The CSPIA decided that there were too many errors in their law and have decided to postpone its implementation for at least a year! So I can knit and crochet and sew as much as I want for at least the next year! Yeah. I'm glad they realized how ridiculous it was and maybe they can reword it so that it will be an excellent law when they finally do implement it.
A few weeks ago I called a couple area Once Upon A Child's to confirm that they were doing a Grab Bag sale. Well, the one closest to me was not, so this morning we drove all the way up the the Castleton one. I was so excited to get some deals. They had said on the phone that it would be $10 a bag, and it ended up being $15 for the bag. Plus, it was limited to only the 5 rounders of clearance items. I needed some 18 and 24 month clothes, but there were only a few to choose from and it was so disappointing. We left without getting anything and I'm so bummed. Hadley fussed the whole time we were in the car and it was all for nothing. Now I'm seriously having garage sale withdrawal. I thought this OUAC sale would put a band aid on it for now. Nope! I can't wait until it gets warm enough to go get some deals!
It's time for the first installment of "Things I got for free this week!"
1. 2 hershey bars
2. 4 Reese's whips candy bars
3. 3 bags of Quaker "quakes" mini rice snacks
4. 1 Reynold's wrap foil
I love coupons!!!!!!!!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
So much snow!
So, I know everyone not in Indy is jealous of how much snow we got! I haven't seen this much since we lived in Lafayette a few years back. I thought I'd show you how much 12 1/2 inches looks like!
You can hardly see the mailbox!
Here's Bryan hard at work!
Look how tall the piles are! If it snows anymore we won't have anywhere to put it!
You can hardly see the mailbox!
Here's Bryan hard at work!
What is all this white stuff?
Hadley played in the snow for the very first time! I'm glad I held out for a really worthwhile snow to dress her up like an Eskimo. I guess 12 inches is enough to play in! Wow! It really looks like a winter wonderland in our neighborhood. It took a lot of work to dig out. (most of it done by Bryan, but I helped) I'm glad he's here to take care of us because it's a lot of work to shovel that much snow. Since Hadley's not walking yet all she could do was sit in the snow, and I think she was bored and cold, so she didn't really like it all that much, but we took lots of pictures anyway. Check them out!
She wasn't sure if she liked it, but she gave me a smile for a second!
This may look like a lot of snow, but this was yesterday before if really accumulated! You should see it now!
This is one of our favorite games. Daddy goes out to get firewood and Hadley waits for him at the back door!
He's back! How fun!
She wasn't sure if she liked it, but she gave me a smile for a second!
This may look like a lot of snow, but this was yesterday before if really accumulated! You should see it now!
This is one of our favorite games. Daddy goes out to get firewood and Hadley waits for him at the back door!
He's back! How fun!Sunday, January 25, 2009
Staying up Late
This weekend we had our friends over to play the Wii Fit. We had it all planned out: we'd eat dinner put the kiddo to bed and then play games. Well miss Hadley decided that wasn't how it was going to work. She fussed and whined for a long time after we put her in her crib so finally I gave in and she got to come downstairs and play with the grown ups. It was very cute and she obviously liked all the attention. She pushed around her doll in the stroller and read books with Amber!
The Wii Fit was fun to play and of course Bryan is good at everything on there, and I'm terrible! And as always he's such a graceful winner. His sole purpose in playing was to beat all my sisters high scores and I think he succeeded!
Yesterday we went shopping to get Bryan some new jeans. I think it's the first time he's gotten new clothes since we moved from Lafayette! And, after trying on every pair of jeans in the store, we found some that worked. Then we got to treat ourselves to some McDonalds (our weakness) with the remainder of our eating-out budget for the month. We stayed in our $50 limit for probably the first time since we moved. I really hope we can stay in our budget every month this year. That's a good goal for us!
Bryan just reinstalled the Sims on our computer, so I've become addicted once again and spend almost every minute that Hadley's asleep playing. Needless to say I haven't gotten much else done the past few days, and if you need to find me I'll be on the computer! (I'm much better at that than I am at the wii...I've been dubbed the wii-tard)
The Wii Fit was fun to play and of course Bryan is good at everything on there, and I'm terrible! And as always he's such a graceful winner. His sole purpose in playing was to beat all my sisters high scores and I think he succeeded!
Yesterday we went shopping to get Bryan some new jeans. I think it's the first time he's gotten new clothes since we moved from Lafayette! And, after trying on every pair of jeans in the store, we found some that worked. Then we got to treat ourselves to some McDonalds (our weakness) with the remainder of our eating-out budget for the month. We stayed in our $50 limit for probably the first time since we moved. I really hope we can stay in our budget every month this year. That's a good goal for us!
Bryan just reinstalled the Sims on our computer, so I've become addicted once again and spend almost every minute that Hadley's asleep playing. Needless to say I haven't gotten much else done the past few days, and if you need to find me I'll be on the computer! (I'm much better at that than I am at the wii...I've been dubbed the wii-tard)
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Getting over a bug
Yuck. What a week. Hadley's been having diarrhea diapers since Sunday. Then I got a super duper cold. Then Bryan got the flu. We've had some long nights at our house over the past few days. Hadley's diapers have been so bad that I've resorted to using disposables. I hate throwing my money away, but the poo was staining all our pretty cloth! And we can't have that at all. But we seem to be getting a little better. Hopefully soon we can go somewhere. It's been way way too cold to even go to the mailbox. So, here's a picture of us being shut ins. Bryan and Hadley really like to play Xbox!
Monday, January 12, 2009
CSPIA Law
Now, normally I'm not the political type, and I've never been a social activist, but it's never too late to start. Here's the deal: The law is called HR4040 and it has a well meaning intent behind it. There was never any testing done on all those toys containing lead that came from China, so a lot of kids got hurt that shouldn't have. However, this law is all encompassing and doesn't have provisions for small business owners.
The law basically says: we want to protect our children by having EVERYTHING for children 12 and under tested for lead, and if it hasn't been tested for lead then as of Feb 10th, it will be banned and unlawful to sell. Now, there have been provisions made so that it isn't illegal for consignment shops and goodwill and garage sales to sell things and they don't have to produce documents as to the testing of items because hopefully they should have already been tested by the manufacturer.
But here's where it gets tricky. Libraries, day cares, pre schools and church nurseries aren't allowed to have anything that isn't up to current code, so technically all of their toys should be thrown out and they would have to buy new things. That is so outrageous that I just don't see this law holding up for very long without major changes to the wording. We all know that Libraries aren't going to throw away classic copies of children's books and we also know they aren't going to start banning children under 12.
I'm upset because I like to sew things/knit things and sell them to people online for a little spending money, and I don't want to be doing something illegal and have to black market my baby sweaters because it's unrealistic to expect me to send all my yarn out for third party testing. It's also going to shut down any small toymakers. But where do we draw the line? Should we get all MP3 players tested/all furniture tested...I know they aren't specifically made for children under 12, but I'd say there are lots of kids under 12 sitting on couches and listening to thier MP3 players.
If this irritates you as much as it does me, there is something we can do about it. Here are some links to websites with more specific information about this law as well as websites where you can email your representatives and ask them to take further action to get this law amended so that American small business owners have a chance in this day and age of over sized big box chain stores.
www.change.org
vote here to help bring top issues to the new president on inauguration day
www.house.gov/writerep
write to your representative and ask him to take action to amend this law
http://coolmompicks.com/savehandmade/
learn more about this law and it's well meaning origins
The law basically says: we want to protect our children by having EVERYTHING for children 12 and under tested for lead, and if it hasn't been tested for lead then as of Feb 10th, it will be banned and unlawful to sell. Now, there have been provisions made so that it isn't illegal for consignment shops and goodwill and garage sales to sell things and they don't have to produce documents as to the testing of items because hopefully they should have already been tested by the manufacturer.
But here's where it gets tricky. Libraries, day cares, pre schools and church nurseries aren't allowed to have anything that isn't up to current code, so technically all of their toys should be thrown out and they would have to buy new things. That is so outrageous that I just don't see this law holding up for very long without major changes to the wording. We all know that Libraries aren't going to throw away classic copies of children's books and we also know they aren't going to start banning children under 12.
I'm upset because I like to sew things/knit things and sell them to people online for a little spending money, and I don't want to be doing something illegal and have to black market my baby sweaters because it's unrealistic to expect me to send all my yarn out for third party testing. It's also going to shut down any small toymakers. But where do we draw the line? Should we get all MP3 players tested/all furniture tested...I know they aren't specifically made for children under 12, but I'd say there are lots of kids under 12 sitting on couches and listening to thier MP3 players.
If this irritates you as much as it does me, there is something we can do about it. Here are some links to websites with more specific information about this law as well as websites where you can email your representatives and ask them to take further action to get this law amended so that American small business owners have a chance in this day and age of over sized big box chain stores.
www.change.org
vote here to help bring top issues to the new president on inauguration day
www.house.gov/writerep
write to your representative and ask him to take action to amend this law
http://coolmompicks.com/savehandmade/
learn more about this law and it's well meaning origins
Sunday, January 11, 2009
We bought a Van!!
I am officially a mom now. We traded in the sporty Monte Carlo for a white Chrysler Town and Country. I'm so excited about driving around in our Mini Van. I'm also excited to someday fill it up with Kiddos. It is a 2000 with only 63,000 miles on it and we feel like we got a great deal. It's much easier to get Hadley in and out when we're in our tiny garage now. I think it was a great purchase.
Happy family with their new van!
In other news, we had 2 firsts today for Hadley. It was the first time she'd seen a train and it was her first car wash. We got stopped at the tracks on our way to church this morning, and Bryan rolled down the window so she could hear the whistle, and boy did that get her attention. Then as it went by, she waved the whole time. It was really cute. Then we went to the car wash on the way home from church, and I was afraid it would scare her. But she didn't mind. She just looked around at the lights and water and was just fine with it. No waving this time, though...hehe.
I hope everyone's new year got off to a good start, and those of you teachers are getting back into the swing of things. Luckily, here nothing much changes from day to day. Just the same old routine, but that works for us!
Happy family with their new van!In other news, we had 2 firsts today for Hadley. It was the first time she'd seen a train and it was her first car wash. We got stopped at the tracks on our way to church this morning, and Bryan rolled down the window so she could hear the whistle, and boy did that get her attention. Then as it went by, she waved the whole time. It was really cute. Then we went to the car wash on the way home from church, and I was afraid it would scare her. But she didn't mind. She just looked around at the lights and water and was just fine with it. No waving this time, though...hehe.
I hope everyone's new year got off to a good start, and those of you teachers are getting back into the swing of things. Luckily, here nothing much changes from day to day. Just the same old routine, but that works for us!
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