Okay, so I may have poked fun about a week ago at people who were prepared for all sorts of various emergencies that could arise at some point in their life. And while I do think that some of them (perhaps many) have taken things a bit too far, I have to eat my words just a little bit.
On Thursday, my father in law and hubby were running some lines for the dishwasher and doing other various type things like that of which I have no knowledge. This went on for several hours. During which the water was turned off and we had none. And of course, wouldn't you know, every kid in my house had to pee or poop or do both. I will include myself in this because I had a bunch of iced tea. We drank all the water from the fridge and were left with nothing. Nothing to drink, nothing to flush with, zip, zilch, nothing.
And I swear to you, the first thing that popped into my head after the annoyance with everyone needing to pee, was that "those crazy survivalists would have been just fine". And I desperately wished that I had some stored water around the house somewhere.
Okay, so maybe it wasn't such a huge deal to drive to the nearest gas station to borrow their bathroom, but it did make me feel like I was unable to handle a real emergency. Thankfully, we got the water back on that night and it all worked out okay! I am sincerely hoping that I don't start to get survivalist tendencies "just in case", it's easy to think , yeah, I should have some of x, y, and z to be prepared, but I think easy as well to cross over to the crazy.
If I start talking about the best types of guns and ammo to store around your house, someone stop me!
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Kembia's New Do
Yesterday I spent probably between 3-4 hours getting what I consider to be Kembia's first "real do". The puffs that I posted before I kind of feel like they are a cheater hair style! I believe that this is called a two-strand rope twist. It is stinking adorable. I go between thinking she looks like Snoop Dogg and Medusa. While both sound terrible, I just want to squeeze her!
We did it in 4 separate sittings, and all involved lots of candy eating, otherwise known in our household as bribing. Funny thing about Kembia and her hair, if you give her candy she doesn't scream when you touch it. Without candy, bring on the lungs.
My right wrist was killing me, I think it's still sore. And I realize that it isn't all nicely parted and looking all cool that way, but I have to start somewhere! I am really hoping that this lasts at least a week because if not it might just be too much work for days less than that. I am super excited to see what it looks like when we undo it. If I remember I will post a picture of that too.
My right wrist was killing me, I think it's still sore. And I realize that it isn't all nicely parted and looking all cool that way, but I have to start somewhere! I am really hoping that this lasts at least a week because if not it might just be too much work for days less than that. I am super excited to see what it looks like when we undo it. If I remember I will post a picture of that too.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Randomness
I was going to post a bunch of pictures, but it just seemed like a lot of work this morning, and since I am already frazzled from Ava almost missing the bus, I just can't handle the extra "work"! So instead of a photo dump, you get a brain dump! (Lucky you)
Moyz has a little extra weight to him, like all 19 months old should. After a bath one day we were looking into the mirror and I said "Moyz, you have man boobs". Kembia happened to be in the room and then she proceeded to walk around the house repeating boobs over and over again. Oops.
Speaking of repeating things, that girl is on fire with her words. I am so proud of her, and Moyz apparently doesn't want to be left behind because he is quickly keeping up with her. It is so much fun when the kidlets are talking. I forget how cute and proud it makes one feel.
Truitt is officially done breastfeeding, which is both sad and nice. Nice because now I don't have to spend oodles of time trying to feed him while he looks around and gets distracted, but sad because it was so nice to snuggle with each other, and also sad because formula costs a lot.
Owen busted his bottom lip straight up the middle, so now he resembles just slightly lips like Angelina Jolie, only in a more disgusting, bloody way. We cannot get that puppy to heal. Going on 4 weeks and it is still split. Part of the problem is that he is rough and keeps re-opening it. I keep telling him to put chapstick on but he forgets a lot.
Ava turned 9, which I cannot believe. She is literally turning into a young lady before me. Pretty soon we are going to have to go bra shopping, which almost makes me want to hyperventilate because I feel like she is so young, but it is going to be necessary real soon. And the last time I passed through the bra section for girls in Target, they were all padded. For real. Padded. Don't the designers know that they are kids? They do not need padded bras. I could probably tangent about this for a long time, but I will spare you.
And the hubs and I refinanced the house under the Harp 2.0 program which allows those who are current and not in danger of losing their homes, but upside down on their mortgages. 30-40% of Americans are upside down on their homes right now. If that is you, I would highly suggest doing this. It is a straight up refinance, with no negatives affecting you at all. We went from a 30 year (of which we have paid for 5) at 5.75% to a 20 year at 4.375%. We will pay off our house 5 years early, and a much lower rate (saving big moola in the long run), for $13 more per month than what we are paying right now. We were very tempted to refinance to a 15 year mortgage (that would be our Dave Ramsey class kicking in!), the rate was an amazing 3.5%, but we would have to pay an extra $140/month, which doesn't seem like a lot, but we still feel like we are trying to budget and get the best handle on that. I would check it out if you are upside down, it does depend on the kindness of your bank since they are not legally required to do it. But if you can save money and you lower your rate, why not? I will also add that you might want to hurry, rates have gone up slightly the last several weeks.
Oh, and only 3 more days till my new appliances! And a good thing too because my fridge continues to leak like crazy.
Okay, that's it for now!
Moyz has a little extra weight to him, like all 19 months old should. After a bath one day we were looking into the mirror and I said "Moyz, you have man boobs". Kembia happened to be in the room and then she proceeded to walk around the house repeating boobs over and over again. Oops.
Speaking of repeating things, that girl is on fire with her words. I am so proud of her, and Moyz apparently doesn't want to be left behind because he is quickly keeping up with her. It is so much fun when the kidlets are talking. I forget how cute and proud it makes one feel.
Truitt is officially done breastfeeding, which is both sad and nice. Nice because now I don't have to spend oodles of time trying to feed him while he looks around and gets distracted, but sad because it was so nice to snuggle with each other, and also sad because formula costs a lot.
Owen busted his bottom lip straight up the middle, so now he resembles just slightly lips like Angelina Jolie, only in a more disgusting, bloody way. We cannot get that puppy to heal. Going on 4 weeks and it is still split. Part of the problem is that he is rough and keeps re-opening it. I keep telling him to put chapstick on but he forgets a lot.
Ava turned 9, which I cannot believe. She is literally turning into a young lady before me. Pretty soon we are going to have to go bra shopping, which almost makes me want to hyperventilate because I feel like she is so young, but it is going to be necessary real soon. And the last time I passed through the bra section for girls in Target, they were all padded. For real. Padded. Don't the designers know that they are kids? They do not need padded bras. I could probably tangent about this for a long time, but I will spare you.
And the hubs and I refinanced the house under the Harp 2.0 program which allows those who are current and not in danger of losing their homes, but upside down on their mortgages. 30-40% of Americans are upside down on their homes right now. If that is you, I would highly suggest doing this. It is a straight up refinance, with no negatives affecting you at all. We went from a 30 year (of which we have paid for 5) at 5.75% to a 20 year at 4.375%. We will pay off our house 5 years early, and a much lower rate (saving big moola in the long run), for $13 more per month than what we are paying right now. We were very tempted to refinance to a 15 year mortgage (that would be our Dave Ramsey class kicking in!), the rate was an amazing 3.5%, but we would have to pay an extra $140/month, which doesn't seem like a lot, but we still feel like we are trying to budget and get the best handle on that. I would check it out if you are upside down, it does depend on the kindness of your bank since they are not legally required to do it. But if you can save money and you lower your rate, why not? I will also add that you might want to hurry, rates have gone up slightly the last several weeks.
Oh, and only 3 more days till my new appliances! And a good thing too because my fridge continues to leak like crazy.
Okay, that's it for now!
Friday, March 23, 2012
Survival 101
For probably the last 6 months or so I have had this nagging voice in the back of my head telling me that I need to be more prepared for emergencies. For example, last fall a storm hit our city, I don't believe it was a tornado, but there was tornado-like damage done. Our street was the worst affected and made the state news. Our house was the only house on the street that didn't have any severe damage, I think God was blessing us since we had new babies.
The lights were going on and off, imagine me in the basement with no lights and babies. Trees were literally ripped up and thrown, our garbage cans were whisked across the street and halfway across the lot. A neighbors tree had a 2 foot diameter and was ripped up like it was a toothpick. I didn't even have a flashlight with me. I just grabbed them and ran downstairs, where we proceeded to do nothing. because we couldn't, even if we wanted to.
This has nothing to do with the crazy 2012 Mayan doomsday stuff which I believe is a bunch of bologna. But it has everything to do with being able to take care of my family in a real emergency where maybe we didn't have any electricity and couldn't get to a grocery store, etc.
We would be sorely lacking. Not much for food, 2 tiny little flashlights, no candles, no matches. You get the picture. So, using my BFF Google, I started researching. and here is what I discovered: There is a giant paranoid population in the good ol' USA. And these people are READY. (I may not know what exactly they are ready for but they are ready.) They have plans and backup plans and food to last for a year and 5 different ways to start a fire. They have "Bug Out Bags" if you need to high tail it out of your house. They know 30 things to do with a bandanna, and that the Leatherman Wave is by far the best multi tool on the market, though perhaps a little heavy.
And it's starting to make me paranoid. Like if something actually happened and now I have to defend myself and my kids and my home, and what am I going to wield? A BB gun? Sorting through the crazy, I did get a bunch of good ideas on things to bulk up and have for your home, and stuff for emergencies and a list of things to keep on hand that would be useful. But still, now I feel a little like I need to run to Walmart and buy 20 pounds of rice and beans and water coolers and canned foods and oatmeal. Nothing that parishes too quickly, plus I will need flashlights and batteries and a radio that I can crank with my hand or use solar so I can listen to what is happening in the world. And the list goes on.....
Anyone else feel this way? That you would sorely be lacking in an emergency? And that you need to do something RIGHT NOW OR DIE?
In case anyone is interested, I went to "The Survivalist Blog" and got a lot of my info. Here's the link: www.thesurvivalistblog.net
I suggest reading some of the comments under different posts. People are fascinating, some of them I would love to meet, although I may be a little afraid of them!
The lights were going on and off, imagine me in the basement with no lights and babies. Trees were literally ripped up and thrown, our garbage cans were whisked across the street and halfway across the lot. A neighbors tree had a 2 foot diameter and was ripped up like it was a toothpick. I didn't even have a flashlight with me. I just grabbed them and ran downstairs, where we proceeded to do nothing. because we couldn't, even if we wanted to.
This has nothing to do with the crazy 2012 Mayan doomsday stuff which I believe is a bunch of bologna. But it has everything to do with being able to take care of my family in a real emergency where maybe we didn't have any electricity and couldn't get to a grocery store, etc.
We would be sorely lacking. Not much for food, 2 tiny little flashlights, no candles, no matches. You get the picture. So, using my BFF Google, I started researching. and here is what I discovered: There is a giant paranoid population in the good ol' USA. And these people are READY. (I may not know what exactly they are ready for but they are ready.) They have plans and backup plans and food to last for a year and 5 different ways to start a fire. They have "Bug Out Bags" if you need to high tail it out of your house. They know 30 things to do with a bandanna, and that the Leatherman Wave is by far the best multi tool on the market, though perhaps a little heavy.
And it's starting to make me paranoid. Like if something actually happened and now I have to defend myself and my kids and my home, and what am I going to wield? A BB gun? Sorting through the crazy, I did get a bunch of good ideas on things to bulk up and have for your home, and stuff for emergencies and a list of things to keep on hand that would be useful. But still, now I feel a little like I need to run to Walmart and buy 20 pounds of rice and beans and water coolers and canned foods and oatmeal. Nothing that parishes too quickly, plus I will need flashlights and batteries and a radio that I can crank with my hand or use solar so I can listen to what is happening in the world. And the list goes on.....
Anyone else feel this way? That you would sorely be lacking in an emergency? And that you need to do something RIGHT NOW OR DIE?
In case anyone is interested, I went to "The Survivalist Blog" and got a lot of my info. Here's the link: www.thesurvivalistblog.net
I suggest reading some of the comments under different posts. People are fascinating, some of them I would love to meet, although I may be a little afraid of them!
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Naughtiness and Duct Tape
Ava and Owen were doing the dishes on Saturday morning. They can have issues getting along. I sat at the kitchen table and watched them hit and kick each other, and then one said "I wish you were dead", to which the other replied "I wish you were dead!" I was a little peeved.
So I ran downstairs and grabbed a roll of duct tape. And we duct taped Ava and Owen together at the arms over their sweaters, and around the calves over their pants. We explained to them about how we should never wish the other person dead and that they would miss each other terribly, and because they couldn't get along they now had to be forced to be together and figure out how to make it work.
They overheard me telling Chris that I thought they should stay taped together when I went to someone's house for a couple of hours. This sent them into a fit of crying that pretty much lasted as long as they were taped together. (About 40 minutes.) We made them fold laundry and pick up stuff around the house as one unit.
I almost couldn't handle watching them! I had to leave the room and laugh. There is a good chance that this punishment is going to stick with them and be a good reminder as demonstrated in the following picture:
So I ran downstairs and grabbed a roll of duct tape. And we duct taped Ava and Owen together at the arms over their sweaters, and around the calves over their pants. We explained to them about how we should never wish the other person dead and that they would miss each other terribly, and because they couldn't get along they now had to be forced to be together and figure out how to make it work.
They overheard me telling Chris that I thought they should stay taped together when I went to someone's house for a couple of hours. This sent them into a fit of crying that pretty much lasted as long as they were taped together. (About 40 minutes.) We made them fold laundry and pick up stuff around the house as one unit.
I almost couldn't handle watching them! I had to leave the room and laugh. There is a good chance that this punishment is going to stick with them and be a good reminder as demonstrated in the following picture:
Monday, March 19, 2012
The Demise of a Fridge
Basically as soon as we moved into our house 9 years ago, I felt that our fridge was dying. It made weird noises and didn't really seem to be as cold as other people's fridges even though I had that baby cranked up to the coldest option. Well, its hung in there quite well over the years, but is now officially on its last legs.
For the past month or so, there would be occasional pools of water on the floor and there isn't an ice and water dispenser so there was no where for the water to be coming from except the cooling system. This is not a good sign.
The past week it has been happening a lot. To the point where on Saturday, my ever frugal husband said "We need to look for a fridge, like today." So, we spent the majority of Saturday on the net trying to find the best deals and looking on Craigslist. I really hope that you live in an area where your Craigslist rocks. Ours sucks. I think people are trying to get wealthy off of it. They are asking for almost the full price for a fridge that is 3+ years. I don't think so.
And can I just bemoan how expensive appliances are? I had no idea. This is the first time in my adult life, that I have shopped for appliances. I was shocked. Currently we have an 18.2 cu ft. fridge. Given the large size of our family and the fact that I have to cram all of the food in there, we wanted a bigger fridge. And I wanted one that had the double doors that you open all fancy like. Do you know how much they cost? At least $1000 on sale. What?
We also have an oven that is kind of broken. I say kind of because it does cook, but the double glass section on the front is only one due to the fact that I dropped a glass pan on it from the cupboards above and it smashed the first panel of glass. Plus it cooks things in about half the time, and unevenly. So my mind got moving. Here's the deal, we have committed living in this house for the unforeseeable future. We knew that adopting would put us into that position, plus when you add in that we are quite upside down on it, are butts aren't going anywhere fast. Since we could be here for quite some time, we didn't want to get any new appliances as "intermediates". And since we wanted stainless steel, we knew that this would require getting a stove and range as well. Our appliances are currently an ugly cream and black, and so we wouldn't just get a fridge without the other part of it.
Did you know that stoves are like $700? This is adding up quickly. Plus, we had decided that since we have this many people in our family, it was time to buckle down and get a dishwasher, because it seems like all I do is wash dishes. And dishwashers aren't exactly cheap either.
After what seemed like hours, we found a package that was fridge, stove, dishwasher and above the stove microwave/range hood. After all the rebates, etc. it is costing us $2,800. Now, I should probably clarify that this is a more upgraded set, but oh my word, I have to admit a little hyperventilating set in. We actually went home and thought about it and checked in other stores to make sure that we were getting the best deal, but I have to admit the night before we bought them my dreams were filled with appliances and agonizing over what color options and the fact that we were spending so much money. Yikes.
So they are coming on the 30th, and we are hoping that our fridge can make it for 2 more weeks, otherwise we are going to be living out of a cooler with ice. They'll set them up and take our old ones away for recycling which is a bonus since we won't have to do it.
And now I will have enough room for all of the food my family requires. Still, I was hoping that Craigslist was going to work out, and of course, we had definitely NOT planned to drop $3,000 randomly one day. But I have to admit, it will be great to have a dishwasher and humongous fridge and a stove (it's a convection oven too, which I guess is an awesome thing. Of course, pretty much anything will be awesome after the beast that I have been using!) So glad that we got our state return back because it will cover just over half of it, so we don't have to dip into savings too much! We don't plan on getting our adoption refund at all, (even though we should eventually), it's easier that way. When we started our adoption the refund didn't exist, and so now it's just a bonus. But, we don't want to ear mark that money for anything in the event that it takes months and months to come. Which is more likely than not, although I am praying that ours moves quickly. Although I have my doubts because I forgot to put or SS numbers on the receipts and you are supposed to do that in case they get removed and separated from your file. Oops.
I will post before and after pictures so you can see the difference.
For the past month or so, there would be occasional pools of water on the floor and there isn't an ice and water dispenser so there was no where for the water to be coming from except the cooling system. This is not a good sign.
The past week it has been happening a lot. To the point where on Saturday, my ever frugal husband said "We need to look for a fridge, like today." So, we spent the majority of Saturday on the net trying to find the best deals and looking on Craigslist. I really hope that you live in an area where your Craigslist rocks. Ours sucks. I think people are trying to get wealthy off of it. They are asking for almost the full price for a fridge that is 3+ years. I don't think so.
And can I just bemoan how expensive appliances are? I had no idea. This is the first time in my adult life, that I have shopped for appliances. I was shocked. Currently we have an 18.2 cu ft. fridge. Given the large size of our family and the fact that I have to cram all of the food in there, we wanted a bigger fridge. And I wanted one that had the double doors that you open all fancy like. Do you know how much they cost? At least $1000 on sale. What?
We also have an oven that is kind of broken. I say kind of because it does cook, but the double glass section on the front is only one due to the fact that I dropped a glass pan on it from the cupboards above and it smashed the first panel of glass. Plus it cooks things in about half the time, and unevenly. So my mind got moving. Here's the deal, we have committed living in this house for the unforeseeable future. We knew that adopting would put us into that position, plus when you add in that we are quite upside down on it, are butts aren't going anywhere fast. Since we could be here for quite some time, we didn't want to get any new appliances as "intermediates". And since we wanted stainless steel, we knew that this would require getting a stove and range as well. Our appliances are currently an ugly cream and black, and so we wouldn't just get a fridge without the other part of it.
Did you know that stoves are like $700? This is adding up quickly. Plus, we had decided that since we have this many people in our family, it was time to buckle down and get a dishwasher, because it seems like all I do is wash dishes. And dishwashers aren't exactly cheap either.
After what seemed like hours, we found a package that was fridge, stove, dishwasher and above the stove microwave/range hood. After all the rebates, etc. it is costing us $2,800. Now, I should probably clarify that this is a more upgraded set, but oh my word, I have to admit a little hyperventilating set in. We actually went home and thought about it and checked in other stores to make sure that we were getting the best deal, but I have to admit the night before we bought them my dreams were filled with appliances and agonizing over what color options and the fact that we were spending so much money. Yikes.
So they are coming on the 30th, and we are hoping that our fridge can make it for 2 more weeks, otherwise we are going to be living out of a cooler with ice. They'll set them up and take our old ones away for recycling which is a bonus since we won't have to do it.
And now I will have enough room for all of the food my family requires. Still, I was hoping that Craigslist was going to work out, and of course, we had definitely NOT planned to drop $3,000 randomly one day. But I have to admit, it will be great to have a dishwasher and humongous fridge and a stove (it's a convection oven too, which I guess is an awesome thing. Of course, pretty much anything will be awesome after the beast that I have been using!) So glad that we got our state return back because it will cover just over half of it, so we don't have to dip into savings too much! We don't plan on getting our adoption refund at all, (even though we should eventually), it's easier that way. When we started our adoption the refund didn't exist, and so now it's just a bonus. But, we don't want to ear mark that money for anything in the event that it takes months and months to come. Which is more likely than not, although I am praying that ours moves quickly. Although I have my doubts because I forgot to put or SS numbers on the receipts and you are supposed to do that in case they get removed and separated from your file. Oops.
I will post before and after pictures so you can see the difference.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
We Eat Squirrel
Okay, so technically when I say we, I mean my hubby and kids. For real. Squirrel. As in, the cute, little bushy-tailed creatures running around in your back yard right at this moment.
The upshot of marrying a hunter/survival guy is that when it's the end of the world, which appears to be happening sooner rather than later, my family will still be able to survive, because my hubs will go out and catch our food for us. As opposed to all of those living in places like NYC who depend on a grocery store for their food. They will perish quickly if I had to guess. But not us, no way, not the Nelsons. We will survive and prosper on things like squirrel.
Here's the thing. It is supposed to be extremely good tasting, even a delicacy. And I hate to admit it, but it did smell good cooking in my over. But I couldn't get passed the fact that it is squirrel. I happen to think that squirrels are quite cute looking. In that sweet, Disney type way. But I could.not.eat.it. We have also had, what I lovingly refer to as: Backyard Bunny Chili. I will leave it up to you to figure out that one.
Now I suppose if it really was the end of the world I would eat that baby right up. But since it isn't yet, I think I will take a pass for the time being, although I won't write it off in the future. I am actually at this moment taking an on-line hunter safety training course so I can go deer hunting this fall. So you never know what may happen to me.
The upshot of marrying a hunter/survival guy is that when it's the end of the world, which appears to be happening sooner rather than later, my family will still be able to survive, because my hubs will go out and catch our food for us. As opposed to all of those living in places like NYC who depend on a grocery store for their food. They will perish quickly if I had to guess. But not us, no way, not the Nelsons. We will survive and prosper on things like squirrel.
Here's the thing. It is supposed to be extremely good tasting, even a delicacy. And I hate to admit it, but it did smell good cooking in my over. But I couldn't get passed the fact that it is squirrel. I happen to think that squirrels are quite cute looking. In that sweet, Disney type way. But I could.not.eat.it. We have also had, what I lovingly refer to as: Backyard Bunny Chili. I will leave it up to you to figure out that one.
Now I suppose if it really was the end of the world I would eat that baby right up. But since it isn't yet, I think I will take a pass for the time being, although I won't write it off in the future. I am actually at this moment taking an on-line hunter safety training course so I can go deer hunting this fall. So you never know what may happen to me.
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