The cost of Children- what a deal!!

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140.00 for a middle income family. Talk about price shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition.But $160,140.00 isn't so bad if you break it down.

It translates into:
$8,896.66 a year,

$741.38 a month,

$171.08 a week.

A mere $24.24 a day!

Just over a dollar an hour.

Still, you might think the best financial advice is; don't have children if you want to be 'rich. 'Actually, it is just the opposite.What do you get for your $160,140.00?

Naming rights. First, middle, and last!

Glimpses of God every day.

Giggles under the covers every night.

More love than your heart can hold.

Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.

Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.

A hand to hold usually covered with jelly or chocolate.

A partner for blowing bubbles and flying kites.

Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.

For $160,140.00, you never have to grow up.

You get to:finger-paint,

carve pumpkins,

play hide-and-seek,

catch lightning bugs,

never stop believing in Santa Claus.

You have an excuse to:
keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh,

watch Saturday morning cartoons,

go to Disney movies, and wish on stars.

You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and

collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas,

hand prints set in clay for Mother's Day, and

cards with backward letters for Father's Day.

For a mere $24.24 a day, there is no greater bang for your buck.

You get to be a hero just for:
retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof,

taking the training wheels off a bike,

removing a splinter,

filling a wading pool,

coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and

coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.

You get a front row seat in history to witness the:

First step,

First word,

First bra,

First date,

First time behind the wheel.

You get to be immortal.

You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great grandchildren.

You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.

In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God.

You have all the power to heal a boo-boo,

scare away the monsters under the bed,

patch a broken heart,

police a slumber party,

ground them forever,

and love them without limits,

so one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost.

That is quite a deal for the price!!!!!!!Love & enjoy your children & grandchildren & great-grandchildren!!!!!!! It's the best investment you'll ever make!!!!!!!!!

It is Official

I have placed the order for my "scrapbooking shed" that will also hold my laundry room in the back. I ordered a 12 by 30 building and am sooooo excited. Yes, I know I have a problem but at least having a place to crop will keep me at home!!!

It should be here in about 3 weeks so we have a couple of trees to cut down and we are ready. I am already making diagrams of how to put the shelves, countertops and my tables. It is going to be a dream come true. It will be big enough to host my own scrapbooking weekends and we are putting in a bathroom too. Of course there will be a small frig. Heck, if I could have gotten it alittle bigger, I could have moved a bed out there too!

Let me tell you a litte about it since I can't find a picture to post. It will be 12 feet across the front and 30 feet deep. It has a 4 foot front porch and the front door has the large window like on the cottage. It will have 5 windows, one on the front and 2 on each side. I plan on putting in at least 2 stain glass windows inbetween the windows on each side. We are going to put up a wall in the back about 7 feet from the end and the will have the washer, dryer (yeah), small deep freezer and the bathroom. There will be a back door (that was extra along with 2 of the windows) anyway, I will be able to exit to hang out clothes instead of going through the front.

So, if you are around about the middle of June, stop by and see it-- and you can help if you want. We will be putting in the electrical, insulation, sheetrock and then painting!! Woo Hoo

Random bits of info

I have an addiction-- scrapbooking and card making. It is so bad that next week I am going to order a 12x30 building with a porch to use for my hobby and a small portion will hold a washer and dryer.

The Pond-- you know it is time to shock the sh#t out of the pool when your 4 year old granddaughter asks if when she will be able to swim in the pond. So that is what we did this afternoon and it is already looking good! I scooped out leaves and scrubbed the sides with a new brush and pole.-- Woo-Hoo, just thought you would want to know.

Water bugs-- where do they come from?? How do they get in your pool??

Birthday party-- I had a wonderful birthday. On the Friday night before the "big" day, we went out to dinner (Mom, Lyman, Mike, Rachel, Chris, Kandis, Becky and I) to a Japanese hibachi grill where the chef cooked our dinner right in front of us. It was super-- they even had surprised me with the "servers" singing Happy Birthday to me and I shared my ice cream and fried banana's with them. Mom and Lyman had to leave on Saturday so since it was my birthday, I decided to go to a scrapbooking thing-- well, they surprised me with gifts and 2 birthday cakes!!! See, I have good friends along with a good family.

May-- wow, it is here already. It is the down hill slide for school teachers and I am sooooo excited. It's not like I don't love my job but am ready to sleep in everyday!!

That's all for now--