Goooooaaaal #2!

Ah, yes... our littlest one is coming along very nicely as a soccer player (she's #5, like me!). Last Saturday she scored her second goal. She received the goal kick from the other team, headed straight for goal like a bat out of hell, and scored. Woohoo! She earned $5 for that one. Every goal afterwards will be $1 now. We only did the financial incentive for her to learn she COULD do it. Miss Mika, on the other hand, looks apprehensive and tired on the field. She refuses to dribble up the field with the ball (instead, she looks to pass it off right away, which is usually not a good idea since most girls her age don't understand the concept of "being open" for a pass). In fact, she is downright refusing to sprint at all (she just jogs around leisurely). This is excruciating for me to watch, simply because I know Mika is probably the fastest one on the team - she's just chooses not to exert herself. *sigh* Oh, well...

Last Saturday was also the (homemade) banner competition day. Look, there's a ribbon hanging off my banner! Well, I was a little disappointed, but we did score a 2nd place ribbon for our division. Now, I can relax about the banner getting dirty (never mind that last week, I spilled coffee on it, right before team pictures! Did you know coffee washes out of felt pretty well? Whew!). In case you were wondering, the finished banner size is about 5' long x 3' high...

On my last trip to Marika's classroom, I took a picture of Marika's self-portraits. I think she learned all of her drawing techniques from her sister. =)

A few weeks ago, we went to "Family Day" at the local library. The highlight for ME was finally getting in to see the Lincoln Shrine. It was neat to see Civil War artifacts (although they had a rather unnerving black-and-white picture of a pile of severed limbs - *shiver*). The girls got to pose with these fine people, too.

Fall is coming, but I was able to get a couple of interesting nature shots recently. Here's a damselfly up close and personal (very rare - they're very flightly).

And this... is some really weird fungus growing on our lawn. When we first saw it (middle picture), we thought it was dog poop or vomit. Upon closer examination (yes, I do go up to weird things to look closer), I realized it was fungus - the picture on the left is when it *just* begins to start growing and the picture on the right is when it's probably about to release millions and billions of spores.

Tidbits:

1. Barnes & Noble is offering a free trial membership (2-months) to new customers. You might want to check it out... if you're already a member, U3D8B4J works for 15% off (expires 10/27) and another one (that does a multiple discounts, like $5 off $50, $5 off CDs over $10, etc.): C4R4K3B - but I only use it for BOGO free on B&N Classics.

2. Betterworldbooks has revamped their Bargain Bin to make things even cheaper. You can also use promo code: NECKBOLTS at checkout for an additional 13% off your purchase of 2 or more used books (expires 10/31/10).

3. Free digital kits at Design House Digital! If you register, there are 13 kits you can download for free!

4. If you have a Tuesday Morning near you, you may want to pay them a visit. Yours had "Just Chillin' - Boys" clear stamps (by Making Memories) for $3.99 (I had to have them, JUST for the bug stamps in there!) and a "Whimsy" (Making Memories) paper kit for $4.99. You know it's been a long time since your last visit, when they're re-arranged the store and tell you it happened 2 months ago!

5. Like shopping at Pier 1? Here are two printable coupons...

6. Cold Stone Creamery has a printable coupon (2 "Like It" creations for $5).