I'm feeling very overwhelmed as of late. I have too much going on right now. Too many balls in the air.
If you don't see any updates here about the Crazy Household, don't fret. I simply am taking a short hiatus. I don't know how long I'll be MIA, but I do promise that I will be blogging again as soon as I can.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Tax Time
Gordon and I sat down and did our taxes last night. We could have had them done weeks and weeks ago, but we both like to procrastinate on this sort of thing. I'm thrilled to say that the additional deduction we get for having Nora added nicely to our refund!
We'll be applying the refund amount towards making our Roth IRA contributions for this year. Not very flashy or fun, but at least we'll (hopefully) be able to afford living in our old age.
We'll be applying the refund amount towards making our Roth IRA contributions for this year. Not very flashy or fun, but at least we'll (hopefully) be able to afford living in our old age.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Happy 8 Months, Nora!
Today Nora turned 8 months old! She celebrated her special day by cutting her FIFTH tooth.
Emily surprised us yesterday by suggesting that Gordon and I go out tonight. She unexpectedly got the night off from work, so she thought we'd like to take advantage of having her available to babysit.
Such a nice surprise!
Gordon and I went to the movies and then to dinner. We saw Nicholas Cage's newest movie, Knowing. Then we went off to Applebee's where we both ordered the Quesadilla Burger.
YUMMO!
So now it's late. I *really* need to get my bottom in bed. Hope everyone is having a GREAT weekend!
Emily surprised us yesterday by suggesting that Gordon and I go out tonight. She unexpectedly got the night off from work, so she thought we'd like to take advantage of having her available to babysit.
Such a nice surprise!
Gordon and I went to the movies and then to dinner. We saw Nicholas Cage's newest movie, Knowing. Then we went off to Applebee's where we both ordered the Quesadilla Burger.
YUMMO!
So now it's late. I *really* need to get my bottom in bed. Hope everyone is having a GREAT weekend!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Project 365
I should change the project to Project 364. I missed taking a picture on March 10th. I could have pretended I did take one, and take a picture of the new toothbrush Will got that day from his very first dentist visit. But that wouldn't have been very honest, now would it?
w.jpg)
w.jpg)
Wednesday, March 11
Thursday, March 12 (see all FOUR of her teeth now?!?)
Friday, March 13w.jpg)
Saturday, March 14 (last bit of snow for the season -- I hope!)w.jpg)
Sunday, March 15 (walking to the park in Groton)w.jpg)
Monday, March 16 (first time the littlest cousins play together)w.jpg)
Tuesday, March 17
Wednesday, March 18 (Will's first day of preschool)
Thursday, March 19
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Preschool for Will
Last Wednesday Will, Nora, and I stopped in at LCS, the preschool that Dianna attended acouple of year ago. I needed to drop off Will's registration paperwork. I also wanted Will to visit a little and check out all of the fun things to do at school.
Last week, Will was hesitant to get comfy at first, even with me staying. I was worried that this week I'd have a crying little boy begging me not to leave him. That perhaps Will was far too used to spending most of his time with Mommy by his side.
Of course all of my worries were for naught!
Will couldn't shed his backpack and coat quick enough. He made a beeline for the sand table right off the bat. I talked with Mrs. D and Mrs. P, the two teachers, for a few minutes before leaving. I purposely did not say anything to William. Did not even grab his attention enough to wave. I didn't want to chance that it would give him license to freak out.
Still, I was on pins and needles the whole time he was at school. I kept my cell phone in my pocket, even pulling it out once or twice to make sure I hadn't missed a call. I figured no news was good news, but couldn't help worrying.
When I returned to pick Will up 2.5hrs later, Mrs. D and Mrs. P both happily informed me that William did VERY well. He asked for me once around 9:30, about 40mins after I'd left. After Mrs. D explained to him that I had left but would return to pick him up after school was done, he went back to playing.
Mrs. D tells me that Will played at the sand table mostly, but did very well with interacting with the boys who came to play at the table too. I'm so thrilled that Will is going to get to play with boys on a regular basis now. The class is almost all boy -- there are only two little girls in the Wednesday class.
I took a couple of pictures of William playing on the playground when I went to pick him up at the end of school. I'll try to get those uploaded and posted here asap.
Last week, Will was hesitant to get comfy at first, even with me staying. I was worried that this week I'd have a crying little boy begging me not to leave him. That perhaps Will was far too used to spending most of his time with Mommy by his side.
Of course all of my worries were for naught!
Will couldn't shed his backpack and coat quick enough. He made a beeline for the sand table right off the bat. I talked with Mrs. D and Mrs. P, the two teachers, for a few minutes before leaving. I purposely did not say anything to William. Did not even grab his attention enough to wave. I didn't want to chance that it would give him license to freak out.
Still, I was on pins and needles the whole time he was at school. I kept my cell phone in my pocket, even pulling it out once or twice to make sure I hadn't missed a call. I figured no news was good news, but couldn't help worrying.
When I returned to pick Will up 2.5hrs later, Mrs. D and Mrs. P both happily informed me that William did VERY well. He asked for me once around 9:30, about 40mins after I'd left. After Mrs. D explained to him that I had left but would return to pick him up after school was done, he went back to playing.
Mrs. D tells me that Will played at the sand table mostly, but did very well with interacting with the boys who came to play at the table too. I'm so thrilled that Will is going to get to play with boys on a regular basis now. The class is almost all boy -- there are only two little girls in the Wednesday class.
I took a couple of pictures of William playing on the playground when I went to pick him up at the end of school. I'll try to get those uploaded and posted here asap.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Update on Dad
I just wanted to drop in with a quick update on Dad...
He's doing quite well!
His MRSA is clearing up with the help of the strong antibiotics and a wound vac. Mom and I went to the hospital yesterday afternoon (while my sister, Becky, watched the little two -- thanks again!) to talk with the physician's assistant and a discharge coordinator. We had been hoping Dad would be discharged directly home, but the physical therapist that saw him yesterday said she really feels that he's not strong enough to go home. So we're looking at different rehab facilities to send him to. (When asked if he wanted to go back to the one he was at, Dad told everyone within hearing distance exactly what he thought of that place! Guess that's a no!?!?)
This last bit of news is bittersweet. We'd really been hoping and looking forward to finally having Dad home again. Still, it's best for him to get to work with physical therapists on a daily basis so that he can build his strength up and become more independent.
With any luck, this next facility will be the exact opposite of the one he was at previously. I'm guessing that Dad will be much happier as long as their kitchen output is far superior! (He HATED the food at the other place; they were notorious for having nothing but sandwiches to offer.)
He's doing quite well!
His MRSA is clearing up with the help of the strong antibiotics and a wound vac. Mom and I went to the hospital yesterday afternoon (while my sister, Becky, watched the little two -- thanks again!) to talk with the physician's assistant and a discharge coordinator. We had been hoping Dad would be discharged directly home, but the physical therapist that saw him yesterday said she really feels that he's not strong enough to go home. So we're looking at different rehab facilities to send him to. (When asked if he wanted to go back to the one he was at, Dad told everyone within hearing distance exactly what he thought of that place! Guess that's a no!?!?)
This last bit of news is bittersweet. We'd really been hoping and looking forward to finally having Dad home again. Still, it's best for him to get to work with physical therapists on a daily basis so that he can build his strength up and become more independent.
With any luck, this next facility will be the exact opposite of the one he was at previously. I'm guessing that Dad will be much happier as long as their kitchen output is far superior! (He HATED the food at the other place; they were notorious for having nothing but sandwiches to offer.)
Friday, March 13, 2009
What I see in my mind's eye
I posted yesterday about what I saw in the mirror vs. what the mirror reflection actually looks like. More than one person has since told me that they were curious what the eye-opening self portrait looked like. So I decided to illustrate my reflection (pun intended!) photographically.
First, here is a picture I took of myself using my camera's timer function in the end of September. I believe it was right around the time I started going to Weight Watchers, so about 20lbs ago. This face is what my mind still sees when I look in the mirror. Well, a pastier, less- tan version of this face.
This following picture is the self portrait I did the night before last for my Project 365 picture of the day.
NOW do you see why I was so shocked?? In my mind, I don't look much different than I did 20lbs ago. When I look at myself without my rose-colored glasses on, however, I can see that there is indeed a major difference.
First, here is a picture I took of myself using my camera's timer function in the end of September. I believe it was right around the time I started going to Weight Watchers, so about 20lbs ago. This face is what my mind still sees when I look in the mirror. Well, a pastier, less- tan version of this face.
This following picture is the self portrait I did the night before last for my Project 365 picture of the day.
NOW do you see why I was so shocked?? In my mind, I don't look much different than I did 20lbs ago. When I look at myself without my rose-colored glasses on, however, I can see that there is indeed a major difference.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
That Lady in the Mirror
Last night I realized I hadn't taken a picture for my Project 365 yet. Usually I like to take a picture of one of the children or document something that represents an event in our day. The kids were all in bed already and I was sitting at my computer desk with no intention of going anywhere else -- I was in for the night.
So I decided to try to take a self-portrait. It's my project, so the only way I can fit myself into any of these photos is for me to get creative and do self-portraits.
After a couple of bad attempts at holding the camera in front of my face and clicking the button, I decided to utilize the bathroom mirror to facilitate my portrait taking. That took a couple of tries too, because the flash was blinding when it hit the glass at the right (or wrong) angle. But I finally got one that's good enough.
I later told Gordon that I was surprised with how the portrait turned out. The lady in the portrait is so much thinner in the face than the lady I see every morning in the mirror when I brush my teeth. I was using the same mirror, so I know it's not a trick mirror. I've been working on getting back down to my pre-pregnancy weight, and have watched the numbers on the scale decrease slowly, but I haven't 'seen' how much those lessening numbers actually showed up physically. In my mind's eye, I'm still the overly fluffy mom of four.
Even with a more-thin-than-I-realized face, I'm still not 100% happy with my appearance. I've got certain areas that I'd like to tone a bit. But it's amazing to see my progress as everyone else probably already does -- not through my clouded mind's eye.
So I decided to try to take a self-portrait. It's my project, so the only way I can fit myself into any of these photos is for me to get creative and do self-portraits.
After a couple of bad attempts at holding the camera in front of my face and clicking the button, I decided to utilize the bathroom mirror to facilitate my portrait taking. That took a couple of tries too, because the flash was blinding when it hit the glass at the right (or wrong) angle. But I finally got one that's good enough.
I later told Gordon that I was surprised with how the portrait turned out. The lady in the portrait is so much thinner in the face than the lady I see every morning in the mirror when I brush my teeth. I was using the same mirror, so I know it's not a trick mirror. I've been working on getting back down to my pre-pregnancy weight, and have watched the numbers on the scale decrease slowly, but I haven't 'seen' how much those lessening numbers actually showed up physically. In my mind's eye, I'm still the overly fluffy mom of four.
Even with a more-thin-than-I-realized face, I'm still not 100% happy with my appearance. I've got certain areas that I'd like to tone a bit. But it's amazing to see my progress as everyone else probably already does -- not through my clouded mind's eye.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Updates on our Crazy Lives...
It's been a while since you've had a regular blog post from me that details the regular things our Crazy Family has been up to.
So, here goes!
Gordon has been busy with work, as always. Though he doesn't yet have the shop heaters running, he's been working on getting them installed. Till those heaters are in working order, Gordon has been able to work on his side jobs in the shop using a temporary heater.
ETA (Edited to add): I've taken to calling the BIG Garage the 'Shop'. It was simply getting too confusing to have the Big Garage and the Attached Garage. Mostly because both of those names were often shortened to just 'the Garage'.
Grace is doing well in the third grade. She is still in the elementary school's Multi-age unit, but is now in the UPPER multiage group. She has been learning cursive writing and multiplication. She has recently found a couple of chapter book series that are about young girls and horses that she LOVES. She's been reading up a storm lately, much to my delight! Grace still has all of her chickens. She has decided to compete in the Southern New England Poultry Show this year. I'm very excited for her -- last year she was too shy to compete so we went to cheer on a couple fellow 4Hers.
Dianna is doing fabulous at school herself. She is in the school's Lower Multiage group. She absolutely adores Mrs. P, her primary teacher. Dianna thinks Mrs. O (Di's other Lower Multiage teacher) is just wonderful too. Dianna is doing quite well in her math and reading at school. She's still quite the bookworm. It's pretty cool to see her imagination at work -- she's often drawing pictures and/or writing stories.
William has grown in to such a little man. At three years old, he's started to test his limits. Or is it MY limits he's testing?? Either way, he's becoming a very strong-willed little boy. Couple that with his near fearlessness and you'll see that I'm going to be gray and/or bald before long! Will delights in 'fixing' things around the house and yard. He has yet to take anything apart to see how it works, but I'm sure that next step is just around the corner. Will recognizes the entire upper alphabet by sight and has started to really know a lot of the lower alphabet too. I was surprised yesterday when I was told by the church's nursery attendant that Will correctly recognized every number from 1 through 6. (He can count quite high and was starting to recognize the numbers by sight, but I hadn't tested to see how many he knew by sight) I have gotten all of the necessary paperwork filled out to enroll William at LCS, the preschool that Dianna attended. He will be attending one day a week for the rest of the year. We'll evaluate how he does and decide at the end of the year if we should proceed with 2 or 3 days a week next fall. We will be dropping the paperwork off on Wednesday, and will hopefully be able to let William get a feel for the classroom and his new classmates. I'll admit that I'm nervous that he'll be upset when I just drop him off and then leave -- he sometimes has separation issues.
Eleanor is growing by leaps and bounds! She cut her first tooth on the bottom back in the middle of January. Since then, we've been watching her gumline, seeing her swollen gums, but nothing else popping up. She finally cut her second bottom tooth just a few days ago. Her third tooth, a top one this time, cut through just this morning! Eleanor has gotten quite good at sitting up by herself. She is able to scoot herself around a little while sitting up, but I think that's mostly because of the slippery nature of our wooden floors. We've been taking the introduction to solids pretty slowly. First because Nora didn't seem to like the flavors of most foods, then because she was having digestive issues. Now that we've gotten over those two hurdles, I'll admit that it's also because she's the last baby and I want to drag out her babyhood as long as I can! She now eats oatmeal, rice, green beans, carrots, squash, applesauce, prunes, and peaches with varying levels of appreciation. I just started giving her cheerios a little over a week ago. It didn't take Nora long to figure out how to pinch her thumb and forefinger together to be able to pick one up and put it in her mouth. Now she gets all wiggly and excited whenever she sees Gordon or I open up the cabinet where our cereal is stored.
Now about me. Well, I'm hanging in there. It's been a long while since I've had a day of nothing to do. I'm still attending Weight Watchers and am just about at my goal weight. As you've probably already read, I've been practicing my sewing skills making nightgowns for the big girls and doll clothes. I read the Twilight series back in February. I'll be starting seeds to plant in our garden shortly. Honestly, the list of all that I have to do would probably bore you to death, so I'll leave it as it is. You're all smart people -- I'm sure you can fill in the blanks! ;)
So, here goes!
Gordon has been busy with work, as always. Though he doesn't yet have the shop heaters running, he's been working on getting them installed. Till those heaters are in working order, Gordon has been able to work on his side jobs in the shop using a temporary heater.
ETA (Edited to add): I've taken to calling the BIG Garage the 'Shop'. It was simply getting too confusing to have the Big Garage and the Attached Garage. Mostly because both of those names were often shortened to just 'the Garage'.
Grace is doing well in the third grade. She is still in the elementary school's Multi-age unit, but is now in the UPPER multiage group. She has been learning cursive writing and multiplication. She has recently found a couple of chapter book series that are about young girls and horses that she LOVES. She's been reading up a storm lately, much to my delight! Grace still has all of her chickens. She has decided to compete in the Southern New England Poultry Show this year. I'm very excited for her -- last year she was too shy to compete so we went to cheer on a couple fellow 4Hers.
Dianna is doing fabulous at school herself. She is in the school's Lower Multiage group. She absolutely adores Mrs. P, her primary teacher. Dianna thinks Mrs. O (Di's other Lower Multiage teacher) is just wonderful too. Dianna is doing quite well in her math and reading at school. She's still quite the bookworm. It's pretty cool to see her imagination at work -- she's often drawing pictures and/or writing stories.
William has grown in to such a little man. At three years old, he's started to test his limits. Or is it MY limits he's testing?? Either way, he's becoming a very strong-willed little boy. Couple that with his near fearlessness and you'll see that I'm going to be gray and/or bald before long! Will delights in 'fixing' things around the house and yard. He has yet to take anything apart to see how it works, but I'm sure that next step is just around the corner. Will recognizes the entire upper alphabet by sight and has started to really know a lot of the lower alphabet too. I was surprised yesterday when I was told by the church's nursery attendant that Will correctly recognized every number from 1 through 6. (He can count quite high and was starting to recognize the numbers by sight, but I hadn't tested to see how many he knew by sight) I have gotten all of the necessary paperwork filled out to enroll William at LCS, the preschool that Dianna attended. He will be attending one day a week for the rest of the year. We'll evaluate how he does and decide at the end of the year if we should proceed with 2 or 3 days a week next fall. We will be dropping the paperwork off on Wednesday, and will hopefully be able to let William get a feel for the classroom and his new classmates. I'll admit that I'm nervous that he'll be upset when I just drop him off and then leave -- he sometimes has separation issues.
Eleanor is growing by leaps and bounds! She cut her first tooth on the bottom back in the middle of January. Since then, we've been watching her gumline, seeing her swollen gums, but nothing else popping up. She finally cut her second bottom tooth just a few days ago. Her third tooth, a top one this time, cut through just this morning! Eleanor has gotten quite good at sitting up by herself. She is able to scoot herself around a little while sitting up, but I think that's mostly because of the slippery nature of our wooden floors. We've been taking the introduction to solids pretty slowly. First because Nora didn't seem to like the flavors of most foods, then because she was having digestive issues. Now that we've gotten over those two hurdles, I'll admit that it's also because she's the last baby and I want to drag out her babyhood as long as I can! She now eats oatmeal, rice, green beans, carrots, squash, applesauce, prunes, and peaches with varying levels of appreciation. I just started giving her cheerios a little over a week ago. It didn't take Nora long to figure out how to pinch her thumb and forefinger together to be able to pick one up and put it in her mouth. Now she gets all wiggly and excited whenever she sees Gordon or I open up the cabinet where our cereal is stored.
Now about me. Well, I'm hanging in there. It's been a long while since I've had a day of nothing to do. I'm still attending Weight Watchers and am just about at my goal weight. As you've probably already read, I've been practicing my sewing skills making nightgowns for the big girls and doll clothes. I read the Twilight series back in February. I'll be starting seeds to plant in our garden shortly. Honestly, the list of all that I have to do would probably bore you to death, so I'll leave it as it is. You're all smart people -- I'm sure you can fill in the blanks! ;)
Project 365
Sunday, February 22 (yummy dinner!!)
Monday, February 23w.jpg)
Tuesday, February 24 (waiting for updates on Dad)
Wednesday, February 25
Thursday, February 26w.jpg)
Friday, February 27 (Chris comes to visit)
Saturday, February 28 (Will builds a 'campfire' on our bed)
Sunday, March 1
Monday, March 2w.jpg)
Tuesday, March 3w.jpg)
Wednesday, March 4w.jpg)
Thursday, March 5w.jpg)
Friday, March 6
Saturday, March 7
Sunday, March 8
Monday, March 9 (See Nora's second tooth popping through??)
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Tough Economic Times
Lately is seems like everyone is debating if we're just in a recession or if this recession is as bad (or worse) as the Great Depression. Personally, I don't care which side of the debate is true. I'm worried.
As frugal as I try to be, I still worry that we're not spending (or saving) as wisely as we could. While we're making all of our bill payments without struggle, neither Gordon nor I have taken the time to give our budget a good long look to try to find ways we can trim here and there.
So I did.
I was really unhappy with our cable/internet/phone bills. Do we really NEED to have 150+ cable channels at our disposal every day? I looked at the packages we have, compared them with other packages available, and we made a change. We now are paying a LOT less for these services than we had been. We switched our internet provider from the cable company to the phone company (and will be receiving a $100 credit from the phone company for this!!). We downgraded our cable plan. (I wanted to get rid of cable tv all together, even thought I had Gordon convinced, but finally we agreed on going with a limited basic cable) We now only get the local channels, QVC, a couple of Spanish channels, C-Span, and the TV Guide channel. All for a fraction of what we were paying!
While I'm thrilled that we'll be saving mucho dinero with these changes, I'm still analyzing our budget to try to find other ways to shave our expenditures. I've been able to keep our groceries under our budgeted amount, but would like to shave that even more. (Basically, I hope to become more of a coupon/sale shopper...stocking up when I can get a major deal) Come summer, we should be spending LOTS less -- our garden will help us save a lot on vegetables. Plus, I'll be canning and freezing a lot, so we should be able to extend that savings into the cold months next winter.
Gordon's cell phone is a company phone, so his job pays for that, but mine is not. I wanted to get rid of it altogether, but may have a separate solution. My niece, Amanda, suggested we add a line to her account. Since she's a State Farm employee, she gets a special discount with Verizon. I'd be paying less than $10/mo for a cell phone -- a savings of a little over $40/mo! The only problem there is that I'm bound by a 2yr contract that has 14 months still on it. Still, it just may be worth paying the cancellation fee now and saving all that money sooner.
So tell me, are you trimming the fat off your budget? What ways have you cut back on your monthly expenditures? Leave a comment and share your tips!!
As frugal as I try to be, I still worry that we're not spending (or saving) as wisely as we could. While we're making all of our bill payments without struggle, neither Gordon nor I have taken the time to give our budget a good long look to try to find ways we can trim here and there.
So I did.
I was really unhappy with our cable/internet/phone bills. Do we really NEED to have 150+ cable channels at our disposal every day? I looked at the packages we have, compared them with other packages available, and we made a change. We now are paying a LOT less for these services than we had been. We switched our internet provider from the cable company to the phone company (and will be receiving a $100 credit from the phone company for this!!). We downgraded our cable plan. (I wanted to get rid of cable tv all together, even thought I had Gordon convinced, but finally we agreed on going with a limited basic cable) We now only get the local channels, QVC, a couple of Spanish channels, C-Span, and the TV Guide channel. All for a fraction of what we were paying!
While I'm thrilled that we'll be saving mucho dinero with these changes, I'm still analyzing our budget to try to find other ways to shave our expenditures. I've been able to keep our groceries under our budgeted amount, but would like to shave that even more. (Basically, I hope to become more of a coupon/sale shopper...stocking up when I can get a major deal) Come summer, we should be spending LOTS less -- our garden will help us save a lot on vegetables. Plus, I'll be canning and freezing a lot, so we should be able to extend that savings into the cold months next winter.
Gordon's cell phone is a company phone, so his job pays for that, but mine is not. I wanted to get rid of it altogether, but may have a separate solution. My niece, Amanda, suggested we add a line to her account. Since she's a State Farm employee, she gets a special discount with Verizon. I'd be paying less than $10/mo for a cell phone -- a savings of a little over $40/mo! The only problem there is that I'm bound by a 2yr contract that has 14 months still on it. Still, it just may be worth paying the cancellation fee now and saving all that money sooner.
So tell me, are you trimming the fat off your budget? What ways have you cut back on your monthly expenditures? Leave a comment and share your tips!!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
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