A Little Bit of Everything

We are now back to school and have been working hard all this week. The week seems so boring when we are off that long and I am not looking forward to the three weeks off before Christmas. Well, I am finally almost done with Christmas shopping and I am so proud of myself for actually staying under what we decided on our Christmas budget. I have never used a budget and felt that it would be hard but I was able to get almost everything on the kids' lists with money left over. I say almost because Taylor had some pretty big ticket items on hers: cell phone, iPOD, laptop computer, if it is expensive, she had it on there. Jimmy is pretty basic and really just wants Cars and Bob the Builder.

If you need ideas for the kids Taylor wants Tinkerbell things to decorate her room and Jimmy needs Disney Pixar Cars accessories for his room. I have asked the kids to have Eric take them to Wal-Mart and each to buy a undecorated house for a Christmas Village and paint it so I can add it to mine. I would rather have something that I can look back on from them and that is the best present I could think of. Taylor has given them away in the past to grandparents but I am ready for my own special house.

Jimmy received a gift from our neighbor Greg today (Greg is Teresa's brother, Cody's dad,) he brought Jimmy his own TV for his bedroom and I hooked cable up to it and he was so happy. Thank you, Greg, we appreciate the gift very much.

I have missed Mom a lot since she left, it just didn't seem she was here that long. She helped Taylor decorate her room and she moved Jimmy's room around, giving him much more room to play and he loves it. She was a great help and I loved having her, we all did.

The kids have started their Advent calendars today and we are starting on the countdown to Christmas. Each got a piece of chocolate first thing this morning, which is a treat in itself, since chocolate is a no-no in the morning. Each of the kids each got a chore list as well and they will start getting allowance each week. Taylor will get a total of $10 a week but $5 will go towards saving and Jimmy will get $5 a week but $2.50 will go towards savings. Eric and I felt this will be good for both of them and of course Taylor's list has a lot more than Jimmy's. Jimmy will have to start clearing his own dishes from the table while Taylor has picked up some bathroom chores. I let everyone know last night that kitchen duty is for everyone, Jimmy taking care of his plates and glasses, Taylor taking care of the dining room and Eric and I are on kitchen clean up. I don't mind doing the house but I think I deserve a little help from everyone else who lives here too.

Taylor's grade for November will be posted this weekend some time so please check those out. Taylor will be having several tests and quizzes next week and will spend a lot of the weekend studying. Eric has picked up reading with her in the evening. I assign her a chapter each night out of her Path to Adventure book and I give him the teacher's copy and she has hers and they will sit and read and then he asks her the oral discussion questions out of the book. It is actually pretty comical watching them read together, he makes it a lot of fun and she can't wait until their reading time together. We are going to the zoo on the 18th of this month for a field trip in science, she is still working on vertebrates and invertebrates and that has to be the best place to go to find them. I will have her write a report when we return to see what she learned from the trip.