Thursday Tasks

What am I doing today....conquering Mt. Laundry. This is after a morning of hunting and gathering at Meijer, Wal-mart, and Kroger. Then there was the time managing the inflow and outflow of funds otherwise known as "paying the bills". I am a home manager, hear me roar! (PS - I need a latte!)

On A Mission!

I'm on a mission! I've had a sneaking suspicion that we were spending money that we didn't have to. I'm not referring to eating out or things like that. I knew we were spending too much in that area, and I'm proud to say that we cut our eating out bill in half this month! I'm talking about our monthly bills. We were paying for services we did not use, and not shopping around for the best deals. So far this month we have: dropped an online subscription service that was not being used, dropped a pre-paid legal service, reconfigured our phone and internet service. Total monthly savings so far: $70! I'm on a mission, and watch out cell phone bill - I'm coming for you next!

**Update - Jan. 30th - Saved $4 a month today by combining my cell phone and land line bills. After my contract is up I'll be on the lookout for a better cell plan for us. We don't use near the minutes that we have.

Just Another Saturday...

...but something exciting to report. Rachel is wearing her big girl underwear today! I think I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. We're not totally there yet, but getting closer. Hopefully I can funnel the diaper money somewhere else soon.


Another typical Saturday morning. Dusty and Rachel watching a DVD together. Today's selection - MacGyver!!!!

Sleepys

Overheard this morning from the living room: "Mommy! Mommy! I'm stretching out the sleepys!"

If it were only that simple; I usually require a cup or two of coffee to get rid of my sleepys. :)

Spots Story

Aaron has had a stuffed dog named Spots since he was 4 years old. Everytime my mom spends the night or we stay at their house she tells Aaron a "Spots Story" before bed. Usually the story has to do with something that Aaron did that day from Spots' point of view. Aaron still asks for a Spots story every time even though he's 10. Now Rachel joins in on the bedtime fun and looks forward to a Spots Story.

Go Packers!

As previously mentioned, after last week's stinky game I have thrown my support in Green Bay's corner. (At least for the remainder of the football season) I have no jersey or shirt to show support so I came up with a makeshift piece of jewelry. Here is my version of a Packers bracelet. There is the green #4 for Brett Favre, a wedge of cheese (made out of felt since I had no yellow foam), and a small container of dirt from Lambeau Field. Yes, it's really from Lambeau. Corny? Possibly. Too much time on my hands? More and likely. But you have to admit that the dirt is kinda cool and I bet you won't find another one like it! Go Packers!!!!

**Update - I just watched the Packers lose on a 46 yard field goal in overtime by the Giants. It's official....now I really don't care who wins. I'm in it to watch the Super Bowl commercials now!

Brrrrrr....

Chilly, Chilly this morning. I think it's going to a little warmer today, then the bottom is supposed to drop out of the temperature. However the dog has been inside the last 2 nights without any barking. Maybe she finally decided it wasn't too bad to be tucked into the garage. That being said I did smell something nasty when I opened the door to the garage this morning. I'm sure she left a present somewhere. Yuck!

Today's goal is to pick up the bedroom and organize the desk. I've spent plenty of time surfing the internet and reading about home organization. Time to get out of the chair and actually do it! OK....I'm off to have a "Clean Sweep" moment.

Game Off!!

We'll so much for that! Football season is over for us in Indy. I think more than anything we beat ourselves. So here's one last Colts photo for the time being. I think I will now convert into a Green Bay fan. Go Packers! Where's the cheese?

Sneak Peeks

Here's a couple of sneak peeks for my friends Dacia and Heather. Hopefully I'll get all of the edits done soon. Brady and Cooper did great for the photos. They even put up with a backdrop change. However by the clothing change I think their patience was running out. Hayden also did a great job. He's a boy on the go, but in between running to Rachel's room to play with the kitchen he would sit in the chair for me and ham it up for a minute or two. My biggest challenge with him was keeping Rachel out of the picture. She wanted a picture with her buddy. :)

New Backdrop

The new backdrop that I had ordered came today. It's a little darker than I thought it would be, but it will be a good addition to my stash. Next on the wish list: a new bag and a new lens. One thing at a time.

At least the sun was back out today. Our activity of choice today was "shopping" with the cart. I would set up all of Rachel's toy food on the piano bench and she would put it all in her shopping cart. Then we would take it to her room and cook something with the play kitchen. This would have went on all day long had not nap time cut it off.

Blah....

It has rained all day long. Here's the lovely view from the back patio. So much for taking a walk today. It's been warm enough, I was hoping to fit one in. However, I did get my New Year's photos scrapbooked. I'm trying to get back in the groove on the scrapbooking. I can't say that I really enjoyed it today. It's just not as fun as it used to be. I like focusing more on taking the photos than messing with them later. Perhaps if I keep caught up it won't be so bad.

January 7th ????

Here's some photographic proof of the crazy weather around here. It just should not be in the mid 60's in January. There was one day last week when my furnace ran all day long, and now this. Of course, it's probaby warm where you are too. It seems like the sleds will remain unused for a while. However, this is Indiana, it may be 10 degrees tomorrow. :)

Our activity of choice today: Playdough.

Staying in...

It's cold today! Rachel and I have stayed in all day. I made up my grocery list and she caught up on a little cooking. :) I'll have to venture out later to the store.

I think our dog is getting senile. We brought her in last night and put her in the garage because it was so cold. She had water, a bed & blankets and still barked to go outside where it was 5 degrees. Finally I gave her a little pill to take the edge off so we could both sleep. Thankfully it's supposed to get warmer soon. The dog is 13 years old and is getting quirkier every day.

Happy New Year

We had a great time ringing in the new year with family and friends. Daniel, Becky, David, and Madelyn joined us as well as our friends the Bohrers and Schmidts. Everyone made it to midnight except for baby Allison. She caught a couple hours of sleep before her midnight family photo. The house is trashed, but it was fun!