The Journey to Jumping FUN!!!

Since we moved into our house in May of 2009 the girls have been BEGGING for a trampoline! Once we started paying our own bills I realized I had done a great disservice to my kids by not teaching them to turn off the lights!!

Misa made an agreement with them that if the electric bill was under a certain amount he would put that much into a trampoline fund but if it was OVER that amount then he would take that out of the the trampoline fund. 

Since living here now for a year and half they are getting much better at this and I saw in Walmart's "Black Friday" ad an amazing deal on a 14 foot trampoline with enclosure. Misa had never really been "Black Friday" shopping for anything specific so he had never experienced waiting in line on "Black Friday". 

This year Walmart started their "Black Friday" at 10:00 p.m. so I convinced Misa to go with me at 8:00 pm (although he thought that was WAY early).  Our Walmart had their "Big" items line winding through the lingerie section and I felt like a bit of an amateur without my fold up chair like the "pro-black Fridayers" had but I thought Misa would not even come if I did that!

He did seem a little bothered by the American materialism and said "Honduran people only stand in line like this for FOOD!" but he loves our girls and agreed it was a great price! They had 8 trampolines and I was NUMBER 7!!  We got it home and Misa hid it in the garage until Christmas! Because we were going to be at my moms for Christmas, we debated taking it there and finally decided to cut out the picture on the box and wrap it! They were VERY excited!!

 Misa set it up when they came home from Tulsa and they have lived outside ever since!!  Oscar even LOVES it!!

Lesson Learned:  My favorite thing about the trampoline is that there is finally something that has bridged the gap between my 12 year old and 8 year old.  There has not been any fighting in the last 2 days and that was worth EVERY penny and sitting on the floor in the Walmart lingerie section for 2 hours!

2011 Peaks, Pits, and 2012 Goals!

I once heard it said that "the difference between a goal and a dream is a timeline!"  I know some people think that "New Years Resolutions" are cliche but I like the idea of a new year and new goals!

I also think that before I really set new goals it is good to look at the year in review with its peaks and pits!

PEAKS:

• Chloe started middle school.
• Misa's job moved to Weatherford and he moved into more of a supervisor/office role so he is home every night.
• I joined the Celebrate Recovery Ministry TEAM at Memorial road church of Christ as the Female "E" (encourager).
• Allie went to school without her Big sister for the first time!
• We added "Oscar the boxer" to our family.
• Misa and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary!
• I got the privilege to go to California and attend the CR summit! It was life changing.
• We bought a camper!
• I started eating healthy and for the first time in my life I feel free from the chains of a scale! My food choices are based on what will make me feel good and not what I can get "away" with eating or what I think I can get "away" from by eating.

PITS:

• We suffered another miscarriage.

I am really excited about the goals I am choosing to set for 2012! So here they are in a nut shell!

• I want to run a 5K in April at the OKC Memorial Marathon! So I am going to start a Couch to 5K before 2012.
• I hope that we can have a successful pregnancy in 2012.
• Make a lot more family memories with camping fun!
• I hope to be a more present mom and let the "little things" go!

Lesson Learned: Reflecting over the last year is encouraging to see all the good that has occurred as well as the tough things that make us a stronger family.
 
Setting goals is good for me!! Working toward something that makes me healthier and/or a better person, or brings me closer to my family helps me get through the tough times of life!

A HOMEMADE CHRISTMAS!!

This Christmas I found some fun ways to make some special gifts!
For their stockings I made the girls "Christmas Coupons"!
I printed them on 4x6 cards, then took them to Kinkos and had them bind them!

 

Some of the "coupons" were:

• 30 minute bedtime extension
• ice cream for breakfast
• Sleep with mom when Misa is out of town
• Get out of one chore

I also made a "reciepe book" for my sister that has some of our families favorite recipes in it!

I found this idea on pinterest!  It is a "Mom and Me" journal!  The idea is that you write a note to your child and then put it under their pillow and then they write you back and put it under your pillow and you keep it going until the journal is full!

I made these "T-Shirt" scarves (another pinterest idea) for the girls and for Chase and Cole! It was a great way to make old favorites new again!

I made these "PJ Scarves" for a lot of people (and a few for myself) they are so cozy and warm!!

For Ava I made her a "personalized" jacket!! Once again this was a pinterest inspired idea! I bought a purple hoddie and some heat n bond. I cut letters that spelled AVA out of the heat n bond and then I ironed them on the hoddie. Then I filled a spray bottle with bleach and water and sprayed the hoddie and let it set an hour, then I did the back, and then I dried it in the dryer and they washed and dryed it! This was the end result and I really like it!!

One of my FAVORITE gifts I got though was this homemade gift from Allie!! It is a reindeer made from her foot!

Lesson Learned: Gifts made my hands are so fun to give and to recieve!

CR BLOG POST!!

I had the priviledge of writing the CR blog post this week! You can check it out here: http://celebraterecoverymrcc.blogspot.com/2011/12/night-to-remember.html