Halloween

Is it ok to be more excited about fall back time change than Halloween?? We usually don't make a big-to-do about Halloween but since our son got a Spiderman costume given to him, we decided to let all the kids get dressed up and go trick-or-treating. Last year we participated in trunk-or-treat at church and had fun but it was hard b/c our oldest was just diagnosed in Sep with diabetes. I gave all the cars sugar free gum to give her to make sure she was given something she could have. But this year, we moved last month and our new church doesn't do anything (not that I blame them) so we decided to let the kids go door-to-door with daddy while I stay home and hand out candy. :)

So updates - we sold our house, we moved into a rental townhouse, and we're all still adjusting! We haven't had an "upstairs" since college (1999) so this has been a big adjustment for me. I need to check out all of the organizing tips for having an upstairs and downstairs b/c I used to always ignore that advice! :)

We've joined the Y here, so I'm starting to get some exercise and the kids are in the childcare there while I'm exercising. Probably not the best arrangement but it's FREE (well, included with membership payment anyway). Our oldest is participating in a basketball program so we have entered a new phase of having a child in a sports activity! I'm not sure the other 3 are going to enjoy watching games, etc but they'll have to live with it. I think it will work where we'll have the oldest in basketball, the 2nd daughter in ballet/tumbling/dance, and the boy in soccer where hopefully there won't be much overlap in schedules. It depends on when soccer starts, but I think that will be a doable schedule and each of them will get to do something. That's all for now!

Missy Moment

[I wrote this and never posted it so I thought I would do it now! :) Life has been busy but we finally have a contract on our house and I feel like life might be going in a new direction and time to start writing again! More updates soon.]

I felt a little like Missy yesterday when I realized that the finger I just kissed might have something on it. My one-year-old had pajamas unzipped (a very new skill that I could do without!) and finger pointing out acting like it hurts (stuck in zipper maybe, hit with toy maybe?). After I kissed it I realized it wasn't a boo boo but had been stuck into a poopy diaper. Ugh!!! Go ahead and go here to read all the poopy stories. :)

And I feel a little more like Missy b/c our 3-year-old (yes 3 1/2) isn't potty-trained either. Feel free to come take over for me on this one. I was very comforted though when reading Feminine Appeal that Carolyn Mahaney's son wasn't potty-trained until almost 4. I'm not alone! :)

Update - personal challenge

Well, the oven and stovetop got emptied and a small path was made to the closet but it still needs a LOT of work. This week's agenda is to get my Monday list done. I have a tear-off pad on our fridge (from the Target $1 spot) and the same week has been up there for ages. Monday has 3 things listed and I've been trying to get them done for well, ages. So that's this week's plan! Hope you're ready for Spring! :)

Helllllooooo!

No, I haven't been far far away. And no I didn't forget my password. Just a bad blogger I guess! :) Life has been filled lately but I want to make a few personal goals/challenges and I'm counting on this being the best place to find myself some accountability. I think this Lent* season is a good time to work on our home. Yes, we're STILL trying to get it ready to sell just haven't been pushed yet. Well the kitchen and our master bedroom need the most work at the moment. So I'm challenging myself to have the stove clean (all dishes clean and out, top cleared) and a decent pathway to our closet by Saturday. Maybe I'll post pictures. One small step for man (or homemaker) but one giant step for mankind (or our family)!

*Lent is traditionally seen by Catholics as a time to give something up. I grew up in a Southern Baptist Church and attend a Southern Baptist Church now, we didn't do anything special for Lent just celebrated Easter (Good Friday wasn't even that important - at least as far as I remember). Our family now celebrates Advent leading up to Christmas and have thought about doing something for Lent but haven't yet. [Apparently, I'm not the only Southern Baptist who didn't do much for Lent, Megan and I do have that in common. Oh, and I totally do run-on sentences too!]

P.S. If you subscribe to my feed (hi hubby) you may not know I added label categories on my sidebar. Not a big deal but check it out. I did it all by myself! :)

Frugal Friday - free tax preparation if you qualify

For today's Frugal Friday I wanted to talk about taxes. Ugh. For the last few years I start preparing my taxes by visiting the IRS' web site. Quite shocking isn't it! :) The IRS puts together a Free File web site that lists tax providers and their stipulations for filing your taxes for free. The web site begins Fri Jan 16 so if you go now (late Thur) you won't see much.

Year before last we filed our federal taxes with TurboTax for free. Last year we didn't qualify and used H&R Block's free program. The companies have gotten smart and usually give you a no frills level program but even if you start there it is usually cheaper to upgrade than if you started on the main page of the company's web site.

The IRS web site also lists free state filing options. Usually, we just go to our state's web site and file from there. Hope this helps someone in this tax season!

For other frugal hints, visit Crystal at Frugal Friday.