My Advice for Parents of 4 and 2 year olds...

In through the nose... Out through the mouth.

Yay Yay Yay! And another yay!

Schools pictures came back today!!!

These are photos of the prints since my scanner isn't working, but you can see just how incredibly great these photos are! HUGE sigh of relief!

80!

This is for you, Pa Chuck!!!

My Glasses

I have let everyone down, but nobody more than myself.

*sigh* Please forgive me.

I thank all of you for voting on which glasses I should buy. I was SO EXCITED, as were many of you!

Well, on further inspection, I realized that my new prescription for glasses was nothing but new. It was for the exact same prescription. Nothing had changed in over 7 years.

Well, most of you who read my blog regularly know that we are trying to live as frugally as possible right now. So... as of right now... I am stuck with old, boring, lifeless, out of date, not so cute glasses.



Now, if any of you wanted to take up a collection for me to buy one of the pairs that you all voted on, feel free! :)

AND... I haven't given up! I am still trying to figure out a way to get those cutie patootie glasses. Anybody know a cheap way to get some cute frames? I thought of buying them online from a cheaper source, but I just can't get past the fact that you can't try them on and see them before hand!

Who knows, maybe my fantastic hubby and I can come to some sort of agreement and I can get new ones.

Stupid economy.

New Poll

So, I am just curious... I have a new poll on the right side of my blog. Be honest. If you had to trim your budget, would you cut back on groceries before cutting out TV from your life?

To TV or not to TV, that is the BIG question

"American children and adolescents spend 22 to 28 hours per week viewing television, more than any other activity except sleeping. By the age of 70 they will have spent 7 to 10 years of their lives watching TV."
-- The Kaiser Family Foundation



Kurt and I have been slashing our budget since March. We have made HUGE changes in the way we live. We have sacrificed quite a bit to work on getting rid of our debt and save comfortably.

With the economy being absolutely loopy, we decided to look at the budget AGAIN and make more changes.

We are getting rid of our gym membership (Kurt will still get a free one because he is an instructor). We got rid of the DirecTV upstairs in the kids playroom. We are changing our Life Insurance to Term instead of Whole Life. We are pondering getting rid of the home phone land line. We aren't using the air conditioner or heating AT ALL and are just opening windows, using fans, etc... as needed.

So, there are lots of things that have been *relatively easy* for us to decide to cut out.

THAT BEING SAID... we are having a REAL HARD TIME deciding to get rid of television all together. We've been here before, in fact I think I even made a post about it. Yep, I did... on March 24th, here is the link if you want to read it but it says the exact same thing. So, here we are 7 months later still trying to decide!

We would still be able to watch DVDs, but would get rid of all feed coming into the house. That would save us $39.35 a month (we already have the lowest level with DirecTV, plus the TIVO). That would save us $472.20/year!

Kurt and I just aren't in agreement about it yet. On one hand, it would definitely force us to get things done around the house, get out and go DO STUFF instead of sitting around watching TV, give us time to read more books, do crafts and things with the kids to improve their imaginations. Oh, and I could rearrange the furniture so it isn't all focused on the big black box!

But, on the other hand, there are things that we enjoy together (like The Office and Heroes) that we would really miss (and I KNOW you can watch them online, it just isn't the same.)

So, here we are. Trying to figure this all out.

Let me know what you think... is it just Un-American to not have television? Will we feel cut off from the rest of the world? Would we be outcasts at social functions? Would we be seen as *weird* (not that we aren't already?!)

SO MUCH TO CONSIDER!

Melted Witch Treats

I found these treats online and thought I would make them for Halloween Bunco at my house. They turned out really cute! They are little witch hats in a "puddle of melted witch" with a broom. Too fun.

Here is the link where you can find the recipe and instructions.

Halloween Bunco!

Bunco was at my house last night, and we did a Halloween themed evening. I had a prize for the person that made the "most creative/spookiest/coolest" food item. Our Bunco group is so important to me, as having time with friends seems to be a last priority once you have a husband and kids. Love you Betties!

Should I be concerned?

I used to swing this high as a kid, too. But when you see your own kids do it, the mommy protection instinct kicks into high gear!

It's True. Believe me.

This is a yucky post. If you are not a parent, you will be appalled that I am about to have a whole post dedicated to the following topic. Before I had kids, I thought parents of little kids were demented. If you are a parent, you will *get it*.

Kids bowel movements are just crazy. They aren't like adults. ANYTHING they eat affects their poopies and just makes them crazy/horrifying.

Seth had a *present* for me that was unlike anything I have ever seen. The color was indescribable. I knew that nobody would believe me if I simply told them the color, so I thought I would show it. Don't worry. I know what you are thinking!

I am a graphic designer as well as a parent, so I have something called a Pantone Book, which is a book of colors (kind of like the paint chips you buy at Lowes). So, I took out my handy Pantone book and found the EXACT color of Seth's poop. Yes, I know. I am a tad *odd* at times.

So, here it is... I have named it "BM Green". The really sad thing is that I can't think of anything that would have made his poop this particular shade.





And for those of you who really want to see it, I DID take a photo! I just couldn't resist! Just email me. And if you are interested enough to see a photo of somebody elses child's poop, then you are worse than me!

Now all you non-parents, let's hear a collective
"EEEEEeeeeeeewwwwwwwwww."

And then, when maybe you are a parent one day, and you pick up your kid to smell their butt, or change a bright green or blue (yes, they happen too!) poopie, then think of me!

Windows a la Fromage

There are things you can never predict having to say to your kids. No book will warn you. No friends will have a story to tell that their kid did the SAME thing. I said one of those things to my kids today...

"Don't rub your cheese on the window."

Good Lordy. How does one stay one step ahead of their children, when window cheese rubbing is the last thing you expect?!

Only a Kid

It would be freeing to be a kid and not have all of the "rules" that we adults make up for ourselves.

The Presidential Election has Been Decided

Kurt and I don't talk politics in the house. In fact, we don't even talk politics anywhere, except for this upcoming election. We are having a hard time with this election.

Well, Brody went to school today and they talked about the election and what the president does. Then, they had them *vote*. Look who Brody chose, because McCain is "not kind of handsome at all" and he "really really really likes the bottom man (Obama)."

Just so the republicans who read my blog aren't left out, Brody informed me that "Lake picked the old man on the top, but I don't want him as president."

So, there you have it. Why even bother holding an election in Nov? :)

Snip Snip!

I FINALLY got my hair cut. My hair just kept growing and growing (that seems to happen when you don't cut it for almost 2 years!) and it had really gotten too long. Well, I got it cut today and have decided that this is the best length for me. It just *feels* good.

So, here is my new 'do.

School Picture Day!

Today was Seth's first school picture dayt. Brody's is tomorrow, but I wanted a photo of them together, so I had Brody dress up this morning, too.

So, here they are all dressed up with nice neat hair. Brody looks SO OLD to me in these photos. *sigh*

:)

Free Spooks!

Our budget for decorating right now is, well, zilch. So... I found a cute little idea online to make milk jug ghosts. I embellished the idea and added jack-o-lanterns with our orange lights that we already owned.

So, here are our Halloween front steps, completely free of cost! :)

Buying Stuff

Kurt and I have been living without a credit card for over 6 months now. It was a HUGE adjustment in our lives, but is definitely for the better as we live only on what we make! It is quite freeing.

I saw this video on my friend Tony's blog. This SNL skit made me laugh out loud, and is much appreciated in our household!

The Vice Presidential Debate

How fun was that to watch? If you are wondering what the heck they were talking about, here is a link with the FACTS that both of them got wrong...


http://www.sanluisobispo.com/election/story/487495.html

Lightning McQueen!

Oh, and this was their FAVORITE part of the whole show, for obvious reasons...

(fire, sparks, fireworks, music, noise, cheering, and Lightning!)

Disney, On the Rocks

So, We (Seth, Brody, and I) went with our good friends to see Disney on Ice the other night and it was quite a production (as was to be expected). The kids loved it and for the price (13.00/ticket) that can't be beat!