A home or a library?

I admit it. I love books. In fact I have been accused of being a book worm, of having a book up my nose & I am guilty of not hearing people talk to me because I was so in to the story.

I am also guilty of passing this disease on to my children. It all started when they were little. I remember reading the same books over and over again. In fact that is one of my hidden talents, I can still recite many of those books. "Do you like my hat? No I don't like your hat" "Swishy Swashy" "Plink Plank Plunk" Can you name those books? We have read so many out loud since then. I still read to the kids even though they can all read independently. It is bittersweet. The little ones are enjoying books I read several years ago to their older siblings. Now the older ones drift in and listen and say "I loved this book".

When I taught the little monsters how to read--little did I know that I would loose all control over them after that. Now all their spare time is spent in a book! I require them to read things for school and the funny thing is that they LIKE it! We use literature based history for that very reason! Love Beautiful Feet & Biblioplan!


Anyway, the reason for that introduction was that we worked on organizing things on Friday instead of going shopping with all the other crazy people! E & I worked on shelves & books. We don't have enough room on the upstairs and downstairs shelves to hold all our books. So we were sorting the ones that were not being read(ie ones they've outgrown) and putting them in to boxes. The picture is one set of shelves that we have--there are at least 3 or 4 others! After the shelves were straightened, they were so BEAUTIFUL! However it did strike me that we have a library of books in our house!!!! Oh and some beautiful memories that are stored in scrapbooks on the other shelves but that would be a topic for another post!

New Places for Memories

For as long as I remember, Thanksgiving has happened at my grandparents. My grandma Norma has been gone for several years but we have still gone to their house & gathered together with my grandpa Willard. This year was different.

We went to my uncles. His house was great for our group & we all had a lot of fun. But it was different. I am the oldest of my cousins & my kids are the oldest great grandkids. They did a great job of helping out and entertaining all the younger kids.

One of the discussions we have(as we drive the hour to get there) is about how they are related to these people. We don't see my cousins & aunts & uncles very often so for my younger two it can be a bit confusing. It is a big family. They are familiar with that as my kids are 4 of 30ish cousins on Steve's side, but we see them all the time and it is familiar. I am the oldest of 20ish cousins and now they are all having kids too!

I had the treat to see my dad playing ping pong with my uncle. It was downright shocking! My dad--the couch potato, the one who has a hard time with his balance & sleep depravation? Wow it was amazing to see him moving around like that. Maybe a ping pong table for Christmas? Sounds like fun to me!

Well next week things will be back to normal but this years change was a good one.

What do we spend?

I have been doing coupons & rebates for about 11 months now. I laughed at my friends(shame faced honesty here) as they were doing coupons because I truly didn't think it made a difference($ saved/time invested). Well I am still seeing how it all comes together but I do know that we are able to purchase things for free & VERY discounted prices at times. I also have a much bigger stock pile of food & necessities now than I did a year ago. Also as for the time investment--I have recruited my daughters as my helpers and that has helped save me time in getting coupons clipped & such.

After reading multiple blogs about how much people were spending per week/month on groceries & household items, I began to get curious about how 2009 has gone for our family. I am a big believer that month to month things will fluctuate but over a longer period of time you can get a good picture of your average spending. I know that we have stayed for the most part under our budget each month on groceries & household. So here is how we've made out so far. Remember we have a family of 6 & 2 teens. :)

Grocery average is $557 our budget is $588
Household average is $362 our budget is $555(we save up for some bigger items this way)

At the beginning of the year my $ spent was MUCH higher than say last months spending--$50 more. So I think that using coupons & rebates are definitely paying off! AWESOME!

I want to start to shave those numbers even more--maybe just 10% to start. We will see how Nov & December affect things as we do more cooking & such during those months. However we will be able to use some of the stockpiled items and perhaps off set the additional purchases for the holidays!

Getting organized

I am tired of the whole putting food on the table process. It just seems to be one more chore right now. Normally I like cooking and all that is involved in that. I am not sure why my attitude has changed. That said I also know if I have a plan then I won't be panicking when suppertime rolls around. This week here is the plan

B'fasts

Oatmeal, Yogurt & granola, waffles w/ applesauce, & cereal

Lunches

Fast Frittata & biscuits, Broccoli & Rice soup, Mac & Cheese, Chili

Suppers

Teriyaki Chicken
Tilapia Vera Cruz
Crockpot Swiss Steak
Italian Hotdish
Meatloaf

So I have a plan now just have to find some excitement. Maybe I will just go make cookies!

Regrouping!

It has been a really long time since I felt inspired to post. A lot happens in September and October for our family! Soccer gets in to full swing--Steve & Michael coach 2 teams so it can be crazy. Every Saturday from the end of August to the end of October is spent at the soccer fields. So after a couple of weeks I am finally surfacing from recovering!


We also took a break from school in the middle of October for a couple of weeks. Steve & I traveled to Hilton Head, SC for his continuing ed conference. I am so blessed to get to go along & take my scrapbook stuff so I can work happily while he's in class. We've done this for 7 years & my fabulous mother & father-in-law keep the kids so we can do this!


This year, however, we didn't really count on the swine flu! We never got the kids tested but they came down with something that was pretty ugly(grandma was calling her house the infirmary!). Everyone survived & we made it back home safely(and I got 40 pages done!).

Then a mere 4 days after we returned I left for a Getaway Scrapbook Weekend. Unfortunately, 3 days after we returned I caught a cold and wasn't feeling 100%. Still got some pages done & had a blast with my new & old girl friends. They are crazy & fun!


Once home it seemed to take another couple of weeks to settle in. We are back to school full time & liking the routine. Here is what our week--normally--looks like.

Monday--HOME--this is the only day we have guaranteed at home(unless something comes up) so it a laundry, clean house, school, catch up day!

Tuesday--School in the morning, girls & I in town for their Bible study & my errand running.

Wednesday--Steve's day off--ANYthing goes!

Thursday--School in the morning & piano lessons in the afternoon-every other week we have Bible Quizzing in the evening.

Friday--School & guitar lessons before noon. Then the girls have a science club that they are in from 1 -3 so J & I run more errands.

Michael is on his own schedule for his ASL class & English class. It all flows pretty well & we are getting things DONE! That is such a great feeling.

More remodeling . . .

The reason we HAD to finish the bathroom & downstairs is because the upstairs bath was going to need some fixing. A small drip from the tub means plumbing & probably new tile(yea!). There also was a funny bump next to the tub that probably meant new sub floor.

That seems minor but once you get in there it quickly escalates. Here is what it looks like now!


There wasn't a simple solution--it all had to come out & be replaced. It all started with that 70s pink tile that was connected to the off white tile in the shower. One piece fell out & then when we started pulling that off it was connected. All the tile had to go & that meant new dry wall. So if you start replacing all that well that vanity is in BAD shape. And so on and so forth.

Needless to say it was a day of destruction. I really think that Steve likes the destruction.
At least more than he likes putting it all back. He was really tired and is now downstairs in our really nice basement playing Call of Duty with M. Blowing up things is always therapy for guys.
Maybe it will be enough therapy to help him deal with this pile on Saturday.


I just hope that we can break our record from the last project--2 years. Oh and it is still not totally done. So while I traipse downstairs to shower each morning, I will dream of the party I will throw when it is all done.

Tomatoes & Memories?

It is funny what things reminds you of the past. I have been canning tomatoes for the last week or so--just a little at a time. Every time as I start to boil the water & pop these awesome plum red tomatoes from my little garden in to the hot water, I am reminded of the times I have helped my mom & grandma with this task. I hated doing it then. Too much work & what was the point anyway?

Funny these days I see the point. We love chili, vegie soup and other things made with our homemade diced tomatoes. It is so satisfying to spend less than $5 on plants and have quarts & quarts hidden in jars under my sink & in the garage ready to use. It saves us money, it gets me and the kids outside in spring & summer. I am sure that these tomatoes are healthier than any I could buy outside of going organic.

Also, now that my grandma is gone, I understand that it wasn't totally about having the vegies for the winter although that is important. I wish I could spend another afternoon with grandma & my mom. Laughing, sharing and working on something all together.

I know the day is coming where my mom won't be around and that saddens me even more. Two things I need to do tomorrow. Spend time with my daughters--maybe canning tomatoes maybe doing something else. And I need to call my mom.