The Polar Express 2013

For Christmas Grandma Schupp treated her entire family to tickets for The Polar Express! There where 30 total family members that rode the train. It was a FANTASTIC experience. The kids LOVED every minute!!





My parents came too so we decided to rent a van. It decided to ran VERY hard on the drive to and from Dennison Ohio. The trip was about 2.5 hours each way. The weather could have been worse, it could have been snow!! It did clear just long enough for us to stand outside and wait for the train. We where very lucky.

Parker and Popa being silly!






Parker received new pajamas from his elf Chuck! They have the airplanes from Planes movie!





Parker loved spending time with his extended family. Cooper was so much fun!!





Parker, daddy and Grandma Schupp! Such a great time!











The magic!





Hot chocolate, fun games, sing-a-longs and lots of memories!


Thank you Grandma Schupp and to Aunt Jackie for helping plan everything!! Love you all!

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Winter Fun!

Here are a collection of pics of events before Christmas. It was a busy month!

Parker had a special visitor waiting for him the same day he ran into Santa! He named his elf, Chuck-E-Cheese but we will call him Chuck for short. Parker literally ran into Santa during a visit to the donut house with his Popa. They are regulars and happen to run into Santa on their visit.


Grandma Terry and mommy made Parker a felt Christmas tree that he could decorate over and over again!


Daddy reading books to an audience! :)


Parker was trying so hard to tie this dog's shoes :)



Parker and mommy being silly!





Parker got a new super cool hat! We LOVE it!!





And the annual school Holiday Program! Parker learned so many new songs and did a great job singing them all!! He was super cute!



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Emergency Fund

At the beginning of our third month on a budget our dishwasher decided to start leaking. We had established a small emergency fund so that IF something came up during our money makeover we would have it covered. Luckily we had enough to cover the new dishwasher. Ray used his employee discount to save us a good chunk of change. He then put his handyman skills to good use by installing it himself. Parker helped too!


Doing dishes by hand was an inconvenience but not the end of the world. Don't get me wrong I was very thankful once the new one was installed and working. We were back in action before the holidays!! It felt great to have cash set aside to make this purchase. That was a big step for us!!

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Hot Chocolate & Craft Time

Winter in Ohio can be a little crazy. We decided the best way to pass the time was to drink hot chocolate and be crafty!


The elephant mug was mine when I was little. My dad painted it for me and my name is on the trunk. Parker loved it!!


Pinterest is our favorite place! Ok, so it' my favorite and the family just has to deal with it!! :) Parker helped make a snowman for his bedroom door and then worked on designing one of a kind place settings for his grandparents. They plates where a hit with the grandparents!! :)

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What Are We Saving For?

We currently lease both of our cars. Did I mention we leased these cars on the same day? Yeah, double stupid tax being paid here!! Needless to say we are counting down until our leases are up, January 26, 2015. We can't sell our cars, we would have too much negative equity. So we are going to stick it out and just save!

The current plan is to save as much money as we possibly can and purchase two cars. Ray drives less than 10 miles a day to and from work. He is a car guy but knows that having an in expensive and paid for car is better for everyone. I drive a little further to work and we want to have a bigger more reliable car for the family. I will be getting a minivan! I will put it on the table now so it's not a surprise to anyone later. :)

A great friend told me, "The best time to look for and buy a used vehicle is when you don't need one!" We are currently looking so we have an idea of what is out there. It's exciting to have a plan and working the plan. We know what we want and we are going after it!!

Any car recommendations??


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