Yard Sale MIS-Adventure

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....

Quilt

The quilt for my almost 6 year old is FINALLY completed! Woo hoo! It's about time too, considering I started it when I was pregnant with him! I'm slowly but surely cleaning off my back burner. Here's a picture of the quilt:



Now a Nicholas Sparks book is calling my name....

Lump

My Bible study Mom's group has been watching these Nooma series short videos. This was one we recently viewed and I was inspired to share it on my blog. This one is titled "Lump" and it discusses the love God has for all of us. It reminded me of when I became a mother and how intensely in love with my newborn baby I was (and still am with all of my children). It's amazing how you can just meet a person and immediately feel this powerful unconditional love for this person.....for no other reason than he/she is your child. That baby didn't do anything but be born into this world. And then it hit me. How much more must God love me? I believe becoming a parent has given me a small glimpse into how much God must love me and everyone...for no other reason than we are His children. Please take the time to watch the short video that I have linked in this post. May all who read this post have someone in their lives who has shown them a glimpse of the enormous amount of love God has for them.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYWGmGc6-kQ

Wish List

My oldest son's 9th birthday is coming soon. We asked him to make out a wish list. This was too good not to share. Googey, by the way, is his favorite Webkinz.

My Birthday Wish list

1. Paper recycling kit (craft section at Wal-Mart)

2.(book series)DK's “Ask Me Anything”

3.Garfield books, any 2 except 1,2,3,13,14, and 15 4.”Webkinz” lava dragon 5.Nintendo DS with “Mariokart” game

6. 2 wii remotes

7. something for Googey

8. 75 erasers, assorted

9. a gem

10.carrot seeds and a large pot

11. fish (at bent tree plaza on falls of neuse Rd.,please. With 2 packages of fish food

12. 2010 through 2012 calender

13. something strange

14. something solar powered

15.College dictionary

16.SMALL remote-controlled car

17.every state quarter

18. a good watch

19.Spanish,French, and Italian dictionary

20.Webkinz signature panda

21. a world atlas book

He also had at the bottom of his list to "choose 3" but my husband made him delete it. Too cute!

Dreams

The other morning, my daughter woke up at 6:30. In an effort to get a few more minutes in bed, I offered for her to join me in bed. Not long after she crawled in, I smelled something a bit rank. My daughter has been potty trained since July (yay!) and I suspected she'd had an accident. I proceeded to touch her rear to confirm my suspicions, when she says to me "My buhiney is wet because I went down the wet slide." Ummmm...yeah nice try!

We got back from a weekend at Myrtle Beach, trying out our new 5th wheel. We had a fabulous time! When we got our first camper trailer, we had so many issues with leaks (shower, rain, etc.) that I was a bit apprehensive about getting another trailer for fear of dealing with all of those "new trailer" issues. Well, I'm so relieved that didn't happen! Now, I'm really looking forward to our weekend trip to Boone, NC next month!

My "Bad Mommy" Moment

Ok, all you Mommies out there....you know you have 'em. And the Dads out there are not immune either. I'm talking about "bad parent moments." You know, the moments you wish you could push the "rewind button" on and do a do-over.

Well, I don't seem to have them too often but this is one that happened recently that I thought I'd share. I'm sure every parent can relate to it.

Those who know me or read this blog know that I have 3 children....2 boys and a girl, who is the youngest. Well, the boys lately seem to be outgrowing shoes so much my husband and I have seriously considered buying some stock in Payless Shoe Store. Even in this down turned economy, everyone's gotta have shoes and my boys have been making sure we've been stimulating the economy for shoe retailers. Every time we turn around, they have worn a hole in the soles of their shoes. They MUST be twirling on their feet every day....that's the only explanation for how they wear holes in their soles so quickly (or poor workmanship, but I digress...).

Well, recently my 3 year old daughter has been complaining (though not too often) that her shoes hurt her feet. So, I put on my mental "To-do list" to take her shoe shopping soon. A few days later, I turn on my computer and as it boots up I once again look lovingly at the computer desktop picture of my 3 gorgeous angels. Then something catches my eye. It's the shoes on my daughter's feet. They're the exact same ones she's wearing today....only the picture was take A YEAR AGO! We hadn't bought that child shoes in a YEAR! We took her shoe shopping today and found not only were her feet NOT the size 7 shoe she was wearing (DUH!) but she is wearing a SIZE 9! Maybe she needs to do a little more twirling in her shoes....

Take Me Out To The Ball Game.....

We have been spending quite a bit of time this month on the ball field. My 5 year old just finished up his soccer season and now we're gearing up for baseball with my oldest. I can't believe how much my boys have learned. Last Spring, all my 5 year old did during soccer was sit and pick the grass. Needless to say, we didn't sign him up for Fall soccer that year. Then, over the winter, he kept mentioning wanting to play soccer (mostly to get a trophy....at this age it's all about the trophy). I told him we would pay for it only if he promised to actually play this year: STAND UP, run, kick the ball and listen to the coach. Well, he did do those things and even got the ball a few times. My boys are not aggressive at all so my 5 year old mostly waited for the ball to come to him. But I consider it a great improvement from last year.

This season will be my 8 year old's third season playing baseball. He has been practicing with his Dad: throwing and catching baseballs. My husband's sport is baseball and he enjoys passing down this love of the sport to his boys. My oldest is also showing quite a bit of growth. He can throw the ball really hard now and he's getting better and better at catching it. He's also not getting nearly as frustrated when my husband corrects him like he has in years past. I'm one proud Mama of both of her boys!

We've also taken in some professional baseball as well. We have a mini-season ticket package for the Durham Bulls, a local minor league team, which we have been doing for the past several years now. This is one of our family time events that we enjoy. The children aren't quite at an age to be completely interested in the game, but my oldest is getting close. We try to get the season tickets that have the "Kids Run The Bases" nights. My husband says it's because the kids love running the bases (and they do) but I think he secretly enjoys it too. The adults are allowed to run with their small children. He's going to be really disappointed when our littlest one is in the "older kid" category!

Speaking of kids run the bases, I have one "Mommy horror story" to tell. When my oldest was 3, he was old enough to run the bases at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex, which is where the Atlanta Braves (yes, the Major League team) does their Spring Training in March. So, after the game we asked him if he wanted to run the bases and he said he did. Well, when we get in line, they tell everyone that only the children can run....no adults. Not ones to disappoint their son we told him Daddy couldn't run with him and he still wanted to run so we let him. Well, they had my son in the front of the line and I had a bad feeling it would not go well since my son had never run the bases before and wouldn't know where to go. So, they let the line of kids run, starting from the bleachers at 1st base. My little 3 year old ran with all of his might to the first base and stomped his foot right on that base so confidently, looked back to smile at us and got bombarded by all of these bigger kids running with all of their might to all of the bases. He started crying, not knowing what to do next. I start leaping over seats (my second son, an infant, in my arms) trying to get to him. At that point, I didn't care I wasn't allowed on the field....my son needed me! They led him to me, avoiding a confrontation with those big burly security guards, and we praised him for being so brave for trying. When my second son was 3, we let him run the bases there, knowing he had his older brother to keep up with and show him the way.

On a funny note, at the Durham Bulls kids' run the bases one evening, my husband was in line with the boys waiting to run while I was in the stands, holding our baby daughter. Seeing that they're getting close to the starting line, I get ready to get up to meet my boys at the other end when I realize I can't find the diaper bag. All of the sudden, it hits me.....my husband's got the bag! And this isn't one of those chic bags that could double as a brief case or something more sensible for a man to be carrying. This was a huge neon, can't miss green...quite obvious it was a diaper bag....and here he was running the bases, holding the hand of my 3 year old, huge diaper bag thrown over his shoulder. I was laughing so hard, I was crying. I'm so blessed to have a husband who doesn't care what he looks like or what he's carrying when it comes to having fun with his children!

Kids Say The Darndest Things...

You know how teenagers many times are embarrassed by their parents, no matter if they do/say something or not? From the parents perspective, it's totally unintentional (well for the most part anyway). I have decided it's payback for all of the times their darling children unintentionally say embarrassing things as preschoolers.

My 3 year old daughter has been on this "kick" lately about wanting a baby sister (or brother or both depending on the day). Well, my husband and I have about decided that our family is complete. I say "about" because we have tossed around the idea of adopting, more so before I was pregnant with her, and I will never say never to the possibility of adopting. Anyway, we're at the indoor pool a few weeks ago when my daughter joyfully announces (quite loudly) that she's going to have a baby sister and even pats my "perma-pooch." Thankfully, no well-intentioned strangers congratulated me.

On one of the 90 degree days at the end of April I pulled out the Elmo sprinkler for the kids one afternoon. They had the best time running around and jumping over Elmo. It brought back memories of my now 8 year old son when he was just shy of 2 years old. One hot summer day, I had gotten him in his bathing suit (no shirt), pulled out the sprinkler and sat in a lawn chair fully clothed, enjoying the day and watching him gleefully running around, getting wet. My son, not one to leave anyone out, says to me "Mama, take your shirt off and run through the sprinkler with me!"

My 5 year old is my dramatic one. Everything is a crisis for him. He gets so passionate about even the simplest things. He'll give me this face that only he can do (and words do no justice for). He somehow ruffles his brows so his forehead is all wrinkly. He bulges out one eye while squinting the other one, his mouth in a half-smile/half frown all the while saying as though he were giving a moving rendition of Hamlet: "MOM! I NEED some juice!"

My 8 year old is quite smart. He loves to read and learns much of what he knows by reading through Science encyclopedias. Well, his third grade teacher tells us this week that recently she was having the class vote on a leader-response phrase to say when she needs to get the class's attention. For example, when the class gets a little loud, the teacher will say "Peanut Butter" (or some other previously discussed word) and the class (those who are listening) will respond with "Jelly" (or previously discussed response that relates to the teacher's word so as to be easily remembered). The idea is the class knows this is the signal to be quiet so more and more will stop talking and instead say the response when they hear more and more of the class responding with "jelly." Well, the teacher was taking suggestions for their class's attention-grabbing phrase for the class to vote on. One suggestion was "Oreo - Cookies." My son confidently raised his hand to offer his suggestion and said "Hydrogen - Molecule." He said it actually came in second!