Merry Christmas and beyond

We had a quiet, wonderful, peaceful Christmas at home, just the 4 of us. We awoke early (6am), opened gifts, ate cinnamon rolls for breakfast, the girls played Nintendo games, Don went hunting and I just enjoyed the day. We are so truly and amazingly blessed with our health, our jobs, our home and our sweet children that nothing wrapped in bright paper or put in a stocking could have made the day any better. Having been given this gift of love from the Father so long ago that still brings joy and excitement 2000 years later on this special day (and every day in the heart of Christians) is just amazing and I am thankful for the gift of my salvation and the birth of my Savior who abundantly bestows his mercy and grace upon me and my family. Hallelujah! Christ the Savior is born!

T'was the Saturday before Christmas...

We were baking FOOLS today! We have enough Christmas cookies to ensure that Santa gains 25-lbs. at our house alone! All the presents are wrapped - they were bought by August! - and safely tucked under the tree. Now, I can breathe a sigh of relief and get ready for next week. It will be busy, just like this past week. The girls are out of school until Jan. 6th and I am sure we will be tripping to the mall to spend whatever money/VISA gift cards/etc. they get for Christmas. We are planning a quiet Christmas day here at home and a quiet New Year's Eve at church, until 10pm, and then home to ring in 2009. I have plans for it to be a GRAND year for the Sivyers!

'Tis the Season!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

December 9, 2008

I cannot believe that Christmas is only 16 days from now! We have our tree up and decorated - thanks to the girls for this! While Don and I worked on our December Budget, they played Christmas music and decorated the tree! It looks AWESOME! They can really pull together when the moment calls for cooperation!

Thanksgiving is over - can Christmas be far behind?

Wow, it has been 2 weeks since I posted last. Guess that goes to show that my life is not all that exciting. Nice, actually! We spent Thanksgiving at the farm with 60 "close" relatives! I was glad to be back home to the peace and quiet. I cleaned house today and decorated for Christmas so, except for a tree, the house looks ready for Santa. It is warm and rainy today, not really very festive weather for decorating but, we made do. December is shaping up to be a BUSY month, already! I have 2 surgeries to get through, Claire has 2 dance performances at Victorian Christmas, Hannah has 2 band performances (parade & concert) and we will have the usual school activities, holiday get-togethers and church activities as well. I look forward to the girls' being done with school on the 19th and then, just relaxing and enjoying the week of and after Christmas. We have decided not to go the property like we did last year. Dave Ramsey (and FPU) have convinced us it is more important to establish our Emergency Fund than to spend the extra money we will have from my Christmas bonus! FPU is going well and we are excited for 2009, financially speaking. We should have most all of our small to medium debt paid by the fall and will begin the real work on the bigger credit card debt, the HELOC and even the van! To be "debt free" will be astounding!

All Vanned up!

We traded my beloved Subaru (boohoo) for a 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan (yippee!). It has the stow n' go seats that swivel to face backwards and a place for a game table and the key fob - it is TOO cool! It remotely starts the car from up to 325' away and turns it off, too! And, best off all (in keeping with our FPU "training") it costs $75/mo LESS than the Subaru! I will be able to tote all my carpools kids after school, even my BIG Wednesday Choir group! Love it! Hate the weather, though :( HOT, HUMID, RAINY and 2 weeks from Thanksgiving! Please tell me it will cool off before the holiday...

FPU!FPU!FPU! Go TEAM!

We have signed up for FPU - Dave Ramsey's money and debt management course. In 13 weeks we will be graduates of a program that will transform not only our financial future but, the rest of our lives. We are each keeping an Expenditure Journal and we are reassessing our vehicle situation. So, we are EXCITED! 2009 will be a year of changes for the country but most especially for the Sivyer family. We are committed to bringing our finances in line and to teaching the girls to be fiscally responsible.