A story

Once upon a time, a nana booked a yurt for a night so that she and the papa could take the seven local grandchildren camping for a night. Tents scare her any more, so a yurt seemed like a good compromise. There were very few dates available by the time she went looking, so she chose a date and hoped it would work.

But then Papa got scheduled to work out-of-state on that very same night, so Nana decided to be brave and take the beloved progeny by herself. 

The bathrooms were a small hike away, so they all made a field trip of it every time someone needed "to go."

Unfortunately, Josh had a real trip, but Daniel, like every good Boy Scout, was prepared with a first aid kit.

Which was just as well, because Nana was woefully unprepared for gore.

Thomy had had a busy week and was tired and grumpy, so he ended up going home instead of staying the night.

Nana put together lots of craft supplies, and the favourite was the lanterns, made from plastic peanut butter jars, tissue paper, and battery-operated tealights. They were a big hit, so thanks to friend Brenda for the idea. Those lanterns added a cozy glow to the yurt all night long.

Daniel wanted to light the fire, but Kenzie insisted that he always got to do it, so she demonstrated a rather beautiful log cabin design that lit in a trice.

The lanterns kept watch.

They ate s'mores and hot dogs and sang "Under the Lilacs." 

It goes something like this, only in a slightly different horrible way, without the "boom-chinga-chinga" thing.

[My sister and I learned the song when we were in Brownies in England, and this is the second generation that has learned it from me.

I am so proud.]

Nana was very thankful that no one fell into the fire.

How would she have explained that to the parents?

Nana didn't sleep well, as the mattress was like a rock (big surprise) so she woke up early. This rabbit was having a feast outside the yurt. He wasn't at all fazed by the presence of six rowdy children and their befuddled Nana, but she couldn't get a photo of his face to save her life.

Bat boxes in the morning sun. They were right next to the yurt, but no bats were spied.

Miss M stayed up way too late and slept in.

It made Nana happy that the grandkids were enchanted with the spirograph, which hasn't seen any use for about twenty years.

Nana had found a new giant bubble recipe and after everyone got tired of quiet crafts they broke out the wands, once again borrowed from friend Hope. Nana inadvertently left her camera on the night-time setting, so the pictures aren't very good, but they're all there is.

Young Jeff turned out to be the master bubble-blower.

Papa turned up just in time to get in on the last of the bubbles, play some ball with the boys, and help pack up.

Nana was very glad to see him!

Madelyn was especially fascinated with the squirrels, who hovered around, hoping for snacks.

They headed home around noon, delivered Jeff to his happy mama, then re-packed the car and took the five Mitchells out to the Ranch for the weekend while their parents escaped to Canada for an anniversary celebration.

Nana was so busy that it occurred to her at the end of the weekend that she had hardly taken any photos.

But they went swimming and ate and played games and ate and went swimming again and ate some more.

And Miss M was being ornery about something so Nana took her photo and she said "Me see" and when she saw it she said "Oh coot."

And she is.

And late Sunday night the parental types returned to the fold and everyone was very happy to see them.

And then Nana went gratefully to bed.

My name is Sue and I am a food-storage-aholic

When we had four kids at home and not a lot of cash to spare, I saved money on groceries by couponing and shopping sales. My grocery bill was always minimal and I always had plenty of food around. Jeff kind of hated it it but was always impressed when he would go to the store with me and I would pay two dollars for a bag full of food. 

I was a super-couponer before it was popular. I can't even do it the way these young moms do it these days, all the websites and store rewards programmes make it more complicated than I care to deal with. But, thanks to the omnipresent (in our part of the world, anyway) Grocery Outlet, I find bargains galore and my cupboards are fully stocked all the time. I have come to the point where I really need to use up my supplies before they get so old that even I won't use them. Every time I think I am making progress on that front, I run across another great buy and I'm back to square one.

Case in point, my fridge. 

Freezer on top of the fridge, where it has become hazardous to open the door for fear of being hit by falling frozen objects.

Pantry. Similar risk of falling objects.

Second freezer, full to the gills.

Closet in spare room, full of long-term storage but also some things that need to be eaten.

Closet in Jeff's cave, with buckets of wheat and other long-term storage.

Because I have no willpower for ignoring bargains when I shop, I decided the only way to fix this is to do it cold turkey and not shop for a month, starting yesterday. I think that we can survive easily without shopping for that long and I will be able to make a good-sized dent in my excess. I plan to eschew stores completely, not just grocery stores. Amazon will also suffer from a loss of my patronage. 

I barter for milk and eggs, and I often find free fruit and vegetables at the local senior centre, so that should keep me supplied with enough fresh things to keep me happy, along with berries, rhubarb, and salad greens from my garden. I am also allowing myself to buy used things if I happen to run across something I need, but I'm not going to visit thrift stores or garage sales, so it's unlikely to happen.

It will be interesting to see what tempts me, although I plan to stay well away from my favourite couponing websites. There have already been a couple of challenges:

1. Jeff has been hankering after some new cowboy boots and Wilco put out a coupon for $70 off last week. Unfortunately, he was out of town till late Thursday and we have been busy with grandkids all weekend, so I told him he can go buy them without me tomorrow. A little cheat, I suppose, but he is happy to not suffer for my aspirations.

2. I need some more glue for my blinging of a bowling ball, so it may have to wait until September. Which is killing me, because I was on a creative roll. 

Anyone have some spare E6000 around? 

One last bit of doting

The title is a lie, 'cause you know I'll be doting again as soon as you turn your back.

I'm going to pack all the remaining photos into one blog post, so here goes.

Annie's family left for home on Thursday morning, so I snuck a few more photos. Here's Edwin and his little clone.

The three littles with their Nana quilts. How can they live so far away from me?

Elsie loved being the older cousin, and London loved all the playmates.

Victoria and London decided to play in the dog cage.

And then Victoria tried to close the door on London, who didn't mind a bit!

That evening, Sam and I took the babe for a hot and sweaty walk, so we had to visit the splash pad afterwards.

Friday morning was almost cool, albeit humid, so I sat out in the back garden with the dog and the babe.

And then it was time to go home.

We dropped the lad off at work on the way to the airport.

Making like Tigger

I found a Groupon for a bounce house in Plano, but it was sold out. 

We went anyway.

I know. You are astounded at my lack of thriftiness.

It only cost $34 for the eight of us, and we had an absolute blast for two hours, so I figure it was a bargain at the price.

There were lots of great bouncy structures, but the big slide was the best of all and the only one where I could really get any photos.

Victoria loved it.

She tried to ascend the stairs on her own and got mad at me when I tried to help.

Everyone but Victoria in the hurricane simulator. It was most hilarious to watch and Annie said she was nicely cooled down by the end.

I hesitate to put this photo up for the world to see because I look like a big old whale, but it's proof that I did go down the big slide.

Many times, as it happens. 

Luke waited for me almost every time so that we could go down together. 

More splash pad for the four older kids when we got home, while I stayed with a napping Victoria.

It was a fun day and I smile every time I think of it.

Just me and the gang

Papa, who had been in town since Wednesday, had to leave for work in Colorado on Sunday evening. Here he is with his two best girls. They both love to kiss him.

Sam and Charlie also had to fly out that evening for a family funeral in Southern California, so it was lucky for me that Annie and tribe were able to hang around for a few more days. Otherwise, it would have just been me and Wrangler for three days. And yes, I love the boy, but that would have been a bit too much quality time.

Sunday was a pretty quiet day. We played games and read books and watched movies and planned activities for the rest of the week. The dominoes were a big hit.

I spent most of the evening ferrying people to the two Dallas airports and getting lost on the way home.

We went to Costco on Monday. 

Costco is a great form of entertainment when it's too hot outside to do much of anything.

Annie and kids tried out the big chair.

Gabe was more interested in wanting to know where Daddy was and refused to get out of the cart.

We bought books and groceries and ate lots of samples, and then stopped for frozen yogurt on the way out.

Did you know that two Costco frozen yogurts will feed five kids and their mom and nana? 

Best bargain ever.

Edwin wasn't thrilled with the idea, so he got a beef sandwich.

Baby girl loves sugar in any form.

Seen on the way home. Texan humour.

More playing at the splash pad when we got home and then everyone was happy to vegetate in front of a Redbox movie.

And did I mention that by the end of Sunday, Luke and Bryce were both calling me "Nana"?