I Need a New Vehicle

Spring is right around the corner! The snow is melting and it's been raining here for a couple of days. The other day my hubby reminded me that the air conditioning isn't working in my vehicle. It's funny how you forget about things like that in the middle of the winter! I'm so glad I stumbled across this great website for getting estimates online for head gasket. Since I know next to nothing about how much a car repair should cost, and my husband knows even less :), it's great to have a resource where you can double check to make sure you're not being overcharged.

It's so easy at Ford Explorer. I clicked on our make of vehicle and then hit "Get Estimate". On the next page I gave more specifics about what type of van we have (model, year) and then clicked on the type of repair we had done. The site asks for your zip code, so I typed it in and it gave me an estimate of what that particular repair should cost at the dealership and also at a local shop. How great is that!

Since our vehicle is eleven years old and we're not planning to get a new car anytime soon, I'm sure I'll be using Los Angeles auto repair a lot so we can budget for the work that we need done!

Wordless Wednesday

Our School Gala is coming up

I am the co-chair for our school's annual gala - the largest fundraiser of the year. It's a lot of fun but a lot of work too! This year we've decided to ask the classrooms to submit projects or baskets that the class has worked on. Some of the projects are really fun -

One of the 8th grade classes is putting together a scrapbook of all of their years at the school

One of the 2nd grade classes is making a cookie jar and putting in cookie recipes that the kids bring from home

The 5th grade classes are embroidering quilt blocks and making two quilts

Missy's 4th grade class all brought in bags of their favorite chocolate. Then they did a writing assignment describing their favorite chocolate. I made a scrapbook that has a picture of each kid and his/her writing and a little clear envelope that says what their favorite chocolate is.

We usually raise about $45,000 each year at the gala! I hope we do that well this year!

Remodeling

Today I had a contractor come over to talk about finishing our basement!! We built our house 8 years ago and have had an unfinished basement. Buddy is starting high school next year and since we live really close to the high school, I have a feeling a bunch of his friends might be hanging out at our house. I really don't want them in my family room and kitchen!

If money were no object (ha ha) we'd put a small kitchen down there, built ins and a bathroom with shower. What I'm hoping is that we can at least afford to finish the walls and ceiling and put carpet in, but the other stuff sure would be nice!!

I love shopping!

Last night I had a great time with a friend - we went out for Chinese and then went to several scrapbooking stores looking for prizes for our next scrapbooking event!

We had an $80 budget - it's so much fun shopping with someone else's money LOL! We found tons of great deals! My favorite was a 8x8 paper pack that included punch outs and really fun colors. I got one in Mango and one in Pear. They were only $1.99 each!!

I also got a new cutter. I haven't been happy with my new Fiskars cutter so I decided to buy a Cricut brand. I think I might be returning it - when I got it home, I realized that you have to lift up the blade holder every time you want to cut something. The other cutters I've had have had a swivel blade holder that is much easier to use. I had a coupon and the cutter was only $5.99, so maybe I'll just keep it!

I'm looking forward to our scrapbooking day on February 13th!

Going to High School

Today was the day! Buddy and his classmates got to tour the high school that they will be attending in the fall! He had a BLAST!! He said he can't wait to go to high school. I really think he's ready for a change. He's been at the same small Catholic school since Pre-K. I know he's going to do great in high school, but at the same time, it'll be just a little bitter sweet that he'll be leaving our beloved Catholic school. Good thing we'll have Missy there for another four years!

The kids will register for classes next week. The freshman schedule is pretty much set but he'll be able to choose a couple of electives. One will be Spanish 2. I'm not sure what the other one will be. Fun fun fun!!

Pachelbel Bedtime

Another YouTube video that I love!!! You have to listen to it a few times before you catch all the words. David Crawford also has another great song at Spoiled Bumblebee. Enjoy!