Is It Naptime Yet

I think I’ve mentioned how we have a/ some neighborhood cats that come and poop in our yard and sandbox.
We’ll we’ve finally done something about it.

We bought a cage to catch the cat(s) and within two days we’ve got one.
I’m going to call animal control Friday morning to hopefully have them haul it away soon.

It has no collar, so I don’t feel too bad.
It is a nuisance to have it’s pee killing our grass during the green months and poop where I want my children to play.

Lilah was excited at the thought of catching a cat. She wanted to pet it, but we reminded her we don’t pet animals we don’t know and even though we’re catching the cat we’re not keeping it.

Since we bought the cage I’m thinking of renting it out on Craiglists. (With the humane society it was a $100 deposit and $10 a day.)
I figure a refundable deposit worth what we bought the cage for, so if they keep it we’re not out any money, plus just $5 or $10 total for using it, and until we run out of cat food we’ll even throw that in too.

My friend Anna has a couple strays she wants to have caught that come around her house so I already have my first costumer, though I wouldn’t charge her.

I’m hooked

So Jon found this game chainfactor.

I play it like all the time.

It’s my new way to kill time.

I like the basic mode. It seems like I’m more focus when I don’t have to think about ways to get out of the problem and I’ve gotten up to 212,000 and some odd number in the basic setting. Jon’s gotten to 222,000 and some odd number, at least while playing in my desktop.
It’s fun.

I have to be honest.
I’m finally getting that lost feeling after being done with school for over a year.
I use to get it during the summer between semesters and now it’s just a bad habit.

I sleep in every morning till 9 am, unless we have somewhere to be, then I get up at 8 to get my shower.

The girls do not sleep in till 9, so what are they doing? Watching a movie or PBS. If I’m lucky they don’t get up till 8, so it’s just one hour, but many days they get up at 7 and easily watch 2 hours of TV while I sleep.

Now I don’t always feel the need to sleep in if I’m up at 7 to say goodbye to Jon, but I don’t feel a desire to get up and going so I turn on a movie and go back to sleep.
My day becomes too long if I get up before 8 and have no where to go, which I usually don’t.

Besides sleeping in I take a nap nearly every afternoon. Not like a 20 minute power nap, but a 2-3 hour nap.
What are the girls doing? Eden is taking her nap and Lilah is watching TV, which I try to interrupt after about an hour or an hour and a half and get her to do something else, like play or use the computer. (She gets up later then Eden, about 8, so I let her watch her shows like Super Why.)

I do get the normal day to day stuff done. Dishes get washed, laundry gets done, though not always folded.
I just don’t have motivation to do the extra stuff. Like organize our room or organize the top bunk in the girls room.

I’m fine once I’m up, usually.
I don’t feel down necessarily but I do hang out at the computer a lot.

I’m just not motivated and I’m not sure what to do to get motivated.

I feel the girls are getting along fine, though I could spend more time playing with them or reading with them during the day.

The funny things is I stay up very late, usually just watching TV, or sometimes on the computer. I just want to stay up late and be by myself. If Jon does perchance stay up late, I don’t go to bed till he does.

I just feel a little lost. Being at home is becoming less fulfiling and I feel I accomplish very little.
So that’s what’s going on with me mentally.

For whatever reason I was thinking about money this morning. (And apparently ABBA entered my mind while I was writing this.)
I was imagining I had to give a talk about money and how to use it wisely.

Now I guess being around the house and doing mindless tasks like washing dishes lets my mind wander.

I won’t say I’m any expert on the subject but Jon and I, I think, are very wise with what we have.
I do go over, very often, on our food budget, but our gas is always below because: one, we either way over estimated how much gas I would need for our second car, or two I don’t use a lot of gas because I try to make my trips as efficient as possible and that’s why I do a day or two of errands rather than a little each day of the week.

Food and clothes are my weaknesses in budgeting. Not so much clothes but that’s what I spend my allowance on. Darn those clearance racks at Target.
I use to feed our family on $40 a week, now $60 seems like barely enough some weeks. (Though we now have two girls who eat a lot.)
We are eating more meat, and more fresh vegetables and fruit which do add to the cost. I think we are also a big cereal eating family and that can be expensive so those are our weaknesses. (Besides Costco, which I spend a lot at too.)
So food budgeting is not what I’m giving tips on.

My first budgeting tool is to stay below your income in expenses and know what percentage of your income should go to your car payments or house payments, especially when buying.
Like housing payments, including insurance, taxes, and HOA, should not use more than 1/3, or about 30% of your monthly income.
Car payments should be around 12% to 15% of your after tax monthly income, this also includes what you spend in insurance and what you would spend on regular tuneups spent over the year.

One thing we do is we make our credit card work for us.
We have a Chase Freedom Rewards card with cash rewards which gives us 1% on everything and 3% back on the top three categories of spending each month. (They divide it into categories like food, gas, utilities etc.)
We always pay our debt off each month so it’s very worth the rewards.
If we cash in our points at the lower mark we get $50 for like 5,000 points. But if we wait we get $250 for 20,000 points. Since the money is spent we just wait for the higher rewards. With Chase we could get gift cards for the same amount as cash rewards so we just choose cash. That way it’s earning interest in our bank until we decide what to spend it on.
So I suggest get a card with good rewards. (My capital one card give less then 0.5% back so I don’t use it and it only gives rewards back with gift cards. We like Chase, but if we were to find one with higher rewards we’d definitely apply for it. )
Remember it’s good to have about 2 or 3 credit cards. If you open a new credit card keep your old credit card account because the older the card the better for your credit.

Another thing we do is set a low, but agreed on, allowance for each other.
Rather than have all our extra income go to our allowance and whatever we want we set a regular allowance for ourselves each month and then our extra income goes to savings projects like family trips or someday remodeling the bathroom. ( Heck, forget the remodeling I just want a working shower in the guest bathroom! )

We have all our income combined. Which means whatever each of makes individually goes towards the whole budget and is ours as a family. (It was kinda hard for me at first when I started watching Naia, because I wanted at least some of that extra income for myself, but Jon had supported me for the past 4 years, why should I get more just because I’m finally working and earning cash? We also have similar money spending and budgeting habits, so there’s little conflict when it comes to money for us.)

Our allowance is equal and is there for us to use for whatever we want individually.
( I actually get the better end of the deal because things like haircuts, shoes and fancy lotions can go to the budget rather then be used by my allowance if they’re needed. Some shoes I buy with my allowance, but most of the time when I buy shoes I need them. I also think it’s a necessity to smell nice. Of course some months this is more important than others depending on the cash flow and they last for about a year. I cut Jon’s hair, he rarely shops for clothing, about every other year, and his shaving soap is about how scented he gets, though that is pretty pricey.)
Large purchases are usually discussed before we buy and we trust each other to not abuse the miscellaneous budget verses regular allowance. I should mention we trust each other because we’ve never given one another reason to distrust, this might not be the case in all relationships.

My last advice is to save at least 10% of income each month.
This is my hardest goal mentally.
I believe 5% is for long term things, like retirement and emergencies like job loss or disability. The other 5% is for short term emergencies and savings. Like house emergencies or car emergencies or medical.
I’m not sure how we do this. Jon is more of the mastermind for our savings.
I just know our goal is to get 6 months of income in the bank because if he be comes disabled long term, it takes 6 months for the long term disability to kick in and start paying us. (6 months is soo much money and we’re not even close, but we’re trying.)
Also if job loss were to occur or say I get sick and am unable to take care of the girls, we’d need to pay child care.
People suggest trying to save like 5% first and then to work your way up, though if you have no retirement you should be saving 5% a month or more depending on your age and it’s best to be putting it into something like a Roth IRA.

So those are some things we do.

We’re still figuring out what is the best way to pay down debt for our car, house and student loans. We don’t have credit card debt so all our debt is what I call justifiable.
It’s a matter of figuring what is the best method because all our debt is high in these areas.

I have found some interesting information on paying down debt in the snow-ball way and I’ve included some links. I am still researching and I know some are contradictory. I figure it depends on the person and what would works for you so I’ve included those too.

Pay Down Debt Fast.
A Great Plan to Get Out of Debt
Dave Ramsey is Bad at Math
Debt snowball calculator

… has been going on.

On Saturday I took the girls with me to my parents so I could clean out the inside of Jon’s car. He needed to study and my dad has a shop-vac so it was able to suck up a lot of big things rather than me having to comb through the layer of stuff in the car before using my wimpy vacuum because we’re too cheap to go to a car wash station and use their vacuums. (We had an old sunscreen that started shedding and it looked like we had fish scales everywhere.)
My dad and brother both asked why I was cleaning out my husband’s car. I figured it was mine too not too long ago and if he doesn’t have the time to clean it, why shouldn’t I?

The one bad thing was his car doesn’t have AC, and it was still warm this Saturday, about 80 degrees and when you’re on the free way and the the sun is pounding down through the windows it can get a little uncomfortable, especially for two little girls.
The other part is it continually blows hot air into the car cabin and when going at high speeds the air flow is pretty strong.
We even went through car wash to help get the layer of dirt off the car, though the old bird poop is still on it. Oh well.
The carpet still has a lot of little things stuck to it but it’s look a lot better than what it was, just not as clean as I would have liked.
I guess it just taught me that I need to clean out my car regularly.

I also cleaned our driveway and we went to a work party for Jon. It was fun. I was the only other spouse or significant other there besides the host and his wife and one other husband. His boss told Jon he had to come and bring the family so our kids could play with his kids. His daughter is 5 and the son is 3. Eden played nicely but it took a little bit for Lilah to warm up once we got there. (I had a baptism to go to so Lilah came with me and we got there a little late.)

It was a fun night and I liked talking with Jon’s co-workers, even though I fell that I have very little in common with most of them. (His boss is the only one with kids and the others co-workers all have dogs, and we don’t and I know very little about dogs. I’m also just not sure what we have in common. I think my age makes me a little shy and the fact that I’ve never worked in an actual career.)

Saturday night Lilah had a terrible cough. She came and lied with us for a while but we put her back in her bed with my pillow as extra support because Jon needed rest so he could study the next day and I needed rest because I would be teaching. She was exhausted and didn’t wake up til 9:30am, which was really 10:30 am since it was daylight savings. Of course she also didn’t get to bed until almost 10 pm.
I felt bad that her other sunbeam had to be by himself for two weeks in a row, though they’re moving at the end of the month so Lilah will have about a month as the only sunbeam and next year she will probably be combined with another class.

I’m now just trying to focus on Enrichment which is this Thursday. I have a powerpoint I need to create, but I’ve been procrastinating by talking with my sister Andrea and my friend Anna will be coming over for lunch. I know what I need to do, but I also need to start it with minimal interruptions so I don’t lose any steps while creating the powerpoint.

Ah life.

So I’ve finally been able to get the picture files opened.
Here’s our family pictures from earlier this month.
Ones we ordered:

Some of these I like so I’m sad we didn’t get them.(Jon didn’t like the fake or forced smile, because Lilah doesn’t smile like that on her own.) But to reorder would defeat the purpose of using a $3.99 a sheet coupon because it would be like $15 a sheet plus a fee for reordering.

Ones we didn’t order:

The ones the send you online are fuzzy so a person isn’t tempted to print them, though you can but they’re just not high quality.

 How the girls have grown from a year ago.

Today we went on a field trip to a local fire station.
The girls had tons of fun and Lilah had her ears plugged most of the time, in which Eden also decided she should plug her ears. It’s becoming my children’s signature.

Plug your ears, everything is loud.
So here goes.

Most of the group.

Jon said at least she puts her fingers in her ears and not her nose and Eden just does what Lilah does.

Our tour guide fire fighter put on his gear for us.

He crawled towards the kids, telling them this is what they would see if they were ever trapped and a fire man needed to get them out.
Most were not hot on the idea of seeing him crawl towards them in his gear.

They turned the trucks lights on.

They showed the kids some of the tools they use .

Sitting in the fire engine.

We went through the whole station.

The tv room was a hit. The kids were fascinated with all the recliners.

The other fire truck came back so went to look at the hoses.

The fireman asked if I wanted to try on the gear, but I’m not too hot on putting on sweaty things. I also didn’t have socks and would have had to put my bare feet in the boots.
One mom had long pants and socks so she was volunteered by her SIL.

Our group.

Are we done taking pictures yet?

The kids had tons of fun and when we came home Lilah played a fire fighter game on the computer.

It was lots of fun and the fire fighters were very nice and spent lots of time with us.

Fun fact: Eden says fighter fighter instead of fire fighter. It’s just cute.

Jon came in before his shower to tell me that Eden was awake and that she had woken up at 6:15 am.
Lovely.
It did work out in the end because I put her down for her nap right after lunch and she woke up a little after 3, just in time for us to get ready and leave for Chuck E Cheese. (It was Howie’s Birthday party tonight.)
In the end I really enjoyed today.
It was breezy and cool so I left the windows open. I closed one because the scent of dirt was too strong. I think we need a new screen on it.
I turned on the CD with the Primary songs for the presentation and the girls “read” church magazines. They got along well this morning while I did things.
I got my kitchen clean, including cleaning my dishwasher with the jet dry cleaner.
It seems like I do dishes and still have more that need to be done. Then I take a day off and the cycle begins anew.
Today I had no dishes in the sink until lunchtime.
I did laundry and I put a new bed skirt on our bed. I had to iron it though. Boo for bed skirts that have to be ironed.
With getting a new bed skirt I can now get rid of my full size comforter set.
I’ll miss it, but I have no reason to keep it. It was one of my first big purchases for myself as a teenager. Hopefully some one else can enjoy it once I get it to DI.
I also tidied in our room today.
I’m happy I got so much done, even though it was just a little, because I’ve been in a funk. I haven’t wanted to do more than necessary, hence taking a day off from dishes until I had to have dishes done because we’re out of something, usually having all dirty bowls get us in a bind.
I’m also excited to start working on Halloween costumes. Lilah informed me she now wants to be Tin Man and Eden can be Dorothy.
Great. Good thing I just got the pattern and haven’t started cutting.
I’m happy because I think I’m emerging slowly from my funk.
Doing one nice thing , like cooking real meals, leads to another, like organizing just a little.

I hate being in funks, though they do give me an excuse to be miserable and not get anything done. I still feel like I’m having a hard time with the girls but I’m feeling better about doing things.
Lunch time is the worst with the girls. They know how to annoy each other to no end and that annoys me.
I hear “Mom, Eden’s talking to me”, “Mom Eden’s making a noise I don’t like.” and “NOOOO LILAH!” as Lilah does something like touch Eden’s high chair tray, or she takes Eden’s food, when Lilah runs out of animal crackers Eden’s a good target, also Eden is good at mimicking so it’s also “Mommy Lilah talking!”
I tell them to ignore one another like I ignore them when they whine, but it doesn’t work.
It’s great. I feel the sisterly love.

The day was good overall.
I feel a change in the air, and it’s not just my crazy sick voice possibly getting better or the cold air we’re getting.
I think I’m getting back on track. I think the holidays will be good for me.
Lots of things to keep me busy and to focus on.

It’s funny how children keep the same laugh even as they get older.

Here’s an example of Eden laughing when she was eleven months old.

And here’s the girls having fun tonight.

I love compliments. Heck, that’s half of the reason I do things! Not really, but I think everyone enjoys hearing nice things about what they’ve done or their children.

We went to a work picnic Sunday afternoon and once introduced as Jon’s wife three of the co-workers almost immediately complimented me on the truffles I made for Christmas time last year. So I loved hearing that even though it’s been nearly 9 months.
We figure if I continue to make them maybe they won’t fire him so they can have his wife’s truffles once a year. 🙂 No, Jon’s a hard worker so I don’t think they’ll fire him unless something strange were to come up.

The other compliments were about Eden. The nursery leader that had her on Thursday, who is new to the group, said how sweet Eden was and how nice she was the whole time. Our regular nursery leader also tells me how nice Eden is and that her disposition is so kind.
My girls definitely behave better for other people, but I love to hear that those watching them enjoy to watch them because how nice they are. It makes it easier to find babysitters.