Pancakes Please!!!

The other day Christian was in the kitchen. I wasn't sure doing what obviously but I kept hearing the utensil drawer opening and the clanking of silverware. So I finally decided to go in there and see what was up. Well, for one, Christian was up. On the counter that is. With the pancake mix. All over the counter and himself. It's hard to see the pancake mix all over the counter because of it being white itself, but he had a big ol' mess! He even had some on the floor. When I walked in there, he dropped the spoon in a hurry back into the drawer and said "mama I want some pancakes!" HA! You think?????? The mischief these little boys get into.

New hairdo

I love having a girl. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my little man. Getting down on the floor and crashing our cars into one another. I LOVE playing trains and playing "swordbite" (his way of saying sword fight) and wrestling. But there is something about dressing up my little princess in pigtails, frills and pink that just feeds my soul. She has had some crazy hair ever since she was born. She has 2 long pieces in the back amid her short hair. The top and sides are long as well. She has the worst hairdo known to man right now. But mom here knows how to make it look cute. We work with what we have. I had been pulling it all on top of her head and doing one piggy tail up there with a bow. Then I saw on TV a little girl with pigtails and thought it was the cutest thing. So Grace's pigtails were born. Just this morning as a matter of fact. They are a little lopsided because she wouldn't stay still but they are cute nonetheless. Yep, I think we will keep it around a little longer. At least until we are able to cut her hair in a couple of months. Then I'll probably keep the same 'do because "daddy" said he won't let me cut her hair. Except for the two long pieces in the back. :)

Just wanted to share some pictures

The children playing in the toy room after I got in there and cleaned it up. The train table was in pieces!

Grace fell asleep in the corner of the kitchen. The dishwasher was going and I guess it lured her to sleep!

Christian with his "best" girlfriend Lyndsey from across the street. He talks about her constantly!

I've finally succeeded in getting a picture of Christian and Grace together!

Financial Peace University

Jason and I started 3 weeks ago something called Financial Peace University with Dave Ramsey. Fortunely our church is offering classes for us. So far we have learned so much. It is pretty much common sense but it's stuff that you normally just don't take the time to THINK through! It's amazing how much your thinking changes about money when this man opens his mouth to speak. The beginning of class the instructor was saying that the average couple that takes Dave Ramsey's class pays off debt withing 2 to 3 years, not including your mortgage. WOW!! But as Jason says, we aren't average!! HA!! Isn't that the truth! I believe we have more debt than other people our age but I very well could be mistaken about that. Dave Ramsey's thinking is that noone should retire broke. If you were to follow his steps and actually put them in practice he says we could actually be millionaires when we retire. WOW!! But we must start NOW! Baby step #1 is to put $1000.00 in a saving account as an emergency fund. That way when an "emergency" happens it doesn't feel so much like an "emergency" (ie. the car breaking down, a cavity, an ER trip) Okay, easier said than done. But the important thing is, is that it CAN be done and by golly we are going to do it!! He is so agaisnt credit cards, loans, cash advance, etc......he IS a fan of saving for what you want. DUH! Why didn't we think of that?!?! I mean geez, Rome wasn't built in a day!! Neither is the remodel on our house or the decor that we want for the house! Why are we going to be stupid (why WERE we stupid enough) to put crap on credit cards and pay 18+%??????? Something that costs us 1400.00 is now costing us 2500.00 because of interest!!! (math is not done correctly, just throwing numbers out there, but hey you get the jest of it! LOL) On the other hand, interest could be a good thing. Something called "compound interest" can become our friend. You stick money in the bank at 6% interest and never touch it. Just keep adding to it. Over time the interest is going to build up and that initial 1000.00 is going to booming!! (once again, I'm not the math whiz so you can figure it out........plus this is so you can get the jest of it!) Our homework for this week is to sit down and figure out our budget for the month of February. Now it gets good! :)

Vacuum Buddies

Usually when I vacuum, I have to hold Grace while Christian runs for his life up onto the couch. Well the children were in the toy room the other day so I decided to shut the living room door and vacuum, kid free. Right in the middle of vacuuming, I look over at the door and see this. HA! Looks like I had an audience! Both of them were smacking the door with thier open hands. Grace making noises like a monkey (normal for her while the vacuum is going) and Christian yelling "my turn mama!!" For some reason, Christian is no longer scared of the vacuum anymore and now wants to vacuum himself. I let him often, but then he starts shutting the vacuum off and turning it back on. Over and over and over again. That's when I pull the plug. And he goes into his 3 year old temper tantrum. *sigh*