More Things Our Kids Have Said...

So Shelby is a really strange little girl. She LOVES all things villains. She loves anything creepy or twisted. She likes fire. Tonight we were able to add another thing to the list of things that separate her from other little girls. We were playing Kadence's new Pinkalicious game that we gave her for her birthday. Things were going well until David rolled Pinkalicious's little brother Peter. When you roll "Peter", Peter comes and eats one of your cupcakes. Since the object of the game is to get your cupcake pan full of cupcakes this is not a good thing. After that, Shelby was dying to roll "Peter." I explained to her that if she rolled "Peter" she wouldn't win. She then said, "I like to lose, I really want Peter so I can lose" She seriously is one of the most unique little girls I have ever met. She keeps us laughing that's for sure.

Another thing said tonight came from Kadence. David was brushing her teeth when she told him, "Since you and mom aren't having any more babies you need to pick some out so you can name them." This really caught him off guard because we haven't really discussed us not having any more babies with the girls. David and I don't want to have any more biological babies because it isn't really good for my health, but we haven't really explained any of that to the girls. I figured there would come a time when Kadence or Shelby would ask us to have another baby, or tell us they wanted a little brother or sister. It was like Kadence just knew somehow and it will be interesting to see what our future holds. I have wanted to adopt another child, but it is far too expensive for us to do so I just put it to the back of my mind. It's one of my "when I get rich and famous, I'm going to..." I know the girls would be great helpers and would love another sibling to death. They love babies! I am a little worried because she is so incredibly in tune with the spirit and it freaks me out that she may know more than we do. I wanted one more not "some more." We'll see how our life turns out I guess.

Kadence LOVES to pray. She says almost every family prayer and we just let her do it herself. Sometimes she says things that are funny, like mentioning Disneyland, but usually all she does is show thanks. She doesn't really ask for much, and the only thing I can remember her asking for is that we can "not be sick." It's really strange how mature her little mind is. She has thanked our Heavenly Father for hospitals, and Dr's that can help people to feel better. She has thanked Him for letting Jesus help the kids in heaven. She has also thanked Him for helping kids to not be scared. It's so strange to me because we haven't ever said those things in our prayers, yet somehow she knows. She is one spiritual little girl and she has big things in store for her I'm sure of it!

Shelby is such a sweetheart...despite her interest in villains. She tells David when he gets home from work, "Mommy's leg still has a hurt." It's like when she wakes up she hopes to see me walking as usual around the house and then is disappointed when she realizes I am still in a brace. Every time I get up to go somewhere she completely clears the way for me. She is so mindful and aware, and is so super sweet. When her and Kadence play with their toys, one of them tends to have a hurt leg now. It's crazy to me that these past two weeks have been such an impact on them as well. Both her and Kadence are always so willing to do anything I ask of them lately, all I have to do is start my sentence with "Can you girls be mommy's helpers?" and they both jump up to help immediately. They have even fought over who gets to help me. I am so lucky to have a husband who leads by example. He thanked them for helping me while he was at the store tonight and Kadence immediately replied with, "Thank you dad for helping mommy." I have some of the most caring kids in the world. (Not that they are always super sweet or easy to deal with)

Friday Confessional

Ok, I know it's Saturday but I figured it's better late than never. I already feel bad enough about missing the past two weeks. David was in the hospital and then I was struggling with getting everything ready for Kadence's Birthday party. I am really going to try my hardest to continue doing a weekly confessional.

I CONFESS...You should NEVER EVER let your car insurance....or any insurance for that matter...lapse because who knows, maybe that is the exact moment you will get in a car accident. We now have our car insurance on auto pay to keep this from EVER happening again in the future.

I CONFESS...I am really good at helping people, but really crappy at letting people help me. I have absolutely amazing friends and the best family a girl could ask for but for some reason I don't like anyone helping me. I don't even like letting David help me. Having been in a car accident and being couch ridden for 2 weeks has given me no choice. I have learned to humble myself, admit I need help, AND let people help me. I have let people bring me dinner, put together Kadence's birthday party, buy groceries for me, and lots of other things in between. Probably the most humbling thing is needing David's help in order to get dressed, put my brace on, or even just get a drink. I am so truly blessed to have such amazing people in my life who are willing to help me at the drop of a dime and I am slowly trying to learn that it's ok to let those people help me.

I CONFESS...I have the best husband in the ENTIRE world. Yes ladies, you may think you snagged the perfect man, but I snagged the perfect one for me. Never once has he complained or made me feel like he would rather not help me. He is so patient with me and tries his hardest to get things just the way I want them. He has kept up on laundry better than I do, and has made sure our meals are all taken care of. He even puts the girls breakfast on the table before leaving for work in the morning so they can just grab it. He not only bathes our girls, but then blow dries and straightens their hair. He adjusts, and readjusts my pillows and blankets every few minutes until I'm finally somewhat comfortable. Most of all he does it all willingly and I have no idea how I got so lucky. Love you David, and I am so glad you finally got off your butt to marry me!

I CONFESS....July has never been a great month for me, and I would love to break that cycle. Luckily enough, August tends to be a really good month for me so I'm counting down the days. :) David and I miscarried our first baby in July 2005, we had our first live birth that resulted in two life flights and an ambulance ride in July 2006, and my car accident July 2011. It seems little things always seem to go wrong during the month of July even though there isn't anything real noteworthy between 2006 and 2011. In August 2005 we were married, we were able to take our first baby home from the hospital which was a shock to us all, and we always seem to have a lot of family adventures in August. I really enjoy August and try to remind myself that July will be over soon. :)

I CONFESS...I am picky about the way my blanket is on me. I can not stand the blanket hanging off the edge of the couch or bed AT ALL. It seems to pull at me and I can't stand it. The other thing is that the blanket can't be too heavy. I prefer light blankets that can keep me just as warm as a heavy blanket otherwise I feel trapped. Lastly I absolutely can't stand having a tag by my face. The tag of the blanket has to be at my feet because I snuggle the blanket by my face and the tag just irritates me. Ya, David had to deal with fixing my blanket many times over these past two weeks.

Making Root Beer With Daddy!

So as if David wasn't amazing enough, tonight he decided to include the girls in making root beer. He loves root beer and decided to make his own with yeast vs dry ice. It takes 6-10 days, but hopefully the wait will be so worth it. The girls both LOVE being in the kitchen helping, but usually I'm the one who initiates it. I was very surprised when David thought of including them. He was so patient and let them help in each step.

Here the girls are waiting to stir in the sugar

Here Shelby is pouring in some water

Kadence finished off the jug of water

Here they are doing their favorite part....stirring!

I even helped by filling a few of the empty water jugs with the root beer mixture

Here's the finished product, I'll have to let you know how it turns out next week!

Friday Confessional

I CONFESS...I am super jealous of all my crafty friends. They are so clever with their simple crafts and I can't even begin to try some of their more difficult crafts. I try to pretend I can do things and the more I try the better I actually get. Here's to hoping I'm not craft illiterate for the rest of my life! When you see my seemingly easy crafts, just know it was really hard and I'm usually very proud despite the imperfections because it means that I am trying hard at something that doesn't come naturally to me.

I CONFESS...I might have made a bad decision when I decided that we should make the cupcakes for Kadence's birthday party VS buying them. I thought it would mean more if mom made the cupcakes and it would be a nice little talent to have. After the first attempt at frosting cupcakes I am thinking that I'm not cut out to be a frosting expert. It wasn't terrible, but not quite as good as I would like. I bought a new frosting tip...the right one...and will try again tonight. I'm hoping it goes much better this time and if it doesn't and you happen to see my not so perfect cupcakes....don't judge me, I'm doing my best!

I CONFESS...Staying to a budget is REALLY hard. You don't realize all the little expenses until you go to an all cash budget. We went and got drinks from the gas station and it cost $4. We used to do this almost daily. Lesson learned! It is a treat now not a normal everyday event. (Although Bug Juice will continue to be my girls favorite bribe!)

I CONFESS...I am so very grateful for my step dad. He is the one who helped raise me since my dad has lived out of state since I was little. He and my mom were married when I was 6 years old and he has been with me through many things. He took us camping, hiking and biking. He has shared his love of photography. He has been an amazing handy man and always seemed to find a way to make things work. He has been there through deaths, illnesses, and many other trials. He has been there when I started my own family, and has inspired me to be a better parent. I often refer to him as my dad and love him VERY much! He is such an amazing man and I hope that David is as amazing to our girls throughout their happiness, trials, and adventures. I hope he encourages them to be the best they can and supports them with love when they fall short. Thank you Doug, we love you very much!

Budget Update

Ok, we made it through our first week of our new budget. I think it will take another week to know if it's working well or not. The biggest pro was that each day we were saving about $2.00 in change from using cash vs debit. The girls loved helping save and they knew they were saving for the zoo. Once we saved enough for a membership we would go. They got excited everytime we gave them our change and I'm hoping that by involving them we can teach them to save and be patient when you want something vs getting everything instantly through credit. Another big pro was that we were forced to cook our meals at home. We ate out once...which we have $20 each week set aside for and then we ate out again with money we had saved. All in all that was a HUGE accomplishment for us. One of the problems we immediately ran into was that I spend money helping others. We initially used our $20 MISC on a neighbor who's children needed dinner after dad was brought to the hospital in an ambulance. I needed to go help with a RS dinner so we ordered them pizza. We were ok sacrificing our MISC money, but then there was another neighbor to help. We then decided that like gas and bills, any money spent to help others wouldn't come from our budget. We then replenished our MISC money. We were able to enjoy ourselves and not feel such a tight squeeze, all while cutting back on the spending.

After our trip to Vegas...that we budgeted out with cash...we had a few hundred left over. David asked me if he could have it so he could surprise me with something. After MUCH hesitation, I agreed. I hate spending money on myself at all but that's a lot! He surprised me a few days ago with a new iPod touch. I live on my iPod, and am actually doing this post from it! I had bought my iPod used from ksl and he wanted me to have a new better version. Awesome! I then sold my old one for pretty cheap for what it was, but I just wanted enough to get the invisashield on my new iPod and buy our zoo pass. I misjudged how much the invisashield cost, but we got all but $11 of our zoo pass. At the end of the week, we had enough for the difference for our zoo pass, enough for a trip to McDonalds after the zoo, a punch pass for the train/carousel at the zoo, and two $4 prizes from the zoo gift shop. We still put some money back in the jar and are saving toward a few camping trips.

This next week will be the real test because it's hard for us to avoid eating out, especially on days when David is at school until the evening. This week he has class EVERY night and it's even later than usual. Needless to say, I bet our MISC money AND our shopping money might be going toward take out. :)

Fun Outside!

Here is an honest blog since I haven't done one in a while. My kids watch a lot of TV....A LOT! Our TV is always on from the time my kids wake up to the time they get ready for bed. In fact, 3 hours a day is mandatory. (2 hours for rest time, a half hour when they wake up and a half hour before bed.) The thing is that I don't even feel guilty for it. I see people who restrict their childrens TV watching and kudos to them. I'm sure it is a great thing for their family, but for mine....its TV and lots of it! Now don't get me wrong, my kids don't sit all day watching TV. They play with toys, use their imaginations, help me cook, read books, and go in their rooms to play. In between activities it seems like they stop for a few minutes and watch some TV, then head right into another activity. My kids have great imaginations, can share (although they don't always), and can entertain themselves well. Here is how David and I have decided to gauge if they are addicted: If they get upset when we change the channel or turn the TV off, and if they no longer want to go outside, but would rather stay in and watch TV. As for now we don't see too much wrong with them watching TV, I watched it tons when I was little and I seem to have turned out alright.

Now that the weather is better, the girls are loving the outside play time that they are getting. I can't wait for hikes, camping (although we bring a DVD player) and picnics. It's not that my girls can't stand being away from TV, they just enjoy a few down times watching throughout their day. Here are a few pictures from last night when we had the TV off for hours!

Doesn't Shelby look SO old here?

Kadence wasn't so much in the mood for pictures. She just wanted to play!


Of course, I had to make them kiss!

Vegas Day 2

I forgot to mention on the last post that when we got off the plane and were gathering our strollers and car seats, we noticed that the handle was broken off of one of our strollers. So just realize that we had a one handled stroller throughout our whole trip. :)

On the second day it was time for the girls to meet my dad and step mom. This was the whole reason for the trip actually. My dad was in Vegas for my stepbrothers wedding and so my sisters and I took our families down so the kids could see their grandma and grandpa Gerry. I was a little nervous that the girls wouldn't warm up to them, but they did right away! We met them in the hotel lobby for breakfast and Kadence just chatted away at her Grandma Gerry.

The day before, David and I had decided that we wanted to take the girls to Mandalay Bay's Shark Reef. Rachel and her family, Jeff, Grandma and Grandpa Gerry and us all headed out after breakfast.

Here's our family with Grandma and Grandpa Gerry

The girls LOVE maps and carried around the map of the aquarium the whole time.

Happy little family!

We saw some people cleaning the tanks and one actually stopped to wave!

Had to get Jeff in the crotch of a statue!

The girls got to touch sting rays. Shelby loved this and Kadence wasn't as much a fan. She didn't like having to dangle over the water and was afraid she was going to fall in.

The girls loved playing inside of a ship that had all sorts of fish, turtles and sharks all around.

After the aquarium, we of course stopped at the gift shop. David got a really cool glow in the dark jelly fish. The girls got a few smaller things. We then headed home to get our car so that we could go to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch. This was a big debate. Last time we parked in Ceasars Palace, it took FOREVER to get out. David wanted to walk, but I insisted on driving....and of course, I won. :)

The food was great, and we took home 6 pieces of cheesecake. 2 for me, 2 for David, and 2 for Jeff. The girls both ate well and earned themselves some ice cream. They did great in the restaurant considering there weren't any crayons or coloring sheets and I came very unprepared. I didn't take much of anything anywhere because I was afraid of losing it.

We went back to the hotel and leaving the parking garage was much easier this time...I KNEW IT! We changed into our swimming suits and headed to the pool. Amanda and her family had swam and left, but Rachels family and my dad were still there. We didn't swim too long because the plan was to meet in Amandas room for dinner.

Shelby loved swimming without holding onto anything. Kadence let go for a few minutes, but then decided she would rather someone hold her.

After dinner with the family, we decided to head out to Houdini's Magic shop. The last time Jeff was in Vegas it was too busy to even look around and David LOVES the store. Right at the entrance of NYNY there was a giant candy store. We let the girls each pick a candy so they could munch on it while we shopped. They were amazing for how tired they were and on our walk home they were down for the count!

It was a great day full of fun and I'm so glad that the meeting of their Grandma and pa Gerry went so well. Kadence actually was pretty attached to Grandma Gerry throughout the day and enjoyed holding her hand and telling her stories.

My New Budget

David and I are noticing that we are needing to adjust our grocery budget. We used to spend about $100 a week on groceries, and it seems that no matter how hard I try we just can't seem to spend less than $130-$140. I don't know what it is. I try my darndest, but it just doesn't seem to work. I know there are some extreme couponers out there that could feed their family a month with that budget, but I am not that good. :) Since we were already adjusting the budget, I decided to google a little to try and find a good way to do a budget. I came upon one that I think will work for my family over at couponingtodisney.com. I had remembered hearing about the site a long time ago and well....David and I are dying to go back to Disney. Her budget seemed to make the most sense although she spends less on her groceries because she's a great couponer. Here's how it works: Each week you take out your weekly budget in cash. This budget is NOT for gas, bills, or things like clothes. This is how our budget will look:

$140 for Food/Non Food Grocery Items

$20 for Dining Out

$20 Shopping

$20 MISC

The $20 Shopping will most likely be put toward snacks for picnics, and deals online like groupon. If you go over in one area, you suffer in another area...and have less to save. At the end of the week any money not spent (Plus all the change from using cash) goes into a savings jar. So here is a scenario: Spend $130 on groceries, $18 on Dining out, $15 on Shopping, and $18 of MISC and at the end of one week we would have $19 in our savings!!

I am SO excited to try this out and see if we can start saving toward family adventures. First I would love to buy a pass to the zoo, David would like to save for a few camping trips, and then we will start saving for Disneyland. We would love to try and go during Spring Break if we can save fast enough, but most likely it will be next summer.

I think even if we aren't saving money toward anything this budget will save money overall. We tend to buy food for cooking meals and get lazy and get take out. If we are using cash only we are more likely to stay under our budget because we will have no other choice. Every time we vacation I set our money aside and we use cash the whole time. I haven't ever gone over and actually end up saving money usually. It helps cut down on major impulses. Now it's time to start applying that same plan to our everyday expenses. I'm excited to see how it will work and will update in a week or two and let you know how it's going for us!

Memorable Vegas Quotes

So while on our vacation in Vegas a few things were said that just make me laugh and I don't want to forget them.

Kadence and Shelby are obsessed with praying, Jesus, and Heavenly Father. When I say obsessed I really mean it! They are constantly telling me that they miss Jesus or their Heavenly Father and they are just barely getting into praying without help. (Which is funny in itself) While we were walking to the strip one night, Kadence told me..."Mom, I miss Jesus so I'm going to say a prayer." I of course told her "OK" She started off, "Heavenly Father, thank you for our day, thank you for Vegas, help Heavenly Father not miss me and Jesus not miss me, thank you for not making me wear shorty short shorts, name of Jesus Christ Amen." I just about DIED laughing!!! I don't know where she would get that from but it sure did make me laugh!

While walking across the bridge from New York New York to MGM after going to Houdini's magic shop there was a begger who asked if our girls were twins. David told him no to which he replied, "Ya, twins!" I guess the begger knows our girls a little better than we do!

Another time we were walking to the strip, a bus stop drunk who was there every time we passed I think said something funny....to the girls! He looked directly at them and said, "Mortgages are won and lost here." I was confused and thought I for sure heard him wrong because he looked RIGHT at the girls while he said it, but nope David and Jeff both heard the same thing! Man I love Vegas!

Girls Night In

David was going to be out tonight for our friend, Jeff's, bachelor party so I decided to have a little fun night with the girls. I have a nasty cold so I didn't feel up to much. I decided to let the girls pick a movie and a few snacks and have a movie night. We went to get snacks and we got the girls favorite....fruit and yogurt dip. (I use strawberry gogurt because it tastes the same) They love fruit and to get a plate full WITH yogurt dip is a real treat for them. We also got some candy, chips, and drinks. I was SO thrilled when I got my total for all of this...

$4.68!!! I don't coupon and deal hunt all the time, but when I do I really try to make it worth my time. I was super excited and thought $5.68 for a night with the girls is so much cheaper than what I thought we were going to spend! ($1 for the Redbox)

Here's the delicious treat my girls LOVE!

I decided to drag Kadence's mattress into the front room to make it a little different than our usual movie night. The girls were having a hard time waiting to eat their fruit so I could take a quick picture. They have watched Yogi Bear better than I thought they would and I've been able to blog a bit. We miss our daddy, but I sure do love time together with my girls.