Real Life - Day Six

Today has been a train wreck, but a manageable one. If you've been following, you know my dogs killed a cat yesterday. I was in the middle of doing laundry when I heard a knock at the front door. It was my favorite neighbor! Then my excitement to see my neighbor dropped through the floor when he asked if I had seen a white cat because his girlfriend's cat had gone missing. I didn't even know how to respond. I instantly knew that poor kitty covered in dirt and blood was theirs. I didn't want to tell him because I remember the bag that the cat's body was in was now in a garbage can covered in dog poop and yard debris. I didn't want him to see their dead cat like that but I couldn't lie. It wouldn't be right. I took him to the back yard and he dug the bag out and tore it open. He confirmed that it was their cat, took the lifeless body and left. I stood in my house with Ambria just staring at me. Aralynn was sleeping and Aiden was playing at his Grandma Cathy's house. I checked on Aralynn, picked up Ambria and walked next door. Before I even made it to their front patio, I could hear Christine (the girlfriend) screaming and crying. My heart sank. I felt so bad. How could my sweet, loving dogs be such cold-hearted murderers? They get along great with our cat. I rang the bell anyway. Benny answered and I dished out the best, most sympathetic, genuine apology I could and offered to replace the cat. Such a bad day. I don't look forward to any repeats.

Real Life - Day Five

7-810am: Aiden woke me up and asked to watch Caillou. Instead we played quietly in the living room while Daddy slept in. I checked our bank account and found out our tax return had been deposited, YAY! Time to start calling places and pay them off.

820-10am: I called Surprise Court, Arrowhead Court, the IRS, our HOA and a few medical places to resolve our balances with them. All I have to say is I hope I never need to call the IRS again! I was on hold listening to elevator music for 25 minutes before I even got to speak with a representative who took nearly a whole minute to tell me she couldn't take payment over the phone and I would need to go to a local office. Fantastic.

10-1030: Rework remaining return balance to verify we have enough to buy the things we want. Everything is golden!

11am-1230: Ambria was in desperate need of a nap so I laid her down and Aiden asked for lunch so I fed him and tried to figure out why my card reader for accepting credit and debit cards isn't working on my phone. Turns out I just need new software. After Aiden finished eating I packed his backpack and got him dressed to run a few errands with Ian. We heard an odd noise come from the back yard. The dogs were making weird sounds. Upon investigation, they had killed a cat that must have wandered into the back yard. It was really sad. Luckily, I am the wife and I don't have to deal with dead animals. Ian scooped up the dead cat and cleaned up the dog poop in the yard while I fed Aralynn a bottle. Then the boys gave me kisses and hugs and off they went!

**EDIT**

I never did finish this post for the day. Can't even remember why. Darn!

Real Life - Day Four

640am: Aralynn kept stirring in her cradle and for some reason this kept waking me up. I finally stayed up at 6:40.

7-730: Aiden woke up and came downstairs at 7 (we no longer have the knob locks on his door) and he brought his little leapfrog laptop downstairs so I played with him and then I put on Caillou for him so I could blog and wait for Ambria to wake up. As soon as she wakes up we can eat breakfast. :)

730-815: I got all 3 babies changed and dressed Ambria and did her hair. We went on a Mommy-Daughter date because she was frustrated this morning. I love taking the opportunity to spend one-on-one time with my babies. I woke Ian up and Ambria and I went out the door!

820-1010am: Ambria and I perused around Wal-Mart. I bought each of us a sausage mcmuffin and we went shopping! We had such a good time. She laughed, said hello to EVERYONE and thoroughly enjoyed herself. Our outing really helped to release all of her frustration and she went from a sour apple to a perfect peach!

1015-1035: Unload and put all groceries away.

11-1120: Put new sprayer together and spray weeds in my neighbors yard. I'm not sure why but for some reason our neighbors think that using a weed whacker to cut the weeds back (instead of killing them) is a good idea. To me it just looks lazy and trashy. So I'll help them out. Honestly it helps me out too because our front yards merge together and if their yard looks good, so will mine.

1120-1145: Put Ambria down for a nap. Shower

12-115: Lunch for Aiden, chat with Ian, tried to wake up Ambria for her lunch. BAD IDEA! She's been crying for 10 minutes and refuses to come downstairs. She has 4 molars breaking through so I'm not going to hold it against her.

2-3pm: Ambria ended up falling back asleep so Aiden and I hung out and played with his leapfrog letters. Ambria woke up around 2:30 and came downstairs asking for lunch. Lunch was served and now we are folding/playing in laundry.

330-540: Laundry wasn't progressing so I put the girls in the double stroller and Aiden in the wagon and we headed off to the park and to check the mail. I posted a few pics on Facebook. I even let Aralynn feel the sand between her toes. Everyone had a good time.

545-7: Kids ate a nice and easy dinner - leftovers. A bath was in desperate need so the oldest two showered while Aralynn got a nice warm bath.

7-723: Fixed some of the HTML errors on my website and did a little FBing. Now time for dishes!

730-815: Did a load of dishes, brushed the kids' teeth and tucked them into bed. (with kisses) It sounds like Aiden is not quite ready for bed judging by the singing coming from his room.

820-1030pm: Pulled up Netflix to watch episodes of Dollhouse while folding laundry. Took a break from laundry around 9pm to start seasoning the steaks and to peel potatoes. After I got everything in the oven I returned to my several loads of laundry that were waiting to be folded and finished them up while watching Dollhouse. Aralynn didn't seem to be feeling well and was really fussy so I'd have to break to cuddle her for a while. Eventually she fell asleep and I laid her down in her cradle.

1120pm-1am: Ian got home, changed out of his work clothes and sat down to wait for his dinner. I plated us, served us, got our meds and we turned on Prison Break to entertain us while we ate. After we finished eating I fed Aralynn and we headed off to bed.

Real Life - Day Three

Unfortunately I have been going non-stop all day and haven't had the opportunity to actually sit down and blog so I can't remember exact times but I can write down what I accomplished.

Baking

Redesign organization of garage

Worked on website HTML for CCJ

Vacuum all of downstairs

Hand-washed dishes too big for dish washer

Played video games with Ian after dinner

Even though I didn't get a lot done, the day was actually really enjoyable. The kids and I had so much fun that they didn't even nap! Of course Ambria crashed around 7 but we still had an awesome time playing.

Casey Castle Jewels - Update!

My business is coming along nicely. I'm even expanding to include rings in my inventory! My lovely Grandma and I were chatting at my last sale and decided it'd be fun to try making a few butterfly wall hangings to sell and if they do well perhaps I'll expand to include an entire butterfly line. Now to do some research and come up with some ideas and blueprints for crafts. I am really hoping Ian can get around to working on my website. I bought my domain name months ago and still haven't done anything with it. On the plus side, now Casey Castle Jewels can accept credit/debit cards while I'm at expos thanks to Ashleigh from Kiss Me Designs.

Real Life - Day Two

630-730am: Wake up, shower and get ready to go, feed Aralynn and get her in some cute garb. Then load her into the car so we can get to our appointments.

815-Noon: We got to Aralynn's appointment 5 minutes late because the traffic on Grand Ave. wasn't as grand as I had hoped it would be. After sitting in the waiting room for what seemed like 47 years we were finally called back. Aralynn weighed in at 16lbs, 8oz and is 25 inches long. Her double ear infections were cleared up so they gave her all of her 2 month vaccinations (even though she's already 4 months old) and gave her the once over. Her doctor said she's ahead of her age group on all of her milestones. Then wrapped everything up. After her appointment I fed her and drove to my appointment. Unfortunately my appointment didn't go as well as Aralynn's did, however, on a positive note it could have been worse. I have 2 discs in my back that have issues. L3 is bulging and L4 is deteriorating. L4 is the effect of what she presumes is arthritis in my back. She can't really cure it and back surgery is not an option for me so she prescribed me a machine that I will wear and it will attach to my back. It will emit electrodes into the lumbar area of my back and numb the nerves in instances of severe pain. I really hope it helps because the next step is weekly injections into my spine. My orthopedic doctor doesn't want to do that on a patient as young as me because apparently it will just make the arthritis worse and it will progress faster. So I am hoping the machine will be my magic cure.

1230-430pm: Played upstairs with the babies. Then Aiden said "out Mommy!" so I left them to their toys and went downstairs to get their lunch ready. I peeled 4 cooked eggs, chopped them up and added miracle whip and sweet relish, plated it and gave each a side of peas. They gobbled it up but Aiden ended up using some of his as hair gel so he took a shower after he finished. Both babies went to their rooms for nap time and Ian and I busted out the bread maker to play and practice making a loaf of french bread.

5-6pm: Dinner for the kids

6-630: Inventory orders for CCJ.

630-8pm: Nighttime routine with the kids. Baths, brush teeth, lotion for Ambria, kids clean their own rooms, then pick out books for Mommy to read.

8-11pm: Ian played video games while I sat bored next to him. Around 11 I got so bored that I decided to go to bed.

Real Life - Day One

Hello everyone! I'm a busy lady these days. Well, busier than usual. The past two days I have been selling jewelry at an Arts and Crafts expo from 8am-6pm on Saturday and 8am-6pm on Sunday! That's a 20 hour work weekend. I'll be doing several shows a month now that my display is ready to rock and roll. Though I do work outside the home on the weekends, I still consider myself a stay at home mom. A very busy, dedicated stay at home mom who strives to maintain my house and children as well as making my husband's life as simple as possible. After all, he works 40hr work weeks as the main bread winner for our family. So, it's the least I can do. I've decided to keep a 7 day blog log (hehe) of my life and what goes on during the day at my house. Follow me through my routine in the Casey Castle. I'm starting on Monday because I was gone all day Saturday and Sunday.

Monday, Feb. 14, 2011

2am-5am: Aralynn wakes up crying and continues for 3 hours. She could not breathe at all through her nose. Had to get some saline and a suction bulb to finally help her breathe. Poor thing. Then I fed her 4oz of formula to help her fall back to sleep.

530am-8am: Disaster recovery in the house. Brianna stayed the weekend and Ian got home early on Sunday. The combination was devastating to the cleanliness of my living room. I assume that's where they spent all their time. About 7:45am I started baking some Valentine's Day cookies. I continued cleaning while they were in the oven.

815am: Woke the 3 kids up and fed them breakfast.

845am: Friend Tim stopped by

950am: Sent the kids to the play room to play. Ambria has a new car to drive around upstairs and she absolutely loves it! I wish her and Aiden could both ride in it together. I suppose I'll have to get him one too!

10-1030am: Rocked and cuddled with Aralynn until she fell asleep. Then emptied all the trash cans in the house, took the trash to the dumpster, pulled the dumpster to the curb and checked on the kids upstairs.

FYI: This will be edited throughout the day to reflect what we are doing.

1040-11am: Blog while Aiden & Ambria eat lunch

1130-1240: Play at the park!

1245: Contacted Events Coordinator and scheduled another show for March 5th!

1: Bottle for Aralynn

120-155: I wanted to do something educational with the kids and normally we practice letters, numbers, colors, animals, etc. Today Ambria brought a book and asked me to read it which spurred a book reading session like no other. I read every book they have (some of them twice) until finally they started to get bored.

2pm: Take Valentine's Pics for Daddy

230-4: Nap Time for all 3 kids while Mommy finds more business contacts for future shows.

4-5: Dishes, Vacuuming, Create and print V-Day Card for Ian and plate his gift.

5: Ian gets home. I drove all the way to the mailbox (which is several blocks away) and found the Valentine's Day card Ian hid in the passenger seat. I retrieved the mail and headed home. When I got home Ian asked me to get my jewelry stuff out of the trunk because it was rattling around really badly while he was driving to and from work. Upon opening the trunk I was surprised with a dozen white roses and this bread maker! I've wanted this thing for SO long now! I'm more than certain this bread machine will be on my personal list of super tools. It also makes jam. How lucky am I! Then the kids ate some leftover lasagna for their dinner.

7-930pm: Ian, the kids and I went shopping at Lowe's, Home Depot, & Wal-mart. Lowe's and Home depot we were able to shop and compare prices on the new security door we have budgeted into our tax return fund. We compared prices at all three stores on UV film for the windows on the house to help reduce cooling costs in the summer. I didn't realize how cheap it would be! I had budgeted to spend $200 but it looks like we'll be able to do the whole house for about $80! That'll be an extra $120 to put into emergency savings.

945pm: Got home and put the kids to bed

10-1130pm: Started Fiery Dragon Soup for dinner so Ian and I could eat. We watched an episode of our beloved Prison Break (Wentworth Miller is my love!) and then I changed Aralynn and we headed off to bed.

Dog Food

I LOVE saving money any way that I can. Today I was going through my shopping receipts to find the item that happened to be the most expensive. The most recurring culprit? Dog food. That's right ladies and gents.. my 2 dogs go through over 80lbs of dog food every month. At $20 per 40lb bag, that adds up! That's almost $500 a year just to feed them! So I decided something must be done. Surely I can make a healthy dog food all by myself and save a few dollars along the way. Right? And so my quest for knowledge began. I did a bunch of research on nutritional needs, types of food and recipes.

I ended up baking my own batch up. Time to see if they like it! Sadly, it isn't cheaper to make your own dog food if you use quality ingredients. I used chicken breast. So I guess I'll just have to pay Pedigree to keep manufacturing my dog food. Some day I hope to find an alternative.

**EDIT**

The dogs did love the dog food and I have found some other recipes to try that look more friendly to my wallet. I'll play around with a few of them to see what works and what doesn't.

Child Labor - The Fun Kind

My oldest baby turned 2 in September so I guess that makes him nearly a 2 1/2 year old now. Surprisingly we are all somehow surviving the "terrible two" stage of his life and honestly, he deserves the most credit for it. He's a pretty good kid. That and I'm the best parent that nature could create. Ha! Just kidding about that last part. Although being the best parent you can possibly be does help to nurture an awesome kid. Responsibility is an important lesson for kids to learn and the sooner the better. Aiden has spent his entire life watching me maintain our home and recently asked me for his own chores and I happily obliged. Now his chores are cleaning his room and feeding the dogs. Granted, he often spills the dog food and needs several reminders to stay on task when cleaning his room but it's still a good learning experience for him. Ambria enjoys cleaning up her own toys but I think 1 year old is too young to have mandated chores. I'll let her enjoy life another year.

Making Money Work

Just about everyone has been affected by this recession so what do you do when there just isn't enough work for the money you need? You make your money work for you. Those of you have been reading for a while know that I am a fan of saving money whenever possible. To those of you who haven't followed my blog very long, don't get me wrong. I do enjoy nice things. I do have nice things. I do understand that every now and then, it's okay to splurge on things that everyone can enjoy... as long as I get a good deal on it :) We have an amazing 61 inch Samsung flat screen that my family enjoys on a daily basis. We have a PS3, an Xbox 360 laptops, expensive android phones and other luxuries. However, we bought our TV brand new for 50% off, Ian traded in some other gaming consoles to get the PS3 nearly free, we bought the 360 used and sold a bigger laptop to buy the two we have now. The phones we were able to get discounted with a new contract and we used our tax return from last year. The key is not to waste money where it doesn't need to be wasted. I know too many people who actually spend money on these things on a regular basis:

-Eating out/fast food

-Pest Control

-Landscaping

-Weed Control

-Going Out

-Clothing

-Electricity

I'm sorry to offend anyone but eating out on a regular basis is not only a HUGE waste of money but it is SO unhealthy. I was capable of cooking food when I was 7 so none of you have any excuses, unless you no longer have your hands. Quit being lazy and cook something! Actually you can even remain lazy and still cook. There are things like hamburger helper and the Betty Crocker and Banquet Meal in a box. All you do is add water and heat! It's definitely cheaper than eating out. It's usually healthier too. Just to show you how stupid eating out really is, here is some math:

When eating cheap fast food you can expect to spend at least $3-$7 per person. If you are a family of four that one meal for your family will be AT LEAST $12-$28 plus tax. For ONE unhealthy meal.

If you eat at a restaurant you can expect to spend $8-$23 per person. If you are a family of four, that single meal just wasted somewhere around $32-92.. depending on where you eat. I know there is a huge expanse between $32 and $92 but that's the difference between Red Robin and a Steak House. The prices vary.

If you are smart enough to cook at home:

1lb ground beef (97/3%) = $1.99 1lb pasta = under $1 and a can of spaghetti sauce = $1. That's a whole meal for that family of 4 for $4 and there will likely be leftovers. Don't want spaghetti? 1lb ground beef = $1.99 hamburger helper (in any flavor) $1. That's a whole meal for about $3. Meatloaf will run you under $2.50 to make. Don't want to eat ground beef? AWESOME Chicken is even cheaper and you can do a whole lot more with it. Catch my drift? Do you understand why eating out is not only stupid, but wasteful? On to the next waste...

Bug and weed control. If I could find someone who would come spray my yard for $20 and give me a 100% guarantee that I would not see a singe insect nor a single weed, I'd be the first one on that gravy train. $20/year for me to not have to lift a finger and still reap the reward of no pests and plants - AWESOME! Unfortunately, no one can commit. So, we buy bug spray that guarantees no bugs for a full year (black widows only guaranteed for 6 months) and weed killer that guarantees a full year of no weeds. Each costs about $20 per bottle but the bug killer lasts 3 years and the weed killer lasts 2 years. You don't even have to spray the bug killer in your house (unless you have an existing problem) and this stuff is potent! We had a major issue with crickets and black widows. We sprayed along the house foundation outside and along the wall in the back yard. Nowhere else. Not only did it kill everything it touched instantly (the bugs twisted and contorted before dying - creepy!) but we never saw another cricket or widow since then and this was back in October or November. Also, it killed all the bugs in our neighbors' yards as well. I know because they told me. The only insect I have seen since then is the occasional fly outside but it doesn't stay long. Spraying the weed killer we only do once a year and the bottle doesn't lie, we truly never see a single weed all year long! This stuff is amazing!! If you are interested, text me or send me a comment and I can go find out the brands for you.

Landscaping is kind of a toss up. I don't feel like it is wise to spend money on landscaping but I do realize there are some circumstances that require it. I have NO idea how to trim and shape a bush and I don't know which branches to cut from trees but I can figure out a lawn mower. Therefore, my back yard is grass and my front yard is gravel. There are a few bushes in my front yard and one big mesquite tree. The tree I keep to help shade the house (reducing our energy costs in summer!) and my bushes are low water, low maintenance bushes. One never has to be pruned, my myrtle needs a good trim once a year, my lantanas die in the winter and grow back so I never do anything with them. I DO pay for landscaping ONCE a year. Not from a nice company. I pay the hispanic, minimal English speaking man who is going door to door $25 once a year to trim the tree, trim the myrtle, blow the leaves and seed pods out of the gravel and remove all debris from my front yard. Money well spent since I don't have a blower, trimming shears or the know-how needed to shape a bush into a well formed dome. What bothers me are the people who pay for landscaping every week/biweekly/month to come mow their lawn and trim plants that aren't in dire need of it. My only exceptions are again if you are missing appendages or have like 3 acres of yard to maintain. Somethings are understandably unmanageable.

Going out is a big one. BIG ONE. If you are single, fine. Blow your money. I don't care. If you are a couple. Again, I don't care... it's yours to waste and you can suffer alone if you can't afford to pay your power bill because you just HAD to go to that stellar concert, dude. If you have kids... grow up. Going out should never (unless you are filthy rich) be a regular thing. I do understand that it is necessary to keep the Mommy-Daddy relationship "alive" so a date night once or twice a month is understandable and medicating. Going out once or twice a week (or more) when you have young kids is stupid, selfish, and completely irresponsible. (Unless you have oodles of extra money that is just itching to be spent) Find things to do at home or if you MUST go out to keep from going stir crazy... find something free to do. Go to the park, walk the mall (without buying!) do a scavenger hunt with your kids. There is tons of stuff just waiting for you (not your wallet) outside.

It never ceases to amaze me how much people love to buy clothing. My younger sister (for example) "cannot survive" without buying new articles of clothing each and every month. What does she do with the old stuff? Throws it away or gives it away. She doesn't keep it because wearing it twice a month for an entire year apparently isn't cool. I don't care that she gives it away because I usually get it (WIN! Free clothes!) but if you don't live at home with your parents and their endless wallets, quit buying so many clothes. If you just can't bring yourself to accept hand-me-downs then at least shop on clearance. If you are spending more than $7 for a shirt - I am totally laughing at you. Daily. When I do buy clothes which is VERY rarey, I buy them at Wal-mart... on clearance and you know what? I still achieve "Freaking Hot!" status.

Finally, your electricity. The television should not be a babysitter for your kids and you don't need to be watching TV all day every day. Lights don't need to be on during the day. People waste so much money on electricity it astounds me. I am on the noon-7 plan with APS. That means my electricity is cheaper from 7pm-noon. I do all of my high energy usage chores before noon or after 7pm to help save money. Also, during the day (unless Ian is home) our television remains OFF with the exception of the kids watching Sprout shows while eating. I never use lights until it gets dark out unless there is no window in the room (bathroom) and at night I only use enough light to keep from falling over furniture. In the summer the AC stays at 80-83 and winter the heater stays between 70-73. Both are uncomfortable but it saves money... and you get used to it.. just wear less clothing in the summer and bundle up in winter.

Yes it's nice to spend money on stupid luxuries, but if you don't have the money... it's time to wise up and put it to better use! I have a mortgage and bills just like everyone else. In 2010, we made a measly $15,000. Guess what? We are still enjoying life. I've made that money work for me. I stretch the life out of each dollar and we are just as happy and have all the same things that people making $40-60k a year have.