oh Christmas tree....

 The girls running around looking for the perfect tree.

 I let the girls decorate the tree and I didn't even "fix" it when they were finished. So I am learning to let go and my husband when say that it is about time too. haha

What a pretty tree and they got it all done while Brooke was taking her nap so there was no one ripping anything off.

Oh the things we learn at school. Trust me I didn't teach them this...weirdos!

Working for retirement

So Paul and I have been talking about our retirement the last few years and what it is we want to do when we retire. As you can gather from the picture we would like to buy a sailboat and learn to sail so we can travel by boat around the world. The reason for posting about this now is that we have to take some steps to make this dream a reality. So this Christmas we have toned it down a lot from the past years when it comes to the presents. I had a goal to only buy the girls 4 gifts a piece and I came really close. Also Paul and I have decided to not buy presents for each other. But with this being our first year of doing this we cheated and bought 1 small gift for each other (I am talking under $30). The amazing thing about this is that Christmas really doesn't feel any different. We are still making the treats, seeing the Christmas lights and all the other fun activities that we have done in years past. I am glad to know that our Christmas spirit hasn't changed with limited amount of money that we are willing to spend this year.
Well cutting back on Christmas is only one small step. We have cut back on our living expenses, limiting all the extras. We will not be buying a new car anytime soon, we shop with a grocery list (it is amazing the difference in the price when you shop with a list rather then just going through and buying whatever looks good!) and we are looking into some investments that will help secure our future. There are times when this is hard and I want to buy things that aren't on sale or name brand things but I need to force myself to keep thinking about our future. Don't get me wrong this is something that we have been talking about for years but haven't really started doing until this last year. Also I love being able to stay home with Brooke but I have decided that the sooner I get back to work the better for our retirement and the sooner we can retire. So I will be looking for something that I can do and still have Brooke with me. Once Brooke starts school then I will get back into the work force full time. I know there will be sacrifices that will be hard for me but it will be well worth it to have years of Paul and I just enjoying our time together. I will also love the freedom of going to see my kids and their families and not worry about taking time off work. This is our current plan for our future and I am hoping with the steps that we have taken so far and the steps we are going to take that our dreams do indeed be come our realities.

The little nugget....

 My Brooke is such a happy, busy and full of fun baby. We had her 9 month dr. appointment and she was 95% in height and 90% in weight...so she is healthy!

 She loves blankets and pillows. For fun I cover the living room floor with blankets and pillows and put Brooke in the middle of it. Every time I do this she gets the biggest smile on her face and just rolls around wrapping and unwrapping herself in the blankets.

 We have started eating as a family now. Depending on the meal of course Brooke is now eating real food. She loves it and it is helping her sleep through the night.
 I know this isn't probably very good for her but this is how Brooke watches TV when she really likes what is on. She loves Super Why on PBS and will stand like this for the full half hour. I have tried to sit with her on the floor but she won't have anything to do with that. Oh well.

Right now Brooke is crawling all over and is getting ready to start walking. The last couple of days she has started to stand up from a sitting position all by herself. We only understand a couple of her words but she loves to talk and she jibber jabbers all the time. She loves to follow her sisters around and gets really mad when they close their doors so she can't get in their rooms. At the same time Natalie tends to treat Brooke like her baby and that she knows what is best for. I do love that Natalie is so involved with Brooke that it is very helpful to me at times. Katelyn just loves to play with her and get her going. Brooke will scream and then Kate will scream and Brooke sees this as a game and keeps screaming and Kate would not be Kate if she didn't keep yelling back. This could happen at any time in the day. We love this little nugget and are so glad that she is a member of our family.