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hello blog life...

Welcome!  this is my personal blog, where I ramble, share things that everyone may or may not want to read.  My personal stuff goes here.  I put it here so that my clients don't have to read about my boring life.  I blogged for years before I started my work blog and i want to keep them seperate, because while my business is a part of my life, my kids are the biggest thing!  :)  so here you will find good mommy blogging, and our day to day lives.  If you want to see how insanely boring I am...read away.  If you want to see beautiful pictures...check out my work blog: Candi Leonard Photography blog

now that you have been warned, scroll down to see what is NEW in my life.  :) 

Meal plan monday...

It is monday again!  This month has flew by!  I am proud that we made it an entire month with meal planning!  No pizza ordered.  NO drive-thrus, NOTHING.  Travis and I did have an impromtu date night at Chilis this past friday, but we used gift cards, so we didn't spend a dime!  WOOT!

 

On Saturday, I ended up making chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes with gravy (ala pioneer woman).  We had left over potatoes that needed to be used, so I bought some cube steak for $3 and whipped up the meal.  IT was HEAVENLY.  reminded me as to why I do this.  Because it is so much better to eat from home.  :)  Sunday was leftoevers day.  We had plenty to go from!  ANd now I am starting off the week with a clean fridge and yummy plan!  

 

MOnday- homemade tacos.

tuesday- spaghetti and french bread

wednesday- beercheese soup, beer bread and some veggie side...not sure what yet

thursday- beef tips, mac n cheese, veggie mix.

friday- leftovers

saturday- crock pot french dip 

 

going with some old favorites this week.  I need an easy week!  

starting over...

Having another kid is kind of like starting over. And I don't mean going back to the diapers and bottles stages.  But instead, it is like a second (or fourth) chance to try again at parenting.  As I think about this new little one joining our lives, I have SO many goals for my parenting.  I know I am a good mom.  I have done a LOT right, but I have some areas that I really want to improve with this go around.  

 

SLEEPING!

We suffered through sleep training with the first 3.  Austin wasn't terrible, but roomed with us for far too long.  Alex, same thing.  Ashton did GREAT until he got RSV and then we suffered through months of sleepless nights with him.  But we corrected it early on and now he is by far the best sleeper.  With this baby, I plan to do a better job with a sleep schedule and making sure we stick to it.  

 

EATING!

It is NO secret that I have picky kids.  Just last night we battled the food war again.  I am a picky eater myself, but I really don't understand my kids pickiness.  SERIOUSLY.  My kids refuse to eat things most kids love.  Like pizza, mac n cheese, burgers, etc.  Makes it SUPER hard to plan meals for our family.  I end up cooking two sets of meals.  STINKS.  Ashton is my saving grace.  He eats what we eat.  He is a GOOD eater.  I plan to make my own baby food with this one, insuring that nothing processed and crap filled hits his lips.  I also am making it my LIFE GOAL to see that this kid NEVER eats a chicken nugget from McD's.  lol.  

 

PLAYING!

My kids don't play well.  Meaning, they just don't.  Ashton plays pretty good, but jumps from one toy to the next.  The big two RARELY touch toys.  They are more of a TV/Video game junkie.  And I hate that.  I want my boys to play.  Because it is important.  :) 

 

LIVING WITH LESS!

We are overtaken in this house with toys.  I am hoping to teach them to learn to live with less, happily.  My boys are spoiled, mostly by Grandmas, but seriously.  They go to the store and expect a toy.  I want to get to a point where toys are for birthdays, Christmas, etc.  So they appreciate it more.  

 

Parenting is not easy.  I feel like a failure so many days.  I feel trapped for time.  I think of all these things I want to do and I simply don't have time to balance it all.  I wish I did.  Sometimes I am envious of my homeschool friends, because they get to plan fun learning activities and do things with their kids.  They can turn a snack into something fun.  They turn an assignment into an adventure.  And I am doing good to balance dinner, homework, and housework in the evenings.  But, hopefully with a little more effort and less working, I can start to change the way this household is run.  I just have to be patient with myself too!  :)  

Menu Monday...

After a week of the stomach flu (STILL!) I am anxious to start another week!  Hopefully everyone will make it to school and this mommy will have ALONE time to clean and work!  IT was a rough week last week!  By Friday, I was seriously ready to leave my house.  I had been home with sick people all week and I just had ENOUGH!  lol.  Everyone seems to be on the mend, except me, who has a repeat ear infection that hurts like crazy.  I have dealt with it all weekend and HOPEFULLY it will ease up.  :)

 

I sat down yesterday made my menu, my grocery list and headed to the store.  I intended to cook everything last night for the week and then we just have to warm it up during the week....and wouldn't you know that the grocery store was out of meat.  I guess they decided not to stock the department on the weekend and by the time I got there, there was NOTHING left.  SO I have to do it all today, but I have a good jump now.  :)

 

My menu:

1.  PW chili- it was on her show and I so wanted to make it afterwards.  :)  I had most of the stuff in my pantry anyway!

2.  meatball sandwiches-I have a new plan for this old favorite.  :)

3.  pot roast

4. frenchbread pizzas

5.  REPEATS NIGHT!

 

I tried to plan a cheap menu this week, using what was on sale, my pantry, and that is all.  :)  Most of the items go hand in hand, so it wil be easy to assemble it all after I get the rest of my meat!  :)  I am leaving the weekend meals open so I can plan according to next weeks sales.  :)

 

And my goals for the week:

1.  clean the kids rooms.  

2.  deep clean the master bedroom again

3.  finish up a wedding video

4.  run self cleaners on washing machine and dishwasher

 

 

Budget talk...

Sigh, money.  I love and hate it.  Over the years, I have learned to love it less, but need it more.  It is the sad truth.  We have been working HARD on our debt the past 2 years.  And we need to work a little harder now that we are adding to our family.  I think our biggest downfall for years was, 1.  credit card dependency and 2.  NO TRUE financial goals.  We got money in, we spent it, we wanted something outside of our means, we charged it.  That was our life.  And even though we were diligent about making payments and using 0% financing and using taxes to pay off debt, we still were sinking FAST.  

 

Travis and I earn a decent living, nothing fancy, but what we are able to do with our money is awesome.  We provide for our family of 6. We send our kids to private school.  We take vacations, we have nice things.  Our kids have cute clothes.  We live a good life.  I remind myself this EVERY time our budget falls short.  WE LIVE A GOOD LIFE.  That life does take sacrifices.  We drive older cars.  We bought a fixer-upper house.  But our mortgage is a THIRD of what most of my friends are.  WE rarely have date nights or see movies (I think MAYBE one movie a year and eat out MAYBE 2-3 times a year).  I don't get pedicures or manicures.  I get my haircut 2 times a year.  We make small sacrifices in order for the things we want to work.  And now I am ready to sacrifice MORE to get what I want...OUT OF DEBT.  

 

If I am being honest, our debt is BIG.  Compared to our income.  A bulk of that debt is student loans, which I feel fine about.  It was worth it.  A small portion of our debt is our mortgatge, car loans (almost gone!), and home improvement cards (heating system finance, lowes card, etc).  THen there is a HORRIBLE chunk of it that is one thing....CREDIT CARD DEBT.  I hate that part.  That is the part I look at and regret.  And it doesn't go away quickly.  

 

We have been working on our debt snowball for a while.  And we do great at it.  Problem is, we can only attack little bits at a time.  Why?  We have no extra budget.  We only have our tax refund usually to use towards this purpose.  Every month, we fall short or even with our money.  Depending on my work.  January and February, we usually are WAYYYY short and then the rest of the months, we get by just fine.  We are wanting to stop that.  On December 31, I logged onto our daveramsey.com, plugged in our numbers to the new tools and he told me that if we pay $75 EXTRA a month to our debt snowball, our debt would be gone in 6 years.  ALL OF IT...including the house payment.  $75 extra for 6 years.  DAMN...that sounds lovely.  I can't even imagine the day that I have NO DEBT and the $ we make outside of utilities is FREE MONEY.  Wow.  That would be amazing.  So, right now, I am working to make that happen.  

SHORT TERM FINANCIAL GOALS:

1.  Determine actual monthly budget needed from me after Travis' paycheck.  Put that amount aside for EACH month.  

2.  CUT our extra monthly spending.  BYE BYE biscuit company.  That was by FAR our biggest splurge.  3-4 times a week at $10 a pop.  yeah, add that up quick.  There is the $75 easy.

3.  Make a better Grocery budget.  Meal planning and really stopping extra "food" expenses.  Like today, when I took the kids into the store and bought $25 EXTRA in stuff outside my list.  NOT GOOD.

4.  DO NOT ADD TO THE DEBT.  This is going to be the hardest.  Even though we are credit card free, we still USE our lowes card to fund our house projects.  That is going to have to stop until we build up a "budget" for home improvement.  

 

FINANCIAL GOALS:

 

1.  Be Debt free before my kids start college.  COMPLETELY.  House, cars, student loans, EVERYTHING.  Sounds easy, but you have think...Austin is almost 10.  I don't have long to do this.  :)

2.  Have 3-4 months of our income in savings account for emergencies.

3.  start college funds for all boys (Austin is the only one right now) and contribute to them monthly.

4.  start a retirement fund.  

 

 Although, when I crunch the numbers (which I spent ALL of last week doing), it looks like a clear path.  And then you stop and think...THIS MEANS NO SPENDING.  NO cute baby clothes splurges, no home improvement projects, no date nights, nothing, for a while...until we get back on our feet.  And this possibly means no family vacation this year.  Which I hate to death, but we got to get a handle on our budget...and this is the way my friends.  I will be honest...this is going to KILL me.  KILL ME.  I need a little flexibility in my budget.  I need some fun, but I know after a few months, it will start to be the norm and I will be ok.  

 

So, look for budget updates this year.  I am so serious about making this work.  I think I am becoming my father.  lol.  I have spent HOURS upon HOURS looking over statements, crunching numbers, figuring out plans, and I am ready to do this...gazelle intense (for my fellow dave ramsey peeps).  Watch out debt...here we come!  

 

Planning for the week...

My weekend was less than productive.  Really, i had high hopes, but we had a lot of set backs...one being a stomach flu that has touched my two babies, and HOPEFULLY will end there.  UGH.  I did get my consignment stuff ready, so that was my biggest battle.  And of course we got a good dose of lysol going on!  :)

 

Truth be told, I had a productive Friday.  I deep cleaned the couch...washed to cushion covers and pillows, etc.  IT looks brand spanking new!  I also cleaned out our pantries completely.  The chicken has a lot of food coming its way!  lol.  We had more expired stuff than I realized.  Scary!  Travis scrubbed the shower REALLY good this weekend too, and I was able to stock up our pantry this week on a few things we were running low on (toilet paper, paper towels, trashbags, etc)  so we did accomplish SOMETHING.  Just nothing exciting!  :)

 

So, I am anxious to start this week (a day late) and get back on my routine.  I function so much better that way.  Here is the weekly plan!

 

Meals:

monday- grilled cheese-we are ALL eating light for fear for being sick

tuesday- leftovers.  We have a few of last weeks meals to finish off!

wednesday- beef and bean burritos

thursday-steak dinner with potatoes, corn on the cob and salad

friday- tuscano soup

saturday- homemade pizza

 

Goals for the week:

1.  prep my tax info for work

2.  edit 2 sessions and complete my album design that is lacking

3.  finish up a wedding video

4.  deep clean the freezer...still haven't gotten to this!

 

Motherhood in check...

It has a been a fragile week.  :(  I think we all were in a bit of back to school shock all week long.  Last week seemed too easy, so this we were bound to pay, right?  

 

I must admit that no matter how much I attempt to do better.  I HATE WAKING UP EARLY.  I have seriously been in bed EARLY every night.  One night by 8:30pm.  And I still can't wake myself up in the morning.  But I have barely squeeked by and gotten breakfast ready, lunches packed and dropped off.  We were there right at 8am some mornings, but we were there.  IT is a tough battle for this momma.  :(

 

This week Alex has taken a turn for the worst.  It is funny almost, because when we sat at that psychologist office, I was thinking....we have outgrown so many of our issues.  And now here I am slammed in the face with it again.  Every day when I drop him off to school he is clingy.  HE usually is, but I can usually walk in, give him a minute and then leave.  NO MORE.  Now the minute I get ready to leave he screams bloody murder and says "But I need you mommy!!!!"  Talk about breaking my heart.  Yesterday, I sat in the parking lot hearing him cry all the way in my car.  TORTURE for this fragile heart.  

 

And DInner time is another battle that I seem to face my entire life.  I SWEAR...you pay for what you do as a kid, because I am PAYING!  I am  picky eater, but nothing compared to my children.  Austin has days.  Alex, is getting worse by the minute.  Last night, I refused to make more than one meal, so I threw chicken in the mix with what I had planned.  I loaded their plates with chicken and the sides I had fixed (green beans, corn, pintos, YUMMY).  Ashton ate it all.  EVERY BITE...wanted more.  

 

Austin nibbled the chicken and we had to force him through the meal.  He wasn't "hungry".  Alex refused to even eat the food at all.  I had a different type of chicken nugget on the plate.  UGH.  SO I sat there refusing to fix anything else.  Just try it.  It tastes good.  Please try it.  No game if you don't try it.  Go to bed if you don't eat.  ETC ETC.  HE wouldn't budge.  AT ALL.  I think we MAY have eaten a HALF bite before almost choking on it.  UGH.  I swear that kid would live off of cheese pringles if I would let him.  It annoys me to no end.  And it worries me too.  I just want my kids to be healthy.  I want them to choose good foods.  I want them to nourish their bodies.  And I am SICK to death of chicken, fries, and pancakes on my table.  I want different foods.  I want them to eat what we eat.  I want to cook a meal and KNOW that everyone will eat it.  NOt just 3 of us.  UGH.  

OF course the icing on that dinner cake is this....we MADE Austin try a bite of our crab cakes.  ONE FORK FULL...no harm.  He did and didn't love it.  But this morning, we woke to a RASH all over his legs.  SO turns out he is allergic to crab meat.  What to go mom there!  :(

Tell me I am not the only mom.  Dinner time is a battle, bedtime is a battle, and school drop offs are a battle.  WHY WHY WHY????  I just want things to go smooth.  Despite my attempts to prep everyone, we still don't get there.  

 

So I am sitting here, thinking, praying, looking for answers in how to fix these little problems we face as parents. Because these 3 (and baby 4 too) are so worth it...

Love with a cherry on top! :)

It has been a great week so far, I know it is only Tuesday, but FOR REAL.  lol.  Sunday I napped laying in Travis' lap at my parents while he watched football.  It was awesome, 2nd sunday in a row that has happened.  I had a quick session yesterday, my house was clean thanks to said session.  We had a quick meal of soup and sandwhiches.  The kids got bathed up and put in bed EARLY and Travis and I settled in for an episode of parenthood and STILL made it to bed by 9:30pm.  That is perfection.  My grandmother cooked us dinner tonight, so I am going to push my meals off to another night.  I decided to make something sweet to take along to her house.  Travis ADORES this dessert.  It is his favorite!  His grandma used to make it and I looked up a recipe that is quite different from hers, and we tried it and he says it is even better.  So I thought I would share it.  :)

 

Cherry Yum Yum...

 

Ingredients:

8oz cream cheese softened

2 packs of dream whip

1.5 sticks of melted butter

2 cans of pie filling (we use cherry)

3/4 cup of sugar

1 cup cold can pet milk

3 cups of graham cracker crumbs

 

Directions:

Mix dream whip and milk till whipped.  In a seperate bowl mix cream cheese and sugar until smooth.  Then mix the 2 bowls together well.  Melt butter in 9x13 dish and add 1.5 cups of graham cracker crumbs and press to make crust.  pour half of the cream mixture over crumbs and spread.  pour pie fillin over and spread evenly.  Pour remaining cream mixture and spread.  Sprinkle the rest of the crumbs over the top and refridgerate for 4 hours.  

 

I feel kind of guilty having made this as it required a trip to the store and some extra $ spent, but really, I did it out of love, so technically it is ok.  January we are trying to not spend anything extra.  I guess this tiny splurge won't be too bad!  :)  

 

 

Rainy monday!

Good morning!  It is a rainy monday and I totally wanted to sleep in...am I alone with that?  But, I had to get a move on and get my boys dropped at school.  This morning I have a sweet baby in the studio!  Before he gets here, I wanted to hop on and share some of my planning for this week (to keep my head on straight!).  Last week was our first week back to life after winter break.  I went into it with a goal of a few things...

1.  make breakfast at home.  EVERYDAY.  And I have done great so far.  We only had ONE poptart morning...the rest was homemade!

2.  cook meals at home!  Again, a success.  We did eat at my parent's yesterday, but beyond that.  Our meals were on our weekly plan!  

3.  Prep the night before.  I have been a machine with this.  It saves me in the mornings, because the kids and I are BOTH slow in mornings.  So having it all prepped for us makes it easy to do.  

4.  NO OUTSIDE SPENDING.  In january, we have challenged ourselves to not spend ANYTHING outside of gas and our necessary groceries.  And so far, so good.  :)

 

So this week's meal line up:

1.  Pasta alfredo

2.  french bread pizzas

3.  nachos

4.  cheeseburger casserole, potatoes

5.  soup and sandwhiches

 

 

I will fill in our weekend meals with this week's grocery sales.  I am unsure of what we will have right now.  :)  

 

This weeks goals:

1.  catch up on work.  orders, albums, announcements, etc.  I have a bit of a to do list here.

2.  work on consignment stuff.  Need to start pricing!

3.  deep clean the fridge/freezer.

4.  go through props and declutter.

 

Happy week everyone!  :)  

Ashton's big boy upgrade!

In August, we finally got the money to afford Ashton's big boy bed.  I couldn't decide what bed/bedding/etc I wanted and then finally it all came together.  I went with Pottery Barn Kids catalina bed and then finished it off with a nice solid quilt and cute sheets from garnet hill.  I wanted something he could GROW with that fit his current jungle space.  :)  The potterybarn furniture was my biggest splurge, HOWEVER we are so happy with all that we have bought there.  I already had his dressor and bookshelf and I really wanted it to match perfectly, so we stuck with it. I will never regret it.  The quality is amazing as always.  :)  The bed came in August and we had no mattress...oops.  The budget fell short on that one.  lol.  So, we borrowed Marissa's old mattress until the funds come through (we still have yet to buy one....somehow we keep forgetting!).  

I already shared his DIY pillows with you, and the lamp.  but I also made a smashingly cute pennant banner for his bed.  He loves it.  :)  I had that safari fabric since I was preggo with him.  ANd FINALLY used it!  :)  

I no longer have my wide angle lens, so you get little peeks of the space.  I love it, although pretty soon, it will get another revamp as we make room for baby 4.  :)  Stay tuned for that later in the year!  :)  

Let's celebrate!

This week, I got serious with potty training Ashton.  I know he is 3...but I learned the HARD way to wait until they are ready.  It makes it go so much smoother.  LITERALLY!  I battled with Austin for almost 2 years.  I am not kidding.  Alex took...ONE DAY.  because he was ready.  Ashton took 2 days.  

 

It all started at the Great wolf lodge.  I didn't have swim diapers, and wasn't about to buy a pack for one day.  So, we went without.  While putting our suits on, I made him attempt to potty, and he did it.  While at the pool, he told me he needed to go again, and we did.  So when we arrived home and survived Christmas, I gave it a go.  We went full out undies.  Day one he had ONE accident..not a good one if you catch what I mean.  Day two, he started to go in his pants and finished in the potty.  WE CELBRATED BIG TIME.  And day 3 and 4...no accidents at all and he has told us when he needs to go, instead of us asking.  *whew*

 

I am so happy to have a few months diaper free before baby arrives.  :)  And quite frankly, I was sick of buying diapers.  I have a nice stockpile of sizes N-3 for baby and MAYBE I will be able to train him before we hit stage four.  :)

 

So tonight we are celebrating with cupcakes.  :)  WOOT WOOT!  :)