Christmas shopping on a budget solved.

I have yet to meet a family on one income who has money at their disposal. Most families with young children and a SAHM are living on a shoestring budget. Of course we are one of them.

But really, when Christmas rolls around I still want to shower them in gifts! Thankfully they are still young and don't really even 'get' the whole Christmas thing. We take it easy while they don't know what's going on. It won't last forever. I read something the other day though that I thought was very helpful. I am not sure if it should be classified as 'Christmas shopping on a budget', because if you were really on a budget you might make your gifts, or only buy one gift, but here we go:

the article suggested you buy 5 gifts for your children:

1) Something they want
2) Something they need
3) Something to read
4) Something to wear
5) Something you want them to have

I'm not sure if I'll use this list or not, but I thought it was a great starting point, especially for families with young children. I want to think it helps avoid over-buying of plastic (obnoxious) toys.

Let me know your thoughts!

are mom's mean? are they?

i'm in the middle of a kid-free week and i am enjoying every minute of it. I miss my kids like crazy, but I am living it up not having them here. I'm doing all sorts of crazy things like running errands, you know, without trying to fit them around naptimes, mealtimes, and meltdowns.

i've noticed something though. mom's are mean. let me re-state that. i've noticed that mom's with small children are not very kind or friendly to people who are running errands flying solo.

am I like this?? EEK. I hope not.

For example, today at Target, I nearly got knocked into with a shopping cart TWICE. Apparently, mom's think you should get out of the way, because they have kids and all. I was seriously given an exasperated sigh and a glare which translated to "get the heck out of my way, i have such a tough job with these kids and you are making it worse by being in MY way." Last I checked, I thought the polite thing to do was to both move, or give a nice excuse me. (it was one of those moments where you move slightly and assume that they too will move slightly, but they don't and then you practically get run over).

I had another experience while going into the bathroom stall today. I was going into the big stall, when I hear someone behind me. We had the following conversation:

HER: you're not a family.
ME: excuse me?
HER: your NOT a family, you shouldn't use that stall.
ME: oh, did you want to use it?
HER: well, we were going to!
ME: well you can use it if you want to.
HER: you don't have kids, you shouldn't go in that stall (exasperated as she goes in to a small stall with her daughter).
ME: Well, next time, ask for the stall if you want it, rather than make a snide remark to me in front of your daughter. (yes I was pissed).

I was flaming. She was so rude. AND I DO HAVE CHILDREN NOT THAT IT SHOULD EVEN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

So anyway, i know that I have been the crabby, exasperated mom who is jealous of all those kid free people hopping in and out of cars like it is no big deal. It's weird seeing it from the other side of the fence and I vow to try my hardest to not be that type of mom.


and seriously, if you hate staying with your kids then don't. and at the very least don't act like a child in front of them. they see everything you do.

what we've been up to since we have not had the internet

we haven't had the internet while we were moving.

Thursday, we moved. In the dark and in the rain. Sound fun? It was fine actually. We finished unloading the truck around 10 pm so mike and I returned the truck and went out for wings at Green Mill. Yum!

Woke up Friday and went over the the apartment to finish cleaning. We were supposed to check out at noon and were doing a mad scramble to get everything cleaned. 12:15 comes and the apartment manager still wasn't there, so we gave her a call. She forgot. grrr. So we didn't check out until 1. Then we came home and moved all of our boxes that were in the garage into the house. that took 2 hours and was exhausting.

That night, since we still hadn't eaten anything, we went to Burger Jones. It was amazing. We will frequent that establishment again soon!

Saturday I had class from 8-5 and Mike worked from 8-5. We met up with some friends we haven't seen in forever that evening. (forever, like Lacey was 6 weeks old last time we saw them).

Sunday morning I had to work, and then we spent the rest of the day turning trash into treasure (pics to come). We worked on some home improvement projects and put on our creative hats. You know, something that you can't do with kids around.

And now we finally have internet so I am back up and running, doing homework and catching up. I'll try to post pics of the new place as soon as I can. I love it!

battles

Everyone fights their own battles.

Sometimes I forget that.

Yesterday for example, was particularly rough. The kids were going crazy and they were driving me crazy as a result. I was doing a lame attempt at packing. I am hours upon hours behind on homework, it was cold and rainy and we went for a drive for lack of anything better to do. Miles fell asleep in the car and, as a result, refused to go to bed at bedtime. Lacey was bouncing off the walls until 10.

It was a long day.

But then I visit MckMama's blog and read about Stellan who is sick, sick, sick. And I cry. Why? I cry because my kids are healthy and because I am not sitting in a hospital room on their first birthday hoping, against hope that this will pass. I don't have to live with that. I don't want to live with that. It's still not fair though.

And she is just one, individual example, of someone who is fighting a battle. Some battles are short and easy, some are l-o-n-g and treacherous. But we all fight them.

All of us.

All I can say is keep your head up, stay positive, and do what you can to keep fighting.

And pray. Oh, yes. PRAY.

Safe?

According to Forbes, Minneapolis is the safest place in the U.S. to live.

For the record, the top 5 cities are:

1. Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
2. Milwaukee, WI
3. Portland, OR
4. Boston, MA
5. Seattle, WA

And the 3 most dangerous cities, all coming in very close to each other:

1. Detroit, MI
2. Memphis, TN
3. Miami, FL

There's your interesting news for the day.

busy, so busy.

This week:

I work 6 hours today, Mike works 10. We'll be packing any chance we get.

Tuesday: I work 5 hours, Mike works 10. He is training new employees, and has a one on one with his DM for 3 hours which perfectly overlaps when I am supposed to be working. Still haven't figured that one out. Packing any chance we get.

Wednesday: Thankfully, I don't work. Mike works 10 hours, plus it's Wednesday which is his paperwork day, so he will be busy. I will be packing the kids for their 10 day stay with my parents (yes, TEN DAYS).

Thursday: Double doctor appointments in the a.m. I have to take them alone. Rush home, feed lunch, meet mom and dad, exchange kids, study all.freaking.afternoon. Work 4 hours in the evening. Start moving. Mike is working until 9:30 pm.

Friday: I am off, Mike is off. Move everything, clean apartment, check out of apartment.

Saturday: I have class from 8-5, Mike is working 8-4. Going to church at 6 pm. Meet up with friends afterwards.

Sunday: I work 8-1.

TO DO:
Clean AC units
Clean Bathroom
Clean oven
Clean Microwave
Scrub floors
Clean carpets
Vacuum carpets
PACK
Dust trim and furnace vents
Change lightbulbs
Clean cabinets inside and out
Rent U-haul to move everything.
Drop off at Goodwill
Clean mirrors and windows
Clean fridge
Clean sinks
Clean inside of dishwasher
....on and on...

Activity Table

We are looking for an activity table. We want one that can duo as a coffee table since it will be in the living room. Also, since it will be in the living room it cannot be bright, plastic, colorful, etc.

not my style.

So, naturally I am drawn to 2 stores that I think might have something along those lines. Pottery Barn Kids and Land of Nod. We don't have a Land of Nod in Minneapolis (why the heck not??), so that leaves me to Pottery Barn.

I love me some Pottery Barn, and of course they have exactly what I want (well not exactly, since I want black, but you get the idea). Of course its also going to cost me $349.


So then I decide to look for alternatives. It's not that the $349 is an absolutely unimaginable price to pay, but I could find plenty of other things to buy for that much money.

On a whim I checked out Amazon.com.

Lo and behold...



$99.99

Thank you Amazon.

I am sure its not the same quality but: a) it's going to be destroyed by kids and b) I am going to paint it black anyway and who wants to spend $349 just to paint it. For $349 it should come in black.

I don't know if we'll get it, but so far it's the most promising option.