I really miss living closer to "action" there are not very many consignment sales around here, but I did find one small children's consignment store. I've gotten several things there, all for pretty cheap. Last time I was in the store I asked about consigning there because I have several baby items I no longer need or want, the lady working handed me a paper to fill out and told me a few rules.
I've sold things in a few different consignment sales and did pretty good, one I was impressed with the other I wasn't. Both of them took about 30% of your profit, but one also had random fees and charges just for selling. I was VERY angry with that lady because it wasn't very clear that she took those fees, all in all I ended up bringing home about $25 out of $75. I was VERY MAD. The second one took only the 30% and I did a lot better at that one, I brought home about $140.
After reading over the letter from the store I don't think I will be selling with them, they take 50% of what you make, plus they price the items how they see fit. To me that's a pretty bad deal. I guess if you are really desperate for money or have some items that you've tried to sell but can't then maybe it's a good idea. I have the things I want to sell listed on Craigslist, I'm hoping they sell, if not I'll hold onto them until fall when there is a consignment sale I can be a part of.
I will say though, shopping at the consignment store is worth it! things are priced very reasonable for a buyer. I still like the consignment sales better though, there's nothing like hundreds of moms trying to sell a bunch of stuff all in one weekend!! You can snag some great deals, and you can find just about everything you are looking for. from clothes, to bedding to toys, furniture, shoes and I've even seen baby shower invitations there! Don't forget the big items like bouncers, walkers, exersaucers and carriers!
My search for the impossible
My mom is making the girls their Easter dresses like she does every year. Only this year we have a boy too. So she's making him a tie to match their dresses. We never dress up, but for Easter I like to have them look adorable. So a Tie will be perfect. I figured it would be simple to find a pair of black slacks and white button up shirt. Boy was I wrong.
I've found some long sleeve white button ups, for a reasonable price, but finding a short sleeve one that is less than $20 is as impossible as finding a spa cover for a 40ft triangular spa. I've searched used and new and come up with nothing! I've got two people checking two different consignment sales for me, maybe one of them will find something, if not I've got a wonderful friend who has offered her long sleeve one that her son outgrew. FEW! at least I know we got the basics covered. But seriously, if you're the maker of baby clothes, take note- Make a plain white short sleeve shirt for babies under 12 months and sell it for cheap. you'll make millions.
I've found some long sleeve white button ups, for a reasonable price, but finding a short sleeve one that is less than $20 is as impossible as finding a spa cover for a 40ft triangular spa. I've searched used and new and come up with nothing! I've got two people checking two different consignment sales for me, maybe one of them will find something, if not I've got a wonderful friend who has offered her long sleeve one that her son outgrew. FEW! at least I know we got the basics covered. But seriously, if you're the maker of baby clothes, take note- Make a plain white short sleeve shirt for babies under 12 months and sell it for cheap. you'll make millions.
1 in 5
My husband and I met online, we've been happily married for the past 8.25 years. It's funny because everyone is always shocked when they hear how we met. Oddly enough, My mom and step dad met online too. Must run in the family (Eugene and I met first though!) I was watching a commercial yesterday that said 1 in 5 couples meets through dating sites.
I don't know what the statistics were 8 years ago, but I'm sure they were less. The best part is we didn't use a dating site, just a random trip in a Yahoo Christian Chat room. I can't imagine what they will be when Lexi is dating age (that's 30 right?)
I don't know what the statistics were 8 years ago, but I'm sure they were less. The best part is we didn't use a dating site, just a random trip in a Yahoo Christian Chat room. I can't imagine what they will be when Lexi is dating age (that's 30 right?)
Anniversary Moon
When we got married we did it kind of quickly and not the traditional way, we had no honeymoon, aside from a night in the Marriot. So now that we've been married almost 10 years were are thinking of taking a honeymoon of an anniversary trip.
We've thought long and hard and are still thinking long and hard about where we want to go. at first we thought somewhere warm and tropical, maybe a nice cruise where we can get some St. Thomas jewelry, or see some parts of Mexico. Now we are thinking more about Ireland or Scotland, or some European destination.
Heck, I don't care if it's the beach in Florida, as long as it's somewhere relaxing, fun and with my husband!
We've thought long and hard and are still thinking long and hard about where we want to go. at first we thought somewhere warm and tropical, maybe a nice cruise where we can get some St. Thomas jewelry, or see some parts of Mexico. Now we are thinking more about Ireland or Scotland, or some European destination.
Heck, I don't care if it's the beach in Florida, as long as it's somewhere relaxing, fun and with my husband!
Tennessee for Easter!
I'm very excited that in 3 short weeks I will be "home" in Tennessee. Yes, we only lived there for a few short years and we've been gone longer than we were there, but to me it's home. It's the place I made the most friends, found a church family i loved like crazy, it's the perfect environment and has everything you need close by. I even have an adopted dad there. I wish we could go back and visit more often than we do, we never have enough time to see everyone and spend the amount of time we want with everyone.
I'm excited to go sit down around the fire pit in the back yard talking and warming up, spending times with my pops and letting the kids enjoy him. They don't get to spend enough time with their grandparents, soon Eugene's mom will be here so they will get to see her and their pap more. And in a month or so we'll get to visit with my mom while camping. Parents are great, whether by birth, marriage, or adopted. They aren't appreciated near enough.
I'm excited to go sit down around the fire pit in the back yard talking and warming up, spending times with my pops and letting the kids enjoy him. They don't get to spend enough time with their grandparents, soon Eugene's mom will be here so they will get to see her and their pap more. And in a month or so we'll get to visit with my mom while camping. Parents are great, whether by birth, marriage, or adopted. They aren't appreciated near enough.
Why do I even look?!
Two Saturdays we were driving around just to drive around. it was nice out and we felt like going for a short drive. There are a ton of little roads and cute houses that line the hill out our bedroom window, so we decided to get a closer view.
We accidentally went past a road I wanted to go down and decided to turn around on this little lane. There was a for sale sign on the end, so we drove up the "lane" (driveway) to look at it. I peeked in the windows and fell in love of course. The inside needed new paint, it looked horrible, the colors were the ugliest colors I've ever seen in a house, but all in all it was a cute 3 bedroom, 2 bath, with a family room, living room and full basement. I called the real estate agent and found out it's a foreclosure, it's pretty cheap and even has a heat pump and central air- something rare around here.
I can just picture us living there, which I'm trying not to do, we're not 100% ready to buy a house. I like to day dream of the colors I'd choose, the addition I'd build off the kitchen for a dinning area, maybe even one of those cool home automation systems so I can program everything from my phone or computer while away. Anyway... I'm going to try to stop thinking about the cute little house on the top of the hill. :)
We accidentally went past a road I wanted to go down and decided to turn around on this little lane. There was a for sale sign on the end, so we drove up the "lane" (driveway) to look at it. I peeked in the windows and fell in love of course. The inside needed new paint, it looked horrible, the colors were the ugliest colors I've ever seen in a house, but all in all it was a cute 3 bedroom, 2 bath, with a family room, living room and full basement. I called the real estate agent and found out it's a foreclosure, it's pretty cheap and even has a heat pump and central air- something rare around here.
I can just picture us living there, which I'm trying not to do, we're not 100% ready to buy a house. I like to day dream of the colors I'd choose, the addition I'd build off the kitchen for a dinning area, maybe even one of those cool home automation systems so I can program everything from my phone or computer while away. Anyway... I'm going to try to stop thinking about the cute little house on the top of the hill. :)
Sun, Sun, Mr Golden sun...
Where did you go?!
Last week we saw weather in the upper 60's and low 70s. this week we've had snow, rain and 30 degree weather. Um.. isn't it spring?!
The cold wet weather has slowed down my painting. I got the living room painted while it was still warm, and the fumes were so strong we had to keep the windows open with fans in them for 2-3 days. I'm afraid to paint the dinning room because it's too cold to open windows. the thought of us being in here all closed up with paint fumes doesn't sit to well with me. So we're living in a house with spots all over the wall... maybe some day it will warm up enough to paint again!!
We're still working on making the living room look good. I haven't hung any pictures yet, we have so many big walls that I don't know where to put the pictures we have! We've hung the front speakers for our surround sound, but we need to get some speaker stands and figure out some way to hid the wires for the rear speakers before we get full surround sound. I hope to get the house feeling like our home sometime soon, maybe then I wouldn't be ready to move already!!
Last week we saw weather in the upper 60's and low 70s. this week we've had snow, rain and 30 degree weather. Um.. isn't it spring?!
The cold wet weather has slowed down my painting. I got the living room painted while it was still warm, and the fumes were so strong we had to keep the windows open with fans in them for 2-3 days. I'm afraid to paint the dinning room because it's too cold to open windows. the thought of us being in here all closed up with paint fumes doesn't sit to well with me. So we're living in a house with spots all over the wall... maybe some day it will warm up enough to paint again!!
We're still working on making the living room look good. I haven't hung any pictures yet, we have so many big walls that I don't know where to put the pictures we have! We've hung the front speakers for our surround sound, but we need to get some speaker stands and figure out some way to hid the wires for the rear speakers before we get full surround sound. I hope to get the house feeling like our home sometime soon, maybe then I wouldn't be ready to move already!!
Old memories
I've been thinking about some old memories, not real old, just some things that happened when Eugene and I first started dating. We were involved with a church that had family camp-outs twice a year. We were also semi involved with the youth. One of the camp-outs I remember very distinctly.
At the time of the camp-out I was a nanny for two families. I watched four children, two four year old boys and two one year old girls. Eugene and I were newlyweds and active, he was big into rollerblading and I was... well, trying. I was not good at all, and one particular time we had taken one of the boys out for a bike ride around his neighborhood while we rollerbladed. While going down a small hill i got nervous and decided to bail... only I, being the smart person that I am, chose the paved driveway over the grass yard. needless to say I ended up with a foot long, 6" wide strip of road rash down my leg. very painful.
Fast forward about 4 weeks to the time of the camp-out. We're helping/hanging out with the youth/young adults. we were playing games. one of the games was shoes wrestling. pretty much the point was to get each other's shoes off while keeping yours. the last one with at least one shoe on was the winner. There were about 25 of us to start, and i made it to the top 3. It was me and two guys. They decided neither of them could handle me alone, so they tag teamed me. I was attacked. one of them pined me down and the other put my leg between his and pulled down. At that moment, any scab that had formed over my road rash was torn off. (no I didn't give up the game, I still fought, but they got my shoes off).
One thing I know... road rash hurts. I can't imagine being in a bad accident and getting road rash over the majority of your body. Ouch.
At the time of the camp-out I was a nanny for two families. I watched four children, two four year old boys and two one year old girls. Eugene and I were newlyweds and active, he was big into rollerblading and I was... well, trying. I was not good at all, and one particular time we had taken one of the boys out for a bike ride around his neighborhood while we rollerbladed. While going down a small hill i got nervous and decided to bail... only I, being the smart person that I am, chose the paved driveway over the grass yard. needless to say I ended up with a foot long, 6" wide strip of road rash down my leg. very painful.
Fast forward about 4 weeks to the time of the camp-out. We're helping/hanging out with the youth/young adults. we were playing games. one of the games was shoes wrestling. pretty much the point was to get each other's shoes off while keeping yours. the last one with at least one shoe on was the winner. There were about 25 of us to start, and i made it to the top 3. It was me and two guys. They decided neither of them could handle me alone, so they tag teamed me. I was attacked. one of them pined me down and the other put my leg between his and pulled down. At that moment, any scab that had formed over my road rash was torn off. (no I didn't give up the game, I still fought, but they got my shoes off).
One thing I know... road rash hurts. I can't imagine being in a bad accident and getting road rash over the majority of your body. Ouch.
Little town moments
We live in a small town, but it's bigger than the one we lived in a few months ago. Today I had to take the kids to the doctor which is down by where we used to live. While driving through the small town we passed a house with about 10 lawn mowers in the yard. Some pretty nice riding lawn mowers and some nice looking push mowers, nothing awesome like a simplicity zero turn mower but that would look even funnier in a town like that.
We see some pretty interesting things in our small town, bright pink cars, houses painted colors you wouldn't dream of even looking at, There's even a horribly ugly baby blue Escalade, something that big should not be painted a solid baby blue...
People are great too... especially those at walmart. I don't think I need to say anything more about that. There's just something great and unusual about small towns.
We see some pretty interesting things in our small town, bright pink cars, houses painted colors you wouldn't dream of even looking at, There's even a horribly ugly baby blue Escalade, something that big should not be painted a solid baby blue...
People are great too... especially those at walmart. I don't think I need to say anything more about that. There's just something great and unusual about small towns.
Elevator fun.
We've been trying out a new church for the past three weeks, We've enjoyed that they have a special class for the girls, where they actually get a lesson and learn different Bible stories. So far everything has been good, the kids have been happy in their classes, and we've enjoyed the service.
The only thing I don't like is that the children are downstairs and we are upstairs, and the downstairs has it's own entrance. Other churches have security, either locking the doors or people patrolling, and they might too, I am just not aware of it. There is an outside stair case to get from one floor to the other, or there is an elevator. Sunday after church I went down to pick up the girls, then went back up to meet Eugene who was talking to the pastor, and apparently some kid had hit the Call button and there was a man talking to us asking us if we needed emergency medical assistance. It was kinda interesting to tell a voice in the elevator that we were ok and someone must have hit the call button on accident. It was a new experience for me!
The only thing I don't like is that the children are downstairs and we are upstairs, and the downstairs has it's own entrance. Other churches have security, either locking the doors or people patrolling, and they might too, I am just not aware of it. There is an outside stair case to get from one floor to the other, or there is an elevator. Sunday after church I went down to pick up the girls, then went back up to meet Eugene who was talking to the pastor, and apparently some kid had hit the Call button and there was a man talking to us asking us if we needed emergency medical assistance. It was kinda interesting to tell a voice in the elevator that we were ok and someone must have hit the call button on accident. It was a new experience for me!
perfecting pizza
I've been making homemade pizza for about 4 years now. I can't believe there was a time in my life when we bought frozen pizzas. We've bought maybe 4 in the past 4 years and each time we do i cringe at the price then am disgusted at the taste. Even the "best" frozen pizzas do not touch the yumminess of homemade pizza. I was shocked at how easy it was (I use a no rise recipe so I don't have to wait forever either).
Even though it has been delicious since day one, I still try to learn a new trick every once and awhile. I learned on the other day from The Natural Mommy. The trick is a hot pizza stone and preparing it on a piece of cardboard or wooden pizza thing like they use at pizza places, then sliding it onto the hot stone (never taking the stone out of the oven). My pampered chef pizza stone has never been good to me, so I was nervous to use it, but it worked great. The pizza was SOOO yummy. I love my stoneware, sure it's not le creuset stoneware but it works just fine (now that I got the hang of the pizza stone...)
Next time I make pizza I'm going to attempt to make the papa John's pizza dough recipe... yummy.
Even though it has been delicious since day one, I still try to learn a new trick every once and awhile. I learned on the other day from The Natural Mommy. The trick is a hot pizza stone and preparing it on a piece of cardboard or wooden pizza thing like they use at pizza places, then sliding it onto the hot stone (never taking the stone out of the oven). My pampered chef pizza stone has never been good to me, so I was nervous to use it, but it worked great. The pizza was SOOO yummy. I love my stoneware, sure it's not le creuset stoneware but it works just fine (now that I got the hang of the pizza stone...)
Next time I make pizza I'm going to attempt to make the papa John's pizza dough recipe... yummy.
Green thumb
My mom has the ultimate green thumb I think. Growing up our house was full of plants. Life filled our house, green leaves everywhere we turned. of course that wasn't always a good thing, because we also had dogs, and well, dogs like to run and play etc. Many times while we were gone they would play a little too rough and knock over the plants. We'd come home to dirt everywhere. Makes me wonder what would have happened if my mom used hydroponics instead of traditional soil plants, some days I think our house would have been flooded by the number of plants they could tip over in a few hours.
Since we've been married I've been on and off with plants, I normally have about 3-7 at a time, I'm not bad with them, but I'm no where as near as my mom is at keeping them looking healthy and pretty. I only try easy plants. The best I ever had mine look was one summer about 6 years ago, I lived with some good friends while Eugene was on tour. They had an amazing deck and I set my plants out there for the summer, watering them every once and awhile. They tripled in size over the summer, they must have just got the best light and weather there. They looked beautiful.
Then I moved into our apartment when he got done with the band and one fall night I left them outside... it got too cold and that was the beginning of the end for most of my plants. It was sad since several of them I started from pieces of my sister's plants. Right now I have 3 plants, they are all doing well, but some day when we have our own house and nice deck I hope to get several more and do my best to make our house feel more like my house growing up.
Since we've been married I've been on and off with plants, I normally have about 3-7 at a time, I'm not bad with them, but I'm no where as near as my mom is at keeping them looking healthy and pretty. I only try easy plants. The best I ever had mine look was one summer about 6 years ago, I lived with some good friends while Eugene was on tour. They had an amazing deck and I set my plants out there for the summer, watering them every once and awhile. They tripled in size over the summer, they must have just got the best light and weather there. They looked beautiful.
Then I moved into our apartment when he got done with the band and one fall night I left them outside... it got too cold and that was the beginning of the end for most of my plants. It was sad since several of them I started from pieces of my sister's plants. Right now I have 3 plants, they are all doing well, but some day when we have our own house and nice deck I hope to get several more and do my best to make our house feel more like my house growing up.
Why is this still here?!
I've found several misplaced items in my house since we moved. One of the most random are the utility knives that are sitting on my kitchen counter. I have no clue why they are there. I look at them every day, probably 3-5 times a day yet never put them away. Why?
There's also some tacks sitting on the book shelf in the dinning room and some packing tape on the fridge.... I have no clue why I don't just put them away. It couldn't possibly be because every time I see them I am in the process of taking care of something for one of the impatient kids or cooking supper or something similar. Oh well, I'm sure I'll take care of those things eventually...
There's also some tacks sitting on the book shelf in the dinning room and some packing tape on the fridge.... I have no clue why I don't just put them away. It couldn't possibly be because every time I see them I am in the process of taking care of something for one of the impatient kids or cooking supper or something similar. Oh well, I'm sure I'll take care of those things eventually...
The weight loss jouney begins again
I've done horrible with my weight since Josiah was born, I think I've actually gained a few pounds from the lowest I got. (I dropped 30lbs in 10 days right after he was born, but I've gained a few since then.) Yesterday morning my husband and I both got on the scale and realized we both have between 25 and 30lbs to lose to be at our ideal weights.
So we decided we'd do something about it. And since we're both in it together, maybe we will stick to it! Instead of trying to find diet pills that work, we're going to stop buying girl scout cookies (and all other forms of junk), start eating smaller portions and exercise! My knees have been good for a week now, so next week we are going to start walking 3-4 days a week and see what happens. If all goes well with my knees we'll up it and start jogging, or walking more often and further. Hopefully in a month I will be running again.
My husband's face was priceless tonight at supper when I told him he could only have two pieces of pizza. lol. About what my mind was saying the whole time I made one small pizza. Amazingly enough I'm plenty full. I've been doing good this week to avoid eating snacks after supper, I get bad cravings right after supper and around 9:30pm. The good thing is I KNOW my weak times and the foods that I have no self control on, so I can be sure to not buy those foods, and also be prepared with a full glass of lemon water at my weak moments.
Hopefully soon we'll be looking good! We've got a year to get ourselves looking great for our 10 year anniversary trip!
So we decided we'd do something about it. And since we're both in it together, maybe we will stick to it! Instead of trying to find diet pills that work, we're going to stop buying girl scout cookies (and all other forms of junk), start eating smaller portions and exercise! My knees have been good for a week now, so next week we are going to start walking 3-4 days a week and see what happens. If all goes well with my knees we'll up it and start jogging, or walking more often and further. Hopefully in a month I will be running again.
My husband's face was priceless tonight at supper when I told him he could only have two pieces of pizza. lol. About what my mind was saying the whole time I made one small pizza. Amazingly enough I'm plenty full. I've been doing good this week to avoid eating snacks after supper, I get bad cravings right after supper and around 9:30pm. The good thing is I KNOW my weak times and the foods that I have no self control on, so I can be sure to not buy those foods, and also be prepared with a full glass of lemon water at my weak moments.
Hopefully soon we'll be looking good! We've got a year to get ourselves looking great for our 10 year anniversary trip!
no more chai...
I am sad. I love chai but it seems my Josiah does not like it so much. I bought a container of Oregon Chai, and every day that I've had a glass, 12 hoursish later he fusses like crazy. Nothing other than gripe water calms him. I guess it's bye bye Chai for me!
It's been warmer here for a week or so now, I love it. Last week we went to the part 3 days in a row. I wanted to go yesterday but I seem to have come down with some weird bug. I've had a fever, head ache, achey body and today a stomach ache. It's no fun for the girls or me when I'm sick. I do a lot of sitting on the couch or laying in bed if Caylee is asleep. They have to wait for snacks and drinks, and they have to get stuff for me. poor kids. Lexi's been super sweet though, she sits next to me and rubs my back, she'll often throw in a "I'm sorry you're sick" comment here or there. at least she's sympathetic.
It's been warmer here for a week or so now, I love it. Last week we went to the part 3 days in a row. I wanted to go yesterday but I seem to have come down with some weird bug. I've had a fever, head ache, achey body and today a stomach ache. It's no fun for the girls or me when I'm sick. I do a lot of sitting on the couch or laying in bed if Caylee is asleep. They have to wait for snacks and drinks, and they have to get stuff for me. poor kids. Lexi's been super sweet though, she sits next to me and rubs my back, she'll often throw in a "I'm sorry you're sick" comment here or there. at least she's sympathetic.
Love Languages
I know the way to my husband's heart. It's in my cookies. or cookies in general, but he really likes my chocolate chip cookies. I'm not saying I could get away with anything and then make him cookies, but they never hurt anything that's for sure. It's kinda the same with flowers to me. Although I make cookies way more than I get flowers, but hey, Chocolate chip cookies are a lot cheaper than flowers. With the help of a proflowers coupon flowers are a little cheaper! Still not as cheap as cookies, but cookies take a lot more work.
Of course, I'd much rather have flowers. Flowers don't make you fat. :)
Of course, I'd much rather have flowers. Flowers don't make you fat. :)
More Park Fun!
For the third day in a row it was a gorgeous day here. Today wasn't as hot as yesterday, but it was still nice enough to enjoy some time at the park. Since Eugene was with us and we had the car we went to the park that's about 10 miles away, it's bigger and has a lot more for the kids to do, they love it. Today our big adventure was throwing rocks in the creek. The girls are always surprised when I tell them they can do things where they might get dirty, I love to see Lexi's face when I say "Go ahead, play in the dirt!" or, "dig in the mud!" She lights up like I just gave her a big ice cream cone. Makes me wonder just how sheltered I've made them!
I get a little frustrated at this park, like I said, it's bigger so there are a lot more people, and with more people come bigger kids. and with bigger kids come trouble. Especially because bigger kids want to do whatever they want and bigger kids parent's don't pay attention to make sure they're not doing anything bad... I had to tell a few kids a couple times not to do things. They thought it was fun to climb up slides while Lexi and Caylee were trying to go down. climbing up slides is one of my biggest pet peeves. If you're the only one on the playground- fine, but if you're 9 and there's a 2 year old trying to slide down.... Yah. They also wanted to throw rocks (by kids, not in the creek). Made me wonder if their parents bought mass amounts of insurance to cover the damage their kids must cause.
Hopefully as my kids grow they will learn to respect others and property. and general rules like "don't climb up the slide when other kids want to slide down!"
I get a little frustrated at this park, like I said, it's bigger so there are a lot more people, and with more people come bigger kids. and with bigger kids come trouble. Especially because bigger kids want to do whatever they want and bigger kids parent's don't pay attention to make sure they're not doing anything bad... I had to tell a few kids a couple times not to do things. They thought it was fun to climb up slides while Lexi and Caylee were trying to go down. climbing up slides is one of my biggest pet peeves. If you're the only one on the playground- fine, but if you're 9 and there's a 2 year old trying to slide down.... Yah. They also wanted to throw rocks (by kids, not in the creek). Made me wonder if their parents bought mass amounts of insurance to cover the damage their kids must cause.
Hopefully as my kids grow they will learn to respect others and property. and general rules like "don't climb up the slide when other kids want to slide down!"
um... okay.
We are buying new locks for our doors today. For security reasons. We've had two things that just make us say "ummm.. okay."
First about a week ago I was sitting on the couch and looked down next to the cushion and there was a cap for a bottle of beer. We don't drink. We don't have wild parties where people drink. We have no clue where that came from. Also we have this plastic shoe box container that my husband keeps his clippers in. We keep it on top of the medicine cabinet. Way up high where the kids can't reach it. We just put the clippers in it a few weeks ago. We pulled them down the other day and there is a crack in it. um... okay.
Nothing is missing from our house. Nothing else is out of place. just a random beer bottle cap and a small crack in a plastic container. I don't really feel scared. The thought of someone in our house scares me, but those two things are more just a "weird" thing than a scary thing. Who knows! but either way we're changing the locks, they weren't changed before we moved in so the people who lived here before could still have a key.
My husband wants to get a gun. I'm not against it, he's wanted one for years. It would have to be kept somewhere where the kids wouldn't find it, knowing him he'd want a permit to carry it and blackhawk holsters to carry it in or something. He has a little bit of redneck in his blood. of course, I do too so it's ok.
First about a week ago I was sitting on the couch and looked down next to the cushion and there was a cap for a bottle of beer. We don't drink. We don't have wild parties where people drink. We have no clue where that came from. Also we have this plastic shoe box container that my husband keeps his clippers in. We keep it on top of the medicine cabinet. Way up high where the kids can't reach it. We just put the clippers in it a few weeks ago. We pulled them down the other day and there is a crack in it. um... okay.
Nothing is missing from our house. Nothing else is out of place. just a random beer bottle cap and a small crack in a plastic container. I don't really feel scared. The thought of someone in our house scares me, but those two things are more just a "weird" thing than a scary thing. Who knows! but either way we're changing the locks, they weren't changed before we moved in so the people who lived here before could still have a key.
My husband wants to get a gun. I'm not against it, he's wanted one for years. It would have to be kept somewhere where the kids wouldn't find it, knowing him he'd want a permit to carry it and blackhawk holsters to carry it in or something. He has a little bit of redneck in his blood. of course, I do too so it's ok.
warm sunshine + fresh air+ being at the park = tired momma!
I don't know what we were thinking moving to a place that doesn't have a yard. I guess we were thinking it was winter so we don't go outside much. Now that the warm weather is visiting, I've missed the yard. Just being able to walk out our front door and play in the grass, or ride bikes was nice. There is a park about half a mile away from here, which is what I was counting on using when we thought about moving here.
Today the kids and I walked there to get some fresh air. I hate being cooped up in the apartment all the time, so it was nice to get out! Plus it gave them a chance to get some energy out of their system, gave me a bit of exercise, and I was hoping we'd find some other kids there. We ended up being the only ones their for most of the time so they didn't make any friends.
Watching them run around and climb and play was so nice though, it's a small park, all fenced in, so I relax a bit there, plus we were the only ones playing. I love to see them use their imaginations as they play in the sand and race to climb up and slide down the slides. It gave me some great toddler gift ideas as they sat in the sand making homes for their "friends" (the acorns they found on the ground). We were there for probably an hour and a half at least, then we started our short walk home, we took a little break for some ice cream at a cute little ice cream and coffee shop.
I think we're all worn out now, they are sitting on the couch watching tv for the first time today (something we've been working on cutting out!), Josiah took a nap and I'm sleepy!! I did open all the windows and get dinner in the oven before I sat down though, which is good because I don't want to get up!
Today the kids and I walked there to get some fresh air. I hate being cooped up in the apartment all the time, so it was nice to get out! Plus it gave them a chance to get some energy out of their system, gave me a bit of exercise, and I was hoping we'd find some other kids there. We ended up being the only ones their for most of the time so they didn't make any friends.
Watching them run around and climb and play was so nice though, it's a small park, all fenced in, so I relax a bit there, plus we were the only ones playing. I love to see them use their imaginations as they play in the sand and race to climb up and slide down the slides. It gave me some great toddler gift ideas as they sat in the sand making homes for their "friends" (the acorns they found on the ground). We were there for probably an hour and a half at least, then we started our short walk home, we took a little break for some ice cream at a cute little ice cream and coffee shop.
I think we're all worn out now, they are sitting on the couch watching tv for the first time today (something we've been working on cutting out!), Josiah took a nap and I'm sleepy!! I did open all the windows and get dinner in the oven before I sat down though, which is good because I don't want to get up!
Chocolate craving
I've been trying to be really good lately with my eating. Especially my night snacking. the past two nights haven't been too bad, but tonight the craving came full force. Right now I'd love to have a vending machine business to go raid. Something chocolate would be nice right now, some homemade chocolate chips cookies maybe. But alas, I will be good, and just drink water to try to get through this craving.... Since I can't exercise I have to lose weight by controlling my eating alone. After two days of being good I lost a pound so hopefully it will keep coming off!! and the good news is that my knees aren't swelling or hurting much. I am able to do normal day activities so hopefully walking and running will happen sometime before summer is over!
Parenting commercial style
There is this commercial for Bona cleaners that just makes me laugh. Have you seen it? There is a little girl painting a flower on the hardwood floor, and a son and dog with muddy feet running through the door leaving foot prints through the kitchen, a husband spilling coffee on the floor. All while the narrator says it doesn't matter if they make messes because Bona makes it easy to clean and protect hardwood floors...
Um, excuse me? I don't care who you are, even the most patient mom is not going to just let her child paint personalized Easter gifts on the floor. Even if it does come up easy. Even the best mom is going to tell the boy to wipe his feet, or tell the girl to stop painting on the floor and paint on paper. Thank you very much, but that was a little unrealistic, even for a commercial mom.
Um, excuse me? I don't care who you are, even the most patient mom is not going to just let her child paint personalized Easter gifts on the floor. Even if it does come up easy. Even the best mom is going to tell the boy to wipe his feet, or tell the girl to stop painting on the floor and paint on paper. Thank you very much, but that was a little unrealistic, even for a commercial mom.
My workout
I can't run or walk or ride bike and even swimming hurt my knee. I've been trying to just do some fast upper body circuits, including lots and lots of weights and crunches. I also have one thing I do every day a million times a day, lift Josiah. He's my little muscle stimulator. Not sure how I don't have toned arms with as much as I carry him. He loves me to hold him, and fusses when I put him down if I don't stay right near him. We had several good days and nights where he took naps and slept in his crib, now he's back to wanting me near him every time he is sleeping. It was only 3 or 4 days, but I got used to those long naps he was taking in his crib, so it's kind of annoying now when he wakes up every time I put him down. I'm sure we'll find that pattern again... soon I hope.
I realized how little I've had a paying job in my life the other day when I got the mail. The government had sent my husband and I the little updates that tell us how much our family would get a month if one of us died, or how much we could collect on Social security disability. The amounts on mine weren't much because I honestly haven't worked much. For the past 4.5 years I've been a stay at home mom. While I was in college I had part time jobs that didn't pay much, but covered the cost of books and a little entertainment. I worked steadily for a few years between college and being a mom and that's where most of my money came from.
Lately I have been considering trying to take classes to finish my degree. I have two years towards my Elementary Education degree. Problem is I am not so sure I want to teach elementary school anymore. I'm leaning much more towards middle school or high school math. (Yes, I LOVE math). I'm not so sure they offer the classes I'd need to take as online classes. I'm in no rush to get it done since I'm not looking to get a job until Josiah is old enough that we can either leave the kids alone during the day, or if we decide to put them in public school at any point in time. It would just be nice to have something to fall back on if something happened where Eugene couldn't work, or we really needed the extra income. Of course, teaching jobs are really hard to come by these days so who knows if it would be worth it. It's just a thought.
Lately I have been considering trying to take classes to finish my degree. I have two years towards my Elementary Education degree. Problem is I am not so sure I want to teach elementary school anymore. I'm leaning much more towards middle school or high school math. (Yes, I LOVE math). I'm not so sure they offer the classes I'd need to take as online classes. I'm in no rush to get it done since I'm not looking to get a job until Josiah is old enough that we can either leave the kids alone during the day, or if we decide to put them in public school at any point in time. It would just be nice to have something to fall back on if something happened where Eugene couldn't work, or we really needed the extra income. Of course, teaching jobs are really hard to come by these days so who knows if it would be worth it. It's just a thought.
Dirty diapers
We love our cloth diapers and i love our diaper sprayer. So far I haven't had to use it for Josiah's diapers yet, we haven't even hooked it up since we moved. I've missed it though, even though we don't need it for diapers. I got in the habit of using it for the little potty when Caylee uses that. She doesn't use it often but if I'm feeding Josiah or can't get up for some reason. And I'm not going to lie, every once and awhile I forget that she used the little potty so it sits for a few days.... A diaper sprayer comes in really handy then.
We bought ours from cotton babies, but I've heard of people making them using a sprayer (like you'd have on the kitchen sink) and a metal hose attached to the hose that fills the toilet. I'm sure it works just fine and probably doesn't cost $40.
We bought ours from cotton babies, but I've heard of people making them using a sprayer (like you'd have on the kitchen sink) and a metal hose attached to the hose that fills the toilet. I'm sure it works just fine and probably doesn't cost $40.
House Hunters
I've been watching HGTV and it made me start thinking about looking for a house. Just to get an idea of what type of down payment we should be saving. There are a bunch of houses between 100-150K that meet our criteria, I was hoping to spend less. While looking through pictures I saw an adorable log cabin on 10 acres of land, it only had 2 bedrooms but it had a porch with cute log furniture on it, an amazing fireplace and a ton of windows.
I'm not sure what type of house we'll buy when we are looking i like a lot of different styles and types, and different features so I guess as long as it meets our specific needs it doesn't matter what type it is! For now we will work on paying off the little bit of debt we have and start saving a down payment and worry about the choosing later.
I'm not sure what type of house we'll buy when we are looking i like a lot of different styles and types, and different features so I guess as long as it meets our specific needs it doesn't matter what type it is! For now we will work on paying off the little bit of debt we have and start saving a down payment and worry about the choosing later.
Mommyness
There are so many days I spend stressed to the max from the kids. I feel like all I ever do is get stuff for them, wipe their bottoms, cook, clean, break up fights and clean up messes. Some days I feel like all i do is yell at them, and those days I can't wait for bedtime. Then when I crawl into bed I'm a big exhausted mess, feeling like being a mom is just a straining job. I feel guilty for not spending time with them and guilty that they watch tv. Those days I start thinking about ending my full time mom career and starting health care careers.
Then there's days like today. Days when I remember they will only be this age once. Days when I remember that a little mess is ok. Days when I remember that it doesn't matter if it takes me a few minutes longer to make supper when they help. Days that we play, do crafts, make messes, bake together, cook together and snuggle together.
Days like today when I let go and have fun, and realize that being a mom is awesome when you take the time to enjoy it.
Then there's days like today. Days when I remember they will only be this age once. Days when I remember that a little mess is ok. Days when I remember that it doesn't matter if it takes me a few minutes longer to make supper when they help. Days that we play, do crafts, make messes, bake together, cook together and snuggle together.
Days like today when I let go and have fun, and realize that being a mom is awesome when you take the time to enjoy it.
Summer
This weekend has been great, I've enjoyed the weather. I wish I could have taken better advantage of it. I love that warmer weather means Spring and summer are on it's way. With summer comes trips to the park, camping vacations, birthday party invitations and trips to the beach!
This year my sister and I decided to make our yearly camping trip to Virginia beach instead of Myrtle beach. I kinda feel like we're cheating on Huntington beach state park by not going. We've gone every year for the past 3 years so not going this year will feel weird. I'm sure we'll have just as much fun at VA beach, after all, it is a beach.
We also have a camping trip in PA planned too like last Memorial Day, with a bunch of my family, this year another one of my Aunts and her family are joining us, maybe next year more family will join! I'm so excited.
This year my sister and I decided to make our yearly camping trip to Virginia beach instead of Myrtle beach. I kinda feel like we're cheating on Huntington beach state park by not going. We've gone every year for the past 3 years so not going this year will feel weird. I'm sure we'll have just as much fun at VA beach, after all, it is a beach.
We also have a camping trip in PA planned too like last Memorial Day, with a bunch of my family, this year another one of my Aunts and her family are joining us, maybe next year more family will join! I'm so excited.
Guaranteed approval- what a deal!
This isn't a financial blog by any means. But pretend it is for one minute while I share a little something, okay?
Right after Lexi was born we bought a used Ford Taurus, up until that point we had been driving a two door Hyundai accent, the car seat fit ok in the middle, but we were ready for a little more space, getting that infant seat in the back was a bit of a challenge. We started to think about looking for a car, we had no money saved for a down payment, not great credit and we were still paying on the accent. Then the middle seat belt broke and we couldn't put her car seat in there anymore, so we put her behind me in the passenger seat and I ate my knees while we went to look at some cars.
We wanted something bigger, but were not ready for a minivan. Looking back now I wish we would have just got one then, but hindsight is 20/20. We knew what monthly payment our "budget" would allow and were stupid enough to only talk monthly payment not APR. With bad credit, and having to add the amount we still owed on the Accent onto our loan we ended up with a monthly payment that fit nicely, but an APR of around 20%. HORRIBLE. Once we started getting a little wiser we started working on paying off the car, we ended up paying it off two years early. In the time that we were working on paying it off we added Caylee to our family. The car started getting small. We could squeeze a small person between the car seats in the back, and going on vacations was a mess, our car was stuffed from door to door, floor to ceiling. Now we have Josiah too. the three car seats barely fit in the back seat, I'm not even sure they are installed properly because there's no room to get around them to check. We've been on one small trip, but we didn't have to bring half of what we normally do, I have no clue how we're going to make any trips if we don't get a mini van.
Some friends of ours sold us a big GMC conversion van for really cheap, but we've yet to get it on the road and don't think we really want to. We know it will suck the gas so we wont be able to afford to go anywhere. We've been talking up plans as to how to go about wisely buying a van. We can't really afford monthly payments, but we figured if we could sell our car and the van we could easily afford an older used van.
Today we stopped by a small dealership we drive by a lot because we saw they had a minivan there. The owner came out to talk to us as I was peeking in the windows. He asked us if we were looking to pay cash or get a loan. We told him we were thinking about using the credit union that my husband 's work offers. He then told us a price. but not before telling us a little something.
The price if we were going to get financed through him was in the $9,500 range. With our own financing or cash.... $5,500. That's right, $4k less. He said the financing company takes so much he has to charge way more in order to make money. So be careful when car shopping, a guaranteed approval might cost you $4,000!!!
I'd like to see the money that finance company is making, maybe I should try to get one of their accounting jobs!
Right after Lexi was born we bought a used Ford Taurus, up until that point we had been driving a two door Hyundai accent, the car seat fit ok in the middle, but we were ready for a little more space, getting that infant seat in the back was a bit of a challenge. We started to think about looking for a car, we had no money saved for a down payment, not great credit and we were still paying on the accent. Then the middle seat belt broke and we couldn't put her car seat in there anymore, so we put her behind me in the passenger seat and I ate my knees while we went to look at some cars.
We wanted something bigger, but were not ready for a minivan. Looking back now I wish we would have just got one then, but hindsight is 20/20. We knew what monthly payment our "budget" would allow and were stupid enough to only talk monthly payment not APR. With bad credit, and having to add the amount we still owed on the Accent onto our loan we ended up with a monthly payment that fit nicely, but an APR of around 20%. HORRIBLE. Once we started getting a little wiser we started working on paying off the car, we ended up paying it off two years early. In the time that we were working on paying it off we added Caylee to our family. The car started getting small. We could squeeze a small person between the car seats in the back, and going on vacations was a mess, our car was stuffed from door to door, floor to ceiling. Now we have Josiah too. the three car seats barely fit in the back seat, I'm not even sure they are installed properly because there's no room to get around them to check. We've been on one small trip, but we didn't have to bring half of what we normally do, I have no clue how we're going to make any trips if we don't get a mini van.
Some friends of ours sold us a big GMC conversion van for really cheap, but we've yet to get it on the road and don't think we really want to. We know it will suck the gas so we wont be able to afford to go anywhere. We've been talking up plans as to how to go about wisely buying a van. We can't really afford monthly payments, but we figured if we could sell our car and the van we could easily afford an older used van.
Today we stopped by a small dealership we drive by a lot because we saw they had a minivan there. The owner came out to talk to us as I was peeking in the windows. He asked us if we were looking to pay cash or get a loan. We told him we were thinking about using the credit union that my husband 's work offers. He then told us a price. but not before telling us a little something.
The price if we were going to get financed through him was in the $9,500 range. With our own financing or cash.... $5,500. That's right, $4k less. He said the financing company takes so much he has to charge way more in order to make money. So be careful when car shopping, a guaranteed approval might cost you $4,000!!!
I'd like to see the money that finance company is making, maybe I should try to get one of their accounting jobs!
Spring, spring... where art thou spring?
It's March 11th. It's 35 degrees out. I live in the south. It should be spring by now right? I'm sitting here in long sleeves, pants and socks and my feet are numb. My fingers are numb. My nose is numb. Seriously, I'm ready for spring!!! A few months ago we got a really high electric bill (around $360 for one month) Since then we've learned to live with the house cold. In fact, since we moved here a month ago the only room that has had the heat on is the girls room. We've turned the heat on a few times in our room as we were getting into bed, but we always turn it back off in the morning.
I really expected it to be warm by now. Not hot, or even t-shirt weather, but at least warm enough that my feet don't freeze when I'm inside my house. We are always snuggled up under blankets if we're sitting on the couch, Eugene even keeps himself covered with blankets when he's sitting in his chair working. I guess we could suck it up and pay another high electric bill, but really we can't afford a higher bill than we got this month and turning on more heat would make the bill higher. So for now we'll survive. too bad they don't have a cheapestheating.net like they have a cheapestautoinsurance.nethttp://www.cheapestautoinsurance.net/! Heating is only available in one option here. oh well!!
I really expected it to be warm by now. Not hot, or even t-shirt weather, but at least warm enough that my feet don't freeze when I'm inside my house. We are always snuggled up under blankets if we're sitting on the couch, Eugene even keeps himself covered with blankets when he's sitting in his chair working. I guess we could suck it up and pay another high electric bill, but really we can't afford a higher bill than we got this month and turning on more heat would make the bill higher. So for now we'll survive. too bad they don't have a cheapestheating.net like they have a cheapestautoinsurance.nethttp://www.cheapestautoinsurance.net/! Heating is only available in one option here. oh well!!
New diapers
I sold some of our unused stash of diapers on Craigslist so I could purchase more Flips. I was so excited when they arrived today. Of course they arrived as soon as I hung up the diapers, so I had to do another wash for the new ones, but that's ok.
I heart craigslist. you can find anything and everything you want on there I think, or you can sell anything you want! From cloth diapers, to clothes, to toys, to baby stuff, to cars, to houses, to animals, to thrust bearings to microwaves. you want it, you can find it there. There's my commercial for Craigslist. now back to the diapers...
I bought another Flip day pack with the stay dry inserts, a clementine (orange) cover and a grasshopper cover (light green). I love the colors. :) They also threw in a free pack of disposable inserts too, which will come in handy with the traveling and trips we have planned. We normally buy disposable diapers when we're traveling, just because some people don't like the thought of washing diapers in their washers, and then of course when we go camping you can't wash diapers! I'm excited to try them out. Now we have enough diapers that fit Josiah so that on laundry day I wont feel like I have to leave him in dirty diapers longer than I like! We have 6 organic inserts for the Flips, but right now they are a bit bulky on him, once he's a little bigger I'll use them, I loved them on Caylee. I really like the Flip diapers, can you tell?
I heart craigslist. you can find anything and everything you want on there I think, or you can sell anything you want! From cloth diapers, to clothes, to toys, to baby stuff, to cars, to houses, to animals, to thrust bearings to microwaves. you want it, you can find it there. There's my commercial for Craigslist. now back to the diapers...
I bought another Flip day pack with the stay dry inserts, a clementine (orange) cover and a grasshopper cover (light green). I love the colors. :) They also threw in a free pack of disposable inserts too, which will come in handy with the traveling and trips we have planned. We normally buy disposable diapers when we're traveling, just because some people don't like the thought of washing diapers in their washers, and then of course when we go camping you can't wash diapers! I'm excited to try them out. Now we have enough diapers that fit Josiah so that on laundry day I wont feel like I have to leave him in dirty diapers longer than I like! We have 6 organic inserts for the Flips, but right now they are a bit bulky on him, once he's a little bigger I'll use them, I loved them on Caylee. I really like the Flip diapers, can you tell?
Snoring child
Today has been a little bit of a trying day. I'm tired probably a combination of a side effect of the anti inflammatory I am on and Josiah waking up a ton last night. Josiah was really fussy today and didn't let me put him down. Even as I type this he is on my chest snoring away. I got spoiled because he was going to bed around 7:30 (in his crib) and he was taking a long nap in his crib in the mornings too. The girls were also a little disobedient but Lexi was an amazingly good girl while doing school today. In fact it might have been the first time in 120 days of school that she didn't whine ONCE. She didn't throw her pencil and give up when I told her she wrote a number or letter backwards, and she didn't hide her head and pout when I asked her what something said. I was so impressed I rewarded her with some nerds.
I did manage to get a couple phone calls made today, one for a quote for health insurance through the company we use for car, life and renters insurance. I also looked up some car insurance reviews to see what people had to say about other companies. We've used Farm Bureau for years now, we tried State Farm but they charged so much more that we just decided to go back to our trusted Farm Bureau! for now I think we'll stick with them.
I did manage to get a couple phone calls made today, one for a quote for health insurance through the company we use for car, life and renters insurance. I also looked up some car insurance reviews to see what people had to say about other companies. We've used Farm Bureau for years now, we tried State Farm but they charged so much more that we just decided to go back to our trusted Farm Bureau! for now I think we'll stick with them.
progress
Well, the landlord showed up today, and we've made some progress towards a semi completed apartment. Our walls are now spotted, since he filled in all the holes left from the previous tenants. I'm not sure if they just put nails all over the place or what, because i have never seen this many spots on a wall before... excuse the mess.this is what all the walls look like now, hopefully sometime tomorrow or Saturday they will start to look better. We had to move a bunch of furniture, making sure when we moved our desks not to let our monitors fall! We also finally have a handle on our oven. I'm excited. Oh, and our toilet doesn't run constantly anymore either! Yay for working toilets! Now to get the sink unclogged!
My first swim
as you are well aware, my knees are acting up and running is not an option right now. Neither is walking. I've been very discouraged because I can't do any cardio which means I am not losing weight. The other day I was searching the website for the local rec center and found out they have an indoor pool which is open to the public for swimming laps just a few hours a day for the cost of $1.50 per time you swim.
After talking to Eugene we decided I'd go try it out this morning. I was there ready to get in the water by 7:15 ( it was open from 7:15-8:15, but I had to make sure I was home by 8 so I could shower and be ready to be mom so he could go to work.) It didn't take long for me to feel like a fool. I really do not know how to swim. Yes, I can get by, I could dog paddle forever, but to actually swim laps next to people who knew what they were doing made me feel like a fool. I explained my situation to the older lifeguard there, who was very encouraging and kept telling me to keep going, and keep trying. I was grateful for her, because the three other lap swimmers in there didn't say a word to me and I'm sure were just waiting for me to get out of the pool and out of their way. lol.
So I managed to slap around in the water for 20 minutes before my pride and tiredness made me get out of the water. I promised the life guard I'd be back Friday morning to try again. As the day goes on though my knees are starting to hurt and I'm wondering if it's from swimming or just because I didn't take any steroids today. By Friday morning I should know if my knees are going to swell back up or not. Hopefully the anti-inflammatory medicine works and keeps the swelling down. I'll live with some pain as long as I can function as a mom. Not being able to move and care for your children is depressing.
If they swell back up I'm afraid we might have to get health insurance so I can go to a real doctor and get a real diagnosis, which will probably result in some physical therapy. I've checked out some quotes from NC Blue Cross Blue Shield so I can compare them with the quote my husband will bring home next week when he has his 90 day review which will qualify us for insurance through his work. I guess we'll see what happens!!
After talking to Eugene we decided I'd go try it out this morning. I was there ready to get in the water by 7:15 ( it was open from 7:15-8:15, but I had to make sure I was home by 8 so I could shower and be ready to be mom so he could go to work.) It didn't take long for me to feel like a fool. I really do not know how to swim. Yes, I can get by, I could dog paddle forever, but to actually swim laps next to people who knew what they were doing made me feel like a fool. I explained my situation to the older lifeguard there, who was very encouraging and kept telling me to keep going, and keep trying. I was grateful for her, because the three other lap swimmers in there didn't say a word to me and I'm sure were just waiting for me to get out of the pool and out of their way. lol.
So I managed to slap around in the water for 20 minutes before my pride and tiredness made me get out of the water. I promised the life guard I'd be back Friday morning to try again. As the day goes on though my knees are starting to hurt and I'm wondering if it's from swimming or just because I didn't take any steroids today. By Friday morning I should know if my knees are going to swell back up or not. Hopefully the anti-inflammatory medicine works and keeps the swelling down. I'll live with some pain as long as I can function as a mom. Not being able to move and care for your children is depressing.
If they swell back up I'm afraid we might have to get health insurance so I can go to a real doctor and get a real diagnosis, which will probably result in some physical therapy. I've checked out some quotes from NC Blue Cross Blue Shield so I can compare them with the quote my husband will bring home next week when he has his 90 day review which will qualify us for insurance through his work. I guess we'll see what happens!!
my wonderful laundry octopus
Laundry is not that exciting, and since moving into our new apartment a month ago I have had to start hanging my clothes to dry. That makes laundry even less appealing to me. Especially since we have no where outside to hang clothes, which means laundry becomes the focal point of our house. every day.
Over a year ago I bought something from Ikea. I had no clue how much I would grow to love this. It's especially helpful for hanging up socks, wash cloths, underwear and... diaper inserts! We use it when we go camping for wash cloths and bathing suits too. It is by far amazing, and I wish I lived closer to an Ikea so I could get another one. of course, with a nice payday advance I would purchase way more than that...
My laundry octopus was well worth the $4.99. Go to Ikea, buy one. they are amazing.
Settling in
We've lived here over a month now and we're starting to get settled in I guess. There are still things that aren't put away, a few boxes of pictures to go on the walls, shelves, posters, other things just sitting around waiting to find a home. I've put it off because we are still waiting on our landlord to bring us the paint for the walls.
Turns out we have a bit of a slum lord who makes promises but doesn't actually follow through. I guess we should have expected it by the condition of the apartment when we looked at it, but we still trust people and expect them to stick to their word. There's nothing extremely wrong, I don't feel like our health or lives are in danger by living here or anything, it's just little things like door knobs, or a handle for the oven, the paint, and well, now the toilet wont stop running. It's just stuff that as spoiled American's, we expect.
I've been watching HGTV lately and it really makes me laugh, the amount of money people have to spend on their summer homes in Nicaragua, or the people buying their first house that get upset because the backsplash isn't glass tile. It gives the impression that most American's wouldn't even consider living in an apartment like the one I currently call home. I've learned so much about different things from each place I've lived, none of them have been like places on tv, but it doesn't matter honestly. I choose a less fancy home so that I can fill it with love, not stuff. I choose cheaper rent and home cooked meals so that I can be home with my children, teaching them, playing with them, finger painting and sharing Christ with them. I choose to wear used clothes, or clothes found on clearance racks over American Eagle, Aeropostale, Tommy Hilfiger or whatever the expensive brands are. Sure, you might look at me and feel sorry for me because I have less, but when you look on the inside, less is more.
Turns out we have a bit of a slum lord who makes promises but doesn't actually follow through. I guess we should have expected it by the condition of the apartment when we looked at it, but we still trust people and expect them to stick to their word. There's nothing extremely wrong, I don't feel like our health or lives are in danger by living here or anything, it's just little things like door knobs, or a handle for the oven, the paint, and well, now the toilet wont stop running. It's just stuff that as spoiled American's, we expect.
I've been watching HGTV lately and it really makes me laugh, the amount of money people have to spend on their summer homes in Nicaragua, or the people buying their first house that get upset because the backsplash isn't glass tile. It gives the impression that most American's wouldn't even consider living in an apartment like the one I currently call home. I've learned so much about different things from each place I've lived, none of them have been like places on tv, but it doesn't matter honestly. I choose a less fancy home so that I can fill it with love, not stuff. I choose cheaper rent and home cooked meals so that I can be home with my children, teaching them, playing with them, finger painting and sharing Christ with them. I choose to wear used clothes, or clothes found on clearance racks over American Eagle, Aeropostale, Tommy Hilfiger or whatever the expensive brands are. Sure, you might look at me and feel sorry for me because I have less, but when you look on the inside, less is more.
pieces of dreams
the past few nights I have had the weirdest dreams, but they are more like mini dreams, or previews of dreams that never come instead of actual dreams. Last night I dreamed I was in labor, only I didn't even look pregnant, but i was so scared I was going to bleed to death- surely that's a fear from all I dealt with after the birth of Josiah.
Two nights ago my dream was much more pleasant. I dreamed about diamonds. Sparkling diamond rings, like ones by Scott Kay. All I remember was looking around and seeing all these women with dazzling, clean diamond rings. It was a pretty dream.
I liked dreaming about diamonds much more than going into labor. :)
Two nights ago my dream was much more pleasant. I dreamed about diamonds. Sparkling diamond rings, like ones by Scott Kay. All I remember was looking around and seeing all these women with dazzling, clean diamond rings. It was a pretty dream.
I liked dreaming about diamonds much more than going into labor. :)
Faith Like a Child
God calls us to have faith like a child, (Mathew 18:3) and the longer I am a parent the more I understand what exactly that means. Children trust their parents, they accept what they have to say and don’t question them, they just know if mom or dad says it, it will happen. (at least until they are a certain age!) That is how we are to look at God’s promises, just know that if Daddy said it, it will happen!!
The Bible also tells us that as his Children He has given us each gifts, some teachers, some healers, some prophets, some preachers etc. (1 Corinthians 12). I’m starting to think we have a healer in our house.
I’ve been struggling with my knees since we moved in here a month ago. I’ve had almost 4 weeks of pain and swelling, aside from the two times I’ve been on prednisone. Several times in the past month Caylee has asked me to get her something or carry her and I’ve had to tell her not now, or that I couldn’t because I have boo boo knees. She would almost always come over to me, put both of her hands around my knee and then walk away. Sometimes she’s throw a kiss in there. I didn’t think anything of it, She’s Caylee, she does odd things sometimes.
This morning she said she had to go potty so I got up to take her. (i’m on my second round of prednisone and my knees are feeling fine) On the way to the bathroom we had this conversation:
Caylee: Mommy, do you have boo boo knees?
Me: no, they are better
Caylee: Now you can really hold you me cuz I prayed your knees better!
It followed by me thanking her for praying for my knees and me tearing up at the realization that at 2.5, She had prayed for my knees and knew they were better because of her prayers. I think she will have many heavenly trophies and awards waiting for her!
Oh how I with I had the faith of my child.
The Bible also tells us that as his Children He has given us each gifts, some teachers, some healers, some prophets, some preachers etc. (1 Corinthians 12). I’m starting to think we have a healer in our house.
I’ve been struggling with my knees since we moved in here a month ago. I’ve had almost 4 weeks of pain and swelling, aside from the two times I’ve been on prednisone. Several times in the past month Caylee has asked me to get her something or carry her and I’ve had to tell her not now, or that I couldn’t because I have boo boo knees. She would almost always come over to me, put both of her hands around my knee and then walk away. Sometimes she’s throw a kiss in there. I didn’t think anything of it, She’s Caylee, she does odd things sometimes.
This morning she said she had to go potty so I got up to take her. (i’m on my second round of prednisone and my knees are feeling fine) On the way to the bathroom we had this conversation:
Caylee: Mommy, do you have boo boo knees?
Me: no, they are better
Caylee: Now you can really hold you me cuz I prayed your knees better!
It followed by me thanking her for praying for my knees and me tearing up at the realization that at 2.5, She had prayed for my knees and knew they were better because of her prayers. I think she will have many heavenly trophies and awards waiting for her!
Oh how I with I had the faith of my child.
New Favorite song
I heard this song by Lighthouse today and i love it. It's called Everything.
Find Me Here
Speak To Me
I want to feel you
I need to hear you
You are the light
That's leading me
To the place where I find peace again.
You are the strength, that keeps me walking.
You are the hope, that keeps me trusting.
You are the light to my soul.
You are my purpose...you're everything.
How can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?
You calm the storms, and you give me rest.
You hold me in your hands, you won't let me fall.
You steal my heart, and you take my breath away.
Would you take me in? Take me deeper now?
How can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?
And how can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?
Cause you're all I want, You're all I need
You're everything,everything
You're all I want your all I need
You're everything, everything.
You're all I want you're all I need.
You're everything, everything
You're all I want you're all I need, you're everything, everything.
And How can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?
How can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?
How can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?
Find Me Here
Speak To Me
I want to feel you
I need to hear you
You are the light
That's leading me
To the place where I find peace again.
You are the strength, that keeps me walking.
You are the hope, that keeps me trusting.
You are the light to my soul.
You are my purpose...you're everything.
How can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?
You calm the storms, and you give me rest.
You hold me in your hands, you won't let me fall.
You steal my heart, and you take my breath away.
Would you take me in? Take me deeper now?
How can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?
And how can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?
Cause you're all I want, You're all I need
You're everything,everything
You're all I want your all I need
You're everything, everything.
You're all I want you're all I need.
You're everything, everything
You're all I want you're all I need, you're everything, everything.
And How can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?
How can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?
How can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?
Fun Day
We went to the mall in an attempt to find some cute matching or coordinating outfits for the girls. I am always seeing adorable clothes at target, old navy and the children's place but we never have the money to buy them. Today we had the money but i couldn't find anything!!! Figures.
The girls were super, super good so we decided to take them to build a bear.There's nothing more fun than over priced dust collectors... ok, so that's my opinion, but the girls ask every time we walk by one, so we gave in. I remember LOVING stuffed animals when I was a little girl. Caylee was a bit confused by the flat puppy that look like he'd taken too much lipo 6, but once she saw Lexi's cat come to life with stuffing she was beyond thrilled to push the pedal and help fill up her Wuff Wuff. We skipped clothes for their new friends and got them sunglasses, yes they were overpriced, but it was worth making the memories.
The girls were super, super good so we decided to take them to build a bear.There's nothing more fun than over priced dust collectors... ok, so that's my opinion, but the girls ask every time we walk by one, so we gave in. I remember LOVING stuffed animals when I was a little girl. Caylee was a bit confused by the flat puppy that look like he'd taken too much lipo 6, but once she saw Lexi's cat come to life with stuffing she was beyond thrilled to push the pedal and help fill up her Wuff Wuff. We skipped clothes for their new friends and got them sunglasses, yes they were overpriced, but it was worth making the memories.
New Toys
I finally have a laptop! I can't believe I forgot to share that little bit of excitement with you. Not only do I have a laptop, I have a GREEN laptop. Nothing is cooler than that. I've wanted this laptop for 4 years, and we decided with this tax return I'd get one. So I kept my eye on the Dell outlet store, I watched for two weeks and never saw a green one on there. The day our tax return went into our bank I looked, and they had the exact laptop I wanted, even in green!!!
It's so crazy to me to think that God loves me so much that He cares what COLOR laptop I want. How amazing! The Lord and Creator of the entire universe loves and cares about me so much that not only does He cover all the big important things, but He also provides a green laptop for me just because I wanted one. Patience pays off.
It's so crazy to me to think that God loves me so much that He cares what COLOR laptop I want. How amazing! The Lord and Creator of the entire universe loves and cares about me so much that not only does He cover all the big important things, but He also provides a green laptop for me just because I wanted one. Patience pays off.
The Mall is calling
Last Friday night we decided to go to Winston Salem to do some shopping, only problem is we neglected to realize how much time it was going to take at Best Buy for my husband to get his Iphone. So at the end of the night we drove 3 hours total, just to go to target and best buy. So today... we're headed down to do some mall shopping. I don't go to the mall very often, and when we do we don't normally buy anything, but we do find some good deals on clearance racks in old navy and children's place from time to time. Hopefully the girls will be happy long enough to allow us to do some shopping. Maybe we'll reward them with Chuck E Cheese.
I'm also hoping my knees hold up to walk around. I was on Prednizone which helped greatly, but after 36 hours without it my knees are already starting to swell. I think I might have to start taking some fish oil supplements for my joints, maybe I should throw in some fat burner supplements too. I guess we'll do what we can do!!
I'm also hoping my knees hold up to walk around. I was on Prednizone which helped greatly, but after 36 hours without it my knees are already starting to swell. I think I might have to start taking some fish oil supplements for my joints, maybe I should throw in some fat burner supplements too. I guess we'll do what we can do!!
The Flu has arrived
We are dragging around here. Feels like someone has slipped us some sleeping pills. It started Sunday with Caylee laying around, which we all know is not normal for her! By Sunday afternoon she was running a high fever, Monday i took her to the dr where she tested positive for the flu. By Monday morning Eugene was feeling icky and by Monday afternoon Lexi was looking gray. Caylee has also been complaining about her belly and today I felt her pain. All day my stomach has felt off and Josiah has also been fussy, so I'm guessing he's feeling icky too.
Caylee and Eugene only had a fever for two days, Eugene's back to normal, Caylee's just really whiny. I hope we all start feeling better soon, whining and belly aches and runny noses are not fun.
Caylee and Eugene only had a fever for two days, Eugene's back to normal, Caylee's just really whiny. I hope we all start feeling better soon, whining and belly aches and runny noses are not fun.
River Trail
Yesterday I got out and ran for the first time since we moved, All last week I was out of commission because of my knee being so swollen and sore I couldn't even walk let alone run. But yesterday I finally got to check out the trail that starts not too far from here, I thought it was paved, but turns out it's not. It was my first time running on dirt, it was pretty hard though, since the ground is kinda frozen, parts of the trail were even covered with snow.
It was a hard run since it had been so long, and I still had a little bit of pain in my knee. I ran half of it with my headphones on like I normally do, but I stopped for a second to take a picture of the amazing view I had while running. When I stopped I took out my headphones and realized I was missing the wonderful sounds of nature, the flowing river, the birds, the sound of my feet hitting the dirt. It was great. I even saw two deer. that might just be my new favorite place to go, and I'll never have to turn around and run in multiple times, even if i am training for a full marathon. the trail is 51 miles long!
I can't wait till it's warmer and we can take the kids to walk, or ride bikes. We might have to invest in an ergo baby carrier so we can hit the trail fully prepared! Yay for new places to exercise!
It was a hard run since it had been so long, and I still had a little bit of pain in my knee. I ran half of it with my headphones on like I normally do, but I stopped for a second to take a picture of the amazing view I had while running. When I stopped I took out my headphones and realized I was missing the wonderful sounds of nature, the flowing river, the birds, the sound of my feet hitting the dirt. It was great. I even saw two deer. that might just be my new favorite place to go, and I'll never have to turn around and run in multiple times, even if i am training for a full marathon. the trail is 51 miles long!
I can't wait till it's warmer and we can take the kids to walk, or ride bikes. We might have to invest in an ergo baby carrier so we can hit the trail fully prepared! Yay for new places to exercise!
growing babies
Yesterday I went on a date with one of my friends to a consignment sale. I absolutely LOVE consignment sales. There's nothing better than being able to buy outfits for the kids for $2. It just happened to be half price day at this sale, I spent about $16 and walked away with about 10-12 outfits. You can't beat that. I got three pairs of pj's for Josiah for $1.50. that's cheap. I wish I could find men's clothing for that cheap! Eugene needs a new wardrobe.
I had a ton of fun looking through all the cute little boy summer outfits, I am so excited to dress this boy as he grows. We also went to Target where I found the perfect outfit for Josiah. Eugene and I saw it last time we went, but at the time we didn't have $10 to spend on one outfit. God worked out some things though, because Yesterday I found it on the clearance rack, and it was the only one left, and it just happened to be the size I needed for Josiah!!
The only bad part about buying all these new clothes was the fact that we don't have a dryer, so I washed all the new clothes and it just added extra clothes to hang around. Actually, we were gone all weekend, so today I had 4 loads of laundry, I hung one and the other three we took to a laundry mat to dry... only problem is that we walked in as it was closing, we put 2 quarters in 3 machines and had to go when they were done, so nothing got dry. yah... our house is completely covered with clothes hanging around to dry!! I really hope we can figure out what is going on with our dryer. It's nice to save money BUT it takes a lot longer to do laundry, and longer to dry it, plus we have to dodge clothes hanging in door ways.
I had a ton of fun looking through all the cute little boy summer outfits, I am so excited to dress this boy as he grows. We also went to Target where I found the perfect outfit for Josiah. Eugene and I saw it last time we went, but at the time we didn't have $10 to spend on one outfit. God worked out some things though, because Yesterday I found it on the clearance rack, and it was the only one left, and it just happened to be the size I needed for Josiah!!
The only bad part about buying all these new clothes was the fact that we don't have a dryer, so I washed all the new clothes and it just added extra clothes to hang around. Actually, we were gone all weekend, so today I had 4 loads of laundry, I hung one and the other three we took to a laundry mat to dry... only problem is that we walked in as it was closing, we put 2 quarters in 3 machines and had to go when they were done, so nothing got dry. yah... our house is completely covered with clothes hanging around to dry!! I really hope we can figure out what is going on with our dryer. It's nice to save money BUT it takes a lot longer to do laundry, and longer to dry it, plus we have to dodge clothes hanging in door ways.
OUCH
Sunday I spent a few hours on my hands and knees scrubbing the floor, Monday my left knee was swollen and stiff. It's hard and it hurts! It's kept me up at night and made it impossible to do more than the necessary things. Even the important things like walking to change a diaper, or hanging the laundry or cooking supper are painful.
I'm not exactly sure what to do, My other knee has acted like this after runs if I don't stretch it good enough, but never this bad. I'm actually considering seeing a doctor, I know it's what I should do, but I hate spending the money we don't have... especially because no matter what they say it will probably cost more money, like Physical therapy or surgery... Maybe I should go to Medical assistant school and see if I can learn anything. Only problem is i can't walk around. he he. oh well, it will get better soon. and when it is then I can finish unpacking the house.
I'm not exactly sure what to do, My other knee has acted like this after runs if I don't stretch it good enough, but never this bad. I'm actually considering seeing a doctor, I know it's what I should do, but I hate spending the money we don't have... especially because no matter what they say it will probably cost more money, like Physical therapy or surgery... Maybe I should go to Medical assistant school and see if I can learn anything. Only problem is i can't walk around. he he. oh well, it will get better soon. and when it is then I can finish unpacking the house.
Dear Previous tenants
I'd like to personally thank you for the pain in my knee, along with the swelling. Have you ever heard of the word "cleaning"? specifically when it comes to the floors? I have spent seven hours scrubbing the floors in a 5 step process that involved a mixture of green cleaning products and some good old fashioned chemicals. I spent entirely too much time on my hands and knees scrubbing your funk off the floors in an attempt to not have to wear shoes or slippers in the house. Seriously people, whatever method you used to try to clean the floors- it didn't work.
Sincerely,
a very sore, tired, clean person.
Sincerely,
a very sore, tired, clean person.
Smart phone or stupid phone?
I'm guessing a regular phone must be called a stupid phone, since it's not a "smart" one.
It never fails with my husband, when we're about 6 months away from being eligible for upgrades he starts talking about the newest, coolest phone. He researches and searches and researches, he asks around, he looks up reviews. Of course he's been all about the iphone, but I've also caught him looking at htc desire reviews, and other droids.. .
We always have the same discussion, I don't really see the point in a smart phone. Not because I don't think it would be awesome to have one, but because I don't see the point in paying $30 a month on top of the service we already pay. seems a little stupid to me, I mean we pay for internet at home, and we pay for a cell phone bill, why pay a bill so your cell phone can have internet?
I like to be able to get away from technology, when we go on vacation (especially camping) I shut my phone off completely and leave it in the car, checking it once a day, to make sure no one has tried to call me with an emergency. There's just something nice about Not being stuck to an electronic device...
It never fails with my husband, when we're about 6 months away from being eligible for upgrades he starts talking about the newest, coolest phone. He researches and searches and researches, he asks around, he looks up reviews. Of course he's been all about the iphone, but I've also caught him looking at htc desire reviews, and other droids.. .
We always have the same discussion, I don't really see the point in a smart phone. Not because I don't think it would be awesome to have one, but because I don't see the point in paying $30 a month on top of the service we already pay. seems a little stupid to me, I mean we pay for internet at home, and we pay for a cell phone bill, why pay a bill so your cell phone can have internet?
I like to be able to get away from technology, when we go on vacation (especially camping) I shut my phone off completely and leave it in the car, checking it once a day, to make sure no one has tried to call me with an emergency. There's just something nice about Not being stuck to an electronic device...
Two Months!
I can't believe my baby is two months old already. He's really getting a personality, he's very social and would love it if we just held him and talked to him all day. He smiles and "talks" right back. He had his 2 month check up on Tuesday, he's 11lbs 8oz, almost 24" long. He was right at 50th percentile across the board. I don't think any of my girls were ever like that, something was always way higher, with Lexi it was her head (which stayed near 90th percentile or bigger) with Caylee it was her weight (she hit 20lbs around 6 months and is still only about 24lbs). Now I've got what the dr called a "picture perfect" two month old.
Yes.he is. thanks for noticing. :)
I'm surprised he's not a chubby boy though, honestly. He eats every 2 hours, boy does that boy like food. Maybe my milk is super fat burning foods or something, I don't see how anyone could eat that much and not be big.
Oh well, he's absolutely adorable and I love him .
Yes.he is. thanks for noticing. :)
I'm surprised he's not a chubby boy though, honestly. He eats every 2 hours, boy does that boy like food. Maybe my milk is super fat burning foods or something, I don't see how anyone could eat that much and not be big.
Oh well, he's absolutely adorable and I love him .
The Great Outdoors
I really love being outside. I love hiking and camping and exploring. I can't wait until it's warmer and we can get out and enjoy nature! I'm excited because about a quarter to half a mile from where our new apartment is, is the beginning of a long walking trail that follows a river. I can't wait to get out there and run on it, or push the stroller, or let the kids ride their bikes, run and explore!
When we lived in Tennessee we weren't too far from the Occoee river, we used to go there almost every weekend when it was warm. We'd hike, or play in the river, or sometimes just sit and watch the people white water rafting. We even camped at one of the campgrounds a few times, it was just a lot of fun!
One thing I know will happen when we have our own land and house is that Eugene will be buying a 4-wheeler, and probably the biggest ATV tires you can find so he can drive it through mud puddles and across rivers and over tree stumps. He always gets jealous when he sees people out riding. (I'm not going to lie, I like a good atv adventure myself!)
For now though, we'll have to enjoy the warm days at the park or on the walking trail... one day.
When we lived in Tennessee we weren't too far from the Occoee river, we used to go there almost every weekend when it was warm. We'd hike, or play in the river, or sometimes just sit and watch the people white water rafting. We even camped at one of the campgrounds a few times, it was just a lot of fun!
One thing I know will happen when we have our own land and house is that Eugene will be buying a 4-wheeler, and probably the biggest ATV tires you can find so he can drive it through mud puddles and across rivers and over tree stumps. He always gets jealous when he sees people out riding. (I'm not going to lie, I like a good atv adventure myself!)
For now though, we'll have to enjoy the warm days at the park or on the walking trail... one day.
Gym membership or the great outdoors?
My husband and I are trying to get in shape and the town we're moving to has a small gym just a few blocks from our apartment. We're considering getting a membership, my husband is a big fan of treadmills, but hates running outside. I would MUCH rather run outside, but with it not staying light for real long it's hard to find time to do that. It's $21 a month if we both want to use only the cardio room (or only the weight room) but if we'd like to use both cardio and weight room it's $47 a month. We'll probably get a cardio room membership for a few months to try to lose some weight, unless there's some magical mens fat burner out there, or woman's fat burner? One where no exercise or diet is needed.
My first 5K
I'm "training" for a 5K in the end of February. Although I've run a half marathon I've never run a 5K, that's a little backwards to most people I think. I have a friend who wants to run a 5K in 27 minutes, and I'm running with her, so it's our goal to meet that speed.
I ran 3 miles on Saturday (5K is 3.1 miles) I finished in 31 minutes, but I got a horrible side stitch around .75miles and ended up walking for a little bit around 1.5 miles. So all in all my time wasn't bad since I walked, but I've got 4 weeks to take 4 minutes off my time. I'm pretty sure I can do that I guess... I've got to work on distance, speed and get some cross training in too. I'm going to be doing a lower ab workout too, gotta strengthen that core!!
So hopefully I will be ready to reach that goal time in a few weeks. Seems crazy to me, but possible if I try hard!
I ran 3 miles on Saturday (5K is 3.1 miles) I finished in 31 minutes, but I got a horrible side stitch around .75miles and ended up walking for a little bit around 1.5 miles. So all in all my time wasn't bad since I walked, but I've got 4 weeks to take 4 minutes off my time. I'm pretty sure I can do that I guess... I've got to work on distance, speed and get some cross training in too. I'm going to be doing a lower ab workout too, gotta strengthen that core!!
So hopefully I will be ready to reach that goal time in a few weeks. Seems crazy to me, but possible if I try hard!
Mt. Boxmore
I've managed to pack up just about everything that can be packed up. I have a mountain of boxes, which I've named Mt Boxmore, in the toy room. Electric is on at our new place, scheduled to be turned off here next Monday, Water is taken care off, trash is taken care of, Internet is taken care of. Change of address has been submitted, address has been changed on most bills.... I think we might be ready by Saturday morning.
Tomorrow night I will go up to the apartment to clean it, Saturday after this place is empty I will clean here too... lots of cleaning.
I am shocked things have gone so smoothly with everything, our new landlord seems to be really laid back, and our landlord from here that is being surprisingly easy too, he's returning our deposit even though we're moving out a month before our year is up. I'm not going to complain though, we need the money to give to our new landlord.
I am hoping and praying that we like this place and will stay there for awhile... it's only 2 bedroom so I don't know how long we'll fit, but I am SO sick of moving. Normally I like it, I enjoy change, and I get sick of the same furniture placing so moving is fun to me... but this time I am SICK of packing and moving. I want to just pay off our debt, get a down payment saved and move into a house. stick a barcode on the house of my dreams, get out your POS systems and scan it... I'm ready to be done with this packing stuff already!!
Tomorrow night I will go up to the apartment to clean it, Saturday after this place is empty I will clean here too... lots of cleaning.
I am shocked things have gone so smoothly with everything, our new landlord seems to be really laid back, and our landlord from here that is being surprisingly easy too, he's returning our deposit even though we're moving out a month before our year is up. I'm not going to complain though, we need the money to give to our new landlord.
I am hoping and praying that we like this place and will stay there for awhile... it's only 2 bedroom so I don't know how long we'll fit, but I am SO sick of moving. Normally I like it, I enjoy change, and I get sick of the same furniture placing so moving is fun to me... but this time I am SICK of packing and moving. I want to just pay off our debt, get a down payment saved and move into a house. stick a barcode on the house of my dreams, get out your POS systems and scan it... I'm ready to be done with this packing stuff already!!
packing!!!
Saturday I looked at an apartment my husband looked at during the week. It's about 2 minutes from his work. I was a little unsure, because since the electric was off the owner was unable to do the little things around the apartment that needed done, like paint, and fix up a few things. So to me it looked a little sketchy. It met all our needs though, so I spent the day asking myself if I would like it if it was freshly painted and the few things were fixed. The Landlord seemed really cool, he's going to let us (and even help us) hook up the washer to sink, and install an outlet for us to hook up the dryer. He's also going to let us paint and whatever we put into the apartment he's going to take off our rent.
So Sunday we decided we'd take the place. the catch? we wanted to move out before having to pay our current landlord rent. which means moving THIS saturday. Ok, not a big deal... I can pack the whole house in 5 days.
Monday I woke up sick. I went to the bathroom about 900 times throughout the whole day, I didn't eat anything until about 7 when I tried to eat a handful of french fries (the frozen kind not the fast food kind). I could barely move and pretty much only got out of bed or off the couch to get the girls something (or go to the bathroom).
Ok... packing the whole house in 4 days... doable right?
Tuesday comes. still not feeling great, Josiah had a 2 month appointment at 8:45, which meant bringing Eugene half way to work to meet someone he works with, then going back past the house to the dr's office. Got home about 10:20, dealt with crying whining girls (and a screaming Josiah, who had been fussing since Sunday night, I am guessing he had the stomach bug too).
I finally got some packing done last night, and I managed to get all I could done today (I ran out of boxes). I pretty much just had to ignore my stomach ache. Eugene got more boxes on the way home from work though, which means tonight and tomorrow are full of more packing!
I'm excited to be moving, our livingroom is huge, it makes me want to buy a sectional or theater seating or something big to fill the space. :) we are going down to two bedrooms, but we will have a big dinning room too, so that excites me. We've never lived in a place that had a spot for our table.
I'm most excited about having more time with Eugene and saving money on rent, gas, and water.
So Sunday we decided we'd take the place. the catch? we wanted to move out before having to pay our current landlord rent. which means moving THIS saturday. Ok, not a big deal... I can pack the whole house in 5 days.
Monday I woke up sick. I went to the bathroom about 900 times throughout the whole day, I didn't eat anything until about 7 when I tried to eat a handful of french fries (the frozen kind not the fast food kind). I could barely move and pretty much only got out of bed or off the couch to get the girls something (or go to the bathroom).
Ok... packing the whole house in 4 days... doable right?
Tuesday comes. still not feeling great, Josiah had a 2 month appointment at 8:45, which meant bringing Eugene half way to work to meet someone he works with, then going back past the house to the dr's office. Got home about 10:20, dealt with crying whining girls (and a screaming Josiah, who had been fussing since Sunday night, I am guessing he had the stomach bug too).
I finally got some packing done last night, and I managed to get all I could done today (I ran out of boxes). I pretty much just had to ignore my stomach ache. Eugene got more boxes on the way home from work though, which means tonight and tomorrow are full of more packing!
I'm excited to be moving, our livingroom is huge, it makes me want to buy a sectional or theater seating or something big to fill the space. :) we are going down to two bedrooms, but we will have a big dinning room too, so that excites me. We've never lived in a place that had a spot for our table.
I'm most excited about having more time with Eugene and saving money on rent, gas, and water.
Energy
I've cut the soda out of my diet, junk had been limited (I had some chocolate this week) and I'm trying so hard to eat a normal healthy portion of the foods that I eat. And as you know, I've started running again, all of which give me more energy. I've also been trying to remember to take my vitamins.
I just take some generic prenatal vitamins since I'm nursing I still need the extra stuff. I've always just got the cheapest vitamins they have at walmart, I don't know if there's a difference, maybe I should check out prenatalvitamin.org for a better brand?
Who knows, I've never had any problems so I guess they are ok. Hopefully all these things will help my energy increase, cuz I'm tired of being tired!!
I just take some generic prenatal vitamins since I'm nursing I still need the extra stuff. I've always just got the cheapest vitamins they have at walmart, I don't know if there's a difference, maybe I should check out prenatalvitamin.org for a better brand?
Who knows, I've never had any problems so I guess they are ok. Hopefully all these things will help my energy increase, cuz I'm tired of being tired!!
spring nights
Today I went for a run on the greenway down town. It was cold, and my little 3 mile run was hard. Both my knees are swollen and acting up, and somewhere around 3/4ths of a mile I got a side cramp that I could not shake off. I tried everything I knew to try until I got to 1.5 miles and decided to walk for a minute to try to make it go away. It wouldn't, so I started running again. When I finally got back to my car and was laying on the ground stretching I was thinking back to last spring.
Running was so much easier then. I'd go down there in the evenings, the light was just perfect between the setting sun and the lighting they have along the path. It was warm, the stars lit up the sky while I'd lay there on the freshly cut green grass and stretch. I could have stayed there forever. Running was so different than it is now.
It's important for me to remind myself that I like running, because right now while I'm struggling to run 3 miles and it's freezing cold and my knees hurt.... I don't want to run! But I am. I will run another half marathon. I will run the 5K next month in the 27 minutes that my friend and I want to run it in. I can do it.
Running was so much easier then. I'd go down there in the evenings, the light was just perfect between the setting sun and the lighting they have along the path. It was warm, the stars lit up the sky while I'd lay there on the freshly cut green grass and stretch. I could have stayed there forever. Running was so different than it is now.
It's important for me to remind myself that I like running, because right now while I'm struggling to run 3 miles and it's freezing cold and my knees hurt.... I don't want to run! But I am. I will run another half marathon. I will run the 5K next month in the 27 minutes that my friend and I want to run it in. I can do it.
Keeping up
Caylee is my little monkey, she is on everything, into everything, under everything and doing everything. She also whines for hours if you don't let her do what she wants to do. She's hard to keep up with, she's better than thermogenic fat burners. She still takes naps, so I normally have at least an hour and a half of "quiet time".
Lexi is miss smarty pants. She's too smart for her own good, and needs to be constantly entertained by electronics. School is going pretty well, She has a hard time concentrating when I have to read her stories and she has to answer questions, which gets quite frustrating.
Josiah is growing like a weed, he's working on outgrowing his 0-3 month clothes already. His two month check up is next week so we'll see how much he weighs and how long he is, I'm guessing he's about 12lbs. he's smiling a bunch too.
Lexi is miss smarty pants. She's too smart for her own good, and needs to be constantly entertained by electronics. School is going pretty well, She has a hard time concentrating when I have to read her stories and she has to answer questions, which gets quite frustrating.
Josiah is growing like a weed, he's working on outgrowing his 0-3 month clothes already. His two month check up is next week so we'll see how much he weighs and how long he is, I'm guessing he's about 12lbs. he's smiling a bunch too.
loving my new body
I'm trying really hard to love my body. three kids takes a toll on your skin. I'm having an even harder time with this one since I was in the best shape of my life before getting pregnant. I've been getting back into running, and I have to remind myself I'm starting over not starting where I left off. I'm sure in no time I'll be able to run faster and longer, and the skin will tighten back up and the fat will come off.
I think it's easier the more kids I have to accept that my body is different, I wonder how many new moms fall into a hoodia scam in an attempt to get that prebaby body back. Not me... I'll work on getting in shape and until then try to love my new body, stretch marks and all!
I think it's easier the more kids I have to accept that my body is different, I wonder how many new moms fall into a hoodia scam in an attempt to get that prebaby body back. Not me... I'll work on getting in shape and until then try to love my new body, stretch marks and all!
not enough
Being a mom to three has been harder than I expected. At first it wasn't bad, but this week I've started having guilt about not having as much time for the kids.I feel like there's not enough of me. I feel bad if I hold Josiah because Caylee's not getting the attention she wants and needs, so I've been putting him down a lot, only holding him when he's fussy or when he wants to eat. but then I feel bad not holding him and giving him the same amount of contact that the girls had. I might not feel so bad when he's a little bigger and is playing with things, right now I feel like he sleeps as soon as I put him down so by putting him down I'm making him sleep. Just feels rude. Then I try to fit in playing with Lexi too, which is a chore all in itself, then there is the rare cases like this where I want to write a blog or do something for myself that I need two hands for. Then I'm not spending time with any of them!
Caylee has started to act out when I have to stop playing with her or stop holding her to pick up Josiah, the other day she peed on the couch because her and I were playing/snuggling and Josiah started fussing because he needed to eat. When I put her down and took him to change his diaper she immediately peed. Lexi has started copying Caylee's bad behaviors trying to get attention, even if it's negative. it's oh so annoying, but just makes me feel like I'm neglecting them. I wish I had some Jublo Goggles that could show me just how to balance them, or that would look into the future and show me they will be just fine sharing me!
Caylee has started to act out when I have to stop playing with her or stop holding her to pick up Josiah, the other day she peed on the couch because her and I were playing/snuggling and Josiah started fussing because he needed to eat. When I put her down and took him to change his diaper she immediately peed. Lexi has started copying Caylee's bad behaviors trying to get attention, even if it's negative. it's oh so annoying, but just makes me feel like I'm neglecting them. I wish I had some Jublo Goggles that could show me just how to balance them, or that would look into the future and show me they will be just fine sharing me!
tv time
How much is your tv on? it seems like ours is only off when we're all in bed. A lot of the rime the girls aren't sitting watching it, it's just background noise, but the second i turn it off they whine for it to be on. My biggest reason for having it on so much is that the girls cause more trouble and fight more when it's off. Today I managed to give ours a little break, I made them keep it off for a few hours while they played. I think i'll do this each day, adding half an hour to the time it's off each day until we get down to a normal amount of tv. So... how much should your samsung HDTV be on each day anyway? I'm thinking an hour or two is probably more than normal for most houses, but I'd love to get down to that here. After all, there's always music to create background noise!
Moving up!
My husband started a new job right before Christmas. He's already moved up from technician to a position in the web department!! I'm not sure what all he'll be doing but I know it involves graphic design, maybe some document imaging, and web design. He's so happy to be doing something he likes, it will give him more experience and hopefully there is a lot of room for growth in this new company, he learns fast and works fast.
The title has two meanings, one was what I just said about my husband, the other is about actual moving. His job is "up the mountain" as locals say. It's about a 40 minute drive, and there is a big mountain he has to drive up and down every day, which really sucks the gas out of our car! So we're looking for a place to move to up there, it will be nice to be close to his work and also find a new place. I absolutely LOVE moving and LOVE change. The hardest part is finding a place. I know it will show it's face soon enough.
The title has two meanings, one was what I just said about my husband, the other is about actual moving. His job is "up the mountain" as locals say. It's about a 40 minute drive, and there is a big mountain he has to drive up and down every day, which really sucks the gas out of our car! So we're looking for a place to move to up there, it will be nice to be close to his work and also find a new place. I absolutely LOVE moving and LOVE change. The hardest part is finding a place. I know it will show it's face soon enough.
If I could turn back time
Josiah is almost 7 weeks old. I can't believe how fast time has flown. He's really a good baby, he has a few hours every night (normally about the time I try to go to sleep) where he is really fussy and nothing I do makes him feel better. I know it's his belly, I can tell by the way he moves and fusses. But nothing helps. It kills this momma to know I can't help him when he's hurting.
He's getting so big, and although he's still only a few weeks old I know it wont be long before we're picking out 1st birthday invitations and planning for the day he turns one. It went way too fast with the girls, and I'm sure it will with him too. It's hard to embrace each stage and enjoy it instead of hoping for another stage. Parents are always anxious for their babies to start rolling and crawling and walking and talking. At some point it turns around and you realize the whole first year of their life has flown by and you wish you could turn back the clocks to make them babies again! Seems like with each baby i get less time to sit on the couch and snuggle, right now I've got a 4 year old who I'm teaching kindergarten to, and a two year old who is VERY active. by active I mean into everything. It seems like every time I sit to snuggle or nurse one of the girls is asking for something, or into something. I'm sure in a year he'll be up causing trouble and I'll be begging him to come sit on mommy's lap. I better enjoy the nights he's in our bed while they last.
He's getting so big, and although he's still only a few weeks old I know it wont be long before we're picking out 1st birthday invitations and planning for the day he turns one. It went way too fast with the girls, and I'm sure it will with him too. It's hard to embrace each stage and enjoy it instead of hoping for another stage. Parents are always anxious for their babies to start rolling and crawling and walking and talking. At some point it turns around and you realize the whole first year of their life has flown by and you wish you could turn back the clocks to make them babies again! Seems like with each baby i get less time to sit on the couch and snuggle, right now I've got a 4 year old who I'm teaching kindergarten to, and a two year old who is VERY active. by active I mean into everything. It seems like every time I sit to snuggle or nurse one of the girls is asking for something, or into something. I'm sure in a year he'll be up causing trouble and I'll be begging him to come sit on mommy's lap. I better enjoy the nights he's in our bed while they last.
Snow days!
I love snow, I love it more in the north where they know how to plow roads, and people have sleds and snow is just a way of life. Down here in the "good old south" they don't know what to do with snow, we get a few inches and everything is shut down for days.
We got about 3 inches yesterday and it managed to stick around through today too! I took the girls outside to play for a while, we had fun making snow angels and throwing "snow balls". We even turned it into a bit of a science lesson, when we first went into the yard there were bunny tracks and dog tracks across the fresh snow. It was fun to talk about the different tracks and follow them, Lexi even used her imagination to tell a story about what the rabbit did. It was cute.
Today in school we learned about volcanoes, we even made one. Lexi was so amused she got all excited and insisted we show daddy as soon as he got home. I love when she gets excited about school. I try to keep it exciting, but not everything gets her attention. I don't think she'd show any interest in learning about a horse tack, although horses might keep her entertained for a little while.
She's been doing way better in school than she used to be. She's really starting to like the reading now, it impresses me how much she can read already, and I love to see her try to read things too. This chapter in Math has been a challenge, for some reason she was getting really confused about calenders! When she gets confused, or doesn't understand she tries to just be silly, which always makes me upset so we both end up frustrated and yelling. Not a good combo. I've been trying to let her be a little silly, but also get her to realize that if she doesn't understand something she just needs to tell me that instead of crying or getting silly.
We've considered putting her in public school next year, I can't find any good Christian schools around and she really wants to go to school. I don't think it would hurt for a few years, she is a social butterfly and I think the interaction would be good for her. If we could find a good home school group, or some other social setting it might help her be content being home schooled. I'm not sure what grade we'd put her in, she's doing kindergarten this year, so if we put her in school next year she'd already know everything for Kindergarten, but maturity wise she'd be so far behind for first grade I think. These are all just thoughts, who knows, maybe we will find a good group to get her involved in without her going to school.
We got about 3 inches yesterday and it managed to stick around through today too! I took the girls outside to play for a while, we had fun making snow angels and throwing "snow balls". We even turned it into a bit of a science lesson, when we first went into the yard there were bunny tracks and dog tracks across the fresh snow. It was fun to talk about the different tracks and follow them, Lexi even used her imagination to tell a story about what the rabbit did. It was cute.
Today in school we learned about volcanoes, we even made one. Lexi was so amused she got all excited and insisted we show daddy as soon as he got home. I love when she gets excited about school. I try to keep it exciting, but not everything gets her attention. I don't think she'd show any interest in learning about a horse tack, although horses might keep her entertained for a little while.
She's been doing way better in school than she used to be. She's really starting to like the reading now, it impresses me how much she can read already, and I love to see her try to read things too. This chapter in Math has been a challenge, for some reason she was getting really confused about calenders! When she gets confused, or doesn't understand she tries to just be silly, which always makes me upset so we both end up frustrated and yelling. Not a good combo. I've been trying to let her be a little silly, but also get her to realize that if she doesn't understand something she just needs to tell me that instead of crying or getting silly.
We've considered putting her in public school next year, I can't find any good Christian schools around and she really wants to go to school. I don't think it would hurt for a few years, she is a social butterfly and I think the interaction would be good for her. If we could find a good home school group, or some other social setting it might help her be content being home schooled. I'm not sure what grade we'd put her in, she's doing kindergarten this year, so if we put her in school next year she'd already know everything for Kindergarten, but maturity wise she'd be so far behind for first grade I think. These are all just thoughts, who knows, maybe we will find a good group to get her involved in without her going to school.
A job!
As of November 10th, it had been two years since my husband was laid off from his job. A lot has happened in those two years in our family life and in my husband's "career" life. Once he was laid off he tried to find work with another Architecture firm, but was unsuccessful and decided that as long as he was not working he would try to broaden his experience. He started playing around with web design and graphic design. Slowly over the past two years he has grown and figured out a ton (he's good like that, anything he sets his mind to do he can do in very little time, especially if it comes to music or computers). For the whole two years he continued to look for work, while working from home and doing little contract jobs here and there. Unemployment filled in the gaps that his contract work left. In the end of this November we realized his unemployment was gone and his work at home had slowed to almost nothing and he started searching for a job in areas he didn't really want to go. He filled out tons of applications for everything shy of an engineering job. He finally got a job for a company he was excited to work for, although the position was a very low paying entry level job that he didn't really care for he felt like he'd be able to move up quickly. And he was right. After working about 7 days for the company, the owner informed him that he was going to have an interview with the web department. The interview went well and right now we are waiting for the written offer! I'm so excited that not only does he have a job, but that he was able to get into the department he wanted. God is so amazing. I have to admit, when he took the job I was very upset and spent a lot of time crying and yes, asking God what His plans were. There was no way we could survive on what he'd be making especially since the place he works for is about 45 minutes away, up a big mountain which just drains our gas.
God always proves to me that He's faithful and takes care of us, as long as we seek first HIS kingdom He'll take care of the rest. He's even managed to keep Eugene working overtime constantly (seriously, in the past two weeks he's been home on time twice) but it's been the extra we need to help pay the bills!
I wish I could say that I'll never question God again, but unfortunately I am like the Israelites who constantly forget what God has done for them. Lord, please help me remember!!
God always proves to me that He's faithful and takes care of us, as long as we seek first HIS kingdom He'll take care of the rest. He's even managed to keep Eugene working overtime constantly (seriously, in the past two weeks he's been home on time twice) but it's been the extra we need to help pay the bills!
I wish I could say that I'll never question God again, but unfortunately I am like the Israelites who constantly forget what God has done for them. Lord, please help me remember!!
Home sweet Home
Our Christmas was very busy, but wonderfully awesome. We spent a few days with my sister and her husband, then went to my aunts house on Christmas day where we saw about half of my family, then went to my other sister's house for the night and morning to hang out with them and get a little extra time with her family. We then drove home Sunday afternoon, and Monday started the daily routines! Back into school for Lexi and I and work for my husband.
Monday was also my first day of my "diet". Last January I started a diet and exercised regularly and I lost 35-40lbs before I got pregnant and gained that and then some. I still have one more week until my doctor appointment where they will hopefully clear me to start running and exercising, until then I decided to at least start controlling my horrible eating habits. I have about 25lbs to lose to get to where I was prebaby, and I'm hoping to lose about 30-35 total we will see.
I was upset with how little we were able to get the girls, but by the end of Christmas they had way more than I expected them to have! They got a few things from my siblings and we ended up finding an awesome deal on some Dora baseball gloves so they got those too. They were more than excited to get what they got, and i think we picked just the right things.
I was VERY happy with my gift- getting to go up there! There was no room in the budget or reason for my husband to buy me anything I was perfectly content with just getting to see my family. For the first time since we've got married my husband and I were more than happy to not get gifts! He did sneak behind my back and got me The Biggest Loser game for the wii- the stinker.
Well, I need to get cleaning off my desk, maybe I'll find the scanner software, yes both mine and my husband's desks are covered with clutter again. We're so bad about that.
Monday was also my first day of my "diet". Last January I started a diet and exercised regularly and I lost 35-40lbs before I got pregnant and gained that and then some. I still have one more week until my doctor appointment where they will hopefully clear me to start running and exercising, until then I decided to at least start controlling my horrible eating habits. I have about 25lbs to lose to get to where I was prebaby, and I'm hoping to lose about 30-35 total we will see.
I was upset with how little we were able to get the girls, but by the end of Christmas they had way more than I expected them to have! They got a few things from my siblings and we ended up finding an awesome deal on some Dora baseball gloves so they got those too. They were more than excited to get what they got, and i think we picked just the right things.
I was VERY happy with my gift- getting to go up there! There was no room in the budget or reason for my husband to buy me anything I was perfectly content with just getting to see my family. For the first time since we've got married my husband and I were more than happy to not get gifts! He did sneak behind my back and got me The Biggest Loser game for the wii- the stinker.
Well, I need to get cleaning off my desk, maybe I'll find the scanner software, yes both mine and my husband's desks are covered with clutter again. We're so bad about that.
Happy Anniversary!
This post is about a month late, but with all the mess with my health when Josiah was born I didn't get to talk about it.
November 29th was my husbands and my 8th wedding anniversary. Our present to each other was that we got to leave the hospital! :) I don't remember too many of our anniversary presents to each other, I couldn't tell you if we got each other modern 1st anniversary gifts or traditional or if we even got each other anything. The only anniversary I really remember was our 3rd anniversary. It was before we had kids, My husband surprised me, had a dozen roses delivered to me at work, then picked me up, blindfolded me and drove me to an adorable bed and breakfast where we stayed for the weekend. It was wonderful. We're hoping to have another good anniversary for our tenth anniversary. We shall see!!
November 29th was my husbands and my 8th wedding anniversary. Our present to each other was that we got to leave the hospital! :) I don't remember too many of our anniversary presents to each other, I couldn't tell you if we got each other modern 1st anniversary gifts or traditional or if we even got each other anything. The only anniversary I really remember was our 3rd anniversary. It was before we had kids, My husband surprised me, had a dozen roses delivered to me at work, then picked me up, blindfolded me and drove me to an adorable bed and breakfast where we stayed for the weekend. It was wonderful. We're hoping to have another good anniversary for our tenth anniversary. We shall see!!
back to normal?
After 25 months of being unemployed my husband finally got a job. Turns out trying to start your own business is harder than we expected, at least during a recession. God has provided every need and even a lot of wants during the whole time of being unemployed. Even in the times where I doubted and worried- which was a lot.
He worked two days this week, before we headed to NJ to visit family. Those two days were the first time I was ever alone with all three kids, not only did I manage to survive, we even did school, kept the house clean and packed and loaded the car for our trip. I realized during one of those days that not only was that the first time I was really alone with three kids, I had pretty much never been alone with just the two girls! Caylee was only a few weeks old when he lost his job so I didn't have much time to even get used to having two kids.
I must admit, even though the girls are still adjusting to having Josiah around I love our family of five.
He worked two days this week, before we headed to NJ to visit family. Those two days were the first time I was ever alone with all three kids, not only did I manage to survive, we even did school, kept the house clean and packed and loaded the car for our trip. I realized during one of those days that not only was that the first time I was really alone with three kids, I had pretty much never been alone with just the two girls! Caylee was only a few weeks old when he lost his job so I didn't have much time to even get used to having two kids.
I must admit, even though the girls are still adjusting to having Josiah around I love our family of five.
Gruene Steam Mop Review
About a month ago I received a Gruene Steam mop and steam cleaner, I immediately opened it up, put it together and tested it out. It took just a few minutes to assemble and get ready. I was impressed with the wide verity of things it could clean, fabric, spots on carpets, tile, linoleum, hardwood, grills, counters, sinks, toilets, windows, mirrors, just about everything. It was very easy to switch from one surface to another just by switching attachments.
It uses only water to clean, and you can use about any towel or cloth for the pads to clean the floor, which means you can just wash and rewash. The product is completely green, no chemicals, no trash, and it only uses a little bit of water. I filled the tank and did all my floors, the tub, sink and mirror and it only used half the water in the tank. It left my floors clean and shiny, and ready to let the kids lay on!
The thing that made me the happiest was when I used it to scrub the spots in our rug. Again it took no chemicals, just some water. I used it as a handheld cleaner- most steam cleaners don't give you the option to switch from a floor cleaner to a handheld. I have a two year old, a four year old and a 4 week old. My two year old LOVES yogurt, but doesn't always get the spoon in her mouth, my four year old likes poptarts, but also likes to drop pieces on the floor which get stepped on and mushed into the carpet. The cleaner took ALL the spots right out of the rug, in just a few minutes.
My overall impression of the cleaner is that I absolutely love it and I love it more every time I use it!
It uses only water to clean, and you can use about any towel or cloth for the pads to clean the floor, which means you can just wash and rewash. The product is completely green, no chemicals, no trash, and it only uses a little bit of water. I filled the tank and did all my floors, the tub, sink and mirror and it only used half the water in the tank. It left my floors clean and shiny, and ready to let the kids lay on!
The thing that made me the happiest was when I used it to scrub the spots in our rug. Again it took no chemicals, just some water. I used it as a handheld cleaner- most steam cleaners don't give you the option to switch from a floor cleaner to a handheld. I have a two year old, a four year old and a 4 week old. My two year old LOVES yogurt, but doesn't always get the spoon in her mouth, my four year old likes poptarts, but also likes to drop pieces on the floor which get stepped on and mushed into the carpet. The cleaner took ALL the spots right out of the rug, in just a few minutes.
My overall impression of the cleaner is that I absolutely love it and I love it more every time I use it!
Christmas traditions
So far as a family we haven't had the chance to make any Christmas traditions, unless you count making a paper chain to count down the days so that we don't have to answer the question "how many more days until Christmas?" twelve times a day. We normally travel to some other state for Christmas, which is why there are no traditions yet.
This year we will be at my aunts house Christmas day, celebrating with my two sisters and their families, a handful of my aunts and their families and my Grandma. I am super excited to see all of them and eat some yummy homemade cooking! Nothing like your mom's family's food to make you remember Christmas growing up.
One of my favorite Christmas traditions from when I was young was getting the Christmas tree. We'd normally convince my parents (with lots of whining and begging) to go get a tree the day after Thanksgiving, at least that's when we'd start the begging. We'd go to a place where we could cut the tree down ourselves most of the time- sometimes that meant walking through the woods and my brother's climbing a tree, other times we did it more civilized and went to a tree farm, and occasionally we'd go to a place that already had them cut. Picking out a tree was never an easy task for us. There were 7 of us and we all had different opinions of the perfect tree. My idea was (and still is) the biggest, fullest tree you can find and fit in your house. you CAN NOT see the trunk if you can, it's no good, that officially makes it a Charlie Brown tree and WILL NOT be in my house. Unfortunately Lexi's second Christmas we discovered she is allergic (or at least was) to real trees and we haven't had one since. Our current fake tree makes me cry almost every year, i HATE fake trees, and it's an old hand me down tree. It's very naked. When we finally picked the right tree, we'd go home and set it up. Then my parents always made us wait a day to let the tree "settle" before decorating it. Looking back now as a mom, I imagine they were just too tired to decorate the tree on the same day as picking it out. :)
Another thing we'd ALWAYS beg for was to open a present on Christmas eve. Sometimes our parents would cave and let us, but sometimes they wouldn't. Our Christmases growing up never included sitting around the LG lcd TV, or a TV of any sort. We'd wake up early, or sometimes all hours of the night, but weren't allowed to touch our stockings until 6am, and we could NOT touch any presents under the tree until everyone was awake. We weren't allowed to wake anyone up until 7 i think... and most Christmases my oldest sister and dad slept right up until that last moment that we attacked them. Then we'd all sit around the tree, one person would hand out gifts, one present to one person at a time and we'd all watch (impatiently) as they opened their gift. There was no rushing things, no everyone jumping into the pile and ripping off the paper. Sometimes it annoyed me, but now that is one tradition I like to keep going with my kids. It's nice to see the kids faces as they open their gift, and it's nice to have that moment last longer than 3 seconds.
Then of course there was always the yummy food, whether we went to visit family, or had it at our house, I enjoyed my mom's home cooked everything. Cheese log, chocolates, turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie.... mmmm, I'm drooling just thinking about it all.
This year we will be at my aunts house Christmas day, celebrating with my two sisters and their families, a handful of my aunts and their families and my Grandma. I am super excited to see all of them and eat some yummy homemade cooking! Nothing like your mom's family's food to make you remember Christmas growing up.
One of my favorite Christmas traditions from when I was young was getting the Christmas tree. We'd normally convince my parents (with lots of whining and begging) to go get a tree the day after Thanksgiving, at least that's when we'd start the begging. We'd go to a place where we could cut the tree down ourselves most of the time- sometimes that meant walking through the woods and my brother's climbing a tree, other times we did it more civilized and went to a tree farm, and occasionally we'd go to a place that already had them cut. Picking out a tree was never an easy task for us. There were 7 of us and we all had different opinions of the perfect tree. My idea was (and still is) the biggest, fullest tree you can find and fit in your house. you CAN NOT see the trunk if you can, it's no good, that officially makes it a Charlie Brown tree and WILL NOT be in my house. Unfortunately Lexi's second Christmas we discovered she is allergic (or at least was) to real trees and we haven't had one since. Our current fake tree makes me cry almost every year, i HATE fake trees, and it's an old hand me down tree. It's very naked. When we finally picked the right tree, we'd go home and set it up. Then my parents always made us wait a day to let the tree "settle" before decorating it. Looking back now as a mom, I imagine they were just too tired to decorate the tree on the same day as picking it out. :)
Another thing we'd ALWAYS beg for was to open a present on Christmas eve. Sometimes our parents would cave and let us, but sometimes they wouldn't. Our Christmases growing up never included sitting around the LG lcd TV, or a TV of any sort. We'd wake up early, or sometimes all hours of the night, but weren't allowed to touch our stockings until 6am, and we could NOT touch any presents under the tree until everyone was awake. We weren't allowed to wake anyone up until 7 i think... and most Christmases my oldest sister and dad slept right up until that last moment that we attacked them. Then we'd all sit around the tree, one person would hand out gifts, one present to one person at a time and we'd all watch (impatiently) as they opened their gift. There was no rushing things, no everyone jumping into the pile and ripping off the paper. Sometimes it annoyed me, but now that is one tradition I like to keep going with my kids. It's nice to see the kids faces as they open their gift, and it's nice to have that moment last longer than 3 seconds.
Then of course there was always the yummy food, whether we went to visit family, or had it at our house, I enjoyed my mom's home cooked everything. Cheese log, chocolates, turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie.... mmmm, I'm drooling just thinking about it all.
One week till Christmas
Are you ready? We're as ready as we're going to be. We got the girls two toys to share and one toy for just them. This year we're really going back to basics, Eugene and I are remembering and hoping the girls are learning the real meaning of Christmas. It's not about getting an ipod touch, or waking up to a pile of toys bigger than you. It's about Jesus's birthday. About our personal Lord and Savior coming down to earth, leaving heaven and the perfect life of deity to be born a baby in a feeding troth in a barn. He lived a perfectly sinless life despite the mocking of people around him. He was beaten, spit on, whipped, had a crown of thorns pressed into his head, was nailed to an ugly, unfinished, rough cross, ridiculed and made fun of. He died a painful, terrible death. Luckily it didn't end there, he rose again 3 days later and ascended into heaven so that I could have the opportunity to live eternally in heaven with Him.
If I keep that in mind what more could I ask for? Why would I be upset that we couldn't afford to fill under the tree with presents, does anything compare with eternal life?
If I keep that in mind what more could I ask for? Why would I be upset that we couldn't afford to fill under the tree with presents, does anything compare with eternal life?
Growing
Josiah is getting so big. He was 7lbs 14oz when he was born, and dropped down to 7lbs 8oz at his smallest. A little over a week after he was born he was back up to 7lbs 13oz. 6 days later we went to the doctor because he developed a clogged tear duct and he was up to 8lbs 6oz. That's 9oz in 6 days. Amazingly faster than either of my girls gained. No need to buy human growth hormone for him!! That was almost a week ago, I'm sure he's up even more now, his little belly is starting to pork out there and his once tiny legs are starting to fill out. I'm sure we'll have another chunky baby within a few months. Wonder if he'll be like Caylee and hit 20lbs around 9 months then stay that weight for over a year and a half. She was so huge.
Each time we have a baby I am amazed at how fast they grow and change, you would think with him being our 3rd I would have expected it. The girls are growing too, Lexi is getting so grown up, she's a big help with Josiah. Both girls are really testing us a lot lately, Caylee has become just a pure disobedient fireball. She is into everything she can find, doing everything we've ever told her not to do. Lexi has her moments of disobeying, but she is still motivated by consequences. Caylee has no concern or fear of spankings, time outs or going to bed, in fact, I think she welcomes the threat. surely there's something that will work for her...
Each time we have a baby I am amazed at how fast they grow and change, you would think with him being our 3rd I would have expected it. The girls are growing too, Lexi is getting so grown up, she's a big help with Josiah. Both girls are really testing us a lot lately, Caylee has become just a pure disobedient fireball. She is into everything she can find, doing everything we've ever told her not to do. Lexi has her moments of disobeying, but she is still motivated by consequences. Caylee has no concern or fear of spankings, time outs or going to bed, in fact, I think she welcomes the threat. surely there's something that will work for her...
Christmas time!
Turns out having three kids isn't much different than having two, aside from all the laundry, being extra tired, and having two kids to keep out of trouble while trying to nurse a newborn. Oh, then there's the fact that you don't have time to do things like mail the Christmas cards because you're just trying to stay on top of everything and show each kid you love them!
Speaking of Christmas cards, I was sent two Christmas thank you cards from Pear Tree Greetings, as well as some samples of Christmas Cards they've made. They are absolutely adorable. My favorite is this snowman thank you card, it has the snowman on the front and on the inside top says "Thank you" and the bottom "Happy Holidays". I like it because A) I love snowmen, but B) it's just an outline, perfect for the kids to color and send to grandma!!
The other thank you card I got is more sophisticated, perfect for anyone who needs a thank you card! It's also adorable, here's a picture of the front, the inside is blank.
The cards are very good quality, the personalized examples that they sent me of Christmas Cards were beautiful too! I absolutely love their work! They do a lot more than just Holiday cards, they also do birth announcements, birthday cards (invitations too) Graduation needs, wedding needs, even labels, and every day cards too!
So if you're looking for any cards, go check them out! They even have free two day air shipping right now, so you could still order Christmas cards!
Speaking of Christmas cards, I was sent two Christmas thank you cards from Pear Tree Greetings, as well as some samples of Christmas Cards they've made. They are absolutely adorable. My favorite is this snowman thank you card, it has the snowman on the front and on the inside top says "Thank you" and the bottom "Happy Holidays". I like it because A) I love snowmen, but B) it's just an outline, perfect for the kids to color and send to grandma!!
The other thank you card I got is more sophisticated, perfect for anyone who needs a thank you card! It's also adorable, here's a picture of the front, the inside is blank.
The cards are very good quality, the personalized examples that they sent me of Christmas Cards were beautiful too! I absolutely love their work! They do a lot more than just Holiday cards, they also do birth announcements, birthday cards (invitations too) Graduation needs, wedding needs, even labels, and every day cards too!
So if you're looking for any cards, go check them out! They even have free two day air shipping right now, so you could still order Christmas cards!
