The King Clan on Halloween

Two power rangers, 2 cowboys, and a pink lady - oh, the joys of Halloween!

I am really trying to keep up!

Ok, so I haven't written much lately. But, in my defense, I have been posting on facebook a lot and many of our newer pictures are in albums there too. So to give an update on our random lives, here's the goods on what's up with the King's:

~Jeff started a new job on Tuesday. He is doing the same thing as before (security system sales), but with a company that has more potential and compensates the employees for their hard work. He also recently helped me finish building our garden boxes and we are so excited to have a full blown garden this year for the first time!

~Henry finishes his Kindergarten year tomorrow. He has grown so much the past few months. He is energetic, feisty, and a little too smart for his own good. He is reading fairly well now and knows how to operate our iPhones, computers, and theatre room. His summer plans include spending a lot of time with his "block buddies" (there are so many fun kids that live on our block). We also will be at Seven Peaks Water Park at least twice a week since we got a season pass there. Oh, and he just lost his first front tooth this week!

~Elijah is now a 3 year old. He loves being the boss of everyone. After almost 9 months of being potty trained, he now will go to the potty by himself (without someone helping him with pulling his pants up and down). Hooray! He still puts himself down for naps when he's tired (I know, I'm lucky). But he is a super picky eater and prefers all his meals in bags or packages . . .

~Trevor is still the smiley baby he has always been, but he will be 16 months tomorrow. So I guess I should say he isn't much a baby anymore. He can talk a little more than most his age - his repertoire includes: Amen, thank you, down, eat, food, Momma, Dadda, juice, uh oh, ow, shoe, and hi (I am sure I am forgetting some). When he's not trying to find a way into the bathroom to play in the toilet, he is finding my iPhone to play with . . .

~And then there's me . . . the only new stuff is that I did the American Fork Women of Steel Triathlon on May 16th. It was really fun, though, I wished I had trained a little harder and practiced transitioning from swimming to biking a little more quickly. I still would love to do one more this summer, but can't decide which one to do. I also joined this nutrition and fitness group (started by a friend from my last ward). It is called "Live the Life" Kristi Approved. It is a nutrition plan that teaches you to eat to maximize your metabolism's power. The fitness side of things includes weight lifting everyday, which I never have done consistentely before, so I am excited about results. But I will not post my "before" picture, unless my after picture is spectactular. I have 9.5 weeks to go and so far I have lost 6 pounds, 3 3/4 inches off my waist, and 1 inch off my hips. More importantly, I am learning to eat super healthy foods and expanding my horizons with organic and raw foods (I ground my own wheat and oatmeal this week to make oatmeal flour and cream of wheat. I am going to try whole wheat pita bread tomorrow - fun!)

Saving money.

So I was really excited about the deals I got this morning at Albertson's, that I had to post it here too. I went after my run in the morning because I was worried everything would be gone. I ended up spending $29.08. And are you ready for my savings . . . $183.79!! Whoo hooo!

Couponing Fun!

Ok, so I don't really need another thing to do, but since I have been on this couponing kick the last month, I have saved a lot of money. Normally I am a generic brand, Wal-mart shopping gal so I feel like I normally save a lot of money. But Claudia Griffith and a few other girls in the ward talked about spending only $100-200/month on groceries (not just food too). I had to get in on this craze! So we usually spend more than twice that per month, at least, when you throw in diapers, baby wipes, deodorant, toothpaste, lotion, personal hygiene items, etc. My goals this year (besides losing 20 pounds and becoming a secret agent) are continuing my 3 months supply of everyday eating foods and getting my year supply of other foods. Since I have started couponing, I almost have my 3 months supply of everything (except perishables) and about 2 months of wheat, flour, sugar, oil, beans, oats, powdered milk, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cornmeal and rice. I hope I can accomplish my year supply in the next few months with the amount I am trying to save grocery shopping.

So to get me excited about this endeavor, I am going to post my good deals for shopping to keep me pumped. So this week I went to K-Mart (where I rarely shop) who has double coupons this week. I needed cereal and http://www.savvyshopperdeals.com/ told me about some other deals with coupons. Anyway, I got 5 boxes of Special K (I love the cereal, but rarely buy it because it is super expensive), Juicy Juice for the kids, and some soup meals. And my grand total was $3.03 (and .54 was tax)!