Snow Day Fun 2015

Posted on February 17, 2015 by Sheila

A more accurate description would be snow plus ice. Sledding was perfect because the top layer was so frozen you could ice skate! I did not get an entire day off but went in 2 hours late and worked only 4 hours so it gave me some extra time to catch up around here. Picture overload but enjoy!

Where do we stop?

Which way do I go?

Short walk to the top!

I hope this was teamwork!

2 are faster than 1

3 in a row

We play as a group!

Zach is in the woods!

Bumper car sledding

Monday Ramblings

Posted on February 9, 2015 by Sheila

I have had a terrible cold since last Friday, today I am only taking 3 dose of medicine instead of 6 so that means I should be well by next months some time.
Because of feeling so blah and crummy, I have not walked since last Thursday. I was doing so good, plan to get back on track tonight. It may be with a Kleenex attached to my lip but it is at least something.
Last Thursday, I had the privilege of accompanying my friend Andrea to a college biology class, I came out with two observations. First, it is still just wrong that the professor is younger than I am. And second- since when is it not disrespectful to ask the professor for an update set of notes? At least half the kids in the class had electronic devices with his notes on them.
February is an extremely busy month for us. I counted and we have exactly 3 nights this month in which we are all home.
Because of the busy schedule, I am in charge of picking Kendall up from cheerleading on both Monday and Thursday nights. This way she can at least get in bed before 9 pm on those nights.
I did not share a menu plan for this week because we have 2 nights of leftovers and one night of hot pockets on the schedule. But at least we have a plan.
Lily and Kendall participated in their first cheerleading competition on Saturday. I am proud of both of them. Lily is working hard on her back handspring and Kendall is working on a forward roll and cartwheel.
Gas prices in our area jumped up 10 cent over night and have increased 14 cent in the last week. We at least were able to get all our vehicles and gas cans filled at the below $2.00 price. This makes for us a lower month in gas, so far to fill everything it cost $110. I am hoping that even with the rising cost we will be able to keep to less than $400 for the month with one small repair needed on the white van.
In the area of groceries, we are trying to continue to eat out of the fridge, however I am finding several good stock up deals this month in addition to planning to purchase/pay for an order of ground beef from Zaycon foods. I will be happy just to stay within our $600 budget for the month.
After receiving our Verizon cell phone bill, we have actually been able to reduce out bill by over $75 a month by switching plans. We are hopeful to keep this rate for at least the year.

Super Junk Food Day

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Sheila

We are not huge football fans over here but we do enjoy an excuse to eat so….This is what we did to celebrate the Super Bowl on Sunday. The kids were so excited to get to eat off the table. Kendall’s plate consisted of 1 chicken wing, which was too hot, one bacon wrapped cocktail wiener, a brownie and 4 peanut butter cookies. Zach really liked the bacon wrapped cocktail wieners, I think he ate around 20 of them total. At one time he had 5 in his hand. The kids did watch the half time show but the rest of the night was spent in the playroom with play dough.

Both Amanda and Haley ended up working but overall it was a fun day!

Five Things Friday- January 30th

Posted on January 30, 2015 by Sheila

1. Matt was able to secure the contract for 3 new web sites this week! We are so excited to have this boost in income!

2. In an effort to reduce our overall food budget, I ended up cooking 5 crock pots of beans on Thursday.

3. Both Kendall and Zach are not feeling well, I am hoping to avoid the doctor but I am getting more and more doubtful this will occur.

4. This morning, we (Matt, Zach and I ) are attending Lily Honor Roll Assembly. She made straight A this quarter. Kendall did just as well but because of her grade they don’t have an honor roll assembly.

5.Work has been extremely busy this week. So I have stayed tired in the evening that explains my lack of posting this week.

Sunday Catch Up and Menu Planning

Posted on January 25, 2015 by Sheila

We had an unexpected weekend at home due to our cheer squads not being ready for competition. I am not going to complain because I honestly think that I am more tired tonight than I was on Friday. We definitely have stayed busy this weekend. I will share a few highlights before our Menu plan for the week.

I have completed our taxes for the year. We are going to receive a refund but it is less than half of what we have received in years past. I am very proud and glad of this as it means I am letting the government borrow less of my money interest free! We are going to use this money as a down payment on a family trip to Disney in November so everyone is excited!
Matt finished the required repairs to our new to us van including a new heater/cooling fan in the back. And we have started to make some other repairs that just make it look and feel better. The best news is that so far we have not spent any money on the cosmetic repairs such as ripped seat covers but instead used some supplies from the house. I am pleased to say that at this point, the van looks and runs as good as or even better than we hoped. I am really really enjoying the power sliding door!
I have also been able to keep caught up with an online Bible course that we are taking.

Now on to the menu plan..We were able to stick to the plan last week except for Tuesday and Thursday. Sonic offered 50 cent corn dogs on Tuesday so we splurged for those. Because of the cancelled cheerleading competition we did not end up eating out this weekend so actually are way ahead of our low dinning since that eliminated at least one meal out if not two. On Thursday we ended up purchasing a chicken at Costco and using it for dinner on Thursday and a chicken pot pie for lunch today.

Breakfast- Less choices this week unless I get ambitious toward the end of the week. Choice of toast, grits, cereal, pop-tarts or Egg/Spinach dish (left-over last Friday). The kids can also request an egg any morning they remember it is available.

Lunch- Both of the girls have picked out and we have packed school lunches for the entire week. I am planning to use my soup at work most days as well.

Dinner- We are back to activities 4 out of 5 nights this week.
Monday- BBQ Chicken Pizza with sourdough crust.
Tuesday- Beef Stew in the Crockpot. This is one of 2 remaining meals from our bust of a cooking day!
Wednesday-Chicken Enchilada- box mix we purchased several weeks ago.
Thursday- Cheese Tortellini Soup-new recipe attempt.
Friday- Grilled Chicken
This should allow us enough leftovers to actually only cook on Sunday next weekend.

Finally we are looking forward to our Annual Party next week. It is one of the few times in the year that I just lay food on the table and the kids are allowed to eat what and when they want. I have purchased everything needed including wings so I hope to keep the cost as low as possible as I am already way over budget for the month.

5 Things Friday

Posted on January 16, 2015 by Sheila

I just really did not like the pink background so I decided to borrow this one from Carla as well!

1. I checked back through my blog and it would appear that Friday is my least favorite day to post. In fact I have rarely posted on Fridays. This may be just the “encouragement” I need to hit my monthly goal.

2. My checking account is currently very disorganized and inaccurate. I had a direct draft come out earlier than expect, one direct draft that I cancelled came out even after being cancelled correctly and my pay day switched from Thursdays to Friday starting this month.

3. We finally got the windshield replaced on Tuesday but I have spent close to three hours on the phone with the company since then because they keep wanting to charge my account. The 3rd charge posted this morning and I will have to deal with them again in the morning. This company has provided the absolute WORST customer service experience EVER!

4. The sun was shining today (after a week of rain and cold). IF the weather is half as nice tomorrow we are planning to replace an outside faucet that broke over a week ago. The even better news it that this repair should cost nothing but time!

5. I officially paid off my two smaller credit cards. JCPenny and Lane Byrant. This leaves the Home Depot Card and American Express Card to focus on. Baby steps, remember baby steps!

Life Happens….

Posted on January 10, 2015 by Sheila

This could be an example of how I viewed my life over the past week and that would be an accurate picture indeed; however this is actually the windshield of our new to us white van.

We purchased this van back in November with the idea that it would become a vehicle for us to use for travel, in addition to next school year replacing my car as a daily driver because all three kids don’t fit well with book bags and lunch boxes. Prior to the purchase we knew it needed work on the rear brakes and after driving home I knew it needed work on the front brakes as well. there also was a small crack across the bottom of the windshield which we talked about needed to replace eventually.

Last week, Haley’s car died and she needed to be able to drive to college starting Monday so we made the decision to sell my car to her on a pay as you can parent loan. With this decision, we ramped up our efforts to get the brakes fixed. Matt was able to fix the rear brakes using the parts that were given to us with the van and some good old fashion labor. On Thursday, we were pleasantly surprised to learn that we could definitely wait on replacing the windshield because we did not need to get it inspected until next year. Matt purchased new brakes and parts for the front and replaced those today and asked me to take it for a test drive.

The brakes work awesome, I was on my way to my parents house when the hood latch failed, the wind caught the hood as I am driving at 40 to 45mph and above is the result. I am so thankful that none of the kids were in the van and God’s hand of protect kept the damage to things that are replaceable.

Total Expenses so far for this van:
$126 tags, tax and title
$119 brakes
$217 new windshield
$60 increase in insurance
$20 hood pins to replace the broken latch
$542 total in addition to the initial cost of the van

In January it would appear that Life happens to be very expensive.

Year In Review

Posted on December 30, 2014 by Sheila

As promised here is where I stand for the year on each of the goals I set. I am also going to include an update goal for 2015. My current plan is to add to these and put some numbers with them at the end of the week. One quick recap, just after establishing these goals. we decided to take a last minute trip to Michigan which cause everything to start at a much slower pace than I had planned.

Long Term Goals: These were last addressed in July.

1. $2000 to repair our septic system- I have no clue of the cost for this but this is a save range. I will be counting our Emergency Fund in this amount for the time being because if it cost less than anything left will stay in this fund. No progress. The new and improved goal for 2015 will remain the same with the exception of planned saving on a monthly basis. However it will not cover the entire amount so I will need to “find” extra money along the way..
~~2. $1000 to replace the floor in our Living room.~~ Goal Met.

I will be adding several long term (meaning year long goals to this).

Monthly goals

Blogging: Goal: 15 per month Met 8 of 12 months with only this month exceeding the goal. This will continue as it at least keeps me accountable.

Weight: Goal to exercise 3x a week and to be down to 175 by December 2014. This goal was met 7/12 for 2014 but I have not reached my overall goal of 175. I am going to change this goal just a bit for 2015. New goal is Met and maintain weight of 175. This goal will be considered met each month that weight loss is achieved and once this weight is achieved, each month maintained is considered achieved. We have decided to cancel our YMCA membership due to the significant increase in amount and decease in our use over the previous year. Instead, we are in the process of purchasing a treadmill to use at home. I am honestly thinking that by having the equipment at home, I will be using it more often.

Spiritual- After eliminating this goal for 2014, I am going to add it back. I want to spend time reading and or studying the Bible at least 5 days a week for the year. Matt and I have signed up for a college class on the Old Testament, which should spur me on to make steady progress.

Financial Goals:

1. Pay off all debit by July 2015, except for mortgage. This goal was achieved 10 of 12 months. I plan to continue this goal but will be providing specific numbers to go along with this. Slight changes may including total payoff in September of 2015 instead of July.

2. Emergency Fund to $2000. I was able to achieve this goal only 4 of 12 months. I hope to make significant improvements in this year as indicated above with a planned saving each month.

. 3. Groceries: Spend $600 a month . Achieved 10 of 12 months. Our overall average is $650 for the year. I am going to continue this goal for 2015.

4. Gas: Spend $400 a month with any remaining to be move to Auto fund for repairs. Goal achieved 7 of 7 months that I tracked, however I currently do not have any money in the Auto Fund. The current plan is to continue this goal as is. We are currently purchasing a new to us van to replace my car so I am unsure if this will affect our overall gas use and may increase in June 2015 if needed.

Overall this has been a good year for the goals I established and I hope to continue improvements in 2015.What goals are you establishing?

Christmas Parties

Posted on December 21, 2014 by Sheila

This year, I have decided that I am going to make sure I get to the kid’s school events! So I decided to request the day off work on Friday to attend Kendall’s Party and of course I have no regrets.

On Thursday, I went to Lily’s Christmas party which was building a gingerbread house… my niece is in the same classroom and for this was actually seated at the same table as Lily so it was lots of fun!

The side of Lily’s finished gingerbread house!

The front of the finished gingerbread house

Lily really enjoyed opening gifts from her class!

Kendall’s party was on Friday afternoon and she was sent to 4 different stations. The teacher decided this year that parent would “travel” between stations with their children instead of being assigned on station to organize. I am sure this was one of the highlights of Kendall’s day, one on one attention!

Playing hot “gingerbread man” in order to pick a present.

B I N G O

Working hard on the Santa craft

I love this juice box idea!

Finished Christmas tree projet

Kendall with both of her teachers!

Hot chocolate Reindeer

Making sure she didn;t miss any of the BINGO game.

This was our first project and needed some instructions , we lost the mouth so I cut on out and after removing the eyes twice, I used a sharpie at home to draw them!

Snack ended the day with a cute reindeer theme.

Christmas tree project

Each child in the class got a present to open and really love this especially my Kendall!

Christmas Decorating

Posted on December 13, 2014 by Sheila

Christmas is my favorite time of year! I love everything about it, the music, the smells, the people and especially the pretty lights and decorations. This year, I decided to go all out and decorate with everything I had. I even ended up borrow some items from my parents just because I wanted more! First up is the tree…well trees in our case. This is the first year that I decided to have two Christmas trees. One is in the living room and the second in our bedroom. I am really excited to have a “Disney” Themed tree!

Next my goal was to place a Naivety scene in each room, there is not a picture of the playroom, Fisher Price set, which my kids LOVE to play with and was the one thing they asked to get out this year. I repurposed a tree topper for one of these and the stable Matt built out of wood. I LOVE IT! It really makes the piece look complete and instead of replacing I plan to keep for years to come.

Finally here are a couple of pictures of some other pieces that are located around the house! I did not included any of my snow village because this deserves an entire post of it’s own!