Outdoor fun

I wanted to share a picture of my garden. Its doing great! I think tomorrow I'll cut some lettuce up for a salad! The kids have been clearing out the green onions, they love them! We've been taking advantage of the hot weather and swimming, playing in the sprinkler, and today we made a homemade slip and slide, courtesy of Dave's black plastic he gave me to use in case it rained at the garage sale. We didn't use it then, but have found a even better use. Add water and a little soap and bring on the fun.

Excuse Gary's grumpiness,, he was mad and pouting about something,,,don't ask me what. Haha

Sad goodbyes

On Grandma Joy's last night here it was raining :( But we decided to have a wii bowling tournament :) We taught Emma how to bowl, she loved it and was in heaven when we all clapped and cheered for her. I know tomorrow she'll probably be asking where grandma and grandpy are,,,,,that's what she called him, although he thought she was calling him grumpy, haha!

This morning they left for Ohio to visit with Butch's family, we were all sad to see them go, but put on some happy faces so we could snap a few pics

We sure are gonna miss these guys. Its been so great having them here. Since they'll be in Ohio still next weekend were gonna go up there on Friday night and spend the day with them Saturday before they head back to Cali early Sunday morning. Butch says he knows where all the good fishing spots are and is gonna show us how its done.

They truly spoiled us while they were here and we all loved every minute of it. Thank guys, and we hope to see lots more of ya.

Fishing with Grandma

We are really enjoying our time with Ben's mom and Butch. We finally got some nice weather after 2 days of rain and they are taking advantage of it for fishing. We went out to Pike lake this morning behind the boys club, and Becky was reeling them in like crazy! Emma helping show off Grandma's fish

Becky's walleye

Ben didn't want his mom to out fish him..haha

Mother and son...and that's Butch in the background,,,,,at this point he hadn't had any luck yet with the fishies.

Were having a great time. Tonight they're gonna come watch Gary play soccer!

A Birthday Party

Last night we went to our neighbor's little girl's birthday party. She turned 3 years old! She is such a sweet little girl and I'm so glad her and Emma are friends. The girls all had a blast. Here they are around the bubble machine. Riding the merry go round....I don't know how they do it,,,,,this was right after eating pizza too!
Emma on the playground equipment...CHEESE!
Hitting the pinata....Emma was scared to do it at first, but then she went up and gave it one good hit. Jess was the last to go and ended up breaking it open.
Hurry.....GET THAT CANDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We are so lucky to have such great neighbors and friends next to us. I hope the girls end up growing up being great friends!

We are enjoying our time with Ben's mom. We will be so sad to see her go. Hopefully 10 years wont go by again before we see them! And maybe,,,,just maybe,,,,Ben will get up the courage to fly out to California and see her now!!

Friday

I had Gary's annual speech conference evaluation today. All went well, they said Gary is doing great and they are expecting him to be done with speech therapy before the end of 4th grade! Yay! I'm sure that will be a relief for him to not have to go down there anymore. The boy has been going since he was 3 years old! His teacher said he is such a joy to have in class. He is nice to everyone and has lots of friends and a great attitude. LOL.....they always say that about Jess too,, I wish they would bring that attitude home with them. :)

Ben is away in Ohio, he left yesterday morning and worked all day at the plant over there, then had to spend the night in a hotel room and is back there working today. He should be coming home tonight, if it were up to his boss he would be staying but the plant he is working at closes for the weekend. They had just better let him keep his vacation next week because his mom who he hasnt seen in 10 years is coming to stay with us on Sunday! We are all so excited. Jess was 1 the last time she saw her and she has never met Gary and Emma. They will finally be able to put a face to the awsome grandma that sends them money each Christmas. :) I've been trying to clean and organize the house a little, but unfornatnatly with 3 kids it just seems to get messed back up everyday. She did raise 3 boys so I'm sure she will understand the lack of perfection in my home. Let's hope anyways.

A Birthday

Today is Jessica's birthday,,, 11 years old! It seems so strange to think that I am the mother of a 11 yr old. Although,, personally I think she seems older than that. She is a beautiful, smart, caring young woman. I don't know what I would do without her. We have our arguments like all mothers and daughters do, but she is always there for me when I need her, she is a great friend. We celebrated her birthday Saturday at the bowling alley,, family came plus 2 of her friends from school. She surprised me,, she is a pretty good bowler,, (must get that from her daddy). We had a great time and she said she wants to go there again for her next bday. Thank you to all that came.

Emma and me have been pretty sick, I took Emma to medstat Sunday morning because I thought she might have strep throat, but the test came back negative,, they think it must just be something viral, so no meds were given. She does seem to be eating and drinking a little better today though, so that is good!

Mother's day came and went just like any other day around here. Jess was extra nice to me(I told you she was a sweet girl). Ben slept in, played his PlayStation, and mowed the grass in the evening. I need to learn to expect less, so when I get nothing, I am not so disappointed. You would think I would have learned by now. OH well. I love my kids, and I know that they love me, and that's what mothers day is all about anyways. I took Jess shopping during Emmas nap so she could spend some of her birthday money she got on Saturday. That was fun, she might become my new shopping buddy :-)

I am going to try and find my camera card so I can get out and snap some pics of the garden and my pretty flowers that are blooming in the side flower bed right now. I'll post some pictures later.

Financial Goals Update

I thought I'd do a little update on the financial goals that I have been working on. In my opinion we are doing pretty well,,, we still have a long way to go though. But when I look at what we have accomplished so far it feels good. I would love to say we have did this by saving and scrimping but Ben has been working quite a bit of overtime lately so I have been putting all the extra money he's making towards these bills. Honestly,, we don't really have much wiggle room in our budget without overtime, so its almost impossible to pay extra on things without the overtime. So I've been taking advantage of it while I can!

-Pay off Ben's truck--DONE

-Save enough to buy Ben a new to us vehicle with cash--DONE

-1,000 emergency fund--DONE--this one is hard for me because if we are running short until next payday I keep borrowing from this money, then I have to replace it,,, I need to stop that!

-Pay off Dr. bill #1--DONE

Pay off Dr. bill #2--DONE

Pay off Dr. bill #3--

Credit Card #1--PAID OFF

Credit Card #2--PAID OFF

Credit Card #3--PAID OFF

Credit Card #4--

Credit Card #5--

Pay off Durango--

Pay off House--

So there you have it. The process is going to slow just a little because I have decided that we need to start saving money for our trip to Florida this coming December and we will have to book our resort ahead of time and I want to pay cash for the entire trip. The problem is I have no idea how much this trip is going to cost us, I'm sure it wont be cheap though, because were going to Disney! I know it isn't the smartest thing to go on a big vacation when there is still debt to be paid off, but we rarely go anywhere. My kids deserve this and I want to do it before they get to old to enjoy the magic that is Disney! :) We are already so excited!

Paying off these bills has not been easy at all. Its caused many fights in my household, and also seeing others do things and buy things makes you want to do it to,, but what good is it when you have debt hanging over your head. One day we will be free of it all and life will be very GOOD!
Like Dave Ramsey says....Live like no one else NOW so LATER you can live like no one else .