Highlights

I'm currently in between hair stylists and it's been awhile since I've had my hair done. I had a hair cut two months ago but I haven't had highlights done since this summer. My hair has been looking pretty dark so I decided to bite the bullet and get highlights.

I have the best girlfriends ever. Since I'm cheap and I didn't want to pay salon prices, they agreed to come over and do my hair.

Bonus, Melia - the cutest baby EVER - tagged along!

Three and a half hours later and I was blond again. My hair is much lighter than I thought it would be but I love how it turned out. (Every time I see myself in a mirror, I ask Mike if it's getting lighter. He promises it's not!) I had promised to post a picture right away so the giries could see it dry. Please excuse the lack of make-up and fact that I didn't "do" anything with it. I'm on vacation and you're lucky I'm even taking the time blog right now. :)

Golf and tacos

In an effort to maintain a somewhat frugal lifestyle, I decided to enact some rules regarding birthday's. Nicklas has always had very nice birthday parties. We go all out, inviting his friends and family and spending a fortune on food and decorations.

(For example, last year he invited his entire class to the movie theater. We spent less on that party than any other year. And 18 kids came!)

So I decided to cut back. The boys get a birthday party every other year. On their off years, they can invite a friend to spend the night and we'll take them to dinner and a fun activity. This past weekend, Nicklas had his birthday activity. He choose Monster Minigolf as his activity.

First, the silly pose...

This is much better!

And guess what he picked for dinner? After telling him he could choose anywhere, he narrowed his list down to Texas Roadhouse, Sonic, and Taco Bell. (Hubby was secretly rooting for Mountain Jack's.) He picked Taco Bell.

TACO BELL?!?! Don't get me wrong... I like me some taco's every now and again. But if I could choose one meal for my birthday, I'd come up with something much better than Taco Bell!

Weeeeeee!!!!!!!!

Woo hoo - I got a Wii Fit! I've always wanted one and would occasionally ask store clerks if they happened to have any stashed away. That would usually result in a chuckle from the teenage boy with the name tag who would roll his eyes at the poor lady who actually had hopes of randomly finding a Wii Fit somewhere. No, he'd reply. We don't have any Wii Fits. Don't you know they're harder to find than an actual Wii?

After having this conversation several times, I decided to change my strategy. The ads in the Sunday paper would occasionally advertise Wii Fit availability at a particular store (minimum of six, sorry no rainchecks). My MO on Sunday mornings is to leisurely wake up, make a bowl of cereal and sit at the table and read the paper. I always read in the order of the paper, skipping the sports and classified. The ads are usually last. Once or twice when I actually saw the Wii Fit advertised, I'd throw on some clothes and dash to the store to find they had already been purchased (minimum of six, sorry no rain checks). Yeah, I could have gotten up early and been more diligent reading the ads first in case I came across one. In fact, I actually did that one Sunday - I woke up at 7:30, grabbed the paper, threw aside the news and scanned the ads. And nothing. No Wii Fits available. Totally not worth missing out on sleeping in.

Promising never to do that again, my new attitude was to take my chances and if it happens, then great but if not, that's okay too. No more asking the stock boys (sorry, I think associates is the PC term), no more getting up early on Sundays, and no, I wasn't going to pay $130 on eBay when the MSP is $89.99. And like those who get pregnant after finally giving up on getting pregnant, and those who get a call from the ex just after they'd finally forgotten about the ex - well I found my Wii Fit just as I'd given up my hunt. And yes, it was advertised in the Sunday paper. Lucky for me, it was at Toys R'Us and they don't open until 10am. Plenty of time to get the family fed and dressed and over there for some shopping. There was a moment of panic that we'd get to the parking lot to find a line of people but when we arrived at 9:35, the lot was empty. And when they unlocked the doors at 9:55, Mike, myself and two Purdue students claimed our tickets, paid our $89.99 and picked up our Wii Fits at customer service.

So our Wii Fit is ready to go (my mom gladly accepted the second one for herself) and after six months of pining for one and shelling out the $100 (there's tax and the service plan, you know), I know realize that it's my responsibility to USE the Wii Fit. $100 is 3 months at a gym so I need to get my money's worth out of it. Oops, I sort of forgot about that. I got caught up in the chase! And now it's time to get fit.

Dollars and sense

First, I want to give a shout to my mom who is celebrating her birthday today. I called her this morning before I went to work, hoping to be the first one to wish her happy birthday but she was already at her work and had been wished happy bday by everyone there. Sorry I couldn't be with you today but I hope enjoyed the evening with Jon and Jake.

I love you Mommy!

With school in full swing (Nicklas had homework for the first time today!), Mike and I have been discussing what activities we want to put the boys in. I'm the first to admit that I'm a pretty cheap individual. I dislike spending money (unless I'm in a casino) and I try to be thrifty. I hope my cheapness isn't annoying to others. I try to hide it. I tell people I'm frugal. But really, I'm just cheap. Along those lines, I am constantly complaining about the cost of the kids activities. Swimming lessons for 6 weeks at the Y costs around $60/each. And they spend 80% of the time hanging on the edge of the while while the instructors work with other kids. I want to Nicklas in piano lessons but it's $15 a lesson. Soccer and baseball aren't too bad but now that Seeger is getting old enough to participate, I'm less excited about signing them both up for things but I just don't want to keep shelling out the money.

Nick's best sport is swimming and Mike and I think its important for both boys to continue taking lessons. (Maybe we've been watching the Olympics too much.) So it looks like we're going to have Nicklas go out for a swim team run out of Jeff High School. The callout is Monday. I know it's going to cost a fortune! I would have preferred to have him do soccer which is only $25 for the season but the games are held on Saturday's which means he'd miss most this fall since we bought him an IU football season ticket this year. I don't know how much the swim team will cost but I may nix the idea if I think its too much.

One very inexpensive activity the boys recently participated in this summer is Fine Arts Camp. This was the third year for Nicklas and the first year for Seeger. Held at the beginning of August and put on by a church in downtown Lafayette, they went to camp from 8:45 - noon every day for a week. At camp they participated in sessions like music, singing, dancing, and arts and crafts. On Sunday, the campers performed at the church service.

Here is a group shot.

Here is Seeger with the other preschoolers, getting ready to sing.

Here is Nick's bell performance.

And he also sang and did choreography. I see a future First Editioner!

After the service, there was an art show. Seeger made a flower and some sort of seashell/cement thingie. Nicklas painted a picture with a hockey theme and attached modelling clay in the shape of a hockey player to it.

Most summer camps run $100-$200 per child (See the side picture - Nicklas went to Y camp for $150) but the Fine Arts Camp was only $25 per child. What a bargain!!!