Scratch That (the last post)

We've already scratched our new years resolutions and its only 4 days in! Not totally scratched them but decided to focus on fun, family, and happiness this next year. Focus on doing what is right for us, what we want to do and not what others think we should do or what we think others think we should do..Not that we really did that anyway but focus on us and our needs. So if we want to be lazy for a while and not do anything or if we want to be over scheduled for a while well then so be it! And if we want to skip class, do something crazy, or sleep in then that's what we will do... ok well the sleeping in thing is pretty stretching it!

Addy and I had been talking the past few days about things she would like to do this year and today on the way home JT got in on the conversation as well... so here is our newly revised things to do (or not do if we so choose:)...

• Fly a kite at the park (apparently doing it at the park is very important)
• Pet an animal at the zoo (hmmm)
• Swim at the beach
• Go to the cabin with FABULOUS Aunt Cathy ("and Great Uncle Bob but he doesn't really need to come with since he lives up there so he will already be there")
• Ride a bus (compliments of JT)
• Build a fairy garden in our garden outside
• Swim in the ocean
• Go to a waterpark hotel
• Go down a big water slide (we got on a swimming kick for a while!)
• Go ice skating outside
• Eat a new fruit and vegetable
• Go to "house-a-bouncea"
• Road trip
• Family pics with Meena, Papa, and Aunt Robyn
• Bake for someone
• Do something for charity with the kids
• Make new friends
• Cherish the friends we have
• Be happy
• Do a project (I'm sure we will do tons of these!)
• Find a rock (like when we were up north on the rock beach)

It was fun to hear their thoughts (this is the short list!)... And then at the end today Addy said, "ooh wait, I have one more thing, we need to see my birth mom!" (insert heartache and tears here)... So we had an amazing wonderful painful conversation about what we can do for her birthmom etc. and where we are at. That would be the most amazing thing to do in 2012 and who knows maybe we can make it happen. We do have plans in the works to see JT's mom again this year and anything is possible! This adoption stuff isn't easy but the fact that my daughter is freely sharing her feelings, hopes, and dreams with me is awesome and something I want to continue to foster.

So for the next year we will be living in the moment, taking advantage of special time, making the most of even crappy situations (like my second surgery coming up), and finding the positive wonderfulness in everything. We will be stopping to smell the roses as much as possible!

New Years Resolutions?

What happened to the last year, it went by so fast!

Last year we had 3 family goals...

1- do the compact for 2 non-consecutive months: SUCCESS... sort of! We did the compact for 2 months but they happened to be consecutive months instead of separate. It went great and taught me a ton about my spending habits. It still affects me today. Just the other day I went to Target (y biggest pitfall) and wandered through the dollar isle and got nothing, I carried around two items that were on sale that I thought I needed and then decided against them, and managed to get out of the store with only the items on my list and a birthday gift for an upcoming party.

2- decrease processed foods: This went great the first half of the year. Then after surgery I was down and out for so long and we had tons of meals made for us that once I was feeling better the health factor went out the window. We are hoping to get back on track this year. I've already cleaned out the crap food out of our cupboards and went grocery shopping. 75% of my cart was fresh fruits and vegetables. The check out lady even commented on how much produce I was buying... um ya, its healthy!

3- increase family time: This was something that was much easier than expected. Having surgery forced us all to be together more and it was great! Even now this winter we are spending more time home as a family or doing activities as a family for parts of each day. This has become a way of life. We eat dinner together, play games, go for walks, do projects, etc.

Other things that happened this year, JT is talking a ton and has met all of his speech goals (YAY), he is very active and doing great. He is still on his seizure meds and hasn't had any more seizures minus the initial 10 prior to starting the meds. That is a GREAT sign!

AJ is doing well. She is writing her letters and numbers but still needs to work on the sounds they all make. She's taken a bunch of random classes this year (camp school, dance, gymnastics, swimming, preschool classes, etc) and has a passion for learning!

So next year? Just a couple small goals again. Things that are attainable with a little work!

JT's goals: learn to count to 20, learn his ABC's, hold a crayon/pen correctly, take a sporty class!

AJ's goals: learn the sounds of her letters, try a new hairstyle, go on an adventure!

Family goals:

• Eat healthy (a continuation from last year, decrease processed foods, find more healthy recipes etc.)
• Develop a database of meals (this sounds like way too much work but we meal plan which saves us a ton of money but its kind of a lot of work each time, if I would just type up each menu plan with ingrediants a few times then I could just print out a list and be done, so goal is 7 meal lists {number 1 almost done})
• Take a family vacation (plans already in the works)
• Go to church more regularly (hopefully every other week)
• Utilize our new zoo and childrens museum memberships!

Other goals:

• Get my new boobs! (and move on with life!)
• Take all my drugs as prescribed... including calcium and vitamin D (ugh this may be the hardest of all of them!)
• Declutter- clean out, get rid of

Nothing too exciting this year. Knowing that I have another surgery coming up and other things already planned for 2012, I don't want to do to much!

Year in Review

Well 2011 didn't go quite as planned but it was a blessed year none the less. Here is our year in review (I really don't like this type of post and would rather just summarize but felt it was a good time to reread some old blog posts and refresh what milestones we his this past year)

January:

• Addy ice skated for the first time and had her winter showcase for dance
• JT took swimming lessons with Jared

February:

• JT's first haircut
• AJ's big trip to Arizona to visit Amanda, Delaney, & Stacy
• Living room got painted

March:

• JT finally starts talking a little more
• Compact Month 1

April:

• Easter egg hunts, Bunny sightings
• Built a raised garden bed
• Compact Month 2

May:

• Family weekend at a hotel in the cities
• JT climbs out of his bed and transitions into a big boy bed
• A visit from a faraway friend
• AJ has her dance recital

June:

• Ji'Robert starts a new daycare and AJ starts camp school
• Life takes a detour and Jenn has surgery (www.choosingafuture.blogspot.com)
• Was reminded how wonderful my family and friends are, a big thank you to all of you who made meals, helped with kids, and said prayers!

July:

• Recovery was a bit rough.
• AJ & Mama head north for a relaxing retreat for the fourth
• Ji'Robert turns two and celebrates at chuck e cheese with the boys

August:

• State fair, photoshoots, back to the real world
• JT has his birthday party with Miss Nora
• Pintrest hits out household and the craftiness takes off to another level!
• Addy starts a new daycare
• JT diagnosed with seizure disorder

September:

• Family trip to Duluth
• Addy starts ballet and tap and has passed all of her swimming classes thus far
• Lots of trips to the orchard
• JT starts his anti-seizure meds

October:

• More trips to the orchard
• Went to heritage camp
• JT speaking WAY more
• Visit from Aunt Robyn

November:

• JT's hair gets a new do with the Nudred
• Thanksgiving spent with my parents

December:

• JT switches to quarterly speech and has met all of his milestones!
• AJ turns 4 and has many parties!
• Christmas is celebrated with all of our families

Overall we had a good year. Even with our challenges, we feel very blessed.

Completion!

Well our two month compact has come to a close! I had hoped to post on the last day but have been sick most of the weekend so am just getting to it now! So looking at our final list, we did AMAZING! we only spent about 30$ on new items in the 2 months. This is a far cry from the easy 100$ trip to target! And I could have made that smaller by returning the unused tattoos, chalking the t-shirt up to a charity donation, not buying kites, or waiting to buy the others but they are what they are. We've learned a lot about where our money is going, what we really need and what we can go without, what we need new and what we can buy used. I've found that fixing my shoes at a shoe repair shop, taking the time to assess if we really need something, and paying attention to the pull of the store displays can really affect what you need. Every time I made the trip to Walmart or Target (both of which are within blocks of our house), I had to consciously think about not going down the clearance or dollar isle, not to veer from the list, not to jump at the chance to buy something on sale. I did make it to Target yesterday to pick up a few things and did buy a few Mothers day cards (which we could have made and will make things to go inside) but otherwise avoided the rest of the chaos. I wandered by the dollar section but the pull wasn't as strong as it once was. I've found now looking at our bank statements that most of our money isn't going toward crap but toward food... so next mission will be decreasing eating out but that's another story.

So our final Stats:

Compact initial new purchase fund: 75$

Current status: $45.61

Purchased items: rub on tattoos (3.19), Team Saul T-shirt (8), L-brackets & washers (4.91), Easter egg dye kit (2), Car charger/phone protector/phone case (6.29), Kites (5)

Compact successes: Fisher Price Animals, frisbees

Wish list: I Love My Hair T-Shirt, Dress shoes for AJ, white sneakers for work, movie Tangled, sandals for both kids

So our next journey??? Who knows! We did finish our other April goal of building our raised garden beds although its been to cold to plant in them yet! We'd like to work on our eating out habits, catching up on scrapbooks and videos, and getting the house more organized and de-cluttered. But for now we will focus on enjoying each other and the nice weather!

Compact: Day 56!

DO YOU SEE THAT! My husband became compacty! He got two discs USED! He's played along for our compact journey and as far as I know he hasn't broken the compact (minus ordering minidiscs for his frisbee league but that was using frisbee money and for the league so I let that slide). So even though I gave him a disc golf exemption for this month, he's done the compact anyway!

I got something compacty today too but am not ready to share it until I get it done!

Five Days Left!

Compact initial new purchase fund: 75$

Current status: $45.61

Purchased items: rub on tattoos (3.19), Team Saul T-shirt (8), L-brackets & washers (4.91), Easter egg dye kit (2), Car charger/phone protector/phone case (6.29), Kites (5)

Compact successes: Fisher Price Animals, frisbees

Wish list: I Love My Hair T-Shirt, Dress shoes for AJ, white sneakers for work, movie Tangled, sandals for both kids

Preschool Screening and a compact update!

Miss AJ had her preschool screening done this past weekend. I was a little nervous that she may be really shy (shy, I know! she's really shy for a bit around new people which is odd since she is really so outgoing and chatty) and wouldn't want to do the activities but she did great! I was surprised at how well run it was and how quick we went through everything without any wait! They did a hearing test, vision test, some gross motor and fine motor activities, tested her vocabulary, and did a few random other things.

And the results, well for one thing, she is over an inch taller than she was at her 3 year appointment in December and is now about 37 1/2 inches tall and around 34 pounds. Her hearing and vision are great. Watching the vision and hearing test was fun, they are so much more fun than the adult versions, its all a game! She did well on everything and only got a couple things wrong (which I have to admit was hard to watch her get one wrong when it was something that she knew!). At one point they had her draw a line on paper etc and at the end the lady said she was going to write Addy's name on it to put in her file. Addy to that replied, "um, I can write my own name", so the lady gave her the sheet back and she wrote Addy on the top of it! It was super cute but apparently you don't get bonus points for that! So after everything, Addy is doing great! The lady said she tested better than most of the 4 1/2 year olds. So needless to say she confirmed what we already knew... AJ is too smart for her own good! She also showed me what they test the 4 and 5 year olds on so that was interesting to see too. It also gave me some ideas of what we will need to work on with JT over the next year to start to get him caught up.

Speaking of JT.... he is talking more and more everyday! We stopped tracking every word and I am sure he is over 50 words right now and is just starting to put a few two word thoughts together too. He's thinking more about actions as well now and what words go with what. Like he brought me his empty cup, said, "all done" and then said, "sink" and then proceeded to walk his cup over to the sink and throw it in! So he is doing great!

And on another note... another purchase was made! I bought a 2$ egg dying kit. I had too. We took a trip to target and all the Easter stuff was everywhere and we always do eggs. Now technically I probably could somehow say that it was food related since we will eat the eggs but it was realistically an unnecessary purchase so I'll count my 2$ toward the new purchase fund! I had thought about just painting eggs or using non-toxic markers but there is something magical about dyeing eggs and so we will partake in the tradition and dye eggs this year as well!

The other Compacty thing we are working on is building our two raised vegetable gardens! We have purchased a few supplies but since the overall product will be compacty, I'm not counting the couple boards too our new purchase fund. Plus we are getting most of the wood used from my dads work! When it is all done, pics will be posted!

Compact STATS:

Compact initial new purchase fund: 75$

Current status: $56.90

Purchased items: rub on tattoos (3.19), Team Saul T-shirt (8), L-brackets & washers (4.91), Easter egg dye kit (2)

Compact successes: Fisher Price Animals

Wish list: I Love My Hair T-Shirt, Dress shoes for AJ, Cell phone charger, white sneakers, movie Tangled, sandals for both kids

Compact and Goals!

Well the Compact is status quo! I took a pair of shoes in to get repaired today which by the way is very compacty! I had gotten a pair of Clarks last year when I started my new job and I loved them. They were super comfortable. Unfortunately about 3 months in, they started coming unstitched. And so there they have sat. So finally remembered and decided to bring them in!

Other than that, a few more things on our wish list, car cellphone charger broke, I need new white sneakers for work, etc. but nothing too urgent that can't wait a bit.

When we went to Target to get pics taken I did have a Huge CRAVING to shop there! I do miss it there. Not that I need to spend a crap ton when I go but I miss roaming the isles and finding good deals. So needless to say, I avoided going into the rest of the store!

My goal for April/May is to get two raised vegetable gardens built. I've always wanted my own little plot of land where I could grow veggies. Our last house had too much shade so I only could do a couple pots on the deck but our new house has a whole side yard that is sunny. So two raised beds it will be! If anyone wants to volunteer to help let me know!

Updates on our other goals for the year...

Family time: going pretty good although disc golf season is starting so we'll have to see how that affects things. For those of you who aren't aware, Jared is a bit obsessed with disc golf and by a bit, I mean a lot!

Eating healthy: going great....when I cook! But we have been eating out a little too much so we need to work on that piece as well.

And so we continue with 22 days of the Compact and a few other random goals!

Compact STATS:

Compact initial new purchase fund: 75$

Current status: $58.90

Purchased items: rub on tattoos (3.19), Team Saul T-shirt (8), L-brackets & washers (4.91)

Compact successes: Fisher Price Animals

Wish list: I Love My Hair T-Shirt, Dress shoes for AJ, Cell phone charger, white sneakers

Compact: Day 18...mission accomplished!

I did it! I finally won an item on ebay! I grabbed this set of 9 little animals for 7.95 FREE SHIPPING! Apparently these little buggers are hard to get! Most sets similar to this are going for 15-20 plus shipping. So after scouring craigslist, local second hand stores, and my work classifieds, ebay came through. And the best news is that since they are second hand, they don't count toward my new purchase fund. Part of the compact is about being greener and reusing things.

What I find odd is that I do buy a lot second hand... toys, kids clothes, I love a good garage sale. And I never seem to have any issues finding things... until I am looking for something specific! Plus its not garage sale season yet so that makes it a little harder.

Prior to the compact, I would have just sucked it up, ran to Walmart or Toys R Us and grabbed a set of little animals. I would have called my friend Jenny to see if she knew of any good deals (she's the queen of clearance) and I would have checked craigslist once quickly and then gone and bought them new. So now, even though it took me a week and a half to find, they will be here in just a couple days!

On another note....I shared with Jared my plan to extend the compact through April... He agreed but we still may need that Frisbee clause! Apparently there are Frisbee emergencies of which you cannot wait an extra month to buy them... really? So we'll see how long I can stall him!

Compact: Day 16!

Yes I realize this is my fourth post today but I haven't posted in a while and my posts didn't go together real well so 4 posts it is!

Well as far as the Compact goes we are pretty much status quo... Still haven't spent any more money... yay! I've found that avoiding the stores that I have "problems" with, really decreases my impulse shopping... good to know! I even ran to Walmart the other day to grab some stuff and stuck to the list. Granted it takes a lot for me not even to wander through the kids clothes and clearance sections but I did it! (I know, baby steps right!)

I am still on a mission for Fisher Price Farm Animals... have a couple leads. The second hand stores in town have none, although thier stock turns over quite a bit so I should keep checking. I'm not sure how people have the patience or the time to find things online or in second hand stores. It's just so easy to run to the store and grab it. This is teaching me to be patient! Farm animals are not an emergency need it now item so I'll wait a little longer before having my mom mail me the ones we have at her house!

I haven't even added anything to my "think I want it" list.

So doing this just for one month is a little hard since pretty much anything can be delayed for a month. If there was something I want or need, I could just postpone it for the month but I oddly enough haven't really had anything....Seriously weird!

So my new plan??? Extend the compact through April! I'm not so sure that Jared will be on board with the plan as frisbee season is starting and I'm sure he'll need some new ones. So there may have to be a frisbees don't count clause or he'll blow our stash pretty easily! We'll have to see. Plus this will give me a little more time to figure things out. And it will include a holiday as well!

Goals update!

I'm sure most of you aren't interested in our progress on our lovely goals for the year but tracking it through the blog helps keep me on track and see our progress (or lack of) and makes me feel a little bit more accountable to actually continue them!

So where are we at....

1-Do the compact for 2 separate months: We have chosen MARCH as month number 1! I'm excited and a bit nervous as well! Our friend Jessi is just wrapping up her families 6 month endeavor with the Compact so I am looking toward her for tips! We've settled on 75$ for the month for new items. My hope is that doing it twice this year, each for a month will give us some insight into what things we are spending money on that we don't need to.

For those of you who don't know about the compact, it started in California as a pact between ten friends to not buy new for one year. To decrease your impact on the earth, be a bit greener, recycle, buy used etc. What our friend did was give her family 600$ for the 6 months to buy new things (clothes, gifts, etc) and so far has around 150 left with only 11 days to go so she is doing amazing! The new fund excludes things that you can't or shouldn't buy used (food, gas, bills, house payment etc.). You still can pay for services (oil change, alterations, fix its, etc). You can still go out to eat, go do activities etc. So our plan is to do the 75$ for each of the months and be very intentional on what we spend it on. We'll have to make some of the rules up as we go and see what happens... obviously there are a few things we wouldn't wait on (like if the furnace died, we'd have to get a new one if it wasn't fixable, etc). My plan is that anytime I see something that I would normally have wanted and think I may still want it at the end of the month is to write it down along with the cost. At the end of the month, we'll take a look at the list and see what things we still need/want and what ones would have been more impulse buys. If there are things we actually need now, then I will see what I can find in second hand stores, craigslist, ebay, etc. or will dip into the new purchase fund if I can't find it anywhere else. Hopefully by doing this it will help us save a little money, be a little greener, and learn to be less of an impulse shopper.... We have 11 days left prior to starting so I am not stocking up or thinking ahead to what we may need for the month. The thing that I know I will struggle with most is that I LOVE a good deal (hence the impulse buying)! I love clearance sales and seem to be drawn to them. I also have friends (you know who you are) who are insanely good at clearance sales and doubling deals so I'll have to ignore them for the month! OK, I won't ignore you, I just won't be able to join in the fun! Now most of the time, I am getting things that we will need at some point, clothes for the next season, etc. But sometimes its random stuff that we don't really need.

Obviously there is a lot of stuff from a financial standpoint that we could do (not eat out etc.) but for now we are going with not buying new and seeing where it takes us. We aren't having financial issues or anything but saving is a good thing! Jared is sort of on board... The main material thing he buys is frisbees so he's been warned that he needs to order them now because if he orders them during the compact, when they come in the mail I'll hide them until the compact is over! So 11 more days until our month begins!

2- Decrease processed foods: Going ok! Went on vacation and didn't follow this there. I figure vacation, eating out, or friends bringing food over doesn't count. So when we are at home and I am cooking, we are doing really well. We are doing well for healthy, natural, or organic snacks as well! Apparently the kids love dried fruit, organic crackers, and healthy bread/toast! So overall this is going well! We still haven't used up all the processed food that was in the house to start with so that's sneaking in once in a while as well but we are mixing it with healthy stuff so that helps a little bit! So we'll keep plugging along!

3- Increase family time: Minus our recent trip, we have been making more of a conscious effort not to schedule a ton of things on nights when everyone could be home. We've been sharing more kid activities to allow more time at home as well. Jared does swimming with JT, I'm doing dance and swimming with AJ. Basketball season is almost done so that will help, although disc golf season is starting so that may be a bit challenging but I think we have a schedule worked out that will give us more time together!

Random little things:

Basement: unpacked, put away, reorganized, stuff to dump, pile for garage sale, just have a few things left to stick in the trash and a pile of styrofoam to bring to the recycling center.

Living room: toys gone through, reorganized, pile for garage sale, pile brought to Meenas

Picture wall: DONE and GREAT!

Next up... Painting the living room! So we are making progress on the forever long "wish I could do" list!

February Project

Its done! Last month the basement got organized. This month the photo wall is done...minus the sticky tack to fix the couple that hang crooked. Next month the Compact and maybe painting the living room!