Carson's 1st T-ball Practice

...well not so much.

We have been preparing for Carson's first t-ball practice for about a month now...well really since we found out we were having a boy, almost 4 years ago. Brian has been patiently waiting for the day Carson became old enough to start playing sports, and baseball is at the top of the list.

We signed him up at the Pearland YMCA in February. This past weekend we went to Academy and bought him his first glove and t-ball bat for his practice today. Last night we charged up the camcorder and cameras. My dad drove down from Grapeland and Brian's parents came from Pasadena to witness Carson's entry into the world of organized sports!

Well tonight we pulled up to the Y to find the parking lot in front of the baseball field EMPTY! I went inside to find out where everyone was, thinking that maybe they were meeting inside tonight. Nope. T-ball practice was canceled. Why? Because TAKS testing is going on this week. Last time I checked, three year old's didn't take the TAKS test... Needless to say, I am not a happy camper. Regardless, we made the best of the situation. We had a glove, bat, and baseball, so Carson's first practice became an impromptu game w/ the family. Luckily he was none the wiser.

Live Like No One Else

About a month ago a co-worker of mine asked if we would like to go to Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover Live with them at the Reliant Arena. If you haven't heard of him, Dave Ramsey is this financial guru with a radio show and a huge following. He gives advice to people on how to get out of ALL debt and is like the Dr. Phil of finances. I spoke to Brian and we decided to go, although Brian wasn't all that sold on the idea of paying to see someone who would save us money.


You should watch this before you continue reading, (it wouldn't let you embed it on the page, but it takes you straight to the youtube video). This is the first few minutes of the event we went to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLX3wUY1xGg

After the first ten minutes, Dave had our attention. We were captivated all 6 hours of the seminar. He was funny, and had tons of data to back up his theories, although mostly what he explained was just good old common sense.

He has 7 steps for his program, that you are supposed to follow in order and you can't start the next until you finish the one before it:

1- Create an emergency fund with $1,000 (that way you won't go back to using credit cards when emergencies come up)

2- Debt snowball: you pay off ALL of your debt, except your mortgage, starting with smallest debt. When the smallest debt is paid off, you apply the money that you saved from paying it off to the next smallest debt...this keeps rolling over until you have a huge amount to pay off bigger debts like cars

3- Create a 3-6 month salary emergency expense fund

Steps 4, 5, & 6 you work on simultaneously

4- Invest 15% into retirement

5- Start a college fund for your children

6- Pay off mortgage early

7- Build wealth & give

After his seminar we signed up for his 13-week Financial Peace University. The average family to go through the course pays off $5,300 in debt and saves $2,700 in the first 91 days. We aren't ones to typically talk about our finances with others, but we have been going to the classes for 4 weeks now and have already paid off $2,500 of our debt and saved our $1,000 emergency fund, saving us $700 on monthly payments! We are so excited to be on the road to paying off EVERYTHING, including our house, we are almost obsessive!

Here is a link to his website, if you want more info: http://www.daveramsey.com/

Thought of the Day

(brought to you by: Carson)

Carson is now at that age where random stuff flies out of his mouth all of the time.

Case in point:
On the way home tonight Carson tells me "we don't go on the monkey bars outside with our pants down."

Useful information.

Points to Ponder

(No, I'm not witty enough to come up with this on my own. I received this in an email)


How important does a person have to be before they are considered assassinated instead of just murdered?

Why do you have to 'put your two cents in'... but it's only a 'penny for your thoughts'? Where's that extra penny going to?

Why does a round pizza come in a square box?

How is it that we put man on the moon before we figured out it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage?

Why is it that people say they 'slept like a baby' when babies wake up like every two hours?

Why are you IN a movie, but you're ON TV?

Why do people pay to go up tall buildings and then put money in binoculars to look at things on the ground?

Why is 'bra' singular and 'panties' plural?

If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a stupid song about him?

If the professor on Gilligan's Island can make a radio out of a coconut, why can't he fix a hole in a boat?

Why does Goofy stand erect while Pluto remains on all fours? They're both dogs!

If Wile E. Coyote had enough money to buy all that ACME crap, why didn't he just buy dinner?

Do the Alphabet song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star have the same tune?

Why did you just try singing the two songs above?

Why do they call it an asteroid when it's outside the hemisphere, but call it a hemorrhoid when it's in your butt?

Little Sponge

I thought this picture was appropriate, seeing as Spongebob is Carson's newest obsession! (thank God for dvr)

Well, our household has its own little "spongebob." His name is Carson. As the saying goes...kids are total sponges, and our lovely three year old is no exception. Last night we were in the kitchen cooking dinner and Carson came in and told me "Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday." I was blown away! I had no idea that our little one already knew the days of the week. He just recently learned how to spell his name, can count to ten in spanish, pour himself a drink and is now tracing letters at school.

With the good, comes the not-so-good as well! Carson has shown us that our household is full of procrastinators. He has a variety of sentences that I can only assume he picked up from, well, us. "Two more minutes" "Maybe later" "Maybe tomorrow" "Maybe next time" are a few of his favorite responses when asked to do something. We are learning to be very careful with what we say in front of our very vocal child and taking this opportunity to teach him as much as his little brain can "soak up."

Our Albert

For those of you who have not had the pleasure of meeting him, this the love of our lives, Albert. My parents cat, Blackie, gave birth to him (and a few others) the same time Brian and I first moved in together five years ago. He was the sweetest of the litter, so we had to have him. He is such a wonderful addition to our family, I felt he deserved his own blog...

Don't be fooled by his cat-like exterior, he is a dog trapped in a cat's body. He knows his name and will come to you when you call him. He is friendly to all of our visitors and is usually waiting by the door when I leave and come home. He goes on walks with Carson and I through the neighborhood and even waits by us if we stop to talk to neighbors. Best of all, he is so great with Carson. He lets Carson pet him, sometimes carry (ie. drag) him around the house, but will still put Carson in his place if he gets too rough.

We love him.

It's only just begun...

Well, I officially had my first public embarrassment via my lovely 3 year old. I knew the time would eventually arrive that Carson would do or say something to turn my face a bright shade of red in public. I was hoping it would take a little longer, or possibly be Brian, instead of me...

Last night Carson & I met my sister and her boys at a small Italian restaurant in Pearland. Ethan wanted to check the place out as a potential birthday party destination b/c they let the kids make their own pizzas, then they cook them. We were seated front and center next to the hostess stand, cash register and restrooms.

Half-way through the meal Carson announces at the top of his lungs "I need to go POO-POO, Mama! Hurry so I don't POO-POO on myself!!" (No, this isn't the embarrassing part...) So no big deal, I am happy to take my potty-trained child to use the restroom! We go in, he does his business and we go back to our table. On the way back to our seats Carson gets the strange notion that I now need to use the restroom as well. So he begins to yell "MAMA, YOU NEED TO GO POO-POO!!" I turn around and quietly tell him "no, I don't need to use the restroom." He obviously isn't buying it and continues to scream "MAMA YOU NEED TO GO POO-POO! HURRY MAMA, YOU ARE GOING TO POO-POO ON YOURSELF!" Again I tell him "really Carson, I don't need to go to the restroom." He continues and is now throwing himself on the floor screaming "YES YOU DO MAMA! YOU ARE GOING TO POO-POO ON YOURSELF, YOU NEED TO GO TO THE POTTY!!" At this point all employees and some of the customers are staring at me, and I can only imagine what they are thinking: does this lady have some previous habit of pottying on herself or what did she just do in OUR restroom. Joni, on the other hand is laughing hysterically. After a good couple of minutes debating with my child about my lack of needing to use the potty he finally stops the tantrum and moves on to something else, while I am forced to finish my meal with a restaurant full of giggling people.

I'm sure I will be able to return the favor in his teenage years.