast surprise she planned with her Daddy only there to follow her instructions.

to my surprise she made 2 loaves of the most moist & delish gluten free chocolate chip pumpkin bread i've ever had.

i cannot bake to save my life

so for her to get the correct texture & moisture content in her loaves is quite an accomplishment

(not to mention a hands on life lesson such as measuring, fractions, following directions, meal planning, etc...)

 on  

along with turkey bacon & fresh slices of watermelon it was a fantastic meal.

[middle] 

while i got caught up on paperwork (BOO!!!),

my biggest brownsugar K practiced her guitar.

she is such a quick study

& is making such beautiful progress.

 it is so lovely listen to.

[end]

since He was home all day Saturday we decided to hit the 

Oceanside Harbor & grab some ice cream on the beach after dinner.

so glad we did, it was a nice (chilly!) way to end our Saturday. 

{unplugged sunday}

[beginning]

ok it wasn't a completely unplugged because i'm in the middle of wrapping up work samples & the end of this school year check out with our charters (YAAAY) so i had to go online for a bit to check some dates & messages etc... 

we also sampled an audio sparkle stories story 

(love!subscribing!)

but after that, being online was over...

[middle]

our congregation meeting,

which of course, was all about none other than freely forgiving one another, since that is the exact place i'm in.

James 3:2 is a great humbling reminder that "we ALL stumble many times..." & our imperfect human being selves need to be forgiven constantly & consistently.

 *super guilty*

Ephesians 4:32 is a another great reminder (command even) to

"...become kind to one another, tenderly compassionate, freely forgiving one another just as God by Christ freely forgave you." 

(& keeping on forgiving & keeping on forgiving...etc...).

this talk was obviously *lovingly* specifically designed just for moi...good thing i did not miss it :)

[end]

afterwards i came home had lunch & put up on my snuggly pjs & Ugg boots,

 i poured a cup of hot tea & snuggled up with my new snuggle buddy, the stuffed kitty my little A gave me to use when she is too busy to snuggle & my newly washed no longer stinky brown dog & caught up on some reading.

a pen pal letter from a friend in England, some new mag issues & 7th grade chemistry to round it all out.

farm notes{cute & thrifty repurposed teachers appreciation gifts}

(pix taken before i added rocks from my yard on top of the soil. accidentally deleted the after pic)

this year for our charter school teachers thank you gifts

we made cute low maintenance repurposed mini succulent garden mugs.

this is one of our new fave gifts to give!

the succulents are from our gardens propagated succulents (instructions here) 

that we have gathered either from

succulent plants growing in our community

or cuttings shared by friends (it's a hobby).

the brownsugars & i went to our fave local thrift store

(it is run by mentally challenged members of our community.

cannot say enough about how fab this store & this program is!)

the girls picked the mugs they liked for each teacher.

we brought them home & potted & tagged them.

THE TEACHERS LOVED THEM!

the entire project took about 10 minutes total to assemble. 

easy peasy.

local, personal, natural & repurposed materials

& costs less than $5 (including a 4th mug not shown!).

*happy girl*

a few other teachers gifts we have given here here here