Taxes are in....

...bills are payed, money is saved. I am proud to say that we made a list, checked it twice and STUCK TO IT!! My mom and dad have been payed off in full, our car/house insurance (and umbrella policy) is paid for the year, we owe a zero balance on the Menards card (and in all honesty, I think that we may just try to do any home repairs without it this year!), we have our summer vacation fund in place as well as HALF of our goal into savings for the year!!

My brother took our "old" van to the junk yard yesterday and that yielded us $350, so that helped greatly too! We took out the radio/cd player and amp and will either sell those on Craigslist or put them in Hubby's car or the van. We also have a factory add-on bench seat w/built in car seats that we will put on Craigslist - hopefully get another few hundred for that as well.

Yesterday we had a friend of mine come over and "do hair" - all three older girls got BANGS!! (they wanted them!) They are very happy with their new styles (they also got layers). I just got a trim, but all-in-all, it only cost us $30 - yes, I am fortunate to have good friends!!

I am happy to report that our family prayer time every night is going well - even though it hasn't even been a week, we are in the routine and loving it - things seem to be much more peaceful when we welcome Our Lord in like that! Did you know....praying the Rosary is about meditating on Jesus' life?? When I was a Protestant, I didn't know that - as a matter of fact, I thought that praying the Rosary was another way that those "crazy Catholic's" went about praying to Mary - WRONG!!!

The Boy-child just went and did his SECOND day at the Catholic middle/high school - he LOVES it - I think that if I let him, he would start over there RIGHT NOW!! But no, we will wait and let him finish out the year at our current school and he can start there next fall.

The girls are currently downstairs practicing piano. Their talent continues to amaze me, but more importantly, it amazes their teacher!! She often tells me that they have a natural gift - how wonderful that God showed us this and opened it up for them! My goal is to not only provide them with knowledge and skills to do this, but someday, to hear them play in church!! (the eldest girl could do it now, I think, with practice - we are talking to music coordinator and seeing if she can get us the appropriate materials.)

Our six-year old is on  her daddy's lap reading - yes, reading. And not the Dick and Jane books either. Reading runs in our family - and oftentimes we are all sitting around with our noses in books - especially in this WI winter.

Well....that's it for today - time to go and do some laundry - then off to Pizza Hut to use up some free coupons!!

Just say NO!!

I've learned it - I have! I have learned to just say no....

• "no" to my sister-in-law who wanted me to "do" my nieces' hair on a day I was busy
• "no" to the neighbor boys who wanted to come over to play (and just end up rough-housing)
• "no" to myself to eat/buy/make foods that are unhealthy

But I've also learned to say yes!!

• "yes" to the urge to start family prayer every night
• "yes" to getting back on my fitness regime after these surgeries
• "yes" to personal personal time to pray/think/reflect
• "yes" to a women's conference (going by myself even!!)

So there you have it! I've learned to NOT be the one that ALWAYS says yes - only if it works for the em-betterment of me and my family. It's a long row to hoe, and I am still working on it.....but it's coming - Lord willing, it's coming!

Grace...

Last week was more than a little crazy around here. I explained the surgery and post-surgery complications in a prior post. Wednesday was pretty much uneventful (more "normal" if you will) but Thursday ended up being a day off of school because the fog was SO BAD! While we had a fun day, we DID have two extras (the neighbor boys). Friday was another "reading day" at school (every Friday is, for our Kindergartner) and we made another cute "edible" craft. Not sure if I should buy the book where she get these ideas out of myself, or just get the teacher to borrow it to me! :)

This week has already started off with Monday as a snow day, Friday a scheduled day off and tomorrow a Mass day - our Kindergartner gets to do her first reading!!

I was EXTREMELY busy cleaning last week - if I didn't know better, I would swear I were in the last few weeks of a pregnancy (I'm NOT preggo!!). I cleaned out the whole sewing machine area, including all shelves and drawers of the desk  - if you have been here recently, I apologize - I did NOT realize that area was as bad as it was!! I got rid of a 33 gallon bag of JUNK out of there and ended up finding two lost DS games (the kids were happy!). Between last week and the first few days of this week, I also cleaned out BOTH food pantries, the top of the dishwasher, a corner shelf that holds all of our crackers, snacks, etc and gotten rid of a bag of clothes out of Hubby and my closet.

Due to the fact that I organized the whole sewing area, I also found numerous unfinished projects that I am now working on finishing - oh - and I found a super easy pattern for a cell phone (or i-pod or MP3(4) player) that  I whipped up yesterday (I'll be posting on Moneyless Momma's soon).

Of course, this all in addition to the "normal" duties: making meals, sending treats to school, paying bills, schoolwork, laundry, etc.

Our son has decided that he liked going to the local private (catholic) middle school that he wants to go back again (for another day of shadowing). He has even said that he would give up (this Friday) his day off of school to go there! We are positive that this is where God is leading us - be sure to lift us up in prayer often for his will to be done (because frankly, I'm not sure HOW this is going to work, just have blind faith that it WILL!).

Hubby's RCIA classes are going well. I have decided to study whatever he is studying, so that we learn together. I feel that this will draw us closer together - not only in faith, but as a couple as well.

Last night I implemented prayer night - 1 decade of the rosary - while I thought that I would be met with resistance, I was wrong - totally and unmistakably wrong. Not only was I met with zero resistance, but they thought we were going to do MORE and probably would have said the whole rosary. I explained that we will do this every night at 6:30 - no phone, no tv (etc.). I think that we will also start off the prayers by deciding who we are "offering up" the prayers for that night.

I am humbled by God's Amazing Grace for us.

Potty Chair

I'm a little sad. We have cleaned and put away the potty chair. My "Baby"is no longer a baby and uses the regular toilet all the time now - she even gets up without the aid of a parent, sibling or stool! The diapers have been folded and put away as well. Where does time go??!!

Post-Surgery

Well, this surgery was a LOT harder than the other. First of all, I bled out. This sucks, as it set my schedule back about an hour and a half or so. It is also very time consuming- they put HUGE (8x6) bandages over the incisions, then they wrap the entire leg (toe to thigh) with gauze and then they wrap the whole thing again with Coban  (the kids said this made it look like I had a cast on!). So when I bled out - they had to cut this all of, apply pressure, re-wrap and then have me walk some more - and hope that I didn't bleed out again. The second time turned out to be just fine and I got to go home. By the time I stopped to pick up my scripts though, the anesthesia had wore off and I was in pain. Leave it to WallyWorld pharmacy to be running WAY behind that day!!

So, I got home alright (even though I took the pain meds before I got home!) - but most of the afternoon and was spent walking for 30 minutes and then sitting for 30 minutes - no one position for more than 30 minutes! I was also checking the clock and making sure that I was rotating pain meds w/ibuprofen every 3 hours - yes, it WAS that bad!

Tuesday morning I got up from a rather restless night's sleep and saw that the bandages had slipped about four inches. This meant that they were all bunched up by my knees and ankles. I called in and they got me in within an hour. They LAUGHED when they saw how far down it had fallen - and told me they were glad I came in. One spot was (still is) oozing - but the incisions all looked fine and I am not due to go back in for another month - at which time we will do sclerotherapy to get rid of whatever is left.

My left thigh seems to have received the brunt of the bruising - hubby even says that it looks nasty and he's seen way worse than this!

As the doc and P.A. were doing the surgery, we were all talking and laughing and having a good time. Discussing everything from school (my M.A. was a semester ahead of me in nursing school) to Lady Gaga. At one point, the P.A. asks the doc if they can show me the veins - he says sure - so as they are cutting and pulling and tying off, they pull them up to show me! The last one that the P.A. did (the one that started this whole process) I had to ask for - they had skipped it. The doc says, "of all the veins in your body, you're worried about that one?" To which I replied, "YES! That one is so close to the surface (the P.A. nods) and is  the whole reason I came in!" While she tied that one, I watched! ;)

Private school, and other musings.

Well, the boy is off to our local Catholic High School to "shadow" for the day. He was soooo excited, and after meeting (some) of the staff there, I can totally see why! They are so warm and welcoming - and truly happy to see you there! People were calling my boy by name - and he was looking at me like I should know who they are!! The only problem we are facing at this time is how to get him there in the morning and home in the evenings. If hubby and I do this - we are looking at a one hour drive in both the morning and the afternoon.....but we also know that if this is what the Lord desires, then he will make it happen. Please lift us up in prayer that we may do the Lord's will in this and not our own.

I stop to think/pray often on where the Lord is leading us now. In April, hubby is joining the church (yay Bec, #2 that you've prayed in, at least this one wasn't so stubborn!!). I know that much is changing - shifting, if you will....I can FEEL it, I just can't wrap my head around it and pinpoint it yet. But even not knowing, I know that Our Lord has this plan for us and it is all mapped out and all I need to do is to trust him and follow his lead.

One of my more recent goals is to put more trust in the Lord and less in myself. This is a tricky thing to do - but I think that many people out there just go around spending money and then whining and complaining when it's gone or asking others to borrow money all the time. I know that we should be self-sufficient, as well as giving, not only of our money, but of our time and resources as well. I know that being a child of God, I need to be careful with this money that he entrusts to me - not to go out and blow it on frivolous things (a new car, when we DON'T need one, unnecessary beauty treatments, going out to eat too frequently, etc).

I think that more family time at home or doing free things shows the children that we can have fun.....but we DON'T have to spend money to do it! My children have NO CLUE what #3 on the value menu is....and I'm proud of it. I think that teaching them the value of family time is more important than going out to eat or spending money.

.....musings to be continued at a later date..... :)

New Year's Goals - update!

• Lose a minimum of another 20 pounds (I did this last year, and would like to see more!) This is a work still in progess
  
• Get a full physical  DONE - painless, easy and caring for myself (see yesterday's post)
  
• Exercise 3 times a week (on the way....enrolled in Zumba already, wishing my SIL would too!) Still working on this, however, I made this goal last week and this week has been a mile (or two mile) walk daily!!
  
• Save $4000 - now that Hubby's job is stable, I would like to see at least this much in savings...after paying off our "bank of mom and dad" loans, lol! We are doing great - paying my mom and dad back and also have started the savings account as well - just under $400 saved already - although we will have to pay for taxes out of that, but once our refunds are returned, we will replace it.
  
• Straight A's (again, this semester - and Dean's List too!) This is also, well on it's way - so far, only A's!!
  
• Attend one weekly Mass - we attend Mass on Sundays, no if's and's or butt's - so now I would like to attend a weekly Mass too - the kids go every Wed, but I would like to go as well and keep doing it through the summer. Still working on this....why are the things that are BEST for you so hard?? I have decided that I need to simply pick a day and go - so I'm implementing that next week.
  
• Start a better prayer regimen - right now, this is a little sporadic and I would like it to be more consistent. I am going to this website to read the daily reading - now, if anyone has a great (alone) bible study you can recommend, please let me know!!
  
• More family time - even if it means JUST our family, sitting down and playing a game or watching a movie - the kids are growing too fast - next year "the baby boy" is starting Jr. High!! This has been going well - we have Friday's as family movie and pizza night and have been spending time in the basement - cleaning, organizing, making pudgie pies and just playing.....we wish hubby/daddy was home more, but the money that his new job provides is needed, so we make the most of what time we have with him that we can. Next weekend we'll be going to our local skiing/tubing hill - ALL of us - for church....should be fun - our priest has never "tubed" before!!
• More fresh fruits and veggies....we lag a little in this area and need to round it out We are doing well in this area - the more fruits and veggies I buy, the more we seem to naturally gravitate towards them.

• Purge more often - I am a saver by nature, but would like to get a little more organized, which means a little more purging! I HAVE been purging - but my biggest issue right now seems to be clothes - we start off each new season ultra organized and by the middle/end of the season I am ready to throw ALL of the kids' clothes out!! So, part of it is just me and being ready to get rid  of the winter clothes and jump into the summer clothes! We burned alot of miscellaneous "junk" when we picked up the basement this week - but I think that today I will get downstairs and  clean the toys out today -since the older kids are gone and can't complain!!

So, these were our goals for the year and it looks like we're doing pretty good. I think I may have to modify or add some, but I will re-visit this next month and see how things are going then.

ANOTHER 100%!!

This time, on my physical! My doctor gave me the "all-clear" when my CBC and other blood panels came back completely normal and well within the ranges that we want them to be! I am thrilled. After having gestational diabetes, I am at a higher risk for getting non-gestational diabetes - but NO FEAR - it's all great! She is impressed with my weight-loss and gave the go-ahead to continue what I am doing. We will continue to track my weight progress as I take the kiddos in for appointments - have I mentioned how much we LOVE our "small-town" clinic??!!