Christmas Decor

The kids have been asking for a Christmas Tree for practically the entire year.  Last year,  we had our measly 2' plastic one, but threw it away after the holidays.  I totally forgot that and felt bad when I went up to the attic to retrieve that which was not there.  Michael had suggested we cut down this invasive tree that had sprung up next to the row of palm trees.  After thinking about how cumbersome it would be to try to keep it alive in a pot of dirt inside the house, I thought of another way to decorate the home for the season.

Painting!

I meant to just paint my tree and hang it up for the kids to hang their stockings and school-made ornaments, but when they saw me having fun with acrylic, they just had to make their own Christmas tree painting too.  Simone was having such a great time that she asked, "Can we paint a tree every year?" 

The humbug that I am wasn't going to get the kids stockings, but Max had been envious of the one Simone had received in Kindergarten.  A quick trip to Michaels with $6.42 solved that.  Now each kid will have their own monogrammed stocking every year.  

I enjoyed this year's festivities.  It was not cumbersome, but it gave the kids joy to spice up the house.  I have continued my other tradition of putting down the decor the day after the holiday.  The kids seem to be used to it because they didn't cry when they looked up at the wall and no longer saw their paintings.  They might have been too occupied with their gifts to notice the missing decorations.  

2013 Halloween Decor Outdoors

Last year, I felt a little bad that the kids' Halloween decor was so subpar.  This year, I wanted to step it up - not a lot - just  a little bit and with some input from the kids.

Max had made an Autumn-themed wreath in Gymboree.  It fit our decor beautifully!

Sparse webbing, but we were working on it.

Simone's pumpkin on the left and Max's on the right.
The baby pumpkin comes from Max's Gymboree art project

I love to be scared by zombies!

I let the kids take big swaths of webbing and decorate trees.  Here's what Simone concocted ...

Can you see the scary web?

Simone is very efficient when she's decorating

Max and Simone were actually more concerned about people coming to see their work.
They kept screaming, "Come see our zombie heads!  Zombie heads, everyone!  Zombie heads!"

I took the first green web/bow around the tree and tried to make it look more menacing.  Michael cleaned the shop vac's filter downwind in (my) hopes that the dust and dirt would latch onto the web.  It didn't turn out as rustic as I had hoped.  The web looked straight out of last year's Halloween clearance aisle at Target, which it was.

Delightfully, the kids took the hanging web blob and fastened it to the mailbox!  They also added a little touch of zombie to greet anyone or anything entering our mailbox.

Boo!

We had a great afternoon decorating and then playing in the said decorations.  The kids attempted to get caught in the webbing.  At one point, Simone took my camera and started taking pictures herself!

Heeellp!

Max the Fly looks quite happy to be ensnared!

But not for long because here comes the Giant Female Floripino Spider.

A Mechanic's vs. Our Own Sweat and Tears

I called up the local Mercedes Benz service shop and asked them to quote the services we had done on our car in July.  I compared it to the money we spent on the parts, accessories and fluids we needed.  The difference was phenomenal.

Mechanic's Quote:  $3,046

Our DIY Cost:  $1149

That is almost a whopping 300% increase if you take your car to the mechanic!  And part of our DIY costs were for tools like a dipstick, a rolling chair, and those mechanic-lying-down-roller,  things we can use over and over again!

How Do You Spell ... ?

Michael recently built a lovely window table for the kids.  It's actually made of leftover scraps and old shelves for which we didn't have a need in our new house.  The lovely part of it is that its height is perfect for their little bodies and they get a view of the outside while they color, create, and write.

As their first acts of creativity, Max and Simone drew lots of pictures.  Some for Michael and me - some for Lauren, Brandon and Grandpa.  We had to label things for Max when he asked for help, but Simone wanted us to just tell her how things were spelled and she executed the writing.  She however repeatedly asked the same questions of how to spell her cousins' names so I made her a little chart.

When she saw that I had not put Max anywhere she put his name in the sample letter I made.  He had to be included!

Car Days - 1st Day's Work Analysis

When Michael told me he was going to do a lot of work himself on the car, I volunteered to help him so I could learn what he is doing.

Warning ... my next sentences will be morbid so if you don't like the topic of death, you should just skip the next words and just hit play on the video below.

I love being with Michael, but I know that it is possible he might die unexpectedly.  I like to learn things about how to take care of the house so that if Max, Simone and I were ever to be left stranded without the man of the house, I - the woman of the house - can take care of the remaining Meyers.  I hope to grow old with Michael, but I'm always trying to think independently.  So part of my wanting to learn about the car is to know more about how to take care of our transportation and not to be at the mercy of mechanics who have a reputation of wanting your money more than to help you with good service.

I came through this experience thinking negatively of doing car work myself.  But I am feeling empowered that I can stroll into a Jiffy Lube and be able to tell if the mechanics are speaking the truth or not about oils and filters needing to be changed.  I am also feeling well-prepared to maintain a car in the future.   I used to regularly have the oil on my Honda Civic changed, but in terms of doing brake fluid and transmission oils, I was oblivious.  

Not anymore!!!

To see the beginning of Car Days, jump to the first post here.

Car Days - Introduction

Michael had started to hear a clunk when he drove our white car and decided to bring it into a mechanic to see what might be wrong.  He warned me that the problem might be the transmission and that replacing it might cost $5,000, which is half the amount we paid for the car! Luckily the mechanic did not mention the transmission having a problem.  Unluckily there was a giant list of things we had to do to get our car in good working condition.

To see the beginning of Car Days, jump to the first post here.

Do It Yourself Worktables

A few weeks ago, the family and I were at a Lowe's store browsing their sale section.  Michael eyed a discounted rolling worktable / toolbox.  The price was slashed by 20%, but it was still an expensive purchase of $200 for something that I didn't think we had room for in our garage.

While Michael respects my decision to save money, he also resorts to his resourcefulness when he covets a new tool or piece of "furniture."  He spent about $6 for a 10' long 2x4, found scrap plywood, and gave in some sweat and muscle to get what he wanted and to satisfy my concerns about money and lack of space.