Fashion Sense

We dressed Stacia in a darling outfit...little fitted jacket with fur around the collar....

SHE stripped the jacket off and went for Arielle's jacket. ::snort:: Sort of washed her out, didn't I?

Cel-e-bra- tion time, C'Mon!!!!

Yay! They are DONE for another year! 2006 taxes are flying through cyberspace. I remembered the Children's AK PFD money at the last moment and had to fix that, but I think it is all done! I found enough deductions with the help of Turb Tax to get quite a healthy return. I've proposed to Mike that the $400 filing fee that several friends have been quoted should go to ME! I could buy a new grain mill and dehydrator....or I could go to a Wing Chaplain's conference with him I suppose.....though, oh yeah, I'd need to figure out what to do for the little ones....that's right...that's why I don't go with him on these business trips. LOL We had one blessed year when the older girls were still living at home, driving, and not minors....and we took advantage of it. LOL

Workout!

I usually wake up, do Bible Study, stagger into the kitchen and make the fabled "breakfast" that my children must have, and THEN...the older 3 begin school, Arielle and Nolan clean up the kitchen and Zander plays with Stacia...*I* go work out...either a bike ride or lately a video.

This a.m. I woke up with so much extra time that I decided to work out before breakfast. Zander and Stacia are the first ones up. Well...NO...Jamin is up writing but his writing time is sacred.

Against my better judgement I let Zander in to the room where I was "werking". He watched. Carefully. Then Stacia was pounding on the door. I let her in. She must be in the middle of things. I was avoiding her, still not babying my should so not doing arm movements, trying desperately not to step on Stacia instead of the step...you get the picture.

Zander cheered me on with encouraging comments such as, "Alright MOM - do the arms like this" and "Mom they are better than you are!"

I quit at 30 minutes today....I think I deserve some sort of credit for surviving that long with my audience. ::snort::

PAPERWORK!!!

I'm drowning in paperwork!

We DID manage school today.

I finished details on the trailer purchase.

I filled out Josiah's FAFSA...only to discover NOW that some of the info is wrong but I'm trusting all of you who say they'll give me a chance to amend it before hauling one of us off to prison!

I had to redo our taxes....funny thing...Turbo Tax agrees with me that we don't get the child credit...but then THEY give it back as an "additional" child tax credit. I would think the government could streamline this whole thing. This is so silly. I really like the idea of a set percentage for taxes...I can't imagine how nice it would be if we didn't have all these silly forms, exemptions etc. Just pay the percentage on your gross income and be done with it.....anyway - $1,000 per child under 17 is a chunk of change in our home....though I still don't get WHY they say "you don't qualify", and then turn around and give it back to you AFTER you fill out ANOTHER worksheet. I also am not sure why they think a 17 year old costs less to raise than an infant......I can guarantee my 17 yo costs more to feed than my 7 year old. ::snort:: I suppose it's one of those mysteries of the universe.

I fielded phone calls from the RV dealer. Mike let me know that I got the trailer at 8K below blue book - not bad. I didn't even play hard ball...I DID shamelessly set out to charm them even though they called me "little lady". I simply told them that my dh was deployed, pining away dreaming of camping in TX, and I'd like to let him know I had his dream trailer purchased. Then I asked for the bottom line price because I wasn't interested in bargaining. The dealership has been calling all day offering to throw in more free things they think I need. Maybe we'll have to try this next time we need to buy a vehicle. They are quite surprised that I told them I'd bring a check in and didn't want to mess with their financing.

I also dealt with calls and such for produce co-op.

Bible study tonight.....had fun visiting afterward but had NO idea what time it was. The clock in our room was missing. I'll need to take my own clock next time. I obviously can't tell when I've done an hour's worth of talking. ::snort::

The Rest of Monday!

We did get couch school done. Couch school consists of the things that I do with the children - most of which are done on the couch around here (history, science, read alouds, phonics)...

I took the 3 little ones and went to the RV dealer. They wanted to see a trailer like the one I bought, but it won't be here until Thursday. We left the dealer and went to Sam's Club. I picked up some chicken so I could cook tonight. I made oven fried chicken....oven fries...salad...fruit....

I had to leave before dinner was done to meet the Shop Natural truck. Our order was small this month - which was good as we met the truck later than normal. Adrienne and her children came over and helped inventory and sort.

Heather came over to pick up her "stuff" and fixed my camera...again. Yippee! I would have missed THIS photo if she'd not stopped by....
Stacia climbed into a teeny, tiny box...it holds 12 boxes of mac and cheese...and got STUCK!!!! See the lollipop in her mouth? It's made from fruit juices....I thought I was buying a little bag for treats. It was 3 oz....I thought...but it must have been 3 lbs...because we got a huge canister of them. I plan to take them to Mike's office. He has a ceramic pig that is full of candy...I'll add these so there is something somewhat better for the children when they visit. I'll put some in the diaper bag....hmmmm....who knows because we don't really do lollipops...but STACIA DOES! ugh.

The younger 4 and I read some out of Jungle Book and they called it a day. Oh wait - my dear college sister friend called. She informed me that what may have happened with the credit card is that they suspended it because I made so many payments in one month. I made 3 payments...big ones....and umm.....since the patriot act that's a huge red flag for money laundering...so now I know. I guess one payment a month...and I'm not sure how having this account so that I could make the payment for local things from it will help. I certainly don't want them freezing the account every month I make more than one payment. ::snort::

My shoulder is feeling miraculously better. It still twinges and aches but I can move....I worked out today without the arms...which worked out well since I used the step and needed to focus on my two left feet! ::snort::

Jamin is creating a weight circuit for me to do. He's excited. I told him to remember I'm old. He wanted to know what areas I need to work on most. I told him to LOOK at me....maybe I should let him off the hook and tell which areas I want to work on. ::snort::

Tomorrow...taxes, school, FAFSA, loans....

TODAY

It's nearly 1:30 p.m. and we've not done couch school.

I have applied for two loans. I did deal with the credit card company again. This time they made MIKE call them....no comment. I've talked to the county courthouse and we are exempt from the sales tax on buying a trailer here. I'll have to look into HOW to register the trailer in AK next....but it can be done. I've checked on insurance for the trailer. I've talked to the salesman 3 times....we'll see what he finally nails down....I don't like "dealing". I have fielded several produce co-op phone calls. I've printed invoices for Shop Natural co-op tonight....and I'm going to go eat lunch, get Stacia down and do SCHOOL.

SUNDAY

This has been a hard day. Not a bad day - but a hard day. HOWEVER....isn't it great that God sent me a little message? It came in the form of Yvonne's son. They emailed me the new blinkie in the sidebar - Choosing Joy. A Timely reminder....::snort::

Stacia jumped on my shoulder somehow last night and I can't lift my left shoulder. OUCH. I guess I need to not do arm movements when working out this week...maybe take some ibuprofen....I nearly threw up when I had to lift my arm to put on and take off my dress. TMI? {G}

Chapel was good. Everyone is telling me "not long now".....but for some reason today it feels like it may be forever. I simply need to choose joy and get out of the pit. LOL

I went and bought Turbo Tax. I looked at last year's return and Mike made MORE last year and we got 9K back...so something is not right in my figures. I really just needed figures to do the FAFSA...so I'll do what I can there and then if I need to change them later - I'll try. Hopefully they won't haul Josiah or I off to prison for turning in false financial aide info. ugh.

We made popcorn, turned off the lights, and watched "Mrs. Minerva". This is a GREAT movie. It shows the struggle of one English family during WW2. It was made in 1942. We were all moved to think that no one knew what was going to happen in the rest of the war when it was made. There were a couple "trailers" we watched. I was excited when one of my boys said, "Mom, this is an example of American propaganda isn't it?" We were able to discuss the possible good and bad uses of propaganda. This is something they'd been thinking about in school. Then Josiah (17) said that if he'd been alive back then and hadn't signed up yet...he would have signed up after watching the movie. This led us to wonder if the whole movie was propaganda. ::snort:: We loved it. We cried, we laughed...and it wasn't just me crying. The boys asked if they could put on a Hogan's Heroes to lighten the mood. They got Arielle out of bed (she was moved by the movie more than I expected) and are doing that now.

Really, it's not been a bad day...I'm simply emotional...and in pain....which may be why things felt glum today. BUT how can I ignore my blinkie....Choosing Joy.

OH Stacia got into flour today - everywhere. Jamin ran for the camera before remembering that it isn't working. I've got this family trained! ::snort:: Photo - THEN clean up!