My First Piece of "Old"

I'm not a very good decorator.  You'd realize I don't have a cohesive "style" if you walked in my house.  I have a little bit of La Z Boy, a little bit of Roomstore and a little bit of Ikea.  And I'm not really in love with any of it.  In the past year I've been combing through catalogs to circle/cut out/dog ear pages of things that I really love so I can try to replicate it in future purchases I make.  Its always hard taking the first step because I usually look at something I like and say "yeah... I really like that, but it doesnt go with ANYTHING I have at home right now". 

But hey... I guess I have a hodge podge already, so what the heck!

So the style I like is a mix of "old and new".  Its Ballard Design-esque (when they're not being all frou frou).  This was my first purchase of something I really liked but didnt think would "go" in my kitchen.  I picked it up at Goodwill for cheap and while it's not in perfect shape, I really like it.  My plan is to get rid of all of the boring stuff I have and accumulate some fun pieces like this vintage pyrex.  Now I've just got to find some good thrifting haunts to make that happen!

School News

Natalie requested "rainbow cake" for her birthday celebration at school.  Nevermind that it was the DAY after we returned from camping and I had a pile of laundry a million miles high and several sold items on eBay I needed to ship.  Rainbow cupcakes were the priority. 

I got the idea from this blog.  Highly, highly recommend EVERY ONE of her recipies.  I've tried several and that girl has a good palate.

They were a hit at school.  I was glad because I felt all this pressure from the previous parent to "have the right birthday treat".  (It was all self-induced, of course.)

In other news... remember that kid Noah at school?  Well, Natalie came home on her third day and told me she'd kissed him.  Lord have mercy... this was NOT what I was prepared for.  Well, maybe I shouldnt have been THAT surprised.  She likes to act out Sleeping Beauty here at home and loves dressing up as a princess and likes acting out all of the various prince/princess roles with us.  But kissing a boy??!?!  I stressed.  I called his mother.  I emailed the teachers.  I pulled the princess movies off of the shelf at home.  Maybe an overreaction?  I dunno.  Perhaps.   Especially after I found out the kiss may have been a quick peck on the chest rather than on the lips. 

Regardless, I dont think my reaction really hurt anything.  I have noticed her talking more about getting married, asking when, who, etc.  And not really interested in watching other kinds of movies.  So, for now the princess books and movies have "gone to play at another little girls house". 

And boys have cooties.  Lots of them.

I Have A Problem

I can't fit this weekends yard sale finds in my office.

Hahaha... Its official!  I'm addicted to the whole resale adventure on eBay and Craigslist.  I started doing it out of curiosity and now I'm really gung-ho about doing it to save for vacation.  So far I've banked about $700 (and I'm getting more efficient).  Not bad for something I just started about 10 weeks ago.  I have to admit, though, that certain things have suffered as a result: 

• cooking (why cook when you could be listing items on eBay!?!?!)
• ironing (we'll just wear the knit stuff for now)
• blogging (I haven't take a picture of my son in over a month, but I've got picture of plenty of toys, coats, bikes and baby gear!)
• sleep (I've adopted the mantra "I'll sleep when I'm dead")
• scrapbooking/other hobbies 

I suppose it DOES take time and everyone I talk to about it gets this perplexed look on their face and wonders aloud "how I have time for all that?".  I guess we make time for what we want to make time for.  It certainly is something I'm interested in for now. I mean, its just SO exciting to see my bids increase on an auction or have someone email me about something I have on craigslist.  I mean I bought a stroller at a yardsale recently for $20 and sold it within a couple days for $75. 

As my grandmother says "You can't beat that with a stick!!"

I recently have been selling more baby items on craigslist.  Having gotten rid of my own things fairly recently I knew what things were hot.  I was selling a Bumbo baby seat on Craigstlist and had arranged to meet an interested buyer at a local grocery store parking lot.  When we met, he got out of the car with his wife to inspect the seat and I asked how old their little one was.  He said... "oh we dont have kids, we have a business!" 

Oh...

Then he and his wife proceed to try to talk me down because "they had just sold one of these on eBay last week for such and such amount and weren't going to make enough profit on this one".

Not my problem, buddy.

I politely informed them that I sold on ebay also and I was firm on the price.  They left empty handed. 

Its highly annoying when someone waits until they're face to face with you to try to talk you down.

Jerks

Well, the next Saturday I started out at an upscale neighborhood yardsale promptly at 7am.  Who should roll in behind me but Mr. Bumbo himself.  He and I played cat and mouse throughout that entire community sale.  He'd run to one sale and beat me out of a stroller I wanted.  I'd run to the next and save a whole bunch of things I wanted and ask if I could go to the one across the street and come right back.  Seriously one of the most stressful experiences of my life!  I was trying to avoid "buying it all" because of the hype, but was having to make quick decisions and couldnt look anything up to double check prices.  All in all I was extremely happy with what I came home with (I packed Kevin's car to the brim!). 

I did overhear Mr. Bumbo telling one deflated homeowner that "he didnt have kids he had a business" after just wheedling him down to $10 for 3 carseats.  I couldn't BELIEVE he hadn't learned his lesson and felt pretty sorry for the guy who'd just been duped.  Ah well.. I guess no one twisted the guys arm to MAKE him sell his carseats.  Its just got to be a rotten feeling.

So, yes, something I laugh at.  I hope I dont have to contend with Mr. Bumbo at any sales in the near future, but figure I haven't seen the last of him.

The Order of Things

I'm an arbitrary putter-offer of particular "milestones" for my kids.  Here's a list of the milestones that I've come up with on the fly.  Some make sense... some just are, well... arbitrary!

6 = the age you have to be to chew gum
8 = the age you have to be for us to even consider pierced ears
10 = the age you have to be to learn how to use a knife in the kitchen (and thereby cook me dinner!)
10 = the age you'll be when you can have soda on a more regular basis than "on airplanes only"
14 = the age you have to be to start wearing some makeup
25 = the age you have to be to get married

I find that things keep getting added to the list.  Did you have any "rules" like that growing up?

1st Day of School

My baby *sniff* started school this month.  Okay, its just preschool, but it just made her seem all grown up.  I'm sure when Liam starts it will be old hat.  Poor kid!

I got to go along for her gradual entry day.  It was just four days after her fourth birthday!  We left Liam with Grandma and Natalie picked a "special" place for lunch.  Natalie picked Arby's. 

Curly fries = special!

I took this picture right before she looked at me with her big brown eyes and told me: "I love you forever, Mom".

I was just kind of speechless and stammered out a "I'll love you forever too, Natalie".  Seriously... my newly minted 4 year old was already blowing me out of the water with how old she seemed.  This is the sort of stuff that just makes you beam inside as a parent.  Kind of amazing and surreal when it happens...

She really didn't "need" me there during class.  She's so social (even though she likes to pretend she's shy at the outset).  She quickly made friends with a little guy named Noah and spent a good amount of time playing princess and knight with him during free-play time.  I found myself cringing when she'd run around in the princess dress and say "I need to find a prince so I can get married!"  Oh dear...  maybe one too many Disney movies??? 

First day of school!

Roll call (It was cute watching them learn how to raise their hand and say "here!")

Learning the songs!

Storytime (she had two kids arguing over who was going to sit next to her)

the end of class (she was ready to go back!)

There's a Four Year Old in the House!

Natalie's birthday falls on my company's annual Six Flags picnic.  I debated a bit about having an actual party for her, but then I decided that Six Flags was PLENTY of celebration and I was going to heed the warning from a friend that throwing a party for 4 year olds was a lot more work than perhaps it was worth.

Noted.

So Six Flags it was and it did not disappoint.  Natalie, fortuntely, was tall enough to ride the 42" rides this year.  We talked importantly about how she was able to ride those rides because she'd eaten her vegetables and gotten taller and that Liam would have to eat more vegetables for next year.  I think it worked because she's all excited about the really "BIG" rollercoasters that she'll be able to grow into provided she continues to down those green beans.  I'm just hoping we can branch out from the canned variety at some point.

We took Liam with us to Six Flags (something we were a little fearful of) but it worked out rather well.  He's tall and fortunately had a good time on several things his height.  And of course there was plenty of food.  So, he was in his element!  I dont have any pictures from the day, but we had a blast and closed the park!  The most fun was had at the water park.  I think its genetic, because water parks happen to be my favorite too!

The next day, Sunday, we went to church and then we celebrated Natalie's birthday at home with our immediate family. Liam didnt even make the pictures because he was doing some hardcore napping to play catch-up from the previous day!   Here's a few pics from the festivities:

Notice the cake in the background (strawberry cake with white/pink icing)- Natalie and I picked it out and decorated it ourselves.  She was ecstatic with it (nevermind the pink border falling off the side of the cake!) 

The pink suitcase (it has princesses on the front of it) was certainly the star of the show. She had requested it months prior and I searched high and low for one in my resale adventures. God totally dropped one in my lap the Sunday before her birthday for a rock bottom price of $2. I know she doesnt care that it was used and it was in great shape! I just LOVE it that God cares about the little things in life that matter to us and is continually doing things to build my faith.

Baby Emma - thanks Mommo & Poppo!

Strawberry Shortcake dolls.  You know they market these to the parents, really.  My fourth birthday I had a Strawberry Shortcake birthday cake.  Oh the memories!!

No birthday is complete without a princess card!

She was rather insistent that we have a #4 on the cake though. Too cute!

A Marylander Born and Bred

Well, its official. She can stay.

What Happens When You Have An Older Sister

Natalie:    Mommy you saved me from the dragon! (as she jumps into my lap)
Me:          Ha ha ha!  But what you dont know is that I'm the dragon (I start to nibble on her head)
Natalie:    No I want Liam to be the dragon!
Liam:        No!
Natalie:    Yes!
Liam:        NO!
Me:           Liam, you dont want to be the dragon?
Liam:        NO!
Me:          What do you want to be, Liam?
Liam:        (without a pause) Rehreh
Me:          You want to be Cinderella?
Liam:        YEAH!

Oh dear.