Howdy strangers....

I sometimes find myself checking our blog to look for updates on my own family - wierd. Nicole has been super busy at work and at night our exercise program has taken precidence over keeping this blog up to date so I decided to contribute for now just so you can have something new to read. If you are on Facebook we have been on there - but this blog hasn't been touched in a month and a half so I guess I contribute? Anyway, here goes...

The Girls
We have fallen into a predictable winter routine and I think the girls are really getting cabin fever. When the weather first turned cold and the snow fell they were begging to go outside for sledding, skating, snow fort building - whatever. The 10 minute ordeal of dressing everyone in snow pants, hats, mittens, boots - you know how it is - began and 5 minutes after getting out they were ready to come in. A month or so ago they just stopped asking and the weather was so cold in January that we didn't even bother to try anyway. I think we are all ready to get back out in the yard for a little fresh air and playground time!

Paige is doing wonderfully at school and her teacher had nothing but good things to say about her progress and more importantly, her attitude. She is an eager student and her writing and reading skills have really progressed. A month ago she was misbehaving and I lost my temper and yelled at her before sending her to her room for a time out. While there she wrote me a note all by herself that nearly broke my heart - and made me very proud at the same time. I won't get into what it said but it was several sentences long and she did an excellent job of sounding out her words and getting her thoughts down on paper. It is amazing to watch her grow and learn.

Paige lost one of her front upper teeth a few weeks ago during lunch at school. When I picked her up she just smiled at me and I noticed right away that she was toothless! She giggled and tried to play it cool - but you could tell she was feeling like a big girl and all proud that she had lost her 3rd tooth. She wrote the tooth fairy a note - it said something like "I hope you like girls teeth and I hope you like my tooth. I love you". She is a trip.

Addy's vocabulary is growing by the minute. She is quite the talker and if you ask her to tell you a story she always begins it with "Once upon a time....". She goes into these detailed tales of ponies and castles and the whole time she is expressing herself with her arms and her animated face. Nicole and I love to watch and listen as she lets her imagination run wild. If you haven't seen her lately she is within a couple inches of being the same size as her big sister. People continue to think they are twins - which I don't get - and they seem suprised to learn the girls are actually two years apart. Every night Addy asks what she is doing and where she is going the next day and you can see her planning her day around what we tell her. She always insists on bringing something with her - a toy, purse, animal or anything that she happens to find around her room. I am not sure what the obsession is but we try to accomodate her as much as possible.

The House
As far as other big news there really isn't anything. We have been in our "new house" for almost 6 years now and the time really has flown by. I have painted nearly every single square inch of the inside at least once - and some spaces have been painted twice already! Addy has a fresh new big girl purple bedroom that she is very proud of and Nicole has been on a redecorating kick for the past few weeks now. As usual everything is done on a very strict budget and she is great at getting a big bang for her buck.

Last fall Nicole took advantage of a credit card rewards program that earned us a free $500 Home Depot gift card so I am finally getting around to finishing the 3rd bathroom that was started in our basement 4 or 5 years ago. The shower has been in and the walls and ceiling were done long ago, but it has been sitting idle now for quite a while now so this "free" money will allow us to finally get it going again. (Paige has been telling me to get it done for a couple years now so I guess she is finally getting her wish.) Last weekend I tiled the floor and since that day she comes down in the morning and runs to see what has changed only to find that the coveted new toilet she is waiting has still not arrived. Who would have thought that a 5 year old would care so much about a little home improvement project? Anyway - we actually earned another HD gift card so as soon as that arrives we can get that much anticipated new toilet and put the finishing touches on the project. Very exciting.

The Budget?
A few years ago we made a concerted effort to make a household budget and stick to it and so far we have been relatively successful. This year, after reading the latest ramblings of Dave Ramsey, we decided to take the budget to the next level and really do whatever we could to get debt free in a short period of time. This process involves laying out every single expense throughout the year and setting aside cash money in envelopes to pay for it all. We have modified that a bit to take advantage of interest earning savings, online bill payments, etc. (free Home Depot $$ for example) but in the end we are on track to stick to the basic plan. Nicole tracks every dollar and she is doing a great job of spending our money wisely and keeping the house running within our budget.

Another important aspect is to consider getting rid of frivilous things that suck up capital and create added, uneccesary expenses. To that end we sold our truck camper and the 3/4 diesel Dodge and we have been going through the house getting rid of things to generate money to paydown debt. People have asked me why I keep selling stuff (more than usual!) and now you know. Anyway, If we stick to our plan we hope to have zero debt (except our mortgage) within the next 6 months and once that happens we can start on the next step - saving. For now I am driving my beat up 16 year old Honda Accord with 207,000 miles on it and getting 28 mpg to minimize the transportation outlay and we we have really cut back on our discretionary spending. Good times.

It may seem wierd for me to write about this on a blog that friends and family read but I think it is a very relevant given the crazy economic times we find ourselves in these days. Everyone is being forced to change their habits and the idea of saving money to buy things with cash and not living beyond your means is something that all Americans can and should consider. When I read about people getting their homes foreclosed on while at the same time spending hundreds or thousands of dollars each month on brand new car-payments, satellite or cable tv, internet cell phones, eating out at restaurants more than they cook at home, etc. it drives me bonkers. Priorities people! I am just as guilty as anyone at wanting instant gratification so being disciplined enough to do this will be a challenge. Wish us luck!

The Losers
As you know Nicole started yet another Healthy Loser challenge in January. This round is proving to be one of the most competitive and successful ones yet and so far more than 616 pounds has been shed by her bloggers! Awesome! Having already dropped most, if not all the weight we wanted to, Nicole and I are participating in what she calls Challenge B. Challenge B is meant for people that have lost the weight and are now looking to acheive other goals with eating, exercise, physical fitness, etc. To that end we started doing the P90X workout 7 weeks ago and so far it has been awesome. The time committment is big with 60-90 minute workouts 6 days a week but I think the results will speak for themselves and make the effort worthwhile. When we get done we can post the before and after results on her so you can see what a silly infomercial workout program can really do. As Tony Horton says, "do your best and forget the rest!"

Well - that is what is happening with the Liers. Sorry for being so long winded and maybe giving you tmi (too much information) but that is how I roll I guess. Until next time....