Adventures in La La Land

What do you and Mommy do together? Play games What do you and Daddy do together? Jump on the trampoline What makes you happy? Getting to eat 5,000 pieces of cake . . . and cupcakes What is something scary? The squirrel in the wall What are you really good at? Painting Who is your best friend? Harper Who’s the prettiest person you know? Esther What do you want to be when you grow up? Artist What do you think about before you fall asleep? Stuff that I've done Favorites: Color  Aqua and pink and blue Book Search and Find Movie Makenna (American Girl) Food Pizza  Treat Candy Favorite drink Orange pop TV Show Odd Squad Toy LOL Animal Butterfly Song Gold (Britt Nicole) Day Christmas Number 100 Breakfast Food Pancakes Store Justice Where’s your favorite place to go? Justice and Once Upon a Child and Children's Museum and Chuck E. Cheese and Hotel Favorite way to wear your hair Braid

1. We celebrated birthday week this week. Justin and Lena's birthdays are only a day apart, so we enjoyed a full week of celebration! On Tuesday, we met some friends at Chuck E. Cheese for a mini party. Fortunately, many of Lena's friends are either homeschool or Kindergarteners at ACS (which means they only have school on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday). So we were able to enjoy Chuck E. Cheese on a Tuesday morning instead of the craziness there that is evenings and weekends. I think there were only 3 other families in the building the whole time we were there. Win! Lena and her blonde friends. Haha. 2. Wednesday was Lena's actual birthday. The night before, she said, "I can't wait for breakfast in bed tomorrow." And I thought crap!  I totally forgot about that birthday tradition. I am the worst! I usually make canned cinnamon rolls which requires me to preheat the oven and bake for 12 minutes. But I didn't plan ahead this year and didn...

1. Last week, I posted a poll on facebook asking how people pronounce the name of a certain pressure cooker. I was shocked to see how wrong you all are! 66% of you call it an Insta-Pot? When it says very clearly on the appliance itself "Instant Pot"?? How lazy are you that you can't enunciate the "nt"? What's next? Insta-oatmeal? Insta-coffee? Insta-mashed potatoes? Shame on you millenials. ;-) 2. Good news, everyone. I'm normal! Well, at least my heart is. I got another message from my doctor after this one that confirmed everything looks good. As of now, I don't have the dreaded hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. And since it usually develops in adolescence, I'm probably off the hook! I'll get to have an EKG/echo every 5 years for the rest of my life, though, just to make sure. 3. This week, Lucy's English curriculum called for a lesson on card catalogs and encyclopedias. I bought it new from the publisher and assumed it was fairly ...

1. I've been trying to start packing for the big move. I'm kind of a procrastinator, and I work best under pressure. Without a sense of urgency, I tend to think, "Meh. I've got plenty of time!" But as I started packing this week, I realized what a huge undertaking it's going to be. I spent 3 hours doing half of my bedroom. Because I'm sorting through everything, throwing away vitamins that expired 6 years ago, forcing myself to throw away some of my girls' artwork, finding things deep in the closet that I didn't even know I had! Haha. I've also been stalking facebook marketplace and craigslist for deals on decor and necessities. This week I got a steal on bunk beds for the girls. They're white, wooden, and can break apart into twin beds once we frame in Levi's room and the girls don't have to share anymore. Yesterday, we went to Pinky's Place to look around and I realized I'm a total sucker for the whole "Fixer Upp...

1. Last year, I got serious about tracking every penny we spend. Thanks to a friend's recommendation, I discovered Mint, which makes a daunting task much easier. I was able to link my credit cards, debit card, and bank account to Mint, so every dollar I spent using a card was tracked. Mint is pretty smart about putting transactions in correct categories, but I checked it every week or so to re-arrange anything they got wrong. (Every time we made our car payment, it labeled it as "hair and beauty." That's an expensive haircut!) Anyway, since I started at the beginning of the year (and since we almost never pay cash for anything), by the end of the year, we had a good representation of where our money went. It was both fascinating and horrifying. For example, in one year, we spent almost $600 at McDonald's!! I probably shouldn't even admit that. Lol. One of my goals for 2019 is to get a lot more serious about sticking to our budget. We've always had a budget...

I finally got my new laptop so I can type up this entry! I love looking back on the year and am thankful for my weekly blogs to help me remember things. Nothing especially notable happened in 2018, but it was filled with lots of little things that make up a good year. 1. I dieted seriously for the first time in my life at the beginning of the year. I jumped on the Beachbody wagon and spent $100 for the 2B Mindset program. It was good for me to understand how food affects my body (carbs are not my friend, unfortunately) and to try out new recipes and force myself out of my comfort zone. I lost 10 pounds over 6 long weeks, then celebrated by binge-ing and gaining it all back. I haven't weighed myself in the past few months because I honestly don't want to know. 2.We bit the bullet and decided to start homeschooling. The girls finished out their year at ACS, then this fall I started homeschooling them. We're using the My Father's World curriculum and supplementing wi...