I haven't been busy at all...

                                                     (Snowman Oreo cookie balls)

(And of course a visit with Santa) Did you notice the touch of sarcasm in the title? No? Well, sarcasm IS hard to relay in print. I have been doing just a few things lately.  (Sarcasm again) I finished this semester with straight A's.  I hate saying that because I really only took 2 classes.  So it's not like I had a bazillion courses.  But I did these two classes while taking care of 2 maniacs and working... So yeah, I guess I will be proud of that.  Next semester I am taking three classes rather than two.  I only have 25 hours left until I graduate with my bachelors and I am getting impatient.  I will attempt 9 hours this semester so I could possibly finish in 3 semesters. I have also been working full time.  I have actually really enjoyed going back to work.  While I was staying at home I thought it would be IMPOSSIBLE for me to like work.  But, it is indeed nice to get out of the house, dress up in nice clothes rather than sweats and visit with other adults.  And I appreciate the kiddos more when I get home.  I have Wednesdays off and I L-O-V-E that. It really breaks up the week. Speaking of Wednesdays...  I have really been trying to save money lately.  Any amount we can save is one step closer to a house of our own.  So, I have been price comp'ing our groceries every time I go.  It really saves a lot.  And since I would look up the ads on Wednesdays, I figured why not email the deals to anyone if they want them?  So I started a list of people to send ads to each week.   It has sure taken off- I now have 37 people on that list and more are added almost daily.  I love helping people save money!! The PRIDE group that I helped get off the ground has really been doing well also.  We just recently had a few events for Christmas.  We asked people to donate items that they do not need that are in good/great condition.  We then took those items and had a "Christmas Store".  This was a free thing- people who maybe needed clothes for their kids for the cold winter or needed toys to put under the tree this Christmas could come in and get these items.  For free, of course.  It was VERY successful and people were quite grateful.  There was also a nice article wrote up on it in the paper.  We then had a Christmas party on Saturday the 17th.  Santa came, of course.  He rode in on the fire truck.  He then passed out bags of treats to everyone (filled with oranges, peanuts in the shell, and some activities for the kiddos).  We had a pot-luck style dinner and then Santa drove around town and delivered bags to shut-ins.  What a way to make yourself feel good during the Christmas season!  All of us were as grateful for being able to help as the people that we helped. At this event, I was approached by the Mayor for the teeny-tiny town I live in.  He wants to get some things done here, just as we do.  He asked me if I would be interested in being the reporter for the town and writing articles for a local newspaper.  I said I sure would. I think that is mostly everything for now.  There have been lots of smaller happenings in between (we had to put a doggy to sleep and found out another one has a possible lesion on his spinal cord, the kids are growing and learning new stuff everyday, etc).  Just enough to keep me from blogging. Until now :)

Happy Halloween!

The Halloween Festival that we hosted was a HUGE success.  We sold out of food by 7:00! And we had made enough for 150-200 people! It was amazing.  All of the proceeds went to the Quenemo PRIDE group.

We have also decided to start getting stuff figured out so we can begin building our dream house next year. Here is our tentative timeline:

- This winter get the land appraised and in our name

- Late winter/early spring- go to the bank and apply for construction loan

- Spring/summer- finalize blue prints, dirt work, basement poured, well dug, septic tank installed, electricity ran

- Late summer/early fall- Have our house set on the basement, let settle

- And as soon as we can- move in and finish the basement!!

I am very excited to start planning.  Our goal is to have it done in a year (and have all of our credit cards paid off by then- we are almost there!).  It is going to be a ton of work- especially with me returning to work, doing the PRIDE stuff, going to school and giving as much attention to the kiddos as they crave.  But, I have a feeling I can do it.  

And it will give me something to blog about!

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What's up?

I have been terrible about remembering to blog lately.  And I cannot remember what I did YESTERDAY, so forget about last week or however long ago.  So, I decided to go through my pictures I took on my phone to see what has been up.  Here ya go:

Lady "window-peeking"

Carter drank some ketchup.  Pa had surgery (he is doing fine now!)

Carter napped.

Kinsley napped.  (Apparently I love to take nap pictures- I have a TON!)

I bought these super cute little candle holders for our future house:

We went to the pumpkin patch/orchard:

The end! It was a fun few weeks had by all.  Now I am going to enjoy my last 2 weeks off before I start to work.

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Sometimes...

Sometimes you just have to be patient. I tell my son this a lot.  Today he saw a toy he wanted on a commercial and told me "Mommy, you can just download that right now." If only.  I told him he has to be patient and wait and ask for it for Christmas. But sometimes I have to be patient, too.  Like right now. Last night I had a job interview.  It was for a very part time job as the city treasurer in Quenemo.  Unfortunately, I did not get it.  There were four of us that got interviewed and we were all pretty much over-qualified for the job.  They said they were surprised people with our amount of education/experience applied for this job.  It would have been a good one but maybe I didn't get it for a reason. I have another phone interview this week for a different job.  Maybe I will get that one!  I will just have to be patient and see. But it's hard. Especially when the four of us share one bedroom.  I want to start dreaming of  a house, a space of our own.  And SEPARATE bedrooms. Patience. Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

This is how I feel today

(Don't worry- she is fine. She just wasn't getting her breakfast fast enough.)

Today I feel like having some wine time.  Wait. No.  WHINE time.

Maybe wine wouldn't be so bad either.  I usually try not to complain too much about stuff.  I try to see the positive, blah blah blah.  Today I am just not feeling that. I just want to be a grouch.

My neck hurts really bad. I have been (not) sleeping on it wrong.  The whole 2 minutes of sleep I get at night are apparently the wrong way and so I can barely move my neck.  I will probably visit a chiropractor soon.

Why do I only get 2 minutes of sleep? Because I have 2 extra teeny bodies in my bed every night.  But they don't seem so teeny when they are taking up half the bed.  And when I am getting kicked in the face/stomach/etc.

The kids are driving me nuts today.  (And just so you know, it is only 7:42am)

I am sure there is more to whine about but I have to go get ready. We are going to a parade.  And it better not rain.

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Did I sign up for this??

I guess if my life was a reality show it would be a different version of Survivor. You know, let's see how much we can have Emily do at once without her head exploding. The truth is, I signed myself up for all this junk.  Well, some of it was a surprise. I helped start up the Quenemo PRIDE group- we are going strong so far.  There are only 388 people in our town, but 40 people show up to the meetings.  I consider that a pretty darned good turnout.  Anyway, I am planning several things at once- I just purchased shirts for a fundraiser and now I am setting my sights on next year- I want to plan a carnival, a parade, and a 5k.  This should be fun!  We have meetings once a month (the last Monday of the month- unless it is a holiday) so come if you are in the area.  I am the secretary so you will see me burning a hole in my paper jotting down the notes and running around like a chicken with its head cut off. As you know, I am also going to school.  This semester I decided to only go half-time, so I am taking 6 hours.  I am doing well so far- I will be disappointed if I finish with anything other than an A. And then something unexpected came up.  A part time job came open for our city.  It sounded perfect- 30 hrs per month would give us just a little extra money to use.  So I decided I would apply for it. And I did. But then something even more unexpected happened.  My mom has worked for the hospital for 15 years (more than that, really, but this was 15 consecutive now) and they had a Service Awards reception so the kiddos and I went with her.  While I was there, my former boss came up and asked if I would be interested in coming back to work at the hospital.  I told her I would have to think about it. So I have been.  Thinking.  And more thinking. Mostly at night so it keeps me awake.  I came to the conclusion that I will probably go back to work. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE being a stay at home mom.  Seriously, A LOT.  But this will help us out a lot.  I asked if I could work 4 8-hour shifts and she said that is fine.  So, Mimi will go back to working weekends so she can watch the kids during the week and then I will probably go back to work (I still have to apply and go through all the hoops again).  It will be tough but I just have to keep thinking that we will get out of debt even faster  which will help us out in the long run. I guess that is my show then.  Work, kids, school, PRIDE group and whatever else comes up next.  Stay tuned.

*sigh*

(i heart my phone- especially since it can take vintage-y pics like this) What a dreamy time of year. I can't stop smiling- there is a chill in the air and it gives you a bounce in your step after the summer beatdown. We have been outside burning brush, throwing wood, taking our time doing chores we had been rushing through all summer, and swinging. Lots of swinging. It is around 50° in the mornings, a cool 60 by the time we are ready to get out and about. We put on our jeans and longsleeve shirts and it is HEAVEN. Then, after dinner it is cool once again and we have to huddle by our brush fires to stay warm if we want to stay outside. *Sigh* Its perfect. I hope it stays around for a while. (I won't be outside tonight- I am going to represent Quenemo PRIDE at the city council meeting. I heard it through the grapevine that we might receive a nice donation tonight! Wish me luck!) Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Selfish

Yesterday I was having a bit of a selfish day. Everyone is allowed one now and then, right? I love my kids and my family is my world. Nothing is more important to me. That's why yesterday caught me a bit by surprise. It started at lunch. I make Carter and me something to eat. I get him started eating his lunch. Then I make Kinsley something. When that is done it is time for me to eat. Only it isn't really. I forgot a drink for Carter. I get up, get it and hand it to him. Sit down again. I forgot the ketchup and Carter dips EVERYTHING in ketchup. I get up and get it. Kinsley starts screeching because her tray has been empty for .0001 second. I give her more food. And by the time I get some cut up to prepare for the next screechfest, she has already cleaned her tray so I have to cut up more. Repeat about 596 times. Eventually I get to sneak a bite. Mmm, cold (sometimes soggy) food. Will I EVER get a warm meal again? And again at bedtime- more selfishness. I get Kinsley to sleep. Darek is asleep because he has to wake up super early to work overtime. And Carter isn't even close. My eyeballs feel like they have sand in them and my eyelids feel as if they are trying to hold up 50lb bags. But I can't go to sleep untill both kids are asleep. Carter would inevitably need a drink/pee/story and would just wake me up anyway. So I wait. And wait. And wait. (It was 11:00 at that point.) Carter falls asleep (finally!) and now I feel as if I had drank a route 44 cherry coke from Sonic. I was buzzing with energy. But I laid there anyway. And thought about all that I needed to do the next day/week/century. And about how I wonder if I will EVER get to be the first one asleep. I would even settle going to the bathroom by myself for once in 3 years. But today things are back to normal. My cold lunch will be ok. After all, if I make me a hammie sandwich its cold anywsy, right? And I drew Carter a picture while I was in the bathroom (some of my best art, I must say). And I will cherish the 30+ minutes of silence after everyone goes to bed and before my brain wants to turn off. And one of these days I will go to a restaurant alone (Darek can babysit) and I will eat first. :) Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

I am TIRED...

Notice that is in all CAPS.  That means I am very serious.  I am TIRED.  Darek has been working 10 hour days this week.  Which, you may be thinking to yourself, means that HE is tired.  Which, I am sure he is.  But that means that I am home alone with the maniacs for an extra TWO HOURS.  That feels like a whole extra day by the time 5:00 has rolled around.

Also, you will notice there is no picture today. I tried to send it several times from my phone but I guess it is TIRED also.  Poo.

I have been extremely busy with my new project.  We have the Quenemo PRIDE group up and running.  This week I got a highway adopted by us and designed a shirt for the group.  And had a meeting. And tomorrow I am going to set up the bank account.  And Wednesday is a City Council meeting, at which I will speak on behalf of the PRIDE group.  Etc, etc.

I have also started school.  I started out with 4 classes.  I am not sure what I was thinking.  12 hours, forming a non-profit group, and two children is a bit much to take on all at once! So, I had to rethink my plans.  I would rather take 2 classes and get A's in them then take 4 and do average work.  I dropped the two classes I wasn't really interested in.  That left me with Ethics and World Religions, both of which I find extremely interesting.  It is hard to only take 6 hours because I only have 20 some left before I am done, but I have to remember what is truly important and that is making sure the kiddos are happy and healthy and have a lot of my attention.

I am still running.  I was going to today but I have a migraine.  AGAIN.  I think I will go back to the Dr and get a better medication or something because my once a month migraines have turned into about 4 a month.  Not cool.  Anyway, I hadn't been running as far when I run (I have been doing like 2 to 2.5 miles) but the other night I felt great so I did a little over 3 again.  I sure love how I feel when I am done! It is an inconvenience to find time to do it but it is so great afterward.  But I need to re-evaluate my running/eating plan so I quit losing weight! I don't want to be scary skinny!

I think that is it for now.  Pics to come soon.

Where has time gone?

(A pic of our teeny tiny town. I liked it except for my shadow!) Seriously. Where has it gone?? The days and weeks and months just keep going faster and faster. I feel like a person on a roller coaster just trying to hold on and go with the flow but its going so darned FAST! (Have I mentioned I hate roller coasters? Not to the extent that I hate worms, but a close second.) Here is what I've been up to this week: I had to get a display ready for an open house at the school here in our itty bitty town. We are forming a PRIDE group and it is going to take a lot of work. Brochures, display, meeting times/dates, potential fundraisers... These are all swishing around in my head at pretty much all times of the day (and night) now. School also started. For me, that is. I started out with 12 hrs but for various reasons (children, prior commitments, poor communication, etc.) I am now down to just 6. I like the set up of the 2 classes I have. They are World Religions and Ethics. They are both interesting, that's for sure. I have also been debating on whether or not to send Carter to preschool. He is so smart and he would have fun. But maybe I want him to be home for a while longer :) And I have decided to get miss Kinsley's super cute little ears pierced. I will post a pic when it gets done. So between all that and traveling to see Darek's parents as often as we can (we usually only make it back once a month so we are grateful they are willing to come see us so often!) we are stretched rather thin right now. But it's a good thing. We are working towards goals and making things happen. And now I am going to bed. Everyone is snoring and I would be crazy not to join them. Goodnight! Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Ears

I am seriously contemplating having these teeny tiny, cute little ears pierced. At first I was completely against it. Nope, no way, not happening. She needs to wait until she can decide she wants them done. Then, the other night I saw a picture of a little girl (about Kinsley's age) with cute little earrings in. It was the cutest thing ever. And getting your ears pierced is kind of scary. If I could do it at a time when she will not remember it then maybe that would be best. I looked online for information about babies getting their ears pierced. Who knew it was such a hotly debated process?? Yikes. People were fighting back and forth about their stance on it. And all of that came up when I just searched for how young they can do it (2 months seems to be the consensus). On one of the heated discussions there was a very memorable response. A lady was talking about how she was pro-piercing at a young age and someone had replied in a not-so-nice way. She replied something to the effect of why should she wait, we don't wait to circumcise our sons just so they can choose or not. (I think that was a bit dramatic but a good point.) Besides, most girls/women do have their ears pierced and I am sure it will probably be a decision she would make anyway. And if she got to be 5, 6, 10 years old and HATED earrings then she could just NOT wear them, right? Oh, decisions, decisions. Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Regularity

(Kinsley being cute)

(Kinsley emptying her brother's toy bins. That one is trouble.)

(Carter Daniel on the day we opened his very first bank account)

I had been pressuring Carter to poop on the potty. This would inevitably lead to him withholding his poo, constipation, stomache aches, laxitives and the cycle would restart. Then, I decided I was going to stop. He is only 3- its not the end of the world if he poops in a pull-up. Besides he goes pee in the potty so that is a pretty big accomplishment. So, for a few weeks I wouldn't say a word about him pooping. When he asked if he could have a pull-up on so he could poop I would put one on his little booty and clean up the "mess" afterwards. He started going everyday again and things were back to normal. Then 2 nights ago at approximately (ok, exactly) 11:30pm, he woke up and couldn't sleep. Drinks of water were had, his back was sufficiently scratched, and still no sign of sleep. I was getting quite irritated at this point when he said that he had to go pee. I was pretty sure this was a ploy to push me over the edge into crazyville. (And with all the ruckus going on, Kinsley woke up so I now had two kids awake.) I told Darek that Carter had to pee and he had to take him while I dealt with the other maniac. And, unless you are a parent also, this may be TMI. But he sat on the potty, pee'd, gave a good grunt and Hallelujah! There was #2 in the potty. So, even though it was super late, I was tired and frustrated and Darek was dreading the prospect of work the next day on no sleep, we made a big hoorah about him pooping in the toilet. It was a fluke. It just had to be- he probably grunted too hard and it just happened. Bur it happened nonetheless. Last night, here we were: bed time again. I was having trouble getting the kids to sleep. The clock seemed to be working against me. It was staring at me with its green numbers, mocking me. 10:58, 11:10, 11:45. And just as I think everyone is asleep, Carter sits up. He wants to watch tv. He wants s drink. His back itches. No tv, back scratched and one drink later, he was still up. "Carter, do you need to pee?" "Yet." (Carter speak for yes- 's' doesn't come out so well.) He gets on the toilet and does the #1. Then he sits there for another minute and goes #2. Like he has been doing it for years. I was thrilled. He was so proud of himself. Now, we only have to figure out how to move "poop time" a bit earlier than midnight. Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Let me introduce you...

You, this is me. Oh, you know me? Well do you know the thirty-pounds-lighter me?? Now you do. Oh, and I met this beautiful woman today.

Once in a lifetime kinda thing

This week I got an opportunity that is a once in a lifetime kind of opportunity. You see, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition decided to help a veteran and his family in Ottawa, KS. They are a very deserving family and the dad suffers from PTSD. Loud noises can set him into a panic attack, so the family really needed a place in the country. And Extreme Makeover decided to step in and help them out.

I was trying to think of when I could volunteer but registration was always full with volunteers and so I didn't think I was going to get a chance. Then, I saw a post on Facebook that they were needing volunteers Thursday morning from 2am-8am.

So, I called Dannie and asked her if she would want to go with me. Luckily, Mimi was off on Thursday so she would be able to watch the kids for me if I needed to sleep after my shift. And since we decided we had better get there early to be sure we could volunteer, Dannie and I showed up at midnight. We decided to try and be brave and pull an all-nighter. (I am much to old for that now!)

We arrived at midnight and signed our waivers and received our hard hats. (Those cannot possibly be flattering on ANYONE.) They told us to go to the next tent to start working.

I guess I was hoping we could do more to help- like painting or something hands-on. But, they mostly have professionals do that and they weren't to the point of painting yet anyway. So we got to take bottles of water and gaterade around, then breakfast, more water, ice cream, etc. Then we picked up the trash. It was a lot of fun to see how fast they were working. A lot changed in just the time that we were there (even with the storm that came in).

I think the house is supposed to be done on Saturday. We are going to try and go to the reveal if possible. It was great to do my part in helping, even though I didn't feel like I was much help!

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My baby boy turned 3

For Carter's birthday, he wanted to do three things: open presents, go to Applebee's and go to Dairy Queen.

First, we let him open the big present from Darek and I. It was the whole Sunnyside Daycare bunch from Toy Story 3. He was in heaven! He was so darned excited.

Then we went to Applebees. We had our supper- a couple of his new toys joined us as well as Uncle Craig, Aunt Mary and cousin Cole.

Then on to the best part: DQ ice cream. Carter had a mini cookie dough blizzard (a quarter of one before he got bored anyway). I even splurged and had an ice cream cone!

Anyway, we had a great time. I cannot believe my little Carter Daniel is 3 years old now. He is such a big boy and I look forward to planning many more birthday parties!

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A fun time was had by all....

{I made toy story themed cupcakes. They were delicious!}

{Sno cones!}

{Cutie patootie Miss Kinsley}

{No party is complete without a bounce house!}

{And party favors. My favorite favor was the sunglasses.}

Here is a small sample of the festivities. I will post more pictures at a later date.

Because right now I am hungover. Birthday hungover. The kind where no alcohol was involved but rather lots of energy was expended and sugar has been consumed.

Goodnight.

Delusional?

No, not delusional. A bit ambitious, perhaps.

This picture is what Quenemo, Kansas used to look like. There were several businesses, restaurants, etc.

Today, there is a post office. And that is it.

I would post a picture of what Quenemo looks like today so you could make the comparison, but honestly, there is NOTHING to take a picture of. A lot of the houses are falling in, abandoned, or just not cared for. The buildings that used to house businesses are empty or completely gone. And a lot of the residents have moved out of town.

Thanks to Facebook, several of the remaining residents of Quenemo have decided to combine forces and clean up the town a bit. I am one of them. I have volunteered to scrape, paint, mow, or whatever is needed of me. It will be exciting to make changes.

We are also in the process of forming a non-profit organization so we can do some fundraising. We have our first meeting on Wednesday. I have been suggested for the secretary and spokesperson positions, which I will gladly accept if everyone agrees that those are the jobs for me.

I also am in the process of setting up a fair for next year. It will be small. And people may not go to it, but I will be able to say I tried. And who knows? Maybe it will be a success. Maybe this is all that this little sleepy town has been waiting for. A good kick in the bum to get goin'.

On parenting

I think about 98.25% of parenting is problem solving. Why are they crying? Are they sick? Hurt? Angry? Just trying to drive me bonkers??? My latest issue has been feeding Kinsley. She HATES green veggies. And that has recently turned into ALL veggies. She spits and cries no matter how many times I try them. So yesterday I was trying to think of why. Is it the flavor? The texture? Last night I decided to try something a bit different. Maybe she wants to feed herself? I made her some peas and carrots and put them on her tray (with low expectations). And she ate them! Peas no longer made her gag and carrots no longer made her shudder. Success! I guess she is a bit more independent than I give her credit for. Problem solved. Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Productive day

We had quite the day yesterday. We got A LOT done. And it was stuff that needed to be done for a while now. Mom has the perfect place for a pantry. But without shelves in there, it was really just a place to throw stuff. So, yesterday morning we were talking about how nice it would be to have shelves in there. I looked up several different types on Home Depot's website and found some perfect shelves. Inexpensive ($89), easy to assemble, and heavy duty (it holds 3600 lbs!). I called HD and they had some in stock so we made a quick trip to Lawrence. We got the shelves (3 of them), went and got groceries and then headed home to assemble our purchases. It took about an hour to assemble the 3 sets of shelves- each set has 6 shelves. Not bad in my opinion! And no tools required. Even better. We got the shelves into the former utility room and woolah! a pantry! (See pic above) Then, after supper I decided that the garden needed a little tlc. Risking my life, I decided to weed and hoe the garden. (I could have seen a worm, had a heart attack and croaked.) I ended up doing more than I had originally intended. And I am paying for it today. I can barely open my right hand (see other pic), and every,muscle is sore. Who knew that hoe-ing the garden works your abs?? Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Self Discovery is a Funny Thing

It seems like I learn something new about myself everyday. It really is quite odd if you think about it. I mean, who knows me better than me?? Yet I still learn new things all the time. I was thinking about this as I was watering the garden tonight. Everyone else had gone in and I had a (very rare) moment completely alone. Here are a few things I've learned/discovered/realized about myself: I am a country girl through and through. I always have wanted to move back to (fun, exciting, hip) Lawrence. But now I realized I would MUCH rather live in the country. And maybe visit Lawrence once a week. {let me clarify something- my admitting I am country does NOT mean I like country music.} I am a good mom. I may have days where I am impatient or grouchy. I may have days where none of us get out of our pj's. And I use spanking as as form of punishment. But I feel that I do the best job I can and that is what matters. I dislike running. I wish I could be like Beth and just love it, but I can't. I dread it, but I do feel good afterward. And I LOVE the results, so I will continue to do it. And last thing on my mind: I am happy I am married to Darek. I met a lot of Darek's high school friends this weekend. And most of them are single. Instead of being a smidge jealous of the single, free life they lead, I found myself thinking how lucky I am to be married and have our wonderful children. I am lucky, indeed. Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Cuties

I know everyone thinks that their kids are the cutest things in the world. But I am just POSITIVE that mine are. These pics were from Kaleb and Julian's party at the fire station. (Except for chubby baby's nudie smiley pic and that was at home!) Check out Kinsley's super cute headband. I made it! Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Happiness is...

...spraying everyone with the garden hose on a hot summer day.

...snack time. Even if it is cabinets you are snacking on. But seriously, I feel like we have been happier than ever lately. And you know why? Because we are poor. Seriously. I never thought that would make us so happy. Who really WANTS to be poor? For us, it just kind of happened. It was totally our own fault. I feel like in our society, you get married, buy a house, have kids, get new cars, have new clothes, go on vacations, etc. Basically, spend beyond your means. And that is what we did. We got married. We bought a house, a new car, had kids, and spent, spent spent. Or charged it, charged it, charged it. (And we spent some for something we prob shouldn't have spent our own money on. But that's a whole 'nother story.) Then we found ourselves in a pickle. We were struggling each month to make all of our payments. I would choose which bill I thought could be a month late so we could pay another one. Darek and I decided to try to sell our house to make things work. We sold it and moved in with my parents. And we still had no extra money. It made me wonder how we made it as long as we did! Now, we use all of our money for groceries, to pay of bills and go towards our savings. I make sure our bank account is as close to nothing as possible each week- that means we have put as much as we can in savings or in a payment. So far, we have paid off (and this may be too much info to put out, but since Beth is like my only reader I feel ok about it!) $700 from having Kinsley, a $3000 home depot card, a $1000 Sam's club card, a $1500 Best Buy card, a big chunk on our regular card and prob more that I am forgetting at the moment. We have also got a good start on our savings. So, we are happy. We are happy that we are getting out of debt. We are happy to pay cash for anything that we may need. We are happy to save for a future home. And most of all, we are just happy to be poor. Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android P.S. I LOVE to take ads into Wal-mart and they will, of course, match it. So, the other day I bought 25 bottles of powerade for Darek to take to work, saline solution, eye makeup remover, a case of water, several tv dinners, lots of cheese, my breakfast bars and a ton of other stuff for only $60. I was pretty impressed with myself.

Summer Days

I have recently vowed to become more productive. I would say that surviving the day with 2 children under the age of three is productive in itself, but I still felt like a bum. So, I've been trying to do more. This morning we woke up and ate, hung 3 loads of laundry on the line, played (I looked over my homework while Kinsley napped), 1 more load on the line, lunch, last load of laundry out, nap time (including me today), and now play time and snack time outside. Soon daddy will get home and it will be time for me to cook, do homework, bathe kiddos and spend some more time outside. I've been trying to involve Carter in our chores any way I can. He loves his John Deere gator, so he helps me when I hang clothes on the line by hauling them out there for me. He also drove the trash to the dumpster at the end of the driveway while we walked along with him. Exercise for me + fun for him while accomplishing a chore = perfection. I love these summer days. Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android