Teeth

With no fussiness involved at all, JD's first tooth popped through today. You can hardly see it but you can definitely feel it! I had Wesley wash his hands and then feel it. He was so excited and proudly told JD he was "getting to be such a big boy"!

Wesley knows how hard getting teeth can be too. Just this week his back molars starting hurting. Of course, they had to start hurting on Monday at 1am, on a night that JD slept through, just to keep things interesting. I woke up thinking I heard Hayden screaming. When I went to go see what was going on I found Wesley sitting straight up in bed screaming at the top of his lungs: "Eli, Hayden, somebody...WAKE UP and HELP me!" Eli was sleeping soundly, as was Justus, Hayden looked like he was trying to wake up but he never did open his eyes. After Wesley told me his mouth hurt and I felt the bulging tooth, I brought him downstairs to give him some pain reliever. I brought his pillow and blanket too and made him sleep on the couch just in case the Tylenol wore off. Didn't want to repeat that scenario! When I asked him why he didn't come down stairs and get me he said he didn't want me to get mad. I explained I wouldn't have been mad but told him I would be if he ever did that again! Thankfully, we all slept the rest of the night with no further difficulties.

And if we didn't have enough teeth talk going on around here, Roz has to go to the oral surgeon on Friday to have a consult regarding her wisdom teeth. If they give you wisdom why do we take them out? We can't have them messing up her $5000 dollar smile that's why! This procedure is not covered on our dental plan so we are hoping (will find out Friday) if it is covered under our medical. We'll still have the (high) deductible though even if it is covered. I had a rough time when my wisdom teeth were removed. (Jerry's removal wasn't a pretty sight either!) You should have seen Roz's face when I told her I'd rather have a baby any day before going through the wisdom teeth thing again! I wasn't kidding either...for me anyway, it was that bad. I hope (and pray) that technology has improved or this surgeon is better than my old dentist or something so her removal goes much smoother than mine. We are also hoping that we can wait until summer vacation to do it so she doesn't have to miss school. I'll keep you posted.

Fifty nine cents!

After my joyous reunion with my coupon box yesterday, I headed back to CVS this evening. I was going to go later in the week but I went grocery shopping tonight (since tomorrow night is Parents Night at AWANA).

Here is what I got:
That would be 2 packages of Pull Ups, 2 boxes of wipes, 2 baby washes, 2 packages of Huggies disposable washcloths, a package of pads, 2 (12) packs of AA batteries, shaving gel, toothpaste, and my impulse buy of two bags of clearance sunflower seeds for Jerry.

Here is my total:

That's right! 59 cents! I was so excited! I was digging change out of my wallet since I didn't want to get out the debit card for that amount! Not only did I only pay 59 cents they gave me over $15 in CVS bucks to spend next time. Okay, I promise not to write any more about CVS...until next week anyway!

On a side note, I found out today my coupon box was found this weekend by the guy who plows the church parking lot. So it sat out there from Tuesday until Saturday (or Sunday morning). I can't believe it wasn't just plowed into a snow bank and never found again!

More Birthday Fun!

Here are a few more pictures of Eli and Justus enjoying their 4th birthday. I made them cookie bars on Friday and saved the cakes until their party on Saturday. Justus blew his candles out right away but it took Eli a few tries. I think he was a little scared to get too close to the candles. Either that or we need to check his lung capacity. Geez Eli, it was only 4 candles!

They enjoyed all their gifts. They don't realize that they almost always get the same thing. Here Eli is checking out what Justus got instead of opening his own bag which had the same thing.

Here they are getting ready to blow out candles again at their party on Saturday. A twin book I read once said to make sure they each have their own cake. Last year I made two 9x13 cakes and it was just too much. This year I just made one cake mix and put it in two round pans. Despite my attempts to sway the vote to white cake they both chose chocolate. I did make the frosting myself and in the end I thought it was pretty tasty...even though it wasn't white. The same book that recommended two cakes also suggests singing twice. We did do that last year but this year we didn't...don't turn me in to the twin police. They didn't seem to mind.

The question of the day...how long until our next birthday? The answer...only 362 days!!

Amazing!

Ask and you shall receive! God is faithful in even the little things. This morning I stayed home from church with the runniest noses (E, J, & H) while Jer, Roz, and Wesley went to church. Jerry called me right at 10:30 when he got to church to tell me Pastor Dan had my coupon box! I was shocked and so very happy! It must have fallen out of the van when I was loading the boys after AWANA. Someone must have found it right away since it didn't get buried in the snow and plowed out of the parking lot. I didn't have my name in it but everyone at church knows I go shopping while the boys are at AWANA so they must have figured it out. I put my name and number on both the inside AND out this afternoon. I have also decided to keep the CVS bucks in my wallet just in case. I can't believe it! Yippee!

Free Stuff

I love free stuff. I love saving money. And now I love CVS. If you haven't been taking advantage of this great store you have been missing out! Yesterday, I went and got the following:

5 Deodorant 3.99 =19.95
2 pkg. Pampers Easy ups =17.98
2 Dawn dish soap =1.98
1 Puffs tissues =.99
TOTAL= 40.90

-$5 CVS coupon (printed from internet)
-$2 Pampers Easy up coupon
-$2 Pampers Easy up coupon
-$1 Dawn coupon
TOTAL= $30.90 out of pocket...for now
(would have been even less but I had a setback this week--see below)

BUT then I got $25.95 extra bucks rebates back

FINAL TOTAL= $5.95 (not including tax)

I am just learning how to do this "right" and there are others who really know how to do this and save a lot more or get a lot more free. The trick is to use coupons and shop carefully to get as many as the extra buck rebates as possible because you use those the next time you go like cash. I am trying to get things we only buy anyway. A lot of the money saving pros buy stuff they won't ever use (ex: glucose monitors and soy protein bars) even if they are free just to get the rebates and then donate them.

Personally, I had a major setback this week when I went grocery shopping and left my coupon box (with my CVS extra bucks) in the cart at the grocery store. I have called the grocery store twice and it has not been turned in. No one else can use the "bucks" since they are linked to my card. Such a waste. I am going to try and call CVS on Monday to see if they can re-issue the ones I lost. I doubt it but I guess it's worth a try. Now all my coupons are gone so that too will set me back for several weeks until I can replace those as well. I wasn't as upset about loosing the coupons as I was about those CVS bucks. That was like losing a $20 bill.

If you want to learn more about getting free stuff at CVS, check out these websites:
CVS 101
Making CVS Work for You
Coupon Mom--you have to register for this site, but it's free and worth the trouble plus she offers a free ebook to explain how this all works. If you want to borrow it I have the Coupon Mom's real book too.

Happy Birthday Eli and Justus!

Here are the birthday boys this morning:

And here they are four years ago:

Eli

Justus

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday dear Eli and Justus,
Happy Birthday to you!

Various Updates and Cars

I am pleased to report that we have not received ONE call from the McCain people this week. I must have really spoken with a supervisor after all! Hallelujah! Cue choir of angels here!

Also, after only a few short days, Jerry stopped flushing with his new medication. The first time he didn't flush he thought I didn't put the right pills in his little pill container. We were both expecting the side effects to last longer but were thankful they didn't. Now if it would only work to bring his triglycerides down...

We renewed the contract with the realtor to keep our house on the market. We have gotten enough interest that it isn't completely disheartening but no offers. On average, we have one showing a week (except for December during Christmas). If we are still in this house come summer, I will be so depressed. With interest rates where they are now we would REALLY like to get moving on this. As you all know patience is not one of my virtues...

This week for AWANA it was a "drive-in movie". The boys decorated boxes for their "cars". Here are a few pictures of the boys hard at work:

A Post from Jerry

This was originally an email Jer sent me in response to a December TIME magazine article about people having more kids. I sent it to him yesterday at work for some lunch time reading. I told him and I'll tell you, picture me rolling my eyes while you read it for the full effect. Lately, I have been teasing him to start his own blog. Just so you know this is the longest email I've ever seen from him and I consider it a love note. :) I will make sure he sees any comments...if you have any!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Which part were you rolling your eyes at? The two baby-sitters to get everyone to activities? Fashion designer mom and architect dad balancing career and family?

How come nobody ever writes a profile of an upper midwest family of 8, living in a one bath house on wages of about $50k. Probably for the same reason that all tv dramas are about doctors, lawyers, or cops - ordinary people simply aren't interesting. But I think there could be another explanation-there is an incentive for journalists to write what people want to read (not necessarily the truth). By focusing on (obviously) wealthy families that have four or more kids they automatically provide a justification for anyone who is not as wealthy to not have as many kids. We can't afford it - they tell themselves. We all know that this is not the real reason that most people stop at two children, but incorporating it into the article allows readers to have their guilt eased, leaving them with a positive feeling toward the author and/or periodical - a powerful incentive for magazines or writers trying to make a living.

Also, can you believe they are repeating those numbers about the cost of raising a child? While the number may or may not be correct for one child, it is certainly not double that for two, triple that for three, etc. This is the simple concept of marginal cost, someone ought to sign this author up for an economics class.

Boy, I should have a place where I can publish these thoughts, like a blog or something.

Little Packer Fans

Little Packer Fans

Crazy Little Packer Fans

JD enjoys the game with Dad (above and below)

Boys with the pages they colored for game day decorations

:sigh:

It's over. Bummer. What a way to end it.

Football Talk with the Shown Boys:
This morning, Eli asked first thing when he can wear his Packers shirt again. I told him not for awhile since they lost. Justus heard us talking and ran over to me and said, "The Giants won? I knew they could do it!". I didn't know he was a Giants fan! When I told Wesley that Brett Favre made a mistake at the very end he said: "Who's he?" Oh, my! Looks like now Hayden will be rooting for his Patriots and Justus for the Giants. The rest of us won't care either way.

Then Wesley had me laughing when he was showing me the Packer helmet he colored. He was proud to show me it had "all the colors of the rainbow except indigo bunting".

I'll post some pictures of all the boys in their Packer shirts later.

There's always next year, right?

:sigh:

But it's a dry cold!

For all you Arizona friends and family...you are really missing out on some great weather! Today's high was supposed to be 0 degrees. I don't think we made it! Each time I checked it was in the negative. How cold was it, you ask?

So cold Piggly Wiggly had to move all their soda (aka pop). They normally keep it in the lobby area but it was in danger of freezing so they moved it to the back of the store.

So cold the cashiers and baggers were allowed to wear their coats while working...inside!

So cold ice formed on the nails around the inside trim of the front door. The picture below is the trim by the front hall closet. The boys were amazed by this! Wesley remembered when it happened last year. It only does this when it is really cold. Don't worry the room was still warm, we aren't freezing to death. Oh, the joys of living in an old house!
BUT it wasn't too cold to keep Jerry from grilling our dinner. Isn't he brave? You'd never know this guy was born and raised in Arizona! And he's even smiling! I think his face was frozen that way! Sorry the photo is a little dark. The flash wouldn't reach and I wasn't about to go out there to get closer! I'm not that crazy.
I hope everyone who is going to the big game tomorrow is prepared. Thankfully, it is supposed to be warmer...a high of 6! I'll be very happy to watch the game from home!

Recipe: Swiss Chicken

We tried this recipe this week and it was so good I thought I'd share!


Swiss Chicken
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/3 c. apple juice
4 slices Swiss cheese
1 c. stuffing mix
1/3 c. melted butter

Place chicken in an 8x8 casserole dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Lay swiss cheese slices on top of chicken. Mix soup and juice and pour over chicken. Sprinkle stuffing on top of that, and drizzle melted butter over stuffing. Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes.

*I used boneless, skinless thighs since that is what Jer likes and adjusted amounts to be not quite double. I read it freezes well but we didn't have any left to freeze. Let me know if you try it!

My Campaign, An Update

Guess who called me at 2pm? How did you know?! After a of moment hesitation, I decided to go for option #3...ask for a supervisor.

Me: Hello.
Lady: Is Mr. Shown there?
Me: Is this the McCain people?
Lady: Yes.
Me: Can I speak with your supervisor?
Lady: Sure, hold on.
Man: This is the supervisor.
Me: long explanation I don't feel like typing out but basically... this is ridiculous take my number off of your list
Man: Yes, I would be happy to do that...I'll take care of it personally. Just to confirm you want to be taken off of the McCain Campaign calling list?
Me: YES!
Man: Thank you. Have a nice day.
Me: Click.

Will this take care of my daily...err, twice daily...calls? I can hardly wait until Monday to find out! Since I have a feeling the "supervisor" was really just the building janitor and the computer has no way to remove numbers only enter them...I'm still trying to think of things I can say just in case...

My Campaign

HELP ME! Please help me! Some time ago Jerry, for some unknown reason, decided to make a campaign contribution to John McCain. You'll have to wait for his blog to debut to get his reasoning behind that one. When I asked him about it he went on about being a "forward thinker". Whatever. Anyway, every morning between 9am and 10am I get a call from the McCain campaign. At first, when they asked for Jer I just politely said: "He is at work can I take a message." After a few days, I said: "Is this the McCain people? Look, he is AT WORK he will never be home at this time if you want to talk to him call after 5pm." They called again at 2pm instead. Yesterday, I asked them to take his name off the calling list. TODAY, I chewed the guy up and spit him out! After apologizing the guy actually ended up hanging up on me! The nerve! I am already plotting what I will do tomorrow.

This is what I have come up with:

1. Saying "please hold" and leaving the caller next to the CD player (playing You are my Sunshine on repeat) until Jer comes home from work and can take the call
2. Informing the caller of Jerry's tragic death in a skiing accident
3. Asking to speak to a supervisor and attempting, yet again, to seriously get them to stop calling
4. Letting Wesley talk to them
5. Start recording these conversations to post on the internet
6. Giving them Jerry's number at work...he would kill me
7. Insert YOUR idea here
   

Not answering is not an option because they just keep calling back. On a side note, we don't have caller ID anymore so I never know for sure who is calling so I at least have to answer nicely.

I was never a crank calling type person but these guys are calling ME. I feel a little bad since it is a different person each day but at this point I really don't care. So this is my opportunity to be creative. Give me some ideas here. Come on, Johnny, help me out! Please...

P.S. If you want to stick it to your worst enemy make a campaign contribution to someone they would never vote for in their name.

Ta Da!

FINALLY!

Better late than never...



Good job JD!

Books

I noticed something about our house the other day while I was putting away laundry. We have books or reading material in every single room of our house. We actually have book shelves in: our room, the baby's room, the kitchen, Roz's room, and several on the landing upstairs. We have a big basket in the living room with kids books. The boys have a drawer full of books in their room. We LOVE books. We are on our 4th copy of Goodnight Moon so sometimes we love our books to death.

Our TOP TEN favorite board books for children ages birth to two are:

• Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd
• The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton
• Barnyard Dance by Sandra Boynton
• Snuggle Puppy by Sandra Boynton
• Blue Hat, Green Hat by Sandra Boynton
  
• Is Your Mama a Llama? by Deborah Guarino and Steven Kellogg
• Old, New, Red, Blue! (Cars book) by RH Disney
• The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss
• The Itsy Bitsy Spider by Iza Trapani
• Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr., John Archambault, and Lois Ehlert
  

okay...make that eleven...

• Mirror Me (Baby Einstein) by Julie Aigner-Clark

Hayden had three of these (Mirror Me, Goodnight Moon, and Old, New...) memorized before he turned two. He is our biggest bookworm yet!

Two of Hayden's favorites

Our TOP TEN most read (and requested) books for children ages two to five are:

• Snip Snap What's That? by Mara Bergman and Nick Maland
• Seven Silly Eaters by Mary Ann Hoberman and Marla Frazee
• Corduroy by Don Freeman
• The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith
• The Wolf Who Cried Boy by Bob Hartman and Tim Raglin
• Meet My Staff by Patricia Marx and Roz Chast
• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett and Ron Barrett
• Birds (National Audubon Society First Field Guides) by Scott Weindensaul
• The Jolly Postman by Allan Ahlberg and Janet Ahlberg
• the books I made--see below

A couple pages from the books I made

The boys love the books I made for them. I got blank books and used Sharpie markers to draw simple pictures. I put things in there personalized just for them: address, phone number, colors, favorite things, even our menu. I got a chunky board book instead of paper to make one for Hayden since he loved the big boys books so much. They love to read about themselves. I think age 3 is the best age for this. They don't care if you can't draw! I didn't put any people in the books since I can't draw people or faces. I did draw a pretty sorry looking Bob the Builder in one though. If you want to avoid drawing altogether you could use stickers or now you can even take photos and have it made into a book online at Shutterfly or Snapfish.

Our main "library", branches are available in every room!

Keep the kids books on the lower shelves so they can reach them!

This last year we branched out to beginning readers for Wesley. I should make a top ten list of those because some are pretty bad. If you want to get started writing that would be a good place to start! Fresh material is badly needed in that genre. We did make a few of our own but I don't think they'll be published any time soon.

What we do to encourage reading:

• Keep books in all areas of the house
• Keep books where kids can reach them
• Read something every day
• Read to the kids
• Read in front of the kids
• Read in a house, with a mouse...just kidding, just seeing if you were paying attention
• Let each kid have their own books
• Make your own books
• Expect some books to get chew or ripped (hopefully not the ones YOU made!)
• Go to the library
• Record yourself reading books and let the kids listen to the CD at naptime

Okay, instead of a poll this time...please leave a comment and tell me your favorite kids book or books.

It's all Greek to him!

Wesley has been learning the Greek alphabet. I read before age 10 is the best time to memorize, and he does memorize just about anything these days, so I thought I'd try the Greek alphabet. Eventually, we'd like him to be able to read a bit Greek. Anyway, he is doing great with it. But he cracked me up with an error he has made now two days in a row. The 20th letter in the Greek alphabet is upsilon (which looks like Υ for uppercase and υ for lowercase). The 18th book of the New Testament is Philemon. Since he is also in the middle of reviewing the books of the NT for AWANA he keeps saying Philemon instead of upsilon. Cracks me up every time! Not because of his error though...but because I love the fact that he even knows the words upsilon and Philemon! I didn't even know the word (or letter) upsilon myself until I made the flashcards for him two weeks ago! And I don't know when I learned about Philemon but it definitely was not at age 5! He has about 5 letters to go before he really knows the whole thing...then maybe I'll take a little video of him saying it. It really is pretty cool!

Go Pack Go!

GO PACKERS! GO PACKERS!
GO PACKERS! GO PACKERS!

After a VERY bad first minute, we are all feeling pretty good about the game! As Hayden says: "Woooo, touchdown!" For those of you watching from afar...the snow wasn't as bad as it looked! There were a few times I looked out the window wondering how it can look so different on TV than in person! Must be the cameras and the lights.

This morning the boys colored some football pages I printed off the internet. We used them to decorate the living room during the game. We let the boys eat in the living room at their little kiddie table and they thought they were pretty cool! I already took down the artwork but I'll save them for next week since I am sure that is why they won!

Half of the family wore their Packer attire today but can you believe the twins do not have a Packers shirt? What is wrong with me? Please don't turn me in! I would go try and get them one before the next game but a) I'm cheap and b) they are probably all going to be sold out now! Looks like Jerry will be able to wear a jeans again on Friday too! This week they were allowed to wear jeans AND a Packers shirt on Friday! (Still no tennis shoes though...that is a hard and fast LF rule.) Anyone want to go shopping with me next Sunday afternoon? I have a feeling the stores will be D-E-A-D!

Note to self: Make sure all boys have at least one Packer shirt for football season next year. You all remind me okay? Go Pack Go!

Complimentary Meal

We had to go pick up the minivan at church. Roz left to go out of town this afternoon with the youth group to a resort in Wisconsin Dells. So I didn't have to load up everyone to drop her off, she took the van and left it at church. We figured since we had to go to that side of town to get the van we'd just leave right when Jer got home and eat out. So we ate at Fazoli's.

The boys love to eat there. They LOVE those breadsticks. We didn't get a meal free...but we did get two very nice comments from other diners about how good the boys behaved!

When people see us come in (after they count the kids) I think most are just waiting to see how we will manage. But the boys love to eat out and usually behave better when we are out than at home! A women, one table over, stared at us the whole time. I smiled at her several times, but she still kept staring. She finally had to ask if we had twins and after I answered she still just kept on staring.

The only time the boys got a little rowdy was when the breadstick lady ran out of breadsticks right before she got to our table. "Oh, no! Breadstick lady come back! You forgot us!" As they were leaving the women stopped at our table and said, "Your boys are so well behaved and they obviously like to eat here!". I thanked her for her nice compliment and they left. I didn't even see the other family that stopped by to comment but they came over and also said how good the boys were and they remember "those days" having had four themselves. I told the boys over and over how proud I was and that people are watching us and we have to "set a good example".

Anyway, I just had to share since it made my night! Lucky for us these couples didn't follow us to Fleet Farm where Wesley almost tipped over the shopping cart (with Hayden in it!) and Justus ran off and skidded to the floor like he was sliding into second base. Oh, well...nobody's perfect!

"Out of Control"

That is how the nurse practitioner described Jerry's lipid panel..."out of control". He has been trying various things for over 5 years to get his triglycerides under control. (We first noticed he had a problem in 1997 when we had bloodwork done for a life insurance application...his triglycerides were over 400.) He didn't really do anything about it until around the time Wesley was born. At one time they were over 800 (Yikes!) but have hovered mostly between 200 and 300 even on medication. The recommended level is under 150 which he has only been once. Supposedly, there is talk that they are going to lower the recommended triglyceride level to under 100 which seems a near impossible goal for Jerry. Like in swimming lessons when the teacher keeps backing up as you swim towards them. Thankfully, his other lipids and cholesterol are not really the problem just the triglycerides.

So, our regular family doctor finally gave up and sent him off to a cardiologist. He met with the cardiologist in December and his case will now be managed by a (lipidemeologist) nurse practitioner who will monitor his lab work and adjust his meds accordingly. He saw the NP on Tuesday and she started him on a new medication that is a high dose, time release niacin (Vitamin B3). This will be in addition to another new med he started in December, that didn't really seem to lower his levels.

The NP warned him and gave him some literature from the drug company that stated the niacin may cause "flushing". Don't all medications come with a huge list of possible side effects that never happen? Well, Jer took his first dose at dinner and by 8 o'clock he was bright red and feeling prickly all over! He said his face felt "funny" and he was warm to the touch. Even his legs turned red. I told him now he now has a vague idea how magnesium sulfate, a drug used to stop premature labor, feels! (Right, Nora?) He is supposed to get used to it and hopefully it won't bother him as much as time goes on. He also has to take a bit more than the recommended 3g per day of fish oil. So now he'll be bright red and smell like a fish! Just kidding, we got the enteric coated fish oil so he'll just be bright red.

I guess it will be worth it if it does really lower his triglycerides. But we'll have to wait and see...nothing else has worked yet. The NP did tell him this problem is, in his case, genetic and probably no amount of diet and exercise would ever really get this under control. It appears he will have to be on medications for life to treat this. The cardiologist assured him that high triglycerides are worth treating and that if he didn't deal with this now he would be seeing him for some more serious heart issues at age 50 instead of age 70. Seems it's not a matter of "if" but "when". Darn those genes! I'll keep you posted!

Numbers with Hayden

WARNING: Bragging will begin now...read at your own risk!

Don't say I didn't warn you! Hayden has been surprising us lately with his ability to recognize both numbers and letters. He can say his ABC's and counts to 13. But he also points out numbers and letters in books or around the house. The first couple times I thought it was a fluke so I started testing him. He has trouble with 1 & 10 and 6 & 9 but knows the rest of the numbers. He knows quite a few of the letters too but not all. He tends to confuse letters that look similar like K and X. What really surprised me though is that I haven't even been trying to get him to learn this. It's not like I sit and drill him with flash cards or something. I think he might actually know more letters than Eli! He is one smart cookie!

I took a short video to show you. He is playing here with Wesley's cash register. JD is in the background there and you can hear the other boys making all kinds of noise from in the living room. He only did a few numbers before he got interested in the little hidden coin door, but you'll get the gist.

JD

Here is a new shot of JD:

He is a very "social" baby. Talks and coos a lot. Smiles at everyone except Jerry. For some reason he makes Daddy work real hard for a smile. He is a lazy baby though. Doesn't roll over, hates "tummy time", and has no interest at all in sitting by himself. He loves to reach for things and bats at his hanging toys and sometimes hits the space bar on the computer keyboard. So if you see any typos here that would be his fault! Roz calls him a "marshmallow" since he is fat and white. He is a pretty big baby as far as my guys go. I'm not sure what he weighs right now but he is quickly outgrowing the 6-9 months clothes that I just got out of storage. He's growing fast...so you AZ grandparents better come visit soon!

Annual Budget Review

Last night we had our "Annual Budget Review". Jerry and I sit down once a year, at the beginning of January, and set new budget limits for the year and review how we did the previous year. Sometimes we have some nice surprises and other times we are shocked at how much we went over budget (last year we were way over on dining out!). Strange as it may sound we actually look forward to our yearly review. It is also fun to look back at all our budgets from years past.

We use Quicken to keep track of all our accounts. We don't balance the checkbook on paper at all anymore. Since it is all on the computer we print off a "report". We can look up anything we need since it is all right on the computer. We try very hard to categorize where all our money goes. We did pretty good...this year we only had $9 in miscellaneous for all of 2007!

We used to be "average" savers. We would save up some but something would always come along to eat up the savings and if it got too high then we would spend thinking we had enough. Thankfully, we had minimal debt...a car payment, an occasional credit card we didn't pay off right away, and, of course, the mortgage.

But we had a major break through in our finances a few years ago. We sat down and added up all the non-monthly bills. You know the ones that come and you think "why didn't I save up for this....I knew it was coming". We took that total and divided it by 52 weeks and started putting that into our savings account by direct deposit (so we didn't have to think about it) when Jerry got paid each week. We also figured out what we should have left each week after paying ALL the bills and added that to the direct deposit amount as well to kind of force of to save. We thought we'd see if we could live without that money but knew it was there just in case. It was kind of our habit to spend it if it was there.

Our non-monthly bills list is as follows (I'm sure everyone's would be a little different):

Water bill (ours come quarterly)
Medical bills (not covered by insurance)
Vet bill (annual exam and meds)
Dog grooming (quarterly)
Car insurance (twice a year)
Life insurance (quarterly)
Gifts (birthday, Christmas)
Safe Deposit Box (once a year)
Car registration (once a year)
Car repair (just in case)
Property taxes (once a year...we do not escrow ours and earn the interest in the mean time!!)
Tax preparation fees (once a year)
Subscriptions (newspaper)
Membership dues
IRA contributions
Home repair
Clothing
Charity (not tithing that is weekly)
Church activities (kids, trips, etc)

Basically the only things we budget for on a monthly (sometimes
weekly) basis are:
Mortgage
Telephone/Cell phone
Electric/Gas
Gas for the vehicles
Groceries
Household (paper goods, shampoo, etc)
Dining out (we really need to cut back on this one!)
Internet
Medical/Dental (comes out of paycheck weekly)
Tithe

A little over one third of Jer's paycheck goes right to savings, some to be spent later when we need it, and some to be saved. So now when those non-monthly bills come we transfer the money from savings to checking and pay them. No problem. Plus with the "forced" savings our account really started to grow! So much so that we looked into other places to keep it so it would earn more interest for us. We finally decided on a money market deposit account (MMDA) which has the great interest rates of a money market but is also insured like a regular savings account. Now we keep our savings there (we use Capital One's MMDA) and love to see the interest! Way better than our bank and no minimum balance either!

Using this method we no longer carry a balance EVER on a credit card. Our vehicles are paid for so no more car payments. Right now we are trying extra hard to save for a down payment on the new house. Once we have the new house we would like to work towards paying off the mortgage early. We have done all of the above over the last few years as our family has been growing (and most years we have had high medical bills as well since we have a high deductible plan and preemies!). We often wonder how much we could have saved by now if we had only started sooner!

I just thought I would share...this is what works for us. As far as saving money goes, I think the most important thing is do SOMETHING. It doesn't have to be this method or any other in particular...find what works for you and your family!

Until I write mine (ha!)...here are some financial books I found helpful if you are interested...check the library:

• The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn
  
• The Two-Income Trap and All Your Worth by Elizabeth Warren
• America's Cheapest Family by the Economides
  
• The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey
• The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom by Suze Orman
• Raising Kids with Just a Little Cash by Lisa Reid
• Miserly Moms: Living on One Income in a Two Income Economy by Jonni McCoy
• Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin

Photographer in training

Wesley says he's going to be an artist when he grows up. He mostly works with crayons at this point but likes to take photos as well. I let him take a few the other day...I thought this one was pretty good. Of course, after Wesley had his turn everyone else had to take a turn too. We got a lot of photos of my knees, feet, and the floor with the other boys so I didn't post those.