Emmie Game

We try to incorporate learning into every day activities.  We've been playing the Emmie Game since Gabi was 18 months old.  "Emmie" is baby-speak for M&Ms.  Or at least what my kids call them!  In this game we combine sorting with counting.  We buy individual "fun-sized" packs of plain M&Ms and each kid gets a pack.  They pour the "emmies" into the purple oval, then sort them based on color.  Afterwards, we count the number of emmies for each color, and then count the total number of emmies.  This is why Addy can count to exactly twenty-two... the bags average18-22 emmies.  Gabi can do the game independently, but likes to have my mom or me to count the emmies with her at the end.  We get Addy started by putting one red emmie on the red column, and then asking her to find the rest.  We count the individual colors and total M&Ms with her.  Rafe gets half a bag.  He likes to put his emmies in the purple oval and will randomly place them on the board.  Occasionally we'll get to count with him, but many times he eats at least some of them first.  Clearly, this game is easily adaptable for a wide range of ages. 

This is a scanned image of our Emmie Game board.

Click here to print off your own Emmie Game board!  If you don't want to use colored ink, print in black and white and color it in.  For some reason it wants to print a second blank page.  This is my first time using Google Docs, so just click print page 1 only, and maybe next time I'll be better at it!

Barkley Fought the Skunk and the Skunk Won

Yes, you're reading that right.  In general, I believe our bloodhound is a pretty darn smart pup.  Whatever she lacks in brains, she makes up for in beauty. 

But when your neighbors have a (probably rabid) skunk living under their side porch, eventually things are bound to go wrong.  Last night, things went wrong.  Mitch's sister and her family left for Florida yesterday, and we hadn't been dog-sitting her two beagles for more than 3 hours before all this went down.  I had just finished putting Rafe to bed when the girls came down the hall saying something smelled bad.  As soon as I stepped out of my room, I was hit with the strong smell of skunk.  It permeated the house.  I remembered hearing Barkley whining at the door while I was putting Rafe down and--knowing my neighbors are harboring a filthy skunk--correctly assumed she had been sprayed.  Mitch was going to be back from kickboxing soon, so I just waited for him to get home.

Mitch let Barkley in, and as soon as she turned around in her kennel once we had all the confirmation we needed.  Poor thing smelt horrible--of course, the day after we spent $43 getting her groomed.  Luckily, Chiquita and Ginger have a very strict schedule and at that time were inside the house in their kennel.  I have no idea what I would have done with three skunk-dunked dogs.  So Mitch put Barkley back outside and took the kennel into the kitchen to clean it.  He opened it up to find blood!  Barkley was still standing by the back door, and sure enough her nose had either been clawed or bitten. 

We couldn't really do much else at that point besides move Barkley's kennel to the garage and let her sleep out there.  This morning, Mitch called Animal Control.  Her last rabies vaccine was in November, so she was good there, but they told us she needed a booster.  The College Hill vet closed at 12pm today, so Mitch had to take off work at 9:30am to take Barkley in.  In addition, she has to be kept away from other dogs for 45 days--how convenient when we've got two extra dogs at the house!  Mitch was too busy to take the rest of the day off and went back before 11:30am.  Tonight he's going to wash her with a baking soda, vinegar, and Dawn soap mix.  Hopefully it helps.  We wanted to send her back to the groomers, but they don't do it! 

Have I mentioned Ginger has already bit Rafe's fingers twice?  The kids are used to sticking their fingers in Barkley's kennel and getting their fingers licked.  I guess my little boy is going to have to learn quickly that these are nervous little pups that miss their home!

So, my house now smells of baby chickens, mixed with angry skunk, mixed with vicious beagles, mixed with bloodhound.  I'm feeling fairly overwhelmed.  Only 13 days until Mitch's sister gets home...... :-/

*I think I can; I think I can; I think I can*

Dave Ramsey Live! Backstage Experience

Last December, when we found out Kemper Arena in Kansas City was going to be a venue for Dave Ramsey's Live event on March 5th, I wanted to purchase the $19 tickets and sit in the nosebleed section.  We had just finished listening to Financial Peace University, Mitch's fire was lit, and he wanted to purchase "Backstage Experience" seats at $100 each.  After reading online reviews, we decided to list a some stuff on Craigslist to offset the cost of the Backstage Experience tickets, so it wouldn't derail our progress.  We're on baby step 6 -- paying off the mortgage -- and our goal is to have it paid off no later than May 1, 2013, so we really need to keep hauling!  I'm sitting here trying to remember what we sold.  I even texted Mitch to see if he could remember.  We're drawing a blank.  I guess that shows how little we miss whatever it was that we sold!

For Christmas, we got my sister and her boyfriend a 16-week online subscription to Financial Peace University.  I know, I'm the funnest gift-giver ever, right?  They were loving it and wanted to come with us.  So, being the saints that they are, my parents donated about 15 hours of free babysitting, and Saturday morning we were off! 
I was having too much fun wearing Alli's shades...

Some serious debt free talk! Actually, I heard a great deal about video games coming from the back of the car.


We arrived at Kemper Arena at 10:15am.  Parking was $7, but we got a good spot.  With our Backstage tickets we were able to go through a backdoor entrance, saving us from freezing outside!  We waited in line until 10:45am at which time we surrendered our tickets for special passes and a copy of the latest edition of Total Money Makeover for the book signing, along with a fill in the blank workbook for during the show.  It was pick your own seating in a large room filled with tables for the heavy hor'deurves.  We had access to private bathrooms, which by itself almost makes it worth $100 per ticket.  The food was good: fruit, veggies, crepes, chips with a heavy sauce, and a few other more "upscale" refreshments were served.  The only bad part of the food was the cookies.  They were completely stale and hard as rocks.  Dave came into the room and sat up front for the book signing.  Each person had their TMMO book signed and then got a pic with "the man himself!"

My mom said she thought Dave was thinking "cha-ching" in these pictures, but I wish to offer a different opinion.  Had his sole motivation been money, he wouldn't have been the success he is today.  He truly cares about the people he inspires through his books, merchandise, and events.  To really give yourself a total money makeover, all you need to do is borrow his book from the library or buy it used off ebay.  People pay to go through FPU or attend these events because he can get you fired up to start making changes in your life--TODAY.  Alli's boyfriend went home and in less than two days has scheduled to move to cheaper apartments which will save him $250+/mo--not to mention the gas he'll save not having to drive across town so much.  It's about making a change today to better yourself and your family tomorrow.

Many people told him a very brief synopsis of their journey, and occasionally he'd say "so and so paid off XX in XX months!"  We'd all clap.  I wanted to say something to Dave, but I froze.  I should have spent more of the ride deciding what I wanted to say and less time singing!!  Oh well!  We were escorted to the stage and we took the front and center seats.  They had quite a bit of a pre-show complete with infomercials, but at 1pm Dave took the stage.

It was a really good show.  He's very charismatic and had a lot of energy.  One of his daughters was there helping quite a bit throughout the day, and he spent a lot of time talking about family.  He walked through all of the baby steps and told his story: millionaire in real estate by age 26 only to go bankrupt and lose everything and is again a millionaire, this time debt free!  After the first break I felt a headache coming on, not to mention engorgement from Rafe not nursing all day.  It was a killer.  I really wish I had brought earplugs.   My big takeaway from the event was at they very beginning.  They talked about how in the early days Dave drove around in his pickup with a projector doing these events and on good days 50 people would show up.  That day he was speaking to a sold out crowd of 10,000.  He had a vision for himself and through helping others has achieved meaningful success.  At least that's what I read between the lines!  It was great, it was fun, and then it was over. 

When the show ended and we got back in Alli's car, I was on the verge of vomitting.  I was truly in misery.  Then things got worse.  In an attempt to find something to eat for dinner, they took an "18th street exit" which took us to the railroad tracks in a scene straight out of a horror film.  I had my face covered with a shirt to hopefully stave off vomitting, but apparently we were driving down a tunnel on train tracks.  Some scary "Silence of the Lambs" guys helped us find our way back to the main road.  We stopped at a KFC, unknowingly in the ghetto side of KC!  Let's just say we were all glad to get back on the highway. 

On the whole I had a really good time, but was slightly disappointed because apparently the Backstage Experience doesn't include all it did a year ago.  In reviews I had read they had dinner complete with ribs (not just snacks) and a full on answer-question session with Dave, plus a gift bag that included coffee mugs, mints, and more books than just TMMO.  Live and learn.  I had a great time with Mitch, Alli, and Matt; and it turns out my kids can do perfectly fine without me... for one day at least!

So how is this Super Duper Special?  If we were laden with debt I wouldn't be able to stay home with the kids, something that is very important to Mitch and me.  I also wouldn't have the energy to do all I do if I had to spend time worrying about money.  I first read Dave Ramsey's plan as a sophomore in high school (after buying a brand new truck for my first car, a big no-no unless you've got a 1M+ net worth) and really took the principles to heart.  We really don't miss having tv channels.  We really don't mind driving cars older than our children (2001 and 2002).  It's not a big hassle to write up a weekly meal plan.  And yes we still have lives.  Rich, fulfilled lives.  With thriving children.  As a sixteen-year-old, having a paid off home seems rather far fetched, but now we're closing in on it.  Then, we'll be able to live and give like no one else.