Ghosts Aren't Real...But Brownies (and my thighs) ARE!

I'm 28 weeks pregnant today. If Dahlia were born now (NOT happening, LOL!), she would have an excellent chance of survival. 9 to 12 weeks left in the pregnancy, although I suspect I'm going to go longer than 40 weeks!

Here's my 28 week pregnancy pic:



This is the period of rapid weight gain for Dahlia, but apparently she's putting on weight in MY thighs. LOL.

My brother recently lended me Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace (and the FPU CD set)...thank you Jeremy!...and it has been really helpful in sorting a lot of money issues out in my mind. Still trying to translate thought into action!

One of the things I did implement was his suggestion of "commission" rather than allowance for children. My boys are very spoiled and lack appreciation for the wonderful, wonderful things and experiences they have. They are good boys, but I do not feel I have imparted a healthy idea of money and work ethic with them. And since Xavier's already 11, there is no time like the present.

I had always been under the impression that an allowance was better because chores are something that is expected, and not monetarily rewarded. However, I am liking Dave Ramsey's idea of calling it "commission" and linking work to money.

We will not be buying toys and random gifts for the boys anymore. They will receive birthday gifts and Christmas gifts of course. Instead, they will (hopefully) learn to save for the things they want, so that they understand the value of the things they have and what it takes to acquire those things.

They have a commission chart now with 10 daily tasks, each worth 25 cents a week. This is a reduction in what they had for allowance previously, but I think $10 a month is just fine for them.



Of course, some tasks are not everyday tasks, so that makes it easier, but they seem to like having a chart to use (they always do, I don't know why I don't keep my charts going with them...they always fall by the wayside), and their consistency is making housekeeping a lot easier for me.

I also FINALLY made the ghost brownies I had been planning for forever now. I found the idea on the Betty Crocker website, although I didn't go with the complicated Frankenstein design (I think there was something else too that required lots of goodies and design work), but the ghosts were a HUGE hit. And super easy.





Also in the Halloween spirit, Isabella made a footprint ghost. I should have used the craft foam sheet I had left-over so that I could keep it for nostalgia but we just used construction paper instead.



She is proud of her work, but thought the paint hurt her foot, LOL. She kept saying, "Owie. Hurt." We ended up with white paint all over us and orange paint all over the kitchen floor and sliding glass door.

We are running out of days to do Halloween crafts and activities and wear Halloween outfits. We have watched the Barney Halloween special and the Underfist movie like every day this week!

The boys get to wear black shirts to school on Halloween (with their slacks). Woohoo. Cuttin' loose. Sorry, but I think it's kind of lame!

I think I will let Isabella wear her "costume" at book club next week. It's just her Halloween dress and some black and orange striped tights and a kitty ears headband. I dunno. We might get in trouble...

And, just for fun, here's an Isabella pic: