The End of A Long Week!

So, we finally got taxes straightened around on Monday. I love H&R because of how quick we get our refunds back. This time was no different, we had our refund by Tuesday morning. So, Tuesday and Wednesday were spent paying bills and getting things that the kids need. Got each of the kids 3 pr pants and 3 shirts, and James 4 pr pants. Got Gabe and Caleb each a new winter coat, and Mike got 2 new suits and 2 new dress shirts. Myself, well I got some new lotions and body sprays. Doesn't take much to make me happy lol. We did most of our shopping at the Outlet Mall in Johnson Creek. About an hour and a half-two hours away from us, but well worth the trip in my opinion. Almost everything there is 30-80% off the retail price.
A good example is Mike's suits. S&K was having a closeout, and the suits were normally $160, and he got them for $40 a pc. That's a great deal! Gabe's coat was supposed to be $88, and I paid 26. Another great deal. Caleb's was supposed to be $50, and I paid $10.
All in all, a lot of great fun shopping!

I'm tired, and sore. My back has been giving me a lot more trouble lately, and so have my hips. Walking up and down the stairs keeps me busy, but it also makes me want to soak in the tub for the rest of the night. I used to be able to chase kids all day and night without a problem, but it's catching up to me lately. My migraines are back worse than before as well, which makes sitting here in front of the computer pure hell some nights.
Any way, gotta go get kids ready for bed.

Grrrrrr....Taxes

So we went to get our taxes done yesterday. That was fun...NOT! We give the tax guy the W-2's, the paper from unemployment, and our 1099-A from the mortgage company. All is going well, until---the tax guy looks at it and says "where did you get this?". He apparently has never seen one before, and doesn't know what to do with it! So he calls his boss over, and she doesn't know what to do with it either! They told us to come back today, that we could finish our taxes up then. But when we call, they say that they haven't figured it out yet, and the person that knows what to do won't be in until tomorrow.
What it boils down to is that they may count the principal amount that we owed as a gain, and the amount between what we owed and what it sold for as a loss. Makes no sense to me, but I also found out that the amounts from the 1099-C (and A) are supposed to be forgiven for 2007, 2008, and 2009. So we might not have to worry. Or, on the other hand, we might. Hard to say right now. Should hear back sometime after 9am tomorrow, so prayers would be appreciated.

Homeschooling is going pretty well....

Except for trying to keep a certain 7yo boy motivated and occupied. I am running out of ways (creative ways) to keep him interested in learning and what we're doing.
Now, logically, I know that while he is 7, his mental age is at about 3-4, so that accounts for some of it. I've begged, pleaded, bribed, and done pretty much everything I can think of to try and get him doing something.
I've took tv and made it only educational programs, I've taken video games and made them mostly educational. I've made flash cards with easy words, letters and numbers. We've done "field trips" to the zoo, the aquarium, the museum, and other places. He shows no interest at all in letters, words, numbers or any of that. He does know some numbers and letters, and knows what the flash card that says "DS" means (go figure!). I'm at a loss as to how to do things to help him learn.
The other kids did stuff about presidents and the elections, the Whitehouse, and how the government is the one that makes the laws and such (not too in detail, but the basics). That whole time, he was totally letting everyone know that he wasn't having any part of it. I've tried having the other kids doing something and (them) asking him if he can help. I've tried making him sit and holding him in the chair so he would sit long enough to let the cd rom that we were doing catch his attention.
Nothing seems to work.
The other kids are doing well. We are working out of some books that tell what words they should know by when, but alot of our work comes from things that they decided they wanted to know! If something catches their attention on tv, we write it down and it becomes part of tomorrows lesson. They love watching shows like "How It's Made" "Cash Cab" "How Stuff Works" "MythBusters" and all those type of shows. Oh, and "Dirty Jobs"! Thats a favorite of even Gabe! Gabe also likes Sesame Street, Dragon Tales, Wonder Pets, Dora, Diego, Backyardigans, Little Bill, Barney, and Teletubbies! And also Thomas, almost forgot about him, we only recently started watching that one, I can totally see how some kids can't deal without him, lol.
Of course since we don't have cable (yet), all they can watch is what's on PBS unless they're at grandma's house. Any ideas?????

It's been another busy week.

Wow, we're only 1/2 way through and it's been so chaotic that I wish it was Friday already! Well, not really, because when you homeschool, you don't necessarily get weekends off.
Sunday I picked up Adrian, he'll be going home tomorrow.
Been getting things ready for filing taxes, just need to get his W-2 forms. The mortgage company sent us our dreaded 1099-A form, which we're hoping won't screw up our taxes, plus we got his form from unemployment (from work being closed from the floods this past summer), that's another one that can get us, because they didn't take taxes out of it.

On another subject, it's been brought to my attention that February 8th is "Autism Sunday" and that apparently the second Sunday of every February is every year. Ok thats news to me, lol, but now I know, and am sharing the news with you all. For more information, please go to http://autismsunday.tripod.com/
A wonderful lady from the parenting_autism group on Yahoo was kind enough to share the website address with the group! (Thanks Tuna!)

The kids are doing well, and this week has been dedicated to learning about the past presidents, and all the activities that go on around the inauguration. Busy Busy Busy! We even watched most of the inaugural happenings yesterday.

On a side note, I stumbled across this blog, ( http://clusterfook.com/ ), and I think it makes a great read, and makes you really appreciate life and living it to the fullest. She's a 3 time cancer survivor, and her life has really been turned upside down as of late, and she is home on hospice care right now. Please, if you're the praying type, keep her in your prayers. If you're not, positive thoughts will help too! Now, go read her blog! Or else, lol.

The Big 3-0

So, tomorrow's the day, I'll be the big 3-0. And of course the kids keep telling me that I'll be old, ancient, over the hill (not that they know what that means lol). Jaime called and woke us up this morning wanting to know if my favorite cake is still chocolate. And which do I like better, Rainbow Brite or Strawberry Shortcake. So, long story short, she's making me a chocolate Rainbow Brite cake. Yum!
And I pulled out a long gray hair yesterday...time for hair dye. What color should I do? Mousy brown, Auburn, Red???? So many choices! But either way, $3 a box at Bent N Dent.
Mike's home today (vacation day), tomorrow (reg day off), and Sunday. Just long enough to get on my nerves, which he's already doing this morning by messing with the kids.
Maybe I'll post a pic after I dye my hair...

So My Credit Sucks...

And now I have to figure out how to get it decent enough to qualify for a loan thru FHA. Their requirements say at least 3 yrs after a foreclosure, or 5 yrs after a bankruptcy. The question is, 3 yrs from when they filed, or 3 yrs from when it was final lol. I'm guessing from when it was final, which puts us at June/July of 2011. A little over 2yrs from now. So that gives me 2 yrs to clean up our credit and put aside a minimum of 3.5% of the price of whatever house we plan on getting, plus closing costs, and whatever little incidentals. We dont plan on spending more than $100,000 on a house, which means at least $3500 for downpayment, plus at least 3,000 for closing and extras, probably closer to $4000. Can I do this? Yes, I think I can.
And if we wait til we get taxes back in 2012, we'll have a little extra besides what we have put aside between now and then. Now I just need to figure our budget and start setting money aside where we can't mess this up.

Everything seems to be closing...

In the past few months our area has been hit with a whole slew of business closings. There was the GM plant in Janesville, one of the Kerry buildings in Beloit, and before those, we had Beloit Corp, Sears, JC Penney's, and the stores in the Beloit Mall. We also had KMart and Sentry's close, and got word that June 30 will be the last day for the Alcoa Plant here in Beloit.
The latest is that the Cub Foods in Beloit, and one in Madison, and 2 in Green Bay are closing. Beloit's last day will be March 13, and 71 people will be out of jobs. That's on top of all the people that lost out from all the other businesses closing. My husband worked at the Beloit Cub's. He'd been working there 2 years on the day we married. He worked there a total of 9yrs and 3 mos, then left to work at Alcoa. That didn't work out, so he spent 2 yrs looking for a similar paying job to pay the bills, while we made ends meet on me working at McDonalds. Then he got hired in at Tyson, and he's been there 3 years as of the 12th of Feb.
I keep thinking about if he'd stayed at Cubs. He would have been there 14 years in March. 14 years. That's a long time to work at one place. What would he be doing now, if he'd stayed there? He'd be looking for work, trying to find a place that would pay somewhere near what he makes now, so we could make bills. And I, well I'd be freaking out, wondering what the heck we were gonna do about the situation.
It's scary to see all the people that are going to be out of work, especially the ones that work there that we went to school with, and that he worked with. It really opens your eyes to see the numbers in black and white, knowing how the economy already is, and wondering how much worse it's going to get.

Sick Kids

Ick! Started this morning, with Gabe saying that he wasnt feeling good, and sleeping in till 10 this morning. He NEVER sleeps that late. He was warm, red ears and cheeks, and just wanted to cuddle. Then later this morning, Caleb says he's not feeling well. Red ears, warm to the touch, sick to his stomach, and headache. And Mike comes home from work, also not feeling well. Whatever it is, it'll probably go thru the hole lot of them by this weekend.
Wish me luck, I'm going to need it.

Tired.

So today was spent retrieving passwords, and getting back at the other blog. I've edited a couple of the posts, and messed around a little bit, but not much else, since it's taken most of the day to just accomplish that much.
I also managed to clean the baby's room, and the bathroom and bathroom closet. Sent Caitlin up to clean her room, but she didnt do much of anything. Gotta tackle the boys' room, and get it straightened, and get some more laundry done. Take trash out, and clean up my room again. Adrian only had a very short nap today, and has been running full bore all day. His dr appt is tomorrow, so I'm taking him and his mom to it. Hopefully I can get the MIL to watch the kids for me, cause then I can go with, otherwise I'll be sitting in the van with 4 cranky kids.
On a really cute note, when I picked him up, his mom told me that he's been calling my picture "Mimi", and he's been calling me that since I picked him up. Guess I better get back at it, have a ton of housework to get done, and very little time before their bedtime to get it done.

Finally got the password to my old blog!

So you can visit me there! I'll be trying to post at both regularly.

www.crazymomofmany.blogspot.com

Come visit me!

I have New Pics on Myspace!!

Don't worry I'll post them here too, lol. So go to my Myspace (myspace.com/mybubbasmom) and check them out.
Here's a few of the ones I put up. We have top to bottom: James, Gabe, Caitlin, Caleb and Caleb again. I also posted some pics of my godson and some friends and nieces/nephews. Go check it out!

Another Busy Day

Spent today rearranging the boy's room, and putting James' bed in there with them. He's been begging to have his bed in with them for the last month or so, and we finally gave in. Their room now has 2 twin beds and a queen size bed in it, and one dresser! I didnt think they would all fit, but they did. Gabe's dresser fits in the bathroom (large bathroom) against the wall by the closet, Caleb's dresser is in the bedroom, and James' is in his old room. Adrian's dresser is also in James' old room, along with the pack n play (with Adrian lol) and the futon. And FYI, a queen size mattress and box spring will fit on the futon frame! Ask me how I know...
Anyway! Been super busy today, and plus we got a few inches of snow between last night and today and its STILL snowing!
Other than all that, not much else today, did school with the kids, folded and put away 7 loads of laundry, and vacuumed. Got all that done in between chasing kids and mediating kids trying to kill each other.
Tomorrow's my day off!

Wow long night...

So I got Gabe to sleep by 945, figuring that he'd be up early. Well he was by my side in bed by 2-ish, and at 330 this morning we got a very rude awakening. The police were at our door. No, none of the kids escaped, neither did the dog.
They were doing sweeps, going door to door looking for people with warrants. WTH? At 3 in the morning? So hubby answers the door, and they ask "does so and so live here?" "do you know so and so?" "is so and so your landlord?" "who IS your landlord?" etc. Omg, to say I was ticked was the understatement of the year. Couldn't fall back asleep till like 430-500, when he want to work. The dog wanted to eat the cop, that was the best part of the whole thing, he was sitting there growling deep enough to make the floor vibrate!

Fun fun fun!

So today I was a little sleep deprived, and of course the day wasn't going to wait for me to catch up. Cleaned house, did school with the kids, made lunch, and went to get Adrian. Who of course didn't have a nap today, and is currently (at 6pm) sleeping! All in all a long night and day. I'm tired just reading what I wrote lol.
On another note, Amy ( http://raising-arrows.blogspot.com/ ) had her baby!
Micah Emmanuel
Born New Year's Day 2009 @ 12:18 am
10# 6 oz
22.5 "
All I can say is better you than me at 10# and 22 inches long! That's a BIG baby! My biggest baby was James at 8# 10.5 oz and 20 inches. And I had c-sections with all 4 kids. Congrats on the baby Amy!

Sleep!

Not much going here, just lack of sleep. Gabe hasn't been sleeping well, so I sit in the boys' room till they're both asleep (sometimes till after 11pm), and then come down to read my email and go to bed. Even with not falling asleep till that late, he's still awake and in my bed by 2-3 am. Yay.
And Caleb is much the same way, but instead of coming in my room, he hides out on the couch till dad goes to work at 430 and then turns the tv on.
Did I mention that the tv is right outside my room? And the tv being on means that Gabe has to be awake...which means I have to be awake. I've seen first hand the results if I'm not up when the destructo-kids are awake. Not pretty.
Hopefully tonight will be better, as he was out by 945. Caleb went to bed at 10, not sure if he was actually asleep, because I decided that dad could listen for them while I took a long, hot, well deserved shower.
Tomorrow I get my godson, who apparently is driving his mommy nuts because he keeps getting diarrhea and they're not sure why. Double yay. But it can't be any worse than the usual craziness. And Adrian has an appointment Friday with his ped, to do a check up and find out what's going on with his tummy.
Any ideas on the whole diarrhea thing? My kids usually have the opposite problem, and that I can deal with. Not used to the whole runny gross stinky mess thing.

Busy, random

Went to the library today. Wow, that seemed to take forever! Finally got out of there almost an hour later.
Found out that the insurance went up by $50 by adding my new van and taking the old van off. So now it's $180 a month for the 2 vehicles with full coverage. Power bill was way higher this month too. Need to make sure I pay at least 1/2 the past balance next month. The rest can be paid when we get taxes back.
On a better note, we have decided that starting next month, we are going to start putting a minimum of $200 a month away towards a down payment towards a place. He and I have talked about a farmette for as long as we've been together. Now we just need to find one. Easier said than done, given what our credit looks like. Anyway, can't seem to keep my thoughts straight. Gonna go find out what the kids are up to.

Been in a cleaning mood

So, today I finished the dining room the way I want it, then started on the bathroom closet upstairs that we use for storage. Got it all cleaned up and rearranged, and things put away. Took a trip to Menards for a new light fixture piece (you know the kind with the pull string that you just screw in to a regular fixture?), then found out that the fixture I screwed it into didnt even work!
Also cleaned off the bookshelves, and rearranged the "school" area. We have 3 full size shelves just for school things, books, pencils etc.
Not much else going on around here. School starts back up here tomorrow, the kids are thrilled that they won't be going back there. Tomorrow is our library day, so we're gonna be heading down to the public library for each one to pick out a few books and maybe a movie or 2.

On another note, please pray for Noah ( http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/ourquiverfull ). He is sick and it may be another infection in his line. He's had a lot of ups and downs, and can use all the help he can get.

Today went sooooo slow

From the minute I got up this morning, I knew it was going to be one of those days. Caleb was being a spaz from the minute he got up, and of course since he was, so was Gabe. I had to keep pulling the 2 of them off of each other. Got most of the house work done, and finished the grocery shopping. Then I came home and rearranged the freezers and cabinets and shelves so everything would fit.
Went to the in-laws for dinner, and the kids got to see the deer that grandpa's gonna be cutting up. The boys thought it was cool, and Caitlin thought it was gross.
Yesterday and last night I rearranged the dining room and cleaned under everything. Moved the birds cage and cleaned it, moved the couch and the table. Freecycled the treadmill that no one uses (which I had to help carry out to the lady's van this morning).
Today I folded and put away 4 loads of laundry, did the shopping and put it away. Picked up my friend and her son (my godson), did some running with her. Came home and made lunch, and hung out. Hubby got home, and he headed over to mil's house, and I dropped her and the baby off, and headed over for dinner.
Now, I'm sitting here watching hubby and Gabe play Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer on the Wii. Makes me tired just watching them.

Busy Day

Went shopping today at Sam's Club. Wow, 4 kids and a mile long grocery list, along with my sister and 1 of her kids. When we go shopping, we go SHOPPING.
We go up one isle and down the next. We look at all the shelves, check prices, the whole nine yards. The kids are usually not amused, lol.
It took about an hour, but I got almost everything on my list. Forgot the milk, noodles, and bread. Spent waaaaaaaaay too much. But, I filled the freezers (we have a little one besides the fridge one), and the shelves. We should be set for the next month and a half.

It's been a long day. Time for a drink and bed!

We survived New Years

LOL, anyway, last night went pretty slow. The kids were getting on each others nerves REALLY bad, so I put them to bed around 1030. Mike passed out around 730-800. I was up till 1230, and woke him up around 10 minutes to midnight. Midnight finally rolled around, and we heard gunshots. Yay! Not! Of course living in the middle of the "hood" what can you expect?
I'm officially 6 lbs lighter! And today I picked up some 3 and 5 lb weights to use along with the Total Gym. So far so good. Get to do all my grocery shopping tomorrow, with all 4 kids, and hopefully with at LEAST 1 other adult.