Changes

School is almost done for the day.  Just a couple of spelling tests for the girls and then to help Benjamin through a few phonics exercises. The house is full of the scent from a Vanilla Bean candle in the TV room and a Heaven Scent candle in the kitchen.  Lunch will be coming out of the oven in the matter of minutes and Hotsauce will be home in a few hours.

The boys are racing and crashing their Hotwheels into each others and bickering about all sorts of different things.  Hannah is curled up on the chaise lounge with a book, while Emma is playing by herself in her room.  I'm sure that she's in a land of her own making.

In the past week I've put out all of my fall decor which reminds me of At Home America and the bad taste it's left in my mouth.  I quickly try to remember the many ways that God blessed our family through AHA and choose to focus on the good. 

The back door is open and there's a crisp breeze that occasionally blows through.  Another reminder that fall is here and soon we will be closed up inside for the winter. 

For the first time in weeks I woke up being able to breathe out of my nose instead of my mouth.  I have only blown my nose a few times and the "snot" that had been draining out of my eyes seems to have dried up.  Praise the Lord!

Today is the last day that the Driscolls will be 7 as tomorrow we will grow to 8.  Julayne will be here for a matter of time that we have not determined.  And we keep reminding each other that it's a great adventure that we are on.  It's much like adding a new baby to the mix.  Every night before I went in for a scheduled c-section I would be filled with a full range of emotions.  Of course there was the excitement and the joy of adding a new member to our family.  The anticipation of seeing the baby's face for the first time and holding it to my chest made me lose sleep at times.  But, then realizing how much I love my family just the way it is and how once the baby is born it will never be the same brings a feeling of ... of ... I'm not sure how to explain it. The new baby adds new demands and new opportunities to pour my life into this new little soul.  After adding five souls to our family and having the family dynamics change five different times the one thing that remains the same:
We would never ever ever choose to go back and have things the way the were.

So we prepare this day for a new sister (of sorts) to move into our ever growing family.  And while we know that we will have to make adjustments and that the family dynamics will change... we also know that God intends for this to be a time of great blessings.

Apples, blood and three missing children.

So this apple looks pretty regular right?  Nothing too out of the ordinary right?  Hmmmm.  I bet Benjamin James and I might disagree with you a bit.

When this apple came into our house I silently thanked God for providing this blessing ... and his two apple friends.  I knew that God in His infinite personal care gave this apple to show His provision and love for me. 

Remember those Dave Ramsey and running blogs that I've been writing lately?  Well, they come into play here.  You see we are budgeting like crazy mad people.  Every penny that comes into this house gets named and assigned a duty.  When you start counting your pennies you get a little crazy obsessive and you want to stretch that penny as far as it can go.  Well, I read that a good pre-race meal would be string cheese and an apple.  A light meal that will give you the energy you need prior to a 5k.  No big deal.  It just so happens that apples are in the produce aisle (Thank you Captain Obvious for that detail) and at the store that I was shopping in the produce aisle is the last place I go before checking out.  I was already over budget of what I wanted to spend on groceries for our camping trip and if I'm going to buy an apple I don't want a Red Delicious or some mushy cheap ole apple... I want a big juicy sweet Honeycrisp.  It's the royalty of the apples, am I right?  Royalty comes at a price.  Besides that there wasn't a stinking Honeycrisp apple in the whole joint.  So I considered my next two choices: Braeburn or Gala.  They're decent apples and well priced, but my heart was set on Honeycrisp and since the budget was already tight I couldn't justify buying 3 apples for a pre-race meal when I could really just eat a slice of toast or something.

I left without the apples.

Before we left on our camping trip Hotsauce's mama came over and dropped off a few things.  Her and Pastor-Not-Woman were preparing to leave on trip to Idaho for a week.  So guess what was in her bag of things-that-will-rot-before-they-return?? 3 free apples.  One for me, one for Hotsauce and one for Michael for our pre-race breakfast. 

Isn't God just amazing that way? 

Well, much to my disappointment Hotsauce tells me that I should skip the apple before the race because I could build up acid in my legs easily that way.  Shut.the.front.door.  But, that's okay, God's blessing was still there.  He still knew my desire and answered it. 

Fast forward to yesterday.  We had homeschool group for the first time this year and the amazing PE teacher told the kiddos that God created their bodies to move and not to be lazy.  The amazing PE teacher told the kiddos that God wants them to be healthy and eat right and then that amazing PE teacher showed them some exercises they could do at home to help keep them healthy and active. 

Benjamin, age 6,  took that advice to heart.  He asked if I would go running with him last night and so we ran for 1.2 miles.  He did great!!  His little legs take 3 strides to just one of mine, but he kept up well and never stopped talking the entire way, might I add. 

Today he saw the apples in the fridge and asked if he could have one.  But, there are only 3 apples and 5 kids.  So I suggested they share and then I sat down to blog and pretty soon the screaming started.

First a mild whimper.
Then a gasp.
Finally shrill screaming mixed with panic and crying.

Moms know all about crying.  There's whiney crying.  There's I hate my sister crying.  There's sickness induced crying.  There's homework crying.  There's even a pinched my face in the door, but there's nothing to worry about crying.

This was not that crying.

This crying signals get your keys you're going to the Emergency Room with blood on your shoes with five kids in tow.

Sure enough Benjamin sliced his thumb and had skin flapping off and blood squirting.  One look and my stomach hit the floor.

When we pulled up to the ER there was a plump little man with dark glasses and a buttoned up yellow shirt (which was crying for mercy and ready to burst at the seams) who was walking very quickly for the door.  I'm guessing drug dealer, of the legal variety, who seemed oblivious to us until we started filing out of the Suburban.  He glanced at me and gave a nervous smile but kept walking briskly.  I, too, was half walking half running, in the traditional ER-bound panic pace.  When he saw that I was surrounded by the Turkey Bottoms he fell off pace a bit. But it wasn't until Benjamin, The Strong and Courageous, let out a shrill "OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWIIIEEEEEEE, OW, OW, OOOOOWWWWWWWWWWIIIIEEEEEEEE," did the plump man actually look at him and see his blood covered paper towel and immediately stopped dead in his tracks.  It was as if our little race to the entrance lost all meaning for him and I was declared the winner on the spot. 

Having 5 kids in the ER is never any fun, especially when you're the only parent and lunch was interupted by a cut thumb.  The room was tiny and the receptionist lead the 4 other kids to the waiting room.  I was not a big fan of this, but had few options.  Leaving in a rush also meant that I left my phone at home and couldn't call in any back ups.  I found myself racing from Little Boy Screams Like A Girl's room to the waiting room and counting heads.  My first check proved that the four heads were accounted for and I overheard a nurse who was looking out for them say how well behaved they were doing.  Ego boost got a big check mark and back to the screaming child in room 3.  Wound was washed and tears cleared up and face returned to normal shade of freckled white.  Doc came in and decided that we would try the glue first and save the boy from getting stitches.  She leaves to get the glue and I duck out again to check on the crazies in the waiting room.  At first glance Hannah is glued to the TV and the other Turkeys are no.where.to.be.seen.  I do the frantic double-triple-quadruple-twentyle-take and try not to sound hysterical when I ask Hannah where the others have gone.  She barely rips her eyes from the TV to mumble that they went to the cafeteria.  Panic builds. 

"They went where?" I say in my worse I'm-trying-not-to-freak-out voice.
"The cafeteria." Hannah sees through me instantly and her expression changes immediately.
"With who???"
"With Emma." Tears are welling up in her eyes.
"Where's the cafeteria?" I don't wait for an answer and start looking for signs that will tell me where my babies have gone. At this point no sign can help because I'm in full out hysterical panic as I run up one hall and down another and in 3 circles.

I take Hannah back to Benjamin's room and leave her there so that I can tell the nurses to put out an amber alert.  As I make the frantic announcement at the nurse's station that 3 of my children are missing and feel the panic ready to hit an all time high... at this point a lady says, "They went to the cafeteria."

Ya, well, someone took the cafeteria  too.  Because I sure as heck can't find it... is what I wanted to say...

Wouldn't you know it just as the woman is taking me to the cafeteria three barefoot children woddle down the hall.  AHHHHHHH. 

So that was my lunch.  I'm sure after I have time to debrief a little more I'll go back to seeing that apple as the blessing it is, but in the meantime I gotta go cuddle on Hotsauce who just got home from a week long training in Des Moines!!!


A little glue and a band aid and it really doesn't look that bad!

The after picture... still trying to keep a stron upper lip.

 

 

About that 5k I keep talking about!!

My coach and me!

So, waaayyyyy back in May I decided that I wanted to run a 5k.  I was feeling pretty low on self-confidence (which I mentioned before) and knew that I had to do something that I didn't think I could do... and for some reason, during a psychotic break, I had this really great idea to run a 5k.  I cannot stress enough how much of a runner I am not.  I have never enjoyed it and have always thought that Hotsauce was ca-razy to have gone out for Cross Country and did it for fun!  Yay, fun like jabbing forks in your eyeballs fun.

On my first run I ran 1.2 miles and did so in at a world record pace of 13 minutes.  Yes, 13 minutes.  I know, be jealous.  I also had to walk 3 times.  Seriously, I amaze myself.

Thinking about it now, I'm amazed that I kept up with it!  But, I started telling people that I was going to run a 5k and the thing about telling people is that they hold you accountable.  At some point I decided to tell Hotsauce my plan and that was a big mistake!  Big mistake in that he decided he was going to do it too... which meant I had no chance of backing out.  Big mistake #2 was telling my brother, Michael that I was planning on doing and asking him if he wanted to run it with us!  He said yes and now I was locked in for better or worse...pain or endurance...big fat wimp or big fat wimp.

Now remember I started training way back in May and didn't actually run in a race until September 8th.  I needed plenty of time to train... aka make absolute sure that I wasn't going to make a complete idiot out of myself.

In order to motivate myself I made some goals.  They were by no means Olympic sized goals, but just the same I knew that I needed something to shoot for or I wouldn't know how to gauge my success. So here were my three initial goals:
1. Finish.  Seriously, this was a big one for me.
2. Finish without walking. 
3. If at all possible finish under 30 minutes, but time didn't matter so much as finishing!

During my pre-race training I once ran 4 miles without stopping.  It was really challenging for me, but I accomplished it with the help of some crazy lady Connie Pauling, who drove by and yelled at us cheered us on which really lit a fire under me to finish strong.  Another time Hotsauce had me running intervals at the track and yet another time we ran hills.  It was pretty intense for this old gal.

I also spent time online looking for tips to run a faster 5k, or what to do before your 5k race and what not to do and so on and so on... because again I was afraid of making a complete idiot out of myself and since the I was doing this to boost my self-esteem I didn't want to be the idiot... at least not this time.  I found all sorts of valuable tips that Hotsauce and Michael really felt were valuable and agreed they must be true since I read them online...sarcasm should be heavily noted.
1. Don't run the two days before the race, you want to be rested.
2. Make sure you get great sleep two nights before the race.  The night before the race you're likely to be a nervous wreck and might not get good sleep.
3. Carb overload the night before a race.
4. Eat something light a few hours before the race, for instance an apple and a cheese stick.
5. Don't experiment with new clothing/shoes the day of the race.  Make sure you're comfortable and wear shoes that are worn in. 
6. Don't wear the free shirt to run it ... only newbies do this.  I guess if you're a newbie you still shouldn't do this!

Well after sharing my expertise with them I got hammered pretty hard. ;) I guess apples release a lot of acid that you don't want stored up in your legs, so skip the apple.  Carb overloads aren't proven and may even slow you down... so skip this.  And if you're like me you'll be a nervous wreck 2 days before the race so you won't get any sleep that night. The night before the race I was so sick to my stomach that there was no chance of sleeping well again.  So skip the sleep, you don't need it anyway.  Who needs to be refreshed to run?? ;)

I should mention that a few days before the run I saw our friend, Joe, at the grocery store and he helped me modify my goals so that goal #1 (Finish) was changed to: Finish without having an ambulance called.  And right before the race Michael helped me modify it a bit more to: Finish the race without having an ambulance called and without crying.

The morning of the run it was 50 balmy degrees out.  I had never ran in temps cooler than around 75 degrees so I was in my element... or so stinking cold that I couldn't wait to run just to warm up a little bit!!!  I have to tell you that when the gun went off that I was in shock at the number of people that took off sprinting.  I mean I expected some people to do that, but almost everyone did!  I looked at Ben and Michael and said, "Are they serious?" I had also read online that some people will start too fast because once the gun goes off that they will take off and wear out early.  I assumed some of these people were going to pay for their sprinting later on... turns out I was wrong we never passed a single person!  Which was really annoying because there was this old man ahead of us that would sprint for awhile and then walk and then sprint and then walk and then sprint and then walk... and every time he would start walking I would think that we would catch him and pass him. We never did.

In the end I accomplished all of my goals for the day.  I finished without an ambulance or tears.  I finished without walking and under 30 minutes.  Before the race I had never ran a 5k under 30 minutes and so that was very exciting to me.  I also finished before Ben and Michael... but not because I was faster then them... just because I was being silly at the end for the sake of the loud cheering Turkey Bottoms and their cousins! 

Nothing but smiles since I can see the finish line!!!

My running security guards!

*Race Notes*     At the one mile mark I asked Ben what our time was, since I had forgotten to wear my watch.  He told me the time, which was much faster then we normally run our first mile.  I asked him if we were on pace and he said, "Yes. A little fast, but we're on our pace."  Somewhere around the 2.5 mile mark I noticed that Ben was about a step ahead of me and Michael was drifting back a step and since I was in the middle I figured Michael was either tired or trying to draft off of us.  ;) Turns out they both knew that we were running quite a bit faster than my normal pace.  Ben was running faster to try to motivate me to keep going and Michael was backing off so that if I needed to slow down I would have "an out"... I can't tell you how much I appreciate both of them and their desire to support me in any way that I needed it! 

 

 

I know this is blurry, but it's my proof that I beat both of them!;)

 

Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, cinco, seis - Our Total Money Makeover Journey

That's right, uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, cinco, seis... making it six and a half budgets for the month of September.  With only uno fighto about mula! Actually our fighto wasn't about the mula, so much as we weren't listening to what the other person was saying - which was the exact same thing the other person was saying only lost in translation from blue microphone to pink hearing aids.

The last time we had to "re-do" the budget was thrilling for us!  All 12 pages of it was a joy!  Here's why... We have a big old house.  It's leeeeeakkkkkkyyyyy!  Around this time last year we had some insulation guys come in and run a test on the house.  They close all the windows and doors and put a huge 'ol fan in the door and with some sort of meter doohickey jobey deal and they give you a number... I don't remember what number our house got or what number is good.  What I do remember is that our number was bad, bad, bad.  In fact, we were told that we had the 2nd leakiest house that they ever tested. Uh-oh spaghetti-o! We already knew that we needed to re insulate, but were hoping to score a bit higher on the meter doohickey jobey deal. ;) Long story short it took many weeks and some odd encounters (for another blog another day) and our house was done... kinda.  We have lots of construction projects left that need to be finished up and then we will have a tightly sealed house. 

So what does this have to do with our thrilling budget you may ask?  We have been on even pay with Alliant Energy since we moved in and we pay a lot... and by a lot I mean we pay A.LOT.  Not quite so bad as we did when we lived in the old farmhouse in Arlington and paid $1,000 a month in the winter, but still we pay A.LOT. So Hotsauce, the resident nerd, was paying bills via the phone and was told by the Alliant lady that we had a credit with them... our even pay was too high and we had something like a $500 credit with our name on it waiting for us to cash it in.  So cash it in we did, which left us with $79 for next month.  AND our even pay was lowered!  Woot wooters!  We may have done a happy dance!

So we had to reallocate a little over $400 to other areas of our cash flow plan and that was a pure joy my friends!

There have also been some small victories that make me giddy too.  Now, I'm the free spirit in our house which means that I like to spend ... but I have nerd tendencies too... and I love a good deal.  I will be the one who wheels and deals and waves the cash around a store saying, "That's not good enough."  Well... someday when I have cash to wave around I will! Anywhoo my small victories for the week.  We have 4 of our 5 kids needing new shoes.  And it's always a stressful thing to come up with the cash to do that in one month.  But, we budgeted for it and I came in under $35 of our budget for the shoes and did another happy dance!!  Now, this next one is not going to sound very exciting, but it put a huge smile on my face.  We drive a Suburban and filling the tank is enough to give anyone a heart attack.  I know, Dave, we should drive the van... but it has issues.  Well, I always forget that we have a coupon to get 5 cents off per gallon if I drive to a less convenient gas station.  But, I finally remembered to bring the coupon and after filling up I saved $1.32!  If I keep this up in 3 years we will get a free tank of gas! ;)

I know you're shaking your head right now... but that $1.32 is an indication of the change that is taking place in my heart and in our lives.  That $1.32 means something to me.
 

Goodbye At Home America

If you've spent anytime at all on my Facebook account over the years you have heard me promoting a company called At Home America.  On two different occassions I was a HomeStyle Specialist and sold their a.maz.ing homewares.  You've been asked to "like" my Kelly's At Home America page on Facebook and have heard over and over and over and over about how much I love At Home America.

I even got to go to Chicago on two different occassions to rub elbows with the owners and meet other homestyle specialists who really believed that AHA was an extension of their family.

Me pictured with co-owner Becky Wright ... I was growing out my unfortunate mullet and looking especially chubby in this picture... during their 27th AtHome America birthday celebration

 

VP Tim Curry, Julayne and I "dancing" At Home America style! At Forum January 2011.

Well, I heard on Friday morning that At Home America is no more.  I don't know many details and can make some good guesses as to why it has gone out of business... but still I find myself in shock and awe. 
Last February I hosted a show at Pizza Ranch here in town.  I had an awesome turnout and the sales of that show was perhaps that best that I had ever had!  I really considered coming back to AHA as a rep, but Hotsauce was really unsure.  We decided to put off my going back until this fall.  It didn't take us that long to make up our minds that I would not be going back.  You see it's now September and I still haven't received all of my products from that show.  =( You cannot build a buisness (or sustain a business) if your customers have to wait this long to get their items.  I don't know why AHA suddenly couldn't fill orders... quality control issues, vendor issues, financial issues, bad management issues... there are a hundred possibilities! 



This picture of my favorite Turkey Bottoms was featured in a few of the At Home America catalogs!

I just know that I'm incredibly sad to have to say goodbye to this company.  I love, love, love their products.  I have met some truly amazing people through the company and would ask that you might pray for Michelle, Shelly, Theresa, Patty, Melanie, Janet, Kelley, Jean, and even Becky and Lisa as they all try to tie up loose ends and move on from this difficult time.

**Julayne... I will still make you count how many items in a room are from AtHome America, it's just going to get boring now that the number will never change. ;)

 

Turkey Bottom Haven Now Open!!! Our Total Money Makeover Journey.

The beginning inventory!

Woot woot!  I'm so excited!  The "doors" have opened for Turkey Bottom Haven (my online store) and I'm sooooo excited.  Have I mentioned that yet??

So what is Turkey Bottom Haven you may be asking yourself.  Think General Store.  Or consignment shop.  Here's the big idea.  I LURVESAUCE DECORATING.  It is a passion of mine.  I love it so much that I don't just look at Pinterest, I dream in Pinterest!  And because of that I have collected many, many, many items along the way.  You know, things that I'm going to do that will look amazing... if I ever get to it. 

Well, here's the thing.  Our TMM journey has given me the kick in the pants that I have needed to get it done.  Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately?) none of these wonderful things will be finding there way into our home.  They have found there way into the shop windows of Turkey Bottom Haven... my new Facebook shop.  The plan is to list as many items as possible to sell and see how it goes.  If there seems to be a good response, I'll get another kick in the pants and work on some more projects that are hanging around.  Eventually I may open an Etsy shop.

Here's the thing... I don't have a ton of inventory and my tastes will only appeal to people of similar (wonderful) tastes.  So, I've asked a few talented women to start collecting items that they would like to sell also.  My friend, Julayne, is an uber talented artist.  She plans on selling some of her paintings as well.  I have another friend, Beckie, who will be displaying embroidered dish towels, baby blankets and other items.  Then a few others who are on the fence ... you know that whole finding the time thing can really be a pain in the bum!  I'm also open to others who would like to join us on this endeavor!
So, if you haven't checked out Turkey Bottom Haven on Facebook, please do! And click that "like" button and "share" it with your friends.  It could help us towards our goal of ...

 

Baby Step #1 ... Our Total Money Makeover Journey

Are you tired of hearing about this yet?? Well, let's assume that I'm a little more excited in these first days then I will be as time wears on!  You know, if you would just read the book already, then you might share in my excitement and be able to start your own blog! ;)

Dave (yes, we're on a first name basis) outlines in his book 7 Baby Steps.  The first one is to have a $1,000 in an emergency fund.  I was telling a friend this the other day and she exclaimed, "THAT'S A BABY STEP??"  I completely understand.

So how do you get $1,000 in your emergency fund? Well, you can either bring in more income, save it by cutting out extras, or by selling things you already have.  Well, I mentioned that Ben and I are praying about one of us getting a part-time job... but in the meantime we are digging through our stuff and looking for things that we can sell.  Dave says that you should sell so much stuff that your kids start to wonder if they're next!  Now, there's a good idea!

Any idea what this is?  That's 3 20 dollar bills and 3 5 dollar bills.  20+20+20+5+5+5= Just the beginning.  We sold an old laptop that's been laying around collecting dust. It needed a new motherboard and we had already "had it fixed" twice.  So when I came across a guy on Facebook who said that he bought broken laptops I thought, we have one of those!  And I sold it.  And it felt great.  Now, maybe we could have gotten more for it and you're going to try to burst my bubble and say that you know a guy that would have given me twice that much.  Well, maybe so.  But, here's the thing.  We stopped talking about starting the TMM and we have begun our fund. 

Now, $75 isn't exactly a fortune.  But, it's preparing me for letting go of things that I really want to hold onto.  I want to get start pushing the snowball and not running from it!  So this is our first success and we will celebrate it!... and not by going to HuHots and wasting it!


Here's another look at our new beginning!!

And with a Sepia tone!  

Actually we're celebrating by watching the Financial Peace University DVDs that a friend lent to us for the long Labor Day weekend!  And you know how the rest of you are enjoying a 3 day weekend?  Well, Hotsauce worked today... yep, OVERTIME BABY! :) Normally I would be whining and crying and kicking and screaming because he had to work and I wanted him to be home with me.  But, now I realize it for the gift that it is... another blessing from God that is going to push that snowball! So that money will make it's way into the emergency fund too.  I can almost hear Davey (yes, he likes that nickname, but only when I say it) cheering us on! 

I'm also excited that some friends are asking about reading the TMM or asking if I know where they can the FPU class.  Well, let me say, I've got the wheels turning on that class thing...

Stay tuned for Part 4 coming soon!!