Pay It Forward

Ok so I saw this on my friend's blog (Sarah) and I think it's a fun little idea. The first three people to leave a comment on this post will receive, at some point during the year, a handmade gift from me. What it will be or when it will arrive will be a surprise! The only catch is that you also have to participate yourself. Before leaving your comment you have to post a Pay it Forward post on your blog giving the same instructions to keep the fun going. Then you can come back to this post and leave your comment. After that all you have to do is sit back and wait for your gift to arrive!!!! Please also leave your email address in the post so that I may contact you if necessary!! I hope that you will play along, I really think this will be a lot of fun!!!

Where's My Incentive?

I apologize in advance for this post - I just need to express a few opinions. I've been reading up on the mortgage part of the bailout that was passed last week. All I have to say is - ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?!?

Everything about this irks me. Here is just one paragraph that stood out..."To provide an extra incentive for borrowers to keep paying on time, the initiative will provide a monthly balance reduction payment that goes straight towards reducing the principal balance of the mortgage loan. As long as a borrower stays current on his or her loan, he or she can get up to $1,000 each year for five years."

Again, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!? So essentially, the government is bribing people with money to make their own mortgage payments on time. On what planet does this make sense? Shouldn't that just be a given? It's called PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY.

I have lived in my house for almost five years. I have made each payment on time - sometimes even early just for kicks. My incentive? SELF-RESPECT, PEACE OF MIND, AND A GOOD CREDIT SCORE. Do borrowers really need an "extra incentive" to pay their mortgage on time? After their interest rate and principle have already been lowered? I don't even give "extra incentives" to my six-year-old for doing his homework. He knows it's part of being a first-grader. I expect that by the time he is an adult, he knows that paying his bills on time is just part of being a responsible person. If you need an "extra incentive" to pay your mortgage on time, you have no business owning a house. It comes with the territory.

What happened to living within your means? My mortgage is about 70% of what the bank said we qualified for at the time. Before we bought a house, we sat down and did a budget and bought a house for what we could afford - not what the bank told us we should spend. Granted, it's not extravagant. The boys bathroom has pink laminate countertops. I'm pretty sure all of our faucets are original to the house (that was built in 1987). We're slowly replacing the floors and other things. That's fine with me. We're not asking anyone to pay for it. It's our house, and we'll take responsibility of paying for it ourselves.

Now, I know there are people with situations such as medical bills, disability and other unforseen circumstances. I'm not talking about them. I'm talking about the people who just don't know how to stop spending, don't know how to make a budget, and expect their "starter" house to be 4000 square feet with granite countertops and a 60" flatscreen above the custom-made fireplace. WHY AM I PAYING FOR YOUR DAMN MORTGAGE?

Sorry. I'll get off my high horse now. My next post will be lighthearted and have some pictures of my super-cute boys.

Ewe...Kisses From Mom

Kevin recently informed me that he will no longer be kissing me goodbye when I drop him off to school. In Kindergarten it was okay. He would even run up to me and hug me when I volunteered in his class. Now in first grade, he is older and cooler. Kissing your mom in front of everyone diminishes your status. I say goodbye to him for seven hours, and all I get are "props" or "knuckles" or whatever you want to call it. Boo.

Why do they have to grow up so dang fast? When he was little, I would get kisses all of the time. Multiple kisses. He held my hand everywhere we went. (That, too, is off limits in front of his friends). He would snuggle for hours. He still snuggles, and I cherish every minute of it because I know that will also one day be gone. Stop growing!

The other night, Kevin came up to me out of the blue and gave me a big ol' smackaroo right on the cheek. I was in shock. A kiss with no begging, bribing or forcing? I wanted to let him know how much I appreciated this grand gesture, and this is how the conversation went.

Me: "Thank you so much for that! Whenever you give me a kiss..."

Kevin: "...you'll give me a dollar?"

Me: "Um, no! I was going to say that whenever you give me a kiss it makes me the happiest mom in the world."

Kevin: "Oh.....but will you give me a dollar?"

Me: "NO!"

Happy mom moment officially over. But it did provide a good laugh.

Little does Kevin know that after he has fallen asleep for the night, I tuck him in bed one last time and kiss his cheeks and face all over to make up for the lost ones during the day.

I love you, Kevin! Mmmwahh.

Chili Impaired

I love chili. It's one of my favorite meals. There's just one problem - I can never make it right. It seems so simple, yet mine always turns out wrong. I've tried a bunch of recipes and I still can't get it right. Not enough flavor. The beans aren't cooked enough. Too spicy. Whatever.

I found a recipe online that had a lot of good reviews. I decided to try it. It looked so good. I even doubled the recipe to give some to my sister-in-law. I dished it up and we sat down to eat as a family. Long story short, the boys ended up eating cereal for dinner. Bryan and I ate the chili, but also ate a lot of bread with it. It was just a little too spicy - okay, really spice. We were sweating by the time we were done. And I like spicy food.

Bryan was trying to be really nice. As he is shoving loaves of bread into his mouth to tame the kick of the chili, he says to me, "It's really good. I really like it. But I can see why other people won't like it." What?!? That doesn't help at all. Then he says, "We can't give this to Mindy." Duh.

Now I have an entire pot of chili in my refrigerator, sitting there being all spicy and not being eaten. I think I am chili-jinxed. So if anyone has a good recipe, please share it with me so I can probably ruin it.

On another note, I accidentally poured lemonade into Trey's cereal this morning instead of milk. I didn't even notice it until I gave it to him and he looked at me all weird.

Three-Year-Old For Rent

I'm not ready to sell him just yet, just rent him out for about 45 minutes each morning while he gets dressed. Then I'll take him back. The rest of the day, we have a lot of fun together. But when I get him dressed, he acts like I am sticking sharp needles in him. For some reason, most of his clothes bug him. Different pieces, different reasons. No rhyme or reason. A few months ago, after a particularly memorable morning, I wrote down what had happened. In case you're interested in renting him, this is what you'll be getting into...

"The jeans I get ready to put on Trey are brand new. Of course, he wants nothing to do with them. He throws a fit and I have to pin him down to get them over his legs. I'm pretty much sitting on him. I finally get them on, and he screams even harder because he can feel the adjustable waist belt inside the jeans. Finally, he calms down.

Next, the hooded shirt. As soon as I put it on him, he decides that the hood drives him nuts. Throws an even bigger fit. Almost strangles himself trying to get it off. He keeps trying to turn around to grab the hood on his back. If I weren't so mad, I would be laughing really hard. He looks like a dog trying to catch his tail. I don't have the time or the nerve to handle another drawn out fit, so I yank the shirt off him (maybe a little too hard) and put on something without a hood or anything that may set him off again.

Now it's time for shoes and socks. I open his sock drawer and realize that the three pairs of socks in his drawer are ankle socks, which he has never minded until I bought his most recent pair of shoes. Apparently, he will only wear long socks with these shoes - not ankle socks. Great. Of course. I try not to let him notice the ankle socks as I put them on. Doesn't work. Yet, another fit. I leave him in his room. I was so mad by this point that I had to just walk away.

Fifteen minutes later, he is still screaming and has both his socks and shoes off. I resort to digging through the dirty laundry to find the "right" kind of socks. He is now wearing dirty socks with his shoes. I put them on thinking the drama is over and he is finally dressed. He then points to the velcro on his shoes and tells me that I did it wrong. What!?! Apparently, I didn't do the velcro straight enough. He carefully replaces all four velcro straps to his standards.

He then smiles and acts like the last 45 minutes of the morning never happened. I, however, am still fuming. He is the only person in the world that makes me want to laugh, cry, and scream at the same time. Or beat him and hug him at the same time."

I only document this so that one day when he is much older with children of his own, he might thank me for resorting to screaming some choice words into a pillow instead of strangling him.

One day I'll laught about this. Right?

Here are pictures of just a few of our mornings the last few months. Yeah - I take pictures of him as he is screaming at me.

New Years Goals...

I'm not sure what 2009 will bring our family. Whatever it is, I am ready and I am excited for this year! I don't make resolutions every year, but this year I have a whole slew of them. Last year was a different story completely. My 2008 resolution was simply to hang on for another year. In a nutshell, 2007 was not a year I would want to relive and 2008 consisted of getting back up from the fall.

2009 is a different story, and I have a lot of goals to make this year the best it can be. I won't post all the boring details of how I plan to accomplish everything, but here is a brief overview of just some of what I want to do.

Become closer to Him.



Go here more often.

Read all of this.

Be better at this.

Fit into this.

Save more of this.





Do more of this.

And this.

And this.

Trey's Big Debut

Trey, bless his little heart, hates any sort of attention - even from Bryan and I. Anytime he catches us watching him doing something, he stops immediately, glares at us and then turns his back to us. He just doesn't like people watching him (or talking to him or looking at him). Also, he is very uncomfortable in new situations (new people, places, routines, clothing) and uncomfortable in any situation that he does not have some sort of control. Super easy child.

Needless to say he was terrified for his preschool Christmas program to happen. He had a few things working against him: It was in a new place (not his preschool), he had to wear a shirt that he doesn't usually wear to preschool (doesn't sound like a big deal but for Trey, it is traumatic), and he had to stand in front of a bunch of strangers and sing.

It took about 53 pep talks the week before and a bribe of an M&M cookie and chocolate milk, but Trey did not end up sitting in my lap and watching the program (which I fully expected). He stood with his class in front of everyone for the entire program. He even very quietly told everyone his name.

The program then consisted of about ten songs, none of which Trey choose to sing. But he did stand in front of everyone with his class while they sang. He even let his teacher put an elf hat on him (again, not a big deal to most children but the fact that Trey did not turn around and wack her when she put a hat on his head is huge).

Trey stood there frozen while everyone else sang, and I couldn't be more PROUD of him. I know he was extremely scared and uncomfortable but he stood up there, without a fight, in front of everyone, and that is a huge step for him.

WAY TO GO, TREY!!! I LOVE YOU!!!

Here is just a small clip of Trey being Trey...