2012 Goals

Everyone needs a roadmap!

This year is going to be a year of big changes for our family. The boys will be transitioning to big boy beds, potty training, and starting preschool. We just got some news that Husband may be returning to full time work after nearly 3 years of reduced hours. We are extremely grateful for the extra time that he has had to spend with the boys during their first years of life. Time like that can't be bought!

All of these changes coming have left me feeling a little out of control and floundering a bit to figure how to move our family through these changes this year while moving closer to our goals. At the end of last year, I read numerous posts from Crystal at Money Saving Mom about goal setting and how she goes about it. I was so inspired by her efforts that I decided this type of goal setting is exactly what our family needs.

Husband and I went out for dinner on New Years Eve (with a generous offer of babysitting from Grandma) and I took along a note pad. We talked about our plans and goals and dreams just like we used to before the boys were born. It was a really nice way to end our year and begin this one. Working toward the same goals with your spouse is such a great way to feel connected by purpose even when duty keeps you apart.

Here is what we came up with. Like Crystal at MSM suggested, I divided our life into priority topics and each topic into different focus areas. Each focus area then got broken down into specific steps to reach that goal.

Medical:

-eye exam for Husband

-Boys' annual appointment

-Choose new PCP and make appt for me

-Get HSA reimbursment

-Test A1C each Quarter (for me to make sure my mild diabetes is still mild)

Financial:

-See financial planner

-Open Roth IRAs

-Complete Will/Trust

-Increase emergency fund by $3000

-Rework budget

-Become cash only for variables

Parenting:

-Potty training

-Plan trips/activities

-Preschool prep

-Transition out of cribs

Relationship:

-10th anniversary trip

-Monthly date night (out)

-Monthly home date

-Monthly goal review

Plus Individual and personal goals for each of us. My personal goals and homemaking goals were a separate list so, I will talk about those separately. Some of my goals turned into family goals in a way but, they are my responsibility as the CEO of our home to implement which is why they remained on my list.

Doesn't "CEO" sound so official??

I will update these goals after our goal review sessions but, I can report now that it seems we are making progress so far! I will get more specific in my goal review posts.

I hope everyone reading will consider making a goals list for at least one area of their lives. I have already felt more purposeful and intentional in my days which can be tough to do when you're a stay at home Mom.

Idea!

I love cleaning with non toxic products. Once the boys came along, I really started looking around my house to see what things they could get their mitts on and shove into their mouths and I was a little horrified about the possibilities.

I used to buy cleaning products with the same interest with which I bought new makeup or skincare products. I loved to try new things but, half way through, I got tired of it and longed for the new formula or new brand which was supposed to be better, faster, easier. There was even a brand that is supposed to have cartoon scrubbers doing all the work for me!

But I realized that all that wasn't going to work well for my family....or, well, the environment I guess. And having half full bottles of this or that under the sink just wasn't a good idea.

So, I started doing things like cleaning with white vinegar (which repels ants, too!) and doing away with those swiffer pads that you just toss. I found the idea of microfiber cloths to be interesting and they turned out to be quite effective.

So now, I have many of these cloths. I have some in the wash all the time and some ready to use and some that are sort of "half used" before I dust one more time and throw them in the wash. But, WOW- they can be very expensive. I've seen ONE cloth for $5. Sure, it was pink and pretty but, ONE?

I found myself rather disgusted while shopping in Target one day because I had another microfiber cloth on my list and I saw that $5 one in the cleaning section. I had to put it back on the shelf because, well, are you kidding me? As I was shopping, I saw a bag of microfiber cloths- 10 of them!- for $8 in the automotive section.

Wait. Less than a buck a piece? Surely these couldn't be the same thing as the cute pink $5 one. So, I stuck my finger in the bag and felt them. Sure, they felt the same. They weren't cute. 5 white and 5 blue but, who cares? I got them and they work and they are the same as the "special" designated for housecleaning types.

Just a tiny bit of dampening and they take fingerprints off anything, dust anything, remove crayon marks from the floor.....pretty much anything that needs elbow grease needs less elbow grease when done with a microfiber cloth.

So, that's my Modern Housewife tip. Check the automotive section for great cheap microfiber do-it-all cloths. And then thumb your nose toward the housecleaning aisle as you leave the store $42 richer by my calculations of the difference in cost for 10 cloths.

For the online shopper, give these a try:

A Housewife on Vacation

Vacationing on a budget can be a difficult thing to do. And vacationing on a budget in one of the most touristy cities in the Universe might seem....well, a bit of a mission impossible.

Orlando. Orlando is a crazy mix of overpriced theme parks and the $2 souvenir t-shirt at a ratty dump of a tourist trap gas station. So, how does a family take two toddlers for a good time for a week without having to take a second mortgage on the house (or without having to clothe ourselves in $2 shirts for the rest of the year)?

So far, we are in the planning stages. We are going this month and we are still working on a plan of how to save on activities, food, and fun. But, here is what we have come up with so far:

We broke down our trip into a few categories. These usually represent the largest expenses of vacations:

Travel
Lodging
Food
Entertainment

Travel:

Living reasonably close to Orlando, we are lucky enough to be able to drive there. Our only real issue is the price of gas. Packing lightly helps increase gas mileage so, we are taking out anything we don't need for the trip and making sure that we consider everything we pack. We plan on taking half a week's clothes and doing wash in the middle of our trip. Hopefully it will help streamline our packing efforts as well!

I have to work hard on this with the Husband because he will pack the kitchen sink if I let him. He is forever throwing in just a few more things or packing as though we won't be near a store if he finds he is in dire need of a 10th pair of white socks. He's getting better but it's hard when he is the polar opposite of my packing personality.

Lodging:

We are cheating when it comes to lodging. It isn't that I don't know how to score a great deal on an awesome hotel (we once got a beautiful 2 bedroom condo with a private indoor hot tub in Williamsburg for $99 a night!) but, my in-laws were generous enough to let us use an extra week of a timeshare they have. So, it will be a nice extra to have a separate place to put the kids to sleep since they still go down so early and there will also be a kitchen which brings me to.....

Food:

Food is one of the most expensive propositions on a trip. Snacks on the road, breakfast, lunch, dinners, special treats for the kids. It just never stops. So, I am meal planning just like I would at home. Just tonight I made a ginormous batch of chili of which half will land in the freezer. Before we leave, I'll take it out and it will defrost on the way. I will do a couple of other freezer cooking dishes. That way, we'll have home cooked and cheap meals but, I can still be on vacation! Most everything will already be cooked.

We will be grocery shopping once we arrive with the list I will premake so that we don't get off track because we are in a "vacation" mindset.

That doesn't mean there won't be some special treats. Our big splurge will be a Character Breakfast for the kids. But, with the rest of the food budget reigned in, we can make that work.

Entertainment:

Entertainment in Orlando can be a real killer. I checked recently and tickets to Disney are almost $80 each for ONE day! That's enough to wilt the mouse ears of even the most die hard Disney fans. But, with two toddlers, did we really  need to go to the parks or would there be enough things that are non Disney or just Disneyesque to amuse all of us?

A little research turned up a boatload of options. One that I am particularly excited about is the Orlando Science Center. I SO wish we had one of these where we live. There are story times, stingray feedings, play areas, science exhibits that are kid friendly....all awesome looking stuff. We will definitely be there. $17 per adult and our kids will be free.

There is also a place called Monkey Joes which is a big indoor inflatables playground. They even have a spot for younger kids to play safely on their own inflatables.

There is the largest play McDonalds in the Universe. I'm not usually a fan of McDonalds but, it's worth a shot to see if the kids love to play there.

There is, of course, Downtown Disney with the lego playland and Disney appeal.

Of course, there is the character breakfast which will feature Winnie the Pooh and Tigger- really the only two Disney Characters the kids are familiar with. Also, another Disneyesque idea is paying the $14 parking fee to one of the parks and then taking the kids for a thrilling ride on the Monorail (they love trains) or the ferry.

We are lucky enough that the timeshare has lots of activities for kids that we can take part in as well as a great pool area that the kids love- all included in the timeshare week.

We are so looking forward to some great family time and an opportunity to relax without feeling like we are opening our wallets and pouring them out on the doorstep of a theme park. I will let you know how we do!

What does it mean to be happy?

Happiness. We all want it, strive for it, dream about it. We all wonder about it, work on it, look for it- try to recognize it when we see it. But, if we don't know where the finish line is, how will we know when we've arrived?

We feel it in snippets and wonder if there comes a point when we ARE happy instead of just temporarily FEELING happy. But is that even possible- to feel "snippet" happy all the time? 

What does happy mean? Money? Success? Not wanting something more? 

Is happiness getting what we've always dreamed of or is it having what we never dreamed possible?

What does happiness mean to you and how does that change how you live your life?

Wen Did Shampoo Get So Expensive?

I have to admit. I am having a love affair with Wen Cleansing Conditioner by Chaz Dean. My hair is generally oily at the roots and fine and frizzy at the ends and nothing really makes it happy. I can use lifting products at the roots in the hope of getting some life out of it and drying out the oiliness. I can try and use conditioner just on the ends to try and get them to behave.



None of that really works well for me. I am a hairstylist by trade- before I had the boys to stay home with- and it was a bit of an embarassment that I just couldn't find products to make my hair work for me.

Then I saw the Wen Cleansing Conditioner on TV- QVC to be precise. I was SUPER skeptical because I felt like washing oil with conditioner probably wasn't going to work. But, nothing I had already tried worked so I figured, what the heck?

I tried it. And, boy, you have to use a truckload of that stuff as directed in the instructions for my length of hair. But, it rinsed clean- much cleaner than I expected. And, when it dried, it dried like I had used a flat iron on the ends. They were shiny and smooth but my roots weren't oily! It was like someone finally made a "combination" shampoo like they make cleansers for combination skin.

Trouble is? It costs a mint. I mean, seriously, it is costing me about $35 a month just to shampoo my hair. That is completely unacceptable. Yes, I can skip serums and shaving cream and other "finishing" hair products. I don't need to buy a separate conditioner. But, still- $35 a month?

So, I Googled how to make your own homemade Cleansing Conditioner. I found this! The Saved Quarter has a series of posts about this very topic.

I am following the recipe and directions except that I am subbing White Rain Coconut conditioner for her base. I am using all of the suggested additions and I am totally excited to try it.

I have recieved all of my ingredients except the Wild Cherry Bark Extract. It will be here in the next couple of days. I spent just over $50 on all of it (including shipping!) and it looks to be enough ingredients to last a long time. I'll just have to figure out if a local store carries the White Rain since I couldn't find it and had to order it online.

As soon as I get my last ingredient, I'll be whipping up a batch and giving it a test run.

When you consider that I was about to plunk down $185 for a gallon of the Wen (because it is the most economical way to buy it) it will be a welcome miracle for this concoction to become its replacement.

I'm firing up the bunsen burners and Beaker is standing at the ready!

Virus of Doom....Or, Where in the World Have I Been?

OK. Here's the thing. Becoming a modern housewife can be a fits and starts process. I am learning as I go and I have stumbling blocks along the way.

In this case, my family has had one of the worst run of 6 weeks in our history.

First, my hernia. Carrying my two boys to full term- simultaneously- did some damage to my belly. The hernia is the only fixable part unless someone gifts me their millions for a full body lift!

I had my hernia repaired and had almost fully recovered from that (and the 10 days I wasn't able to lift my boys) when Husband and I were struck by the most horrible of illnesses to have after abdominal surgery- Rotavirus.

Thank God for Emergency Rooms that are empty and freely dispense anti-nausea drugs!

So, after the Husband's unfortunate relapse and the kids' brush with Rotavirus, we are finally back on our (somewhat thinner) feet.

Things are starting to pick up again in my homemaking efforts so, this blog will pick back up along with them!

In honor of Rotavirus, I am linking you to Preggie Pops- the antinausea candy for morning sickness, chemo, and any other nausea. It is my tribute to them for helping me survive the horribleness!

Jam Session

After the last jam making endeavor, I thought some adjustment was in order. Some things just didn't work- the giant water canner was at the top of that list.

In order to remedy this situation, I figured that experimenting with some more jam might be a good idea. The jars are short and can easily be covered by the requisite 1-2 inches in a much shorter pot than the mammoth canner I have.

I went rummaging through all the junk I never use which is shoved in the back of some cabinet or other just waiting to fall on my unsuspecting toes if I choose to delve too deeply into the recesses of those hiding places. After the wave of curse words died down following my toe's unfortunate incident, I spied the perfect vessel.

It is a large stock pot. One I do not remember having bought or being given- it is just mysteriously there. I choose not to question my good fortune, grab the pot, and put some jam jars in there to see how they fit.

I can fit 5 jam jars into the pot at the same time with plenty of room for them to be covered. Hey, pot, if lovin' you is wrong, I don't want to be right.

I found a recipe for raspberry-pineapple jam but, seeing as I didn't have any raspberries, I made strawberry-pineapple jam. I know, all the canning recipes say not to alter them in any way lest you be cursed with botulism. But, hey, I'm more adventurous than your average fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants jam maker.

I'm a rebel.

Here's how it went:

2 cups crushed strawberries
2 cups crushed (fresh) pineapple
1 box powdered pectin
5 cups sugar

Bring the first three ingredients to a full boil that cannot be stirred down. Boil 3 minutes.

Add sugar, return to boil and boil 3 minutes.

Process by placing in hot jars, affixing hot lids and rings, then placing in canner for a 10 minute soak in the boiling water.

The jam is sweet- the pectin I used was the regular pectin instead of the no sugar needed pectin which can jell with less sugar. I do prefer the less sweet. However, Husband loves sweet. The sweeter the better until his teeth fall out, I suppose.

Guess that's why he married me, no?