Waste!

After some quiet reflection, I have come to the sad realization that seemingly insignificant purchases are really draining our finances.

If I could find it in my heart to really, truly, finally, permanently give up my diet Coke. I could save an average of $2/day. So, about $60 a month is paying for my habit. We won't really add up Kyle's day to day Coke, because he doesn't drink much. BUT, I estimate that if we both drank water (vs. lemonade, gatorade, etc.) ALL the time, even when we're out to eat, we could save another $30. Overall savings = $90

I love my PEWTER. I've had a lot of fun collecting different pewter platters, bowls, and chargers since we moved here. Afterall, Mexico is the pewter capital of the world, right? If I could just commit to let the collection lie dormant for a while, we could save another $30/month.

Its terrible to admit, but fast food is another huge drain. There is a McDonald's right by the kids' school. Due to the odd eating hours of this culture, at 1:30 when I pick the kids up, they're starved. Of course, Sullivan and I are fine because we ate lunch around noon - but the kids' "lunch" break is at 10:30 a.m. so they're ready to eat. A few times a week, I'll grab them a nugget meal to share so they can make it until dinner time. At $5 , a few times a week; that could be as much as $60 a month!

By eliminating these splurges, we could save about $180 a month. It doesn't seem like much, but if we take into account the 8 months remaining this school year, that's an extra $1440. That is the equivalent of almost 3 months tuition for the kids' school. Or 6 months worth of gas for the car. Or plane tickets for our whole family to go home and visit at Spring Break. And the best part is that they should be relatively easy to cut out.

I really don't NEED diet Coke. I just love it. Fast food is total laziness on my part because I don't want to go home and make snacks just to turn around and make dinner again. And the pewter. . .well, the pewter is just pretty and fun and a keepsake of Mexico that I'd like to take with us. But, it would be perfectly reasonable to tell myself to buy 1 or 2 pieces over the next year and call it good.

So, there you go. Its in writing. I *can* be thrifty, even though I've never really tried before. Think how healthy we'll be in this family without soda or fast food!

Random

I have so many little stories I've been wanting to record, and of course, most of them are long forgotten.

First of all, Adeline has been using a little bit of Spanish. Most of you know that we have been pretty sad that she hasn't picked up more in the last couple of years. Especially compared to Guthrie and his near-fluent abilities. Well, these last few weeks I've noticed her using the words she knows more often and even throwing in some new ones. We're still using our patience, but I think we might be on our way to that "explosion" that we keep hearing about. *crossing my fingers*

Guthrie's spanish is off the charts. He's started translating things for us. The other day he said, "Quiero comer a Manzana-Abejas!" It took me a while, but we realized he wanted to go eat at APPLEBEES!! AHHHH, it was hilarious! Every now and then I try to trip him up and test his skills, but he always shows me up. Today he was watching an episode of The Wonder Pets on Disney. He turns to me and asks if bunnies are good diggers. My favorite thing is to turn these random questions over to Kyle (just 'cause he loves it). So, I tell him to ask dad. . .in Spanish. The little booger doesn't even skip a bit. "Papa, los conejos son buenos para cavar?" UMMMM, how does he know this crap?

And of course, we have Sullivan. HE has been having a language explosion. Its really been a riot to watch him learning. I don't know why, but it never ceases to feel like a miracle to watch your baby grow up and learn. He says "cheese" for pictures, "want down", "ow", "buckle", "outside", and my favorite is that he seems to be calling me "Hanna." lol. Of course there are many more, but I won't bore ya'all with the details. ;) All you need to know is that we can't get enough of that kid. He is extremely playful and everyday he seems to grow more independent. I just love that point at the end of the day when he's tired and ready for snuggles before bed. I can't believe how big he is and I totally stare when he's sleeping in his crib. Believe it or not I've never had a kid this old still sleeping in a crib. We moved Guthrie out of his crib right before Adeline was born (he started climbing out.) and Adeline got kicked out unceremoniously when we moved to Guadalajara and couldn't fit the crib in the trailer. He seems so big sleeping in there, but we're in no hurry to get him out. I hope he's 3 and still hasn't figured out how to climb over that rail. lol.

Also today, Sully proved his resourcefullness. I guess Kyle wasn't quick enough to get him a drink of milk because the next thing he saw when he walked in the kitchen was Sullivan on the floor with a cup and the 1/2 gallon of milk. He actually poured himself a glass. He seriously opened the fridge, reached the cup and helped himself.

Thanksgiving with our substitute fam.

Adeline and Lauren enjoying their drinks before dinner. Yup, Addie's hair always looks like that.




Can you believe those are the only pictures I got??? I guess I was too busy eating or something. Next year we'll have to assign an official picture-taker.

Visiting the ruins!

We went with the Hawkes to see some ruins outside of town. We also brought the Elders with us because it was their P-day.

Guthrie and Adeline both wanted a chance to hang from this tree. I'm not sure why, but apparently this was GREAT fun!
We hiked up a small hill and had this awesome view of the ruins from the top! How cool is that?


I can't remember why she was crying, but she suddenly got very sad. :( This picture was right after we distracted her with "all the pretty flowers". lol. It works every time.

This is Andrew, Adeline's best buddy. She seriously loves him and the poor kid can't even walk by her without her forcing him to hold hands or hug. She definitely wears the pants in their relationship, but he's a good sport about it.
He spent a lot of time on Kyle's back while we were there. Usually he loves the camera and will smile and say "cheese" for us. I think at this point, he was showing his annoyance,






Our family. . .plus Andrew. lol.

~Arizona Fun~

We had the chance to meet my new cousin (my aunt Jill's new baby) Kassie. Guthrie and Adeline absolutely melted at the sight of such a sweet, teeny baby. As a matter of fact, I've never seen Adeline interested in holding a baby until Kassie.

This cracked me up. In this first picture you can see Guthrie running away. He just went outside through the dog's door. Sullivan insisted on following him. You can see Charlie looking at him like, "Did I give you permission to use my door??"

Mallory gave me a break and took the kids outside to play. Warm weather + a long hose + a trampoline = hours of fun. Thanks to Mallory for taking pictures for me :)


Mallory and Ben went to homecoming while I was there. Isn't she a beautiful girl?? She had the cutest dress and adorable shoes!! (Thanks for the shoes, Mal!) lol!

FINALLY :)

I've been wanting to sit down and update our blog forEVER. I'm sure you all know how it goes though. After a while I have so many things I wanted to add that the amount of time needed to make it all complete just keeps increasing until I'm overwhelmed and unmotivated. Well, tonight the kids are in bed early, the laundry can wait, and I just feel like getting these pictures up here for my mom and family to enjoy. Hallelujah!

So, back to the beginning:

A few days before we left on our trip, I was eating breakfast one morning and looked over to find my boys sitting quietly staring at me. lol!


We got to the airport so early that we had plenty of time to eat lunch with Kyle. Guthrie ran to the counter and asked for some "coronas" for himself and his little sister.
I was pretty disappointed that Sully fell asleep while we were waiting for the airplane. I was really hoping he would sleep on the plane. I have to admit, though, that it made for a really peaceful waiting experience.
I'm queen of Guadalajara International Airport. Now give me some peanuts :)

I thought my little bros would like this. I used to swear that I would NEVER buy my kids video games. Now I'm eating crow because these little gadgets can be lifesavers to a solo-flying mother of 3.

SHWEET home!

We made it!

I'm not gonna lie - the flight wasn't exactly a party. Nevertheless, compared to previous flights, it was pleasant enough. I've become pretty accustomed to tragedy and drama on flights, so just having to deal with tantrums wasn't that bad.

I just freakin' love being here. Everything is so clean, and organized, and geometric :p Church this morning wasn't so great. I only made it through Sacrament Meeting before Sullivan was having a cow. Unfortunately, the primary was practicing for their program, so Addie and G didn't want to stay. I ended up driving around with them for the rest of church.

We've been making cookies, dealing with more tantrums, and just relaxing. Its been a pretty good Sunday by any standards!