My parents and I have been discussing lately about the possibilty of me buying their house from them. Their plan for just about as long as I can remember, was to take off this coming year from their jobs and go on a year long road trip around America. My dad is retired, and my mom is a teacher (she can take up to a year off, and still have her job when she comes back). But suddenly, they want me to buy their house.

I was ok with this. I have to find a new job either way. When my parents leave, working on the weekends like I do wouldn't make any sense. My parents currently watch Juliette for free for me on the weekends, making it affordable to work. I knew I was going to have to go back into a 9-5 job, and even though I didn't want to, I was ok with it.

Their mortage payment is about $800/month (including taxes and insurance) This is way more afforable than what I would find around here, and even cheaper than renting an apartment. I was ok with this as well.

Well, now they are chaning everything. They found a house they want to buy. This will put off their touring the United States for about a year, but this house is their "dream house". They are planning on putting in their application for it tomorrow ... it's dropped over $125,000 in price since it went on the market. It was built in 2006, and has never had anyone live in it, it's on over an acre of land. It's nice.

I'm freaking out at the thought of possibly being a homeowner in less than a month. I THINK I can make the bills (going to go and sit down with the numbers now) with my current job. There is a chance that I will just rent from them for right now ... and there is another chance that the bank won't let them hold both mortages. So ... everything is in a toss up.

And of course I'm a tad bit giddy at the thought of owning a home. I've lived here since I was eight ... and I would LOVE to tear down the horrid wood paneling and repaint the pink walls in the living room.

Fingers crossed that everything works out!

Tomorrow I am taking my sister (who's ten) to see High School Musical 3. The Girl Scout council rented out to auditoriums for the local girls *300 girls* to watch the movie. The price of the ticket was something cheap ... but we have to be there prior to 9am. Are you kidding me? That's insanely early to be in a room with a bunch of screaming preteens. Not looking forward to it ... bringing along a bottle of asprin with me.

I took Jordyn to see Hannah Montanna ... and well ... if it's anything like that, maybe my head will stop hurting next Wednesday.

After the *fiasco* showing of HSM3 ... we'll be driving down about an hour to go on the Pumpkin Express. The tickets cost $32 for Juliette and I, and this includes the train ride down, face painting, hay rides and our pumpkins. I'm pretty excited about this ... we wanted to go last year, but forgot to prepurchase our tickets.

This weekend, everything is either already paid for, or my mom is paying. So, cheap weekend. I also work a double on Sunday. I bought my mom's Christmas gift tonight at work, so I feel a little ahead of the game. That feels nice.

Juliette was needing a haircut like you wouldn't believe. My sweet little girl was ROCKIN a mullet. And not in a good way, at all. She had baby fine hair as the top layer, the curled. And then, on the bottom, had a straight layer that went down to her shoulers. WTF?

So I took her in for a haircut. We waited almost 2 HOURS. The lady said 45 minutes, and by the time I had convinced Juliette to sit still and realized we still had a way to go, there was no way I could let her leave. She was "scared" of the haircut place, "scared" of the people in it ... so we just sat and waited.

She did amazing for her haircut though. Once she realized what it was, she sat perfectly still ... didn't move a muscle.

The lady cut her hair way shorter than I wanted. I wanted a bob ... to get the ugly mullet gone ... and to make the layers work together. She cut almost all of her hair off. It's a cute cut .. .but it's short. It's a pixie instead of a bob. She looks so cute. The woman said by going this short (and cutting off all of her baby curls, sniff) that it would grow thicker and better together. I know nothing about cutting hair, but I hope so.

While it's adorable, I have to do a double take each time I look at my own child. LOL. One lady called Juliette a boy yesterday as well ... hahaha, oops. Luckily she was asleep, because Juliette doesn't play around, she would have told that poor woman what she thought about her.

She likes her haircut, and that's all that matters. Even if momma is tearing up about how short it is.

And of course I passed a different haircut place yesterday after getting her hair done, and it was Kid's Night, so half off hair cuts. Oh well, I don't know how I would have known that without driving to all the different hair places around here (and there are a ton!) I know for next time, and with her hair as short as it is, there won't be a next time for awhile.

Seriously, I'm starting to think it is.

I'm all for gas prices dropping. Since moving closer to work, and just changing our driving habits completely ... I've been able to make a tank of gas last for two weeks. (Awesome!)

Two weeks ago, I literally waited till I was pretty much as low as I am willing to go. Pratically on E. I paid $3.47 a gallon. Two days later, it was down to almost $3.00.

I filled up yesterday, again, pretty close to E (but higher than two weeks ago, honestly) and it was down to $2.77. I was pratically thrilled. I saved around $7 on gas. (Not to mention the fact that I'm filling up half as often as I used to). It's dropped .10 overnight. LOL.

I only bought yesterday to make it home tonight in time to watch the Rays. Can't believe their in the World Series (I do NOT follow baseball) ... but it wasn't that long ago that my parents would take my brother and I and a couple of our friends to the game for $10/ticket, which came with a coke and a hotdog. LOL ... I don't think you can even park downtown for that much now. My brother is TICKED. He's a huge fan, and he's out in California and won't be getting any sort of leave until a month or so down the road. So sad. Oh well, I have an idea of what to get him for Christmas.

Seriously, I can't believe there's a little over a week left of October.

The beginning of the month is always pretty slow for us ... the middle hits me hard, and I don't have time to breath, let alone post, and then at the end of the month, I'm just shocked that it's over.

Today was a NSD. We spent the day cleaning out the car. Tomorrow I will be taking it to vacuum the car out.

We also decorated some wooden Halloween "ornaments" (I'm not sure what these things are really called.) I picked them up on sale from Michael's earlier this month, they had markers to color on them with, and glitter glue. You would have thought Juliette had died and gone to heaven when I told her she could use the glitter glue. She literally asked me about 4 times during the hour we were outside.

The poor girl still hasn't recovered from coming up on Stella's (our kitty) latest hunting adventure. I don't know if your outside cats do this, but Stella LOVES to bring us birds (or lizards, or squirrels, you get the idea) and leave them on the front porch. Well, she left poor Mr. Birdie right next to Juliette's bike ... so we had a really quick talk this morning about why Mr. Birdie didn't live. Sigh. Poor thing, and early in the morning is just too early for the facts of life talk.

Is it wrong that I wish the cat would just eat the things she catches. She just leaves them on the doorstep as a sort of offering. How wasteful, Stella.

Sigh.

I'm really trying to keep it all together with Juliette, but seriously, I am a little over it.

I've been very sick. I thought it was a really bad cold, but I think it's allergies. It's been affecting work, and everything else in my life.

Tonight, Juliette peed all over my mom's leather couch. UGH! I understand accidents, but this wasn't an accident. She purposefully sat on the couch, peed a couple of minutes later, and then told my mom "I didn't have time to go potty!"

I'm trying to keep my cool with her. Now that I've found a decent allergy medicine, I feel like I can function. I am so looking forward to Jan when my health insurance kicks in. I can't wait to see an allergist.

A girl I used to know in high school had gotten married and moved in down the street from my parents. We weren't exactly friends in high school, but knew eachother. My parents neighborhood was built in the early 60's, but during the boom the houses were going for $150-175,000. Our neighbors across the street bought their house less than 2 years ago, and are trying to sell now. I don't know for sure what they paid for, I believe it was right around $155,000, but they have it listed right now for $110,000. There have been no interested buyers. The man who lives there put in around $20,000 worth of improvements. Needless to say, if they are able to get a buyer, they are taking a HUGE loss.

Anywho, back to the girl I used to know. She and her husbnad had two girls failry quickly, and then suddenly, the house was one the market. It also didn't have any takers, and I think they even put it down to about $90,000. These houses are on the small side and just need some work, so their really haven't been many takers, obviously. Then suddenly, the house wasn't on the market anymore, and they were making improvements to it. They did some things on the inside, and also put a fence around the property.

Last week, the moved. According to my sister's friend (who is all of 8) they were letting the house go because they couldn't afford it anymore. They were also leaving their car to be taken away as well. I don't know how much you can trust an 8 year old, but they did pack up and leave.

Here's the strange part. The people who live across the street, they have been at the house. Parking there and doing work on it. I don't know if they are staying there, but there was carpeting removed (and left on the ground outside the house), and I often see the granddaughter (who is my age) sitting on the front porch swing. While that is weird enough, we just thought maybe they were buying it from the couple or something.

Then, to make it even weirder ... the guy who lives two houses down was painting the house today .... WTH? My only guess is the couple sold it to their neighbors across the street (an older couple) and it looks like their daughter and granddaughter are living in it. Heck, maybe their just staying there until it's foreclosed ... but isn't that just weird.

Shockingly enough, we've only had two houses go into foreclosure so far in our neighborhood. There are a couple for sale, but it looks like most everyone knows there's no way they are going to be able to "move up and on" like they could have in the past. Even the house a couple of houses down is still being kept up by the family of the man who used to own it. He died well over a year ago, and no one is living there, but they keep the grass mowed and the house kept up. They told my parents they didn't want to sell it for such a loss. I don't know if the market will recover here anytime soon ...

My parents had a plan to sell the house this Spring, and take their RV and go. However, their plans are changing, that's for sure.

My daughter will be four the week after Christmas. Last year, she was pretty much terrified at the thought of sitting on Santa's lap. She looked at me and said "Mom, you don't sit on strange, old men's laps." Very good point honey.

Tonight, my parents, little sister, and Juliette went to Sam's for some Halloween candy. We're staying at Fort Wilderness and have read on some Disney boards about seeing more than 200 trick or treaters. AHH!!! So my mom and dad headed over to Sam's to get a ton o' candy. While at Sam's, they stumbled upon a HUGE kitchen playset. According to my mom, Juliette fell in LOVE with this thing. Jordyn and Juliette kept wanting to play on it, and kept getting really excited about it. Juliette looked at my mom and said "If you buy it for me, I'll be really good!" LOL, yeaaah, right.

So, my mom said to her, if you're good, maybe Santa will bring it for you for Christmas.

In her infinite three year almost four year old wisdom, she looked at my mom with the most serious of faces and said "Umm, Nana, Santa isn't allowed to come into stores to buy your presents. He MAKES them. I need you to BUY this for me, because Santa can't."

So ... I think we're in the right direction for her to actually talk to him this year ... fingers crossed ... but where did she learn about the North Pole and Santa making the gifts? I swear, there is a secret channel that only kids can see or something ... because she knows things we've never talked about.

And, BTW, I think it is going to be her big Santa gift. It's the kitchen I've been looking at, at a great price ... and my mom offered to pay for half. I really have amazing parents and Juliette is one lucky little girl. I think Santa is also going to be bringing her an easel ... and possibly a new baby doll. Then, momma will get to bring the kitchen utensils, new markers and such, and a couple of accesories for the dolls. The child doesn't need anything ... and with her birthday just 8 days after Christmas, I am still trying to come up with an idea for that.

I think we are going to be using Disney's come for free on your birthday though. She'll LOVE getting to spend the day with mom at Disney ... just fingers crossed for good weather on Jan 2nd!

October Income -
October 1st: $70
October 2nd: $0
October 3rd: $82 in tips. $63 on my check.
October 4th: $85.
October 5th: $90


October Spending -
October 1st - $0
October 2nd: $20
October 3rd - $0
October 4th - $19
I ended up spending a little more yesterday after I posted. I spent $3.50 at the pumpkin on three small pumpkins and some stickers for the girls to decorate them with. Juliette has been dragging her pumpkins all throughout the house, so that was a plus!
And then, I bought our tickets for the Pumpkin Express. For $31, we'll spend the afternoon on a train ride and then head to a pumpkin patch where they have hay rides and face painting. We've never been, but have heard it's awesome. It sells out really quickly, so we made sure to get out tickets. Might be buying tickets soon for the Polar Express the same place holds in December.
October 5: $35 in grocers. Seriously? We go through a LOT of cheese around here. My little girl LOVES her some cheese, it's one of the few things she actually eats. I didn't spend $35 on cheese, but maybe I should have.

Today and yesterday where pretty relaxing spendy days. However, the joy on Juliette's face as she ran throughout the pumpkins yesterday was unbeatable. I couldn't pay enough to see that. Tonight, Jordyn (my 10 year old sister), Juliette and I made a pumpkin pie. They thought this was awesome. And it was, even when I pinches my finger in the drawer looking for aluminum foil. It wasn't ready to eat before the girl's bedtime, so they were pretty dissappointed.

Jordyn and I also played the game of Life ... where I somehow managed to make $1,257,000. Jordyn made around $25,000. LOL. She was so upset with me (she's a spoile sore loser) and I just laughed. The new Life is so much different than the game I used to play, updated I guess, but I used to kill my brother back then as well. Needless to say, it's one of my favorite games. Then, we had a nice bonding sister time while we watched Extreme Home Makeover. That show just baffles me. I remember the first season when they would makeover like a part of the house ... not anymore. I guess it wouldn't get the same viewers if they just did the amount of work needed on the house to make it liveable.

October Income -
October 1st: $70
October 2nd: $0
October 3rd: $82 in tips. $63 on my check.
October 4th: $85. We were pretty slow again today, except for the 30 top. Who comes in with 30 people and expects to be seated together, in a place with no banquet type room ... these people. They weren't too bad, a group of teenage cheerleaders ... and some parents.


October Spending -
October 1st - $0
October 2nd: $20
October 3rd - $0
October 4th - $19 - at walmart finally. I bought a couple of things we didn't really need (some gum, a couple of sodas and a cup for Juliette) The rest was stuff to make pumpkin pie and some juice for Juliette.

I joined a playgroup a couple of weeks after I switched to working mostly nights at my job, and pulling Juliette out of daycare. I just wanted to make sure that she got some decent kid interaction, and well, I could use a couple of "mom" friends. Seriously.

I checked the calendar last night, and well, I just can't afford these people. LOL. During the summer, there were LOTS of plans for dates at parks and the like. It's Florida, it's not cold here. This month, there is ONE date at the park, as we missed it because Juliette was sick. How lame is that? However, they have plans to go to the zoo twice and the aquarium as well. We did the aquarium earlier in the summer, and I spent close to $70 for the day. Sorry, I just can't afford to go to those sorts of things. I was looking for a group of ladies who wanted to take their kids to the park a couple of days a week to let them blow of steam ... I just can't justify going to the zoo/aquarium every week. And I'm not going to lie, I don't understand how they can keep going to the zoo/aquarium/Bush Gardens every couple of weeks, it would begin to drive me BATTY!

Sigh ... we'll stay on for a bit longer, hopefully I'm not the only mom who feels this way. They did introduce me to Barnes and Nobles on Monday mornings, so something good has come out of this. Which, by the way, is free. They had this listed ONCE .. Juliette LOVED it. We went, the lady read three books which Juliette loved and we stayed and read like five more together. She keeps asking when we are going to go back to the bookstore, so I think I am going to make it a regular activity, at least until Christmas gets closer, and then, as much as I love the kid, you can't get me close to that mall during the Christmas season. Those people are nuts.

October Income -
October 1st: $70
October 2nd: $0
October 3rd: $82 in tips. We were pretty slow for a Friday, since the Rays are in the playoffs. I guess a lot of people were watching the game. I still made really good money though, so yay! I also remembered to get my check, which was for $63.


October Spending -
October 1st - $0
October 2nd: $20
October 3rd - $0

I really needed to go to Walmart for a couple of things today, and then was going to get $40 on a gift card for gas ... but after work, I just couldn't bring myself to go to the store to spend all the money I had just made. Does the trip still need to happen? You betcha ... I just didn't want to do it. Oh well, got a no spend day out of it.

Summer was recently downgraded out of the ICU and is now in the Pediatrics wing. This is amazing news. The fact that this little girl was able to survive such a horrible car accident, well, it makes me want to believe in a higher power. She just underwent surgery earlier this week to remove some more pieces of her skull that had been broken in the crash, and to have a rod put into one of her legs.

Even though all of her limbs are broken, and one of her legs was shattered, there is a good chance she might be able to start walking in 10 weeks. That's so amazing! They put rods in her hips, and as soon as the pins are out, they are going to do an MRI to see how her brain is healing. The fact that she is speaking, is again, amazing.

She recongnizes her grandmother, which brought Tammy to tears. As of yet, she has not asked about her mother, but according to Jenny's mom (Tammy) it's like she knows. Deep down in her heart, she knows something must be wrong with mommy for her to not be there. As a momma, I can't even imagine the pain in that little girls heart.

The plan was to go and visit her today, but Juliette woke up sick, and I didn't want to chance it. I'm not going to lie, I'm terrified of going to see her. Scared of breaking down ... so freakin scared she'll ask me where Jenny is. Next week, as long as everything goes well, I'm going to go down there and just hold her hand and tell her everything is going to be ok. Just knowing that this little girl is down there in a hospital room wanting someone to love her, I know I have to go.

When we went to Disney last week, I brought a storybook that I had signed by a lot of the characters. Another coworker of mine went to Disney this weekend, and then two more are going in the weeks afterwards. They are all bringing this book to have signed for Summer. I am so pleased, I know this is something she'll be able to look at in years to come, and know how much we all loved her. While I was at Disney, a Cast Member asked me what the book was for (Juliette was not with me at the time), so I told the lady. She was so amazing. She was a handler for the Stepmother and Stepsisters. Well, I had the poor lady crying, and the woman behind me in line was in tears too. This was not what I wanted! However, if I start talking about it, it just flows. I'm like a mad woman recovering from my grief. Anywho, the CM told me "Nothing I could say would make this little girl loosing her mother easier on any of you, however, just remind yourself that she gained all of these Fairy Godmother's." It's so true (and so Disney). We won't be able to replace Jenny, and Summer will always be missin her momma, but in all of this, she's gained a whole support team of Fairy Godmother's. We're all working to make sure she's able to be a normal child, and know that we all love her.

And even though I don't want to mention the woman who hit her, she is claiming that someone must have spiked a drink she had with GHB ... and she is saying that the was suicidal. This was something that people speculated about from the beginning. According to what people have said (in the newspapers comment section online) the woman and her husband had both just been fired, and they were on the verge of loosing their house and car. Well, sorry ... that doesn't give you the right to get so completely drunk that you drive on the wrong side of the road on an expressway at 2pm. And, even if you were suicidal, you don't get to use the cop out defence of being "temporarily insane" ... sorry, not buying it. Just apologize to Tammy and Arthur ... and the public response to this story and your case would be better. The judge denied her bond, which is pretty rare here in the state of Florida.

And, for those of you praying for Summer, please pray for the lady's sons. She had two small boys, we don't know how old they are. As Arthur and Tammy have stated, they are praying for her sons who have also lost a mother.

Thanks for dealing with my ramble!

October Income -
October 1st: $70
October 2nd: $0 - I didn't work, and I didn't go pick up my check. Which means, I also didn't go to the bank. I did a lot of things today, but nothing good financially.


October Spending -
October 1st - $0
October 2nd: -
$10 - groceries. Juliette woke me up this morning by throwing up in bed. YUMM! So, I picked up a couple of bottles of soda (giner ale and sprite for her, cherry coke for me) and some saltines. She kept everything down after her morning wake up call, so I don't know what the heck that was about. It was great to get in the shower at 7am though, yuck!
$7 - at Kmart for some hangers and some clothespins for my new organization of Julie's clothes.
$3 - on fast food for Juliette. Like I said, she was feeling GREAT after this morning. I pretty much didn't let her eat most of the day, since I didn't want to be the reciever of anymore presents ... but what she had she kept down. She started crying in the middle of Kmart that she was "pratically starving!" so I drove through for a cheeseburger. She actually ate the entire meal, which is pretty much, well a record.

Total spending for the day ... $20. Not to shabby. I am exhausted, I am not a morning person, and I love the fact that Juliette sleeps in. Hoping that she makes up on some time tonight.

I don't know how my daughter has accumulated so many clothes, but she has. Jeesh!

I've been trying for the past couple of days to go through them all. It sure is a time consuming project! I am a little close to over it, completely. However, working on this is opening my eyes.

I have to have the 4t clothes completely gone through with an insight into how much I have before Christmas. My grandmother always buys Juliette a TON of clothes. "Winter" clothes for Christmas and "Summer" clothes for her birthday (a week after Christmas, lol). Juliette's in 3t (mostly, some 2t) clothes now, so I have the 4t from Grandma from last Christmas, a whole bunch of hand-me-down 4t clothes, and clothes my mom has bought for Juliette in 4t. I know I am about to get a huge influx of 4t clothes ... and I don't know when the child is even going to wear them. And I am honestly, not ready for them. I have them stored in plastic storage containers right now ... and after Christmas I am going to make a list of what's needed. She always needs more denim shorts/jeans than she has (or khaki) I hate colored shorts, I think kids look so much cuter in jeans or khaki ... lol. And no WHITE. Who buys white pants for a three year old little girl? My grandmother does ... I just sit back and stare in awe when Juliette opens some of the clothes. I'm grateful, don't get me wrong, but I just don't understand some of the color combinations she uses.

Since I am working on getting rid of all of her old stuff, I am sorting all of Juliette's old clothes. My mom told me to keep them, incase I had another child. My mother has obviously never had a conversation with me ... since I don't really want anymore, at least not right now. So, I have every outfit Juliette's ever owned. That's a LOT of clothes. Way too many ... I am sorting and organizing. Next week, I am taking the clothes to Once Upon A Child, and seeing what they'll buy from me. They accept two large storage containers per day ... and well, I already have 5 containers waiting. See ... and those are clothes that don't fit her!

Since we're going through all the other clothes, I am working on an orginaztion plan for her 3t clothes. With winter coming, supposedly, I know she'll need a couple of jeans, and sweaters. She has a jacket, but might need another one. I know she needs a couple of pairs of shorts as well ... since it's Florida and well ... shorts can be worn practically all year. I think she needs another pair of shoes.

I'll be buying any shorts/pants at Once Upon A Child, this week when I go and have the clothes taken in. Kill two birds with one stone. They give you more credit for your clothes if you spend the money in the store ... so we'll see how it goes. I just have to limit myself.

And for Christmas, can you believe she has three Christmas dresses? LOL. I bought her a dress last year in 3t ... that was too big. And then two people have given me hand-me-down dresses.

Whatever doesn't sell at the consignment shop and at the yardsale, I am going to be donating to a local battered women's shelter. They do a lot of work not only for women escaping abusive relationships, but they also help low income/single moms. While I never needed help ... I think it's the least I can do to help mom's in a cruddy situation. If I hadn't had such an amazing family, I would have needed help. It's the easiest way to pass it forward.

This is the very basic of budgets for this month. I am trying something new, so I am starting small.

Here is my plan.

Since I am a server, I have added up all of my bills for the month, and then divided them by four. That is the amount of money I need to make per week. Each night after work, I am dividing the tips I make into envelopes for the day. I am keeping these in a box until the following Thursday. Thursday is payday. On Thursday morning (or Wednesday night depending) I am going to sort all of the money that is currently in the envelopes. Hopefully, I will have more than enough to pay the bills.

I am going to take the money for the bills and put it directly into my checking account. I don't touch the money that is there, I have been very good about going cash only the past couple of weeks. I am debating on paying something like, my car payment, as soon as the money is in there so I am not tempted to spend it. I don't know if I need to do this, but it is something I am considering.

Then, the money that is left over at the end of the week, half is going to be deposisted into my savings account, the other half is going to be sent to a bill, for debt reduction. I think this is a good idea for me ... and again, this is my trial month, so we shall see.

I am also putting aside $5 bills. I read a very interesting article about a woman who didn't spend $5 bills, and the amount of money she saved. I am going to be striving to use the $5 to pay off debt this month.

My paychecks are usually around $70/week. This month, I am saving these for Christmas. In the coming months, I am going to be putting half towards savings and the other half towards getting out of debt.

I wonder if this makes sense to anyone else. It makes sense to me, which is hopefully enough.

Here's the numbers for this month:
Car Payment: $325 (my actual payment is $273, but I am hoping to be able to pay it off quicker)
Car Insurance: $100
Gas: 160
Groceries: $200
Entertainment: $100 (see October goals of cheap/free entertainment for Juliette)
Debt Paydown: $225. This is min. payments for all of my debts. Obviously, my plan is much much larger.
Christmas/Birthdays: $150 (with the holidays so close, I have to up this, and quickly. I also have Juliette's birthday and my parents anniversary the week after Christmas. My grandmother, sister and my cousin's birthdays are also in Jan.
Dining Out: $50. I doubt we hit this, but it's good to have the money in here, just in case.
Vacation: $200. (We're going to be at Disney for Halloween and again in November for the Christmas party. I want to have tickets for the Christmas party paid for, as well as gas, though I think I Should be able to pull the gas money out of my regular gas budget. I checked it tonight, and I live 1.7 miles away from work, woot!)

So, here it goes. I know things are going to pop up, but I think these numbers are managable.

Month totals: 1510
Weekly Totals: 377.50
Daily Totals: 75.50

So, per shift, I need to make $75.50. I know on average this is possible, so let's see if it works out in black and white.

October Income -
October 1st: $70



October Spending -
October 1st - $0

Juliette and I have been pretty much sitting around the house the past two days. So, we haven't spent any money. YAY! Tonight, I am up pretty late looking for information for some homeschooling ideas for Juliette. She's incredibly smart, and I am worried about her "falling behind" by not being in a structured environment this year. Don't get me wrong, I don't think keeping her home for her 3 year old year is going to set her back for life ... but she was learning a ton at her daycare ... and I want to keep that up.

I figure we'll do the capital letter one week and the lower case the next. So, we are working on capital A this week. Then, I think I am going to do a "lesson" per kid movie. My parents bought Juliette the newest Ariel movie, and in the preview there is The Little Mermaid 2. Juliette is HOOKED! She wants to see this movie, and she wants to see it bad. I don't have it on DVD since I didn't have a child the last time it was released, so a friend had it ov VHS so I borrowed it. I am going to surprise her probably early next week with the movie and having a theme day. I am going to tie in our arts and crafts with this theme as well. I hope that makes sense.

Each week we are going to work on doing a special meal/dessert going along with the letter as well. This letter is going to be applesauce ... and something else. I haven't figured it out yet. I think making homemade applesauce will be fun for her ... she loves seeing how things work. On my day off, I figure I'll let her help with dinner ... this is something she's getting really into and I know she'll be tickled to death.

I hope this works ... I don't think I'm biting off more than I can chew ... and I think the two of us are going to have a bunch of fun with eachother. I know most parents feel like this, but I just love watching this girl soaking it all in.