Murphy again? Maybe not...

This is a problem. Given how the year has gone so far, I assumed a very expensive problem. That would be par for the course... That thingy, for those of us that are non-mechanically inclined, is a strut. It's a rear strut in our Subaru. It's not supposed to look like that. The pointy thing on the left is supposed to fit into the round doohickey on the right. Hmmmm...

Well, surprisingly enough, Jason didn't have to replace anything. He just had to unscrew some stuff, move some stuff, tighten some stuff, and it was fixed! Whew! That's not how the year's been going so far, so we're ecstatic right now. Doesn't take much these days.

Look what the mama did!

Please forgive the shadows and bad lighting. I wanted you to see his "real" smile. (The kid is so stinkin' happy all the time, but getting him to really smile in a picture is impossible!)

I cut his hair. Jason loved the bowl cut, but Brennen is just like Rhys. Hot & sweaty. Having a mop of hair on top makes it much worse! So, I cut off pounds of hair. What a good sport George is. He's just thrilled to have an "army guy" haircut!

(This is a direct result of our Dave Ramsey plan. I'm now to cheap too spend any money on haircuts for Rhys & Brennen. Watch out Cael! When (if) you grow hair, you're next!!!!)

Incredible results...

My sis-in-law posted on her blog and I am so very impressed!!!!

Read about it here: Sara's Blog

Please save the Bluebirds!!!!

We are in desperate need of a new BBQ! My friend, Amy, told us about a contest on our local news station to win a new one. Well, I entered a photo of our old BBQ and now, I need your help!

Please go to: http://ktvq.upickem.net/engine/Votes.aspx?PageType=VOTING&contestid=1742
To vote, you do need to register. It’s painless, I promise! We’re “Barbequed Bluebird?!” and you can read my woeful tale under the picture.

You can vote once each day from now until Thursday (6/12).

Thanks in advance! (The bluebirds thank you too!)

More than $10,000

Yup! We've passed that milestone with our debt snowball. We've payed off $10,013 in about 9 months. Keep in mind, that's as well as cash-flowing some massive car repairs and medical bills as well as everyday big things like propane tank fillings, family trips & Christmas. As you can see from our ticker on the right, we have a long ways to go, but we are going to get it done.

Ask Rhys when we get to go to his favorite Chinese restaurant again and he'll tell you:

First, we have to pay off our "debt snowball"

Then, we get to call Dave Ramsey and yell, "We're debt free!!!!" on the radio

Then... we get to go to dinner...

Isn't that funny? True... but funny! We've taught
him well

Hmmmm... what's a debt snowball?

I posted this comment on a blog in which the family is weighing what do about debt. I thought I'd put it here also for a bit of explanation and update...

We are ardent Dave Ramsey fans. We didn’t used to be. After all, I’m married to a CPA. We know how to “use” money, right? Wrong. We (mainly me) are not to be denied what we want, when we want it. Well… That’s how it used to be… Then Dave came along. Slowly, but surely, over the last 12 months, we have changed our thought process and at the same time our finances, our hearts, and our family tree.

Dave would say: Get $1000 in the bank today! Scrimp by for a few weeks and take EVERY single extra dollar. Sell stuff. Deliver newspapers or pizza. Just do it NOW! That becomes your “beginner Emergency Fund” or “Murphy repellent”. That money is ONLY for emergencies. Period. If it gets used (on brakes, for instance) it must be replenished with the same gazelle-like intensity.

Next, we commit to taking on NO MORE debt. It has to stop. We have proven again and again that, despite our knowledge and great intentions, we cannot get ahead using debt. All we get is more in debt! We have not used a credit card in 18 months. Mind you, we’re still paying on a few, but we haven’t added a single $1 to our credit card debt. You know what the Bible says about debt. We don’t pick and choose what we believe and we know that Lord wants whats best for us. I don’t believe He would tell me that I am the exception to that “slave to the lender” idea.

Now, we’re in the midst of our “debt snowball.” Minimum payments on all but the smallest debt. All extra monies toward that smallest debt until we pay it in full and off the list it goes! It has been very motivating for us to take item after item off that list over the last year. In addition, we have had “life” happen and have paid cash for all of it. Massive car repairs, medical bills, propane (Ack!), and such.

Our bills are not for cars, nice furniture, fancy vacations (although I would like all of those things). They are for little life things over the last 15 years. A little here. A little there. No more. Now, we are 100% intentional about our spending. Our marriage was always great. Now, it’s even better. We have a “budget meeting” twice monthly (when dh gets paid). Our communication about all things has improved with this simple step.Our next steps will be refinancing the house to a 15 year mortgage, fully funding our emergency fund with enough to cover 3-6 months of living expenses, and then kicking our retirement back into high gear while setting aside for the kiddo’s college.

Right now, we’re “living like no one else, so later we can LIVE LIKE NO ONE ELSE!” We cannot wait to be debt free and no longer be a slave to VISA. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel and we’re running toward it as fast as we can.

Debt will never create blessings in your family. If you want more info, look here: Dave Ramsey.

Oh no! Stupid Dave Ramsey!!!!

It's happened. We knew it would. We knew what we would do when it happened. Well, it's happened and we can't do what we planned, thanks to dumb ol' Financial Peace. Grrrrr...

Our neighbor has put his extra lot up for sale. It sits between his property and ours. Understand that if someone builds there, we'll have actual neighbors. Right now, the only neighbors within shouting distance are across an unimproved road off the front end of our property. This is the only house we can see from inside our house and it's only if we look out the front window.

Didn't think I'd get used to no neighbors so quickly. I have.

Our plan was to buy that lot when/if he put it up for sale. Hmmmm... Now, we refuse to take on any debt and we don't have the cash to buy it. What's a girl to do? Pray. Pray that the new neighbors (who may never actually materialize) don't have kids. (It's such gamble that they'd be friendly, well-behaved, and any of my kids' ages.) Oh, and pray that they don't mind living next to us who have 4 littles and are excruciating slow at outdoor beautification projects.

I'm flunking Financial Peace University

Really. Dave Ramsey would NOT be proud. Besides being lazy about budgeting (back on track now), I've been spending my babysitting money on non-necessary things instead of paying down our debt.

I'm only watching Daniel & Christian for 3 weeks this summer. The original plan was to trade babysitting for a pool. Well, they are really missing having a pool (it's disassembled in their garage). We aren't too anxious to have a big pool. So... we ditched the swap idea and, instead, Mary Beth is just paying me. Hence, the money wasn't counted on and has no spot in the budget. It could, but I just didn't include it.

So, now I'm having a bit of fun with the money. Like the Flip Video. And now... a kitchen gadget. Yeah, I know everyone has one. We even had one (remarkably similar, in fact) and I gave it away 10 years ago. Now, we've seen the light. Actually, we've seen too many episodes of America's Test Kitchen. This is a "must have" so... now we have it (again).

Now, I have to use it right?

Actually, as part of my book group reading "Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands", we've decided to do something kind and unexpected for our husbands each week. I picked making an old-fashioned chocolate cake using a recipe from... where else? America's Test Kitchen. Yeah, well... it's got about 100 steps. Yikes! Nothing hard or weird. Just a lot more work than Betty Crocker!

What a mess the mama makes!

What a mess George makes! Stay tuned for an update and photo of the finished project. By the way, it smells wonderful in here!

Garage Sale

Well, in the interest of clearing out some of the prolific clutter and making a few dollars, we had a garage sale. The other two families in our home group plus another friend, joined with us as we invited complete strangers (and a few friends) to haul our crap home to their house after paying us for it. What a deal!

Unfortunately, last week was really hard for me. I had a talk to do for Women's Ministry. Then I came down with a nasty case of mastitis. I also began watching Christian and Daniel. Ack! If not for the help of Amber, I wouldn't have participated in the garage sale. She came over one morning and with the 10 kids running amok, we prepped for the sale. She is awesome!!!

Cael helping get ready:

Why are they eating on the floor, you ask? Have you seen the kitchen table?

Baby Analise for sale: