4-H Pictures 2013

 Curtis's First Year Project.  Really cool Robot/Alien thing.  Has a zipper for a mouth.  

 Maggie's Loungewear project.  It came out super cute.  

 Maggie's robe.  She learned how to do a crocheted edge.  It is so fuzzy but lightweight.

 Jacob's Wool coat.  He did a great job.  

Doug's Biking outfit.  

 Doug's First Day of High School.  Love that he has to wear a uniform!  Bio-Med Science Academy Ready or not here he comes!

Prom 2013

Jacob on the way to the prom 2013

Style Review 2012

Jacob in his outfit.  He won in his category Spectator Sportswear.  

Maggie and her quilt.  She also made her shirt.  She didn't place with her shirt, but won with her  quilt.

Doug in his outfit.  He took 2nd place.  The girl in the blue won the category.

Thi

More 4-H Sewing

4-H Judging and Style Review is this next Tuesday.  We are all finishing up our projects.  This year has gone rather smoothly.  Jacob is entering in Spectator Sportswear.  Doug is doing Clothing for Middle School and Maggie is entering Tops for Tweens and Quilts.  I will post more pictures after the Style Review on Tuesday night.  Wish us Luck!!!!

Jacob working on his Jeans.

Working Hard!

Seam rippers are our friends.

Maggie working on her quilting project.

Getting it just right!

Jacob checking out his stitches.

Slightly more craziness...

Well since my last post, Maggie has come home to school at home with OHVA too.  So it has been busy around here. We set up a classroom and got all the supplies and we are off and running!  It has been lots of fun so far.  Luckily we enjoy each others company.  We are together A LOT.  The two other boys said NO WAY!  That is ok because I think I would freak out with two more kids to school.  I would probably just handle it but it is nice to start slowly. 

Jacob is doing great in his classes so far.  Straight A's with the exception of Spanish.  I hope he doesn't have my language gene...hopefully he has Steve's.  One semester of Latin was more than I could handle. 

Doug finished up his Cross Country season. He did well.  He seemed to really like it and he wants to do it again.  I hope he runs track this spring.

Curtis is Curtis. Pretty happy go lucky.  He is playing soccer this year, but is considering football next fall...he should he is about 2 inches and 10 pounds heavier than the bigger kids in his class.  He is SOLID!  As Steve says..."ya can't teach them to be big"

Maggie is playing soccer too.  She wants to start flute lessons.  Hopefully we can make that happen too. 

One more week and soccer will be over...yeah!  Hip Hip Hurray! 

The best part is that I am going to the temple on Sat.  I haven't been in a long time.  So I am looking forward to the peace that is found within the walls.  I am driving so I hope we don't get lost!  I also hope it is easy and I can feel more comfortable making the trip. 

I was really hoping for a temple announcement in Kirtland, or at the John Johnson farm...two church sites that are close.  I am greedy I admit it.  I can't even imagine living in Utah where there are temples less than a half hour apart.  That would be awesome.  It would be like zipping out to the store...as opposed to 2 weeks of rearranging schedules, dealing with kids, finding time to be gone all day.  Plus gas money to travel. 

Oh well..I will stop whinning about it...

That is all for now.  I think Maggie is about ready to get started on a new lesson.

Stay at Home Mom and Saving Money How To's

I have been thinking alot about the journey I have been on for many years now.  I started being a stay at home mom about 14 1/2 years ago. My at home experience has long surpassed my work outside the home experience.  Many people in this day and age think it is impossible to stay at home.  It is not.  You can do it if you are willing to make some sacrifices.  Yes I know that isn't a poplular thing.  No one likes to make sacrifices...everyone wants things and wants them now!  But I promise if you evaluate the things that are truly important to you, it can be done.

Here is a picture of my oldest Jacob.  Isn't he a cutie. 

Here are some ways that women before me have taught me to save money.  Like I said it has been over 14 years.  I didn't do these all at once, but added a bit at a time and now most are completely second nature now.  They are part of how we live and aren't a sacrifice any longer.

1. Make a budget.  I love Dave Ramsey.  We buy most everything with cash.  We try...we aren't always perfect.  Now going into debt makes my stomach churn.

2. If you are going to stay at home...stay at home. Don't ram everywhere everyday.  Especially with gas prices going through the roof.  When you go out, you spend.  We have in the past assigned ourselves so much money for gas for the week.  If the tank was on empty on Wed., then we stay home until the next fill.  Make it a game. (of course make sure hubby has enough to go to work :) )

3. Cut the cable.  I know I know...nobody wants to hear this one.  Especially the guys. But it is so expensive.  I find when we cut it we have lots more time for other things.  We can also control what media comes into the house.  The kids are more active and more creative.  Trust me on this one.  It will get worse before it gets better if you turn off the tube.  Kids will whine for a week or two.  They have to learn how to live without something that they have always had.  You must allow time for relearning.  What ever you do...don't vote on whether or not to turn off the cable.  Kids will never give up the tv willingly.  (Hubby does get a vote :) )

4. Look at all your bills.  Can you change phone plans?  Can you just go to cell phones and cancel your landline? Can you get rid of some dept store credit cards, pay them off and cut them up?  Can you get your electric bill on a budget so you pay the same amount each month?  Really really look at the list of things you spend on and write down how much you could save a month if you eliminated some things.  Dance for the kids?  Sports? etc.  I know you don't know how you could do THAT to your kids.  You can.  You will have more time as a family and more money.  You can dance at home and play at home.  Limit the amount of activities you let your children participate in and don't be afraid to say no.

5.  Turn down the heat.  I get lots of grief and jokes made about me for this one. :)  We keep the house cool in the winter.  We layer clothes if we are cold.  I do at least.  I figure it is something you can get used to...the kids really do run around without socks or shoes and in a short sleeve shirt in the winter when the house is set at 64 degrees.  We turn it down lower at night and make sure everyone is dressed warm for bed and lots of blankies on beds.

Well there is five of the easier things that we do to save money.  I will have some more nit picky things later.  Have a great day. 



Rant about a 14 year old...

Let me just preface to say I was probably extremely frustrating to my mother at the age of 14. I do remember clearing out my closet on a regular basis because I had NOTHING to wear. I remember not being very nice about being woke up in the morning, and I am sure I was rude and abnoxious sometimes.

Jacob can make me crazy!!! We went to the store to buy him some shirts because his were getting too short. He is growing like a weed. He really like the one polo type shirt. for $25. I bought one...he however needed more than one shirt. I found some nice hensley shirts on sale of $9 each. He hesitated but tried them on. They looked very nice on him. They aren't weird. They aren't a weird color, or bad fit. They just aren't a polo type shirt (heaven forbid) Another side note: (2 years ago I couldn't get him in a polo type shirt...it was too nerdy then)

They look awesome on him. Make him look tall and lean and they are long enough to cover his long body. The colors HE picked were gray and dark green.

Now he doesn't want to wear them...because in his words.

"He doesn't think it will go well."

What the H double hockey sticks does that mean? He thinks he is going to get picked on because he dared wear a different type of shirt to school that he doesn't normally wear. Are you kidding me?

Yesterday he did break down and wear the shirt, (under protest) but wore his hoodie all day over it. Today I noticed he was wearing a shirt that is too short under his hoodie.

Did I mention that it is 19 degrees and he refuses to wear a winter coat...he only wears his hoodie. Apparently coats aren't "cool"...

I give up. I am taking the shirts back to the store and get my $18 dollars back...He can wear the one shirt he likes all year and wear the ones that don't fit. I am sure no one will mention THAT at school. (sarcasm)

Did I also mention that we HAD to go out in a blizzard to the store that night to get new shirts because he would DIE if he had to wear those short shirts anymore?

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I feel better.

Is there anyone out there that can relate...NO COMMENTS FROM MY MOTHER!

Stuff that has been happening around here.

Jacob turned 14 this year.  I can't believe it!  That is a lot of candles on that cake.  He is looking so much older and truly isn't a little kid anymore.  Amazing.

It was also Maggie's 9th birthday this year.  Oh my.  This is her all dressed up for a family wedding.  She had a great time dancing the night away!

Doug being Doug...

Miss Lucy the dog.  This is the face everytime I am eating anything.  She is there looking at me...waiting for a bite to eat too.  You would think I would lose weight always having to share.

This last few weeks we traveled to Virginia for Thanksgiving and for early Christmas.  That was fun.  We got to see everyone and eat too much.  We have been celebrating birthdays.  Curt's is coming up soon.  We are still working on Christmas shopping.  The tree is up, the nativity is up and I am really not feeling like doing to much more decorating.  The kids seem satisfied and so why make myself crazy.  I am trying to clean out stuff...making donations to Goodwill...coats and things that we have grown out of.  Curt has his first talk at church on Sunday.  We still have to write that.  He will have to practice a lot.  He tends to mumble and get really quiet when he is nervous.  I hope he does fine.  Steve had me go to the store and buy primer for the basement walls.  I hope we can finish the basement soon.  That would be a great Christmas gift. 

Halloween Pictures

Doug as a skeleton...not too far of a stretch!

Curt wanted to be a mime.

Jacob...rock star

Maggie the witch!

Curt again.  I think I did pretty well with the makeup!

Girl vs. Boys

When it comes to being tidy my boys are lacking some sort of gene.  Maggie has her moments but overall is light years ahead of the boys in the cleaning department.  She dragged me upstairs to show me she refolded her clothes and organized her closet (for fun) .  So of course I had to take a picture and then for fun and without warning (not that they would care) we took pictures of the boys closets. 

Maggie's closet.

Curt's closet.

Doug's closet. 

Jacob's closet.

Apparently there is some sort of substance on the shelves of their closets that makes all the clothes slip off and fall into big piles on the floor.  How many times do you think I have washed clean clothes?  I tell them to clean up the room and all the sudden I have 40 loads of laundry. 

New Glasses Arrive

Doug first glasses ever.  He only has to wear them about an hour a day to help his eyes work better together. 

Maggie's new "pink" glasses.  I think they are cute but she has had purple glasses everytime.  I have to get used to them.  Her eyes are getting better and now one lens is clear.  Yippee!

And last but not least....drumroll please....Jacob in his new contacts!  He is probably happiest of all.

Jacob in his football uniform. Had a good season and learned a lot about the game. He also learned he can really push himself and not die! :)

We told him...he can be slow...but don't be last! He took it to heart and always finished before the last guy with sprints and with endurance running. We are proud of him.

Here is Jacob two years ago at a Halloween party. I just love this picture! I will take some new halloween pictures soon.