I always suspected I was a nerd...

I mentioned a few weeks ago that we are going thru Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University at church. I am really enjoying it and last week I found why. Turns out I am the "financial nerd" in our marriage and Jeremiah is the "financial free spirit". Those are actual terms that Dave Ramsey used by the way, I'm not making it up.

The "nerd" loves to do budgets, spreadsheets, cash flow charts ect. That's definitely me, last year I used Microsoft Money to keep track of where we were spending our money. I loved the pie-chart that showed what percentage of your money is going where. Anyways, after doing about 1o pages of budgets and cash flow charts, I'm happy to announce all areas of our budget fall into or below the recommended percentage (for instance its recommended that no more that 35% of your take home pay go towards housing - including maintenance ). I was not surprised to learn that we spend much less on clothing and recreation than recommended.

Jeremiah, the free spirit, glances at all these pages of numbers and says "yup, looks good".

I really do recommend this class, its extremely informative and really helps you set up a financial plan. To quote Dave Ramsey " If you don't have control of your money, it has control of you."

Ever Wonder How Your 4 year Old Sees You?

This is the portrait of me that Isaac drew today. Gotta love the freckles :D

Memories In the Corner of My Mind...

The other night as I was trying to go to sleep a high school memory just popped into my head. It was my senior year and I cheering at a boy's basketball game, either Lake Linden or Dollar Bay, I can't remember. It was our turn to do the floor cheer during a timeout. So here we are doing our cheer on the basketball court in front of everybody, and my mind totally goes blank in the middle of the it. I could not remember the cheer that I had did countless times before! To make matters worse, I was in the front so I couldn't even copy from a girl in front of me. I don't remember how I got thru that cheer, but I'm sure I looked really stupid.

Needless to say, that memory could of just stayed put in the "corner of mind" forever.

My Weekend...

On Friday we went to an open house for Cherry Capital Airport's brand new terminal (which will be open on the 27th). They had a little picnic just for the residents who live near the airport. It was fun, how many times do you have an opportunity to have free roam in an airport? The boys were able to run thru the metal detectors as many times as they wanted, for some reason Sammy made them buzz but Isaac and Elijah didn't.

On Saturday, Melissa, Tanya, and I each checked out a copy of Jane Eyre from the library. Jeremiah says "kind of like Oprah's Book Club, only without Oprah". I think its going to be fun to read this book together, I started this afternoon and I'm pretty sure I will like it. Its about an orphan, for some reason I like books about orphans (I have nearly every book by L.M. Montgomery, who stories are almost always about orphans).

Today, Jeremiah and I had nursery at church. Jeremiah worked in 2's with Elijah (he also brought Samuel with him) and I worked in infants. Lets just say it was a spit-upity day.

Overall, it was a nice weekend.

Wifeswap

Last night Jeremiah and I watched Wifeswap, a new reality tv show where they take two totally opposite women and have them switch lives for two weeks. Its actually a pretty good show and the families seem to come away with valuable lessons learned.

Last night I asked Jeremiah what would be the opposite of me? What kind of wife would they swap me with? He said "Somebody who loves to do housework, is selfish, and does not like spending time with their children." He said he was only kidding about the housework part, but I know he was a little bit serious (its definitely not my strong point). I thought his assessment of me was very sweet and made me feel like my priorities are in good order.

If Raising Children Isn't Important Work, What Is?

Its so nice to know that Teresa Heinz Kerry, possibly our next first lady, doesn't consider raising kids an important job.

Asked how she would be different from Mrs. Bush if Kerry won the Nov. 2 election, Heinz Kerry said: "Well, you know, I don't know Laura Bush. But she seems to be calm, and she has a sparkle in her eye, which is good. But I don't know that she's ever had a real job -- I mean, since she's been grown up."

In a statement put out later by the Kerry campaign, Heinz Kerry said she had
forgotten Mrs. Bush's work as a teacher and librarian, "and there couldn't be a
more important job than teaching our children."

"I appreciate and honor Mrs. Bush's service to the country as first lady, and am sincerely sorry I had not remembered her important work in the past," Heinz Kerry's statement said.

So, apparently, raising her children would not be considered important work.

Interesting...

I came across this article about a study that found vegetarian women are more likely to have girls. What do you think, is it worth a shot? Jeremiah says NO, he wants another boy.

You Gotta See this!

At least once a day Elijah will come up to me and say "Come here, you gotta see this!" Maybe your thinking (like I did the first 10 times) that its must be something really good! Perhaps he picked up all the legos, or he wants me to see a cool picture he drew.

Nope. Guess again.

Turns out that he saves that phrase for special occasions, like when there is a puddle of pee on the bathroom floor, or a glass of water is spilled or a bowl of cereal is dumped. I am now conditioned to immediately grab a towel from under the sink as soon as I hear "you gotta see this." Elijah is a charmer, and he knows it.

Quiz Time...

Darling, it seems that you belong in Gone with the
Wind; the proper place for a romantic. You
belong in a tumultous world of changes and
opportunities, where your independence paves
the road for your survival. It is trying being
both a cynic and a dreamer, no?


Which Classic Novel do You Belong In?
brought to you by Quizilla

Have You Heard the One...

About the mom of three boys who sat down for five minutes to write a blog entry while her baby naps?

She ended up with two boys in their underwear and an end table covered with stickers!

Attending University...

...Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University that is.

Our church has generously decided to pay for all the couples in our young marrieds group to go through this program. We will be doing the classes during our Wed. night meetings for the next 12 weeks or so. I was looking through our kit last night and there is some really cool stuff in it. I won't be sitting thru much of the classes because Samuel is very securely attached to his mama right now (that's a good thing) and doesn't like being left in the nursery. Jeremiah will take the notes and fill me in, I will also try and listen to the audio CDs during the week. I guess we even get homework assignments to do, budgets and what not. I started reading Dave Ramsey's book that was included in the kit this morning and so far so good.

When we are finished, we will be willing to pass on the book, the computer bonus pak CD, and the audio CDs to anybody interested.

Camouflage is the New Black

By the way, Elijah is going thru a don't-take-my-picture phase. He isn't always this surly.

A Most Pleasant Surprise

Today in church I was dropping off Elijah in 2's when I noticed an envelope on the counter with my name on it. I picked it up assuming it was a party invitation. Much to my surprise when I opened it, there was money in it! "What is this for?" I wondered. I knew nobody owed me any money, I knew there wasn't any occasion we celebrated recently that called for money. Than I read the card. It said:

I want you to know I love your heart and your attitude. You are such a great mom. Your little boys are so blessed with such a loving and patient mommy. You have that "meek & quiet spirit" that all of us fellow moms wish we had. I have no doubt you will raise those boys up to be great men of God to the best of your ability. The money is just a little gift to do something fun with. Spend it any way you like.
Love, your sister in Christ

I checked the evelope again, yes it was my name on it. What an amazing encouragment! I really don't know who gave me this card, but this is something every mom longs to hear and something I will never forget. I have been walking on air all day. So, I would just like to take this opportunity to say Thank You to whoever uplifted me today :D

Your Royal Highness

Elijah has been wearing this headband for days now. He says its his crown.

Don't judge a book..

A few months ago we purchased a comparative study Bible. It contains four translations (King James, Amplified, New American Standard, NIV) arranged in four columns so you can read and compare the translations.

When we first got the Bible, I told Jeremiah that I didn't like the Amplifed translation because it defines key words in parentheses like this:

And when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables (comparisons,stories used to illustrate and explain), they perceived that He was talking about them. Matthew 21:45

I guess I felt I didn't need words defined for me as if I was a first grader or something. Surprisingly, after reading this Bible for a couple months, I realized a few nights ago that the Amplified has become my favorite translation. I have found that the extra insight into a word can add depth to a verse. I actually appreciate the extra clarification instead of feeling "talked down to" like I anticipated.

Lesson learned? First impressions are not always right.

Imagination at Work

This morning I was busy getting the boys and myself ready to go and meet some friends. In the midst of this I find that Isaac has opened a new package of diapers and had them spread out all over the couch.

"Isaac, what are you doing with these diapers?!" I ask, trying to hold my frustration at bay.

"I'm pretending they are train tickets." He says.

"...oh...okay" I reply, my frustration immediately replaced by amusement and appreciation for his imagination.

Interesting Bathroom Discussion

Scene: I am drying my hair, Elijah is using the potty.
Elijah: I got pee on my leg! I want a new one!
Me: New underwear?
Elijah: No, a new leg.

The TV Saga

Last week our television broke. Well, to be more precise, Isaac finished off our television which was already a little broke. I did not want another tv, but I left the decision up to Jeremiah and he did. We went and purchased another cheap 19 inch television. So what happens five days later? We get a call from Jeremiah's mom that she is coming down and bringing us their old TV because they just bought a new one.

Interesting note: while perfoming the spell check it asked if I wanted to replace Jeremiah's with ceramic???