What I'm Into-August 2014

I follow other blogs who do this each month and thought it would be fun to do as well.  Hope you don't mind a break from kid posts! 

Books:  
This month I have enjoyed a new Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum book- the Twenty-First or Twenty-Second in the series, I forget which.  Whichever one just came out!  I read these and literally laugh out loud at them!  I have read the whole series several times and I never get tired of them! 
Hands-Free Mama- I am still reading this and it has been eye opening for sure!  I can't remember the author right off hand but it is about being intentional about spending time with your spouse/children by putting down the electronic devices and any other distraction.  I honestly didn't think I had a big problem with this, but I realized I do!  I was even letting books be a distraction from my children.  And reading is good, right?  I always hate going out to eat and seeing a whole family on their phones/devices....I prefer good old-fashioned conversation.  I do keep my phone nearby if my children aren't with me in case of emergency, but I really don't even like that. 
Financial Peace Revisited by Dave Ramsey- I am pretty sure I've mentioned how much I love Dave Ramsey books on here.  I just read them over and over because I find that I am always in need of inspiration to stay on track financially!  I don't think you can ever learn too much about being a better steward of the financial blessings God bestows upon you!  I read the two Dave Ramsey books that I own constantly. 
Bible - I have been more intentional about reading my Bible nightly, and I hope to prayerfully start the B90 plan very soon, where you read the Bible through in 90 days. 
The Happy Housewife- This is a religious book, and again I can't remember the author.  I am enjoying the inspiration for days when the laundry and dishes seem repetitive and overwhelming! 

I think that's all I've been reading this month.  Some nights I fall into bed and can't keep my eyes open, but most nights I read.  I actually re-read a lot of my Janet Evanovich books this month since the new one came out.  I got on a roll. 

T.V.- Well, I don't get to watch much t.v. anymore, but sometimes I will watch a little in bed.  Mostly I have watched Lizard Lick Towing this month, and not much else that I like.  I have watched more Paw Patrol than I care to mention.  Other kid favorites right now are Lazy Town (on Sprout), the Baby First channel, Super Why, and Wallykazam. 

Movies- What are movies?  Just kidding!  I did not watch any movies in August.  I am not a big movie watcher anyway.  My cousin did loan me The Help to watch, since I read the book a couple of months ago on her recommendation.  I have yet to sit down and watch the movie though.  The kids watched the Lego Movie, and some princess girly movie from the Redbox one weekend. 

Food- Any Mexican of course!  We had Mexican a few times in August.  I am also on a protein shake kick right now, so that's what I normally have twice a day. 
I also got fried catfish last weekend with hush puppies, which is probably my all-time favorite food!  Yum!

Music: I've been kind of enjoying the DVD player in the car being on the fritz.  It works when it wants to and means I can sometimes listen to music!  Yay!  Of course I love all things country.  Cole Swindell's CD is what I mainly have listened to all month since I went to his concert.  That and Luke Bryan are my favorites right now!  :-) 

Upcoming things for September I'm excited about:

• I am walking in a 4 mile race tomorrow.  I hope it will be fun!  I've been wanting to do a 5K for a while now, but found this one that's slightly longer.  We'll see how it goes.  I've been "training" at home by walking (and pushing 100 pounds of kids in the stroller with me, so that should help, right? ) . 
• School starting next Wednesday!  It will be so different, but neat to see the kids learning!
• Dance begins again in September.  I am excited for Emmy because she loves it.  I don't know about my excitement of the commitment once a week along with school.  We'll see how it goes.  It's her fourth year! 
• The kids' first field trip is in September!  I've been with my younger sisters on too many field trips to count.  Now I finally am going on one with kids of my own!  Fun!!!  My mom, grandma, and Henry may follow us too (their idea, not mine! LOL). 
• We are going to see Frozen on Ice in September.  I haven't told the kids, but I hope it will be as fun as I think!  Emilynn already has her Elsa costume she can wear.  Carson has a boy Frozen t-shirt too. 
• The local Arts & Crafts festival.  There is a huge tractor show with it that the kids go crazy over.  I also love all things handmade, so I like buying some gifts there.  Last year I got Henry a John Deere quilt, plus some other small things for the children. 
• Birthday month- September is birthday month in our family!  We have my sister Madison, my uncle Dale, my grandpa Pa, my grandma Nanny, my cousin Brandy, and me.  We have a separate party for each person.  You do NOT combine birthdays in our family and you have your birthday ON your birthday.  You don't wait for a more convenient weekend day, because that is NOT your birthday!  Ha!  

I think that's all for this August edition.  More in September! 

Weekly Musings

• Well, we have furniture again!  We actually got it sooner than we expected, which is a good thing I think.  We drove to the city a few weeks ago and picked out some furniture, but my Mom suggested we at least check out the local stores.  She and I went yesterday and looked around two stores.  We only found 1 set at each store that was the right color and price range.  Luckily, Dustin and I are SO not picky so it isn't hard to please us.  We just choose something and keep it for 15 years-ha!  Anyway, we ended up going with a local, family run store.  We got a couch, loveseat, and recliner for the same price as the couch and loveseat in the bigger city store.  Yay!  It was delivered within 2 hours of purchase, and Dustin had a big surprise when he got home from work!  I told him I paid an extra $20 so he wouldn't have to go pick it up, they could just deliver it.  He said, "God bless your heart."  LOL.  I don't think he felt like fooling with moving furniture.  I must say, we were all excited to have furniture again.  We all laid out pretty much all evening.  Henry and I fell asleep on the new sofas.  It doesn't take much to excite us around here!  You would have to see how the kids and I had been piling up in the one chair we had left.  I would sit down, Henry would wedge in beside me, and a twin would get on either arm rest.  Dustin came in one evening and couldn't even see Henry!  All that being said, I am glad we waited until we found something we liked in our price range.  A few weeks without furniture didn't bother us a bit. 
• Speaking of major household stuff.....We discovered a HUGE leak under our house Saturday.  It ruined a ton of insulation, boards are wet, mold is growing a little, there's water under the house, you get the idea.  Big mess, but according to my Dad, it wasn't too bad.  Ha!  We didn't have water for about 24 hours, which was only slightly inconvenient.  The kids and I deal with it pretty well.  Dustin, not so much.  :-)  He got up early Sunday and declared we were done living like cave men and he was going to fix the leak.  One trip to Lowe's and some repairs later, we had water again.  We are still trying to dry out from under the house.  Then, we will have to do something about replacing insulation.  I am sure it will be a long process, but we'll get there.  There is always something going on when you own a home/cars.  I just kind of expect it and roll with it.  I even washed dishes outside Saturday night.  My witty husband said, "You've always wanted to be Amish, now here's your chance."  I told him I was pretty sure even the Amish had running water!  I also told him this Amish girl was going to buy paper plates, which I immediately went to the store and did!  :-) 
• We did have a fun Saturday before our major leak discovery.  Amanda, Kristen, and I took the kids to the lake for the day.  My mom, Aunt Debbie, and Uncle Dale joined us and we all had a ball.  We took a picnic lunch and just let the kids play in the sand and water.  I just sat there and kept counting to 7- making sure all seven of our kids were in sight.  We decided we were going to go back to camp when the weather gets a bit cooler.  I can't wait-should be lots of fun.

That's really all we've had going on this week, just working on the house.  I am glad we fit in a lake trip before school started.  I don't know if we'll try to do anything else fun next week....but we'll see.  Cousin Hunter already started school, I can't believe he's a big first grader!  Time sure does fly! 

Meeting the Teacher!!

Last Friday we went to meet with the twins' preschool teacher.  Exciting times around here!  We had actually met her back in January when we toured the school, so the kids remembered that they liked her and the classroom.  They were really excited to go again though as "official" students and see THEIR desks, THEIR room, etc.!  The day ran from 8 a.m.-12 p.m.  We decided to try to be there by 8 a.m. as kind of a practice run for regular school days.  We pulled up at 7:55 a.m. I am proud to say!  The kids were super-excited and I let them wear some of their new school clothes/shoes so that made the day more special.  We also took all of their supplies with us to drop off.  What a load of stuff!  Each child had a brown grocery bag filled to the top, plus their nap mats.  Dustin has laughed at how much I have had to do to get them ready.  I can't believe how many supplies preschoolers need!  They even needed headphones, which were harder to find.  Yep, my babies are taking computer class.  I can't believe it.  I hope they don't get any ideas about using the computer at home.....
Anyway, their teacher is SO nice and sweet.  She is really energetic and excited, so I think she will be a good match for preschoolers.  There are 7 in their class, which makes this Momma really happy.  I wanted a low number so they would get plenty of one on one attention.  I had all kinds of questions about how she ran the day, how drop-off and pick-up went, how lunch went and making sure they couldn't buy ice cream every day or have access to sodas and things bigger kids can get, etc.  My father-in-law, Papa, went with us.  He was finding out where she was from, and where he needed to pick them up.  His only two questions-ha!  I am glad to say Henry behaved, and we were home by 9 a.m.  A successful day.  Now, we wait till classes start September 3rd.  We surprisingly got 2 more weeks of summer, due to a certification/paperwork gliche.  Long story, but I am enjoying 2 more weeks to sleep a tad later!  We are sort of practicing going to be early and getting up early. 
I hope the school is ready for us!!!  :-)  I feel better after seeing them so excited about their desks and classroom, and how much they like their teacher.  I may actually give up my idea of sitting in the parking all day on the first day-ha!  I will still be worried I'm sure-it's going to be harder on me than them.  I am not the only one that's worried- I may be following Cousin Morgan's bus every day for Kristen to make sure she gets off at her day care okay!  I offered to take her myself, but she is super-excited to ride the big bus! 

Oh, and the kids main concern was knowing where the bathrooms were.  We got them acquainted with those, and all 3 used them before we left.  Glad we got that out of the way!! 

Weekly Musings

• I can't even begin to describe how busy things have been with our whole family the past few weeks.  It seems like every time we turn around, someone is having a medical emergency.  Luckily, nothing has been extremely serious other than my Uncle Dale's knee situation.  He has had that going on, then my Mom was on crutches for a rheumatoid arthritis flare up, my grandma fell and hit her head and had to go to the hospital for a CT scan and x-ray, my sister had an ovarian cyst rupture and she had to go to the ER, then my nephew had to go to the after-hours care place because he had Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease.  Whew!  And that's not even all, in the midst of all of this Meme's dad passed away, affectionately known as "Granddaddy" to everyone.  He will be greatly missed, and it is always hard to find a new normal after you lose someone.  Nanny Margaret was married to him for 50 years, so it is a big adjustment and loss for her.  My kids are learning so much about loss and it is really one of the hardest things to explain to them.  I try, but I'm sure I don't do that great of a job with it.  We will miss Granddaddy though-Dustin especially loved talking with him and enjoyed his sense of humor. 
• On a happier medical note, my best friend is in labor today!  Yep, we are adding another munchkin to our crazy big group!  I am anxiously awaiting my hubby to get home so I can head to the hospital (again!) for a good reason this time! 
• On another note, if I don't get Henry potty trained completely, I am going to go crazy I think!!!  He has had so many accidents lately, and it's hard because he knows what to do.  He takes his pull up off, and then pees on the floor.  So, we are missing some steps in there.  He knows not to pee in the pull up, but then does it on the floor.  Always the carpet too, frustrating!  We will get there I know, and he does such a great job a lot of the time. 
• Speaking of the peed on carpet, I am hoping to shampoo my carpet this weekend.  I was going to hire the company I had a few years ago to clean it.  I think I am going to try myself first, since he's not completely trained yet.  I forgot I had a carpet shampooer in my shed.  Yep, I seriously have Mommy-brain. 
• And speaking of our living room, Dustin is hauling our sofa to the dump this weekend!  I am glad, it is gross and completely falling apart.  It has served us well!  The issue is we have no plans to replace it yet.  I keep asking Dustin what he wants to do and all he says is "We'll do something".  Not sure what that means!  Ha!  I am a planner, so I prefer to know what we are doing and how much I should budget for it.  Anyway, I guess we'll do something.  :-)  I wish I knew someone with a nice, used one but I don't.  In the meantime, if you come to see us, bring a bag chair!!!! LOL. 
• We took the kids to see the new Planes Fire & Rescue movie last weekend.  They loved it!  It was really cute and I liked it better than the first one.  Disney did a great job as always.  Henry lasted through the whole movie too!  It was not a frugal outing, but we only go maybe twice a year.  It is so hard to pay so much for snacks that are purely junk.  The kids love to get their little popcorn and drink though.  I'll let it go....not gonna rant about the snacks again.  I do not smuggle in healthier ones anymore either.....I feel that's kind of dishonest.  I saw a special on T.V. that showed how concessions are mainly how they make money.  I felt bad after that.  Oh well, a treat is a treat. 
• The twins start school in a little over a week.  I am SO not ready!  We are ready with supplies, clothes, paperwork, etc. but I am not emotionally ready.  It will be okay....I keep telling myself that! 
• Our caller ID is not working on the phone, which is really annoying.  To combat this problem, I am now teaching the kids how to answer the phone.  I figure this is the best approach for telemarketers-they will maybe get confused and give up?  I don't know.  Grandparents will be excited to hear their little darlings.  It's a win-win for everyone.  I started this this morning after I had to talk to a lady from the Rawleigh company about Rawleigh salve for 10 minutes because I had to order Dustin some a while back.  (Danelle will appreciate this :-)  It was a nice lady, but I really prefer to just order online when I want something, no time for phone calls around here! 
• I don't know what got into me, but I dusted off our bread machine this morning and have a loaf baking.  It smells great, and the kids were really excited to help measure everything.  I am sure it will be delicious with some butter on top!  I don't know if this will be a regular thing now or a phase....we will see!  It is much better to eat something where you know exactly what the ingredients are.  It really is easy, so we'll see! 

Well, that's all for today, I don't have a menu this week.  We've been kind of winging it and eating whatever.  I am going to have to do some eating out of the freezer these next two weeks cause we just took a cow off yesterday to be processed.  I am glad, we are out of fresh hamburger and I refuse to buy it from the store. 

Just chillin it!

I didn't think much of it when my cousin texted me last week to invite me to a concert.  It was Cole Swindell and she had an extra ticket.  I talked it over with Dustin, and asked him what Cole Swindell sang!  Ha!  I actually had heard his songs but didn't realize who he was or anything.  Most of the time I listen to our VBS CD in the car, or whatever movie the kids are watching.  I don't get much alone listening time! 

When I met my cousins to go I thought the ticket they handed me was weird, it was one you wear around your neck and laminated.  Turns out that was because we were on the second row!  I had so much fun!  Turns out he has a lot of good songs and has written a bunch for other artists. 

Have I mentioned before how much I love concerts?????  I really do.  It's nothing like listening to live music.  We had a blast and it is always fun to get out for girl time!  The people watching is pretty fun too! 

Tyler Farr also played, but I will admit, we just weren't that impressed.  I did get a guitar pick he threw to the audience though....

Here was our view from our seats: 



Yep, we were practically on stage!  So much fun.  We are now planning to head to more shows.  I miss all the concerts I used to go to before I had kiddos.  I will unashamedly admit I am also really excited about the Frozen on Ice show the twins and I are going to see in September!  Ha!  Things definitely change when you become a parent!   :-)