THE BUDGET!

I used to run away and not respond when Brett would say we need to go over the budget. Yup, I really would..like a little kid. Embarrassing as it is to admit. I hated talking about the budget. All because I felt like it was impossible..not easy, hard to keep. I felt like all the pressure was on ME. I was the one going to the grocery store, I was the one at the stores so it must be all my fault it we don't stay on budget..RIGHT? Well one day I decided to grow up and stop pouting and actually listen to Brett's ideas and take the time to understand why a budget is so important and EASY to follow.....IF you take the time!

WRITE it down. That's all it takes..for me at least. If I write down what I spent at the grocery store or any store. I am aware of what I am spending and know where I am at. I have my own little black book and I put my receipt in it to help me remember the exact total.

GOAL! We have a goal...it's a worth while goal. It's a worth it to write it all down goal. It's what helps me to not forget. I like having a goal! I just wish I wasn't such a baby before! I guess it's good we get to learn from our mistakes so that we can really appreciate something when we learn from it!

SO this is my question: How do you grocery shop? That is my major trap. I am a terrible grocery shopper. I plan to go and then the next day I will be back for something I forgot..which will then mean I buy more stuff because oh yeah, I need that or that looks good for maybe later in the week and I end up spending way more than I meant to.
Last week I went to Costco and bough 7 gallons of milk..yup 7...as one person commented while I was loading my car..you should've just bought a cow, it's cheaper. The thing is I thought it would get us through this week too but nope I just went downstairs and saw we only have 1 more gallon left down there..that will NOT be enough until sunday for sure. I also buy 2 loaves of bread at a time but that is so not enough which I guess means I need to buy 4. WoW, It's amazing how much food we go through. I know that there are smart people out there that have good ideas..so I was hoping you wouldn't mind sharing with me. So teach me, fill me in on your tricks and tips!!! Thank you so much!

Chicago adventures with Grandma and Grandpa Fox!

After we had opened presents and hung out for a while we thought it would be fun to go downtown and check out the American Girl doll store. Unfortunately, Brett had worked most of the day and so it was up to me to get it organized and since I had been downtown a total of 2 times before that...I wasn't the best to for the job. BUT, we finally caught the train after standing at the train station way longer than we needed to than we finally made it to the American girl doll store an hour of walking later...yes we took the bus back to the train station and left our stroller on the bus...oops! Still it was so fun to do it together and I LOVE going to the city. So much excitement and beautiful things to see.

The next day Brett's parents and I and the kids decided to go downtown again but this time we drove. We went to the Science Center. It is the largest science museum in the Western Hemisphere and the lines proved that to be true. NOTE: Buy tickets on line and NEVER buy them at the museum. The line was awful just awful. Inside though was tons of interesting and fun things to look at and do. Jacob was very excited about the HUGE tractor.

There was a fun hands on area that we once again had to wait in line for to go into...THANK YOU Grandpa for waiting in line for that one. Giselle and most of the kids loved the water. Pick up a ball and put it in a tube and it shoots it to another area of the room. Tons of fun! Yes Giselle did get wet..so did Jacob of course!!

Jillian and Jacob really liked playing with the tractors and being farmers!

Jolie helping a very happy Giselle..she actually had the freedom to run around and play.

Fuzzy picture..but Dad really was happy to be there..I PROMISE!!!!

Sadly after this day I couldn't get our camera to work. It was giving my problems while we were there..as you can see how fuzzy this one is. Turns out our lens is not doing so well. So I don't have any more pictures but the kids and I had a GREAT time with grandma and grandpa. They got to go swimming, eat breakfast at the hotel every morning..which I loved too. Go to the movies, play dolls with Grandma and just have fun. Poor Brett, he was SWAMPED with work...December is his busiest time of the year. So he didn't get to do most of the fun stuff but he was able to see his mom and dad a little bit and we are so thankful they were able to come up and spend some time with us and see where we live now! Can't wait till we get to see everyone again!

Over the river and through the woods....Grandma comes to our house!

The day after Christmas Grandma Fox, Grandpa Fox and Aunt Laura drove to Illinois to see us. Here are a few highlights of opening presents. They were the most excited though just to have them here!

Initial pillows from Justice. All girls have their pillows on their bed where I am always telling them they are not for sleeping on but for decoration!

Giselle had a ton of fun ripping open presents. She is a pro now that's for sure!

A HUGE hit. American Girl dolls! They love them and do such a good job taking care of them!

Genevieve received a complete set of the Harry Potter series. She was a little excited, can you tell? She is diligently re reading the whole series.

Jacob loved seeing Aunt Laura, she is one of his best buddies!

Jacob received this super cool man suit from Grandma and Grandpa. He LOVES it. We have caught him putting it on many times. He feels so grown up and big...just like daddy. We love it too!

Giselle is the most happy when Grandpa or Grandma is holding her. She just loves the hugs and kisses! We took an adventure later that night. I will blog about that tomorrow!

Christmas Day!

The glorious Christmas morning FINALLY arrived..according to the kids! They were really good about waking up and coming in our room than doing family prayer. We came down and opened presents. A few highlights this year was Jacob getting a bike..best present ever. Genna getting a paper jamz guitar. Jolie getting an ipod shuffle. Jillian getting lalaloopsy and Giselle getting an elmo doll from daddy. We are very blessed to live in a home that provides so much for our family. We are especially blessed to have Brett who works so hard and provides so much. After opening presents we were blessed to go to church. It was only an hour since it was Christmas day. We are told it was very spiritual but we wouldn't know since we wrestled and sweated the entire hour trying to keep Jacob and Giselle from ruining the spirit for the rest of the ward but of course we are still glad we were there! :)

We had Christmas dinner just us this year. I still wanted it to be nice. So we ate in the dining room (which doesn't have a table so we put two folding tables together) Added some candles for fun and the kids helped set the table.

Brett carving the turkey..as you can see Giselle was not at our dinner this year. She was sleeping..it was just fine with us. She will be there next year i'm sure!

I love cooking big dinners and decorating the table. I also love having leftovers so I was glad to make a little more than was needed. I hope all of you were able to feel our saviors love and know that you are a child of God. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Christmas Eve!

We have a tradition of reading a story about the true meaning of Christmas. The kids love it because they get to hold something and be a part of it.

Soooo excited for Christmas to come. Don't they look so cute in their matching jammies!

This Christmas Eve was the first year since Brett and I have been married that we spent it just us. It was a little weird but so nice. We had a fab dinner Christmas Eve at Steak and Shake...haha the kids LOVED it and we loved that they got to eat for free. They asked if we could do this every year. We'll see. We came back and did a story cookie and Milk for Santa and had a relaxing night...well they did...Brett and I had LOTS of work to do that night.

Giselle is TWO!

Giselle takes blowing out candles with intense preparation. She is sizing up the candle..making sure to get the exact angle she needs to blow it out.

Not sure if she can handle the pressure!

Coach Parker is right by her side for a little pep talk. She starts with a soft blow.

She gets the job done...but hey WHERE'S the cupcake?

SCORE!!!!!!!!!!

Dec. 22nd
Giselle has the blessing of having a birthday RIGHT before Christmas. Luckily she could care less if there isn't a big fuss or even many presents. She just likes the singing and the cupcakes. She also likes to do whatever Jacob is doing..trains, cars, jumping off the couch. She LOVES her blanket and wont sleep with out it..or her cup or her book..sometimes two books. She is so funny all her "stuff" she has to have. She LOVES her big sisters and squeals with excitement when they come home. She loves to read books and draw pictures. She also loves music. Her favorite song is twinkle twinkle little star but she is known to jam to Kesha too! If could pick one thing to have with her it would be any one's Iphone or Ipod. She loves to use the screen and get to angry birds....ALL BY HERSELF. She is fiercely independent. She is 2 going on 12!

Luckily she is not a picky eater. She will eat anything we are eating. She prefers to sit in someones lap which is beyond frustrating but at least she has stopped eating off our plates and now brings her own plate to sit with you and eat. She likes to watch TV in the van but no so much at home. She is a smiling happy sweet kiss giving girl and we love her SO much!

Happy Happy Birthday Giselle!!!!!!!

Jackson Family Christmas Party!

Jason and Matt

Some of the family during the gift exchange!

Cousins, cousins and more cousins!

Bradyn was not super excited with his gift..hahaha!

LOGAN

Grandma Jackson with her children: Julie Sue, Jim and Tim in the back!

1st generation cousins. Amber, Matt,Jason, Lisa, Kristi and Hallie!

This was the first year in many years that I was able to go to a Jackson family Christmas. I LOVED seeing my aunts and uncles and Grandma and Cousins. So crazy how everyone is growing up and changing. There were A LOT of cousins not there because of missions or marriage or moved. We missed each of you so much. We started with dinner and then did a gift exchange. The rules were you had to get something at the dollar store. We had so much fun seeing what "interesting" things people brought. A few things were stolen, a few things bribed and or begged to be taken not too many tears..hahaha. Best gift of the night..an Obama book to my Grandma..she loved it...NOT! I promise it was not me! We ended with a little singing time. It was so great to play catch up and spend some time with my family the only thing missing was BRETT! Brett had to work during this trip. December is the busiest month of the year. Not just because Christmas is so busy but because everyone wants to close their deals before the 31st. So Brett is swamped the whole month...bad month for that huh? We missed him sooo much but I was grateful for the time with my mom's side of the family!

Henry Ford Museum!

I grew up living really close the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village. We ALWAYS went there for school field trips and I ALWAYS got rock candy when it was time to leave ALWAYS. Now that we all have a billion kids my mom and sister have a membership there. They take us whenever we come into town. I LOVE IT! I know we went a ton as a kid but I definitely did not appreciate all the history that is there. Some of it is really amazing. Brett has even made a few comments of Hey why isn't this in the Smithsonian? I mean the weinermobile is a part of history. Hahaha I don't blame him, but hey a perk for us that don't live so close to D.C. So for this visit we went to the Henry Ford museum, this is the one you go to when it's cold outside. They were having a big display of The Wizard of OZ. It was all in one area and it was a lot of fun. Here are a few pictures of our time that day!

Jacob is riding the witch's bike. The harder he pedals the faster the white cone spins and you can see the mean lady turn into the witch.

There was a fun rope climbing wall too!

Giselle just ran and ran and ran...ALL over the place. She LOVED it!

Jolie, Genna and Jillian outside dorothy's house!

Giselle riding the cow, she loved the farm area. Sorting all the crops.

Now we are into a different area of the museum and this is an old sleigh horses would pull. Doesn't that look fun?

The BEST area according to Jacob. TRAINS!!! a really big one too. Pulling all the levers.

Engineer Jacob!

Nex to the big trains was model trains. Another LOVE of Jacob and Giselle. He loves to watch them..and would stay and watch them for hours if he could. He has really great sisters that like to see him happy.

Giselle really liked watching the choo choo's too!

Mommy with 2 cuties!

Then next to the model trains was a play area of trains...now we are talking. This is where we spent the rest of the time.

Audrey got to be with us...her brothers were in school still so it was just her with the big girls and Jacob of course!

Genevieve and one of her creations. A really nice perk of having a membership is that you can go for an hour or two or even three and not feel bad for leaving. If we lived there we would so have a membership. Thanks Grandma and Kristi for taking us!