Resolutions

This year I'm hoping that I can actually accomplish some of my goals. Ive been pretty bad about it in the past and have at times not even made goals because I knew that they would be forgotten just as soon as they were made. But with a bit of work I think that I can actually accomplish a few this year. I'm keeping them somewhat small, yet worth working on.

Goals for 2009

1. Cook more from scratch. The simple truth is that I'm fat. The reason for that is the fact that I have not been the best at cooking home made meals. This year I pledge to learn more simple recipes that are healthy and actually make them on a regular basis. I want to lose weight, but I'm not going to succeed at that unless I learn how to cook healthy meals. Plus I want my family to be healthy as well. We have never really been the type of people to be consistently sick but this fall was a bad fall for us. I think that we were sick the majority of the last three months. Also, it will definitely cut down on expenses if I can get my act together and put a pantry together. Less eating out, more eating in equals a happy family.

2. Get outside more. The other half to the first goal. There's nothing better than getting outside a lot to help with the weight issue. Plus I have three growing boys that really need to get outside and play a whole lot more. They love playing outside and our yard isn't the greatest for small children to play in. The solution, going to the park on a regular basis. There's places around here that we can go on nature walks as well. I want to go camping a bunch this summer too. Its been years since we've been camping. We gave it a good go this last summer but the lake was so high that there was practically no where to camp. I hope that the lake is a lot lower by summer this year. We have a tent set that we haven't even been able to open because we haven't had a chance to go camping.

3. Start sewing. I have a new sewing machine that has barely been used. I am going to set up a desk or table that I can sew at and start a bunch of projects. I have a few dresses that I want to work on this year. Hopefully I will have them done by this time next year. Sew much to do and sew little time. (hehe couldn't help myself!)

4. Work harder on school with A1. He's been doing really well the first half of the school year. He knows how to read really well. Its only on the larger words that he has troubles. We've worked on some of the history things that kids his age are supposed to know as well. I think that the biggest thing that we have to work on is his math. He's doing well in it but we need to work a little more with it.

So, now you know what my goals are. What are yours? What resolutions are you making for the new year?

Is it in you?

Sound Mind Sound Mom Book Club

Simple Mom has anounced the book list for the Sound Mind, Sound Mom Book club. I encourage you to hop on over and check it out. She has quite a few good selections in there and you dont necessarily have to be a mom to join in the fun. I will be posting my reviews of the books as we read them. I hope you do too.

A Wonder To Behold!

My husband and I and our four month old son moved to Arkansas WAY (okay not so way) back in 2003. We moved out here from California in the spring with a friend of ours. When we moved, the price of gas in California was about $1.60 - $1.70 per gallon and the price when we got to Arkansas was $1.45. I loved it. It was so much cheeper! Then things started to get expensive and we had a steady climb in prices for the next 5 years. We saw the price of regular unleaded gas jump to the extreme price of $4.00 a gallon and in some places it went so high as $5.00 a gallon for a short time. We saw the price of not only gas go up but everything else went up as well. Price of houses shot up to unbelievable prices. California, Florida, and many other places around the nation saw the price of small single family houses rise to more than $300,000.

Then at the height of it all when fuel prices, housing prices, food prices, and everything else skyrocketed, the bubble burst. At the very height of it all, in the middle of the summer this year, price of a single barrel of crude oil was $147 (yes that is one hundred and fourty seven dollars), and people just couldnt do it anymore. Humpty dumpty came tumbling down. Those who bought into the super high house prices couldnt afford it anymore. Their intrest rates adjusted and they could no longer pay the mortgage. They lost their houses.

Now, because of this bubble bursting, we have seen one of the fastest declines in prices since practically the great depression. The actual numbers are still pretty high but the percent of decline is steep. Percents that the experts are saying that we havent seen since that depression. Stock prices are dropping, house prices are dropping, and best of all gas prices are dropping. Today when I went to the store I saw the price at the gas station there and was absolutely amazed at the prices. Thinking about it, prices were in the $2.00 range only two weeks ago. Today the price was $1.45. The same as when we moved to Arkansas almost 6 years ago. In just about five months time we have seen the price of gas drop from the high of almost $5.00 in some places to less than $1.50 and its still dropping. WOW!! What a time we live in!! I wonder how low it will go? Will we see it drop to less than $1.20? Or will it stay where it is? I cant wait to find out!

As for me, Im just excited that it's less than $1.50 since Im going to Colorado to visit a friend for the holiday. This is going to be one CHEAP driving trip!

What are your thoughts on the recent economic developments?

Love to Read?

Well here's your chance to read some new books. Starting in January Simple Mom is going to be hosting a book club on her blog. Subjects will range from food to frugality, kids and home, money management and organizing. We will be reading one book every two months (to make it easy). Anyone can join and I hope you do!

Life just got a whole lot easier!

Have you ever noticed that when the little guys cant walk, life seems to be so much harder to deal with. Its harder to go out of the house, getting in and out of the car is difficult, managing play time. Not to mention the fact that there's not much to do outside the home when the little one is non mobile. Its not like they can play at the park or really enjoy what you are doing because they cant get involved with it.

My littlest one is 18 months old now and has been walking for a few months but only just recently got the hang of the whole thing. He doesnt wobble so much when he takes a few steps and he runs quite well. So now that the weather has cooled off sufficiently enough that we can do things outside for more than, oh say about ten minutes, we've been going to the park. He absolutely loves it! We have found a park that is toddler friendly for the most part and he loves to just get up there and play. There's one particular slide that he loves and he gets on that thing time and again. I think its because there's a slowdown after the turn in it. The playground has another slide but its a straight one and he goes too fast and bumps his head on the way down.

We went today after his well child checkup and had lunch. He was just so content to sit with me on the grass and eat his lunch while his brothers were off playing on the playground. It was so nice to be able to relax in the grass and not have to worry about him because I didnt have to constantly be chasing after him and holding his hand. I had to worry more about his big brother pushing him down the slide because the baby was taking too long.

I think that this right now is one of my favorite seasons with my kids. All of them are old enough to understand commands and follow through with it (doesnt mean that they WILL but they can), and they are all big enough to handle themselfs without needing to be hand held the whole time. It's nice and a very sweet change of pace.

Sucessful Homeschooling

I can say that we are sucessfully homeschooling. Thursday last week my oldest came to me telling me that he could read a page out of one of the little reader books that we have. I told him that was wonderful and that he should read the whole book. So he went back to his room and read it. The whole thing. I am so proud of him. He's really doing a wonderful job. I love the fact that he can read things on his own now.

Another wonderful aspect to homeschooling him is the fact that he's helping his brothers to learn as well. A friend gave us a LeapFrog brand word whammer so that the boys could practice their letters and putting together small words and I think that the little boys have gotten better use from it than the older one has. It has a feature that sings the ABC's and so they all get together and sing the ABC's. Its so cute to watch and listen to them doing that because they dont exactly get the names right (well, the older one does but the middle one tries and misses and the youngest just knows the tune) and they dance to the tune, but they are all having fun with it. I love it!

I HATE politics!

This was emailed to me recently and for those of you who dont know my political leanings (which is probably all of you), this will definatley show you what it is. I really dont like to talk about politics much because it is a hard issue for most people. You know .. its one of those subjects that you DEFINATELY should not bring up with strangers. But I have to here because for one .. its my blog and for another I really like the message that is being cast in this video. Please watch it to the end if you have the time to. While I dont agree totally with either side on all the issues, this video brings about some interesting comments that has really made me think about who I will vote for.

Mama Cloth

I've been doing this wonderful thing called sewing lately. I finally got a machine that WORKS!!!! Dont ask about the horror stories of the other machine. Im just not going there! But I have found that my new one has some really cool features. It might take me a while to use them all. So what is it that I've been sewing lately, you ask??

Laugh at the duckies I dare you!

"Mama Cloth". I found this stuff when I was researching cloth diapers for my sister. Everywhere I looked online for cloth diapers, I found these to go along with it and well, if you are going to go cloth on one kind of diaper, you might as well go cloth on the other too! I made the ones in the picture this afternoon with my WONDERFUL new sewing machine. Ive had them cut out for about a month now and because my other machine was such a piece of CRAP I couldnt sew them up.

These are made with three or four layers. Flannel top, towel terry (from a cheap new towel), fleece, and PUL (polyurithane laminate) on the bottom for waterproofing. I'll tell you that the flannel is such a wonderful feel. So soft. I like these because they are so much easier on the skin than that plastic crap they put in store bought pads. Its cheaper to do this too because you can make them last up to about 10 years if you really take care of them well, and a minimum of 5 years if you dont. Its not unusual for these things to last for a long time.

At a minimum of 5 years you can save about $300 or more depending on how much you use in the way of pads. If you know how to sew, its a lot less expensive to make them than it is to buy them. My materials cost me about $15-20 for the fabric @ 1yd ea, towel, notions etc. I will probably get about 15 or so pads out of the bunch. That comes to about $1.30 each when all the stores are selling them for more than $5 and sometimes more than $10 each pad. Talk about considerable markup!!!! You might be seeing me with an etsy shop soon!

Tell me, would you consider using cloth instead of plastic? Have you used cloth? What did you think about it?

A Day of Remembrance

Today deserves a post from me. On this day, 7 years ago, the most horrifying thing, in my time, happened on US soil. Terrorists, intending to kill probably tens of thousands, flew planes into the World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon, and hoped to hit the Whitehouse. Thanks to a few brave souls, the one intended for the Whitehouse went down in a field instead of the walls of its intended mark. About 3000 people died that fateful day. We all know the story. Id like to tell you mine for that day.

It was what seemed like a normal day. I woke up, helped my husband (fiance at that time) get ready for work and saw him out the door. I decided on this particular morning that I wanted to watch some TV, just to cut the silence in the house, only to find that there had been something really major happening. I watched for only a few minutes before I saw the second tower get hit. We lived in California at the time so by the time I turned on the tv the first tower was already in flames and smoke billowing in the sky. I watched in horror as they showed people scrambling to get out of the buildings and those gaping holes in the buildings and the final fate of the two buildings. I watched as they showed footage of the plane that went down in the field that was meant for the Whitehouse. I watched as they showed more footage of the Pentagon with a HUGE gap in the middle of it.

There was just confusion everywhere. I felt like there was nothing I could do to help any of them, and truly there wasnt much that everyone in the US hadnt already thought of doing. At that very moment tho, there was absolutely nothing that I would have been able to do to help any of it. I tried to call Robert to let him know what was happening but I couldnt get ahold of him. He worked on a construction site and didnt carry his phone with him all the time. Thankfully they had a radio there on the site, so that's how he found out. He came home that evening telling me about what happened, and I let him know that I had been watching it all day long and I filled him in on the bits and pieces. It was a scary and heart wrenching day to just sit and watch and not be able to do anything.

Tell your story about 9/11/01 then post a link here. I would love to know what you were doing on that day.

Coupons

I have been trying to figure out the whole meal planning and grocery shopping thing for a while now. It got so bad that I just didn't know what to cook for about three months. I think, however, that I am finally out of my slump. I have a list of our regular dinner meals on hand to choose from and I am working on a staple list so that I am not running out of the regulars when I need them the most. But there is something else that I have been trying out lately and it is something that has stumped me for years. You guessed it .. Coupons.

There's been a lot of talk around the blogosphere about the drugstore game and couponing (like that? ... it has become a verb, its not just a noun anymore!). However its still something that eludes me a bit. Organizing them in order to be able to use them without fumbling around trying to find the right one or forgetting to use them at all has been the hardest part. Then there's the whole thing about finding the stuff that you actually use. Wow there's a ton to it. I did have some success on a recent shopping trip. I was able to save about $10 on a bill that should have read $110, so I only spent about $100. I even got things I needed! Milestones right?? I'm working on it tho. Slowly. Just getting to that point where I understand their uses and can get some good stuff is a wonderful feeling.

How about you? Are you using coupons or doing the drugstore game? How successful have you been? Tell me your story.

What is Rich anyway?

To be perfectly honest .. someone who is wealthy monetarily could be anyone who has more than 50k income per year. I find it really funny that the politicians that vie for our votes in the upcoming election think that wealthy people are only those who are in the top 5%. If that's the case then I must be Dirt poor. For a long time we have lived well under the 30k bracket and are alive and well to tell about it. We even have a house to show for it. Now granted our house might not be the biggest, best, and brightest house in the world, but it has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, a functional kitchen, a place to watch TV if we chose and it even has a laundry room (small as it all may be). The Lord is my provider!

However I think that those politicians would be hard pressed to try to live in a place like mine. Its not shabby but it isn't perfect. I wonder how any politician would be able to survive with less than 30k per year income. Would they be able to manage the groceries? or how about making sure that the bills were paid on time? Would they be able to keep the bills low enough that they could pay them every month? Could they live in a small house like mine? I would be interested to see what they would do if they were in my shoes.

How in the world did I manage that?

1930's Marital scale

76 As a 1930s wife, I am Very Superior Take the test!

I dont get it. I took this test and expected really to get a bad score because I didnt mark a lot of the statements having to do with keeping the house well and looking decent for my husband and yet I still ended up with the highest score they had. How odd. How did you do? www.magatsu.net/maritaltest

Road Trip!!! and Bento Boxes

Thirty hours of driving, almost 2000 miles, from Arkansas to Northern California. We get to go visit our family in two weeks. I think that we are going to have some fun on this trip. Grandma is taking the boys for the whole time we are there and the hubs and I get a hotel room all to ourself. I am so excited!! This is the first time that I will be away from all the boys for more than a few nights without it being something I had no controll over. The only other time that they have stayed somewhere else was when I was in the hospital with a new baby. So Im looking foreward to this trip. Lots of planning to do!! I am soooo glad we have a DVD player in the car! I think I will put off the whole raw food thing for a while. There's no way I would be able to figure that out and deal with the trip at the same time. I can multi task but when it comes to major things like that, Im a one thing at a time kind of person.

One thing that I have come across that might be helpful to me (and anyone else wanting to save money on lunch) is a thing called Bento Boxes. Its basically a packed lunch that is in a box instead of a bag. The Japanese have been doing this for a very long time and its become fairly popular in the US (but not popular enough that you can find supplies in Walmart yet). I really like the idea because the hubs has been needing to take a lunch with him for work but ends up buying crappy food from convenience stores and the Walmart deli. Theres only so much he can handle that way and Id rather spend the money buying him food that he likes.

I would love to find some supplies that dont come from Japan (or at least something that I wouldnt have to have shipped from Japan) and are fairly cheap. I have gotten a few boxes (Lock and Lock brand boxes) and some of the silicone baking cups (for side items) but I would love to find the soy sauce bottles, containers for dipping sauces, or maybe even some onigiri molds (sticky rice). There's a lot of neat stuff out there for these types of lunches. (If I actually get this going I might even post a pic or two!) The best part is that I can pack a few for our road trip and save a ton on meals!!

One thing that was really cute (and I want one even if none of this works) is the hot dog shapers. They basically are a little mold that has raised parts in them that you press the hot dog into and when you cook the dog it poofs out where the marks were (kind of like when they explode in the microwave). Theres all kinds of shapes, octopus, penguin, faces, you name it. Too much fun.

Okay so now that you are curious you can go to the web and look up either Bento or Obento and find out more about it. There's plenty of blogs out there with more info and there's tons of pics (flickr has a bunch). Its a pretty cool way of saving money and having fun while you are at it. Some people make it a very artistic expression and I find those absolutely wonderful. I love looking at the cool bento's that people make.

Healthy living and Diets

I have been seriously in need of a change in my regular diet for some time now. (It shows in my midsection LOL) I have read several times about people going to Raw food or even partially raw. I really need to read up on this some more, but does anyone know anything about this from experience? Or is it something that I just have to try (or not) to find out?

Cleaning the cabinets

I went to put dishes away this morning and had a heck of a time. There were a lot of mixed items in my cabinets that I had not used and some were even chewed up (small teething children). I still have to go to the thrift store either today or tomorrow to rid myself of much clutter and so I think when I go, I will box up a few of those dishes that I dont use anymore and send it off to be someone else's blessing.

Feed Reader

Someone had mentioned recently that using the google feed reader was a good idea. So I decided to check it out, and found that it is actually pretty simple to use. I like it. The best part is that I dont have to go to all the millions of webpages that I like to watch just to see if there's new content! So if you are like me and never really paid any attention to the different features on Google, then I suggest you check it out. Its a lot better than going to a page just to find out that there's not anything new (and hasnt been for almost two weeks as EVERYONE is on vacation right now LOL).

Monday already

Okay so its monday already. Over at Handprints on the Wall they have started the carnival with cleaning out their closets. They have both gone thru and cleared out all of the non essential items in their closets with astonishing results. Kendra has counted the clothing items from just her own stuff and came out with 70 pieces that she is getting rid of. Thats just amazing.

I have been on a similar journey. I haven't, however, gotten to my own closet yet. Thats a project for this upcoming week. Instead, I started with the kids clothes that I have been holding on to. I have had about 6 garbage bags (33 galon size) full of clothes that I have been accumulating since my oldest was an infant. It was a good thing in one sense considering the fact that I have had three boys and have been able to use the clothes for all three of them. But it is time to let go now. I have already given away a bunch and sent a good portion of it to the thrift store. Im not even going to try to consign any of it because that would take a lot more time to put together than I have energy for. Plus its going to a thrift store that uses the money to help the community.

This week I have a car load of stuff that needs to go to the thrift store. I might even try to go through my clothes before I head out to drop stuff off. Im sure that any one who has unloaded a mass of stuff can understand the feel of a major weight lifted off their shoulders. Im sure it will take quite a while to accomplish but I have a vision of a minimal lifestyle for my house. At less than 1200 sq ft, thats a good thing.

Minimizing

I guess Im not the only one in blog world that has had the inclination to go minimal lately. The Lovely Lady at Handprints on the Wall has decided with her sister that they are going to start living a minimal lifestyle and are going to blog about their journey. They have also started a carnival about it starting on Monday. It is called Minimizing Monday. I hope that you join her for this carnival. I think that everyone has some stuff that they can let go of and who doesnt like the feeling of less to clean up? Hope to see you there!

Wow .. just .. wow!

Well, things have been interesting here lately. For anyone who knows me, I have had some family move to town last month. I guess this month they decided that it just wasnt going to work for them and they split town. No notice, no goodbye, nothing. Alright ... so what now. There's not much to do about that. The thing that bugs me is that they left a boat in my yard when they left. What in the world am I supposed to do with that? I guess I will find out on monday after my sister talks to them. The wierd things people do .. ya know? Oh well. On with life.

Updates

I told you that I would give an update as to how things are going for the clean up. As of today I have the boys clothes folded and put away. Now I need to do the same for mine. Did I mention the fact that I hate folding laundry? It always takes forever and then you have to put it away. I want to get rid of some of my clothes. Then I would have less to clean and fold. However, it would probably prompt me to get some new stuff. Most of what I have is years old and really worn out. I still have a dress that I got when I turned 15 if you can believe that. I like that dress, but its a tad small for my plus sized body right now. That's a story for another day tho.

Dollar Movies

Well .. the kids and I tried to go to the dollar movies today. We got there about ten minutes too late. When we got there, there was a line stretching out to the parking lot and just after we settled in to the line the guy at the window says to the lady standing there that they were sold out. Ahh ... so much for that! I will have to remember to get there quite a bit earlier so that we can make sure to get a seat. The movies start at ten and I think if we wanted to get good seats we would have to be there at 9:30. Good thing they have it two days a week. Maybe tomorrow eh?

Living light

Do you ever get the feeling that you are about to suffocate from too much stuff in your house? I feel like that all the time lately. Its ridiculous the amount of stuff we have yet don't use. Now granted there are some things that you may not need right now and have to hold until they are needed (ex. seasonal items, hand-me-downs, yard maintenance tools, tools in general, you get the point), but there are a ton of things that we hold on to for no really good reason at all. Those things would be sentimental or possibly items that you think you will use but probably never will. I have a lot of that stuff.

My house is fairly small (not quite 1200 sq ft) and so I don't have a lot of room to hold all the things that most people have hidden away in closets they never use. I have a storage shed outside that has mostly household repair and yard maintenance items and one wall dedicated to those things that we need to hold on to for seasonal whatever, and I have one closet stuffed full of the things that just don't fit anywhere else. It also has a bunch of things that I probably will never use.

Because of all this I think that it is time to purge the unwanted junk and live light for a while. I have always liked living without a bunch of stuff. When I moved out on my own for the first time, I had one box of stuff that I kept in a closet that I wasn't sure what to do with. The rest of the things I had were very basic. I had my dishes (way to many of them since I got a set of 8 from my aunt and already had a set of 4) and silverware, clothes, bed, dresser, radio, computer and a couch set that I bought for $50. I didn't need a TV because I hate the feeling of being sucked in to it and not being able to do what I wanted. I had books to entertain me and my radio for the noise. It was a one bedroom apartment and it was really nice.

So now that I have a small 3 bedroom house I think its time to get back to the basics. We've been in here for a year and its been very cramped. So here's how I think I am going to tackle this issue:

1. The Shed - Clean it up. Get out the rest of the thrift store items and garbage so that we can make room for the things that matter.
2. The Living room - Put things in their place. Once the stuff is where it belongs then we can deal with each room appropriately.
3. The Bedrooms - Purge! Each room has a lot of things that no one wants or uses. There's a lot of excess clothing that still needs to be removed and a lot of toys that the kids just toss around and don't really care about. Its time to make them choose their faves and stick with that.
4. The Bathrooms - Remove the unwanted. Who can honestly say that they don't have unwanted junk in their bathroom cabinets? I know that I have a couple of boxes worth of stuff I don't use and haven't really put thought to since we moved in.
5. The Kitchen - Trash the container lids! Okay ... how many lids do we need for five containers? I think its time to toss the box-o-lids and possibly the containers that go with them and find a small durable set that will fit easily in my small cabinet space. Also, How many glasses do we need? I have way too many and really want to get rid of all the excess.


I think that will do for now. I wonder how long that will take me. At least I will have help with the Shed. My hubby wants to do that one because that's his space. I get to go thru the rubbermaid tubs but the rest is his. MUAHAHAHAHA!!! *evil grin* I will try to keep a rolling update as to how Im doing with this. I might even try to have a yard sale with some of the stuff. I have already taken a van load full of clothes and stuff to the thrift store and so much more to go. Weeeeeee!

Proverbs Woman

She carefully watches everything in her household and suffers nothing from laziness. (Proverbs 31:27) This is what I want for myself. I want my husband to look at me and say that I am not lazy. I want him to come home and not be upset because there is no dinner on the table. I want him to be happy. But currently I am too lazy to even do that much. Its not a lot to make dinner before he gets home in the evening. Its not that much to do a load of laundry every now and then and its not that much to do the dishes. But sadly for me I have made it so much in my head that I dread the thought of doing these things anymore. I feel like I've been in a rut recently and haven't been able to get out. Especially with making dinner in the evening. It seems like I've had the same things for so long now that I'm just flat tired of it all. Back to the basics I guess. Dishes, laundry, dinner and maybe a bit of vacuuming in the meantime.

Favorites

"That's my favorite (insert item here)" seems to be my 5 year old's favorite saying. It could be anything from movies to games to food or drinks. He seems to have a favorite everything. Im glad that he likes so many things. For me that means that he's not picky at all about the things he has and does. I dont think I can remember too many things that were my favorite when I was little but I hope I had as many favorites as he does.

Just to add some fun, here's a few of my current favorites:

1. Chocolate
2. Carnations (bright colored ones)
3. Cool weather
4. Vintage dresses (40's and 50's styles)
5. Fantasy books


What are some of your favorites?

Busy, busy, busy!

Well, my family came to town almost two weeks ago and its been super busy lately. They have moved here and so we have been trying to get them set up with all the stuff they need. I haven't had the time to really do much on the computer lately. But its okay because I think within the last two weeks I've moved around more than I have in about a month! The boys are having a lot of fun too because my step brothers are here and they are keeping the boys busy.

I think I've strengthened my resolve to homeschool the boys. I recently read a blog from a special ed teacher who was talking about her experiences as a first year teacher. One thing that caught my attention was that she mentioned the other teachers counseling her to "just do the bare essentials and manage my classroom". I know its a lot to do and she had ten kids to teach .. but still, for the other teachers to tell her to do just the basic minimum is appalling to me! Then they wonder why it is that the kids in public school have so much trouble.

Okay, enough ranting. I have some cheesecake to eat .. Mmmmm!

The things boys do!

The things kids do when you aren't looking. I went into the boys room today to check on them and to give a small snack only to find that my middle boy (age 2) has found himself a better place to sleep than his bed. We have a few shelves in their closet so I can keep things like games off the floor and out of the reach of the baby. Well the 2 year old has decided that the bottom shelf is his. He cleared it off and has made himself a cubby hole bed. He took his pillow, blanket, and 2 stuffed animals and climbed in there and curled up ready to sleep. This, by the way, is no small task either. He had to climb up on the end of his bed (which is a car bed) in order to work his way into the shelf. It was a rather funny site to see. I didnt know how to react to that one. Do I discipline him and tell him thats bad? or Do I laugh and just let it go?

Summer Camping

I plan on going to the lake a lot this summer and I was thinking that the best way to maximize my gas mileage was to go camping. Since I am a stay at home mom, I dont have to worry about the whole weekend camping issue. I can just gather the boys and go. But I want to know what the best things (besides the obvious things) would be good to take with us. We have a couple of weeks before we go camping (I was thinking sometime in mid June), so I have some time to gather the things I need. I want to keep things fairly simple. I also want to know what you think the best foods are for camping. We would be going for probably a week (5 days) at a time when we go. So if you have anything to add to this list post it in the comments.

Things to post about

Just a note .. I will always take ideas on what you want me to post about. Put your idea in the comments and I will do my best to post about it.

Themes

Just about every blogsite that Ive been to has had a theme. I guess that's part of having a blog. Some themes have been about finances and money, others have been about homemaking, some are about living green. You name it, there's a blog out there with that theme. Well this blog's theme is about life at my house, my thoughts, my dreams, my ideas, and things I like.

To start things off I want to tell you about one thing that has had my interest for a while. We recently bought a house and it isnt in the greatest of conditions. I guess that is something that you can expect for a dirt cheap repo. The good thing is that it is livable and we have been in it for about a year now. But what has my interest is building a new house on the property that holds this dirt cheap repo. Its going to entail tearing down the original structure (which isnt so bad considering its a small modular that is in serious disrepair) and restructuring the land as it is a hillside property. The way the property is now is not terribly functional and every time we get a good rain it washes out our driveway. We also want to build green. Hubby and I have tons of ideas for the house but it will be a few years out before we can build.

What are your thoughts on green building?

Introduction

About me:

I am a wife, mother, homemaker, and child of God. I try to keep things in check around the house, but I am not perfect (not anywhere close). My goals are to keep a tidy house while raising three boys, to keep my husband happy, and to maybe save a bit of money in the meantime.

About this blog:

This blog is for me to be able to talk to the world and get feedback on issues in my life or things that I see fit to talk about.


I hope you come often and enjoy this blog. Comments are always welcome!