My Fourth Grader

Somtimes I feel like the 4 year old gets all the blog love. Probably because he's around me all.the.time and I just have more to say about him. That...and he's totally ridiculous.

Not to be left out is the FOURTH GRADER. People, let me just tell you, fourth grade sucks. It just does, as I mentioned before in my rant on homework. We'll survive. Thank goodness there is a liquor store nearby. I kid, I kid.

Fourth grade plus a new neighborhood and new friends? Well, that part is pretty awesome. I've talked about where we lived before, it was pretty ghetto fabulous. It wasn't HORRIBLE, I went for walks, took the kids to the park and felt fairly safe. It was just run down and dirty and depressed...and not getting any better. I couldn't wait to move even though I was a little stressed about all the changes that would mean for everyone.

I can't even begin to explain how awesome it is when your kid comes home from school and the firs thing he wants to do is run outside and play..and ride bikes...and just be a KID. It's awesome. It's something we just didn't have before and something I always wanted for my kids. In general, I think this is one of those things that we just take for granted. As a kid I was always outside running around and playing so the fact that my kids really couldn't do that ate at me.

Tonight he came home in time to eat dinner and do chores. It was 6:15 and he asked if he could go back out and come home by 7:30. I let him go even though he still has things to do. Our hours of daylight are dwindling and I can't help it...it makes me happy to see him so happy. He gave me a hug and ran out the door.

I love that kid.

Looking for the money tree

thank you google images!

As I mentioned before, we moved. The house we moved in to is considerably smaller and was built after 1930 so bonus. Although, I adore old houses. I'm so NOT a new construction person...but that's not my point. My point is that in the end this move was supposed to save us money...and I'm sure it will...at some point.

Right now, we're just struggling. I really truly can not complain, the house was a gift and it's amazing and I'm so so thankful but that doesn't make paying the bills any easier. They still have to get paid and in reality, we're just swapping paying a high gas bill for putting more gas in our cars because commutes are longer. Back to school shopping, doing things like building shelves in the garage and putting in a new bathroom floor. It's all things that we're happy and THRILLED to do, really, but omg, it's killing us.

We're not big spenders. I love to shop but I'm much more of a Target clearance girl then a Coach girl. We occasionally splurge on a night out but it's pretty rare. I love a cup of Starbucks but I try to keep it in check. I haven't even been to my all time favorite cupcake place (Main Street Cupcakes. You should go. mmm, cupcakes) because it's not in the budget.

Must.Stick.To.Budget.

It's just a rough week and I'm trying to find ways to make it better. Who out there in cyber world wants to host a Premier party? Anyone?? :) Catalog or in home, I'll travel! LOL No, seriously. Anyone? It's a kick ass good time with some fabulous jewelry. And me, I'm kind of a big deal you know. Just ask my 4 year old ;)

How about pictures? I work with an fabulous photographer. Mini sessions at the end of the month! Find us on Facebook ;) Love Knots Photography

How do you cut corners when you feel like you've already cut the paper in half?? Help me out. I coupon, I shop clearance and I love a good second hand store. I wait for sales. A friend of mine recently did a no spend month, has anyone tried this? I may need to look in to it for November, before the holidays hit. Today is budget day!

Moving

We've been in the process of moving for what seems like forever. And Ever. And ever. Okay, so it's really only been a few months, but trust me, it feels like longer.
We've known since the beginning of the year that there was a chance we'd be moving this summer, we just didn't know when. We started trimming the fat, sorting stuff and getting rid of stuff we didn't need. It felt good. We were organized and we got rid of a ton of stuff. It was awesome, we were moving rockstars.

Then it came to actually move...as it turns out, we're not rockstars. We're more like groupies or maybe roadies. Roadies are the guys that just carry heavy shit and set stuff up, right? Yea, that's probably us...we're definitely not giving the real rockstars head in the back of tour buses.

The first weekend of August we loaded up all of our boxes and all of our furniture and moved it all in. It was great, everything fit where we wanted it to, we weren't totally over run with toys because we got rid of a ton months ago.

Then we went back for more boxes. And more boxes. And holy shit how in the hell did all of this fit in to one house?! Our old neighbors kept joking that we had to be done. Had to be.

It was like a damn clown car, I swear

After we had moved we took at least 3 more truck loads of stuff to Salvation Army. At least. It was just that crazy.

Then, THEN, there was the painting. Oh the painting. We painted two bedrooms, playroom and living room. Each required multiple coats. It was as much fun as it sounds. At least for me who is not all about this whole decorating thing.

But, we have the important thing

No, not the fancy TV mount the swivels and slides above the fire place, although my husband my disagree.

Happy Kids