Reviewing April

April just sort of flittered on by without my notice and now it is nearly my birthday-the midmark of MAY! I guess it is time to post my monthly review for April.

On the Financial Front: Happy to report I met the goal of money being added to our home fund, in fact, tripled it. Couldn't have been done without that lovely little stimulus check, mind you, but it was done! WA-HOO. Never know when that homefund will come in handy. Hopefully soon. ;-)

Still haven't set aside any sort of retirement plan. I wonder why I am having such a hard time getting on the ball with this? I DON'T want Matt to be retirement age but still HAVING to work because we can't afford it. I know he will probably ALWAYS work, but once he retires it will be more 'fun stuff' like small dairy, tractor repair and renovation, buck skinning...you know, all that country boy stuff. I know it is important...so I need to do it. ok, Rebecca? Get with it already!

On the Health Front: I have had access to a body scale at the beginning of April and just last week at my mom's house. (We don't own one...) and Ta-Da! I have lost 14 pounds in that month. I am certain much of that weight is a direct result of boycotting those wonderfully delicious and oh-so-horrible-for-you fastfood chicken sandwiches that I had become addicted to. And soda. I also know that number is in part due to my lack of appetite and nausea from pregnancy. So. I don't expect to have a number of pounds lost in any other month review (at least for another 7 months...) because, after all, I've got a baby growing pretty darn fast inside me, but it was very exciting to have a number to be proud of this time. I am going to continue drinking lots of water and eating smaller portions (this might help my nausea too.) and of those portions more healthful food. Maybe I won't lose a NUMBER but I hope to see body changes~like thinner arms, maybe go down to ONE chin? Ah-wouldn't THAT be nice! ;-)

On the school front: Corynn is doing well in her quest to conquer the written word. She reads very small sentences and words. This is Mat. He sat on Pat. Pat was sad. You know the kind...but it is progress!

I still covet a particular phonics program and I will probably give way to my temptations before Andrew gets to reading-but for now, all I have been doing for Corynn is snatching up every possible easy reader books I can find. Dick and Jane, Frog and Toad, Little Bear, Bob books and Scholastic readers. Salvation Army has given us quite a selection! We just go through them and go through phonics flashcards. Over. and Over. and OVER. It is working well, but I think having papers and dittos to reinforce the learning and work on critical thinking skills would be something that is worthwhile to do. For penmanship, she dictates to me a letter to someone and then she copies it. It works well enough, but that does get expensive to mail! :-)

I will continue to work casually through the summer on math and reading and do fun stuff like nature studies and hopefully more crafts. By no means will it be structured though. I am all for summer vacation. The only reason I will continue working with reading is because I want her reading WELL by the time we start our school year. So. I am happy with the progress and hoping for continual progress. She still works very hard to sound out simple words.


Lastly:

On the homefront: The house is getting less and less cluttered with excess toys and clothes. I have been dropping off scads of clothes at the thrift store and piling up lots of household stuff and toys. I have decided to have a yard sale in the next month or so. Looking forward to making a bit of money, if ever I can find a location that ISN'T tucked in the country as far as our house is...

Overall, the house is staying clean and tidy, though it certainly has it's days. And my craft room has never been as messy-so this is the thorn in my side. I am going to try to tackle that a bit today. I have work that needs to be done in there-that CAN'T be done until it is cleaned. Yep. It's that bad. :-)

That is April's Review. My progress has lessened compared to January of this year but I still see progress. Which is nothing to sneeze at.


****A note on the above picture...***

That is me, last week, at NINE weeks. A far-cry from Bunkin's LAST photo. For outsiders, I am toss-up between a pregnant woman and one who had a dozen more donuts than she should have had this morning. It is dangerous to acknowledge my belly at this point, just in case I AM just fat-so no one says anything and I just walk around looking like someone who hasn't done a sit-up in her life. And I have.

But to ME? To me, I look HUGE. Well, huge for nine weeks, anyway. I realize that you show more quickly the more babies you have, but sheesh. I seriously wonder if I am further along than I originally thought-or expecting twins. *Trying* not to get my hopes up on EITHER of those possibilities, but it sure would be nice to have a REASON!