Last weekend, I did it! I took the plunge into the deep end and didn't look back. I planned to have my first yard sale the following weekend.
My husband and I have become pack rats....at least where it comes to keeping kids' stuff. What if we have another baby? We don't want to start from square one all over again. Little did we realize how many baby showers we'd be thrown for each child, the birthday and Christmas presents they'd get and the hand-me-downs we'd receive over the years. So, I braved the attic and 100+ degree temps. (not to mention heat index, which made it feel like a million degrees) and cleaned out the attic. Toys, clothing and gear for newborns to toddlers. We had so much stuff....literally 10 YEARS worth! I spent the ENTIRE week sorting clothes and pricing toys.
So, yesterday was the big day. We made and put out our yard sale signs. We advertised on 3 different local websites. I even encouraged my Facebook friends to come by. While we got some traffic and $120 more than we woke up with, we really didn't sell much, given the amount of stuff we had. We ended up giving the clothes and toys to Goodwill....not before sorting, counting and itemizing first, as what we had went above and beyond the $500 deduction Uncle Sam allows on taxes. We still have the bigger items. My husband put it all on Craigslist and actually sold an item today. So, all in all so far, we earned $1000 in sales and tax deductions. Next time, however, I'm just going the Goodwill route....
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Date Night
My husband and I have a weekly date night. We've been doing this for years. We started this because the day-to-day business of being parents was wearing us out. Though we love our children more than life itself, there is more to our lives than our children. Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be enough time in the day (or enough red bull energy drinks in the world) that allowed us to be "just us"....the way we were before we became parents. So, we decided we needed a weekly date night to allow us to do just that....reconnect on a personal level.
We have set aside the same day each week for our date nights. We do our best (and have been mostly successful) to make sure everything else (meetings, kids' extra curriculars, etc) happen around this date night. To my surprise, my husband's work peers have been baffled by this idea of date night....including the married ones!
Really? Is this really a foreign concept? Well, dear reader, if it is a foreign concept to you as well, allow me to explain its significance. I am a product of a divorce. I do not have a memory of my parents going out together, just the two of them. I had babysitters, but that was so both of my parents could work at night. Looking back, I realize that my parents most likely never made time together. I realize that they both worked hard to make sure our needs were met. However, the most important need any child has is for their mother and father to have a strong marriage....to keep the family unit (ie the child's support system) together. My father didn't seem interested in my mother's interests (I don't know if he even knew what her interests were) or vice versa. They were not friends and that's one big reason, in my opinion, they divorced.
Divorce is not an option for me. It's not that I'm necessarily against divorce. I understand and have witnessed situations where divorce is the only option because of abuse. This is not what I'm talking about. Divorce due to growing apart is what I'm against. I have told myself long ago that I was going to do my best to make sure my children did not have to endure what I endured with my parents' divorce. Those who say the kids aren't affected by divorce are wrong. They are affected. I just decided that I would turn what was an awful experience into a learning experience in an effort to have a strong marriage and family. So, when my husband and I started having children and feeling ourselves meeting every need of our children and not our own, we instituted date nights.
You don't have to spend money for date nights. You can put the children to bed early at night and watch a movie or tv show together. You can give your children an early supper, put them to bed and make a nice meal for just the two of you to enjoy. The important thing here is to reconnect. Keep in touch with the person you married. He/She is growing and changing (everyone does) and just like you don't want to miss out on that with your children, you also don't want to miss out on that with your spouse. Take an interest in what he/she does. Ask about it. You don't want to get to your "empty nest" years and realize you have no idea who the person you've lived with for so long is anymore.
The best gift you can give your children is a strong marriage. It's the foundation of the family. With a strong foundation, anything built upon it will be able to weather any storms of life.
We have set aside the same day each week for our date nights. We do our best (and have been mostly successful) to make sure everything else (meetings, kids' extra curriculars, etc) happen around this date night. To my surprise, my husband's work peers have been baffled by this idea of date night....including the married ones!
Really? Is this really a foreign concept? Well, dear reader, if it is a foreign concept to you as well, allow me to explain its significance. I am a product of a divorce. I do not have a memory of my parents going out together, just the two of them. I had babysitters, but that was so both of my parents could work at night. Looking back, I realize that my parents most likely never made time together. I realize that they both worked hard to make sure our needs were met. However, the most important need any child has is for their mother and father to have a strong marriage....to keep the family unit (ie the child's support system) together. My father didn't seem interested in my mother's interests (I don't know if he even knew what her interests were) or vice versa. They were not friends and that's one big reason, in my opinion, they divorced.
Divorce is not an option for me. It's not that I'm necessarily against divorce. I understand and have witnessed situations where divorce is the only option because of abuse. This is not what I'm talking about. Divorce due to growing apart is what I'm against. I have told myself long ago that I was going to do my best to make sure my children did not have to endure what I endured with my parents' divorce. Those who say the kids aren't affected by divorce are wrong. They are affected. I just decided that I would turn what was an awful experience into a learning experience in an effort to have a strong marriage and family. So, when my husband and I started having children and feeling ourselves meeting every need of our children and not our own, we instituted date nights.
You don't have to spend money for date nights. You can put the children to bed early at night and watch a movie or tv show together. You can give your children an early supper, put them to bed and make a nice meal for just the two of you to enjoy. The important thing here is to reconnect. Keep in touch with the person you married. He/She is growing and changing (everyone does) and just like you don't want to miss out on that with your children, you also don't want to miss out on that with your spouse. Take an interest in what he/she does. Ask about it. You don't want to get to your "empty nest" years and realize you have no idea who the person you've lived with for so long is anymore.
The best gift you can give your children is a strong marriage. It's the foundation of the family. With a strong foundation, anything built upon it will be able to weather any storms of life.
We have honey!
Here's a youtube video of the honey we've gotten from our bees. It tastes oh so good!
click here to see the honey goodness
click here to see the honey goodness
Thursday, April 29, 2010
My Newest Endeavor
My daughter celebrated her 4th birthday on April 12th and wanted a Tinkerbell cake. Here it is:
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Mountain Climbing
We took our annual trip to Disney World at the beginning of March and had a fabulous time. My 6 year old son kept urging me to go with him on Big Thunder Mountain from the moment we entered the "Welcome to Walt Disney World" sign (better known to our family as the "Disney Bubble"). I told him I would think about it. I hate roller coasters and the thought of going on this one nearly gave me a panic attack. But was I about to let my 6 year old down? What kind of mother do you think I am???? Of course NOT! He kept telling me I would have so much fun and not to worry because he'd be right beside me, holding my hand. Ever so reluctantly, and yet determined to show my boys how to not only overcome your fears, but also look them square in the eye and say "I'm not afraid of YOU anymore," I walked to the entrance of Big Thunder Mountain. I put on my brave face, heart pounding, hands trembling. I swear to you, God is so awesome and good and places the people in your life just when you need them because there was this woman who was in the adjacent line with a little stuffed Minnie Mouse, using the stuffed Minnie to give everyone a "high five". Most people would find this annoying, especially since she did this not once, not twice but quite a few times while we wound around, passing each other in line. I, on the other hand, am not like most people and almost hugged the woman because each time I high fived that stuffed mouse, I felt like I'd be ok. I finally got on the ride and actually enjoyed it. I did scream and when I got off my legs felt like jell-o. My 6 year old said "See, I told you you'd like it." "What made you think I enjoyed it?", I teased, "I was screaming the whole time!" He said "That was you enjoying it!" The next day, we realized that my 3 year old daughter was tall enough to ride the ride, so all 5 of us rode it 3 times in a row. My daughter LOVED it! She even copied her 9 year old brother by putting her little hands in the air throughout the ride. We had so much fun! I'm so glad my 6 year old got me to "climb" that mountain!
Saturday, March 13, 2010
The Scream
My oldest son brought home a piece of artwork he made in art class at school. I thought it was so good that I wanted to include it on the blog. His assignment was to create a drawing, using Edvard Munch's The Scream as inspiration. Here's Munch's:
Here is my son's version:
His teacher printed out digital black and white photos of the students and they pasted the pictures on their paper, using oil pastels to emphasize the photos and create the background. What do you think?
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Margarita Week
So, I'm not really a drinking person but I have been known to indulge in some beverages of the alcohol persuasion every now and then. Margaritas, strawberry maragaritas, mamosas....just about anything mixed and fruity is my personal preference. Margaritas are usually the first thing that come to mind. Though I don't actually (usually) drink them, I usually refer to a hard day as a "Margarita day" meaning if I had the stuff in the house and the stamina to make one, I'd have a margarita in my hand to end the day. Well, this week has been a margarita week.
The boys are tracked out this week (and the following 2 weeks). So, we've done dentist appointments (me and all 3 kids), cubscout pack meeting along with work and grocery shopping (3 different stores). We are going on vacation soon, so my younger 2 are doing make-up gymnastics classes (for the ones they're going to miss) as well as their regular classes (total of 4 times at The Little Gym this week). My Grandmother's birthday is the 19th so we're meeting for lunch to celebrate. My husband had the 8 :00 am shift this week, so I had to take the boys to their track-out camp, meaning I wasn't able to get in to work early or stay late so I wasn't ready with my materials this week during preschool, which makes me feel incredibly disorganized. We also got 2 new students this week (as well as 1 new this month and 1 new last month) so that makes 8 kids (age ranges from 19 months to 3 years) on Mondays and Wednesdays and 10 kids (age ranges 22 months-3 years) on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The only saving grace to this is not having to worry about planning for preschool next month. My teaching partner and I take turns switching off month to month with planning.
It's weeks like this I feel like I'm treading water, trying desperately to keep my head above it before I sink in. Perhaps, instead, I should just learn to ride the waves. Surfing lessons, anyone?
The boys are tracked out this week (and the following 2 weeks). So, we've done dentist appointments (me and all 3 kids), cubscout pack meeting along with work and grocery shopping (3 different stores). We are going on vacation soon, so my younger 2 are doing make-up gymnastics classes (for the ones they're going to miss) as well as their regular classes (total of 4 times at The Little Gym this week). My Grandmother's birthday is the 19th so we're meeting for lunch to celebrate. My husband had the 8 :00 am shift this week, so I had to take the boys to their track-out camp, meaning I wasn't able to get in to work early or stay late so I wasn't ready with my materials this week during preschool, which makes me feel incredibly disorganized. We also got 2 new students this week (as well as 1 new this month and 1 new last month) so that makes 8 kids (age ranges from 19 months to 3 years) on Mondays and Wednesdays and 10 kids (age ranges 22 months-3 years) on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The only saving grace to this is not having to worry about planning for preschool next month. My teaching partner and I take turns switching off month to month with planning.
It's weeks like this I feel like I'm treading water, trying desperately to keep my head above it before I sink in. Perhaps, instead, I should just learn to ride the waves. Surfing lessons, anyone?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)