Monthly Archives: August 2010

Nature Boy

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As the summer season threatens to end, I have been savoring every last day of warmth and sunshine as best as I can. I feel like we’ve been trapped indoors all summer due to the stifling heat. Now that it has cooled slightly, despite the humidity, we’ve been spending a lot of time outdoors. I drove up to Wisconsin on Sunday night to spend some time with my family and I am still here (until late this afternoon). No offense to the lovely people of Illinois, many of whom are my family and friends, but Wisconsin is still my favorite state. Elkhorn, my hometown, is like Mayberry. I have been enjoying the nostalgia and familiarity of my old “stomping grounds” with my son and my mom for that past few days. She is going back to school next week, so I’m trying to take advantage of  her last week of vacation. We have gone to the park and strolled through downtown, visiting all the places I used to love to visit. This morning we wandered around Lake Geneva for a few hours, playing in the Gazebo and watching the boats on the water. Micah wanted to jump right into the lake. He also chased a little kid who was riding his tricycle. I’m thinking I have found the perfect gift idea for his second birthday (not for 7 months, but still). Micah loves the outdoors with every bone in his little boy body. He explores every little rock, every plant, every bug and hole in the ground. It’s hard to get him to come back inside sometimes. It doesn’t matter how tired he is, if he’s outside and free to roam, he is a happy guy. You should have seen him at the playground yesterday. He was trying to swim in the sand. He was picking it up by the handfuls and watching it slip through his little fingers. He was carrying twigs around and climbing on the ladders. He even enjoyed the swing for a little bit.  He was so dirty by the time we left, and we weren’t in the car for more than five minutes before he fell asleep. It wore him out, but he had so much fun in the process. If only I had the money to put a swing set and slide in our backyard. This kid would have a field day! Oh well… that’s what parks are for, right?

D-U-M-B

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This is a story of stupidity.

I was stupid when I set the keys down in the trunk while looking for Micah’s tennis shoes. I was not thinking when I shut the trunk. I was smacking myself in the forehead when I realized that my keys were in the trunk.

Kia was stupid when they made a car, the Rio, without a trunk release. Every time I need to get something out of the trunk, I have to take the key out of the ignition to go open it. Kia was not thinking when they did not include a fold down back seat in a car without a trunk release. I felt like slapping them in the forehead yesterday when I realized I had to completely disassemble my back seat to get the keys out of the trunk.

I unbolted and removed the bottom of the seat to gain access to the bolts for the seat back, which I unbolted and removed to crawl into the trunk and fish out my keys. Then Eric had to help me reassemble my back seat and reinstall the car seat for Micah. By the time I left, I was an hour late.

Sometimes, I really hate my car. I know it was my fault for locking the keys in the trunk, but really, Kia? You couldn’t just put in a trunk release lever right next to the hood lever? That would have made my life so much easier yesterday!

Movie Room Reveal

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Aren’t you excited? After three weeks, we are finally done with our basement project. I am enjoying the ambiance of our new movie room as I write this. For a long time, our basement was organized, but still very plain. Eric was gaming down here, so his desk was set up in the corner. The walls were painted white, which brightened it up quite a bit. The floors were still plain concrete, however, and everything we had stored down here was sitting in plain site. It wasn’t exactly pretty. Or warm. Or inviting. Now it is all of those things!

I made a “theater curtain” with about 15 yards of dark red fabric. It took hours and hours to make, but I love the result. After coupons and a fabric sale, it only cost me $46! The curtain serves as both a backdrop for our TV and a divider to separate the room and hide all our junk. The coffee table was a battered garage sale find we scored from my in-laws. A coat of high gloss black spray paint gave it a second chance at life and matched it with the rest of the furniture. The TV and sound system was brought down from upstairs.

The table is our old dining room table. It’s the perfect spot to play cards or a board game now. The chairs came with our “new” dining room table, but were too damaged to use. I fixed the frames with duck tape and spray painted them black to hide the flaws. I added foam to the cushions and reupholstered them with zebra print fabric. These are now my favorite chairs. Aren’t they sassy? We plan on putting up drywall behind the table when we get more funds.

The futon has always been in the basement, along with the bookshelf and arm chair. We added the carpet – it came with padding on the back and was only $0.57 per square foot at Menards. I painted the ceiling white to give it the appearance of a loft – it also helps to visually raise the ceiling. I bought the picture frames from Goodwill and painted them black to match. The photos are the ones I took in downtown Rockford.  (If you look at the one on the far left, that is a portrait I drew of Eric when we were engaged.)

This couch (hiding underneath a Freecycle couch cover) is the one Eric and I were sitting on the first time he said, “I love you.” I will never get rid of it, even if it is plaid.

The chandelier is also a Freecycle find. I really like the look it gives the room. You would never expect to find a chandelier in a basement, but it works!

So, who’s coming over to watch a movie with me? :)

And, just in case you forgot what it looked like before, here’s a “before” picture:

Tuesday is Monday This Week

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Monday is recovery day: recovery from the weekend madness that leaves my kiddo’s schedule out of whack and my house looking really crapalicious. (<– Love that sentence.)  Except this week, my weekend was extended through Monday because it was my mom’s birthday yesterday. I spent the night at her house on Sunday night and the day with her yesterday. We had fun taking Micah to the library and enjoyed a nice dinner at Olive Garden with the family last night.

I got home last night and smirked at my messy kitchen. I raised an eyebrow at my cluttered living room. Then I shoved some of the mess aside and plopped down on the couch to get some work done. Once I finished my work, I sat in our new movie room with a bowl of ice cream. I didn’t clean a single thing and I didn’t care. (Eric didn’t care either, so it’s okay.)

(Did I say movie room? That was the big secret – we built a movie room in our basement! I am going to dedicate another post to that room, including pictures.)

This morning I woke up and realized that it was Monday. I know it’s Tuesday, but really, in this house it is Monday because I spent the whole morning cleaning up after the weekend and getting back on track. Micah’s napping now and I am enjoying a clean house. The only rooms that aren’t clean are my bedroom and the spare room. The bedroom isn’t really that bad – I just need to make the bed and shove the dirty clothes into the hamper. The spare room will require Eric’s help. We are going to move everything in that room to the newly opened space in the basement. Then we are going to set up the new bunk bed in the spare room. It will continue to function as my office and guest room. The only difference is it will not be my craft room anymore. That was not working because I hate packing up my craft supplies in the middle of a project. It seemed like I was always in the middle of a project when we’d have a guest, and a messy craft room is not a nice guest room.

Micah “mowed” the whole downstairs this morning. He also helped me sweep and unload some pans from the dishwasher. He is a good little helper, and he really loves his new mower. My dad bought him a little push mower at Toys R Us last night after dinner. Micah loves it. Let me reiterate that – Micah LOVES his new mower!!! He played with it all morning. In toddler time, that is like years.

And the picture above has nothing to do with anything, except that it’s really fun to put a toddler in an adult-size t-shirt and watch them run around the house in it. He looked like he was going to a toga party.

Double Teeth, Road Rugs and Adventure Walks

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Many of you already know Micah has a super cool double tooth. I could not wait to see what it would look like once it grow completely in. Now that is has, I’m surprised by how normal it looks. Is this just because I’m used to it? Or is it because it really is not that noticable?

All of his incisors have at least broken through, so the only teeth remaining are the 2nd year molars. That means teething is almost over!!

Eric recently did some computer work for an old coworker, and as payment, he gave us a beautiful bunk bed, which we plan on using for Micah once he is old enough. (He’ll sleep on the bottom first, of course.) When Eric was picking up the bed, his coworker also threw in a large road rug. I’m so jealous of my little man Micah; I always wanted one of these when I was a kid. Well, it is never too late…. I have been playing cars on this thing with my little dude and I am probably having more fun that he is!

I have been taking advantage of the way Micah seems to absorb everything right now by teaching him skills that are very important for little kids, like crawling under the bed. We had a blast playing peek-a-boo last night. He would crawl under his bed, giggle and play underneath for a few minutes, then pop out of one of the sides and yell, “boo!” I also taught him how to blow dandelion seeds into the neighbor’s yard yesterday.

First he blew on it like a plate of hot food, then he proceeded to rip it from the stem and crush it between his tiny fists. That’s what he does to pretty much anything he encounters. Imagine my panic when he picked up a catepillar at my parents’ house this weekend. Don’t worry, I saved the catepillar, but for a second there I thought I was going to be washing a fuzzy mess off Micah’s palm. Do catepillars bite if you squeeze them?

Fifty Million Things

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I once told a friend, who was expecting at the time, that life as a stay-at-home-mom is as busy as you make it. Sure, you could sit around in your sweatpants and watch Netflix all day, but for me, and for other moms as well, life has gotten even busier than it was when I was working full time. I’m not just taking care of my little boy and the house, I’m also writing professionally, starting up my own photography business, and currently I’m finishing a room in the basement with my hubby. My to-do list is packed! It’s my own doing and I’m not complaining. I certainly wouldn’t want to be bored. Sweatpants aren’t exactly flattering and Netflix is only entertaining for so long.

I guess that was just a long explanation for why I haven’t been updating too much on here. My web interaction has largely been limited to e-mail and Facebook (which is basically functioning as my second e-mail).

I have been taking lots of pictures. Here are two of my favorites from the past few weeks…

You’ll notice they feature the name of my new business! I have been working hard on my new website. I’ll be sure to link over once I have it the way I want. There is so much content to add and so much planning to do. I also need to acquire my DBA (business license) and write up contracts and other paper work. There is a lot of work to be done, but it is the fun kind of work.

Mysterious Berries

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I found these berries at the top of the hill in my neighborhood. They were growing at the edge of an empty cul-de-sac. Does anyone know what type of berries these are? Are they poisonous?

Product Reviews: Make ‘Em Pretty For Me!

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Once in a while I like to do product reviews for my pregnancy blog on Families.com. Today a beautiful package arrived and I got to taste test and review three flavors of Bellybar snack bars and chews.  You can check out the review here. What I can’t get over is the presentation. Very rarely do these products arrive in any anything more than bubble wrap, but check out this pretty pink packaging. I love it!

SAHMs and WAHMs

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So you want to stay home with your kids, but you can’t afford it? I can totally sympathize. Our journey has been a difficult one, and making it work is a continuous battle. After a year and a half of living on one income, I can finally say we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, and that is after my husband found a new, better paying job. Despite the stress of learning how to live on a single income, I would not return to work (for someone else, anyway) for anything. I love being a full time mom. I love the freedom that I have to pursue my other passions as well.

Blogger

To help bring in a little extra cash, I pursue a number of work-at-home opportunities. First and foremost, I blog for Families.com, which is a site I can stand behind 150%. In fact, I urge you to go join right now, because it is a fantastic community. I completely vouch for them in terms of their values and the type of content they feature on their site. They periodically hire new bloggers. As listed on their site, they pay $4 per blog entry after the training period. Each year, you can earn a raise, up to $5.50 per blog. Families.com is just one site out there that legitimately hires freelance writers and bloggers to write quality articles and blogs for their site. I found Families on Rat Race Rebellion (http://www.ratracerebellion.com/jobs-blogging.html).

Freelancer

I used to do work for my husband’s company. This opportunity was unique in that I did not find it online. One of my husband’s old coworkers moved to another city and her job opened up. Another coworker and I shared her position. A few times I had to find a sitter so I could attend a meeting. I recommend contacting reputable companies in your area and asking them if they have any telecommuting positions open. It helps if you have a skill such as writing that can be done from anywhere with a phone line or a fax.

E-How Writer (Now through Demand Studios)

Now one other thing I have found that works, but requires quite a bit of time, is writing for e-How via Demand Studios. When Micah was a newborn, I wrote about 25 How-To’s. From those 25 articles, I generate about $5 per month without doing anything, to this day. As you can see, if you have the time to write a huge quantity of quality how-tos that people will actually read (they need to attract enough traffic), you could make a decent residual income. It’s real money – they deposit it directly into your bank account every time you make at least $10 (it carries over from month to month if you don’t meet the minimum dollar amount for a payment.)

Transcriptionist

I have also heard there are a number of legitimate companies that look for transcriptionists. While this is not something I do myself, I have found a lot of good information in forums about this. You can check out the link here:http://www.transcriptionessentials.com/forum/index.php?topic=13384.0

If you do not want to create an account for Transcription Essentials right away, click hereto read excerpts I have pulled from their guest forum.

Entrepreneur

Another idea is to start your own small business. You could market your own trade or sell items online. I recently started my own photography business. I love that I can make money doing something I am passionate about. Some women are creative and can make things to sell on sites like eBay or Etsy. I have also heard of women making a decent income from buying and reselling stuff online. For instance, they go to closeout sales at stores that might be going out of business, buy something in bulk for a deal, and then sell the stuff individually on eBay for less than retail but more than what they paid for it. This is something you could definitely do with a child around since it’s no problem to take them to the store with you and post stuff online after they go to bed.

Mystery Shopper

Yes, this is a real thing! I have done a little bit of mystery shopping myself. You can, too. All you have to do is sign up with a reputable agency. You should never have to pay a dime to start; remember that! I have done work for Corporate Research International and I can say they are legitimate and I have successfully received payment from them for my work. E-mail me if you want me to send you a referral. I get a small bonus for each person I refer that signs up and completes a shop.

Childcare Provider

Finally, you might want to consider watching a little one full time in addition to your own. If you know of anyone who is returning to work, you might offer to watch their little one for a reasonable fee. In my area, $2.50 per child per hour is a reasonable rate. Make sure you know the regulations and laws in your state. In the state of Illinois, you cannot watch more than three children, including your own, without a childcare license from DCFS. That means if you have four children, you would need a license to legally watch more children full time. Obviously I am talking about providing daycare service, not babysitting.

Being a mom is such an important job and it is such a blessing to be able to do it full time. If you are trying to make things work, I really believe you can achieve your goal if you are willing to work hard, part with unnecessary material items (like premium cable), and put your whole trust in God.

Deuteronomy 31:8

“The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” (NIV)

Dreaming

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We’re still stranded on the loveliest island known as our house. I can’t think of a better place to be stuck (in an upside down mortgage, that is), but every day I dream about how nice it would be to move to Roscoe. Roscoe is the home of Eric’s brand new job! Did I tell you he got a new job? I have been waiting to talk about it until it was completely official. He just finished his first week at a cutting tools company. He is an IT guy, training to be an engineer. He is very excited. He has his own office area with a very large wooden desk. We are all going to be insured, which is a great thing. We’ll even have dental insurance! The pay is much better and there is a lot more potential for growth. This is actually a place he can retire, which is really exciting. I wanted him to find a place to settle down career-wise. Who wants to keep jumping from ship to ship?

His old job was here in Rockford, just 7 minutes from our house. His new job is more like 37 minutes from our house. Our church is in Roscoe, about30 minutes from our house. Eric’s parents live in Roscoe, also about 30 minutes from our house. My parents live just north of the border, about an hour from our house. In short, everything is north and (almost) nothing is in Rockford. I love my house, but I do not love that it is in Rockford anymore. I love that I live so close to my friend Lindsay (four houses away, to be exact), but I am tired of driving a half hour or more to everything else. Sometimes I feel like I am always in the car. I’m also sad that most of the time no one wants to come over because we live too far away. I love to host and I hardly ever get the chance.

I recently e-mailed my realtor and asked him what our prospects looked like for selling. He is just about the opposite of optimistic. I guess I can’t blame him considering the sales of houses in this area lately. But I also keep checking our home value on Zillow. Zillow says our home value continues to rise. It’s nowhere near where it should be yet, but it’s climbing fast. I am more of a glass-half full type person, and I look at these charts and say, “surely we’ll be able to sell next summer, right?”

We need it to get up to around 150K to walk away. We’ve seen it climb from 96K to 126K in the last couple months! That is why I’m really hoping it continues on that path. It would be so great to be able to live within minutes of Eric’s job and our church. It would be great for Micah to live closer to his grandparents as well.

Hey internet, do any of you want to buy an awesome 3 bedroom house in Rockford? It’s just 3 years old and very nice!!! It has 2 1/2 bathrooms, a vaulted ceiling and a fireplace in the great room, a huge kitchen and a 2 1/2 car garage. It is only 15 minutes from Rockford’s main strip (shopping),  just seconds from the bypass which will take you to the interstate. The neighborhood is surrounded by trees and horse farms. The school district is not Rockford, it’s Winnebago (little town, nice school). You will love it, I promise. I will sell it to you for only 152K! You will make my Roscoe dreams come true! :)