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Jason and I have spent the past few days at the D6 Conference in Frisco, TX. I have so much I want to share about this, but I am still processing all of it. God had His hand on this conference and it was amazing. Can't wait to sit with my notes and Bible and make more notes. For now, the bed is calling my name.

Introducing the Soccer Pro

Turns out it wasn't just teething. Bless her heart, she has some kind of infection that is affecting one of her ears and her throat. She has a cute little hoarse cry. Not to be confused with the horse cry that she usually has. That girl has a set of lungs! No worries, antibiotics prescribed and healing is taking place.

We had a very busy weekend. There was a baby shower at our house Sunday, of which I have no pictures because my camera was in the jeep, which left that afternoon with my husband and girls. I do, however, have a pretty clean house and sparkling bathrooms, thanks to my hubby!

Saturday was the first soccer game of the season. Of our lives, for that matter. I have a feeling we'll be doing this for awhile. As they were eating breakfast, Daddy promised her one dollar for each goal she made, thinking that would motivate her to get out there and play hard. It did, alright. The girl scored five goals! I told him this might be an expensive season. MeMaw's footing the bill this week, so we told her do really well and she could maybe buy a trampoline for the backyard with her earnings. :)

It was also a monumental day because it was the first day her hair has ever been braided. Ever. The child does not like having her hair fixed. She did, however, like having her hair out of the way. So there may be more braids in the future. Stay tuned.

They all had so much fun. I was impressed with how well the girls played together. I don't mean to brag (well, just a little!) but the referees told our coaches there was nothing in particular we needed to work on. The girls had the concept and did well! Pretty good for a four-and-five year old team!

Getting ready for the game:



Lining up (notice the cutie poking out):




I was hoping to have some of the video, but, alas, time has gotten away from me once again.

We Interrupt This Blog. . . .

. . .for a teething bloggy break! Li'l Bit is cutting some serious molars (as if there were another kind) and I am doing all I can to get my house ready for a shower this weekend! I'm sure all two of you are sitting on the edge of your seats for the next riveting post and this is devastating. I'm sorry. :) In the meantime, have a "splashing" good weekend!

Picture of the Day

I have felt the same way SO many times. :)

Labor Day Weekend

We had a pretty relaxing long weekend. Saturday we took a little trip down the road, shopped and visited family. Gotta love Kohls!

While everyone was having parades and cookouts, this is what we did today:

Enjoying our hard work:

This evening we had our first soccer practice.

Oh, wait. That was just the shoe queen. She is loving all the new fall fashions. This is the right picture:

At the beginning of practice, the coach had them line on the middle line with their balls and kick it down to the goal. One of the girls just stood there. The whole practice. Yeah, you could tell she really wanted to be there.

Ellie got set up with her seat and really enjoyed the show.

Saturday Sharing

This post makes me both dread and have hope for the times that lie ahead for my sweet girls. We girls can be so mean. But we can rest that our real hope and comfort only comes from Jesus.

Here is a how-to for a really cute ribbon board. (Great for bows and barrettes!)

At last but certainly not least. . .this is great. Do yourself a favor and check out Tim's other stuff on You Tube.

Free Chicken!

This is super important! Well, at least in our little world it is!
Labor Day, September 7, 2009, wear your sports team logo and get a FREE Chick-Fil-A sandwich. 10:30 a.m. - close.
You can also register here for a chance to win stuff from Chick-Fil-A.

Eat Mor Chikin!

Financial Organization

When Kristen over at We Are That Family said the theme for this week's Works for Me Wednesday was going to be organizing, I just laughed. I'm not an organized person. I like organization. I even like organizing. It's just not the priority it should be.

So I thought. And then I thought. And thought some more. Finally I figured out that if one part of my life is organized, it's the financial part. 'Cause it has to be.

A few things that help me keep it organized:

1. We use Dave Ramsey's envelope system for our regular spending. This helps us not spend too much by using credit cards. I almost always end up spending more using them. We always pay off the card at the end of the month, but it's a mental thing. It feels like you're using real money when you spend cash, because you are.

2. We have a budget and we have a spreadsheet to track our spending. And although this summer we haven't been using it like we should, last spring it was great, and it will be great this fall! You can find some great tools at these sites:

Dave Ramsey
Christian Personal Finance
Crown Financial

3. We use ING savings accounts for the big stuff. There are a few expenses we have only once a year, like our life insurance, home insurance and taxes, and other things we might need a larger sum for, like medical bills or car repairs. We also keep our emergency fund there. Although we have lots of different categories, we only have three separate accounts. I set up a spreadsheet to keep track of the categories. For instance, we might have one lump sum in ING, but on my spreadsheet it's divided up into categories like house, medical, car, etc. That way we're earning more interest on the larger amount, but I know how much comes in and out of each category. That way, when that large bill comes we're not caught off guard. We've been preparing for it.

4. Keep records. I may not always do the best job on this, but all the papers are around here somewhere. My husband has come up with a binder system for our bills and large purchases. Here's a great list at Bankrate.com that will give you some guidlines of how long to keep records.

Now off to work on the organization of everything else in the house. . .