Christmas

...WOw, I am such a horrible blogger..3 weeks without blogging!? SHEESH.
I thought this would be sooo easy to keep up with..I guess I lost some inspiration and what have you.

I can't believe Christmas has come and gone already. I feel old...time is going by too fast. We had a wonderful Christmas though...Santa really delivered! :) I think the girls were very pleased with their gifts, spoiled little things they are!
I told JJ "let's not get them too many toys, just focus on getting educational things, and necessities, and then a couple toys of course." Well that failed..as a parent you buy and do everything to make your children happy. Let's just say we are really broke now..we'll be living off of Ramen noodles for a couple months. KIDDING! It just means I'll have to skip out on my Starbuck's, going out to eat, and clothes for awhile! BUMMER.

Back to what the girls got for Christmas..mind you, it's all still laying out in our living room..I don't want to put it in their bedrooms until I go through all their unwanted toys..which will be a days worth of work and I was just not motivated to do it today. UCK.

Taylor's list:
My size dollhouse
LCD TV
Nintendo DS
arts/crafts
CD's
DVD's
clothes
coat
shoes
slippers
jewerly kit
Moxie girl
Barbies
board games
..and a bunch of other random things!



Piper's list:
Princess cozy coupe
dollhouse
CD player
bath toys/paint
kitchen set accessories
books
clothes
tea set
farm/barn toy
building blocks
..and too much more!

Starting my frugal adventure!

...I've been inspired to write this blog I am about to write.
I came across a lady's blog about being frugal..it was an eye opener!
She takes pictures weekly of the food that has gone bad in her house, it helps her realize how much money she is wasting. I LOVE IT!!!
UGH, I am probably the worst wasteful person there is..and I am not exaggerating!
Growing up, we weren't rich by any means..just the average family...well kind of! ha!
Anyways, my mom didn't practice good thrifty saving ways AT ALL! She liked to spend her money on whatever she pleased! Unfortunately I inherited her ways. :(
I admit, I like to be pampered and am very spoiled. I know it affects JJ in so many ways because we're not wealthy by any means! I have an addiction to spending money..a true addiction that I am getting help for. I use to think it was soooo Paris Hilton to be able to buy lavish things and be able to get my nails done whenever I wanted..then I slowly started to realize it's affecting my family..more so JJ. Yet, he still buys me what I want..basically to get me to shut up from my whining, yes I am 23 yrs. old and I still throw "tantrums" if I can't get something. I know some of you are thinking.."what a bitch!" or "you're ridiculous, grow up!" I wish it were that easy..I hate being known as a "gold digger." It hurts. I've explained to JJ that I am not being selfish on purpose..I think he's kind of starting to realize I really do have a problem. I'm ashamed of the debt I've put him in and won't admit to the world all my mistakes but felt I needed to explain my shopping habits and why this specific blog is important to me and why I need to do it!
Before I started this blog I should have been a bit more organized with my stats/info. but I will proceed anyways...I think last week we spent roughly $230 on our grocery bill BUT that included products such as: diapers, wipes, shampoo, cleaning supplies, etc.
After our grocery trip this week I will put up what we spend and our total bill. I'd be interested in hearing about other families grocery bills and what they purchase for their meals for the week!
We grocery shop weekly..so we spend about $920/month give or take at Walmart. Is that more then most families or average? Please, I'd love to know your grocery bills!
Anyways, enough with my rambling...here I will finish off with a picture of what has gone bad in my refrigerator this week. Whoafta, I think I just wasted about $12(bag of carrots, 1 pound of hamburger, 2 bags of bagels)..I can see how quickly the dollar amounts can add up! SCARY, truly scary!

*First snowfall of the season! FaLaLa..not so much.

..Okay, I don't want to sound like scourge BUT I absolutely hate snow! HATE! It's pretty on postcards but when I look out my window, it's depressing! I guess they call that seasonal depression..it really does exist!
I'm sure you're wondering what the hell am I doing, living in Minnesnowta...well, if it wasn't for all my family living here things would be different. California, Maine, and Montana are at the top of my list for places I'd like to live. *Wishful thinking.*


So..Piper & I bundled up in our dreadful winter gear and head on outside. She's in the lead, I open the door for her..she walks out a couple steps, stops, and says "Ewwwww mama, uckies!" Now why didn't I have my video documenting?! GRRRRRRR. She says a lot of cute things but this had to be one of my favorites!! PRECIOUS.

Alright, I'll say it...Happy Winter!

Thanksgiving

..Holidays mean a lot to me so I want to express my love and appreciation for time spent with family and friends on these special occasions.

I was really looking forward to Thanksgiving this year, as usual! Anytime my grandma cooks I make sure I am available! Mmmm!
Well, it didn't look like we would be having a Thanksgiving this year..I ended up having the flu for eight days...JJ had it for two days. So, to skip the nasty details of this illness...JJ and I woke up Thanksgiving morning and both asked each other "Are we going to make it today?" I said "yes! I feel great today, totally rejuvenated!" I really did..and he was feeling himself again also.
So I called up my grandma and said we were coming over, as much as our family wanted to see us..they were a little reluctant in having us over there and spreading our "disease!" ha!
Boy was I glad I made it over there..I ate my first meal in 8 days! It was heavenly...everything my grandma makes is homemade..turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn, bread rolls, cranberry sauce, fruit salad, cole slaw, and then all the desserts and pies! DIVINE!
When my sisters and I get together, it usually consists with a photoshoot throughout the day, especially with my 13 year old sister..she enjoys stealing my camera and capturing the cutest moments of my girls! I sure do enjoy these moments.
After spending a couple hours there, we headed to JJ's side of the family at his Aunt's house. We just laid low, spent time catching up with one another. I did have to skip out on eating over there though, I just could not consume anymore!
Usually I'd make out a list of all the things I am thankful for but I've spent too much time on the computer today, my eyes aren't focusing like they should! :P

Halloween

..Okay, so I'm a couple holidays behind! oh well! And I know I probably should be only posting ONE blog a day but what is a domestic diva suppose to do in her free time?! Whatever the hell I want!

Alright, Halloween this year was fun and chaotic..ONLY because my plan had failed. I had been brainstorming for months in advance as to what I wanted the girls to be, well more so Piper since Taylor is old enough to pick out her costumes. I know it's all about the kids and having them decide what to wear but I could not handle my girls being a princess or a Disney character..it's just too "popular!"
So, I come up with the idea of Piper being a bathtub..I came across other costumes of it online and it was just wayyy tooo darling, I had to do it and I thought how simple! Well the bona fide procrastinator that I am I decided to start her costume Halloween day, yes, just hours before we are suppose to head out the door for the festivities..my plan was to have her wear a white sweatsuit, yellow rain boots, blow up white balloons and safety pin them all over her suit, shower cap, and attach a rubber ducky somewhere. Our first problem occured when we weren't able to find yellow rain boots ANYWHERE..we traveled to 3 different towns and every store possible trying to find something sooooo common with no such luck. We ended up finding her green ones at Walmart, blah but whatever..they'll have to do!
So, JJ blows up about 20 balloons and I start attaching them to her suit, UGH..I knew right away this costume was not going to work. The balloons just started drooping and not holding up like they should. I was devastated, panicked, collected my thoughts.. and ran to Walmart to try to find whatever they had left..I came across a tin man, a lady bug, and a gnome. I pick the gnome, figuring not many people will have it, plus it as pretty cute!
It is now 5:30pm, I hurry home and put the outfit on her...OMG! I know she's my daughter and I already think she is the cutest thing but I am not kidding she couldn't have been anything cuter...this costume just totally fit her every way possible..I was sooooo happy with my finding! (:
Well, Taylor's costume..we had no problem with hers..we went to the Salvation Army and were able to find all the pieces we needed to finish with. I mean really, how hard could it be to come up with accessories for a gypsy?! I'll let her be a gypsy every year if she wants! ha!

It was a perfect night for Halloween and the girls were angels the entire time..we stayed out for awhile since the weather was so nice. Both girls got a lot of candy, a month later it's still in hiding and Taylor has totally forgot about it..I don't usually let my kids eat candy, well Piper has never eaten candy but for Taylor it's a big treat to have a piece of chocolate. I'm not a health nut by any means but when it comes to oral hygiene I am a freak and I don't want my kids having cavities before they start kindergarten. Maybe I am over reacting..LOL.

To vax or not to vax?!

..There's so much hype and craze over this h1n1 stuff that it is becoming extremely annoying but yet concerning when your child falls ill with it.
Some of you may know I suffer with GAD(generalized anxiety disorder) and OCD(obsessive complusive disorder) so when it comes to the world ending, death, and diseases..I google EVERYTHING! A real research guru!
So, I've came across some interesting websites stating the pros and cons of getting the vaccine and whether the info. is true or not, I myself believe it's best to skip out on it for myself and my family. The whole conspiracy theory of it all may be a little far fetched BUT then again you ask yourself "Is the government really that stealthy?" I'll let you decide.
Some good points were made about ojecting to the injection:
-All shots are free of charge regardless of having insurance or not!(Maybe because they don't want to be held reliable for the side effects)
-They have done very little testing on the vaccine, basically just having us humans as their experients, aye..no big deal!
-The 1976 Swine flu vaccine killed more people then the flu itself...ALSO, my grandpa was one of them that received the vaccination, just days later he was diagnosed with "Bell's Palsy"(Paralysis)...from whatever was in that shot.
..This is just a fraction of the concerns..I'm too tired to continue..it's 1:50am and Miss Piper has decided it's play time!
Back to the subject..regardless of your choice, PLEASE do your research before you make your final decision. You need to know what you're putting in your body and the side effects it comes with.

Stay healthy and oink free! :o)

Why, hello!

..So I'm going to try this whole blogging thing again for the 5th time! Seriously.
I'm not very good at this BUT it's a good way for my long distant family to stay connected with our lives so I'll give it a try!
What you can expect to read from us...we're a family of four, we have two girls..of course there's going to be talk about ponies, whimiscal fairy tales, tantrums, attitudes, hair pulling and everything else in between! :o)

I am a VERY proud mommy whom likes to document everything in my daughters lives..I take pictures of all their "firsts", the good, the bad, and the ugly..so prepare for an abdundance of photographs!

So, sit back and stay awhile..it's a crazy life but it's ours and we love it!