I'm having one of my "I can't sleep" moments so I decided to get up and get a few things done that kept rolling around in my head while I was trying to go to sleep!  Over the years of struggling occasionally with insomnia I've learned that sometimes it's better to just get up and get whatever I'm thinking about done (and sometimes it's better to just lay there and "rest" - depending on what the next day holds.)  I keep forgetting to run to the post office to mail a few things so I'm getting it all ready and laid out so that there are no excuses in the morning:)

We have a busy but fun week ahead of us.  The twins are done with school tomorrow and than have the rest of the week off for Thanksgiving.  We are planning on spending Thursday with Ryan's family and Sat/Sun with my family.  I really love this time of year!! 

Kaitlyn started cheerleading this evening.  We signed her up over a month ago, ordered the uniform and then waited for the e-mail to come telling us when her practices started.  And waited.  And waited!  I finally called the rec center last Friday to find out when she starts only to find out that we had already missed two practices:(  She seemed to slip right into it tonight, though and knew one of the girls so she'll be fine.  It's just my mother-heart that feels bad for letting so much time pass before checking into it!

Anyway, better get that "to-do" list started...this post wasn't on it:)  :)

Christmas Spirit a Little Early!

Sooo - I caved this morning and decided to decorate for Christmas a little early this year!  We aren't hosting Thanksgiving so why not, right??  I was digging into cleaning the house since our recent bout with the flu and thought that as long as I was deep cleaning everything I may as well get the decorations up:)

My biggest challenge this year will be keeping my little one year old buddy away from the tree...hmmmm!

Complete Rainbow

Beginning

We saw the most amazing, complete rainbow this morning!  (The brief sunrise was gorgeous, too)A camera will never do it justice but I just had to try!  Thankfully the twins were up early (no idea why since there is no school today!) so we all went out and rainbow-gazed for awhile.  Some of you may remember the blog post from Singapore when Kaitlyn and I saw the only other complete rainbow I've seen in my adult life.  We were running around in the rain in a field trying to capture it while the Singaporeans were thinking we were crazy!  

End

Middle

 

 

 

A Slow Week For Once!!

Yay!  I have a slower week for the first time in a long time...maybe now the piles and piles of laundry will finally get caught up:)  It's been busy around here with school, piano, activities, babysitting Tayden, preschool, getting spring bulbs planted and fall clean up done...and we FINALLY finished cleaning/organizing the basement (you may remember a post from a LONG time ago that I was working on this project!)  I also got our bedroom painted, the guest room painted, and the loft.  I still have a little touch up work to do so I'm hoping that I'll finally have time for that this week!


The twins have school Monday and Tuesday this week and then are off for the rest of the week due to teacher conferences.  They are worried that they will have to do a lot of work for those 5 days off but I've promised them some free time:)

Changes (Again!)

I have to admit that I'm not a big one for change.  I like my comfortable little section of the world.  So much so that EVERY SINGLE TIME in my life that I have been 100% content with the way things are or where we are at God says, "Time to make another change, Becky!"  You would think that by this point in our lives I would have figured out that nothing stays the same and that life is continually changing!

Our newest (and perhaps most challenging) change is that we have decided to take on homeschooling the twins.  This has been something that we have prayed hard about and have done much research on before making the final decision.  It has come with many hours of talking to other homeschool families, looking at curriculum, making pros and cons lists, and of course PRAYING!

It is something that has been on my heart since before the twins started Kindergarten.  It's something that I thought about again when we were making our move to Singapore and than again when we made the move back to the US.  It recently was laid on my heart again when I spent a few hours alone in the car on a trip so I began to pray about it again.  During that ride a few things occurred to me.  I realized that there were a few doors that needed to "open" before this would even be an option.

1.  I had to have a complete peace about it
2.  Ryan had to be 100% on board  and
3.  the twins needed to be willing. 

That evening when Ryan called to check in (he was out of town) I brought it up to him again.  I talked though all the reasons I had for the "why?" and the "how?" and the "What in the WORLD am I THINKING???"  He listened for awhile before saying that it was something we could start considering.  In the past his reasons for "why" and "how" were different than mine and for the first time we were finally on the same page about it.  So began the HOURS of praying and researching and talking.  I also asked the twins casually what they thought about being home schooled.  Although they were both excited about the possibility it wasn't entirely for the right reasons!  So we talked about what it would be like and what would be required.  They were still interested so now I was down to the peace part...the most important part!

Through the many discussions that I had with Ryan about the pros and cons I realized that God had been going before us paving the way for this moment.  When we first moved back to the US it was really hard for me because I went from having a very active social life to spending more and more time at home.  It was a hard transition but at some point during the past 6 months it went from becoming something that was hard to a new lifestyle that I had accepted.  I was at a point for the first time in my adult life where it wouldn't be such a huge transition from an active social life during the day to staying home with the kids and teaching them.  All the times I had questioned God with "Why haven't I found friends like I had before?" He was preparing me for what was ahead!   And with that knowledge came peace...the final door to be opened!

I realize that the coming days will not be without challenge but I am ready to take on the challenge of teaching the kids at home and I'm excited to get to see their learning and growing first hand!  (I'm also very nervous so ask for any prayers you are willing to send up for me!)  It will be interesting to see how it all goes and I'm sure there will be days that I have to rely on the fact that I KNOW that this is what God wants in our lives at this time:)

Melissa - this is for you!

If any of you received a message from my yahoo account today PLEASE DELETE IT!!!!  My account was hacked and I did not send those messages out.  I haven't used that account in awhile so I'm guessing that it why someone was able to get into it.  DO NOT OPEN THE ATTACHMENT AS IT'S PROBABLY A VIRUS!!!

Sickness and SNOW???

It's been a lo-o-ong week.  Kenton came home from school on Monday with a 102 fever and has been home sick ever since.  We went to the doctor on Wed and got started on an antibiotic but he woke up this morning with a fever again.  :(  He was fine yesterday so I am suspecting that he's moved on to a sinus infection but we'll see what the doctor says...

I am loving this weather!  We've been spending time outside every day and yesterday I opened up some windows upstairs to air the bedrooms out and while it was a little chilly it felt GREAT!  Yesterday afternoon we headed to help the Moser's rake up some late-falling leaves...well, technically the kids didn't help rake but they pretty much played outside from 4:00 until 8:30 with a short break for supper.  Kaitlyn and Ethan crashed on the way home and Ethan slept the whole night...IN HIS OWN BED!!  I think I'm shipping him outside every day if it gets him to crash so hard that he doesn't wake up and crawl in with us:)

BAD NEWS FOR TOMORROW...The National Weather Service is saying 90% chance of SNOW with ACCUMULATION:(  :(  :(  with the temps dropping to the low 40's for next week :( :( :(  Hmmm - not too excited about that prospect but glad that at least at this time of year the snow won't stick around for long...

GOOD NEWS on the potty training front...Ethan is potty training himself this week!  He's stayed dry for the past few days (except while playing outside yesterday for four hours) and is TAKING HIMSELF to the bathroom!  He woke up Wednesday and went on his own and surprised me at the doctor's office by announcing that he needed to go potty.  I looked so surprised that I had to explain to the receptionist that I didn't know we were potty training...Ethan's my second child to prove that it's a control thing for them and the minute I give up forcing them to potty train they do it on their own.  (Kaitlyn was the first)  I'll take what I can get and I'm chalking the past few days up to a good start on being fully trained:)

The retaining wall that used to surround our house that was both falling in and creating a moat effect every time it rained is now officially gone!!  Yea!  Ricky and Amanda came over on Wednesday and hauled it away for their own landscaping purposes so now I'm working on getting it all cleaned up and ready to re-landscape.  It will look so much nicer to have mulch down instead of the falling-in-wall!

C-c-cold in Florida

I will try to get around next week to finally posting some pictures on here again:) 

Ryan and I have been in Florida these past few days enjoying the warm....oh wait, I'm sorry...COLD weather!  They have actually had freezing advisories this past week and we've been in our winter clothes and coats all week.  There have been a few vacationers who have braved the weather to lay by the pool but NOT US:)  We are headed to Epcot this morning and than head home tomorrow.  It's been so nice to have this little getaway with Ryan but I miss the kids.  I'm glad I can say that as I've gone on many a little getaway without them where I didn't miss them at all and than felt guilting for not missing them:)

More Next Week!

Happy March - FINALLY!

Choices

There are too many choices in America!  I've been struck by this fact over and over again since returning from Singapore.  I have been trying for several months now to buy a new phone for our house and each time return home empty handed because there are just too many options and I get overwhelmed trying to compare each brand and model.  This afternoon I headed to Target to look at potential lamps for the office and living room (neither room has any lighting) and once again...returned home empty handed.  Too many choices and that was just at one store!  It's interesting that in Singapore one of the things I missed most about America was the option of many choices.  I didn't realize until we moved back that I had adjusted to not having many choices and it in fact made shopping SO much easier.  Take lamps for instance...the only lamps that were even close to our price range were at Ikea.  They only offer a handful of choices making it much easier to choose one.  I learned to live with things that weren't exactly my style and became more practical about the things we "needed."   Food was another example...if I wanted ground sausage for a breakfast casserole there was only one place in Singapore that carried it - so I learned to live with that even if it wasn't exactly what I had in mind (because of different spices added to the sausage.)  Or I learned how to substitute and make do with a different ingredient instead.  Here you have the choice of mild, country, or spicy and in 4 different brands.  It can also be purchased frozen or refrigerated.  Some stores even grind their own version fresh daily.  AHHHHHH!!!

Here's to simplifying life!!

This morning we were driving to preschool and were at the corner of Big Timber Road and Rt 72 when Ethan told me that a house was on fire.  When we turned the corner onto Big Timber we could see the flames and smoke coming out of the garage side of the house.  By the time we went back by there on the way home the house was just a shell and there were more firetrucks than I've ever seen in one place before.  I found a link to an article that's been posted about it...click Here to see it.

I am DONE with winter!  I keep thinking that in Kansas my tulips would be coming up in a few weeks and the weather would start warming up a little.  Instead I googled the average temp in Chicago for March and found out it's....45 degrees!!  BRRRR!  :(  It does help that there is more daylight in the morning and at night and that the sun has been shining most of this week:)  Maybe some day my blood will thicken more and this cold weather won't bother me but for now I'm looking forward to feeling some warm sunshine!

The Facebook Dilemma

Three or four years ago a friend of mine requested that I join Facebook so that I could view photos of her kids.  I set up an account, looked at her pictures, made a comment and walked away for about two years.  A year and a half ago while we were in Singapore I started using my Facebook account a little more frequently to keep up with my friends back home.  I added a profile picture and started accumulating "friends".  As time went on more and more people from my grade school and high school years "found" me and requested to be added as friends.  Some people are good at ignoring those "friend" requests.  I'm too nice and didn't want to hurt feelings (plus I was a little curious about what they looked like now and what they were up to) that fast forward 18 months and I was up to 260 "friends".  I realized that it had ceased being something that was just for "fun" and was turning into yet one more thing that I had to do to keep up with everyone.  It was the hardest and yet the most freeing thing I've done in awhile when I hit the "delete" button!  I LOVE keeping up with my friends (especially my Singapore friends) and yet there were also so many people on there that I really don't need to keep up with or hear about their latest drama...don't I have enough of my own??   After a two week hiatus where I didn't post a status update and only checked what my friends were up to occasionally I decided that I could indeed live without Facebook.  After 15 minutes of trying to figure out how to do it (FB doesn't make it easy!) I permanently deleted my account.  I may sign up again in the future and keep my "friend" list to the ones that are truly my friends and that I want to keep up with but until then I'm back to the "old fashioned" way of e-mailing and calling:)  It's a much more personal way to keep in touch with friends anyway and you get much deeper into what's going on in their lives than reading a status update.

PS:

According to Facebook they claim to have 400 million active users and the average user spends 55 minutes a day on FB...As of yesterday they have 399,999,999 million users and there is one ex-user who has 55 minutes more a day to concentrate on things that will last longer than FB anyway:) 

EarthShaking Week

Warning:  This post is rambling and long!

It's been another crazy week here in Northern Illinois!  I had Lauren and Brett from Sunday night through yesterday afternoon.  I met Ben and Melissa on Sunday evening in Yorkville for supper at Pizza Hut to pick the kids up.  We pretty much had the restaurant to ourselves which was nice...yea for the Super Bowl:)

Monday after the twins left for school I packed up the other three and ventured out to the grocery store...they did amazing but I am glad I don't have to do that very often:)  BTW:  while we were there Ethan says to a man stocking shelves,  "Nice boxes!"  :P  After dropping off the groceries at home we headed to pick up Taydon before heading out to Jamie's for a few hours.  Than it was a quick run home for naps before packing up ALL 5 KIDS and heading to a foreign country otherwise known as Spring Hill Mall (Elginites will know what I mean by that!)  We needed to order new lenses for Kaitlyn's glasses at LensCrafters so we picked out frames, got them ordered, and headed to the food court for supper and the play area to kill time before the glasses were ready to be picked up.  I have a NEW RESPECT for my friends who have more than 4 children!  I was EXHAUSTED by the time we got back home!!!

You may be wondering why I made that trip by myself...Ryan left Monday morning for NYC and was supposed to return Tuesday evening.  Because of the snowstorm here Midway airport was completely shut down for 24 hours starting Tuesday morning and ending Tuesday night.  He's still not home because of the backlog of flights which was made worse when the storm hit the East coast yesterday!

Tuesday we headed to preschool for my second week of teaching and the Valentine's party.  Lauren got to join us at preschool and LOVED every minute of it!  Ethan, on the other hand started screaming and temper tantruming about 1/2 way through and didn't quit for the rest of the day.  Good thing I had a helper to take over the V party!  After preschool we headed to Anne M's to pick up Brett and drop off her daughter and than home for naps.  At 3:00 I packed up my three while Alison babysat for L & B and we headed out into the snowstorm for our eye dr. appts.    

Tuesday night turned out to be a not so good night.  Brett didn't sleep good and than at 4:00am I was jolted awake by an earthquake.  I woke up to a rumbling sound and shaking but it was so brief that I didn't think it could be an EQ.  I thought maybe it was the wind, or a plane flying low, or a snowplow but when I looked outside everything looked calm.  We were supposed to be having blizzard conditions so I was surprised by how calm it was outside.  I went back to bed until 6:00 when Brett seemed to be awake for the day and that's when I got the text from Ryan asking if I had felt the EQ (click on blog title to go to article).  I have wanted to feel an EQ since I was little so initially I thought it was pretty cool.  When I went to lay down last night to sleep though I realized I was more creeped out by it than I thought.  I don't think it was by the EQ itself but from the thought that something could happen in the middle of the night that I have no control over when I'm responsible for kids by myself.  Does that make sense?

Wednesday I ran E, L, & B out to Jamie's before coming back to Huntley for a dentist appt.  It was the first of two - the second being today - that I will be REALLY glad when they are over!  After the appt I ran BACK to Jamie's to pick up the kids and head to Morris to meet Dad and Mom so they could return L & B to their rightful owners:)  Than a quick trip to pick up the twins before heading to Pump It Up for a school fundraiser night.  I couldn't find the place so we were a half hour late meaning the kids could only jump for a half hour before having pizza.  I felt bad but I think that they were tired because over all they handled it well!

I'm heading out for dentist appt # 2 and than it's home to clean and get ready for company this weekend! I'll be glad when Saturday hits and we can all relax a little.

It's been a busy last few weeks!  And a quick look at my calendar says it's not going to slow down until....April!!!  Mostly I don't mind but I am starting to get tired and am ready to quit sprinting and start walking:)  BUT, it sure made January go quickly which I'm not complaining about AT ALL!!

Today is a day at home...I wish I could say a slow day at home but there is too much to do before I go and pick up Lauren and Brett next Monday.  Both of the twins need to get Valentine boxes made + all their Valentines and I need to get Preschool planned for next Tuesday along with Ethan's Valentines made.  Add in all the laundry that piled up this past week because I wasn't home to do it and a van that is in DESPERATE need of a good cleaning and I have my next few days cut out for me!

Ethan started the church preschool in January so I am taking my turn this month teaching.  This week was my first week and I was so nervous I didn't sleep the night before!  These kids shouldn't be that intimidating, right???  It went good and I'm thankful that I can say, "1 down, only 3 to go:)"  Next week is the Valentine's party so it has been a little more fun to plan for that one.  I'm just not much of a teacher or public speaker.

Kenton has been checking joke books out of the library recently and telling them to anyone who will listen.  His little brother hears him and tries to tell jokes too...only here's how they go...


E:  "Why did the chicken cross the playground?"

Me:  "I don't know...why?"

E:  "Because!"  (followed by laughter from him)

Me:  "Ummm - how about you say, 'to get to the other SLIDE?'"

E:  "Good joke, Mom!"

Hmmmm - I think he needs to work on the punch line a little!




Glad it's Friday, Friends!!

It's A Boy!

Luke Robert was born to Katie and Matthew around 8:00 this morning.  He weighed in at 7lbs 1 oz and is 18.5 inches long.  He's big for a Schneider baby:)

??

I posted today about starting on the cleaning of the basement. For some reason it put it under the date of Monday instead of today. If you scroll down past the "Flexibility" post you will find it.

Flexibility

My plans for today have changed twice now! I'm learning (slowly!) how to be flexible with my plans. Anyone who knows me well knows that I don't always do well with changes to my plans:) I had initially had plans to meet up with my sister in law and a friend for some "friend time" today. By last night it became obvious that I wasn't going to be going anywhere since Ethan's fever went up again. (He's had a fever since Friday.) So, I reorganized my thoughts and planned to start on the Big Bad Basement project today...I even had a post all ready complete with pictures to post today. Then I woke up with an eye infection. Now, normally this wouldn't be enough to stop me from tackling the basement but in this case I can't wear my contacts and my glasses prescription is 9 years old because I never wear them anymore. The 9 year old prescription isn't strong enough for what I need so I have a headache. Nothing that can't be fixed...just another thing that changed my plans!

I have never established with a primary doctor here so I searched around our insurance's web site and located a clinic that is close by that has a lot of doctors. I called for an appointment but the earliest one they have is at 3:00. This is too close to when the twins get home from school that I don't want to take the chance that I'm not here when the bus comes home so Ethan and I are heading to the Immediate Care Center that's also attached to this clinic. I keep telling myself that in light of all the other problems that are going on in the world right now this is not a big deal. "Be Flexible!" I tell myself. "At least you have insurance, and a car, and the ability to be seen today!"

So, I'm trying to remain flexible and roll with things. And, I'm trying to take advantage of a few extra days at home that I didn't think I had this week (Ethan won't be going to preschool tomorrow because he has a close to constant cough) to get a few things done. Maybe I'll be ready to tackle that basement later today....!

Basement Blues

Time to stop procrastinating and start on the basement:( Ryan's corner has a good start but the rest of it...sigh. I'm heading down there with two bags - one for toys that are broken and need to be thrown away and one for the toys to donate/garage sale off this spring. To help give you an idea of what I'm up against here's a few pictures....

Ryan's corner which actually isn't too bad.

There's a bunch of 1/2 empty paint cans in the corner that I need to figure out how to dispose of. They all came with the house.

Then there are all the kids toys. I don't think that I blogged this but back in October I sent the kids to my moms for a few days while I cleaned out the rest of the house top to bottom. I decided that other than a few things most of the toys would be kept in the basement. This keeps the mess down there which works for me:) Now I just need to get them organized!

All my scrapbooking stuff ended up on the hutch - I'm hoping to commandeer one of Ryan's tables to get it all set up there so I can actually go down and work on things from time to time!

Eventually my plan is to find remnant carper squares to lay down so that it feels "warm" down there so that the kids will actually go down and play. I also want to get a few more fluorescent lights to brighten things up. I will post pictures when it's all done but it may take awhile!

Well, here goes! If you don't hear from me in a couple of days please send in a search party!!

Big Bad Basement - here I come!

Raining babies...

I just got home from two nights down at Andy and Val's helping out with their newest addition: RaeLynn Elizabeth born this past Monday. It's the beginning of a storm of babies that will end in May between my sisters and Ryan's sister. Val is supposed to e-mail me some pictures sometime so I can post them - I didn't even think about taking my camera down there :{

Katie is next - due in a week and a half - so I'll be back down their way to pick up Lauren and Brett for a few days. After watching Brett in action yesterday I'm even more motivated then before to get the basement done! He is one short, busy, little guy who gets into EVERYTHING that's at his level!!!

"stickers"

A few minutes ago I came across Ethan stomping on "stickers, mom" that he had put on the floor. His stickers turned out to be about $9 worth of stamps. He asked why I was taking a picture - I told him so that Daddy could see when he gets home what Ethan had done. He told me, "Well, I'll just hide from Daddy so he won't spank me." >:(

For an update on our church's mission down in Haiti click here.

We had a fun weekend relaxing with Ryan's family both Saturday night and Sunday night playing games together. Saturday was also a day to get caught up on all the housework and laundry that had been piling up since middle December since we have been on the run since then! The kids are home today (Martin Luther King Day) so we are headed to the basement in a bit to get started on the mess down there. I warned them last night that today would end up another work day going through toys and getting rid of ones that they don't play with anymore. Kaitlyn and Kenton both told me, "Maybe we should donate some of our toys to the kids down in Haiti since they lost theirs."

Speaking of Haiti Saturday night as I was laying in bed I tried envisioning what it would be like to be completely trapped and pinned by concrete. It took about 30 seconds before I had to throw the blankets off in complete panic and sit up gasping for air. I'm so claustrophobic and I cannot imagine the horror that so many people have been going through. CNN was reporting that there most likely were quite a few people who didn't die from the earthquake itself but from being trapped without water. I can only hope and pray that I could have the attitude and faith of the lady mentioned in the story in the above link!!

"From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord's name is to be praised!"

Trying today to be more thankful and not complain!

I found a blog a few days ago written by a couple who have been doing mission work down in Haiti for the past 4 years.

http://livesayhaiti.blogspot.com

It's worth looking at as they write from a Godly perspective unlike what you will find at different media outlets.

I'm not sure why it's not posting as a link - you may have to copy and paste the address.

Oh, Ethan!

Tonight we went out for supper to a local diner. Ethan ordered the Mickey Mouse pancake...and then refused to eat it because he didn't want to ruin Mickey. Ryan told him that we'd take a picture so he could remember what the pancake looked like and then he had to eat it. After the picture I started cutting up the pancake. This was met by hysterics, "Don't cut him!" "You are breaking him!" Oops - maybe we traumatized the three year old???

********

I mentioned in a previous post about my visit to the orthopedic doctor. What I didn't tell you was about Ethan and the doctor's visit:) The doctor had to tell Ethan to get off the chairs so he didn't become another patient. Ethan was all the way on top of the backs of the chairs getting ready to jump off. The nurse came in next to fit me for a knee brace. Ethan was sitting on the exam table next to me saying, "Hey! Doctor! I need one too!" Then as we were leaving Ethan yelled to the nurses, "See you later, alligator!" Pause..."I SAID... SEE... YOU... LATER... ALLIGATOR!!!"

He did one more thing before we left while we were in the bathroom that I'm not going to share here because it was too embarrassing! I'll just close with what my prayer was...

"Please, Lord! Close his mouth, NOW!"

Poll results

Thanks to all who voted in my poll! It seems that all of us buy some generic and some name brand products when we shop. I'm always interested to see what others have to say!

Do you work?

Today I had a follow up appointment with the orthopedic doctor for my knee. When I checked in at the beginning of the visit the receptionist took down my new insurance information and asked a few questions. One of them was, "Do you work?" I told her that really isn't a fair question. I do not have an outside job where I'm being paid but I do WORK while I'm at home - and it's not a job for the lazy!! Think about the amount that a "house wife" or "home maker" does in the course of a day...wake everyone up, get herself ready, get all the kids ready for the day, set out breakfast, pack school lunches or at least a snack for snack-time, clean up breakfast, throw a load of laundry in the washer, make sure beds are made, make sure the kids are wearing gloves, hats, and boots when they leave the house plus their backpacks and lunch, then drive them to school. I'm only to 8:30 in the morning!

It's a job that doesn't really have a start time or an end time. When there are sick kiddos in the middle of the night or when the three year old is having a bad night and the seven year old is having nightmares and needs consoling there is no time off. It's one of the few jobs where you don't get sick leave unless you are lucky enough for your husband to be home that day or have someone close enough to help out with the kids. It's a job that requires work even while on vacation - someone has to keep the room semi-picked up and make sure that you have enough snacks, sun lotion, water, towels, etc. packed for what ever you have planned for the day.

So, do I work? Yes, I do. Even if the receptionist at the doctor's office discounts my "job" I do work. And while it can be one of the most stressful jobs at times it is also one of the most rewarding jobs in the world!

62 and heading to 70

On Facebook today I posted the question: What do you keep your thermostat set on? I've had mine set pretty low because I was anticipating high gas bills. Seems like when we lived in Kansas City in a house that is smaller then this one our bills were pretty high - even keeping it at 68 degrees during the day and lower at night. I set our thermostat here to kick on to 72 degrees in the morning while we are getting ready for the day, 62 during the day, and 72 again from 6 - 10 pm for the evening. At night it is set at 60 degrees. Based on all the responses I've received so far I think I'm kicking it up to at least 70 for the whole day! These settings worked when it was 50 degrees out but now it feels COLD! Wonder why I never am motivated to get up off the couch and from under the blankets to get things done???

What do you keep yours set at?

We have another busy week ahead of us. Seems like when the calendar is full during January and February it helps the winter pass by faster:) Today I had a dentist appointment (worth a whole post by itself!) and ran a few errands before coming home to tackle the mess that is my home! Tomorrow Ethan starts preschool at the church preschool and has his 3 year checkup (Late!) Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday we have more appointments and we go to Baby Joy Friday morning at the nursing home. At some point I'd really like to start taking Ethan to the library and to a free playgroup through the school and tackle the basement. The basement will take me an entire week so I keep putting it off:)

It's chili for supper tonight which I'd better get started! Stay Warm, Readers!!

Follow Up

This is a follow up to the comments that were left on the previous post.

I have found that I mostly buy generic except for a few things where the taste/texture is better in the name brand. For example - Cool Whip holds the air better than the generic when I'm making strawberry tapioca jello salad. The jello salad is fluffier when I use name brand over generic. Also, I have tried many American cheese brands and find that I still like Kraft the best. Or like Dona said, sometimes the flavor or type of food you want is only available in name brand - when I looked for bread flour the other night I could only find Pillsbury or the kids like GoGurt for lunch which at Wal-Mart is only available in name brand. Aldi's has generic GoGurt but most weeks it is not worth the few pennies of savings to make the trip to the nearest one for me. OH - I will not buy generic mac and cheese! Kraft has everyone else beat in that category! Otherwise I stick to generic - I have found that for most products there isn't much of a difference. Looks like everyone who's voted so far buys both, too...

BTW: It is interesting to note that when Ryan used to visit manufacturing plants he said that sometimes they would run a product and label it with a name brand label and than midway through they would switch the labels - still the same product - to a generic brand. This isn't true for every product out there but there are quite a few that are this way.

Good idea, Sara, to plan menus. I've never been good at that. I keep a standard supply of ingredients on hand and then go and buy 2 - 3 different kinds on meat and figure out what to do with them after I get home. This usually works although there are a few times when I've had to text Ryan to stop by the store on the way home to pick up something that the recipe calls for that I do not have on hand.

As far as the reusable grocery bags - I have found that if I keep them in the van I usually remember to take them in with me. I have to say that I've never taken them in to the store and then forgotten to used them! Too funny, Elizabeth!

Groceries, Cupcakes, and Snowmen...???

Grocery Shopping...if you want to send shudders down my spine just mention this phrase to me! It is the task that I dislike the most! It is something that I put off until we are absolutely desperate for food which coincidentally makes it an even bigger and overwhelming task!

When I'm actually on top of things I'm a very organized grocery shopper. I spend some time cleaning out the pantry, freezer, and fridge and carefully make a list of all the things I need. I keep on ongoing list on the fridge of items that we are running low on so that I can get them before we actually run out - i.e. ketchup, flour, or syrup - you know, the things that if you run out of you have to stop what you are making or eating to go get them because you just can't make it/eat it without 'em. Then I ditch all three kids and head to Wal-Mart or Jewel for an hour long torture session. I usually stick to the list and only allow myself 3 spur of the moment items. When I checkout I have my reusable bags that drive the check out ladies CRAZY because they have to actually take the time to open each bag up and get it to stay open while they are trying to load the groceries in. Then it's out to the van where I've parked right next to a cart corral for convenience. Load the van up, drive home, start unloading. The kids bring the bags in while I empty them all out onto the counters.

This way I can see how much food goes in the pantry, how much in the veggie drawer, in the fridge, etc. Now, like I started the paragraph off - this is WHEN I'm ORGANIZED. This hasn't happened in at least a month!!!

OH, NO, instead THIS is what my shopping experience consists of....

Load all three kids in the van after school in between homework and supper because I couldn't get it together enough to try and go when the older two were in school. They are tired, hungry, and wanting to run around. I spend my time chasing Ethan, telling the twins to quit hanging on to the cart, saying, "No, we are not buying Twinkies today", running from the front of the store to the back of the store because, "Oh, rats! I needed tomato juice which is kept in the Juice Aisle which is in the clear back of the store!" and telling Ethan to stop throwing food into the cart because he's smashing the bread. Than we head to the checkout where I've realized I've forgotten my reusable bags (which makes the aforementioned check out ladies REALLY happy and in a good mood) and I load the belt with groceries while trying to keep Ethan out of the candy, Kenton out of the arcade, and watch for Kaitlyn to come back from the bathroom because she JUST couldn't wait another minute. (She never has to go when we are in the back of the store by the bathrooms back there!) Next we head out to the van where the kids climb over the back seat into the van and proceed to start fighting over who sits where while I unload the bags into the van forgetting where I put the eggs and bread and praying that they aren't smashed!! On to home where I unload the whole van after making a quick PB&J supper for the kids because they are STARVING and can't wait another second for food. Then I hurry to get the frozen and cold stuff put away before whisking the kids off to bed and leave the rest of the groceries to get put away until sometime tomorrow...Did I mention that I dislike grocery shopping???

PLEASE, make me clean the TOILETS!!!!

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I decided to post a new poll:

Do you buy generic....

or name brand?

You can vote off to the side!

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Before all that craziness happened this evening I actually had a relaxing afternoon making cupcakes for the twins' after school snack. I realized today that I have this complex where I think cake is only for birthdays. Where did that idea come from??? The twins were pretty excited because usually I steer them towards a more healthy snack - yogurt, fruit, or wheat crackers and cheese. Plus it helped me get into a Valentine's Day mood which means I'm finally motivated to take down my Christmas decorations:)

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And Last But Definitely Not Least...

Introducing My Newest Little Buddy...

Mr. Snowman!

He has the privilege of sitting next to my computer where I can see him all day long. He was made by a sister of mine for Christmas! Isn't he cute??? I bet he's really looking forward to all that snow that I just saw on radar that is heading this way....

Warm Thoughts

After much, much thought I've decided to get the ol' blog up and running again. I'm not sure that I have any readers left though:) We are FREEZING so I decided to update my background with something warmer...and post a picture that reminds me of much warmer days!

If I didn't have to actually ever go anywhere it wouldn't be too bad!

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Since I haven't posted any pictures for awhile here are a couple of recent pics of the kids from our Christmas. It was fun to actually be able to open presents the day of Christmas Eve instead of having to do gifts a week early due to traveling.

Kait got her American Girl doll

Legos were the NUMBER 1 thing on Kenton's list!

Ethan had just as much fun helping Daddy put together his tool bench as he did playing with it once it was completed!

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I'll leave you with a warm thought:

Yesterday morning Ethan and I were having a bit of a bad day. He was crabby and I was trying to get motivated to get bills paid and laundry started (it's going to be a week long project, I'm afraid!) so we weren't meshing too smoothly. Pretty quickly after lunch I put him down for his much needed nap. He got some sleep and I got some paperwork done. I was downstairs on the computer a few hours later when I heard him start crying upstairs, "Somebody!" He called. "I scared! So-0-mebody!" I rushed upstairs to get him and carried him back down to the living room where we snuggled in the rocking chair for awhile. "I love you, Ethan" I said as I bushed his hair off his forehead and kissed his sleep induced rosy cheeks. "I love you, too!" He smiled back at me. We sat there for quite awhile just snuggling and rocking and forgetting all about our struggles from the morning. Sometimes our greatest joys can come from such seemingly small moments!

Happy New Year, Friends!