Coming Full Circle

If you look through the hodgepodge of posts on my blog, you'll find I am passionate about a few things: food, my family, getting crafty, and finances.  

The latter subject came about from a life change almost 3 years ago.  My husband and I were over $20,000 in debt - a combination of a car loan and credit cards.  That's a humbling number to write when, just a few years prior, we were bragging about getting through college without any student loans or other debt, period.

So, there we were, $20k in debt and making stupid decisions like applying for another credit card, just so we could do some Black Friday shopping.  Three months later, my sister called me and told me to read Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover book.  She even offered to buy me a copy of it.  I read it in a matter of minutes (well, I guess it was a day or two, but it felt fast).  I gave it to my husband, and he read it, too.  It basically told us to save a little bit, pay off our debt as quickly as we possibly could, then start saving some more.  Very basic, and yet so genius. 

Starting a budget (and sticking to it) wasn't easy.  We had to give up lots of random, fun things like having a million different drinks in our fridge, regular pizza nights, movies and eating out.  We had to be intentional about our grocery budget, and start sinking funds for items that required annual payments.  And we had to learn patience, because it takes a lot of little baby steps to make great strides.  

But we did it; we made huge strides.  You know how I know this?  

Because exactly three years ago, we owed over $20,000 in credit card debt and car loans.  

But last week, we paid cash for this, and still remain debt free:

You guys, we have come full circle.  

So please, please, please believe me when I say it's possible to get debt free and stay that way.  If you want a little guidance, try reading Total Money Makeover.  But start today.  Who knows where you'll be in three years.  =)

Planning for 2014

It may seem odd that I'm writing to you about 2014 right now, in June of 2013.  But really it's not that odd.  

The reason I bring it up is because today my husband and I put some things on the calendar for 2014.  Not big, huge, amazing things.  But things that require a little money.  So immediately after we put those things on the calendar, I then put them in our budget, because a couple years ago I learned a valuable lesson:

$$$ ÷ now = $$$

...but...

$$$ ÷ time = $

I wrote a little more about it in this post.  The concept is called "sinking funds" and it's so simple, it's brilliant.  You start putting a little money away now for future commitments (annual bills, trips, big purchases) so that when you need to write the check for the large amount later, it doesn't hurt.

Seriously, I encourage you to start doing this.  Keep it simple and pull out some envelopes, write next years plans on them, and start putting a small amount in them each month.  Or transfer it into another bank account, separate from your regular checking account, and record it in a notebook.  One day you'll be glad you did.  

Like in 2014.  

Dessert: Bread Pudding

1. Get yourself some yummy nummy bread.  I used Panera's cinnamon raisin bread.

2. Slice it up and broil it in the oven for a few minutes until it's nicely toasted.  Eat.  

Or if you can muster up the strength, continue to step 3.  =)

3. Gather your other ingredients.  For my bread pudding I used vanilla extract, half n half plus some milk, butter, eggs, and sugar.  Oh and caramel.  Lots of caramel...

4. Mix all of  your ingredients.  Rough measurements would be 2 cups liquid, 2 tablespoons butter, teaspoon or two of vanilla, 3 eggs, small scoop of sugar, and caramel.  Lots of caramel.  ;)

5. Cut up the bread into large chunks.  Pour the mixture over your bread.  Make sure all of your bread gets moistened.  Stick it in the oven at 375 degrees for about 25-35 minutes, or until set.  

6. Top with some more caramel.  EAT.  Repeat.

Dinner: Pineapple Teriyaki Burgers!

Though I have not been blogging much, I can assure you I've been doing several other things.  Like eating, for example.

photo credit:  http://www.skinnytaste.com/2013/05/grilled-hawaiian-teriyaki-burger.html

My twin sis recently told me about a food blog called Skinny Taste.  I initially thought this was another one of those healthy sites that gave you normal-recipes-turned-gross because it substituted yummy stuff for yucky stuff and then - viola! - the dish is automatically considered delicious for its lack of calories.  I don't like those kinds of recipes.

Well, this site does that.  Kind of.  But not really, because all the recipes (that I've tried so far) really ARE delicious.  Like her Chicken Tikka Masala.  I am a huge fan and a huge critic of chicken tikka masala and this recipe was fantastic!  No heavy cream, no butter...Pioneer Woman would not be happy (until she took a bite).  And definitely not too shabby when paired with some homemade na'an.  =)

Don't judge the bad pic...I didn't plan on posting this publicly.

Another example is her Teriyaki Burger.  I, for one, am NOT a burger person.  I almost shouldn't be American for two reasons: I can't stand ranch dressing, and I could easily live without eating hamburgers.  So why did I try this recipe?  Mostly because it gave me a chance to try out my new pineapple corer/slicer (it worked awesome, btw), but also because my kids absolutely love hamburgers.  I might have also been tempted to try it when I noticed that sriracha sauce went into the hamburger mixture (no worries...the spice doesn't stick.  My kids ate it and never knew.  But I did put loads extra in the teriyaki sauce!).  I also loved the addition of the grilled pineapple.  

The consensus?  This burger was amazing.  So amazing that I called my twin sis and told her how amazing it was.  And she knows I don't eat burgers.   

Look at my iphone camera skills!  This was the actual burger I ate.   

Kids and Chores

I've always so badly wanted be the kind of organized mom who always has her house in order: who always has all the important papers neatly filed away, who always knows where the scissors are, or even just the household phone...of which we have FOUR, who can manage to cross everything off her "to do" list, and who always remembers the passwords on the computer.  But I'm not an organized mom.

With that said, I wasn't surprised when chore charts didn't work in our home.  I've purchased three different styles in the past year, all with good intentions, but our lifestyle is not one that allows for everyday chores such as "set the table for dinner" when half the week we just eat picnic-style around the coffee table.  Our schedule and lifestyle are really not conducive to hanging up a chore chart and filling it up with daily tasks.

Nevertheless, I still wanted a clean house, and I wanted my kids to help me with it.  At their ages, they're more than capable of helping out and lightening my load a bit.  So after brainstorming, I found something that worked in our crazy disorganized home.

I filled a mason jar with tasks that can be completed by my kids.  About half can be done daily (but we'll live if they're not), and the other half are weekly chores.   If it's a daily chore, I put an asterisk at the end.  The kids know to put this back in the "To Do" jar when the job is complete.  If it doesn't have an asterisk, it gets put in the "Done" jar until the beginning of the following week.

Our rules are as follows:
1. They must do two jobs per day.
2. They are not paid for these jobs.  This is part of being in a family.
3. They cannot put their slips back in and try for a "better" jobs.
4. They may trade a job with someone else, so long as that is agreed upon by both parties.
5. They get to take a break on the weekends, or if we're out of the house all day.

To be honest, my children are not outstanding at all of these jobs.  Sometimes they are great, and sometimes I get frustrated when they don't realize that simply pulling the tops off of the weeds does nothing beneficial.  My 5 year old has no idea what a baseboard is, much less how to wipe it down.  But I remind myself that we're working on habits now, and proper form takes times.  I always ask them if they are proud of their work, and praise the heck out of them if they stayed focused and tried hard....even if there is no obvious indication that work was attempted.

Do I still wish I was organized and put-together?  Of course.  But thankfully I'm learning that households can be a wee bit chaotic and still get things done.  And that kids can figure out a ton of other things to do with unused chore charts and their coordinating stickers.  =)

Homeschooling Lesson #1: How to copy paper

I'm really no stranger to homeschooling.  After only 3 months of middle school, my parents pulled us all out of public school and began the journey of de-socializing us.

Oh I jest.  That didn't happen until our second year of homeschooling.

We began homeschooling for the sole purpose of avoiding the evil that was our local middle school, fully intent on returning back to society come 9th grade.  But strange things happened and we made friends.  Like, good friends.  Friends that went on to lead normal lives and that I still frequently talk to.

I managed to graduate high school, attend and graduate college with honors, and build a little family of my own in the process.  And now I'm in my second "official" year of homeschooling my little champs.   And that's no small feat!  I have a kindergartner, firsts grader, and second grader this year!

When my kids are in kindergarten, I do very little as far as official schoolwork.  I buy about a thousand glue sticks and round-tip scissors at the beginning of the year, and a couple workbooks (strongly recommend Explode the Code!).  I teach math by also teaching cooking and we read Roald Dahl.  Now that I have a first grader and a second grader, we use a lot more curriculum and worksheets, and last week I learned that I was lacking a fundamental albeit crucial and necessary skill for any homeschooling parent:  I didn't know how to copy paper.  

I started out optimistic.  I had my coffee (all aspects of homeschooling require coffee), and my two piles of paper going: to copy and already copied.

Such beauty.

I learned right away not to lift the copy lid too fast, or else the paper would fly out the back and land behind the 200lb filing cabinet.  However, despite the immediacy of my lesson, I managed to do this 5 more times.  So then I learned a new lesson:  don't keep sliding the filing cabinet back against the wall. 

This is a top view of the paper having fallen behind the cabinet.

No copy job is complete without the fear of God 

being put in you by these three words:

I had to copy about 100 pages and I have no clue how to change the cartridge on this machine.  So I did what any normal woman would do - I copied my pages anyway. 

 (P.S. I totally won that challenge.)   

After doing half of my copying, 

I had to flip the pages over and copy the backside.  

I analyzed that machine over and over, picked up printed pages and simulated them going through the machine, and deduced the correct direction my papers needed to face to print correctly. 

Guess who printed them wrong?

So here's to all you new homeschooling mommies out there 

(or the veterans who failed to learn the art of the copy machine):

1. Put your printer in the center of the room, where a fallen paper does not equal a workout.

2. Have your husband put in a new cartridge before you begin your job.  Or don't.  ;)

3. Stock up on glue sticks and scissors - you're about to make yourself a huge pile of scratch paper.

Happy New Year!

Am I late to the party??  ;)

Of course I am.  I can't say my life has been terribly busy; it's more that this blog has taken a much lower priority than homeschooling, menu-planning, reading other people's blogs...haha.   Here's a rather lengthy catch-up post to bring this blog up to date.  Expect another one of these in about two months.

I helped throw a shower for a friend of mine expecting a little girl (who has since been born and is unbelievably adorable). Here's the Pooh cake I made.  

Thanksgiving:  

I made my husband's employees cinnamon rolls for Thanksgiving.
They do such a fantastic job, I wish we could do more sometimes.  

This was Fall 2011.  But....our whole family got together this past Thanksgiving and took pictures,
so we got to recreate it....

Here is our family, Thanksgiving 2012.

My middle daughter turned 6 on Thanksgiving. I have a twin sister, and every seven years or so, our birthday falls on Thanksgiving.  Honestly, it's really no fun, so I feel bad to have handed that down to my daughter.
But we made a cake and sang and I don't think she really cared!

Birthday Party:

My two daughters were born a week apart, so they get the joy of sharing birthday parties every year....just like Mommy and Aunt Jenny.  ;)  This year they wanted a Princess theme.  It was a TON OF FUN!  We had their friends come dressed up in fancy dresses then painted nails and did updos (complete with little tiaras) on all of them.  Then we took them to Corvette Diner for some dinner and fun!

A princess has to get used to picture-taking.
They were all pros at this!

Here is one of the birthday girls and some friends. We had a blast! 

More pictures.  See, told you they were pros with the camera! 

They all got some straws stuck in there hair by our lovely waitress. 

We came back to the house and ate princess cupcakes!

 Disneyland - one last hurrah!  

We were watching my son ride a roller coaster, and my daughter suddenly decided she wanted Minnie Mouse hair. This was the best I could do, even after breaking one of her plastic hair bands.  

I love this picture of my youngest daughter's face.  =)

A little hard to see, but here are my older two on the Thunder Mountain Railroad. This ride is a hoot! Goes WAY too fast for the limited restraints they offer, so you fly all over your seat.  I can't stop laughing when I'm on it.

Here's my youngest and I on the ride.

 ER visit:

During a Christmas Cookie Exchange, my daughter was playing with a friend and got pushed over in a chair.
The result = six stitches! This was a first for Mommy and I had to call in reinforcements (thanks Mom!) to stay calm during the ordeal.  But what a joke that was.  My daughter took the whole thing like a champ and never even cried.  We showed the nurse pictures of our Disneyland adventures, which kept my daughter distracted while she received the shots.  

While the awesome doctor was stitching her up, we took some pictures to show her.
She loved seeing what was going on.  Thank goodness for brave children!!

Christmas:

Here are my girls wearing there pretty Christmas dresses from Great Grandma!  

On Christmas Day, we went to the home of my twin sister and her husband, up in the Bay Area. My sister is an incredible hostess and amazing cook.  For Christmas appetizers, she served pears wrapped in arugula, blue cheese and prosciutto (WOW) and puff pastry topped with creme fraiche, shallots and thinly-sliced apple.  Siiigh.

She also let my daughter put together his veggie tree. How cute is that!  

Here's a quick glimpse at the spread.  We started with a pear/blue cheese/candied walnut salad. The main course was turkey, baconed brussel sprouts, parsnip hash, cheesy potato pizza, crescent rolls from scratch (courtesy of moi), and cranberry sauce.  It was very drool-worthy.

Growing up, my grandma always gave us granddaughters new pajamas for Christmas. My mom has carried on the tradition, and this year she had them personalized (since my sister and I tend to name our children with names that will NEVER be found in a souvenir shop).  They loved them!  

  

Thought I'd end this post with a cute pic of my son and Flounder, one of the dogs we watch occasionally.
She loves the kids and always manages to sneak into their rooms at bedtime.

Hope you had a fantastic Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year!
And January.  Hope you had a good January, too.  =)