Cooooomfy.

We don't spend a lot of money around here. Like, any. We just can't spend money on anything that isn't essential--you know, like electricity. Can't browse Pinterest if I don't pay the electric bill.

Anyway, about a month ago I spotted a booster car seat on super-duper sale that I knew Little Boy would need soon. So we bought it. And he loves it.

The thing is, he doesn't quite need it yet. He's a little on the small side for his age, so he still fits into the good ol' convertible seat that we bought...I dunno, three years ago? That one has a five-point harness, so I'd like to keep him in it for as long as possible.

Soooo....hmm. Comfy high-back booster seat, just sitting around the house. What are we gonna do with it until we need it?

Oh, I know.

He can use it as a super-comfy high-back TV watching seat! You know, like normal families do.

The Herbs Who Lived

I took this photo in September. That's two stalks of mint, and one of basil. I clipped them off the plants on my back deck. They're pretty.

Here's the thing: the plants that I clipped those from have long since died. But these little weirdos are still alive on my kitchen table. They grew roots, right there in their soda bottle.

(And yes, we do own vases. But I like glass soda bottles. We're classy like that.)

Wal-Mart Pajamas

[The look on his face cracks me up.]

Wal-Mart sells kid's pajamas that I call "pajamas in a box." They're only $5, but they come in a cardboard box, so I can never tell if they're actually going to fit Little Boy.

I buy them anyway.

A couple weeks ago, I picked up a SpongeBob "pajamas in a box." I don't like to buy licensed characters, but I couldn't get over how excited I thought Little Boy would be to wear them. (He loves Spongebob.)

Turns out, he wasn't excited to wear them.

Isaac kindly took the pajamas (in a box) back to Wal-Mart and exchanged them. He called us from the pj aisle so Little Boy could pick one that sounded good to him. He almost picked a rhino playing football. But when Isaac said, "Oh, and there's one over here with a fox and an owl on it," Little Boy said, "YEAH!"

Oooookay then. Whatever you say, Little Boy.

And you know what? He loves them. He kept saying, "Mommy, I like these jams. I REALLY like them!" These are the first pajamas he pulls out of the dryer after I've done the laundry. He'd wear them every night if I'd let him.

(Which I don't. Gross.)

These are probably the pajamas I would've picked in the first place, if I'd been going off of the cuteness of the pj shirt. D'oh.

Playing at the Museum

Our local museums offer a free day once in awhile, but I've never been able to go. Isaac always has our car at work or at school on those days.

But Isaac's on summer break right now. So this was my one chance to go to the free day at the museum. Ha!

We spent a lot of time in an area that's supposed to be for families, but it's really for kids. The rest of us...watched Little Boy play. And play and play and play.

My lovely sister, Kaylyn, came along. Hi, sister!

And so did my brother Thane, who was at home for a couple weeks from BYU. Oh, and Isaac. But he always tags along.

Once Little Boy was done, we went to see some other cool stuff. Cool stuff that I don't have pictures of. Sorry.

So my free-day-at-the-museum dreams came true. It wasn't even crowded. Check and see if your local museum has free days--free fun is the best kind of fun.

Did You Know Popcorn Is a Whole Grain?

Yup. Popcorn is a whole grain.

So I'm making popcorn trail mix today (just google "popcorn trail mix" and you'll get tons of hits).

But please, for the love of real food, do not make this:

and pretend that you're eating something healthy. If you must microwave your popcorn, google "microwave popcorn in a paper bag" for instructions on how to pop real popcorn in your microwave.

You're welcome.

Green Smoothie Popsicles

Two things you should know before you read this post:

1. My mind was totally blown when I realized I could freeze smoothies in popsicle molds--I love real-fruit popsicles, but I don't like all the sugar.

2. I'm afraid of blenders.

So I told Little Boy (months ago) that we could make some popsicles. Someday. And then I forgot. And forgot and forgot and forgot and forgot....

But I finally did it today. Since green smoothies (that is, a smoothie with leafy greens in it) are all the rage right now, I decided to use a green smoothie recipe for our popsicles.

See, they don't even look green. Little Boy was concerned that "green" popsicles would taste like limes. He doesn't like lime popsicles.

I used the first recipe on this site. Fruit, spinach, no sugar. (Edit: I made half of the recipe. It was the perfect amount for eight little popsicles.) We haven't tasted them yet, but the smoothie was pretty good before freezing it.

Little Boy is REALLY hoping that tomorrow will be warm. Warm means that Mommy will let him eat a popsicle.

Health Care Scare

{click image for source}

Okay, so this image has nothing to do with this post, but when I typed "prescription" into my favorite flickr search engine, this cartoon came up. And I laughed. Because zombies are funny.

Anyway, on to the story. We've been on Medicaid on and off throughout our marriage.

(I realize that Medicaid isn't a perfect system, and I really don't want to go into that right now. Maybe I'll post my thoughts on that can of worms later, but today...politics aren't the point.)

Here's one of the stinky things about Medicaid: paperwork. Lots and lots of paperwork. We sent in our most recent paperwork a couple weeks ago, but a blip in the system got our coverage terminated. That sounds like a big deal, but it's really not. It's happened before, and we just have to call in and get things straightened out.

So Isaac made the straightening-out phone call this morning while I was sleeping in. Then he woke me up, all upset, because the phone lady told him that we didn't qualify anymore. THAT is a big deal. Between Isaac and me, our prescriptions alone cost upwards of $600 a month.

Yeah, I know.

I don't know if it was because I was still half-asleep, or if something was just whispering to me that everything was going to be okay, but I didn't panic. In fact, I went back to sleep.

Isaac woke me up again later with the news that he'd called the Medicaid office again (to see what we needed to change so we could qualify), and the new, lovely phone lady told him that our paperwork hadn't been processed correctly, and that we do qualify. Problem solved.

I guess this is where some people would get angry. I'm not, though. I know that the system has problems (again, not really gonna go there right now), but most of the people I've worked with in the system haven't been incompetent--they've been helpful and nice. And they've been perfectly willing to help us figure things out.

So really, I'm just grateful to have health coverage at all.

O Christmas Tree

I'm pretty sure I didn't post much about Halloween or Easter this year. I was too lazy busy to upload those pictures until waaaay too late.

So I'm trying to not do that with Christmas. This might turn out to be the only Christmas post I do, though. We'll see. If you're the gambling type, you can start making bets now.

Anyway, the Christmas tree. Isaac and I have been married for a bit more than five years, and we've always had a Charlie Brown-size Christmas tree. When we moved from Utah to Washington, we left our first little tree behind. And then when we bought a new tree...we got one that was maybe six inches taller than the old one. It's kind of becoming a tradition.

 
 It's always Isaac's job to unfold the branches and put on the lights.

 
 Pretty beads. We found them at the dollar store a few years ago.

 
 Some of our ornaments--some are Little Boy's, some were given to us, and some were dollar-store finds like the beads.

 
 Little Boy's face cracks me up. How could I not love that kid?

 
 Can we open presents now?

 
 I like it. It's a cheerful little tree.

U-Pick (We Pick) Strawberries

So, a few days after the Strawberry Festival, my mom, my sister, and I went back to the farm to pick strawberries. Oh, and Little Boy came, too.

 
We searched for berries...

 
picked berries...

 
looked cute while standing among the berries...

 
and hauled berries. We ended up with three bucketsful--way more than we needed. That was fine with me. I have a strawberry problem, remember?

 
Mmmmm.

Capital One Thinks I'm Stupid

...apparently. I have a Capital One credit card that I never use [anymore. Heh.]. I've been meaning to close the account, but I keep putting it off. Sometimes Capital One will send me a bunch of "purchase checks" that can be used just like my card. I always tear them in little pieces and throw them away.

But last week, they were kind enough to send me a check that looked like it was for $600. And it was made out in my name. Woohoo! Not. It is a valid check, and it is made out to me...from me. I would deposit the check, $600 would go into my bank account, and $600 of debt would be put on my credit card. Do I want $600 more debt? No.

What hacks me off is that it looks like free money. I don't even want to think about how many people have gotten one of these in the mail and deposited it without thinking it through. Grr. It's just wrong, people. Wrong.

  click photo for source

30-Second Book Review: Smart Couples Finish Rich

Isaac and I had only been married for a few months when I realized that I knew nothing about money. Nothing. I was twenty-one years old and financially clueless. Since I hate to feel clueless about anything, and because I had more time on my hands than Isaac did (at the time, I was working part-time; he was going to school and working, both full-time), I took it upon myself to learn as much as I could about money.

I was a little overwhelmed. It's been four years since then, and I've read a lot of books and articles--a lot of different people's ideas about what I should do with my money. Over time, I could see that some people's advice was based on solid principles, and other people's advice was...not.

Out of all that reading, I've come across plenty of good stuff. And out of the good stuff, there are three books that I recommend for absolutely everyone: The Millionaire Next Door, The Total Money Makeover, and Smart Couples/Smart Women Finish Rich.

I read Smart Women Finish Rich when I was just starting out; I finished Smart Couples Finish Rich a few days ago. The two are basically the same, so if you've read one, don't feel like you have to read the other. The Finish Rich books outline nine steps that anyone can take to improve their financial situation. You don't have to be wealthy already to take their advice, and I like that. Our family can't do all nine steps right now--we're not ready for that yet--but we can take a couple of steps that apply to our situation now. And then, once we've got those things covered, we can go back and work on a few more.

So if you feel like maybe you could benefit from learning a little more about money, pick this one up. Do as much or as little of it as you can. It might just make a difference to you and your family.

Dave Ramsey Quote of the Day--None of Us Deserve Squat

"You’ve got to break this cycle in your head that you deserve stuff. None of us deserve squat."

-Dave Ramsey