Saturday, February 14, 2009

This past week:

Last Friday I took the kids to the urgent care because what were just colds turned into fevers and Strep throat. Then I came down with a cold too (apparently there's an epidemic around here). So, for the past week, I've been home with the kids, and Chad has been taking care of us. Tuesday morning we got 3 inches of snow! But, of course, we were all too sick to play outside, which was a bummer, because Bree is almost 3 and has never played in the snow. Chad braved the icy roads (mostly melted/cleared by that time) to pick up our new dishwasher (our old one was leaking), and he skillfully installed it the same day. I love it! I've been experimenting with the "Soak and Scour" and "Sani-Rinse" settings to see what works best. We're trying to suppress the urge to rinse/pre-wash (our old dishwasher basically just sanitized), and it's really saving time and work! Of course, now that we have new counters, a new sink, and a new white dishwasher...our old off-yellow and black oven is looking pretty sad. But since it still works, and Chad really wants a second vehicle (just a cheap old beat-up blazer), a new oven will have to wait. Today for Valentine's Day we watched an old favorite, "The Notebook" while the kids were loud and distracting (not romantic, I know, but Chad had to work 4pm to midnight so what do you do?). Oh, and we made cookies together (the Neiman Marcus recipe, which are really yummy). Bree's prayer this evening was so adorable, and she did it with no prompting from me at all, which really impressed me: "Heavenly Father, making Valentines Day, making Valentine cookies, and Daddy take them (he took the leftovers to work), and Daddy be safe at work; bless Gramma and Papa; name Jesus Christ, amen." Anyway, we're all pretty much recovered, and I just officially finished e-filing my taxes! I swear, when January 1st comes around my thoughts immediately turn to that blessed influx of cash, and I start working on the taxes as soon as possible. We are so excited for our return this year--it's our biggest yet! (having kids really pays off!) Since we already went on our big vacation for the year, we plan on using the return to pay off our Home Depot card (a small balance from kitchen improvements), buying a second vehicle (this is really for Chad's convenience--I think we're doing fine without it), and keeping the rest as our emergency savings fund (isn't there some guideline that says you should be able to pay 6 months worth of bills from your savings?). So, even though we've been feeling crummy, some good things have happened this past week.

4 comments:

Frances Wallace said...

Oh my goodness! I didn't know everyone was so sick. I wish I was there to make you some homemade chicken soup.
The house looks so awesome with snow. I'm so proud of all the work you and Chad have put into your house to make it a home.
Bree and Mason are so fortunate to have you and Chad as their parents.
Papa and I are blessed to have such a wonderful family.

The Wallace Family said...

I love how the photo is a horizontal (if that makes sense) cropped shot. Looks really cool! How did you do that?

P.S. Sounds like one amazing tax refund!

Megs said...

I cropped the photo in my photo editing software (Picasa, free by Google). Instead of cropping 5x7 or 8x10, etc., I selected "manual" so I could make it whatever dimensions I wanted.

Jaime Lynne said...

I'm glad you are feeling better and I am impressed that you are done with your taxes. I can't even think about that right now! YUCK! We don't usually get a very big refund for obvious reasons. Can't wait to see you.

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