Catching Up...

Well I just realized how long its been since I have posted something. So I guess I will do some catching up where I left off. We had a great Christmas- the kids got what they wanted from "Santa"...Chase asked for a gun and a big boat, Kori asked for a toy horse, and Reef was easy...anything Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I am so glad that my kids are just asking for 1 or 2 things. I know that when they get older their list to Santa will be alot longer and then I will have to choose and pick what they get from that list, but now I am very happy and content with the little things they ask for. Kori actually got several horses(from various people), and of course Chase got dinosaurs(which is always a hit), and Reef would have been fine with the boxes but loves the Mouse. Me and Clint's' presents to each other was Lasik surgery on our eyes. So on the 29th of December we traveled to San Antonio for our procedure...very weird to say the least. We both did great and now have 20/15 vision. Yeah!!!!! Its very weird to be able to see especially at night when I was without any help to see with contacts or glasses. I can see the alarm clock, my room, and even Clint's face...its pretty neat. So we are both very happy with our new vision. The kids are back in school- which them and myself are very happy about. My new years resolution was to make a cleaning schedule of the house so I am not doing all the house cleaning in 1 day but to break it up in the week so I am just cleaning a little everyday. It is working out well so far but I might have to switch some days around. Me and Clint also decided to do a budget on my grocery shopping every week. Apparently alot of our money goes to Walmart and H.E.B., and we wanted to cut down on that and just buy what we need and when we need it. So I have made several spreadsheets of the spending that we do every week at the grocery stores, lists of what all we need (food, household goods, personal hygiene products, etc) and I have been online everyday finding new coupons to print out to take on my weekly trip to the store. We also had to cut down on how many times i went to the store. We are now on a $150.00 a week budget for all the stuff and going to the store just once a week. So my planning a trip to the grocery store is now a new hobby of mine. I have a list that I make all week of the stuff we need from the store, I go and find coupons for all that stuff and then when Monday rolls around - I head off to the store ALONE( so I don't have any distractions) and do my once a week shopping. I am now in my 3rd week and I absolutely am loving it. It makes me feel good that I am saving money, by only going once a week, and also by the coupons that I use. I have made it into a game to try and see how much money in coupons I can save a week. I have made a spreadsheet that shows me every thing I buy that week, the price it was, how many items I bought, what my total was, and how much I saved in coupons. Its very neat to see when you are careful- what all you can buy on $150 that will last a week or more. And how many coupons there are out there. I am having alot of fun. Well that is about all that we have been doing this last month. Hope that everyone else had a great Christmas and New Year.

This is a picture of my kids and Holly's kids at the Aquarium when she came down to visit.


My 3 kids on Christmas

The whole family the Sunday before christmas.