Christmas Decorating

I am normally am very ready for Christmas and all of the decorating but last year the radio stations started playing Christmas music right after Halloween and it really messed with my brain. I wasn't ready for it to start and it made me kind of Scrooge like. We'll this year with thanksgiving being so late and the radio stations backing off until the week of thanksgiving, it helped give me the time I needed. We had thanksgiving and the long weekend so we set up the tree it was really nice. Gabe was excited to help and I think that really got me in the mood, kids can be really good spirit lifters.

The last few years we have had blue, green and purple ornaments so when I found, all of this for $10 I was really excited.

Sara Evans

Well the other day I got an offer from Patrick's grand parents to go to the Sara Evans concert. They had tickets that they weren't going to use. I called my best friend Abbi and told her she needed a babysitter. 

It's been forever since we have had a much needed girl date :) 

Raelynn Yvonne

As an only child I've always wondered if I would ever be an aunt. We'll now it has happened, thanks to my wonderful husband having 2 sisters. This is my niece Raelynn.

Isn't she so sweet.

Here are some pictures of her with her cousins.

New Beds!

The boys have all been sleeping in toddler beds which have the same mattress size as a crib. They all still fit but I think Shawn was getting close to being to big for his.

 Recently we got them all twin size mattresses but they hadn't been able to use them because their room just isn't big enough for three of them. We'll over the weekend we bought them a bunk bed and got it all put together so they can use their new beds.

Needless to say I think they really liked them.

They haven't decided who is sleeping where yet. I think they all kind of want the top bunk. As long as they don't fight they can sleep in a different bed every night if they want.

Veterans Day Parade

Now that Shawn has entered first grade he is old enough to join Cub Scouts. I am pretty sure Patrick has planned for this since Shawn was born. They were both excited to go sign up. Any way the time has come and he is officially a member.

Yesterday he did his first big thing as a scout he marched in the Veterans Day Parade.

Here comes the pack

Gabe, Wesson and I had a great time watching the parade and looking for Shawn and Patrick to march by.

Money, Planning and Financial Security

I am really happy that Dave Ramsey posts his daily tips on Facebook. Lately I feel like he has been talking right to me.

Before we got married Patrick and I took Dave Ramsey's class "Financial Peace University" (FPU)

It was great we did it together and found out a lot about each other's finances and how we handle  money. We had budgets figured out and other than his student loans we were debt free. It was awesome and I really felt like we were on the right track. I was I control and really happy.

When we got engaged and everything changed.

This is the problem, we stopped doing this. This was both of our second marriages and quite frankly we had to pay for our wedding our selves. When money started flowing from our savings into our checking to cover the thing purchased with the debit card it all went up in smoke. There was money that wasn't typically in the account being added and it wasn't going through the budget and I didn't have a wedding budget we just paid for things as they came up. Poof there went the plan.

We didn't realize this soon enough. Not to mention it got worse. When we moved into our house we took on more problems because we needed to do some updates. There were parts that we just couldn't live with. We'll bring on the credit cards. We made quite the mess.

Then the unthinkable happened Patrick was laid off and was out of a job for a month and the emergency fund was gone! Even after getting a job he was still only working part time and he wasn't making much. 

We have more payments than I know what to do with, and a household income that is not enough for the 5 of us. Ok I am to this point. I DO NOT LIKE WHERE WE ARE NOW!

Differnt choices are happening! Starting with this one!

And it reduces the amount of payments that we have juggle every month.

I won't lie I didn't pay much attention in FPU to this section because I didn't have any debt to pay off at the time. We'll I guess that's what I get, so now is the time to put the teachings into place.

I wish I could say we did this but that money went out the window with the rest of it. Patrick has a new job now and will be making more money. I really hope to get stuff paid off and have the savings resume. But I am going to listen to Dave and take it one baby step at a time.

God this is so true! I am definitely not a risk taker I want all my savings back.

I MISS MY SECURITY BLANKET!!!!

This is so important not only for your money but for your marriage. This is another reason that I am so happy about Patricks new job not because of the money but because of his hours we will both be home in the evenings and on weekends so we can have more conversations about how we are doing and what we need to change and what needs to be budgeted for.

The two of us being a united font is going to change our lives!

I am really hoping that the boys will see that we are getting out of debt and realize how important that is. I also hope that they will see us when they are older, when we are not using credit cards and that they will choose to live by our example. 

I really needed to write this post so that  I can use it to hold myself accountable for all of my decisions and get myself out of this mess.

Fall colors

It's Fall and everyone is talking about it. There are pictures all over facebook and Instagram. For such a wonderful time it really should last longer. The leaves change colors and then they are gone. It would be so nice if we had a whole season of beautiful trees rather than just a couple weeks.  I love fall and I have noticed that I enjoy it more every year.

There are so many vibrant and beautiful colors. I really do love all the pumpkins, and mums everywhere.

Gabe really likes the colors too. He came home the other day and said "Mommy, me and papa were driving and we saw lots of pretty trees they were red and orange and yellow and green. They were pretty but not as pretty as you." In case you were wondering, yes my heart totally melted. 

Fount of Mercy Scarves

So every Thursday I go to lunch with a group of ladies. We call ourselves the Lunch Bunch. This picture has most of us and an added boy. There's me, my best friend, my mom, two of my aunts, my grandma, my aunts' best friends from high school, their daughters and the boy is one of the daughters sons.

Anyway Lynn (front left) has a daughter Lori who lives in Africa. She comes back to the states and joins us for a month of Thursdays every year. Recently she shared this Blog that tells about her project in Uganda and some Scarfs they are making. The blog really says it all so you should check it out.

 

It's a really good cause and here is a link where you can Shop. They are really pretty.

Pumpkin Festival!

I have taken Gabe to the Pumpkin Festival every year since he was born. It is something I look forward to every year. I always take his picture next to the biggest pumpkins we can find. I love looking back on the pictures from every year and how much he has grown!

We had a lot of fun this year. He made a car and played on the playground and found an inflatable pumpkin man that Gabe thought was awesome!

He has gotten so big. I love traditions! This is one of my favorites.

WOW 4 & 7 Already!

October is a big birthday month in our house.

Wesson White

Shawn Patrick

Wow really explains it all. As their Step-mom their birthdays are a little different for me, just because I wasn't there when they were born, but at the same time, I was in class with Patrick when Shawn was born and remember him being the proud daddy showing his baby's picture around. I remember being on Facebook and watching Wesson crawl across the floor for the first time.

When Patrick and I started dating Shawn was 4 and Wesson was 1. It's crazy to look at them and think about how far we have all come, in the last 3 years together.

We love you boys! 

Happy Birthday!

A trip to the cabin

It's a peaceful place in northern Missouri that Patrick and the guys refer to as the hunting lodge. They go there to fish and hunt and do manly things. I go up once or twice a year and enjoy the peace and quite and the gorgeous scenery.

We'll we broke it lol. We brought the kids up with us. Peace and quiet I did not get, but hey we had fun. Me and the 7 Male types.

Here is Gabe in the tractor. Wesson didn't stay put long enough for me to get a picture. They were so excited about the huge tractor.

The big boys being Patrick, Chris and Greg were more concerned with getting a new roof on the Cabin.

We mostly working....there might have been a small photo shoot :)

Here are the rest of the guys shooting stuff, while the roofing was happening. Tony, Scott, Shawn, Gabe and Wesson.

And there was some fishing of course.