Party Planning - Decorations & Party Supplies

I try to reuse as many of the decorations and supplies as possible.  It helps the environment, cuts down on the cost, and (a huge factor for me) saves on time.  We have learned to keep our events simple.  A few well placed decorations have been much more effective for us then decking out the entire apartment.  Here are a few of the highlights:

• A Vinal Tablecloth - These can be found on clearance or at stores like the Christmas Tree Shop for just about the same price as the plastic tablecloths.  We bought a floral one for Princess' 1st birthday and were able to reuse it for her princess party and Mother's Day.  It would've lasted even longer but at some point, much to my disappointment, it got used as a cutting board. 
• Dollar Store Balloons - We easily spent over $20 in balloons for Princess' 1st birthday.  If only I knew then that the Dollar Tree had helium filled balloons.  The selection is not as large as at a party store, but it really doesn't make a difference to my kids.  They are just so excited to be getting balloons.  I was excited that this time I was able to get all the balloons we needed for under $5!  They last just as well as the party store balloons too.  We have had these balloons for a week now and they are still full of helium (even with the kids playing with them).
• Streamers - For Buddy's party we just used left over streamers from another party.  I try to use neutral colors as much as possible so that we can use them for as many events as possible.  For Princess' party this year we used tulle for streamers.  It gave it a very girly feel and again they can be reused.
• Paper plates, etc. - This is one of my splurges.  For this trucker's wife and mom of a toddler and preschooler, I feel it's more of a necessity.  There is enough to clean up after a party without adding a massive amount of dishes.  I use coupons and sales to buy regular paper plates ahead of time.  I buy a step above the cheap ones and try to get something that has a solid color or a nice neutral edge.  The character/party ones are great, but they are really expensive just to put food on and throw away.  We buy neutral plastic cups, napkins, and white or clear plastic ware.  Any left overs are used at the next event.

How do you save time and money decorating for your parties and events?

Read about how we save money on invitations here.

Sickness has hit our household

On top of everything else going on we are all sick.  Not sure when we will be back but taking care of the family and getting us all back on our feet is our priority right now.  Hope to be back up and running soon.  :-(

Life Happens

So between picking up a new student, the truck breaking down with serious issues, packing for our daughter to go visit her aunt, and getting everything ready for Buddy's birthday party plus everything that needs to be sent back with the family all packed up, we apologize but we will not be posting for the rest of the week.  There is only so much time in a day and this week everything seems to have hit at once.  Thanks for understanding!  Have a great end of  your week and we will see you on Sunday.

Trucker Kids - Precious Moments

I love how even my 2 year old can sense when Daddy is coming home.  He fights sleep on these nights, doing everything in his power to stay awake.  This time was no different.  Usually as soon as Daddy gets home Buddy gets his hug and wants me to put him to bed.  Not this time.  He heard the lock start to turn and he looked at me and said "Dah..y?"  Then he ran over to the couch and peered over the top as the door started to open and again said "Dah..y?"  When Daddy walked through the door, Buddy's face lit up with a huge smile and he said "Dah..y!"  I asked him if he wanted a hug.  Little Buddy got off the couch as quickly as he could, ran to Daddy and latched onto his leg.  That night he wanted to cuddle with Daddy until he fell asleep. 
I love moments like this.  Not only does it make the Colonel feel great when he gets a greeting like that after being on the road, but it helps me to know that the kids are connecting with him.  One of those lovely melt Mommy's heart moments that I thought I would share.

Party Planning on a Budget - Invitations

With Buddy's birthday around the corner it's time a good time to talk about how we plan our parties.  Celebrating our children's birthdays has always been important to us.  We like to make sure we do it right.  For Princess' first birthday we easily spent a couple hundred.  Needless to say that does not help us reach our goal of getting out of debt.
As a trucking family we have also had to make some adjustments, even with me as a stay at home mom.  For some reason the Colonel could be home early any time except for when we have plans.  We have learned that having him home at the very last minute before an important event is just part of trucking, which can add a lot more stress.  The easy way would just be to buy everything, but this gets expensive. This week we will talk about how I handle the invitations.  This can be one of the more time consuming projects.  I usually start this one 8-9 weeks before the party.  We will use Buddy's Mater theme for the examples.
How I Make the Invitations:

• First, I pick a theme.  Something my kids are really into. 
• Then I Google search to get ideas.  In this case I searched  Mater invitations and Cars invitations.  Once I have a plan in my head or a rough sketch on paper I start to make the invitation.
• To start making the invitation I start with making an 8x10 version.  I find that by scanning the 8x10, I get a better finished product.
• Pick a border - Microsoft Word has some great ones.  I find I have much better luck with the border when it is set to "From Text" instead of "From Edge of Page."  For Princess' Cinderella/Belle invitation I skipped this step.  Set the layout to landscape, even if you skip the border. 
  
   
• Then I go in search of images of the character or something that represents the theme. I make any adjustments to the picture I need to using paint.  Then I insert the pictures into the word document.  If I can't get them just right I print and cut them out and add them once I print the document.
• Next I insert any text I can.  Make sure that the text is large enough so that it will be readable when you print the 3x5 size. Usually the unfinished document needs to be printed at this point along with any text I could not get just right. 
• Tape the pieces into place (the scan comes out better if you put the tape under the pieces).  I prefer tape to glue because anything that isn't right can be moved with tape.

• Scan and save as a .jpg.  Then print the 3x5.  Make any adjustments necessary and repeat, or if you are happy with it the first time print off what you need.  Cut apart and mail out in a letter size envelope.  

(Because the invitations are very personalized and contain personal information I did not include a picture of the finished project)

Highlights From This Week

What We Talked About This Week:
The Colonel's Corner:  The Colonel shared ways to make sure that your family is ready before you leave for training.  Read it here.

Truck Driving at a Family Level  discussed a little about how we try to keep fights to a minimum while Colonel is over the road.  Read about it here.

This week on Our Journey to Debt Free Living we talked about 3 ways we were throwing away giving opportunities.  Excellent ways to begin increasing giving.

Wednesday Rose shared her fall centerpiece DIY.  Find out how to make it here.

For our trucker kids the power outage turned out to be a much needed change of pace.


Favorite Pin of the Week: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/326862885426048493/  This pin takes magnet strips and puts them on the side of a drawer to help hold bobby pins.  Princess started dance this week, so she now owns bobby pins.  We live in apartment so putting a magnet strip on a drawer is not an option.  Instead we adapted it by putting the strip inside her hair tie container.

Exciting Things to Look Forward to Next Week

• Truck Driving at a Family Level will be starting a mini-series on how we put on budget and time friendly birthday parties. 
• Our Journey to Debt Free Living will be continuing the giving series with how we use coupons to help us give.
• Trucker Kids will tell you all about a fun way that our preschooler and toddler explored leaves this week.

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Trucking Kids - Power Outage

Everything happens for a reason and yesterday was one of those days.  Yesterday, Princess had a pretty difficult day.  No matter what I tried she didn't want to listen and she did not want to pick up.  Then the power went out.  Everything was quiet, it was great for me!  Every once in a while it is amazing to get some true silence.  Obviously that doesn't happen often around here.  The kids don't take power outages as well.  Princess isn't quite old enough to understand why the lights won't turn back on.  It was still light out so we got outside and played for a couple of hours.  It was hot so we ended up playing with a hose for about an hour.  So much fun and the change of pace Princess apparently needed.  When she came in she was a different kid.  I worked with Buddy on picking up his things and she did an amazing job of picking up all her things.  Something we worked on for 2 hours with not enough progress to speak of was done in less than half an hour.  And a very frustrated Mom was much more calm and relaxed!

Simple Fall Centerpiece

I love to decorate but sometimes on a budget that can be very difficult.  To help with that I find things that will last through the whole season.  In this case that means it needs to work for Halloween and Thanksgiving.  I also try to find things that I will be able to use again.  So while I love real flowers, I tend to go for fake because I can use them year after year.

My Inspiration: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/326862885426319706/  This pin is about making outdoor planters with the craft pumpkins from Michaels.  I wanted the same idea but for inside.

How I Did It:  
First I bought my materials.   A craft pumpkin from Michaels and I ended up using 4 different kinds of floral pieces (1 of each).  2 different kinds of flowers, 1 fall leaves, and 1 of what I call lanterns.  My husband used an exacto knife to cut the hole for me.  This is a great time of year to buy all the materials because most of them are on sale.

Step 1: Cut the stem out of the pumpkin with the exacto knife.  This creates a big enough hole to put the flowers in.  Our looked like this after:

 

Step 2: Separate any stems that need separating and cut to the right length.  I did this with regular scissors then bent the stem back and forth until it breaks.  Only downside to this method is that it can leave a sharp point.  I did not cut all my stems, only the leaves and lanterns.

Step  4:  Arrange the stems.  I started with the combining the two types of flowers I had.  Then I added the leaves and lanterns.  

Final Product:

Making Our Marriage Work - Fighting

Fighting is never a fun topic.  When I used to look for support on this one the majority of trucker's wives sites simply said don't fight.  In a perfect world this would be great.  But, I am no where near perfect.  If I followed this method then the conflict would either be bottled up until I exploded or I would end up talking to someone else about the issues and involving more people in our relationship.  Both methods end up doing more damage than good to our relationship.
The Colonel and I are both very strong-willed people.  Add in sleepless nights and stressful situations and our tempers get the better of us more often then I would care to admit.  Not something we are proud of, but something we are constantly trying to do better with.  Here are some of the things that we have learned to help keep the fights to a minimum.

• Take Control of Outside Influences - Pay attention to when you fight the most.  Is there a pattern of outside influences?  For us it is things like the first few weeks of training a new student, when the Colonel is driving in certain places, if he has a difficult student, the few weeks before a big event at home, just to name a few.  Take control of these influences rather than letting them control your relationship.  For the first few weeks of a new student on the truck, I know the Colonel is going to have less time and be exhausted.  So I try to give him more time to rest at home and don't take it personally if he can't talk.  We avoid talking if he is driving through a difficult area like NYC or Chicago.  Before I figured this one out 8 times out of 10 it would end in a heated argument where things were said that can never be taken back.  If he knows an event is coming up and he has some time at home, he makes more of an effort to help get the apartment ready or plays with the kids so I can get some things done.
• Learn to Listen to Each Other - The Colonel and I are both awful with this, but we are making an effort to be better about it.  When your significant other calls totally frustrated because the house was left totally trashed after your home time, don't just blow it off.  Pick up after yourself and make an effort.  More than likely you aren't the only one that needed a break.  It may seem unnoticed but it's not.  When your trucker is complaining about the nagging try to back off  (but trucker remember this - the nagging is usually the result of something that is causing stress).  If one of you has had a rough day, listen and be sympathetic.  Remember sooner or later you will have a rough day and will not want your significant other to be pretending to listen to you.  By letting the issues be talked out in the open it reduces the need to bottle them up, which decreases the intensity of the explosion and most times completely prevents it.
• Make Time for Each Other -  If you have time to talk to the other truckers or watch that movie, you have time to answer a message or send your significant other a text.  When I was working and taking care of Princess, it wasn't always easy but I made time for my trucker.  It's all about priorities.  If you are important to each other you will find a way.
• When It Gets Heated Take a Break - There are days when I or both of us are just looking to pick a fight.  The stress gets to be too high and it is just easier to take it out on the person closest to you.  This is the easiest option but the easiest is rarely the best.  When they bite your head off no matter what you say, it's best to end the conversation as positively as you can, hang up and give them time.  If you are the one getting the phone call and know you are in a mood, don't answer the phone.  Send a text if possible saying it isn't a good time and you will call later (obviously not an option if you are driving).  I won't lie, I usually get a little snappy about it.  The Colonel may get an "Whatever the heck is going on, I didn't do it and I don't deserve to be screamed at! Goodbye." or "I didn't make you answer the phone."  Eventually, everyone cools off and makes their apologies.  And for the most part you avoid saying things you will regret.
• Do Not Go to Bed Angry - I am one of those people that cannot sleep if there is unresolved conflict.  The Colonel can sleep just fine unless one of us is seriously ill and he is on the road.  The point of this is that you don't know what's going to happen and most people don't want a fight as a last memory.  On the same note, make an effort to say "I love you." even if you are angry or hurt.  I am guilty of not always doing this, but I know I would never forgive myself if something happened and I hadn't told him I love you.

Highlights From This Week

Changes to the blog:
The last few weeks we have been doing some research so thank you very much with your patience with posts being made at different times of the day.  Our posts and our pins on Pinterest will be made in the morning, before 9 o'clock Eastern Standard Time.  We have added a Welcome page. You can find it here.  On this page you can find our purpose, tips for navigating the site, a little about us and how you can follow us.  Posts will be as follows:
Sunday: The Colonel's Corner
Monday: Truck Driving at a Family Level
Tuesday: Our Journey to Debt Free Living
Wednesday: The Road to Cleaner Eating or a Diy/Extra Post to one of the others
Thursday: Trucker Kids
Friday: Highlights from the Week
Saturday: Nothing - This is our day to spend as a family

What We Talked About This Week:

The Colonel's Corner:  This week on the Colonel's Corner the Colonel shared part 1 of a 2 part series on what to pack when getting ready to leave for training.  Read it here.

Truck Driving at a Family Level:  Rose shared a little about how we manage home time.  How does your family handle home time?? You can read it and share your opinions here.

Our Journey to Debt Free Living: The introduction to a series on giving when you have a very limited budget.  This post focuses on our views on giving. Read it here.

The Road to Cleaner Eating: We shared Lessons Learned From Our First Garden.

Truck Driving at a Family Level:  Trucker Kids - We've started working with the kids on the Christmas gift that they will be giving everyone this year.  Read about it here.


Favorite Pin of the Week: Refrigerator Garlic & Dill Pickles  These refrigerator garlic and dill pickles are delicious.  Both of my kids loved them and they cost so much less than pickles at the store!

Exciting Things to Look Forward to Next Week:

• The Colonel's Corner will be finishing up the post on what to pack for training.
• Rose will be sharing how she made her fall centerpiece.
• Our Journey to Debt Free Living will be talking about 3 ways to give that we were actually throwing away.

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Trucker Kids - They are Working on Their Christmas Gifts

Yes, I realize that it is only September and it's a little early to already be talking about Christmas.  I personally would like to get through Halloween and Thanksgiving before the stores start bombarding me with Christmas.  But making Christmas gifts can take time.
We believe that it is very important that our children experience the joy of giving for themselves.  So they have been making Christmas presents since Princess was 19 months old and Buddy was 15 months old.  When they are really little like that I do most of the work on the gift.  But as they become older they are doing more and more of the gift themselves.

• For Princess' 2nd Christmas we made an angel ornament.  She fingerpainted sheets of foam and we traced her hands and foot onto the foam, cutting out and gluing together with a ribbon.  (The upside down foot was the head and gown, the hands were the wings)
• Princess' 3rd Christmas we made cookies.
• Princess' 4th Christmas she loved jingle bells.  I cut out the cups of the egg carton and made some leaves.  She painted them and we put them together as a flower with a jingle bell in the center.  Buddy painted a sheet of foam and we made Christmas tree ornaments out of it.

This year we are going to turn their artwork into a calendar.   Here are a few samples of the art work they have already done for it.

They make the pictures.  Most of the ideas I base the pictures off of are found on my hand and footprint art pinterest board.  I also had them sign their names onto a separate sheet of paper.  Then I scanned it all into the computer.  I used http://www.picmonkey.com/ to create collages when necessary (they each made a snowflake pictures) and to add their signatures and pictures of them to each page.
There are several options for putting the calendar together.  Most stores with an online photo section, such as Walmart, have the option to create your own calendar.  The last time I did this I did everything myself and printed it out on card stock.  I bound it together with loose rings that I found at Staples.  This way takes a lot more time and work on my part.   It's still too early in the season for me to know which method I'm going to try to attempt this year.  But we are making significant progress on the first step.

Making Our Marriage Work - Home Time

Home time has honestly been one of the most difficult areas to create a good balance.  The Colonel comes home tired, I'm tired and the kids are full of energy.   This is the only family time we get (as all you trucking families understand) so sleeping it away really isn't the best option.  So how do we handle it.

Rest: The Colonel is a trainer so during those first few weeks of training he really doesn't get a lot of sleep.  Buddy has just about finished teething, so that has meant a lot of sleepless nights for me as well.  On top of that when I was pregnant with Buddy I started getting migraines (one of which caused a mini stroke) and my main trigger is a lack of sleep.  We get sleep in shifts.  It is far from ideal, but rest is important.  The Colonel rarely ever hears the kids when they wake up through the night, so I get up with them and try to let him get a good nights sleep.  Then when he gets up he takes care of the kids and I usually go back to bed.  This gives the 3 of them a chance to spend some time together.  If we want to do something as a family, we usually do it in the morning.  Then we all rest or have a quiet time during Buddy's nap time.  We have kids so its very rare that anyone gets to sleep past 8:30.  This is more of a time management thing than anything else.  It simply means we can't stay up all night trying to get things done or watching tv.  The goal is usually to be asleep by 10, even though that rarely happens. 

Family Time:  When the Colonel has been out on the road, one of the last things he really wants to do when he gets home is to go out again.  We on the other hand have been home quite a bit and are ready to do something.  This can create conflicts at times. Some weekends we go out and do something, usually a trip to a playground or a farm so the kids can see the animals.  Other weekends we stay home and go swimming, play tennis, or take the kids out to our little playground.  And other weekends we just stay home and rest.  If we've had a busy weekend or few weekends we are more likely to stay in.  We still make it special with something simple like a movie and popcorn, but it gives us some very needed down time. We also try to schedule our outings for only a portion of the home time.  For example if the Colonel is supposed to be home for a weekend, Saturday would be our outing/event day and Sunday when he would have to go back out onto the road is our rest day.

Keeping up with the Cleaning:  I try to get as much of the cleaning done before the Colonel will be home, but let's face it cleaning never goes away.  The times that I actually reach this goal are great because then I get to focus on family time and resting.  It really really helps with the whole mood of the family.  It also helps immensely to have everyone pick up after themselves.  Buddy turns 2 this month and needs a little guidance, but even he is capable of picking up after himself.

How do you make home time work for your family?    
Missed the first Making Our Marriage Work?  Find it here.