Bad Mommy

I am a bad bad mommy! I posted Kaylin's pictures of her birthday right away but not Brooklyn's. So here they are. Little Miss Brooklyn turned 4 last Thursday, isn't she cute!



I have cake pictures but can't find them right now. She had a very nice birthday.

On Sunday we went to Chuck E Cheese for both of their birthdays. Grandma and Grandpa Zabel were watching Riley so they came. And Grandma Rhonda and Grandpa Dennis brought cousin Ellie and Uncle Josh. Mark, Carmella, Raven and Scarlet were there and then Paula came with Christopher and her brother Vic and his kids David, Autum, Heather and Stacey. There was a lot of good times to be had by all!

Right now Randy is working at the Fire Department and I am listening to the wind sounding like it is ready to blow our house over. Nice.

How Do I Look?

So what do you think of this?


I really want to do something different with my hair. I love this color but feel it is too dark for me. I found this cool website that does a virtual makeover. I am thinking that this might be a good fit. I like the glasses too. Even though I don't wear glasses! ha ha

So it is just plain cold here. negative degrees with windchills below zero. You can't even stand to be outside for more than 10 minutes if that! This is the part I hate about winter. The snow is beautiful but the cold sucks!

Guess Who is 3??

Kaylin turned 3 yesterday! Now she is a big girl! But guess what her sister Brooklyn is 3 too! Yes they are Irish Twins. 356 days apart!



We had her favorite Macaroni and Cheese and Chicken Nuggets. She wanted to have fruit snacks, strawberries and chocolate cake for dinner but we compromised. She also helped me make a chocolate cake for her birthday....mmmmmm Yummy!



Here are a couple more pictures of the birthday girl. She really liked it when we sang happy birthday and eating the cake!





We are going to have presents and cake again at Chuck E Cheese right after Brooklyn's birthday when Grandma and Grandpa Zabel come down to visit.

Some Cards

I just don't feel like writing in here lately. I have already given up on the Project 365 thing. It is so hard to take a picture of me in it everyday. I feel like I do the same things all of the time!

So I did make a few cards, go ahead and tell me what you think:

This is one of my favorite designs it is a card with a pocket for a gift card:

Front:


Inside:


Friends:


Valentine:



So common and tell me what you think. I would appreciate any and all comments on this topic! Ha ha

Challenges and Projects

Ok so I am doing a couple of challenges for my Mommysavers board. The first being The Forget The Jones Project. No spending for unnecessary things for 3 weeks. Very hard but attainable. 2nd is a sketch challenge in the scrapbooking forum. You take the sketch and make it your own. I had a lot of fun withe die cuts from my Silhouette. The fireworks were kind of hard to put on but I love how they look on the page.






Next is Project 365. The jist of it is to take a picture of you everyday. I started 2 days late so I am only on day 5 with today being day 6. I think this will allow me to post a blob every day on what kind of day we are having and what we are doing,

Day 1-I watched Colleen's baby today so the day was focused mainly around him:



Day 2- A typical day of picking up Ashlynn from school



Day 3- A typical day for me. I start it out with Mommysavers.com, my favorite site to visit.



So hopefully you will see more and I won't forget to take the pictures! This will eventually be a great way for me to scrapbook about me.

Why?

Why do things always happen when you are trying to do something to make your life better? Why?

So yesterday I was talking about not spending extra money for 3 weeks. We were doing quite well even though we were only 3 into it. Randy calls me on his way home to get a phone number for the local dealership. He went over a pothole and his tire blew out and he can tell that there is some major damage underneath. Probably suspension or something. So he changed the tire in the 12 degree weather to his donut and drove to the dealership. Looking at it you would not think that anything was wrong except we will have to get a new tire. Well just to be safe we call the insurance company and set up for a rental car. Luckily we have car rental insurance on our policy for things like this.

We get into a rental car and the dealership calls and says that the control arm is bent! Oh boy now we know for sure that we are going through insurance. That easily with the tire will run us over $1000! And who knows what else is wrong underneath.

So now that we are actually not spending money and saving some. We now have to pay a $500 deductible on the insurance and chance the rates going up. Why? I guess I don't have an answer for that yet.

New Challenge....The Spending Freeze

So my goals for the new year are actually not too bad. I have not had a soda since Dec 27th and I have tried to cut down on snacking. Now comes for the big challenge. Starting on the 1st Kim at Mommysavers.com put a challenge out there to not spend anything for 3 weeks!!! THREE WEEKS!!! Whoa! That is a loooong time! But I am up for the challenge. http://www.mommysavers.com/boards/forget-joneses-project-2008/60547-assignments-2-4-a.html Check it out you might be surprised what you can do. Now this does not mean nothing at all. You have to figure out what your "wants" and your "needs" are. Then write down an approved list of items that you can spend on.
I am having a somewhat difficult time with Randy understanding and following it. But really I completely understand where he is coming from. It is easy for me because I stay home. He is out and about with work and all it is going to take some will power to do it. So far I have been good. I went to the grocery store yesterday and only bought milk, bread, cheese and garlic bread.

Goals for 2008

2008 is finally here. What are your goals? I am sure I have more then what I can think of right now but here are a few of mine.

1. Lose 40 pounds
2. Curb My spending habit
3. Find a part time job or something to supplement our income.
4. Take care of myself
5. Stop continuously yelling at my kids and lower my voice
6. Less time on the computer
7. More time for my family
8. Cut back on soda


I know that I have a ways to go on many of them but I believe that by taking baby steps and believing in myself I CAN DO THIS!!