This Lil Piggy Screamed In Pain

I broke my lil piggy on my right foot.

How?, When?, Why?

• running through the living room
• tripping over the recliner
• last Friday night

The kicker (pun intended)

was to get the Binky in Lizzie's

mouth before she woke herself up at 10pm.

The things a mother does for sleep!

Exhausted

I am finished with this "flu season". We have gotten every known symptom of the flu this year. Of course all of us at different times and different symptoms. It's not easy being queasy...LOL. I have been into the pediatrician's office to many times to count with a different kids each time. Sometimes repeat offenders got to go to the doctors more than once. I wonder what my life would be like if we had no health insurance. *shutter* I am so thankful for Gary's employment and the benefits. We are truly blessed!

I continue to clean my house but seem to fall behind with all the illnesses to keep up with. It helps that Lizzie has only suffered a stuffy nose so far. She's also a really laid back kid. Likes to watch everything going on around her. She talks to me as I'm picking up around her and smiles too. It's a good way to encourage me. I wonder if she knows this? But the house sometimes gets left behind because I need to spend the time cuddling a sick one. Now onto allergy season in a month. Sooooo not looking forward to that.

Life is never boring at the Affleck house. Zoey came home complaining of a headache. I didn't think anything of it and sent her to lie down. This was last Friday. She complained more Sunday evening and it was bad enough that she was out of school this week. She confessed to me Tuesday that she had hit her head on a fence post at school. Well, duh? I told her that even if she didn't pass out, vomit or get a goose egg, she could still get headaches from just hitting he head. I took her into the doctor an he confirmed she was having post contusion headaches. It's now Thursday and she is doing much better. Poor child just needs to watch where she's going!

As for the rest of the bunch, they are all doing well. Emily is....well Emily. Gives me grief about everything. Preston is starting conversations with us more. Although he walks away after he's spoken only two random sentences. It's progress, so I'm happy. Jake is struggling with his emotions. I think he's a sensitive kinda guy. You never know how he'll react when spoken too. It's funny and frustrating at the same time. I've tried all kinds of tones with him. I've been consistent too. He just seems to be trying to figure out where his place in the family is, so I give him extra loves lately.

Now Mikey is climbing the terrible two slope. And can I tell you what a champ he is? Yeah, he's got a set of lungs on him!!! I am praying for this period to be over quickly. But as with most 2 year olds, he's so dang cute sometimes, you just have to laugh. Which can make him really mad at times....LOL. I love this little man. Those big blue eyes make me melt. It's just to hard to stay mad at him.

Gary is happy to go to work and leave the chaos behind each day. But he looks forward to coming home each night too. Being a father doesn't come naturally to him. He struggles to understand baby talk, girl mood swings, wrestling boys and basically "why" children do what they do. I have to say that he has made such great strides to connect emotionally with them. I am overly emotional, so we make a really good team most of the time. I always said the two of us could make one good parent :) He has been teaching gospel principles during family scripture time to the girls. They are old enough to discuss the scriptures and relate them to their lives. The boys are still young (Jake and Mikey). Preston however will take a few more years to "get it".

I love being a mom. I have seen the Lord's hand in my life. He has such love for us. He blesses me with strength to get up and keep going each day. Sometimes that's everything I need. I am so grateful to have Him in my life. What a great life this is becoming. I never knew I could be this happy. A little faith goes a long way when you believe in Christ!

Look Who Growing Up!

Look mom, I'm a model. Take my picture :)

She has the biggest smile.

Lizzie talks to Emily the most.

And Emily LOVES talking to her too.

Daddy likes holding Lizzie but gets distracted

..... a lot :)

She has learned to roll onto her back from her tummy.

I have to say,

her smile reminds me of...

well me :)

She is trying so hard to sit up

by herself.

It's just a matter of time

before she starts

crawling, then

standing,

walking,

running,

jumping,

spinning,

you get the point!

I will really miss having

babies!

*sigh*

Uncle Doug :)

One of the coolest,

nicest, funniest

people I know!

Emily and Uncle Doug are best friends.

Here is the family watching Despicable Me.
Mikey loved the minions :)




Lizzie didn't care for the movie.

Thanks for visiting Uncle Doug and
come back soon!!!!!!!

Hurricane Affleck

I took the kids down to

the Foothills Mall.

They have this

REALLY COOL

new way to

waste mommy's

$$$$!

It's called the Hurricane Machine.

This is what $2 gets you

for about a

minute and a half!

All five kids are in there, I swear.

Poor Mikey didn't even know what hit him...LOL!

So that's what we did on President's Day

last month.

They also played in the play place,

for kids and had ice cream.

Now who's the coolest mom ever?

YES, that would be me :)

Oh How I Love This Little Man

Cool shades man!

Caught sleeping in his baby sister's saucer.

Fancy hairstyle from his sister Zoey.

This little guy keeps me busy

cleaning,

laughing,

crying,

smiling,

running,

screaming,

and

in general

playing around!

I love spending my days

with him,

learning

and

teaching.

He is so happy to spend the day

with Mommy too.

He has learned to be a

class clown.

He makes me and his

siblings laugh

ALL the time!

I'm blessed to have him as my son.

He's a keeper :)

Long Day!

Don't you just love when you wake up to utter chaos? That was my morning wake up call today. I had made a birthday cake for my Aunt Maggie and we celebrated it at her home across town. I didn't put away a few items because we were late. We got home late that night and I went to bed. This morning I found the boys in the kitchen with hot pink food coloring and powdered sugar all over themselves and my kitchen. Needless to say I had to clean them up first then lock them in their room so that I could clean up the mess. Gary cleaned the kitchen floor while I cleaned up the bathroom and floor throughout the house, of pink footprints. It was a disaster! Gary overreacted of course. I had to calm him down and keep my temper in check too. I think the longer I'm a parent the more I can appreciate my Heavenly Father. He must have the best patience! I'm thankful that we were able to clean up and get to church on time. I'm hoping that I will never forget or avoid putting away things that could potentially become a disaster when presented to three troublesome boys.

Fighting Bedtime

pick me up!

I'm bored, mom!

I'm gonna cry until you pick me up.

Fine, I'll suck on this until it falls out.

Hey what are these things?

I really need a nap.

If I turn my head and suck my thumb, mom won't notice..hehehe.

All these emotions

caught on camera, within a

5 minute

time frame!!!

But oh how cute that little face is,

so I picked her up

and munched on her cheeks

until she fell asleep.

Now time for mama to go to bed :)

Financially Ignorant Part 2

After high school I went to work with my mother again to save money for community college. Little did I know the pattern would repeat and I would be spending my money on clothes, a new car, food and helping with rent again. This went on until a couple months before my 21st birthday. My friend Cari asked me to move to Utah with her and go to the community college there. I put my first college application in and was so surprised to see they accepted me. I didn't know they accepted almost everyone. I'll never forget how I felt when I opened that letter. I still have it :)

So off to Utah I went in January 1997. I stopped in Tucson Arizona where Cari was staying with her parents. She informed me that she really liked it there and was going to stay put. I was a little disappointed but I made my way to Utah and stayed the first semester.

This was the first time I ever lived on my own. I had a new car and college to pay for. I had no job and no money 3 weeks after arriving. I took a job at as a telemarketer making $9.00 an hour. I hated this job! I'm not a sales person. But I had to pay rent some how. My parents couldn't help me and I needed to stand on my own. By May I realized I couldn't do this yet and called my friend Cari. I moved to Tucson and stayed with her family for almost a year. Cari got married that June and I didn't know what to do with my life.

I was 21 years old, living with my friends parents and broke. On top of all that I gained 60lbs living off Taco Bell food. Cari's mom was so sweet and encouraged me to look for work other than fast food. She told me how talented I was and that I could do so much more with my life. This was a real contrast to being told, all my life, how stupid I was and how I would never make anything of myself. She got me an interview with a temp agency and I was able to start work at a local bank. I was making $7 an hour. I still hadn't learned how to manage my finances.

Cari's sister Erin and I moved into an apartment with 2 other girls from church a year later (1998). That year I learned a lot about responsibility and what needed to come first in my financial life. I always paid my share of the bills first. Then I bought my groceries. But all my other funds went to fast food and entertainment. I just didn't have control. I thought I was doing fine though. I even bought a used car. However, I got into credit card debt before leaving Florida. I declared bankruptcy at 22yrs old. I was ashamed and I still hadn't managed to complete college. I had only 12 credits to my name. What was I going to do?

I decided to go to work full time. I knew I wouldn't be able to complete college and live on my own. I transferred to Phoenix when the local bank I worked for was purchased by a national bank. I bought another used car at %23 interest. )No one ever taught me about purchasing a car either! We only had 2 cars growing up and that was for only 4 years of my life.)

It was now 24 years old, single and in a better place emotionally than I had ever been. I met my husband in October 1999. We married February 12, 2000. Boy did he NOT know what he was getting into with me. Like I said, ignorance is bliss.

We have made a lot of financial mistakes over the years. Both of us! It's been 11 years now and I'd like to say that I have learned how to control my finances. But I would be lying. I am however much better at budgeting than when I was single. I have kids and a husband to think of before I can be selfish. But how far have I really come?

I am now, for the first time, budgeting out monthly expenses like groceries, gas and utilities. We have always had money for these things. But I would rack up credit card debt buying clothes and such. I've done this 3 times! Finally I can say that I am taking my finances one day at a time. I look at them each day and make sure I'm on track. That I'm not overspending and that I remember what is a want and a need. Priorities are everything!

So, at almost 35 years old, I am happy to say that I'm still learning and growing. But the difference from childhood to now is understanding my mistakes. Plus having the Lord's help is really great too!

I don't know why I blogged this but I have been making such good progress lately that I had to share. I couldn't just tell about my success until you heard about the failure first. Life is hard but two things are certain. 1 I will eventually die and 2 I will pay taxes even after my death!

I'm just hoping for a little fun and happiness along the way!

Financially Ignorant Part 1

I've have always been a shopper. I had my first job when I was 12 years old cleaning an elderly neighbors house every Saturday morning for $20. It was usually 3 - 4 hours of work. Back then $5 an hour or more was a sweet deal. Then we moved a few miles away but I still cleaned her home for another year.

In my new neighborhood my next door neighbor worked at the local newspaper stuffing advertisements into the papers. She asked me and a group of my friends if we'd like to do the same. So, to my next job I went! I made $3.18 an hour stuffing papers. Because it was the summertime, I worked 20 hours a week. I worked hard all summer and spent my hard earned cash on junk food and a few new clothes. What did you expect me to say? That at 12 I knew to save my money? My parents were always broke, due to my Dad's drinking and smoking. Plus my mother ate out for lunch during the week. We didn't have water, electric or gas, all at the same time most months. They never taught me how or what to do with my money. And an allowance was not a word I knew!

By the time I turned 15 years old, my mom and dad split up for the third time. We moved down the street to an apartment. This was high class for us. We had always lived in a "trailer" or mobile home. Whichever you want to call it; they were all gross, used and filled to the brim with roaches. So the apartment life was a lot of fun. My mom and little sis shared the master and me and my big sis shared the other room. six months later Dad was back and life was still hard.

During all this time, I maintained a job with the newspaper. I turned sixteen and started looking for another job. We also moved again but to a HOUSE! Things looked like they were getting better but really nothing changed but our address :( I decided to drop out of school and just work. I got a job at the local Burger King serving up hot fast food. I made $5.25 an hour and thought this was a step up. I missed my friends and going to school to socialize but not actually studying. (During the last part of living in the apartments, my big sis got pregnant and dropped out of high school.) However, I wasn't as happy as I thought I could be, so I asked my mother to see if she could get me an interview with her medical billing company.

A few weeks later, at 16, I was working as a Data Entry employee. I thought I was so classy! I made $6.50 an hour. Each time I got a new job, the pay would increase. So in my little brain I thought I was making a lot of money and moving up in the world. (ignorance is bliss!) But my story doesn't end here...

I realized after my mother kept asking me to help pay the rent, I wouldn't be able to ever leave the nest if I just worked minimum wage all my life. So, I decided to go back to high school and be the first to graduate. (My mom is a graduate and lil sis too. My big sis is working on a GED right now.) I quite my job and took a retail job with Big Lots to keep some money coming in for a car. I went back to school and found out I would have to put in another year before graduating.

My senior year of high school I took a second job with Taco Bell making $5.75 an hour. The shift was 10pm to 2am. I made enough money between the two jobs to make my monthly car payments. My mom took a loan out of her 401K to put a deposit of $700 on a GEO Spectrum. I loved this little cute white car. I made $124 monthly payments for 15 mths along with insurance each month. I slaved for that car and still graduated. I was never gonna be a high achiever in high school but I did finish.

The whole time I was growing up, no one showed me how to manage my finances. I learned, however to rob peter to pay paul. I learned to set priorities for wants, not needs. I never thought I could go to college. I didn't have the grades or the money or even the resources to. but that didn't keep me down! Oh no, I would prove to myself and others I could succeed!

Flu Season Come and Gone

The flu hit our family this year in January.

All the kids were sick,

with different symptoms!

I cleaned and scrubbed for a month

but they just wouldn't

get better.

Until I had this great IDEA!

I made a giant bed

on the floor of my room

and made each

child sleep there for 4 nights

STRAIGHT!

I put the humidifiers down near

them and tucked them in

each night.

5 DAYS later, all the kids were

feeling better and I

could finally get some sleep :)

As for Lizzie, she got a

stuffy nose and that was it!

She slept in our bed too :)

I'm happy January is finished

and

hoping that February

will be "flu" free.