Update

This past week has been packed with school, work, homework:(, lessons, practice, etc, etc. This has become normal life for us and will only get worse as our kids get older, and will cost more money.
The girls both had dance on Monday and are enjoying it so much! I have been impressed with Sky View's dance and would do it again.
Tyler had a flag football game and even though he enjoys it...I don't. I think it's a waste of time but he likes it. Even though I thought tackle football was wayyyy to big of a commitment and too competitive at least they actually practiced and did plays. In rec sports every coach is a volunteer, which is awesome, but some just don't quite do the job. Wednesday, Eric and I took Kenadie out for her birthday. She wanted to get her ears pierced and go out to eat with just mom and dad. She chose her favorite, Costa Vida. I could tell she was nervous, sitting in the chair, but she did such an awesome job. She didn't even cry or make a face. All night she kept saying, "mom, I just can't stop looking at my ears. They are so cute." We let her pick out something out at Claire's and that is all she is getting! I can't believe how expensive ear piercing is! Her actual birthday is this week so I will post more pics shortly.

On Thursday, Tyler had his first basketball game of the school year. For once he wasn't the tallest but he is with the fourth grader's. It took awhile for him to get warmed up but did really well. He had numerous rebounds, steals, and scored 8points. As soon as we were done with that, he had to shower and go to his first Pine Wood Derby. I don't know who was more excited. Eric or Tyler? Probably Eric. Even though his car didn't win he got "best paint job." I almost fell asleep but managed to tough it out.





I can't believe my kids are getting so old! It is fun to watch them grow and see them doing activities that they enjoy!

Preschool and financial goals

I have been slacking on the blog lately! Here is what has been going on at our house.
Kenadie started preschool last week. She was so excited and couldn't wait. She went to the Sports Academy preschool last year, which I loved, but it was just too expensive this year. I heard about a preschool in Smithfield that a bunch of my neighbors were going to. It is by Melissa Mortensen who was in our old ward. She is very smart and has a degree in elementary education. Kenadie has loved it so far and is excited when it's time to go.
Look at these cutie's all excited for the first day....


The traditional first day of school pic....


Eric and I made the decision to sell his motorcycle in order to pay our car off...and no, I didn't make him! I have always been interested in finance and love to read about it online, in books, and I love the Suze Orman show. We don't have any credit card debt but we haven't been as good about saving, being on a budget, etc. One of Suze Orman's BIG things is to have 8 months worth of emergency fund. This has overwhelmed me and seems like such a hard thing to do but we are determined to get this in place. Our goal is to start with four months of living expenses saved and then go from there. We got a computer program that helps with a budget and has really kept us on track. I couldn't believe how much money would just disappear and we wouldn't know where it went! Any extra that we make goes to savings and we have already increased our savings by a couple of thousand dollars in just a few months. Since our car is paid off we will be able to make triple payments on the van and it should be paid off in 18 months. After that, we will make double payments on our house. Our goal is to have our house paid off in 11 years. I am not writing this because I think we are better than anybody. I am just writing what has worked for us. I think too many people try to live outside their means and that is why our economy is in the state it is in. I am trying to live on less and hopefully it will all pay off some day!

Hogle Zoo

As soon as the kids got home on Friday we headed down to Hogle Zoo. Even though we go every year it still is fun to see all of the animals. My favorite was the new baby giraffe that is only 4 weeks old! So cute. After we looked at all of the animals we rode the train and then went to Spaghetti Factory. It was a fun night!