Merry Christmas!

Just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! Our three kids seemed to make out pretty well in the toys (and electronics) department. The whole lot of us were blessed. We pray that you have a joyous, happy Christmas!

Another Christmas Song to add to your Favorites

This has been viewed many times by us, and now we're addicted to this group on YouTube. They are fantastic. We hope you'll enjoy it as much as we did. This is an a cappella group from Indiana University, called Straight No Chaser.

4 Days till Christmas

Funny how I started out with the right intentions of being organized this season. Now, I don't have any more shopping to do, so I'm at least 50% there. However, I am still remembering a few gifts yet to wrap (those last-minute gift-card purchases, late-arrival online orders, and those electronics that need loaded up... the latter of which is Mike's job.). Plus Ben and Reagan each have a bag of gifts to wrap for others (and of course, they must be done separately and in shifts with Daddy and I to avoid seeing our own gifts. Hmmm... wonder if I can trust each with a pair of scissors and a roll of paper on their own? We'll see...

I had the best intentions last night as I went to bed. I planned to tackle all these last minute things today... cleaning bathrooms, finishing baking, making food lists, shopping, and wrapping. I did none of it. I curled up on the sofa for 4 straight hours, dozing in and out of sleep, as Tommy watched Dora and Diego videos. Ever have one of those days?

Yesterday after running kids' teachers' gifts to school, stopping in at one Christmas party, cleaning up the kitchen, and talking on the phone with my mom about my Grandma's seriously-ill situation, I was already spent physically and emotionally. Last night, though, we went to Mike's ESOL dinner. He teaches level 2 (I believe) English to Speakers of Other Languages. They had a short sermon at the church (done beautifully by our pastor and the interpreter), followed by an outstanding international potluck buffet! Whew! I have no idea what half the dishes were called, but we went home full. :-) There was some Afghan recipe there that had everyone talking, but I still am not sure what it was. Need to find that recipe! Mmmmmm. We also enjoyed a flavorful citrusy drink full of fruit... think "sangria" with orange juice and water instead of wine. Tommy had pizza, but the two older kids had adult food (sticking with the ham slices and potato chips... ha ha ha). It was a great night, and a lot of fun meeting the students. I have a great respect for these people, trying their best to learn a new language as adults. Believe me... I'd be so confused and terrified.

So, we all came home at 9:30 exhausted. I think it's just snowballing these days. Too many things to do... we're all tired. The funny thing is that as of today, we have almost no "busy" plans. Just finishing preparations, and celebrating with family. I'm hoping to have a relaxing weekend.

Flu, Parties and Cocoa

Well, the week is going remarkably okay... despite having one child with the flu. Reagan is sick. She's had an on-again, off-again time with this bug. We went to the doctor to rule out Strept. He thought it could be a cold virus or the flu. We didn't do a flu test since there was no need. She couldn't take any medications for it since it was already day 5. However since it all started with 2 days of shivering (chills) and headaches and fever, I figure it's the flu. Today, she's just wiped out. I knew she was really feeling ill when she didn't even care that she missed the big Brownie Christmas party today. Poor girl. She did get a lot of goodies that I collected for her at the Brownie party, including a yummy hot chocolate mixture made by Ms. Traci, her secret Santa exchange ornament, and much more.

Tonight however she is doing well. So far today, we distributed gifts to 2 teachers and 2 coleaders, exchanged Secret Santa gifts at Brownies (and had our party), delivered cookies to Ben's party (or so I thought... I accidentally put the cookies in Reagan's bag... ugh!), and exchanged neighborhood Secret Santa gifts with the kids. By the 7pm exchange at the local pizza place, Reagan was feeling much better... even dancing in the aisle. Good thing... HER Christmas party at school is tomorrow.

At our dinner exchange this evening (which by the way, was so nice despite only having 3 families come) I was talking with Donna. She owns 3 terriers, one of which is a Westie... just like our Aspen. We were talking about the dogs and their personalities, etc. Funny... and quite ironic. You see....

We came home after the pizza dinner and exchange and light-sightseeing with Daddy around 8:30... which is past bedtime for the kids. We came in to a MESS on the sofa. It looks reddish-brown. I assumed she had thrown up. Nope... it was "dry"... and was just the beginning of the disaster. The sofa was the place where she dragged Reagan's cocoa mix (which she must have found inside her bag on the kitchen table) and ate all of the marshmallows and cocoa. I moved the cushions aside to clean after our bedtime routine. We then congregated on the loveseat with our bedtime Christmas book. Just after reading the book and saying prayers, I happened to reach down under a pillow I was sitting on. Yuck! That's where Aspen's stomach apparently began to object to the cup of cocoa mix. None of us sat on the exact location (somehow!)... but there are two more cushions to add to the cleaning. We commented on how she does not tolerate chocolate, and how we'll need to watch for her getting sick tonight. Ha... if only we knew at that time....

So I sent the kids upstairs while I pulled out the SpotBot. Shortly later, I hear "Mom! Aspen threw up on my bed!" Yes, Ben's bed was where Aspen's stomach FULLY objected to the cocoa mix. It soaked through a comforter, thick blanket, 2 sheets and a mattress cover. Thank goodness we have a plastic cover on his mattress!

So, at this point, as Aspen is following us around the house, I am realizing... ah! our dog's mouth is brownish-gray! She got a bath, to say the least.

Funny... at the first location, I had to use the steam cleaner to scrub out the powder from the creases in our chenille fabric sofa. Doesn't sound bad till you realize that water is just ITCHING to mix with cocoa mix. I basically created "hot" cocoa in my cleaning machine. At least that spot smelled chocolatey (it was only the hot chocolate powder).

As we were rolling our eyes and almost laughing at the situation, we joked. Aspen never seems to pick the middle of a big ol' cushion to throw up. Nope! She finds the crevice between cushions and the back of the sofa. So, one "spot" requires cleaning of 3 sides of each of 2 cushions, the back of the sofa, and the area under the cushions. Not to mention trying to clean around the cording along the edges of each cushion. Now, multiply that by 2.... for 2 sofas.

At least with bedding, everything gets thrown in a washing machine! Let "All Clear" do the cleaning instead.

Well, one good thing came out of this. I still had almost a full tank of water after refilling and finishing cleaning the sofas. So, I cleaned our basement staircase. Wow! It looks amazing now! :-)

Hmmm.... shall I even hazard to attempt doing anything tomorrow?

219 Houses

What a month, eh? Last Friday, the older two kids hosted their own craft table at the elementary school spaghetti dinner/Santa shop/silent auction/craft fair. When I learned that they would allow kids to have their own tables for free (and one silent auction item), I knew my little budding entrepreneurs would love it. So, for the last 6 weeks, Ben and Reagan have been going mad with Perler beads! They made 43 ornaments and/or magnets and 12 craft kits to make a Pokeball magnet. They did remarkably well... sold all by 12 magnets and 5 kits. Each came home with over $10 (which for 50 cent magnets, isn't too bad!) Well, they insisted on getting a handmade crayon truck for Tommy (from the vendor next to us), so they did spend a little of that.

After we packed up our stuff and left, I took them through our neighborhood and the adjoining neighborhood to look at Christmas lights. I'm guessing there are approximately 300 homes total combined. We counted the number of lighted/decorated homes. 219! Now if that isn't a perfect example of Suburbia... competing for the best holiday-decorated home, I don't know what is. Of course, there is always that one that makes an impression on you, too. This home just glows! You can see it from several blocks away. To say the least, we HAVE to get Daddy and Tommy to see it soon!

The next day, five of us chaperones 8 brownies (and 2 brothers) to a theatrical performance. It was great! The girls made us proud, and we even got to tour the stage to see the fly system, girls' accessories, and scenery. Can't wait to see the pictures.

Then came Sunday... our home group's Progressive Dinner. After such a great weekend thus far, I knew something had to go wrong. At the end of appetizers, boom... electricity went out. After a half an hour of panic over what to do with our kids and ourselves (since pizza shops for the kids were all closed and we had NO food for the kids), we all finally ended up in the home of one couple for dinner AND dessert. (We were supposed to host dessert, but with all the complications involved in no electricity in 30 degree weather, we just stayed at the one home.) It was fantastic. A little congested with 20+ kids and 18 adults... but with the candlelit dinner and fireplace-lit dessert and game, we had a great time! After our Chinese exchange/white elephant/whatever-you-want-to-call-it game, Mike and I came home with a mini chopper and a "wonderfully cute" (ahem) football snack dish that plays the Fox NFL song when you push the little button. Somehow no one wanted to steal it away from Mike. Bummer. Well, at least Tommy is having a ball with it... though I now hum the Fox NFL song in my sleep. We finally succeeded in bringing a fun, well-stolen, gift (took us a few years, but we finally figured out what interests our group the most... toys!) Our marshmallow shooter was stolen 5 times till it was "locked". :) The second gift we brought was a big box of marshmallows... but that never ended up with the shooter owner's spouse. Oh well.

Monday night was the neighborhood mom's Secret Santa reveal. I am the new one of the bunch this year. It was great! We shared some stories of being seen during drop-offs or almost-being-caught. Somehow no one found out. :-) Anyway, it was great fun meeting so many new people (all who live in my neighborhood!)

Now off to a new week full of 3 school Christmas parties (okay... two are called holiday parties), a neighborhood kids' Secret Santa exchange at a pizza place, an ESOL Christmas buffet (Mike teaches ESOL), a Brownie Christmas party, and many gifts to hand out (9 teachers!!, Brownies, Brownie co-leaders, and the list goes on).

Only a week till Christmas. Whew! Hope everyone has a great Christmas and remembers what the season is all about. (...and no... not diamonds and new Wii systems.)

God Bless!

Six Digits

So, the old minivan finally did it. Six-plus years! Yesterday after driving all around the area doing some shopping at the mall, Kohls, Target, etc.... we pulled into the driveway at exactly 100,000 miles. :-) What are the chances we'd park at exactly that number? And in our driveway, to boot? So, we had to take a picture. And nope, with adoption costs... no new car in our near future. This old van better last another 100,000.

Christmas Traditions

Ok, I'm curious to see if anyone has any comments to leave regarding this topic. What are your Christmas traditions?

We don't have a ton of traditions (and probably nothing unheard of to you), but I can list a few.

1. Christmas advent mittens. I purchased 24 handmade mittens one year (via eBay and at about $2 apiece) and now we hang them in a row and the kids get to dig out their goodies each day in December. It used to hang up the bannister in the front foyer, but since we rearranged the living room, I found space on a wall. Since a mitten allows a little more room than standard pockets, I can put in candy-canes, bouncy balls, silly toys and sometimes a note (which leads them to another place to find bigger prizes). Always under $1 each, though... it adds up with 3 kids!

2. Opening one gift on Xmas eve... and they are ALWAYS pajamas. I try to get matching pajamas and different kinds each year... but that's not always possible. This year it's all red print from Children's Place. This photo is from 2005, right after the Christmas Eve service.

3. Picture at the top of the stairs. On Christmas Morning, no child is permitted downstairs until Mommy and Daddy are down there. We have the kids pose at the top of the stairs every year... then we also take pictures as they approach the gift room. This was last year's picture... Disney pajamas.

4. Buying gifts. The older two kids earn $3 a week allowance. One dollar goes to church or some other charity. One dollar goes in their wallet for spending as they wish. One dollar goes into the savings account we opened for each kid. So, potentially, at the end of the year, each kid has $50+ in his/her account. We pull some of that out and allow each to choose a gift for each person in the family and for grandparents.

5. Opening one book each day. I wrap up 24 books before December. Each day, the kids choose one book to open, and we read it to them before bed. All of the books are Christmasy... whether it's the story of Jesus or about Santa or about other countries' traditions. Each year I usually buy one or two new ones to add to the pile and just don't wrap the least-favorites. I have a whole plastic bin dedicated to Christmas books, coloring books, and kid toys.

6. Christmas Eve Service. We always attend the candlelight service at our church... usually at the earlier service... got to get to bed early for Santa's arrival.

7. Separate Gift Wrap. Each child's gifts are wrapped in a different wrapping paper. I'm not sure they've ever caught on... but Ben's are always wrapped in snowman paper; Reagan's are always in angel paper (which isn't easy to find!); and Tommy's are always wrapped in Santa paper.

8. Baking, seeing Christmas lights, visiting Santa at the mall, watching Christmas shows, decorating the trees (one for our favorite ornaments, one to look pretty and match the front room), decorating the outside, sending "homemade" or picture Christmas cards, and much, much more, I'm sure... but these are all standard Christmas traditions that most people do.

Do you have any cool traditions to pass on? The pickle in the tree? A treasure hunt? Breakfast with Santa? I'm always looking for neat ideas.

Now can you see why we start before Thanksgiving?

Decorating almost done... whoops!

Mike threatened to tell everyone this anyway, so I'll go ahead and admit it....

I went against my word. I did it. I decorated for Christmas BEFORE Thanksgiving. On Monday we pulled out the two trees (one new one in the backroom and the original in the front room). My reasoning... get it done with since we aren't going to be home till Sunday. This way I no longer have to worry about it, right?

I was good though. I did NOT decorate outdoors yet, and I kept the blinds closed near the trees (hiding the evidence). Of course, our huge picture window at the foyer showed the world our garland up the staircase... but I didn't light it yet!

Ok... I'm as bad as the kids when it comes to Christmas. I get just as excited and can't contain it all within just one month of the year. I've been listening to the local radio station who started playing non-stop Christmas last week.... I bought the kids a 7-show DVD pack of Christmas favorites which we've now watched twice... I'm about 75% done with shopping. But, now I get to sit back and enjoy the season. :-)

As for baking... nope! Haven't started that.

Dude!

Tommy hasn't quite gotten the hang of "nicknames" and such. Anytime I end my request to him with "Baby" or "Buddy" or some such silly name, he always corrects me. "I'm no Baby... I'm Tommy!"

Lately, we've been teasing him with "Dude"... as in "Hey Dude", "What's up Dude?", etc. He always says, "I'm no dude." Now that we're visiting my parents, my dad has joined in. He calls him Dude a lot, too. Well, now Tommy is confused. (Aren't little kids fun to mess with?) Anyway, yesterday the switch began. After calling him Dude, Tommy promptly turned to my dad and said, "I'm a GREEN Dude" (he was wearing a green sweater.) Then later I asked him what his name was. He responded, "Dude". Poor kid... thinks we changed his name.

All invited!

Apparently my littlest son, who is speaking well 50% of the time, has learned to communicate just fine. Mike and I went to the preschool "Thanksgiving dinner" today. It was cute. Our class were indians and had names (Tommy was Chief Flying Eagle). The other class were the pilgrims. We were also pleasantly surprised to see that Tommy enjoyed much of a typical Thanksgiving meal. I think in another year or two, he will give us no problems regarding food (unlike the other two).

Tommy spied O-WI-BIA (Olivia) at the next table, and the two giggled while going to talk to each other. According to the teachers, they have their first crushes! Tommy will hold her hand all day... he'll even move his blanket just to lay next to her. How cute! Two little blondies!

Anyway, as we started talking to Olivia's mom and other surrounding people, we've come to learn that all of the kids have been invited to our house numerous times by Tommy. Even so much as telling their own parents that he/she is coming to Tommy's house. It's a normal occurrence in that room.

I guess we'll just have to have a big ol' party one day and get it all done at once. LOL 14 3-year olds!

Lost Tooth

Yesterday, I was driving Ben to taekwondo (and had all three kids with me). We weren't a mile from the house when I had to yell back to settle down and keep their voices down. A very short time later, I heard a few "whomp" sounds. Then crying. Reagan was crying hard. I said, "What's wrong?" She said Ben pulled her tooth out. By the sounds of it, I immediately thought a permanent tooth came out... what else could be that painful? I took a quick glance over my shoulder to see blood all over her mouth and chin. Since I couldn't pull over, I had her grab a tissue and bite down on it. I eventually got the story out of her that it was a front tooth (which was expected to come out soon). Then it dawned on me. Her brother Ben was BEHIND her in the minivan, which has captain's chairs. How on earth did he pull out her tooth???

Here's the story: I guess he took the squishy micro-bead neck-roll pillow, smacked it over the back of her chair and hit her head/face. She then bit it to keep him from getting it back. And wah-lah... tooth comes out!

Apparently the tooth went flying... we haven't found it. But, fortunately the tooth fairy is very understanding. A nicely written note sufficed for the tooth and brought money anyway.

Where do YOU shop?

My mind has been abuzz with Christmas lately. Yes, it's still 46 days away, but if I don't get most of the shopping and card-writing done before Thanksgiving, I'll feel rushed in the end. (Yes, I am definitely Type A.) No, I won't be decorating till after Thanksgiving.


Anyway, I thought I'd share a few of the neat places to get kids' gifts. I usually save a couple of gifts till last-minute buying, since we all know that the kids' lists will change by mid-December. In fact I'm going to try to take them to see Santa as soon as we can so that I don't have to have the guilty feeling when they tell Santa something later that I know I didn't get. Granted Target and ToysRUs and Amazon carry most of the popular items, so much of my shopping is done there. (I've already received about 4 boxes from Amazon so far... and gotten 2 subscriptions to Cookie magazine for spending so much on Toys... LOL)


But I receive a million catalogs in the mail at this time of year and love looking for those unusual toys and gifts. Y'know? In fact I tried freecycling my current stack of 50+ catalogs, but for some reason no one really wanted my junk mail! HA HA HA.


Anyway, I thought I'd share my favorite children's catalogs with you (all have online stores). My mom, mother-in-law and I all combined orders to save on shipping costs.

www.constplay.com Constructive Playthings... this is neat for the littler crowd especially. We picked up several toys for Tommy, including a Lift-off Rocket, EZ Build and Play drill set, Firefighters set, and Jumbo Jet set. All neat little playsets that a busy little imaginative boy would love.

www.highlights.com Highlights Toy Catalog... I didn't buy from them this year, but we particularly love their Hidden Pictures sets. It's the Hidden Pictures known from their magazines... all rolled into a few activity books. Great on-the-road activity.

www.mindwareonline.com Mindware... I LOVE this catalog. They have some of the coolest thinking toys and books around. We've bought some of the activity books every year... this year it was a logic-puzzle book for Ben since he's quickly becoming my math-minded boy (yay... I was a math major...he got some of my genes). I think we own a dozen or more of the games they offer. Great for providing fun toys and games and books... while making your kids think!

www.hearthsong.com Hearthsong... another great feel-good catalog. Most of the toys encourage imaginative play or creating things (crafts and such). I don't think we bought anything this year, but I wish we could afford to! Love their domino race set... maybe next year.

www.learningresources.com Learning Resources... this is, I believe, geared toward teachers like preschool or daycare. However there are many things in here that I love! They have many hard-to-find items that are just adorable. They have a series of items called Smart Snacks that allow kids to play with food-items while also learning colors, numbers, shapes, etc. Another cool item is the Gears, Gears, Gears toy. Our youngest is getting some of these.

www.ttgo.com Toys to Grow On... another great resource for fun, educational toys. We've bought from them in the past.

www.magiccabin.com Magic Cabin... We haven't bought from here yet, but I wish we could. Had I seen it years ago, I would've gotten their Birthday Ring... what a neat idea to pull out for each birthday. Lots of puppets and pretend-play items.

www.chinaberry.com Chinaberry... a new find. (Can you tell what appealed to me at first... the name.) I love looking through this catalog. I've so far found some really neat ideas in here. Ever heard of mandalas? I hadn't. They are decorative patterned circles... you can find ones to color in and then use as a gift or hang them up. I found some great little mandala-designing kits. For my creative, coloring daughter, this is perfect. She can make her own decorative circles and then color them.

www.lillyskids.com Lilly's Kids (Lillian Vernon) Who can resist this catalog? Looking to find some adorable personalized toys/gear? This is the place. Personalization is free. We've gotten tote bags and suitcases before. Their battery-operated pencil sharpeners are fantastic. I wouldn't give to little kids since their safety-catch can easily be tampered with... but it's really powerful and can be used anywhere. (We have 2 of these in our house.) Their beanbag chairs are really nice too. Each of our kids owns one now. Much cheaper than what you'd find at Pottery Barn or similar stores.

I know there are tons more catalogs that arrive each day... Spillsbury, Bits and Pieces, Young Explorers, and more. But we can only purchase so many things. What I like to do is give these catalogs to the kids to circle their favorites. Then after Mike and I decide what to get, I look on Amazon or cheaper places first. Sometimes you'll find that these items are found in many other places... sometimes the items are exclusive to a particular catalog or are just very hard to find. If I can get them on Amazon for much cheaper (w/free shipping sometimes), I go there. But I also like to help out the smaller companies and keep them in business. They are, after all, the ones that show me what's out there... and they have some of the cutest catalogs!

If you have any other WONDERFUL catalogs that you find cool items in, please share! Let me know. If I can prevent myself from going out in the crowds at Christmastime, all the better.

Super-easy S'mores

I was just catching up on some Brownie stuff, when I remembered our first meeting. We made s'mores. Okay... not by the campfire, but via a S'mores maker. Good enough! Everyone loved it (except my daughter, who somehow caught her marshmallow on fire!)

At home I make s'mores all the time... s'mores ala microwave! You may not get the crusty, brown marshmallows, but you get them melted nonetheless.

Take graham crackers and break in half (2 sections per piece). Place one half on a plate, set some chocolate on that (half of a Hershey's snack-size bar works), then set a full-size marshmallow on top. Place in the microwave for about 30-45 seconds or so. Watch carefully. The marshmallow will begin to grow. It can get as wide as the cracker itself, and just as tall. Once it gets that large, stop the microwave. Grab the other half of the graham cracker, and squish the marshmallow down. It'll ooze around, but that's half the fun... a sticky and gooey mess!

If I get the marshmallow fairly large before squishing, I then wrap the excess around and around the cracker (while making my hands a sticky mess). The thin stringy parts of the marshmallow become a bit crispy after being expanded and stretched, once it cools a little. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Happy Halloween!

We had another great, exhausting Halloween this year. Before 7pm, we had our first trick-or-treaters. As I was pulling Reagan's hair into a ponytail, I watched the local high school approach my door. Ok... not the entire school, but it certainly seemed like the line of treaters wasn't going to end. After a few quick photos, we sent our kids on their way with Daddy. Here are some photos of our little characters.

Can you guess what Ben was? Uncle Pennybags! (Better known as Mr. Monopoly.) This was my thrifty, pulled-together costume: $1 hat, $3 cane, $4 thrift-store blazer, $2 fake-fur cut-out moustache, free "green house" box, and free red ribbon bowtie. Unfortunately he didn't own black pants before the costume, so I had to run out and buy him some. But at least I take comfort in the fact that he'll be able to use them for another year or so for church, etc.

Reagan was a 50's teeny-bopper, poodle-skirt girl. Her costume was fairly cheap too. I bought the scarf, and the skirt was an eBay find. I did blow some money on "poodle socks" from the costume store, but they were just too cute. The shoes were thrift store $2 finds, thanks to Nana.

Tommy's costume was a cheapie Target costume, but we couldn't resist. He's newest obsession (besides school buses and tractors) is fire engines. So, how could we pass up the fireman costume! Lucky guy that he was, he got to wear it three days in a row: skate night, preschool fall-festival, and Halloween! Somehow it hasn't ripped yet! So, it's ready for playtime!

The kids lasted one and a half hours and came home. Even after returning, Tommy went out for a few more homes. So they are well-stocked with candy! I went out the next day and bought three tall plastic containers, labeled them with kid's names, and let each kid keep 50 pieces each. The rest (of the chocolate) went into a plastic bag for the freezer for future use, and the rest of the junky stuff went in the garbage. I'm sure I could've found a more useful resting place, but Mommy really didn't need calories sitting around. So out they went. Now the kids are allowed one (or two) pieces a day. When it's gone, it's gone.

The Monday before Halloween, we all sat down to carve some pumpkins. Here are our creations. Reagan chose the bat design for Daddy to carve; Ben chose the ghost design for Mommy to carve; Tommy chose the silly parts to make a monster; and Mommy made the goofy one with ears and a nose (made from a little pumpkin). These were cute, but my favorites are still our pumpkins from a few years ago. Can you tell who they were?

Ernie and Bert!

Graphic Artist?

For those that know me, you know I love to be creative. Whether it's with silly crafts, entertaining, decorating, scrapbooking or graphic design. A couple of years ago, my friend Amy noticed the invitations I made for my kids' birthday party and encouraged me to try selling them. I dabbled in that for awhile, and then she hired me to do graphic design for the events company she worked for. I purchased the software I needed and went to work. Although I had a blast, I found it tough to work on such strict time schedules while still being available for my kids. I also didn't have quite the specific knowledge to do some of the things they wanted. It became frustrating, and I had to quit.

But that doesn't mean I don't love to do graphic design work! I used to handmake all of my Christmas cards until one year I went a little bonkers... I lost my mind. My Christmas card in 2005... I made over 110 of these cards. First, getting the kids to pose perfectly; then printing out photos and cutting; then piecing the paper together, folding perfectly; signing each card; making the Top Ten list and printing them out; then punching holes, tying ribbon, and stamping the front; then addressing 110 envelopes and mailing. And yes, my Type A/compulsive/anal-retentive/whatever personality came out... they were mailed the day before Thanksgiving and arrived on Black Friday. After being commended and teased simultaneously by a few friends, I realized I really didn't have to outdo myself every year.

So, last year I figured out a way to design our card (on the computer, not cutting and pasting) and had them professionally printed. Still cool, yet much easier and less time-consuming. I did the same thing this year (front and inside are to the right). I'm considering offering my services to design others' cards as well. (My old card business ended last year when my printer died, and I was too busy to worry about replacing it.) Technology has improved so much to allow us to create our own cards using kids' artwork, photos and more... why not? Rather than signing a hundred cards and printing out "Christmas letters" and kids' photos to stuff in the envelopes, I incorporate it all into my cards. My family-year-in-review, kids' photos, well wishes, and even a piece of artwork are all included in one printed card. I can also make invitations, thank-you cards and more. This year, I'm stuffing the kids' stockings with ready-to-go thank you cards (oh, I know... they'll be so thrilled). Here is an example of what I made. If you are interested in learning more about how I can design your card, email me...

Freecycle!

A couple of months ago, Kathleen and Becky (dinner group friends) introduced me to Freecycle, a community of people giving away their things for free. They were stunned that a thrifty person like myself had never heard of it! Well, the next morning, I looked into it. I've been hooked ever since. I then told my neighbors about it, and they are just as hooked. I've gotten rid of many things that I never thought I'd find a user for. I had a really pretty rug, but since there were stains on the back, I didn't think I could sell it for anything much... we had accidentally picked up the wrong size of vacuum bags and went months without returning them... soup mixes from a school fundraiser that were WAY too complicated, needing 15 additional ingredients (?!!)... I had an odd number of glasses that were unused... outdated magazines... and more. I feel much better since these things didn't end up in a landfill (at least not directly from me).


The even better part is the neat things we've acquired... okay, it's an odd lot, but they were all free and just required me going to pick them up! I now have 2 pairs of Dr. Scholl's sandals, 2 new wine glasses, a pair of soccer shorts (for next season), and an Easy Bake Oven! (I would never have purchased that thing new... believe me!) I'm going out this evening to pick up a bag full of clothes for my oldest son, too... and maybe another bag full of shoes my size, if I get the address soon.

Now, despite my relatively small, humble finds (all free!!), sometimes you can score big. I tried to "win" a set of oak chairs to repaint for our dining room... but didn't get them. My friend Heather has gotten some good things... including an entire bedroom set for her two-year-old son. He's moving from the crib ... what great timing!

My experience has been that some freecyclers accept the first person that replies to their post. Others choose someone who can come quickly. Still others pick those that have a very good use for the item. And others choose people they know. (I've found probably a dozen or so fellow-church-goers also Freecycle, so I recognize their names in the posts and replies.) So, in addition to responding quickly, I also include when I can come and how I'll use the item. So far, I've probably only gotten less than half the things I've inquired about, but that's to be expected. When it's a good item and it's free, there must be many people wanting it.

Another feature of our freecycle network is that you can post "wanted" ads. For example, I'd love to find a used jogging stroller to try with my 3 year old on our morning walks... but I just can't see paying that money for something he may hate. I tried a "wanted" ad that time... but didn't get any bites. Oh well... at least that feature exists. I have heard of people getting kids' beds and costumes and other things that way.

To find a local freecycle, go to www.freecycle.org and plug in a nearby town or county. For example, ours is county-wide. Some require being accepted for membership; others are less stringent in their rules. Check it out... what's there to lose? It's free! And if you wind up with something not quite what you were looking for, then re-freecycle it!

Weekend Away

Last weekend, Mike and I had our annual weekend away (to celebrate our anniversary). This year we went to Baltimore's Inner Harbor. Baltimore, to most people, may not sound like a romantic city to visit... but if you stay in the Inner Harbor, it's a lot of fun. We found a group of hotels named "HarborMagic" and chose the Brookshire Suites. Why? It was the cheapest. :-) The hotel was ok, but I'm willing to bet the suites themselves were nicer than our cramped regular room. Plus it was a little dated. But other than that, we couldn't complain. They offered shuttle service to take you to the other two hotels (one right on the water at Pier 5 was a contemporary, new hotel... and the other was in Fells Point in a historic inn), they offered free chocolate buffet on Saturday, free breakfast buffet each morning, and we even took in a free demonstration of how to make crab crepes. At some point, they may even update their website and show our pictures at these events.

We ate dinner at PF Chang's (wow... really nice place!) and a Spanish tapas bar/restaurant at the Harborplace. Both had a really great menu and "atmosphere". We lunched at ESPN Zone (nice, but we'd only return if there was a game to watch) and Phillips Buffet (not so great). Oh well, 3 out of 4 isn't too bad.

Our package deal even included tickets to the National Aquarium and dolphin show. The kids were bummed. Last time we went to the aquarium, we had to skip the dolphin show due to timing.

All in all, it was a nice time. Not necessarily quiet due to being in a city. But we did catch a few glimpses of the thousands of Baltimore Marathon runners from 13 stories up as they ran past the hotel. "Jellybeans with legs" as one lady behind us remarked. :-)

Glittery Pumpkin Centerpiece

I saw some neat pumpkin ideas this week at Michael's craft store and combined them into a cute centerpiece. You'll need one craft pumpkin, glitter glue, knife or craft knife, floral foam, fall floral picks, and fall-colored ribbon.

First, I cut a hole out of the top of the pumpkin... basically at a distance of 1/2" around the base of the stem.

Then, I cut floral foam into rectangles and shoved them into the hole to provide somewhat of a base to hold the floral picks in.

Next, I arranged an assortment of fall-colored floral picks (fall leaves, mums, mini pumpkins, whatever you like) into a bouquet in the hole of the pumpkin, making sure each was fairly secure in the floral foam.

After the arrangement is done, I brushed glitter glue all over the pumpkin. Ok... this step could be done first, but you'd have to wait until the glue dried before continuing on. (Actually, brushing didn't work... I accidentally poked a hole in the glue container and thus just smeared the glitter all over the pumpkin with my hand, making sure it was spread evenly and not totally caked on.)

Lastly, I wrapped a length of fall-colored ribbon around the base of the bouquet and tied a bow.

Wah-lah... beautiful centerpiece. Mine is sitting on a plate to avoid getting glitter on the table runner. Unfortunately in the photo you can't see how neat the glitter turned out. It has this glow that from a distance you would think it's a ceramic pumpkin. Up close it looks shimmery. This would make a really simple project for a housewarming gift or a special floral bouquet for someone special.

The Big Apple Circus

Well, we saw the circus! It was actually a lot of fun. I had my doubts as to how much I'd enjoy it myself (as compared to watching the expressions of the kids). It was a small one-ring circus, but in a real circus tent! No expo-centers or arenas here. We saw a lot of amazing acts: see-saw jumping on stilts, juggling, daredevil jumping and balancing, Grandma clown and wire-walking. I think the favorites of the kids was the dancing poodles and horses. No elephants, but I would've been nervous had a big elephant shown up in the ring! Just not a lot of room!

Some things we learned about going to the circus (since none of us had gone in almost 30 years)...

1. A souvenir cup for $5 is a good deal, but only if you don't mind beating the crowds at intermission for your refill.

2. Grandstand seating is okay, but mezzanine would've given us a better view. But at $30 a pop + Ticketmaster fees as it was, grandstand was perfectly okay!!!

3. There are a lot of kids, so don't get upset at the kicking of your seats and popcorn falling in your hair and breathing on your necks by little watchers. (I'm mostly talking to the poor people that sat in front of Tommy.)

4. Grandma Clown never "gets it". But she's lovable!

5. Bring an umbrella if you plan to sit in the front 2-3 rows. Don't say I didn't warn you.

6. Have the kids go to the bathroom BEFORE you arrive. Remember, it's a circus tent with porta-potties!

7. All souvenirs are cute and adorable, but the trendiness disappears quickly... as does the money that was once in your wallet.

8. No flash-photography allowed, so figure out how to use your digital camera in darkness BEFORE you arrive at the circus. (Yes, not many photos came out well at all.)

9. Cotton Candy somehow becomes REALLY, REALLY, REALLY sticky when your daughter simply licks it the whole time (not biting it!)

10. Foam clown noses tend to stretch out quickly and even rip in half if given to a 3 year old.

Fall is Here

Well, officially it's fall. Of course the 90 degree weather yesterday made us doubt the arrival. But today's 81 felt a little better. I love fall. We have tall trees behind our backyard and the flutter of changing leaves is so pretty (fortunately most of the leaves fall in areas outside our yard!) October is always a busy month for us. My birthday falls on the 6th, our anniversary (12 years!!) falls on the 21st, and Mike and I usually take a long weekend trip somewhere to celebrate both (this year it'll be the weekend in between). Even my dad's birthday is on the 23rd, and Mike's grandmother's 92nd birthday is on the 24th. So, it's a month of celebrations. This year we'll be visiting our college Alma Mater (Grove City College) on my birthday. It's Homecoming Weekend, and we haven't been up there in a few years. It's always fun to take the kids up to show them the college where we met and to catch the Homecoming Parade. What kids don't like a small-town parade with lots of candy throwing? Plus we'll get to peek in on the current fraternity brothers and sorority sisters and feel like old fogies. It wasn't really 13 years since graduation, was it??

This year's getaway-trip will be to Baltimore. We usually stay local, and this time we're visiting a place where the kids actually love to go. I think they were a little bummed to hear we'll be close to the National Aquarium and Science Center (and the McDonalds, as if we don't have one here!) This time, we'll see Baltimore from adult eyes, though. We'll let you know how that goes. I'm just looking forward to the peace and quiet and sleeping in! :-) Thank you, Gran and Granddad for the babysitting!!!

Our anniversary this year will be a bittersweet day. Our anniversary is on my paternal Grandmother's birthday. (We even had a cake for her at the wedding reception.) However, she just passed away last December. This will be the first birthday without her. GGMa is certainly missed... unfortunately the kids knew her only a little. She was the grandmother that lived on the water (Gulf of Mexico)... and lived fairly close to DisneyWorld, after all. She's the reason they got to visit Florida. And both Ben and Reagan remember her little dachshund Tippy! It's a shame Tommy never had the chance to meet her.

Well, it's Friday and we have a busy weekend ahead of us as always... but the highlight is Sunday. It's the circus! I vaguely remember maybe going once as a child (maybe I'm making it up in my mind, too!) The kids are so excited. They keep asking what to expect. I don't know! I figure clowns and trapeze artists... right? Popcorn and peanuts? A ringmaster? Elephants? Oh, I don't know... we'll find out.

Back to School Time

Well, the kids have been in school for 5 days now. Even Tommy has been to preschool for a day. Man, they don't really break you in gently. We went from easy, breezy, sleep-in days to BAM! BUSY BUSY BUSY! We began soccer practices 2 weeks ago (4 practices a week with 2 kids and 2 games weekly). I am about to start as a new Brownie leader, so we're getting squared away with a brand new roster of girls, designating a meeting location, etc., etc. The first unit meeting is tomorrow. Mike begins teaching ESOL classes within a week or so. Yesterday the kids promoted in our church Sunday School program (and Mike and I were back to work!) Goodness, the PTO even sent home our first school fundraising sales packet today! So, we're back in the swing of things for sure!

So, with all the hub-bub going on (not to mention the continuing doctors appointments), it's no wonder I forgot an appointment on Sunday evening. Unfortunately it was my son's best friend's birthday party at a bouncehouse location! ACK! The party was from 5-7. At 7:02 (no lie), I looked at my planner to see "what the week held ahead of me". Ha! I forgot that the week started on Sunday, apparently. So at 7:45 (when I thought they'd be getting home), we trekked over to his friend's house to apologize and hand him his gift. I felt so dumb! It's not that we were overly busy on Sunday. I napped from lunch til 5:20... then went to dinner with my family. How could I forget?? Oh yeah... I forgot my daughter's friend's party in the spring, so I guess they are equal. I think it's a Sunday thing. Sundays are for church, football games, and then.... nothing. At least that's the way it used to be. Somehow I always forget if something else falls on a Sunday. Ask our neighbor John. He's our kids' guitar teacher. How many times has he called at 2:10 on Sunday afternoon to say, "Are they coming over?" People are going to think I'm losing my mind. I swear... it's just a Sunday thing!!

Saturday night was our Dinner Group, hosted at our house. For anyone who is looking for a great excuse to get out of the house from time to time for some adult-interaction-time, I highly recommend starting up a Dinner Group. My friend Kathleen organized ours. She found 4 other couples that were interested in addition to her and her husband. We meet every-other-month at someone's house for a dinner. The host offers the beverages and main course. The other couples each bring another course, such as veggies, dessert, appetizers, salad, etc. Then we spend about 4 hours talking, laughing, and eating. What could be more relaxing than that? Our group has now dwindled down to 4 regular couples, but it is so much fun. The other 3 couples are from our old (but not far away) town, so we rely on these dinner groups to keep in touch. It works beautifully! For our dinners, we try to stick to a theme, and that's the best part. Most of us are not using old tried-and-true recipes, but rather searching online to find the "perfect" dish. So far, we've had Italian, Fondue, Tapas, Chinese, Mexican, Pizza (bring your own toppings), BBQ (picnic with family), and Greek. I know I'm missing something in there, too. We did Greek on Saturday. Lamb kabobs. Mmmm. Our next outing, we've decided, is to go to the Melting Pot instead. Granted, it's pricey, but we all loved fondue... and who can beat NOT cooking once in awhile? :-) And some lucky babysitter will get many hours on the clock that night.

Well, as the title of this post mentions, it's "back to school time", and my schedule is super busy tomorrow. Time for some sleep.

Beach Pictures

Just thought I'd share some beach pictures and memories.

Here are the kids all standing by the Currituck Sound. We stayed soundside in Corolla this year, and loved it. It was very peaceful by the beach house, despite being along the path to the sound. You'll see the kids and Mike walking the path.

All three kids loved the beach itself. We only went three times, since it involved a trolley trip and lugging lots of things. But each time the kids had a blast digging in the sand, splashing in the water and chasing the waves. Ben dug a big hole (and later turned it into a turtle); Reagan splashed in the water till it knocked her over (fully dressed!); and Tommy couldn't get enough of the sand tools and buckets.

We made our annual trek up down to Jockey's Ridge. Gotta love those (hot) sand dunes. Unfortunately the day we traveled to Nags Head/Kill Devil Hills/Kitty Hawk, it was 96 degrees! That sand just scalded our feet! Once we climbed the dunes, the breeze kept things cooler. One of our kites took off easily. It stayed high. However, this darned butterfly just wouldn't work. Once I finally got it aloft (barely, as seen in photo), I gave Tommy the string. What a nightmare! He didn't know how to keep it still. That kite carried the string away so quickly and so high... it went wild. Then when it was a few hundred yards away, it took a nosedive... practically onto the powerlines at Rt. 12! Well, I say practically because it missed the highway and landed in a tree! Mike finally rescued the poor kite after a long time of trying (all the while thinking of Charlie Brown). I snapped a shot of the dreaded tree (and you'll catch a glimpse of Mike gray shirt to the left of the tree.)

Here is a little video of the kids playing in the sand at the beach. They loved it. Just building whatever their little hearts felt like, and making friends along the way.

What a Vacation

Well, I haven't posted in weeks, I realize. We've been busy in a weird sort of way. Last week our family went to Corolla, NC, with my parents and my sister and brother-in-law. It was fun! However the week leading up to the vacation until now has been littered with crazy illnesses and weird medical problems.

Did you know....

• Pain in your gut on the left side can resemble gall bladder symptoms? (But after an ultrasound, it was temporarily ruled out... of course, the pain has also subsided so who knows.... that was me and I don't have time to run around to various tests for a pain that all-but-went away... so we'll see if it reoccurs.)


• Of any virus that gives an occasional weird bumpy and red rash on the face that comes and goes and brings along a fever of 103.9? It did not look like Fifth's Disease... the bumps were small, scattered and came and went all around the face and neck. It was diagnosed as coxsackie, or hand-foot-and-mouth-disease, but I have some doubt. (see the next question... this was Tommy)


• Such a virus can spread to an older sister, who was diagnosed with coxsackie back at age 3? (Yep, that was Reagan... and we thought she'd be fine since she already had it... thus why we question whether it was coxsackie at all.)


• That coxsackie (or whatever virus it was) can actually be transmitted to adults!? Yep, only no rash. Instead, it manifested itself as a horrible achy chills-and-fever virus in my parents. Fevers, chills, skin that hurts, achiness, sore throat, and in the case of my dad, bronchitis resulted. OK... we have no idea if this is related, but it's certainly fishy that Tommy and Reagan had something weird and then my mom and dad got something a little different, but weird nonetheless. Maybe we've found yet another new childhood illness to add to the list of new viruses that we learn about each day.


• That despite taking Miralax daily and regularly, a child with a tendency for severe constipation can get backed-up all over again? (TMI, I know... but we are revisiting this again with my daughter... today is cleanout day.)


• That you should KEEP baby gates up around exercise equipment even if your 3-year-old has never shown interest in them before? Yep. We removed the baby corral gate from the treadmill recently since it takes up so much space in the rec room. We always fold up the machine and pull out the key so no one can use the machine when the adults are away. Of course, we didn't realize that our 3 year old son would come over to the machine while I was on it and put his hand on the belt. He must have been curious, but instead of picking his hand up again, his little hand slid under the machine and got caught. (No, I didn't realize he was anywhere close enough to do this.) Anyway, poor little guy now has a bandaged hand with several "brushburns". To say the least, we will not be using the machine again while any child is remotely close by.


• That it only takes 5 minutes to glue in an orthodontic appliance? My oldest has stayed fairly healthy all this time (yay!), but went in yesterday for his new orthodontic appliance, a fixed "retainer" to help spread open the jaw and teeth. He was so nervous about how long it would take, worried about keeping his mouth open for so long. But, we were all amazed and happy to see that the glue "took" in just 30 seconds! The entire visit was about 5 minutes long. Whew. He's adjusting well, too, since it's not a lot bigger than the last retainer. In 3 weeks, he may begin the reverse-pull facemask to correct his underbite. None of us are looking forward to that. :0(

Thank goodness for health insurance!

Minivan Tripping with the Kids

Well, we are now 8 days from our summer vacation. We'll have a 6 hour+ drive to the beach. So, with three kids, I'm trying now to figure out some ways to keep them well entertained on the road. If you have ideas, feel free to comment! Other than the standard DVD system in the car (which works, but the headphones are iffy), Game Boys and games, and iPods... I'm trying to make sure I'm well-stocked in other areas as well. I know my kids love their TV and video games, but even they can't tolerate 6+ hours of them (I think).

So, I've spent much of the morning surfing the web printing out activity pages. Here are some sites where I found a lot so far. If I find more, I'll post them later:

http://www.momsminivan.com/ I love this site full of neat articles, great ideas and links to products for traveling, and more. I was able to find a "travel scavenger hunt" sheet that is perfect for the younger ones too. My rising-first grader can read, but not some of the words I found on the typical list. This sheet has pictures next to the words so she can play along too! I also found a list of the 50 states where you check off a state each time you see a license plate from there. I printed several sheets. My goal (ha ha ha) is to have my two oldest play together and compete against Nana and PapPap and Aunt Tracy and Uncle Tim... all of whom are caravaning down to the beach along with us.

Ratatouille Activity Book This is a 19 page coloring/activity book about the movie Ratatouille with coloring, mazes, dot-to-dot, and more.

www.puzzle-club.com This has some great wordsearches for the kids.

www.debidawn.com/puzzlegame.htm Lots of wordsearches and mazes and more to print out.

www.edhelper.com I was able to find a few math-review sheets in particular for the kids to practice. Somehow they like that!

www.wordlibs.com , www.madglibs.com These offer printable mad-libs for the kids to play with in the car.

www.printables4kids.com , www.freestuff4kids.net Neat printable pages and many more fun things for kids, including play money and links to great Kids' sites.

My neighbor Joanna just informed me of something available at our local library. (I must admit, we visit the library 2-3 times a year if we are lucky... that's something I need to start doing more often!) They are called PlayAways, listening devices completely loaded with books-on-tape. I just requested a few from our local library. Hopefully they'll be in by next week. The kids can listen to some favorite kids' books, while I attempt to learn a little Mandarin Chinese. When we travel in a couple of years, it would be nice to know a little of their language, huh?

We also recently realized that our kids' Game Boy Advance systems have "VIDEO"s available. They are full-length movies and/or cartoons that can simply be viewed on the GBAs on a cartridge similar to the games. So, I ordered a few of those on eBay too. They seem to be hard to find in stores, besides I usually like eBay prices. My youngest can't quite play a game yet, but he'll think he's big stuff listening to a movie on the GameBoy with headphones. :-)

I did a lot of searching and found things here and there, but the above were some of the most-used sites. If anyone has other ideas or more websites to check out, please leave me a message. I'd love to check them out.

Trapped Inside

It's officially going to 100 today (though for weeks our car thermometer has registered 100+ in the afternoon). Our backyard is currently painful to walk on (scorched brown grass due to drought and mandatory water restriction), it's way to hot to just go for a walk or to go to a playground, and we don't own a pool. So, today we're home all day. That's FINE by me. I need to get some things done around here anyway. But what to do with the kids. We've started restricting the amount of TV and computer time... I'm not usually very strict with it but lately there have been days the kids never left the screens! So, I encouraged them the other day to do a puzzle. I found about 20 boxes of puzzles in the basement that were still sealed shut! Seems for awhile they were asking for puzzles as gifts and then lost interest. So, we're now photographing all finished puzzles. I think they've done 4 or 5 now. Unfortunately with a 3 year old in the house who LOVES to mess things up, we're finding that by the time a puzzle is completed... even brand new ones... a piece or two are always missing. Oh well. They'll make for a funny scrapbook page if I ever get back to scrapping again. In the meantime, they're staying busy, working together, and using some thinking skills (right?)

A Funny Tommy Story

Last week, we were attempting to play Uno with Ben and Reagan. Both kids were tired and in that late-in-the-evening goofy zone. We managed to squeeze 15 minutes into the game, constantly reminding the kids of whose turn it was, etc. Tommy had been hanging around us, watching the game, looking at my cards and throwing out whatever card I told him to. Then suddenly, a very serious look came across his face. He started digging into the face-down pile of cards and pulled out about 20 cards. We said, "Hey, Tommy...." but he looked straight into Mike's face, shook his finger at him as if saying "uh uh uh" and said, totally straight-faced, "Need this, Daddy. I need this. I need this." Without even a grin, he proceeded to sit back down and hold his cards in his hands like we were. Mike and I giggled and figured out that Tommy wanted to play on his own and just realized that he had no cards. Then all four of us started to really laugh. Tommy, for the first time ever I think, realized he was the one we were laughing at, only he didn't mean to be funny. He used his hands to turn my face, looked me straight in the eye, shook his head and said, "NO FUNNY, Mommy, NO FUNNY." Poor kid. He was so darned cute, we had to laugh, but in his mind, he was 100% serious. I guess next time, Tommy gets to play UNO too.

Penny Pinching with Kids' Items

It's getting to be consignment sale time again. I just got the reminder email of the sale I participate in... set for mid-September. In this area, beginning in September, we have a consignment sale almost every weekend in our county... for 6-8 weeks straight. Love that! I only participate in selling at one of those sales, but will attempt to go to a couple during those months. My poor kids almost never own a brand new clothing item unless it is a gift, it's an immediate need, or I've found a NWT (new with tags) item on eBay or at a sale. Oh well, so far they are all under the age of 9, so no complaints as of yet. In fact, my daughter is beginning to appreciate the sales. Cheap clothing means more of it! She already owns more shoes than I do, I think.

During the summer, I usually just go to eBay for upcoming known needs (like next-size-up in jeans or "lots" of shirts.) Then the consignment sales usually cover whatever else is needed for the cold season... jackets, sweaters, etc. I just cannot see how people can actually afford to purchase all new wardrobes for their kids from department stores... or worse... brand name shops like Gymboree or Gap. Sure, sales racks can have deals, but c'mon. I don't even spend $60 on a 2 pc. outfit for myself, let alone someone 1/2 my size. Granted, the average home may only have 2 or 3 kids. But I know of many larger families (4, 5, or more kids)... how else can a typical middle class family afford to buy new clothes when kids turn over sizes 1-2 times a year?

About a year ago, I learned the benefits of VOLUNTEERING at these consignment sales. Volunteering at these sales never seemed "worth it" to me. I always consign clothes at one particular sale, but volunteering to work just didn't seem like it would pay off. Some sales offer higher percentages of sales to volunteers; others offer pre-sale buying opportunities. Higher percentages just didn't seem to be worth it when you only had a few things to sell. And pre-sale? It's just an hour before the consignor's sale. BUT.....

With a consignment sale, all sellers price their own items. So, a shirt may be priced $10 by one seller; $2 by another seller. If you are able to attend a pre-sale event for volunteers and/or consignors, you get first dibs on all the cheap clothing. Oh the deals you can find! With three kids and another "on the way someday", I spend forever looking through the racks during those sales, searching for those $2 items. I know my husband doesn't quite understand why I'm gone so long... but there is always a TON of things to look through. So, granted... spending 3 hours on a Saturday evening sorting clothing and tags for someone else (the owner) isn't my idea of great fun... it does pay off with those early sales if you are really scouring for deals!

So, let's see. I'm no expert in shopping for cheap, but I do have a few things I do to save us much as possible on clothing and toys for kids. Here are some ideas:

• Yard sales/garage sales: Granted, some sellers are ridiculous setting out off-brand clothing with high prices or just plain junky torn-up clothing. However, every so often, I hit the jackpot. Just this spring, I found a huge bin FULL of clothes in sizes for both of my boys (and even for our one-day-adopted girl... yes, I even stocked up a little for her) for 10 cents each. They were gorgeous! I got a Laura Ashley sundress, GAP clothes, Ralph Lauren sets and more. I think I paid $5 total and came home with 30 outfits. When the timing is right, Daddy gets to watch the kids for the morning, and Mommy grabs her wallet and hits the sales. April and May always seem to be the busiest months when neighborhoods will have their community sales... at least in this area.
• Consignment sales: Some are fundraisers for non-profit organizations (like MOPS), and some are owned by individuals for profit.... all are basically the same structure. People bring their used clothing, baby equipment, toys, etc. to the sale already priced (each sale has their own guidelines on how to do this). The organizers of the sale keep a percentage of the profit and mail out checks to the consigners. As I mentioned above, if you are a volunteer or consignor, you'll often get a better percentage of sales or earlier buying opportunities to snag the good deals. These usually occur in spring and fall... with an occasional one in the summer before school.
• eBay: I LOVE eBay! My mother-in-law introduced me to the site when my first son was born in 1999... she overheard people chatting at the post office. Well, now I'm almost at 2000 feedback... by no means a professional, but I've certainly had my fair share of transactions! In the beginning I found brand-name clothes and resold them. Now, most of my transactions are as a buyer. (My most recent deals: Brownie jumper, skort, skirt, and cardigan for my daughter... all in almost new condition... $42 total. They retail for almost $100)
• Thrift Stores: This is a tricky thing depending on what you have near you. I've been to a few stores where the selection is enormous... lots of brand name clothing cheap. I would walk out each time with garbage-bags full of clothes for $50. Then other smaller stores would be hit-or-miss if you find anything at all. Unfortunately those great stores I mentioned are back in the two states I USED to live in. Here, I don't have the same luck.
• Craigslist/Freecycle: These are two new venues to me. I now look daily at the recent listings... even several times daily if I can. I've sold furniture on Craigslist, but as of yet, have bought nothing. I've done nothing with Freecyle yet except sign-up. Part of me feels bad about snagging someone else's things for free (what if someone else really needs it more)... and then there's the fact that I'm sometimes just not quick enough.
• Passing Down/Trading: There always seems to be someone older than my kids that pass clothing down to us, and there always seems to be younger kids that we pass clothing down to. Even in the case of our adoption... I adore baby girls clothing. So when I see it in super good deals, I buy for my neighbor's daughter, simply asking that I get it back once our little girl arrives.
• Outlet Stores: This too is hit-or-miss. We are fortunate to have a pretty nice outlet mall within 15 minutes of our house. If we still need things after exhausting the above, I'll hit the Gap store or Old Navy for some cute trendy things for the kids.

In any case where you are looking through used clothing or toys, ALWAYS look carefully (unless the prices are so cheap you don't mind losing a few cents on stained clothing). If you're great with OxyClean, many stains can come out. But don't forget to look for missing buttons or holes or broken seams. And toys... be very cautious with baby toys. You don't want recalled toys or one that will injure your child. And always clean everything well before passing it along to your child.

Wow, that was a long entry. Sorry! Just thought I'd pass along some tips while I had the time. Time to go see where the kids wandered off. Tommy (3), is wearing his disposable swim diapers NOW... even though we don't leave for the pool for a couple of hours. Couldn't convince him to just wait. Now we have to be certain to avoid any accidents... swim diapers are just NOT cheap. Calling for 98 degrees today. I doubt we'll be at the pool for long today!

Super Easy Beer Bread

Just thought I'd add one of our favorite recipes. My sister Tracy was (is?) a Tastefully Simple consultant, and we fell in love with the Beer Bread mix! After beginning her new dog-biscuit business (see http://www.wagsnwigglesbarkery.com/), she hasn't been able to devote as much time to her TS business. So, I decided to try and find a simple beer bread recipe. I found a fantastic one on the community recipe swap board on Weight Watchers.

Easy Beer Bread

12 oz. beer
2 cups flour
3 T sugar

Mix all together. The batter will be fizzy for a short while, but will mix nicely in a few moments. Pour into a greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes (we usually need to go as high as 40 minutes). Wah-lah. Simple, easy, yummy beer bread.

Just a note: any beer will do, and you can add spices to your liking. Who can complain about 3 ingredient bread? I tend to use Sierra Nevada Pale beer since it's what is on hand. With 8 slices per loaf, it's only 1 or 2 WW points per slice!

Brownies and Potty-Training

29 more days of summer. Our summer has been busy with VBS, swimming lessons, doctor's appointments, a trip to see my family in Pittsburgh, a 40th anniversary party for Mike's parents at our house, and a few fun days with friends... no big vacations yet. It doesn't seem like those events would've made time fly, but they did. On my off-days, I've been busy thinking "Brownies". My daughter Reagan simply loved her Daisy Scout troop last year. At the end of the school year, I agreed to start a new troop for the Brownies. Our Daisy troop already numbered in the teens, and another troop would help alleviate the large numbers. So, once my friends Traci and Lori promised to help me out, I registered with Girl Scouts. Did you know that even leaders (volunteers!) have to pay to register? I suppose that $10 won't kill me. :-)

Is anyone else out there a Girl Scout leader? Did you know ahead of time just how much was involved? I was warned, but still had no idea what I was in for. We haven't had our first meeting yet... not even a parents' meeting... and my mind is swimming with tons of information. My mom was a Brownie leader for 2 years when I was in second and third grades. I vaguely remember doing lots of crafts at a picnic table in my mom's basement (mostly because she helped plant that image in my brain recently). At the time, I had no idea (or appreciation for) how much time and effort she must have put into that troop. Whew... just the training alone! So now I can honestly say, "Thank you Mom". If your daughters are in troops, thank those leaders... and volunteer to help out!! :0)

I was extremely fortunate to have a great friend Kathleen who was bridging-up with her Brownies to Juniors. So, I inherited her books. "Thank you Kathleen!" With her help, I think I may actually be semi-prepared for the year. If any of you know me, you're probably thinking that this is actually right up my alley. Honestly (camping aside) this is! Crafts, activities, teaching, and organizational skills. Those are my interests in a nutshell. Finally my Master's degree in teaching will come in handy. (I got pregnant one month into my second year of teaching, 3 months before I finished my degree... I quit after Ben was born and had student loans till he was seven!)

If anyone has great websites to find neat Girl Scout information, please pass it on. I'm already excited about the Kaper Chart paperdolls (right, found at http://www.makingfriends.com/). See... told you I was made for this job. I'm 34 and excited about paper-dolls. The first week, I was already searching online for the "perfect tote bag" to carry my supplies to meetings. I never really found it... the ones I liked were $100+, so I settled on a cute brown and pink craft tote from AC Moore. I think Mike dreads my new adventures... it always results in more shopping. On my way home from my 3-hour Brownie training session, I stopped at a store and bought supplies to make things I learned about at the meeting. Oh, did I mention I'm a very impatient person, too?

On a completely different note... we're working on potty-training. I think I am the absolute worst potty-trainer in this entire world. When Ben was 18 months old, I was already hearing from my grandmother that all three of her boys were potty-trained by this point. He made it in the nick of time to start preschool... at 3 years, 3 months. When my daughter at age 2 (barely) decided she could pee in the potty, I thought I had it made! One year and six months later, she proved me wrong. That horrific year of hundreds of pull-ups, thrown-out panties, and complete frustration taught me nothing more than to wait with baby #3. And here we are. Tommy turned 3 in May. I kept putting it off and putting it off. Finally in July, we started. He is doing okay. In fact for the first 4 days, he was almost always dry when we took him to the potty. Then we visited my parents. Our trips to PA always entail lots of running around and stores and fun places. Potty-training was put on hold... and now we're back to square one. He will go EVERY SINGLE time he sits on the potty. He has amazing control. But somehow he just doesn't care about being wet. We've finally decided that Pull-ups just aren't cutting it. We need to move on. Does anyone know anything about training pants (cotton ones) that are pretty good, yet CHEAP? I saw some great recommended mom-made ones, but $25 apiece? Whew! If we were starting at age 2, perhaps. But I can't see that sort of an investment for a couple of weeks or months. Ugh. They need to have potty-training camps for 3 year olds.