Abby's Corner

4/17/12

With the basement finished, it was time to put together Abby's corner area of her "school." I have been pretty excited about this. Take a look!

I am starting to teach her the continents and I got these posters at the Dollar Store!

Here are some Bible verses we go over. She really likes them. I like it too cause it helps me remember or learn new ones!

I just printed and laminated these color sheets to help teach her colors

We've been working with these sandpaper letters a lot more. I help her trace her finger over each letter and tell her the sound of the letter. This helps with when she starts writing so her hand already has the concept down.

Here's her shelf of activities. This is good to teach them how to pick it up, carry it to the table, and then put it back in the same place before getting a new one out. This teaches her coordination, motor skills, helps with her memory, and the activities have different goals as well!

That's Abby's Corner! There are more activities we do together but here a few. I'm excited to continue adding new things and seeing her learn. It's great because just love learning so if we as parents harness it and make it fun then it's great for all of us!

Journey of Money-Debt

4/16/12

Money, money, money. It's good and bad. It can be a blessing or a curse! It's such a hard thing to control and manage (in my opinion), especially when you're married because you have 2 different people with 2 different ways of handling it. But somehow you have to become one and handle your finances together. That means make mistakes together, learn to manage it, save it, give it away, spend it on wants, and probably fight over it together. Ha!

Our journey with money has not been the easiest since we got married. We entered marriage young and learned early (thankfully) that we don't want debt. Does this mean we always made the right decisions? Certainly not. We've learned what we don't want through making wrong decisions and living with them. At 19 and 20 we started our marriage with school loans already in our pockets and continued until we figured out what a burden it would be to pay them off and what the real world was like with finding a good paying job (are there still ones out there?? ha). So I got my Associates Degree and Kyle got a Bachelor's through Bethel to spend less money than online through Liberty with a degree he was NEVER going to use. Then God showed me personal training and I pursued that with a MUCH lower cost of education than a traditional 4 year degree and good money making potential. Now, after being married for close to 5 years, I can say that we have a vision for the future and God is the one who directed it. It was hard to go through the years of the unknown career paths and very little income (not that it's TONS better but it is better thankfully).

We decided 3 years ago to not own a credit card and by God's grace, we haven't had to go into any extra debt. We just have student loans (the devil) and our house now. But is it easier? Not really. When we bought our house I thought God really wanted us to have it. That it would partially make me "complete" because I'd be happy to live in it each day. It's an amazing house, in an amazing neighborhood, has what we want, and we did get a pretty good deal on it. But now I have a different opinion. It comes with a price! Did God want us to go to the limit with our budget and be tight each month? No. Did God want us to be stressed out most months about our bills because we have a high house payment? Probably not. I cannot say that God orchestrated this house for us because we also make our own decisions. Decisions that are filled with selfishness, pride, and greed. Could we have bought a $70,000 house without all the exact things we want? Yes! Could we be blessing others instead of scraping for money to pay necessities? You bet. Could we be less stressed and provide more for our daughter and future children as they get older and get more expensive? Man, what a blessing that would be. Could we have more date nights and time together because we'd have flexibility with money? Wow what a dream!

I just can't imagine living the next 27 years of our lives stressed each month and barely making ends meet. That's NOT the life God calls us to live with money. It just isn't. You cannot show me in the Bible where it does say that. I will not be convinced that God wants this for ANYONE. And because we've specifically made the choices we have (while God does orchestrate things, we still have free will), I am not going to deny responsibility and demand or expect miracles for poor choices we've made. How does this help my hard working husband? He works his BUTT OFF every single day from sun up to sun down, no vacation time, and no slack. I don't want that for him and us the majority of our lives. How draining and depressing to work multiple jobs to pay the bills. And what good will that do for our kids? Tell them "God wanted this for us" while mommy and daddy are on edge and stressed all the time because of bills? I don't think so. What about when we have to pay for Abigail's wedding or help her out when she is older? I don't want to be selfish with money now and not learn from mistakes we've made and not be able to help our kids. I want to tell them that we made choices and are learning from them. I want to tell them that we changed our patterns and are living with less debt! We WILL teach them to not have student loan debt, how to save for a house, invest money young, and get a 15 year mortgage with a manageable payment.

NOW.....whew, those are the thoughts that I have been mulling over in my head for a week or so because we've been tight on money from finishing the basement. I do believe that IN SPITE of our choices God works. In spite of having a mortgage that we should not have gotten, I know God provides and helps us learn from these mistakes. In spite of our student loans I wish our parents would have warned us about more clearly, we will pay them off. The mountain of debt will be gone someday whether Kyle's businesses are super successful or we have to sell our house and get half the mortgage. One way or the other it will happen because we are committed to being debt free because it's IMPORTANT to God.

So I have committed to finding ways to save us money!!!!! I have been praying about it a lot and asking God to show me how to be a wife and mother that uses resources to the best of my ability, with His help. I plan to share in following posts my journey with changes we make to be a more money conscious family. So I hope my journey helps yours!

"The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender" Proverbs 22:7

"A wise man thinks ahead; a fool doesn't, and even brags about it!" Proverbs 13:6

"the plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage, but everyone who is hasty comes surely to poverty." Proverbs 21:5

"Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law." Romans 13:8

Table and Chairs Makeover

4/10/12

Our basement is done...well, not everything in it. First off, we don't have a couch (we plan to make part of it a theatre area). And I have this great table and chairs set (given by friends) but they are the same color as the floor. So I talked to my mother in-law about painting this bad boy. She loved the idea and we have set out to transform this set! In the end it will be black and the chairs will be a cream color. I wanted to take before pictures...I forgot so here's what you get. The white is primer.

I finished sanding all the chairs today and have to prime them. My MIL is coming Friday and my plan is to have it ready to coat with the final paint colors (black and cream).

Stay tuned to see progress and the final product!!!

Bridal Shower

4/1/12

It was that time.....for a Bridal shower! I had TONS of fun planning, preparing, and seeing this shower through. Take a look!

Here were the invitations I made. This gave me the vision for the shower.

Here's the set up of the shower in my FINISHED basement!!

We used china....much more elegant. I love using china dishes and going fancier :)

I also used a small tea cups on the table as part of the decoration.

Another view.

Here's the BEAUTIFUL cake my mom made. Isn't she amazing?!!

It was perfect for this shower. I couldn't have been more happy.

I made menu's for the table so people knew what we were having. We had a 3 course meal served (me, my MIL, and sister in-laws served) to our guests. The spread was fantastic. 1st course was fruit and yogurt. 2nd course was 3 different egg casseroles, spinach dip muffins, and hash browns. Then of course cake. We also had fresh squeezed juice, ice water, and coffee. Perfect brunch menu.

Here are 2 preggo's at the shower! Kyle's sister, Lindsay, who helped throw the shower and Angie his cousin.

Here's the Bride, her mom, and her sisters!

Here she is with friends

Bride with her cake.

We also did a game, "how well do you know the couple?" Then Rebecca told the story of her and Erik getting together and the engagement story. This was also a Pampered Chef party so we had our lady, Kristen, give a presentation and everyone ordered goodies for the Bride. Very successful shower and I was so honored to help throw it for her. I can't wait for her to be officially part of this family!

Basement Update

3/19/12

Here's an update on our basement!

Before Paint

To the right of that wall...the left is brown. Start of wood flooring and paint drying.

More flooring down! Half way there. Finishing tomorrow then trim Wednesday!!! Then carpet!

Fun project I finished today. Found this piece on the side of the road that someone was throwing away...can you believe it?! I snatched it up :) It was all white and I painted it black. The 2 shelves at the top have slots to put wine glasses on. The bottom has slots for wine bottles. We don't really drink any but have one from Argentina and a bottle of sparkling grape juice from our wedding.

I'll have to post a picture of it finished and in the basement!!!

Spring Things

3/8/12

It feels like Spring is here for the last few days! Abigail and I have enjoyed playing outside pretty much all day the last couple days. Such a blessing. We are tired of being cooped up in the house now.

So what have we been up to? Well, a BUNCH of things. I have been the busiest with work since before Abby was born. It was a little difficult the first week, but seriously, I'm only gone for an hour or two at a time. So it really isn't a big deal. And right now it is worth it for me to bring in a couple grand in a month for less than 10 hours a week....God picked the perfect job for me :)

Our basement is coming along and is ALMOST DONE!!!! This is very exciting for us. Kyle is working with a construction company (marketing) and they are doing a trade. So someone has come out a couple times to do finishing touches. What a difference. The guy is coming tomorrow to finish it up then we paint and put flooring in. They come back soon and do the trim and then the carpet guys come. Seriously, I can taste it! ha.

I threw a surprise birthday party for Kyle a couple weeks ago and it turned out great! I think I got him. Besides that, Kyle has been working hard with his brother on their marketing business and are doing great. I am so proud of all Kyle's work (and Erik but I'm not his wife). He is going to be starting to work outside again. It is a little hard since he has been working at home all winter but I am excited about Abby and I going outside. I just love that my hubby is reaching and surpassing his goals. His hard work is paying off and will continue in the future.

As for Abigail, she has been sick the last week or so but is coming out of it. We all have gotten a gross cold and it hasn't been pleasant. I don't even know the last I got sick and this is the first time Abby has really gotten sick for more than a day. Other than that she is just continuing to learn and grow. She has gotten very good at communicating. She says a new word everyday. The words she has been saying for a while are getting more clear. We continue to have fun together.

Abby and Daddy :)

Holding a doll and reading a book...while sitting in a basket...this encompasses most of our days

16 Months

2/15/12

Abigail is 16 months. Getting close to a year and half. Wow! I love this age. She continues to say new words each day and learn more things. It's so amazing how smart kids are! I am just trying to keep up with her and help her reach a fraction of her potential.

Abby has a new cousin...Natalie Ruth. She is precious. Sadly, I've only seen her once. Craziness but I can't wait till I see her next! Here she is...

Abigail is so spunky! She LOVES books still. She also loves to talk. A. LOT. But I love that about her too. Here is a touch of her personality.

This dress is so cute on her...her Maw Maw and Paw Paw got her that dress for Christmas :)

Playing in her closet (ignore her eyes)...she likes to go in corners and read books or her closet and have fun going through her basket of stuffed animals and toys.

She looks older here but her hair is all down. It gets in her face so much but I don't want bangs on her and I just put it up. Notice her necklace? She loves jewelry and puts a necklace on just about everyday. So glad I bought the pack of them for about a dollar!

Here she is at her new table eating some food. She likes her table. Such a big girl! Hair is a little messy...ha.

Playing with her favorite educational toy. Oh yeah, she loves to learn. Like I said, books are one of her favorite things. Along with that goes reading words. I show her flash cards with pictures and she can read. I have been showing her words since she was born, actually. It's so beneficial for kids development. It helps create more pathways in the brain and encourages learning like crazy...that's just one benefit. But here are the words she can say or act out by reading without any help by me.

Wave, hi, dog, touch your toes, touch your ears, touch your head, ball, nose, feet, hands, sitting, mouth, teeth, duck, tongue, fingers, arms up, and I know there are more but I can't remember. It's amazing to see her look at the word then smile and do the motion, point to her body, or say the word. Kids are smart!

We also work on Bible verses. She knows John 3:16 and Jeremiah 33:3. We just started working on the books of the Bible in order. It's exciting because I am memorizing these things too. haha. You know how you forget things. I am excited to continue re-learning them. Also, I am involving her with cooking. I keep showing her things I do and let her help as much as she can. She enjoys helping me. We do lots of things together honestly, this is just the tip of the iceberg. We don't watch TV during the day so we just trot along and continue working/learning new things.

What a little bundle of joy! I love being her mommy. Look at her "reading" her book to teddy bear, and both minnie mouses :)