Over already?

This has been a week that I am happy to put behind me. Nothing bad happened, just busy, busy, busy! Brad has had an extremely busy work week, which doesn't make my job any easier but I'm so thankful that he has a job and I am getting to stay home with the kids.

I don't even remember what I did on Monday. I do remember that the school secretary called saying Hannah was compaining of her teeth hurting and wanted me to bring her some medicine. Fine by me. The spacers she had did their job and some pain was expected. I told her I wanted to run down to the store and buy something stronger than tylenol and then I'd be right down. Hannah brought home straight A's on her midterm. I'm so proud of the change she has made this year! Also, Brad's gma next door went into the hospital to have her knee replaced so I was responsible for her dog all week.

Tuesday Abigail and I went grocery shopping in the morning. It was rainy and gross all day so we decided to make snack bracelets and watch a movie when the kids got home from school. They loved making the snack but finished them before I got the moving going!

Wednesday the school secretary called and said Hannah forgot her glasses. SO I had to run them down to her. Good thing we live close! I bet I am on speed dial at the school! When I got back home I saw her planner laying on the table but I didn't take it back to her. She ended up having to go to work hall instead of recess to write her spelling words 10 times each for forgetting the planner. Do I think that punishment is alittle steep? Yes, but maybe she will learn to make sure she has everything now! Every morning I ask, "Do you have all your stuff?" I always get a "yes." Abigail and I went to the mall after that to pick up a few items I needed to finish my "P" thing (not sure what it's called). Hannah had an orthodontist appt at 4:20 (remind me not to do that on a Wed again!!). A friend picked up Abigail and Ryan from the orthodontist so I could go it alone with Hannah. Our last appt didn't go so well with Abigail. I had a 30 min video to watch about all the rules they have for braces and the nurses were walking her around the office bc she was having none of that! It was nice to have an uninterupted visit this time and I made sure my friend knew just how much I appreciated it! Hannah got on A on her brushing (they grade how well the kids are brushing around all their "gear." If they get an A, their name is put in a drawing but I forget what you get if your name is pulled out. If you get a bad grade, they consider removing your gear until the child is ready to do better at taking care of their teeth. Brad was working out of town that night so he wasn't coming home. Hannah and I rushed back, picked up the kids and they showered and got ready for church in half an hour! A mysterious rash showed up on Abigail that afternoon also.

Thursday....I don't think I went anywhere during the day. And I think hannah remembered to take everything to school! Abigail's rash was spreading but causing her no pain. The weather was wonderful so we went to the park after supper. Brad met us there right before we left. He is one tired dad this week!

Friday (today), it is 9pm and Brad is still working. Soccer was canceled bc of rain, which he was thankful for. He is trying to finish up this job so he doesn't have to go to work after soccer tomorrow. Anyway, today I decided to take Abigail to the dr for her rash. It still is no bother to her but it is still spreading. Now it is moving down her extremities and it is going up her neck. They didn't have anything available until the afternoon. It has been another rainy day so I had trouble doing anything around the house. We had to leave directly after school to go to the dr. I packed everything up for soccer bc I knew we wouldn't be back in time to change and it hadn't been canceled yet. As soon as I sat down in the car I got the text that soccer was cancelled! It was a blessing in disguise for Brad and I! He could work and I could go to the dr not worrying about whether we would get out in time for practice (we made it out with 15 min to spare, had it mattered) turns out the rash is a virus and should go away on it's own. We ran to walmart to get a few things and went home. And we've just been hanging out until now. I posted a video of me wearing a halloween mask and scaring the kids so make sure you watch it! =) Brad's gma made it home late this afternoon from the hospital. So far she is doing well and she is happy to be home and with her little dog!

And tomorrow is soccer!

Crafty

I was asked to explain how I made this:

This shelf won't be its permanent spot. I wasn't thinking when I bought a letter without a hook so it can hang on the wall!


I don't have any before pictures because I didn't plan on explaining or showing them. Sorry!

First of all, I'm not usually crafty. I don't even try. Then I saw this cute idea on Pinterest (imagine that!) and immediately thought I wanted to make one for a friend's wedding gift. I decided to make one for myself first because I've never done it and I don't want to mess up on hers!

supplies:
wooden letter
black paint
white paint
mod podge (I new best friend!)
paint brush
computer paper


First I put two coats of black paint on my letter. Then I copy and pasted the photos I wanted to use into a Word document so I could make them smaller. I printed them out on regular computer paper in black and white. THen I cut them out and arranged them on the letter and made the necessary cuts and adjumstments to make them fit nicely. I used my mod podge like glue and paint in one, painting the letter little by little and sticking the pictures in place and smoothing them out. After that dried for about an hour, I applied another coat of mod podge, covering the entire letter and the pictures I put on it earlier.

Ta Da!

Easy as that! I think I am ready to tackle one as a gift.

what to do?

I've been participating in a few conversations this past week about how to handle your kids' messy rooms. I've read lots of good advice and even given some good advice ;) about what to do when your kid(s) leave their room a mess but when I think about what to do with my own kids, I can't figure it out!

There is the move it or loose it approach: What they leave out gets picked up by mom and they have to do something to earn it back and if not earned back in a week, it gets donated. While I like this idea, I don't know if it is right for us. 1. I have a hard time parting with their toys. They only get things at Christmas so I feel bad for getting rid of something someone else bought them or I just don't want to get rid of a perfectly good toy that still gets played with on occasion. 2. I don't have anywhere to store a container big enough to hold all the toys I would be kidnapping! 3. Abigail is responsible for a lot of the leaving out, even of the older kids' stuff so I never know who left what out.

Then there is the big clean up on Saturday approach. Seems like we do this no matter when they cleaned their room last! I was raised cleaning my room on Saturday's before I could do anything else. I don't remember it mattering much the rest of the week. But I also don't remember my room ever being as bad off as Hannah and Ryan can get their room during the week!

Then there is the little clean ups everyday. This is where I struggle. And this is probably the approach that would work best for us. I can make up lots of reasons why we can't fit this in: during the week, after supper it is showers, read books and go to bed. It is hard to make time for cleaning up when you want to have your kids in bed around 7pm! Or the fact that their are some evenings when I am doing bedtime by myself for the kids and the last thing on my mind is putting toys away. Ifn fact, I know of at least one night this week that Brad will be out of town. But, those are excuses. I need to make this part of our evening schedule. I think I just solved my own problem! =)

Any advice??

yard saling

I really enjoy going to yard sales. I generally wait for the big community sales so I can get more bang for my buck (usually). That being said, if there is going to be a town wide yard sale anywhere near our house, I am going to be out of town or busy that day. Happens. Every. Time. Today was no exception. Town wide yard sale going on down the street and we have to be at the soccer field at 8 am and don't leave until 11:45. Most of the best stuff is gone by then! I decided to go anyway and managed to fine a few good deals!

Abigail is going to love having a stroller finally and I can never go wrong with another baby doll! The diaper bag and I am going to be giving to someone this evening. It is almost brand new and we all know diaper bags are not cheap!

Three new pairs of shoes for Abby and a pair for Hannah.

Two dresses, a jacket and long sleeve shirt for Abby.

All this I got for $4.50!! Now that's my kind of shopping!
The stroller was my most expensive buy, coming in at $1.

We're on our way...

....to braces!! Ackkk!

That should be all I need to say about the orthodontist appt but, as women, I know you need more details! I'll try not to be too detailed, tho, as I know I could get carried away with all the medical stuff.

So, where should I start? Let's just say that Hannah's lower teeth are in great shape. Her top teeth...that's on the opposite end of the spectrum. Her top "circle of teeth" is very crowded. So much so that her adult teeth that haven't dropped down, can't because some of them are over adult teeth that have dropped down, or erupted, or come in (however you want to say it). My hope of being able to put the incisors (sp?) that grind together would just make matters worse by allowing her front teeth to spread out and leave even less room for the teeth beside them to come in right. Also, her top jaw is more narrow than her lower jaw so she has a weird bite.

I hope you can understand from that that braces are not about having perfectly straight teeth for us. Hannah's mouth needs work in order to do anything! I wouldn't be doing any of this if her only issue was straight teeth, which i don't even consider an issue.

The plan? Start with an expander. After she is fitted and gets it installed (I guess?) We will spend the next 12-14 months turning it every day to expand her jaw. I'm praying that will solve all her problems and nothing more will be needed.

I know money is a personal issue but I figured I would go thru the run down (I will be rounding the numbers bc I can't remember exact figures right now). This Phase 1 will cost a total of around $3200. Our insurance will pay $1000. Thank the Lord! Which leaves us with alittle more than $2000 to pay off in a year from start date. The example she gave us this evening was that if we pay $750 up front, that will leave us with $130 to pay monthly. I know where my consignment money will be going!! We haven't decided exactly what we are going to do but this phase is a must.

Update

I picked up my check for participating in the Kids Sale last week, along with the clothes that didn't sell (which I plan to give to certain friends who I know will need them this winter). I brought home $148! That is the best so far. Rememer, they get 30% and $8 just bc. Before they took their part, I made $224 and sold 112 items. It would have been nice to recieve all the money but I guess that's the price you pay...

We had a meeting with the school yesterday morning. It was a continuation of the meetings we were having last school year when Hannah was having a lot of trouble. It lasted maybe 5 minutes! The principal asked how she was doing in school (to her teacher-who only had good things to say about Hannah) and how she was doing at home bc of the difference she has made in school. We all expressed our relief of the change and went home!

Tomorrow we have a consultation with the orthodontist. Two of Hannah's baby teeth grind together when she chews so she chews like a camel to avoid the gringing. I talked to the dentist about it last month when she went for her cleaning and they recc I talk to an orthodontist about what should be done. I'm secretly hoping he wants to pull one of those baby teeth so the grinding will stop. I'll let you know how it goes! =)

The world goes round....

...too fast! The last week has seemed like a whirlwind around here but I have several positives that I want to mention.

. I managed to get most of my clothes to the consignment sale on Friday. Somehow I also managed to leave a handful of items in the closet. Thankfully, they restock this evening so I can take what was left.
. For those wondering, as of last night, I have already made $50. That is after their 30% and the $8 fee to sell things to begin with.
. Saturday was the first soccer practice for Hannah and Ryan. Ryan played last winter but this is Hannah's first time. She is on a team with her BFF so she seems to like it. I was really worried that she would break down and refuse to go out on the field but she didn't! The next 10 Saturdays, and Friday evenings, are back to back soccer for us. I had no idea that you could totally change your outlook on a sport just by your kids playing it.
. Sunday was church and my birthday. Brad stayed home with the kids while I shopped the consignment sale's presale. If you take items to sell, you get to shop early. When I came home, they had baked a cake for me and Brad had cleaned the house. Just another reason why I love him. =)
. Hannah won the apple polisher award for her class this month. I don't know if this is right but I think one person from every class wins once a month for doing something nice. She had stayed in from recess 3 days in a row (just bc she wanted to) to help someone who had to stay in and finish their papers. She got to be line leader all day and read the announcements over the intercom this morning. I'm so proud of her! My first thought was that my child is repeating 2nd grade and they are letting her help someone with their work?! But I guess it went ok!
. Which brings me to my next point. I am so totally convinced that Hannah's teacher was her main problem last year. It actually makes me more mad now than it did while we were having all the problems with her last year. I don't think Hannah matured enough during the summer to change her completely this year. She told me the other day that she likes her teacher this year bc she takes her time, explains things more than one way and helps you if you need help. I'm just so impressed with how things are going this year. I understand that this is just the beginning of the year and the work will get harder but I really think we will be able to keep her off her meds. The testing we had done last year showed that she has ADD and I still believe that she does. But it doesn't need controlled with meds when you have a good teacher! And we can deal with it at home too. I just hope she gets a good teacher next year!
. Still to come in the next two weeks: ladies meeting, soccer, baby shower, church ice cream social/weiner roast, meeting at school, orthodontist appt...I could go on but I'm not by the calendar to see what I'm forgetting!

A job well done

I have gotten into consigning the kids' clothes in the past couple of years. I think last fall was the first year I participated in our local traveling kids' sale. There really is a lot of work involved. I used to give the kids' clothes away as soon as they grew out of them. I had a family who really needed and appreciated recieving Hannah and Ryan's old clothes and I was more than happy to pass them on. Then I had Abigail....and no one to give her clothes to. So I looked into consigning. I also take things to a local consignment shop but she only takes the best brands, and lets be honest, I don't have much of that! So what she won't take, I save for the traveling sale or give away. So here is a look at what I've been doing this week in preperation for the traveling sale:

Here is some of the other stuff I am selling. That pampers box is full of shoes. And most of Abigail's baby toys that she never really played with much. I have to put everything in baggies and seal them shut with tape or tie each pair of shoes together.

Here is all the clothes I am selling. I have to enter ever item into their copmuter system, giving a size, description and price.

Then pin a tag on everything or tape it to the bagged item.

I was moving everything from the closet to the bed and back every day so finally I decided to hang everything in bathroom.

I had mentioned to Brad that I would love to have another shelf in the laundry room that would be very helpful while I am working on my consigning stuff so he finally got it finished this evening and here it is! Thanks, hon!

So that is what I've been doing this week. After dark I loaded everything into the van and in the morning I have to take everything over to the sale location, check in and have my items inspected and then shop the presale since I am selling things and watch my stuff disappear from the computer! At the end of the week I pick up whatever doesn't sell along with my check! Then I can start filling my tubs with summer clothes that will be sold in the spring.

This is kinda like a part time job and I enjoy doing it! Obviously, I don't make a lot of money but I have made over $300 so far this year and when you don't get paid for your work (except in hugs and kisses), that is enough money for me! =)