Cavity!

For the first time ever I heard the dentist utter the word cavity to me.

After spectacular dental health (even after taking a 5 year break from the dentist a few years ago) I can no longer claim that I've never had a cavity. I'm so bummed and feel like I did something wrong.  This cavity does nothing for my perfectionist tendencies. It hurts my pride.

But, after further reflection I've realized that a cavity is probably not something I should fret about.  I'm thankful for dental insurance, for access to dental care and for the ability to take care of the problem long before if becomes a big problem.

I'm a little nervous about getting the filling (although the dentist said that it will be minor).  I figure if I can survive childbirth (twice) I can handle a filling.  Please don't comment with any dental horror stories or I will not speak to you ever again.

Time to shop for an electric toothbrush because according to my dentist that can immensly benefit my dental health.  When he first told me that I didn't care becuase I though my teeth were indestructible.  Today, I think buying the toothbrush is a good plan.

Day with Grandma H

Last Sunday Matt and his parents went to Green Bay for a Packers game.  I decided instead of having a day at home like every weekday in our lives I'd take the kids on an adventure to visit my mom.  My dad happened to be at the Bears game that day so it was just Grandma who we visited.

We had so much fun.  Grace is to the point where she knows the house and where the toys are. She is comfortable there and loves spending time there.  On Sunday morning when I told her where we were going she went straight to the door and wouldn't even eat breakfast.  She was just so excited to go.

While there we were able to picnic at a nearby lake and enjoy the beautiful fall weather we've been having.  We saw wild turkeys, collected acorns, walnuts, and all kinds of other nuts that I can't even remember the names of but my mom knew them all.  We really didn't do much else but just hang around and relax.  Even though it was low key it was such a fun day I wanted to post about it.  Below are some pictures.

I'm not sure why I even tried to contain him on the blanket.

Going down the slide with Grandma

Peaceful lake

Sam's Club

We did it, we joined Sam's Club.

Now I can buy in bulk all the time.  Too bad when you buy in bulk it means you need to buy less often:)

A few things I picked up on my first trip....

Vitamins, Tylenol, spices, hot chocolate, animal crackers, fruit cups, soap, deodorant, and shampoo.

I think the main reason we joined is because we like to be exclusive members of clubs.  The other reason is we're hoping to save a little money on household things and toiletries.  We've been going over budget in those areas and instead of increasing the budget we figured we'd try Sam's.  We'll see how it goes and if it really doesn't save then we won't join again next year.  Unless of course we can come up with another good reason to be members:)

Week of Matt

Last week I had such and awesome week seeing Matt at unusual times.  Like most adults he spends his days at work so obviously I don't see him during the day but last week I got to see him a little extra everyday!

Monday - Matt took the day off work because he went to the Packers game in Green Bay the day before and was driving home Monday morning.  So he got home by lunchtime and spent the rest of the day with us.  We hung out and hit up an apple orchard.

Tuesday - Matt had no meetings right at or around lunchtime so he came home for lunch and hung out with us for about an hour.

Wednesday - Matt called me at 2:00 and asked how I'd feel if he worked from home the rest of the day.  Woo Hoo!  I really didn't enjoy Matt's company because whenever he does this he has to actually work but I was able to take Grace out while Caleb was napping in the late afternoon while Matt worked.

Thursday - Matt had a chunk of time for lunch again so I picked him up from work and we took the kids to the park for a picnic and playtime.

Friday - My sister came to take pictures of our family so we met at the park at around 5:00 in the evening.  It wasn't that much extra time but it was earlier than I would see him on a normal day.

I had such a fun time hanging with Matt last week.  It was really refreshing and fun that it all happened in one week.  I think I'd like another week like this one soon!

Pumpkin Cupcakes

Here's an awesome (easy) sweet recipe that I got from a friend.

15 oz. can pumpkin
1 box yellow cake mix
Mini-chocolate chips
Cream cheese frosting

1. Mix the pumkin and cake mix together (it helps to use an electric mixer because it is dense)
2. Fold in as many chocolate chips as you want
3. Fill cupcake pan (the recipe is supposed to make 24 but I can never get as many as it says)
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes
5. Cool and frost

I was skeptical of this recipe at first because I didn't understand how I could do this without eggs, oil and water that I usually would add to a boxed mixed.  It was so moist and yummy though.  It just seems weird not adding the other stuff.

Thankful Thursday

270. Ability to schedule automatic blog posts
271. Freezer restocked with meals
272. Surprise visit from Sonya
273. Car insurance
274. Playing outside on a cool fall afternoon
275. Feeling slightly put together and not slobby in sweats
276. Visiting my mom for the day with the kids
277. Chasing butterflies with Grace
278. Seeing a hummingbird fly right past me
279. New friendship with K and her son H
280. Re-organized pantry
281. The fact that I have a pantry
282. Purging stuff and the feeling of losing weight
283. The fact that I have too much stuff and need to purge
284. Buying in bulk

Car Troubles

About 2 nights ago Matt and I were having our monthly budget meeting.  We were discussing some of the categories we've gone over on (groceries, kid's clothes) and how we need to make sure we aren't over our yearly budget at the end of the year despite going over this month.  We were also discussing categories that have been great.  Namely car repairs.

We haven't had to fix anything for quite some time which has been nice.  Our Escape is a 2009 so it's still under warranty for a few months but the Grand Am is a 2002 so it does need repairs here and there.  So we aren't planning on doing anything with the budget surplus because we figured we'd need it someday.  And that someday came yesterday.

For some reason the automatic windows in the car haven't been working off and on and we didn't think it was worth the money to fix them.  It's a little weird at drive throughs but it's not that big of a deal.  Well Thursday the window stopped working in the down mode.  Long story short the window ended up inside the door so we had to get it fixed.  $500+ later we have one working automatic window.  The passenger side will remain unfixed and never tested so it doesn't get stuck in down mode.

Then Friday night my friend Sonya came to visit.  I needed to run to the grocery store so she came with me.  We hoped in the Escape and started to back out.  I was being extra careful not to hit the Grand Am when BANG.  It felt like I hit something.  Quick check and it wasn't the Grand Am.  O NO!  I realized I backed right into Sonya's car.  My car is fine but hers will need repairs.  I put a pretty good dent in the hood.  So we'll see what it costs and then decide whether or not to have insurance cover it.

Either way.  We're not under budget in the car repairs category anymore.  Boo.