Always Busy

It has been a really long time since I have posted anything, so I will just put down a few thoughts so you know we are still alive.

The children are looking forward to Halloween, and, of course, Kyle's birthday. This year, Brittany will dress up as Hermione, Megan as a cowgirl, Josh as a dog, and Paul as a mouse. We went to story time at the library today, where the children were encouraged to dress up and trick or treat the library. Josh wasn't interest in dressing up, but I put Paul in the mouse costume, and he looked very cute. It really reminded me of when Brittany wore that costume for Halloween. That was such a long time ago. Now she is a fourth grader memorizing multiplication facts!

Josh's baseball season ended a few weeks ago. He was so excited to get a trophy! He had a lot of fun and made a lot of improvement. He has really enjoyed his preschool this year.

Megan has a few more weeks of soccer games, but no more practices because it gets dark too early. It has been fun to watch her excel. I figure she really is good because other parents keep telling us that she is good. Megan is also enjoying school and friends.

Brittany has already learned a lot in fourth grade. Her teacher requires a lot, and Brittany has risen to the challenge of being responsible for her work. She has been making lots of progress on her writing and math.

Paul is lots of fun. He is finally talking. He and Josh are enjoying each other. They like to go outside together to ride bikes or play in the sand box. He is eager to do everything the other children are doing.

Erica has grown up fast. She is already 10 months old. I feel like we were so busy trying to figure out how to handle 5 children that we kind of missed her little baby days. She smiles easily and likes to be involved with everyone else. She especially likes to pull off little pieces of our carpet to put in her mouth!

I am busy just trying to keep up with everyone else. But when I get some free time, I like to read. It is fun to read the same books as Brittany and then talk to her about them. I've been thinking that it would be nice to do some more sewing or quilting, but I don't know if I really have time yet.

Financial Distress and How to Deal with it

I awoke this morning thinking about the challenging times we're living through. My mind was brought back to a finance professor I had at Baylor while getting my masters degrees. He promoted an approach to financial matters which still amazes me. He fully planned on maxing out every line of credit available to he and his wife. His explanation was that by using credit, it caused the economy to grow. He planned on leaving his maxed out credit cards, double or triple mortgaged house, and other lines of credit to his children.

It is true, there are financial theories which suggest borrowing money actually creates money in an economy. However, I think it is taking this type of thinking to the extreme which has placed the country in the tough spot we now find ourselves in. The big assumption is that you know what the loan is worth and that it will be repaid. So lending money to some parts of the economy is not always wise. For instance the part of the economy which cannot repay their loans or should not be in houses they cannot afford!

From a different angle, Shawnie keeps pointing out that the cause of the crisis is tied to the idea of buy now, pay later. I agree. We've gone to the extreme of buying everything now and paying for everything later. The local furniture ads epitomize this...buy today, no interest or payments until 2010! Why is this a good idea? (Oh yeah, fine print. They get you either way.)

So why would you buy a computer, couch, appliances, clothes, dinner/groceries, or other small to moderate purchases on credit? OK, maybe my professor was right, you add money to the economy. YOU pay double for the items. The price of the item plus the added interest YOU pay for borrowing the money.

So, how else could we fix this crisis? Washington and Wall Street cannot fix it on their own. I suggest we start by paying the interest to ourselves. If you are going to spend the interest anyway, why not pay the interest and the price of the item to yourself first. Sit down with a friend or family member and 'buy' the item. Figure out your payments and set a delivery date to when the payments are paid in full. Then you can put the interest you save to pay for the next item you want to purchase OR shorten the payment schedule and buy the new item in full sooner than you could by going into debt!

So is this crisis as bad as the Depression. It could be. It all depends on how it is handled by us individually, the big-wigs in positions of power, and the world. The one bright note is the fact that when the US banks begin to fail and stock values drop, people move their money to the safest bonds available, US Treasuries. Generally these bond measures are used by the US government to build roads and pay for other federally funded initiatives. In the case of the latest crisis, the government is using the money to act like a big bank and bail out the financial institutions. The fundamentals are sound, the business cycle will swing the other direction at some point what is between here and there is the million dollar question.

The Small Things

I know, I haven't posted in a long time. Life has been extremely busy, with Megan playing soccer, Josh playing T-ball, Brittany and Megan both taking piano lessons, Brittany and I both going to Activity Days every other week, and Josh going to preschool (each mother takes a turn) once a week. Plus just trying to keep up with the normal, everyday things. But on to the point of this post.

Saturday, as I was hurriedly walking behind Paul, I kicked his stationary foot with my pinkie toe on my right foot. I heard/felt a pop, and it hurt. Really, really bad. I iced it and hobbled around, and before long it wasn't too bad, except that I couldn't move it. It is a strange feeling to think that you are moving the right muscles to make your toe move, and yet look down and see that your toe is not moving. So I have spent the last few days walking carefully and warning the children to stay away from my feet. It has gotten a lot better. I can walk pretty normally without shoes now, but with shoes I still have to limp and go slow. I can actually move my toe some now. I should probably include a picture, but I don't have one, and it really doesn't look as bad as it should considering how it felt. You'll have to use your imaginations.

So remember, small things influence big things. There is a scripture about that, but it is in the positive sense. Doing small things can bring to pass great things. I have also learned that neglecting small things can bring great trouble.

P.S. I do not believe that every small thing matters, so I try not to stress over the un-important small things. The hard part is to figure out which ones are important.

Project Volcano

Brittany put a lot of effort into an extra credit assignment. The biggest issue she had to overcome was the plaster which went from liquid to hard as a rock in a matter of 20 seconds.