Not because I am nervous about the school, or her teacher.  In fact, I am thrilled with both of those things.

I was just so nervous that she wouldn’t make any friends, or that she wouldn’t like it.

I know, I know.  Even saying that out loud about my Monkey sounds redunkulous, but I was just so afraid.

I mean, look at how small she looks.

Afraid she’d be like me ~ socially awkward and nerdy.

But, she’s not like me.  She’s like Daddy.

So fun and easy going.

And I won’t say that my day without her was tearless.

But, I did alright.

Turns out, I was ready too.

But, when we took the boy to Pirates Cove for the first time …

Oh my goodness!  He had SUCH a great time.

Of course, the girl did too ~ So much so that this was one of the only photos I got of her all day because she would not come out of the huge pirate ship (that sprays water from every direction, so it is NOT camera friendly!)

That’s okay though.

I am pretty sure her childhood is well documented.

So we figured if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

We packed up our lunches, met up with some fantastic friends and had a wonderful morning at The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.

I wasn’t feeling all that great, but I was so lucky to be with someone who gets it and loves me anyway.

Is it just me, or is that something precious and rare?

Anyway … I’ve been a total slacker about bringing my camera with me (I’ve been distracted by my new iphone!) so my lack of blogging is not because I don’t love ya any more.

You are all still da best.

xoxox

A

It was awesome and I was so proud.

When I got home, I reviewed the insurance again, and Dr. Muscles (from last week) is a covered provider under my chiropractic care, however when I called my insurance they said I had no acupuncture care.  However, on a whim, I looked up acupuncture care and there were a bunch of providers listed.  Dr. Muscle wasn’t listed under acupuncture, however I am hoping since he’s a covered provider, the whole thing will be covered.  We shall see.

The thing about Used Car Salesman was I actually found his treatments intriguing.  I believe in oxygen treatments and I saw my father in law have miraculous healing while using oxygen as part of his homeopathic recovery from Hepatitis.

So, now I am torn.  By the time we left the office, he’d agreed to about 50% of what he wanted, broken into 3 payments.  He said he couldn’t break them up anymore because of insurance law.  That kinda smelled like something bulls do after they eat, because I am on a two year payment plan for some unexpected medical things … but whateves.

I am trying hard not to let my desire to feel better cloud my judgment.  And I know I may not have to go the typical medical route, and I am okay with paying out of pocket for those services.  I am so thankful our insurance covers a lot of holistic and alternative medicines, but of course I understand they are just not fully covered … yet, and I am willing to pay for the care I want.

So, please keep the prayers a-comin’ as we make these crazy decisions.  I can feel Gods hands around me, and your prayers … and I love that!

Not to mention we have the remaining balance on Disney and tuition starting next month.  We had been hoping to have Daddy’s car paid off before summer was over to cover tuition, but it didn’t happen.  Our medical year just started over July 1, which means we should have about $6k in medical debt pretty soon, as I tend to rack up my deductible pretty quick.  And we are still paying off previous medical bills from an unexpected ER visit.

I know without a doubt the money stuff will work out.  It always has.  As you know, three years ago I quit my job where I was making more than half of our household income and God provided in miraculous ways.  We always have our home and food paid for, so I am not worried.  I know it will work out.

It’s not that I am worried about the money, it’s more that I still feel so guilty about the debt in the first place.  I am ashamed at the poor decisions we’ve made in the past, and I cannot wait to put those bad choices behind us.  When money gets tight, it just feels like a daily reminder of what we’ve done wrong.

I know I need to keep perspective, because the reality if money is the worst thing we’ve done, we’re doing alright.  I am really starting to wonder if we should have gone to more extreme and sold everything from our house.  True Damn Ramsey style.  The things in my house serve as reminders of special things in my life, but they are not the special things.  They are not the people who make me happy, nor are they the memories.

But then I start to wonder if selling my stuff would really make a dent in the debt anyway.  We honestly don’t own much that has value to anyone but us.  Hmmm.  Lots to still think and pray about.

On a side note, just as Daddy and I have been working through this, our mortgage company called out of the blue and said we might be able to refinance and save money each month.  We have our house financed through the credit union, and the loan consultant we worked with last time shared with us that she doesn’t make commission, so when we went through the refinance two years ago it was a very stress free and easy process because we didn’t feel any pressure from her.  We have always done 30 year fixed loans, but we are considering a 15 year fixed.  Our payment is affordable for us right now, so if the rate is lowered enough our hope and prayer is that we can be close to our current payment with a 15 year loan.

Have any of you looked into a 15 year loan, and was it worth it?  Or is it better to just pay it down faster?  It just seems like we have good intentions when it comes to paying things down faster, but they don’t get paid down as fast as we’d like.

Anywho, feeling a bit overwhelmed, but very faithful in Gods plan.  I suppose I am just getting impatient, and thinking about what we have done, and what is left to accomplish makes my brain feel like mush.  And then I start to glaze over.

I no longer wonder where that look he gives me comes from.

And it’s a good thing we did, because it rained buckets all night long!  We had hope that it would clear long enough for the fireworks, so we headed into town, hung out for a bit, then decided the lightening was just a little too scary.

We piled in the car, still hopeful things would clear up, but after a while we realized this was not going to happen so we headed home for a late night dominoes challenge.

But, just before running like scared little school girls, Daddy snapped this picture:

Oh, and don’t mind Monkey’s flashing teeth.  It was a giveaway from our church’s booth at the festival.

I couldn’t help wondering every time I saw all of the flashing teeth in the crowds if those silly mouthpieces could be the seed that gets the parents to finally look into the whole ‘church thing’.  Makes me giggle even today.  What a great testimony that would make!

The last couple of days he’s been a little cranky, but heck, I am cranky more often then that, so I’ll take it.

Praise God for seeing us through this time, and I have to admit I can’t believe we made it.

Thank each and every one of you for your prayers over us and over Caterpillar.  The Lord heard each and every one of them!  We are continuing to pray for improvement, and would love for you to join us in that sentiment.

Now that he’s a little more settled, I am able refocus a bit, and I’ll keep you posted about what has been on my heart in a bit.

But for now, I am off to finish watching 24!!

We were so excited!  Daddy hasn’t been to a Sox game since he was little, and I don’t think I’ve ever been.  I was a little nervous because it was a 1pm game, and my skin cannot handle the sun for some reason this year.  I donned my ugly grandma-style sun hat, a ton of spf 100 sunblock, and prayed for the best. 

Right as we arrived, the clouds rolled in and it made for perfect weather for the game.  They let us take in a cooler full of food since Caterpillar and I cannot eat gluten, and there were no questions asked – they were great!  I didn’t take my camera in because I wasn’t sure if they were allowed (which they are) and I didn’t want to mess with food and a camera while passing through security.

The seats were good, and they do benches instead of seats, which was so much better for the kids.  They could stand up, hang onto the bar (we were the front of a section) and rock out every time a song came on.

Sox the Fox made the kids laugh, especially when he came up to Caterpillar and pretended like he was drinking his sippy cup!  Oh, and did I mention Monkey was on the big screen while they were showing all of the kids jam?  Yeah.  The only thing that could have made the day any cooler was if we caught a ball.

Which we did.

Just kidding, but that would have been awesome!

We’ll go for it next time – because we are already planning for next time!

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that when the kids get bored (please tell me it’s not just my kids that can’t handle more than five innings) they have a whole kids area set up with bounce houses and slides and other things for them to do, for a minimal charge.  Coupled with $.50 hotdogs every Sunday, thanks to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, and it was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Have you ever been?  What was your experience like?  There are only 6 games left, so get your tickets and go check it out!

A

So much so, that we stood in line, bought tickets just for face painting, got it painted, and left.

The things we do for love.

As I was flipping through the pictures of her face paint, I found this one:

What is with my kids and the look?!

They certainly don’t hide how they feel about things when it comes to their facial expressions.  I wonder where they get that from …

Anywho, I started to clean up my roses and trim them a bit as Daddy tackled the weeds natural landscaping, and I found my poor roses are under attack!

So, Lady Whisperer, I NEED you!  The roses NEED you!  Call in your troops!  The aphids are here, the aphids are here!

I promise I will never mock the rediculousness of your ladybug powers again!

At least not today.

One of the first houses we visited had a beautiful crock that I’d love to store my potatoes in, but the man wanted $75 for it, and for something I don’t need that’s a bit much for me.  It was worth every penny as it was in perfect condition, but it was a touch big for me anyway so we moved on.

Then, I spotted this:

Could it be?!  Oh my … not only was it a gumball machine, but this is the real deal.  Glass bowl, metal case, etc. etc.  They wanted $15 firm.  Monkey has been saving her allowance and only had $8 in her spend account right now.  So I made her put it back and walk away.

Just kidding!  We went halvsies with her!  I’m not that mean.  EBay price = $50!  Woot!

The other item we were searching for was a telescope.  Monkey has been checking out the stars and planets lately and about a month ago we spotted one at a garage sale that was just a bit too expensive fancy for us.  So when I spotted one for sale, I made Daddy jump out and go check it out.  The man selling it said he couldn’t get it to work, and couldn’t find a manual, so for $2, it was ours.  We snatched it up thinking even if we had to order a part, it’d be a good deal for the five year old.

We got it home, tightened up the wingnuts, and bam! Works perfectly.  Ebay price = $40.

Both Monkey and Daddy had scored, but I had yet to find anything.  So, back out again the next day we went.

We wanted to make the Castle Rock Festival, so we didn’t want to garage sale all day, and frankly Caterpillar was at his limit for driving around.  So, after just a few stops, we were planning on heading out.  We turned onto a street that didn’t have any sales, but at the very end of the cul-de-sac was a deep freezer with a sign that said ‘FREE – WORKS GREAT”.  We couldn’t believe it.  We’ve been contemplating buying one, but with our extra funds being applied toward debt and Disney, it just wasn’t happening yet.

Daddy jumped out and knocked on the door to let the family know we’d take it, but had to go home and get a truck first.  No answer.

The race was on.  We raced home (about a 15 minute drive) and back only to see the freezer was gone.

As we turned the corner to leave, I saw the freezer.  It had been moved to a sale around the corner and now had a sign that said “$20 – WORKS GREAT”.  Hmmm.

Daddy got out and explained we’d just gone home to get the truck and the man said he’d gladly give it to us for free.  I started to get out to help load, and Daddy leaned in and said I didn’t need to, as the guys were embarrassed and offered to load it.

They loaded it up, Daddy got back in the car and said he was the one who was embarrassed.  When I asked why, he explained that it was in fact their freezer!  They had moved it around the corner to their friends sale, and marked $20 on it so people wouldn’t think it was broken!  The wife had come out of the house and said she’d just defrosted it that morning because it was too big for their needs.  They refused to take our $20 and said they were thrilled a family would get to use it.

The freezer is circa 1973, but we plugged it in and once it cooled down it froze a milk jug of water, so it’s working great!

Although, even though I assumed that they had moved it and were now trying to make $20 off of a neighbors free freezer, I admired their entrepreneurship and have to admit – I might have done what I thought they did!

What is it that people say about the word assume?

Oh, that’s right … nevermind.  Ebay price = $35.

Did you find any deals and steals this weekend?  What’s your favorite garage sale tip?

A