Mariah and Sylvia

Day one of daycare down, and so far so good! There were a few tears when Cecilia got dropped off, but she was all better as soon as she saw Bosco. A few more tears at nap time, which never actually happened. Her parents say she hasn't been a napper since she was 6 months old!!
It's cute because neither Amayah or Cecilia can say each others names....Amayah calls her Sylvia and Cecilia calls her Mariah. Hehe. I found myself even getting confused and calling them the wrong names after a while :)
It was a pleasant day, the kids played well together, and I'm POOPED!

How Quickly Things Can Change!

Wowzers. I went from having no work, to too much work almost overnight! My daycare is up and running - starting on Monday I'll be watching an adorable little 2.5 year old named Cecilia. Amayah is pretty excited to have another little girl to play with. Cecilia's mom is preggers and due in June so I'll have off from June through August. Then starting back up in August I'll be taking care of both kids. The second family I met with is still deciding on who they want to go with.
Also, a few days ago I got an email from the transcription lady I worked for. I haven't done any work for her since the end of the year when the doctor I was assigned to left. Well, the doc is coming back in April, so I'm getting my account back! AND, they are hiring another doc in October and she wants to give me that account too. With both accounts, I'll be working 5 days a week (and it takes about 3-4 hours to do a batch of work).
This means I'll be watching kids all day (by the way, Cecilia will be getting dropped off around 5:30 am), doing my homework in the evenings when the kids go to bed, adoption work on weekends, and WHEN will I do the typing or SLEEP???
I'm not sure how to fit it all in, but the money will be nice if I can get it figured out!

You're Gonna Miss This

I spent yesterday and today at the MSSA conference in order to keep up with my CEU hours to keep my SW license active. Two days of going from workshop to workshop, butt going numb from sitting so long, and fighting to stay awake! By this afternoon I had had enough and decided to skip out on a session and just sit in the hotel lobby, people watch, and listen to my ipod.

I'm not a country music fan but I recently came across a Trace Atkins song, "Your're Gonna Miss This". As I sat there in the lobby reflecting on life, the song came on. It's about a girl going through all the stages of life, being in a hurry to get to the next stage and people along the way telling her to slow down and enjoy life b/c someday your're gonna look back and miss these times.

It's such a good reminder to stay focused on the present and enjoy and appreciate every moment! Even when the kids are screaming, and dinner is burning, and the house is a mess...someday we'll look back and wonder where the time went. So even if things seem bleak or overwhelming, it's a good message-don't be in such a hurry to get to the next stage in life. It will come eventually and chances are you'll look back and miss the old times.

Here are the lyrics:
She was staring out that window, of that SUVComplaining, saying I can't wait to turn 18.
She said I'll make my own money, and I'll make my own rules
Mamma put the car in park out there in front of the school
Then she kissed her head and said I was just like you

-Chorus- You're gonna miss this
You're gonna want this back
You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast
These Are Some Good Times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're gonna miss this

Before she knows it she's a brand new bride
In a one-bedroom apartment, and her daddy stops by
He tells her It's a nice place
She says It'll do for now
Starts talking about babies and buying a house
Daddy shakes his head and says Baby, just slow down

-Chorus-
You're gonna miss this
You're gonna want this back
You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast
These Are Some Good Times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're gonna miss this

Five years later there's a plumber workin' on the water heater
Dog's barkin', phone's ringin'
One kid's cryin', one kid's screamin'
She keeps apologizin'
He says They don't bother me.
I've got 2 babies of my own. One's 36, one's 23.
Huh, it's hard to believe, but ...

-Chorus-
You're gonna miss this
You're gonna want this back
You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast
These Are Some Good Times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're gonna miss this
You're gonna miss this
Yeah, you're gonna miss this

Followers Wanted

On a side note....I'm wondering who actually reads my blog besides Sarah?? I mean, blogging is kind of fun...nice to get your thoughts out. However, is anyone actually reading? Let me know by becoming a follower! On the left side of my page, click the follower button and I will show up on your Dashboard so you always know when I've updated my blog-and I'll know someone is actually out there :)

Community Supported Agriculture

So for a while now I've been wanting to 'clean up' our diet....eat organic most importantly. For a few summers I've thought it would be nice to buy a share in a farm co-op. If you don't know what CSA is, here's a summary. Basically there are tons of local organic farms that participate in CSA. People buy a share of the farm at the beginning of the season, and then each week you get a huge box of their fresh veggies and fruit. Most seasons are 20 weeks long, but some farms even have year long programs (I assume they have greenhouses?). You can either pick up your box at the farm or they deliver to centrally located pick up sites. The cost for an average 20 week season is anywhere from $300-600 depending on the size box you get. Most farms are growing over 40 types of produce so you get a huge selection! Fresh, organic veggies. How great is that? I know it sounds like a lot of money but if you divide $500 by 20 weeks it breaks down to $25/wk which really isn't bad. It's even cheaper if you split a box with a friend. I might do just that with my mom if she decides she wants to go forward with it.
Here's a link with the farms that do this:
http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/csa.html#big_river

What Gives?

I finally decided about a week ago to put an ad on Craigslist advertising that I’m available for childcare. We need to make some money, big time so I’m desperate. It’s only been a week, and I realize I live in Somerset so there probably aren’t a ton of people looking for childcare (compared to a large city). But I haven’t got ANY inquiries. I just logged on Craigslist to make sure my ad is still there…and I see that Amayah’s preschool teacher has also put up an ad. Crap, I don’t stand a chance against her and her 15 years of daycare/preschool experience!! Grrr….what’s plan B???

UPDATE: Seriously, as I was typing the blog above, an email popped in from someone asking about my rates! Yippie!! Now I just need to figure out a fair price….this is the tricky part. Wish me luck!!

UPDATE 2: I just got another inquiry! Wow, all it took was writing a paragraph on my blog, and suddenly I'm getting hits! Lets see if they pan out!

Did I miss my calling?!

Maybe I should have been a party planner! I have so much fun entertaining, planning menus, etc. Right now I'm planning Amayah's 4th birthday party and I'm loving it! It's a fairy princess theme and all the kids are going to get fairy accessories, or prince stuff for the boys. There are going to be different activity stations related to the theme. Too cute. With my own parties though, I usually don't have enough money (seems to be a theme in my life) to do things exactly as I would like...but as a party planner you usually work with more well-off people and you get to go all-out. I think that would be sooo much fun!! Well, maybe in my next life :)

Trying to be frugal

With the current state of the economy and the sad fact that I haven't earned a dime in 2009 yet, I'm undertaking a project to be frugal, or cheap as we like to call it. I thought that clipping coupons and trying to save on groceries would be a good place to start. I found a great website, and I think it's going to help us out a lot! I'll attempt to explain, but the acutal website will probably do a better job of explaining.
First, you do have to pay for the service, but it's minimal...especially when you factor in how much you can save on your groceries. They have a 4 week trial for $1 and after that if you want to continue your membership it's $10 every 8 weeks. You enter in your zipcode and it pulls up a list of stores in your area that they follow (in my area it's just Cub, CVS, and Walgreens). Each week, you log on and they give you a shopping list basically-of course you pick and choose from that what you want/need. They scan the weekly ads for the stores and compare those to store coupons and manufacturer coupons from the Sunday paper and tell you after all coupons, deals, etc, how much the item will end up costing you compared to the original cost. The items are also color coded to represent items that are rock-bottom prices and you should stock pile on, items that you should only get if you really need them, and items that are FREE after utilizing all coupons/deals for that product.
It's gonna take a little organizing and getting used to the system. Plus, we haven't been saving coupons from the Sunday papers so we don't have a lot of the coupons we need right now to take advantage of the deals. But, within 12 weeks the website says we should be all 'caught up' if we start saving coupons now.
Check it out! www.thegrocerygame.com
Also, I'd love suggestions/tips from others on saving money!!

Under the Weather

Ugh, it's been a rough winter season for us as far as illnesses go. My theory is that we're picking up more germs now that Amayah is in preschool and exposed to so many other kids. It's been 3 weeks of us (mostly me) being sick, sick, sick. It started with Xavier having a fever of 104-105 for several days plus pink eye and an ear infection. Then I caught the pink eye, as well as severe ear aches, congestion, sinus pressure. I had to wait 10 days before they would give me antibiotics. I seriously didn't sleep at ALL for 4 nights in a row, I was so miserable. I'm at the end of my course of antibiotics and now I feel like I'm getting sick all over again!! What the heck? The earaches, congestion, and laryngitis is starting all over again (oh yeah, I didn't have a voice for like 4 days while I was sick too). Kendall was the next victim but he didn't get it as bad, but had to miss 3 days of work. Amayah got bronchitis. It seemed never ending! Well, thankfully everyone is better now except for me...
I can't wait for spring!!! The winters are just no fun! I can barely find the motivation to leave the house most days b/c it's so cold and dreary outside. Wouldn't it be nice just to pack up and move south!!! Maybe someday :)