confession time

I'm not nearly as frugal as I could be, probably not even half, but I feel like it's time to start changing that. I know everyone is talking about the bad economy right now, but honestly we have not really been affected by it. Sure our health insurance costs a little more this year, and our copays did go up, but Sean still has his job, and he didn't take a pay cut this year, so we are really doing ok. Even though we have been so lucky, I'm beginning to realize how stupid I've been by not doing a little extra work to save a lot of money. Groceries are getting more and more expensive, and as the kids get older they are eating more as well, so I think it's time for me to get off my lazy butt and do more to save on everything. This could prove to be interesting since I've never done it, but I'm ready to commit if it means cutting our grocery bills in half. I'll be sure to post an update on how successful, or not, I am with this. I plan to do lots of online coupon hunting, so if anyone has any tips or websites to share I'd love them.

What's your "Happy Weight"?

Ever since having kids I've found myself on a constant quest to lose weight. Unfortunately for me, this was pretty much uncharted territory to me, so I had/have no clue how to pick a weight that is right for me. According to the bmi scale I should weigh between 112 pounds (yeah right!) and 149 pounds. That is a big range and I know it's unrealistic to expect that I'll even weigh 112 pounds again. Even at my smallest my senior year in high school I weighed 125 and was a size 1. I can't imagine how sick I'd look if I tried to lose 13 more pounds. I also don't even feel like 125 is even an attainable goal anymore. Having four kids has so drastically changed my body I just don't think being that small is possible, or desirable really.
Anyway, I stumbled across a link to Self magazines What's your happy weight? calculator. This calculator takes things into account like your frame size, mine is large which surprised me, and whether you have kids, and other factors like that that the bmi calculator ignores. Here is a page that talk about why their formula works. I was pleasantly surprised that the weight it suggested for me was 8 pounds more than I thought I needed to weigh.
I think as women we all feel the need to be stick thin, and make ourselves completely miserable trying to attain that goal. I am tired of that and plan to embrace my 8 extra pounds. That just means I get to eat and enjoy a couple cookies now and then right?!

Sean's Brithday present

Today we finally went and picked up Sean's birthday present. I had found another one, that we were going to get last weekend, but it didn't work out, so he had to wait an extra week. Anyway, here it is:



He is so excited, even though he had to drive it home today when it was 34 degrees outside. I'm just glad he's happy. He's deserves something that he really wants, even if we don't need it. Happy Birthday Sean!

6 years old, holy crap!

Emma is 6 today! I can't begin to describe how difficult is for me to believe that. I remember her being born like it was yesterday. She is growing up so fast so I'm trying to enjoy each phase of her life, even though it's not always pleasant. It's amazing watching her learn to read and write now. She is soaking up everything like a sponge and amazes me with the things she is learning. I think she's actually paying attention in school. lol!
Here is our sweet Emma from the past 6 years
Just minutes old

First Birthday

2nd birthday

3rd birthday

Fourth Birthday

Fifth Birthday

And Now Birthday number 6!

revamp

I should have cleaned my house today, but instead I revamped our blog page, so come out of your google reader and check it out.

Is it June yet?

I am so freaking excited about this summer I can hardly stand it! I plan to be at home as little as possible this summer. I'm sure that means I'll be exhausted, but it will be fun!
First on our list of travels is my cousins wedding near Kansas City in the beginning of June. Then we are going back to Florida for a week. This year we are driving instead of flying, unless we find an unbeatable deal, so the trip will actually last 9 days, but only 7 are going to be in Florida. The best part about this trip is we are renting a huge house and going with Sean's dad and step-mom, Sean's sister, her husband and Sean's nephew. We are also trying to get Sean's brother and his family to come, and I'm trying to talk my mom into joining us.
Here's our house

and we have our very own in ground pool!

The week after we get home from that trip is our annual lake trip. This year, however, we plan to stay at cloud 9 and drive down to spend a few days on the lake since it's so close. I plan to stay at cloud 9 for another week or so after the lake week, and maybe then I'll come home. I know I won't be able to stay away too much longer because by then July will almost be over, which means back to school time for the kids. Poor Sean will have to be working during a lot of my vacationing, but I don't feel bad enough to skip my vacationing because of it. Isn't that awful of me?!

Happy Birthday Sean!

Today is Sean's birthday, and I still don't have his present. It's not because I just put it off and ignored the fact that he needed a present. It's mainly because shopping with 4 kids is nearly impossible, especially when two of them insist on acting like complete lunatics in every store we enter. So then I found another present idea, but that fell through because the item is overpriced and they didn't want to come down at all. So here I sit at 2:11 in the afternoon on my husbands birthday with nothing to give him. I feel awful, but what's a girl to do?
Thankfully Sean and I are not big on presents. Granted we like them, but everything is not riding on making sure we have the perfect gift for each other for every occasion. Hopefully things will work out and I can get Sean the gift I really want for him that I know he'll love. I often feel like Sean sacrifices what he wants for things we need or want as a family. I really want him to know I appreciate all he does for us and that he deserves to have things just for him, even if he doesn't need it. Everyone cross your fingers everything works out!