Get Out!

I'm about to be kicked out of my book club if I don't make some immediate changes. Let's discuss how this foolishness started. My sister and her co-worker started a book club. They are the only 2 members and were looking for a third. The premise of their club was they share the same book and pass it back and forth. I have no desire to  pass a book between two people so I declined. A friend was starting a club and she wanted to read non-fiction books based on the black experience. It doesn't take much for me to get militant and angry at life, so I declined to join that club too. I decided to form my own club and I am the only member. In my book club we only read books that have been turned into movies. We have to watch the movie first and then read the book because I like to save the best for last and it also cuts down on any nightmares I might have while waiting to figure out what happens. The first book was supposed to be Friday Night Lights. I have the book, but can't find the movie online to watch it. My sister had Along Came a Spider and suggested I read that since I had seen the movie. I started reading it last night and as I was terrified and creeped out, I realized the story didn't seem familiar. A quick google search led me to realize that I thought I was going to be reading The Bone Collector. Yes, I'm really that dumb. MrC suggested I don't read either of those books because I am easily frightened and he doesn't want to deal with me waking him up at 1 a.m. because I'm scared. Today is my last chance to redeem myself before I kick myself out of my own club. I decided to go with The Hunger Games. I'm going to check and see if my library has it in stock so I can start my club this weekend.
 .                    *2 hours later*
 
I had to pay my library the $6.05 I've owed them since 2012. Shameful, but I have my book! Let the book club begin!

Girl's Day

Alaia got her ears pierced today! Of course she cried but I told her that we were going to buy her new shoes and she stopped crying and smiled. Having a daughter is super fun and we haven't even made it to manicures yet!

Sibling Love

Judah and Alaia are very affectionate with each other and it makes me so happy! People always ask how Judah is adjusting to having a sister and I'm glad I can honestly say he loves it. One of my twitter peeps (Heyyyy Disco Diva) sent Judah a book entitled "I'm a Big Brother" and it really helped him understand the transition. He frequently quotes lines from the book and he always reminds us that he's the big brother.

Yesterday Judah was sick so he stayed home with MrC and I took Alaia to my mom's while I went to work. When I got home yesterday Judah ran to the steps to ask where his sister was. When I took her out of the seat his face lit up and he exclaimed "Hey Laia boo! How you doing?" In turn, her face lit up and she started squealing. I sat on my bed with both of them and they talked and smiled at together like they really missed each other while they were apart. I know sibling arguments will soon come, but I pray they always have moments of closeness and joy like yesterday.

Party Time

Judah went to his best friend's birthday party on Saturday. Because of the holidays and him being sick they haven't seen each other in a few weeks. They both screamed with delight when they saw each other. The party was at My Gym and those kids had a ball. If it wasn't $70 a month I'd totally sign Judah up for classes. My sister is supposed to be taking him to swim classes next month and hopefully after that I can get him in a gym class. I need to work on his ability to follow directions before sending him to school in the fall. The facilitator at My Gym was giving instructions and Judah was running all over the place. He still looks at things as general suggestions and not commands. Many times when I tell him to do something he'll reply "ummmmm nope" and run away and then  I have to get strict. Today he's supposed to go to story time at the library with his best friend and a friend from church so I know he'll have many stories for me when I pick him up today.

Starting the year off right!

> At the beginning of the year, it's time to set goals and a vision for how you want the year to go. Last year our family had no goals, no plans, or vision and it was a truly terrible year for us. Alaia was the bright spot in a dismal year. I refuse to ever have another year like last year, so we are really sitting down as a family to talk about what we hope to accomplish. We need to make a 5 year plan as well. Right now I have the broad goals that I want to accomplish, but I need to sit down and really write out how I will accomplish them. For 2014 my goals are:
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> 1. Make the house more cozy. I like my house but I don't love my house. I'm going to figure out what I need to do to make the transformation into a house that I love because I just don't feel very comfortable there. MrC wants much more wall art and I want to introduce more fabrics and make some updates. I'll definitely blog my way through this because I will be scouring thrift stores and trying to spend as little money as possible.
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> 2.Pay off all the medical bills and credit card bills. We had 2 babies back to back and even though Aniya passed away, we still had to pay for her and she was expensive. Alaia was even more expensive and we also had to buy a new engine and catalytic converter for our car last year. We never used to carry over a credit card balance on our card, but we just didn't have enough money last year to pay for what we needed so we had to put it on the credit card. Before 2014 is over, all of those debts will be eliminated and in 2015 we will pay off our student loans.
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> 3. Pinterest Project Monthly. On twitter, NonSuperwoman said she was committed to completing one Pinterest project a month and I decided to join her and we'll blog about it. I  have a special board to keep track of what I want to complete. This month I'm starting off with a very inexpensive but necessary project, a family notebook. It will house our social security cards, birth certificates, and copies of our credit card information and stuff. I'll keep it in a safe so that if anything happens, I can grab our notebook and know all is not lost. I'll probably put some cash in there too.
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> If I stay disciplined this year then I will be able to accomplish what I really want in 2015 which is a family vacation and a mini-van. In 2016 I want to have another baby and build an addition onto our home. MrC wants a new job this year and I want a promotion at my job. I want to stay with the class I'm currently in, but have my title changed which will bring an 80% pay increase.
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> What goals do you have for 2014?

Back to Work!

I had a lovely Christmas break! We were all sick and both kids ended up with eye infections but the time off was still enjoyed. I'm back at work today so I'll be back blogging now that I'm on schedule again.
Let me get back to listening to these crazy students lie about their Christmas break activities.