Tires, Treats, and Tantrums

Well, I went to post a status on Facebook saying something like: *Mmmm... Pumpkin pie with the Christmas lights on. Much better than the screaming that was going on earlier.* Then Lucas started screaming. I had put him down for bed, and he seemed to go down just fine - it's after 9 pm and he didn't get a nap today - but after a few minutes there was more screaming. There was screaming when we got home, screaming during dinner, and Via screamed almost the whole time I was trying to change the tire. Yep. I got a flat on the way home. Good times. Lucas actually slept through that, surprisingly.

The car started driving/sounding funny after I got off the highway on our way home from work/daycare. Oh, boy. Thank goodness it was only a flat! Luckily I was close to a parking lot, so I made it to there and dug out the donut and jack. I got the car jacked up and two of the four bolts off before a man stopped to help me. I was grateful for the help, but it was nice to know that I could have done it by myself if I had to! Next time... :/

I definitely think it's bed time. It was a long day. Kind of. Now, it seems like it went by fast, but it felt long during the day and was a little taxing. And yesterday was very taxing. So, I think it's time to take the contacts out, turn my heat blanket on, and climb into my very comfy bed. I think it's been missing me. We have trouble parting in the mornings lately.

I figured I should at least blog a little since it's been a few weeks... again. I was feelin' pretty good about starting that tire by myself, so I figured that was sufficient blog material. Hopefully I can get some more blogging done this weekend in between Christmas shopping, house cleaning, and studying for my certification exam on Monday. Ahhh!! I'm so scared. More on that later... Goodnight, all!

Cake-tastrope at Midnight

Holy moly, it has been 11 days since I last blogged. Where did the time go?? I know I've been meaning to blog Via's birthday for a few days, but man! I must be super busy or something ;)

Anyway... I came home Monday night from work - the day before V's first birthday - and started making her cake. I only bought one 8" round from the dollar store because I was too cheap to buy 3, so I spend the whole night baking three separate pieces for her cake. I also baked a carrot cake to make cake pops. Well, I figured out how to get cakes to bake evenly. I tried three different things that I found on Pinterest (of course): 1. When the cake is done baking, if it has that mound in the middle - or in our case just on one side because I discovered either our oven or floor is slanted - cover it with a kitchen towel and gently try to smash it back down and make it even. or 2. Only fill the cake pan about 1/2 full so it all stays "in" the pan, not raising over the rim. or 3. Cut a cloth to the height of the pan and long enough to wrap around it, soak it in cool water, wring out so that it's not dripping but not enough that it will dry out too quickly, then wrap and pin it around the outside of the pan.

The first tip worked okay. I got a little more evenness out of them after smushing; the second tip didn't really work for me, but my oven is jacked, so it could just be that, but... the third tip worked like magic!! Who knew?? Not me. If you know me, though, I cook. I don't bake. (I really don't even cook much right now, but that's a different story.) I'm not a cupcake, brownie, dessert kind of baker. I like pasta and chicken and soups. Anyway... super cool tip! Try it out sometime :)

Well, once I had all three layers *evenly placed one another, I started to frost. And it was a disaster. I don't frost, either. I smother... in gravy and cranberry sauce (can you tell I'm excited for Thanksgiving?) I started frosting with some of the Wilton's tube stuff. Definitely not what I was going for. Wrong frosting/icing/whatever, wrong tip, wrong color. Blah. So, it's about 11:30 pm on Monday night when I decide to go to Wal-Mart to figure out this cake-tastrophe. So glad we live in Pocatello now where things are open all night :) I got different frosting, found the right tip, felt good about it, and took a huge leap in planning to do it right before the party after work the next day. It worked!! Turned out as well as I had expected. I was expecting magical perfection because I'm well aware of my confectionary skills, but it turned out! See???

That's the crappy side. Don't know why I didn't get a better pic of the top... The color was a lot cuter and brighter in real life, too. The picture greyed it a bit.

Looks better from this side... not a complete Pinstrosity! 

Overall, I loved it; Via, not so much. She wasn't quite sure what to do with it. Lucas was like that as well. Apparently my kids just don't like being messy. At least when they realize they're messy, because, let's face it... my kids are messy a lot. Via was also tired, too, so about halfway through the party she decided she could cry if she wanted to!

My grandma sent some frosted animal cookies as part of Via's birthday gift. She liked the cookies much better than the cake. Did it bother me? Surprisingly, no. I was a big girl and realized the cake was really mostly for me and my pictures ;) And she loved those animal cookies so much I just couldn't be upset... they also made for great pictures... 

Yeah, that's a cookie stuck to her shoulder... 

Despite being tired, I think Via had a lot of fun :) She played with Grandma Dawn and Grandpa Terry, Daddy, Lucas, and I even got a quick picture with her when I wasn't behind the camera!

I just love that face :)

"What are you doing eating my cake?"

It was an emotional day ;)

All in all it was a great first birthday for Little Miss! Family, friends, food, and a tutu!!

"Oh, I knocked it over?"

New boots from Gma and Gpa

Cleaning Day!!!

My friend posted this e.card the other day... I related very well! Except I didn't dust. I'm not a big duster... whoops. 

I busted out the Christmas music yesterday after nap time and got to work on my house - finally!! (I went to a Holiday Super Saturday in the morning so I was in the mood!) I spent 9 hours cleaning, organizing, washing laundry - my sweet mother-in-law came over to play with the kids but also ended up helping me fold the laundry :) - and I was exhausted when I went to bed! (But could I get to sleep? Of course not. Meh. Different story.) Anyway, it got to about 9:30 pm and each time I looked at the clock I kept thinking, "It's really only like 8:30, though. Thank you, daylight savings!" I finally quit around 12:30 (non-daylight savings time), and I got a back rub from my hubby for all my hard work ;) He did help by taking Lucas to his mom's so they could watch the Boise game. That meant I got Lucas's room cleaned, organized, his sheets changed and his clothes put away. It's messy again already, but whatever. At least it's not trashed with a ladder in the middle of his room anymore.

Today, after nap time, of course, I got around to making more laundry detergent. I am trying out a new "recipe"where I didn't have to sit there and grate soap :) And it's liquid. I tend to like liquid more. Seems to disperse better. Hopefully it works, because I made three bottles of it. Best part, though - even if it doesn't work - is it's cheap! Not sure exactly how it compares to the powder kind I was using... I use less of the powder, but each Fels Naptha bar is about $1 and usually use 3-4 to make a big batch. This recipe uses Dawn dish soap (weird!) and I made my three bottles for about $0.30 worth of Dawn. With the Dawn, it's just Borax and washing soda (and water) for pennies! I'm a little excited about it! But, now I have no laundry to wash because I washed it all yesterday!! Don't worry. I will find some. There's always laundry. Always. I do have a few things to stain-treat still. That'll work :)

Anyway, that was my SUPER Super Saturday. Because we are literally considering hiring someone to clean during the week. Because I don't clean much during the week. And the mess makes me sad. But not sad enough to clean it during the week haha! Once again, this working mom thing is kinda hard! I'll get used to it someday :)

Messy Halloween!!

You know that mess that I didn't clean up yesterday?? Yeah. It got worse :S I was gonna come home and clean today, but I got sick last night. Wonderful. I did break down and take the kids trunk or treating at the church a couple blocks down. They loved it! They especially loved the candy afterwards. And I have pictures to prove it. *Please, no judging ;)

Lucas unwrapped himself shortly after we got home...

My messy ghost

My messy floor... Don't worry. It got worse.

...See?

Lucas apparently doesn't like peanut butter cups. He spit his out into the bucket. Joy. At least it made it to the bucket...?

Trunk-or-Treating

Yes. That's a sucker stuck to her arm. 

Apparently he didn't want to be a mummy at all anymore. He wanted to be a moose :)

And here are our costumes :) I loved my tutu! 

Happy Halloween, everyone!!  Hope yours was great!

Some Days I Just Don't Care...

The house is a mess, and the laundry is still not folded. Meh. At least I actually made dinner tonight. We'll leave things how they are for now... That, of course, includes the dirty dishes as well.

I knew I wouldn't be great at this working mom thing. I love being able to work and helping provide for our family, but I don't get off work until at least after 5. If I have to pick the kids up from daycare I'm usually home around 6 or 6:30. By then I'm just beat. We do nighttime routine, and I'm ready for bed shortly after the kids are in bed! So that's my excuse for a messy house all the time ;) I can't do much when they go to sleep or they will wake up. I can't do much when they are awake 'cause... Well, they're awake. So nothing really gets done :S

I'm supposed to be off work early tomorrow, and I might just leave the kids in daycare for a bit so I can clean the house in peace! (And I'm not ashamed at all!) I was making dinner tonight, and I turned around to find Via chewing on the white Halloween face paint. Yeah. It was everywhere... Including my couch :( My poor, poor couch. It has already been through so much with these little kiddos. No worries. The face paint came out for the most part. But you can image what my stomach did when I saw a white baby painting my couch white. It was bad enough that I even forgot to take pictures first ;)

Some days I really do care that the house is a mess and the dishes are piling up, but not today. Today I paid rent. And my kids were happy... And that meant that I was happy. And everything else can wait because it's 9:30, and I'm going to bed :) Goodnight, messy, happy home!

We Will Make It Trough November!

We paid tithing yesterday. And today I am a living testament that paying tithing is followed by blessings! Our financial struggles for the month have been solved. Graciously, miraculously solved :)

I think I'm due to bear my testimony... I love this church. Heaven knows I don't follow it to a T, or even closely sometimes; but I know where I would be without it, and I know I don't like it. I know that when I am closer to Christ and my Heavenly Father I am happier. I know that we are blessed in so many ways when we live the gospel. Like today. I don't deserve the blessing we received today, but I'm so grateful for it. I'm grateful for a church with a living prophet. I'm very grateful for personal and family revelation. I wouldn't have much direction in my life without it. I'm grateful for my little family, especially my wonderful husband. Poor guy puts up with so much that I know he's probably the only one that could survive being married to me. Heavenly Father blessed me with an amazing, patient man, and I am truly grateful for that :) I love that He knows us so personally and knows exactly what we need - whether we think we need it or not. I'm very grateful to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Just for fun... What to take away from this:

1. Pay your tithing!

Happy November, everyone :)

If I Can Just Get Through November...

You know the song, "Wake Me Up When September Ends"?? Well, I need a "Wake Me Up When November Ends" song right about now... Can someone just wake me up for Thanksgiving dinner, and then again around the first of December? That sounds great, thanks!

Seriously, though... People think college kids are poor and have no money and blah, blah, blah. Well, we had money. It was loaned, but we had money. It's how we paid rent and bills and a few fun things, but... We SHOULD have had no money, but with two kids, it's a little harder to do. Well, NOW we have no money haha! I finally will start getting paid tomorrow, but I found out that we only get paid on the first of the month at the clinic :( I'm not good enough with money for that! Don't they know that?? ;)  Levi is amazing and is working so hard for us - and hopefully this week will change things - but I know he's not working a dream job of his, and the money is hard when we are suddenly, actually paying for rent and bills and a few fun things (sorry, gotta get me some Chick-fil-A when we are in Idaho Falls).

I did get some good news from the clinic: I just have to give them my receipt for registering for my CMA exam ($125), and they will reimburse me for it! I just don't know when they will do that. And I should have 3 days on my paycheck for November... Can you tell I'm trying to type myself into knowing things are gonna be okay?? Haha! We will be just fine come December, but I'm not quite sure about November yet ;) Jk, we'll be fine.

I don't mean this to sound like a pity party or anything. I'll just put it out there... I'm not great at all with money. I've always been horrible about saving. If I've got three bucks, I'm getting a sandwich or something, ya know? Horrible. I keep thinking that we just need to learn how to be better and live without before Levi gets a great job. We really didn't live without in college. Our apartment came with internet, cable, washer/dryer, dishwasher, city utilities paid... We had scholarships, grants, loans, and Levi worked part-time at least through most of college. Well, now we're paying rent, internet, cable, all utilities, and no dishwasher (which does save on water, but you aren't allowed to see how high my dishes get stacked!).

I know. You're thinking, "Why did you take out loans?" For some reason I feel like I should explain myself, but the truth is... We shouldn't have. Not nearly as much as we did, anyway. We should have scrimped and cloth diapered and whatnot. (If you know me, though, you know I was way too lazy to cloth diaper two kids with school full-time. I'm not Supermom, and I wasn't gonna try to be!) And then you're thinking, "But you were posting on Facebook about making you're own laundry soap and whatnot." Yep, and ya know what? I literally HAD to make it when we recently ran out because I couldn't buy more, so I'm very glad I learned how! Really, though, in college, what we saved on making our own laundry soap would be spent somewhere else... Sad, but true.

A friend of mine that blogs does "Things To Take Away" from her posts. My posts are usually just rambly-on kind of things with pictures at the end, but I will add a "Take Away" to the end of this one!

1. Don't take out student loans if you don't have to! You really can live without a lot, especially in college. Most our stuff was in storage the last few years, and it's amazing how much crap you can live without.

2. Use credit cards only in emergencies!! True emergencies. Or, if you are very structured and responsible, use them and pay them off immediately.

3. I don't want to say "don't have kids in college" because I get mad when others tell couples when they should or should not have kids, but it's tough. It's tough on the relationship, it's tough on the wallet, it's tough on the kids. There's a reason we had originally planned to wait. BUT, with that being said, I love my kids to pieces. They can be little terrors, but I love them and they bring us a great amount of joy! Side note: notice I said "couples" before, and I would add mature adults, but I work at a place watching 14- and 16- year-olds come in pregnant. I really think people shouldn't have kids that young, but that's a different post :)

4. Budget. And stick to it. Whenever I budget, it's the sticking to it that is the hard part, as I'm sure it is for most of the world. Economic downfall, anyone? So, at least I'm not alone, I guess.

Lastly, being rich or poor really isn't about the money. It's a mindset and a spending habit. We're really not "poor," we just need to learn to spend more wisely! Now that we're being forced to - without the fallback of loans and credit cards - hopefully we will be able to actually apply some common cents to our finances! Here's to a Happy November!!