Wow!

I had started doing a little cleaning after a somewhat long night (I woke up in the middle of the night with a pain in my right side that came and went, it was strange)!  I took a break and got on facebook to find there was a free "webinar" on Babies and Bellies put on by Sandy Puc.  I had no idea who she was, but a free workshop that I could watch from home?  Yeah, I was here!  I managed to get my review post done in time, but after that, most of my time was spent in awe of this AWESOME photographer!  I now can better take babies pictures, mama's belly pictures and sell my work for what it's worth!  Great stuff!  I felt bad for my kiddos, because they only had my partial attention, except for the breaks.  Thank goodness for the breaks!  Seriously, it was amazing!  I'm sad that I missed yesterday's, but I can't afford $100 to pay for the whole workshop, so oh well!  I'm super glad I saw today's! 
I convinced Scott to let me "try out" cloth diapers on Cecilia to see if it's a possibility for the next baby and he agreed to let me buy a few, so I did!  They came in the mail today and it's two outsides and four insides.  Cecilia looked a little concerned when I first put it on, but was walking around super happy about it soon after!  The first change was poopy (of course), but I was able to use the clean part of the insert to wash her off, so it didn't take any wipes (strange, so I doubt it will happen again), and it was very easy to get it off in the toilet.  I washed it immediately and IT'S CLEAN!  You have to change it every couple of hours, so I did and I put her in a disposable for the night, because I don't have any cool boosters or anything to keep her from being soaked overnight!  I really like them so far, and won't have a problem washing them daily, since I should probably do laundry every day, anyway!  It's expensive to start it up (buying a ton of outsides and inserts), but nothing compared to how much disposables cost!  If you get the super expensive ones and buy ten outsides and forty insides, it'll probably cost about $250, which is about what you would pay for one size of disposable diapers!  And there's some cloth diapers that have the option of disposable inserts, so if you want to keep the cute outside when you're travelling, you can use the disposable inserts!  Super cool!  These are not your mom's cloth diapers either with the diaper pins and such.  These are one-size fits-all (up to 35 pounds) with snaps that are easily adjusted.  Now, to save up enough money for lots of them-once we find out what we're having on Wednesday! 
Ben was cracking me up.  I'm not sure what he was looking at on the computer, but he said, "That would lower our electricity bill and solve all of our problems!"  Now I'm super curious, but I'm assuming it's the solar panels thing that Scott likes to look at.  We aren't extremists or anything, but we would like to be better stewards, and we're working slowly (very slowly) to trying to do all we can with renewable resources!  Ben (our little greenie) loves it!  I just like being prepared and in all reality, saving money!

Little Crazy

Scott got 2 emails yesterday from Garmin, saying they weren't interested.  Bummer!  So, Scott went crazy applying to jobs online last night (I got to bed before he did)!  The phone started ringing at about 7:45ish and went for a while.  Now Scott's returning emails and making job interviews.  He has one interview per day Monday through Wednesday.  My ultrasound is on Wednesday and my Block II interview is on Thursday!  Sounds like it's going to be a little crazy next week!  I'm not complaining though, he NEEDS a job!  Because Olathe isn't cheap and there's no way I can work during Block II!  But, I did just "apply" for the chance to design tutorials!  Woohoo!  That's certainly something I can always find time to do!  Now, for a picture update of my adorable children!

One week more

About a week and a half until the ultrasound!  I hope we can tell what the baby is, so we can figure out a name and so I can buy all I need to (and sell stuff I don't need) at the upcoming sale!  What great timing!  I think I'll go ahead and wash and fold everything, so it's ready to be sold (or stored)!  I'm so excited!  Now to make it through the craziness that is the prep for midterms and getting over my teacher that I am convinced I do not want a reference from!  Scott is healing well, but driven crazy by the staples.  Poor guy!  He is already weaning off of the pain meds (which is great) and he made it all the way through church!  Woohoo for Scott!  Tomorrow is his phone interview for Garmin!  I hope, I hope he gets it!  He needs a job and between Farmer's and Garmin, he will hopefully get one!  Farmer's sent him a listing for him to apply to, which is a good sign too.  Here's hoping I have really good news to share in the next couple of weeks (as Cecilia pours juice out on my dress). 

One of those days

I really didn't want to do much today, so I didn't!  I played with my kids, read books, did the dishes and some laundry and mainly just vegged.  The kids are loving this staycation!  I bought good snacks to prepare, so far, so good!  I love being able to snuggle with my girls and see Scott and Ben sharing a blanket on the couch!  So sweet!  I even got to read a few books with my girls and yesterday we started an "I love Emma" club!  Part of our "dues" were reading her books.  I love it!  I always make her read one word everytime we read a book together in order to work on sight words now.  I still have a year and a half before she goes to Kindergarten, so maybe she'll know a lot of the sight words by then!  I can hope!  Cecilia is cracking me up with her constant chatter!  So far, the only recognizable things are "Dada" and "Ish."  She loves fish!
I had a good time looking at houses to rent/buy.  We'll see what's available come April!  I can hope to get a place in our old school area, but we'll have to see!

Ember Gods (#2) by Andrea Pearson review

Wow! I hadn't read the first one (The Key to Kilenya) in months and yet had no problem jumping right into the second one! Jacob does a fantastic job being a "regular" teenager, while trying to save Aloren from the Lorkons, in his spare time. I love that his parents are so understanding (for a reason) and that he puts his homework first. It's great to read about someone who is in both worlds, instead of having to choose between worlds (like most do).  I was super involved in the book, so I'm glad it was a fast read!  I think this is a great book for ages 9 and up. My son was trying to read over my shoulder, poor kiddo! I guess now that I've finished, I can let him read it! No doubt he'll love it too! The only thing I don't like is the constant references to Gallus as the "black man." Maybe once to let us know and then move on, because we already know! Very cool series and once again, I'm looking forward to the next one! Maybe a movie would be in order too... I can hope!
Now on to the Kilenya Romance.  I LOVE free Kindle books!  Although I should probably get ready for the day and start some more laundry first.  And maybe make lunch.

Book Review: Olivia by Julie Wright

This is a new series called The Newport Ladies Book Club from some of my favorite authors, so I jumped at the chance to review it!
From the back cover:
The Robbins household looks perfect from the outside:  no dust, no stains, no wrinkles.  Yet a glimpse into its heart reveals no laughter, no closeness, no joy.  Olivia thinks that if she keeps everything tidy and serves delicious meals on time, family life is bound to get better.  But when her husband, Nick, misses their anniversary, she realizes no amount of domestic success will compensate for failure in their marriage, or for her own failure to develop her identity--always busy as a mother, wife, and neighbor, she had forgotten how to be a unique and vibrant individual.  Determined to make a change, Olivia joins a local book club, where she nurtures new friendships and explores new ideas.  But her growing confidence falters when Nick declares his independence--and while her new friends lovingly encircle her with support, only Olivia can reach into the depths of her fledgling self to find the faith, hope, and love her troubled family needs.

My thoughts
This was a fantastic book! I laughed, I cried and I really want to join a book club! Poor Livvy really gets put through the ringer, when she thinks that she is doing everything for everyone. Her house is always clean, she always does service for others when they ask, and has no idea why her husband is acting so strange.  She knows he would never cheat on her, which is one less worry. But, she has no idea why he left. Luckily, she joins a book club that helps her by letting her serve others and seeing that she isn't the only one who has problems! She gets "Heaven reminders" that help her know when to help people and usually she feels better too. I love it! I especially love the happy ending.  I was really wondering about that Nick.  I didn't think it was nearly as bad as he made it out to be!  I can't wait to read the rest of the series!

Feels like a long day

Although it's been a pretty fantastic day, for being so long!
I went to bed a little after 11 last night and Cecilia woke me up screaming at 12:30 and stayed awake until 1:30 or so.  I was wide awake, so I read some and finished a book (On a Whim).  By two, I was asleep again and woke up a little after 6 to get everyone up and ready to get Scott to the hospital on time.  The kids were all thrilled about the snow!  I was just glad that we were able to travel safely!  I had grabbed some snacks and juice boxes to keep Cecilia happy.  Scott went back pretty fast after we got there at seven.  We got to go back with him at 7:30ish and talked and had family prayer (we had forgotten before we left).  Then we left him, because I couldn't remember what time Kira's Dentist Appointment was, and we went to find out.  It was at 4:30, so after school.  Oh well!  I dropped them off at school super early, so they were able to get breakfast, since they hadn't eaten much.  I shared an orange with Kira and Cecilia for my breakfast!  Anyway, I went by the house to get Scott's phone, since mine is completely dead.  I still need to charge it.  Then I went back to the hospital and they had taken him back into a holding room.  So, Cecilia and I were back to hanging out in the waiting room.  Fun times.  Every time Cecilia had some stranger say hi or wave, she went running to me.  Which is a good thing!  They let us know that everything went well and an hour later, we got to go back.  Cecilia didn't like the little room, so I got to walk around after her, over and over.  But, Scott is doing well (considering)!  After he drank a ton of water and choked down some crackers and walked around, they let us go!  We went to Walgreen's to make sure they were filling the prescription for him, to Walmart to get a few groceries and back to Walgreen's to pick up the pain med.  Poor Scott was hurting when we got home, but he made it up the stairs safely!  Phew!  I put Cecilia down for her nap and we ate lunch, so Scott could nap too.  I managed to get most of the lesson plan written up before I had to go to class.  I dropped Cecilia off at Chanda's (she's so awesome) and got to class with a few minutes to spare!  After class I picked her up and Chanda gave me some of her fantastic bread and spaghetti sauce.  We went home for me to work more on the lesson plan and start on the hailstones.  I got Cecilia back into the van and we picked up Ben and Kira.  We came home for long enough for me to finish the lesson plan and send it off!  Hurray!  Ben stayed with Scott and I took the girls with me to Kira's Dentist Appointment.  There was a very happy little girl there that loved Cecilia and kept hugging her and sitting on my lap.  It was pretty funny!  She got mad at me when I would only let her have one squirt of the hand sanitizer.  She told me that she was going to tell my dad on me.  Hhmmm...  I don't think I'd get into trouble!  Kira's appointment wasn't too long and we scheduled the next two and headed back home.  I finished off the dinner prep (I had to cook noodles and heat the sauce back up), which wasn't bad at all!  We ate and now we're taking a break as Kira and Ben watch the new Jake and the Neverland Pirates.  What a day!  I'm sick of driving!  Now back to the hailstones and Valentines!  Fun stuff!

Feelin' the Love

It's interesting to see how hard people work to help you out when you just ask!  My family is watching Emma and Leah for a couple of days to help us out, because Scott is actually getting his surgery tomorrow.  My visiting teacher is also helping us by watching Cecilia during my class tomorrow!  Phew!  It's nice to have help! 
Speaking of love...  Valentine's Pictures (in case I'm too busy to think about it on Tuesday, I have no idea how this week is going to go and don't feel like preplanning it out)!

 Before his haircut

 Posing

I have a hard time getting her to keep her eyes open!

 I LOVE this one of Leah!

 This is a pretty good smile too!

My adorable kiddos and I are wishing you a HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Sick and tired of Scott being sick

Poor Scott!  He's needed to have this surgery for weeks, and had to have it put off last time for strep throat and now he's sick again and is coughing and sounds gross!  I definitely want him to get the surgery, so he can have that not hanging over his head.  He needs to be able to get a job and can't while he has to have it, since he'll be out of work for at least two weeks.  Ggrrr!  In the meantime, I have lots of school stuff going on and I'm worried about taking care of him and the little girls, when I have to be in school.  I guess we'll find out what's going to happen at his pre-op appointment today.  Fun times!
I have groceries though and my kiddos are having a great time spinning in circles and such.  They're so much fun to watch dance around! 

Hhhmmm...

I'm trying to figure out my thought processes.  (One of those problems with being so very interested in Psychology.)  I don't understand why I like reading so much.  Is it because I don't like my life and want to "put it on hold" while I live someone else's?  That doesn't compute for me, because my life is fine!  But, I do love to read.  I was super excited when I found out an LDS author had full books on the Kindle for $3-4!  So, I bought three.  I read all of them and only one was good.  The other ones were obviously written for the national market, so it just irritated me.  I don't ever want to read about a girl's chest or someone looking at it.  No thanks!  So, now I'm trying to figure out the nicest ways to review books that I thought stunk based on the badness of them.  Both of them even had awesome plots, but horrible follow through.  Gggrrr!
In the meantime, I sold most of my Wii stuff yesterday (since our Wii completely broke and we aren't interested in investing in a new one).  I was oh-so-very excited, because some people are swapping me for baby clothes!  Success!  Of course, it's all baby boy stuff, but even if I find out I'm not having a baby boy, I can sell it or give it to someone else having a boy.  Like my cousin!  I seriously love to trade and would gladly live in a barter system!  Getting rid of stuff to get stuff, that would be a wonderful world!  Aaahhhhh....
And now Scott is back home.  He went up to Olathe to work for his mom for the day and ended up staying the night, because it was so late when he was going to leave.  He got home in time to eat breakfast and get ready for church and we were only a few minutes late!  Hurray!  It might have had something to do with the fact that all four girls took a bath together.  If only I could have taken pictures!  I was busy keeping Cecilia's head above water.  Deep bath water scares me and she loves a bath!  If there is water in the bathtub, I have to be close by.  Yes, I am one of those moms.
Here's some pictures I downloaded yesterday of my fun kids.

 She's actually sleeping on the couch right now too!

 Ben makes playing computer games active!

 Kira dancing

 Emma too

And Cecilia is pretty good at falling asleep once she's full!

So, that sums us up lately.  We're either sleeping, eating, dancing or on the computer.  Yep.

Emma

I'm working hard with little Emma (though don't tell her I said she was little)!  She has a hard time controlling herself and for some reason really likes to get people mad at her.  Then she wonders why they are mad at her.  It's really hard being a kiddo.  Just now she came up to me and told me that she hit Ben with her bowl, so he would be hurt.  So, she is in time out and asked why.  Because you hurt your brother and you need to think about not hurting people.  (Crying)  I can't think about THAT!  Ohhh, Emma.

Book Tour: Retirement Quest by John Hauserman, CFP

I was asked (almost begged) to review this book and thought, "Why not?"  Here I am, thirty years old, with five and a third kiddos, in my last year of school, so now is the best time to get my act together!

About the Book

RetirementQuest: Make Better Decisions was written by a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner who has been counseling clients since 1992. Drawing from his twenty years of experience, John Hauserman has developed a unique ability to communicate complex financial subject matter in easy to understand terms. Readers are guided through the basics of financial planning, while threads of politics, history, and psychology are woven together to create a tapestry of deeper understanding into the financial planning world. Complete with hard hitting insight into the practices and sometimes abuses of the financial services industry, John has created a masterpiece designed to help those responsible-minded investors who are seeking to avoid common planning mistakes.

 

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About the Author
John Hauserman, CFP, is the chief executive officer of Retirement Journey, LLC.  He oversees the details of the RetirementQuest planning experience.  Baltimore Magazine named John a five-star wealth manager, based on nine criteria, including customer service, integrity, knowledge and expertise, communication, value for fee charged, and overall satisfaction (see more info here).  In 2011 John was named the Baltimore area regional ambassador serving on behalf of the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER Board of Standards.

My Thoughts
Wow!  There is a lot of information in this little book!  It starts off with a lot of scares (if you think that Social Security is still going to be around when you retire).  I personally have thought that the only way I am getting any help after I stop working is if my husband or I get a fantastic job that gives retirement.  The likelihood is slim, so I am pretty much counting on saving money like crazy, once we both get real jobs and can afford to put away more money.  I like the examples used to show that it doesn't have to cost a lot!  Especially the example of the young man who put $100 each into a whole life (for $100,000 benefit), term life ($1 million benefit), and a 401K.  No matter what happened, he was covered by something, but the term life can expire or premiums get huge, the whole life isn't worth nearly as much (He is fully opposed to Whole-life, as am I), and the 401K was great!  I never thought of comparing prices to see how much life insureance I should really get, but am now rethinking my amount, because I'm worth way more than the initial amount I signed up for five years ago. 
I also like the information about different investments and different investment "counselors."    I LOVE the political commentary!  It's obvious that our government doesn't know what it is doing, and is not likely to figure out the debt situation anytime soon.  On page 94, it says (in bold print):  "The reckless trend of political leadership to continually pander for votes by promising everincreasing benefits while refusing to pay for them represents the single most significant threat to our economy (and way of life) over the long term."  It also reminds us that we need to stop blaming others, and be held personally responsible for our own future!  Yes!  We need to have a "well thought out systematic approach to financial planning..."  As you can tell, I think this book is great and will be keeping it in my bookshelf!

Buy it!
You can buy your own on Amazon for only $14.99!

Got a lot done

I was able to write up two reviews, plus get a good start on my humongous thematic unit that is due next Thursday!  I also got two kids to their appointments on time this morning which made them late for school, but we got it done!  I made Steak and eggs for brunch to reward myself for making it through this week.  I am so tired of the gross runny nose!  It's gotten a tiny bit better, but still annoying!  Oh well!  Scott went to a job interview and they told him to call them next Thursday.  Strange.  He applied to a lot of jobs online this morning while he was up early.  So that was pretty awesome too.  I'm getting frustrated with the Sleep Test Doctor though.  He had to stay the night and the whole next day, and you don't call to let us know anything?  Really?  That just seems very rude.  Maybe it's just because I'm exhausted and have no chance of going to bed anytime soon.  No, I still think it's rude.  My girls were so excited to get my latest review item in the mail!  Even Cecilia wanted to hold the Cody Simpson doll!  She was crying and I handed it to her and she immediately stopped crying, while looking at it in amazement!  It was awesome!  Kira just wanted the guitar pick, so she got that.  Now to decide who gets the doll.  They'll have to prove themselves tomorrow!  I'm guessing Emma.  It was great though when I told them they had to do two chores to get it!  Ben said, "Do I have to?"  Well, no, you've already done your chore and I doubt you want this doll.  "Phew!"  And he happily went back upstairs.  He cracks me up!  He's using a plastic knife and fork to eat canned ravioli right now and he keeps licking his plasticware in between bites.  Silly boy!

Cuz I'm having a bad day...

Scott went in for a sleep study last night and then had the nerve to not do everything the doctor wanted, so he's stuck there for the day.  So, the job interview was postponed to Friday.  He gets to go down for a nap at four.  That cracks me up!  They are letting him fall asleep every two hours, and then as soon as he falls asleep they wake him up.  So, he is there in his pjs with little things plastered all over him.  I would feel bad for him if it weren't for the facts that our house is a mess, me and two of the girls have nasty noses (mine is runny), I had an IEP meeting for Ben at 8am, so I had to get everyone up and dressed nicely (that's the kicker) to get there on time, and class at 2.  We'll see how that goes.  The good news is that I won a book for my girls yesterday "Too Princessy."  I have a feeling they are going to LOVE it!  And the workbooks I got off ebay to work on my thematic unit are fabulous!  They have pictures, worksheets, lesson ideas, science fair project ideas, and activities (So Exciting)!  Now that Cecilia is down for a nap, I need to clean some, so I feel better!