Zehring Vacation 2013 fund!

We leave in one week!!!! I am so excited for this time. We have nothing major planned for trip except Disneyland!!!! So here is the final count of our fund. I sold a lot of stuff on an online yard sale site. All thanks to converting the boys room from a nursery to a big boy's room! So here is the update.


Online yard sale: $336
Target Gift Card for buying bulk: $10
Survey site cash out: $10

Total: $356

Grand Total of Fund: $1207.50!! Our goal was $1000.  Yay! We made it and we are going to have a blast!!

Next fund goal. Christmas fund!!!! At least part of it!!!

Vacation Fund Update for June and July

We are one month away from our glorious family vacation. We are headed to California and a trip to Disneyland!!!! Cars Land! I am so excited for Cars Land. We planned on going last year but the opening was postponed so we missed it. But I am really glad for this because Zachary is now really into Cars and will LOVE LOVE LOVE it!

So June came and went and I didn't do any thing about the fund. It was a crazy month with sicknesses, swim lessons, and life. So even if I made some money for our fund that month I didn't record it so I just started in July and wrote down everything.

Let me start by telling you, I have a new hobby. Its such a stay at home mom hobby but I am addicted. I found online yard sales in my area through facebook. They are secure and safe and its with moms in the area. So I am meeting new moms that will be at the same school as Nathan when he starts in a year. And I am making money for our fund!!! Most of the funds I made this month came from cleaning out our house and selling them AWESOME!!!!

So here we go...

• $20 from Mattel (this was awesome because Zachary's bday gift came without a piece and Mattel just refunded us the value of the toy instead of just sending the piece)

• $25 Target Gift Cards for buying in bulk
• $25 Target Gift Cards from survey sites
• $180 from online yard sales.

Total:$230

Grand Total so far: $851.50

Goal by Sept. 5th: $1000

We are almost there! And I have a few more things to sell in August!!!!

The Before and After of the Remodel

Its been a few months since we had our floors redone. And since then I have acquired some new pieces of furniture and decor. Now I am not completely done. But I do believe the difference is evident enough to show you the before and after. I hope you have enjoyed this journey. I have and I am extremely happy with the outcome so far and I am content with where we are at. This has been 7 years in the making and the fact that after only 4 months and one income now we have had a lot done.

 

The kitchen before

  

 After

 

 Looking from the dining area before

  

After

 

 Looking from the front door before

 

 After

 

 Looking from the playroom before

  

 After

 

 Hallway before

 

 After

So things that are left are this..

• Buy a console table for the wall behind the couch
• Buy a mirror or art work for that wall behind the couch
• Move the green lamp to the console table and get rid of that white cabinet that the lamp is on
• Buy a little round pedastal table to go next to the green chair
• Buy a floor lamp for next to the green chair
• Buy the new couch we have our eye on.
• Buy a new ceiling fan for the living room.

Once we have that list done, the living room remodel will be done!!! YAY!!!

Summer is Almost Over...

I have 3 (almost 4) weeks until school starts up. A lot of my teacher friends are already heading into their classrooms, planning, going to meetings and trainings. And I think about the life I chose to leave behind. As a substitute teacher I was gearing up for the new year. "Selling myself" to teachers I guess is the best way to put it. This is about the time that I would start reminding my teacher friends that I was still subbing and not to forget about me when they needed to take a "mental health" day. But now I am not in that place. I purposely discarded the sub renewal email the moment I received it so I wouldn't be tempted to go back to work for the extra cash. I loved subbing. I really did! I enjoy kids, teachers, the education system, and the structure. I loved being a support to those people I know work their butts off to teach kids from all walks of life how to grow well rounded lives and be ready to reach their dreams. But this year is different. I am not subbing next year.

Teachers that I would run into over the summer were asking if I was enjoying being a SAHM now. And to be honest, nothing is different yet. I ended my job when the school year was over. So my summer looks the way it did the last 7 years. Ask me in 4 weeks how I am feeling and I am sure I will have a different answer. Because along with not working, Nathan is going to school on a different schedule. Zachary and I will have 3 mornings together by ourselves. Joel will be home with the whole family twice a week. And I am still learning on how to live with a single income that every other week (when I subbed there was a pay check every week).

But let's forget that school is starting and remember that we have 4 more weeks of summer to enjoy! And let's take a look back at how we spent our summer so far!

Playdates

Children's Museum

Swim lessons

Water park

Boys being boys

 

Still working on the remodel

And some amazing little boy turned 2

Painting the fireplace mantle

If you have been reading this blog you know that we went through a floor remodel. Before the flooring was replaced we had our fireplace redone with a brick border and added a mantle. We have these windows right above our fireplace and there is just a teeny tiny ledge on it. So I wanted a bigger ledge to decorate. Well after the brick was chosen (not my first choice brick) and the mantle was done, we were disappointed in the outcome because of the mess that was left. Mortar all over the bricks. I scrubbed and scrubbed and still could not get it to be as clean as I wanted. But it wasn't the end of the world. I was never over the moon happy with the color of brick we picked. And as we started painting the walls with the new color, the red brick didn't really go anyways. So I painted it the same color as our baseboards. I am extremely happy with how it turned out. But if you do this, beware of what it takes.

I didn't prime it because the paint I had already had primer in it. I also deep cleaned the fireplace just to make sure I didn't get dust and dirt in the paint as I went.  I read some where to use an old cheap brush. THIS IS A MUST! The paint brush will get ruined from the brick. Its just going to get tossed out. So don't use your favorite paint brush. I did use a roller first just to get the first coat on. And that was nice. Also, keep in mind that you will use a lot of paint. I used about a half a gallon on our fireplace and I still missed some spots that I had to go back and get. The brick just sucks up the paint into all the holes and nooks. Let it dry with each layer. Here is the outcome.

The Before

The After

Starting to paint

Done!

With the new wall color

More of an idea with the windows

Mantle is done. Now to add some furniture! That's for a later post.

Our summer...

I have been a stay at home mom full time now for 4 weeks. And it has been interesting.  I started the 1st week helping Nathan's class finish up their last week of preschool. The 2nd week we all had the stomach bug. A nasty one. Then the 3rd and 4th week were filled with swim lessons. Every day out in the sun for an hour or more in 100+ degree weather. LOVELY! But I am tan now so that's nice.

Zachary is almost 2 and we don't like doing parties so we are just getting together with any family that can make it. Nathan is still in swim class. And in between that we have gotten together with friends, went to the Children's Museum here in town, visited a toy train museum and we are headed to a water park in a week.

I am really excited for swim lessons to end so we can get into a good routine of playing, grocery shopping, outings and such. Lessons are right in the middle of the morning so they ruin any outings we may have and both my boys still nap in the afternoon so that makes our days pretty much over after that.

That's the update so far. I am sure I will have more as we get more into the summer.

Zehring Vacation Fund 2013

So for the month of May I have kept track of everything that I have earned towards our vacation fund.  This is going to be a fast update because I have not really been in the mood to blog. We have had stomach flus, remodeling, ending a job (I am staying home full time) and just trying to get into a new routine with my family. So here goes the update...

• 10/12 (I forgot to add this one in) $5 Disney.com gift card. I will use it to buy a gift card for disneyland
• 4/22  $10 Disney gift card from being a part of their movie rewards. I cashed in my points for it
• 4/23 $5 Target gift card for buying cereal in bulk
• 5/22 $20 in Target gift cards for buying sunscreen and other needed toiletries in bulk
• 5/24 $10 in Target gift cards. I went back and bought more sunscreen. With the coupons and gift card deal I had to stock up. I paid about a dollar each for banana boat sunscreen
• 5/30 $10.27 in change
• 5/31 $10 from My Surveys
• 5/31 $5 from EPoll
• 5/31 $10 in Walmart (shhh, don't tell Joel) gift card from Plink

 Total: $85.27

Total Fund : $621.50
My Goal is $1000 by the time we leave in Sept.