October Wrap-Up & November Goals

October was a busy month! We had DD1's birthday, a 12 day road trip to Disneyland, and a 4 day trip to visit Grandma in Oregon, too.

October was also full of blessings with continued meals to help out after Phoebe's arrival, much appreciated baby gifts and visits with several friends who we don't get to see often enough!

We had some especially cool stuff happen related to Disneyland. First, my aunt made the girls beautiful princess dresses that were a huge improvement on the mass-produced princess costumes. Next, my cousin Rebecca gave the big girls each a visit to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique for their birthdays (DD1's was right before our trip & DD2's is this week). Finally, we were given a coupon book by a stranger as we entered Disneyland about 8PM on our first day there. She said, "This is our last day and we can't use these." Perhaps she chose us because we were a sight with four little kids strapped into their double strollers. When we checked out the coupons the next morning we found a coupon for a free adult character meal and $75 in vouchers for food in the park! DH had been particularly grumpy about our planned meal at Ariel's Grotto ($$$) and we thanked God for providing in this completely unexpected way. It was so much we were able to share the blessing with our family members who also came to Ariel's Grotto!

Goals for October included:

• Use the clothesline at least once - Didn't manage it, even with these last couple of beautiful days.
• Start pulling out the garden - Again, didn't get to it. I will need about half a bale of hay in the next couple of weeks though. Anyone know where I can get one and/or does anyone want to share?
• We planned $200 for groceries this month - I did it!
• Pay another bit of Timeshare off - We got another 6%. The extra 'found' money this month was from babysitting, a paid focus group, a small amount of interest that has accumulated in various savings accounts, and DH got a raise that we are applying straight to this debt.
• Get DD1's homeschool rolling again - Check. We did school 4 days last week and are on track this week, too. An unexpected surprise is that DD2 wants to be a part of things, too, so we got her started on a workbook.
• At least one Resourceful Gifting post - I also did this.
  

New Goals for November:

• Pull garden out
• Clean & vaccum both cars - inspired by something I read that suggested taking care of your cars will help you feel better about their age and ugliness.
• Groceries $200 - this will be a challenge because of Thanksgiving and because I already committed $60 for bulk food purchases with a friend.
• Make the budget work to include lots of things that have come up for November without using DH's raise which we've committed to the timeshare debt.
• Get Christmas cards and baby announcements completely finished before Thanksgiving so I can enjoy the rest of my holiday season.

Katie