Not anyone's day.

I vote that we have a day "do-over". We go back to bed, reset the alarm clock, and pretend we're in the movie Groundhog Day and begin again, except this time our day goes a lot better. Okay?

The Eldest is still having some stomach issues. It hasn't all been completely faked. I think I know what part of the problem is and we're hoping to solve it with a combination of potent fruit juice and Miralax. What is it with young boys deciding they're too busy to stop and go to the bathroom once in a while?

So the stomach issue thing started our day. While that was going on, I was trying not to laugh at the Youngest imitating his brother. What ever the monkey sees, the monkey does. He saw the Eldest holding his hand over his mouth trying not to throw up (plumbing stopped up one place, must come out another. I know - gross isn't it?), so he proceeds to walk around holding his hand over his mouth too. Eldest was not amused.

Finally checked everyone into school late and I started to work at the consignment sale. Then I got a call from my parents. They were supposed to go to school today and have lunch with the Eldest for Grandparents Lunch. They were driving two hours from Alabama to do this too. Guess what? They ended up with two blown out tires. So I handed off my job at the sale to someone else and headed over to the school. My baby was expecting someone to have lunch with him and by golly he was going to get somebody there!

I had several Grandfathers tell me I was the youngest looking Grandmother they've ever seen. :) Now I know why so many women go for the Sugar Daddy types. They're so polite, complimentary and conscientious. Someone remind me why I married a younger man?

My parents are still coming over (eventually) so now I have to dash around the house and pick up stuff and pretend that I'm an accomplished housewife even if they know better.

Have a great weekend!

Savings!

This post is gonna thrill you guys silly, I just know it. Ah, not really. I'm being totally sarcastic.

This week I've got my hands full with a children's consignment sale. Remember the last time I mentioned the sale? I won't show pics again, I promise, it's very redundant from sale to sale. I've been swamped with preparing for it and working at it. By the time the weekend is over I'll have spent approximately 22 hours working there.

Well, today I got to shop it. Here's part of the loot that I got:

Here's what's so exciting about these piles of clothes. These are full fall/winter wardrobes for both boys. There are 45 items. I did not picture the couple of toys (4) /movies (4)/sleeping bag (1)/toy organizer (that retails at Target for 59.99.) That brings the total up to 56 items total. I spent $211.00. That's only $3.76 dollars per item, and some of these are upscale clothing lines like Talbot's, Children's place, Gymboree, Kelly's Kids, etc. too!

Let's say you bought all these at retail prices. The minimum that you would spend on these would be $10 per clothing/movie and $59.99 for the organizer. That's $609.00. I saved $398.99!

I'm so excited!

I have to confess - there's been no knitting/spinning or otherwise done this week. I'll have to make up for it next week.

Faking Sick

Ever have a day where you long to march the children out to the back wall of the yard, hand them a blindfold and last cigarette and dole out the ammunition to the neighborhood firing squad? Me too. Today was one of them.

The Eldest's Issues: Was already out one day of school due to stomach issues. Took a second one today when I had to work up at the children's consignment sale. So I took him with me and made him sit and read while I worked. And Lo and Behold, a Miraculous Recovery took place. I was ready to strap on that blindfold right then. I even got him to admit that he had lied about how he was feeling. He'll be living on electronic restriction for a while now. No tv, computer, handheld games, nothing, zilch, nada.

The Youngest's Issue: Had my first "talk" from the teacher. He won't listen to them, tells them no, is disrespectful, yadda, yadda, yadda. I tried to warn them...

Make your own find it game

When I find a particularly clever product in the stores, I like to see if I can make my own. Not necessarily for saving money (cause it doesn't usually happen that way for some reason) but for the challenge of making it myself. The creative process drives me to take up the challenge. I just can't help myself. It's especially bad since I have kids.

I found a product that I really liked. Find-It Games. You can google the name and find them quite easily. They are clear tubes with wooden end caps that contain lots of tiny little toys and other odds and ends that are hidden amongst a bunch of recycled plastic pieces that look like sprinkles. They come with a game pad that contains a list of the things you must find in there. There are several themes such as the Beach and the Zoo.

I've been looking for kitchen containers that would work if I glued the end shut, but just couldn't find one that would fit my budget. I didn't want to spend a fortune on this project. I also haven't quite found the filler to use in place of the plastic sprinkles.

But I got my hands on a tutorial today that is so much more clever in my opinion. She uses plain rice in hers, but you could use a bunch of cheap beads as filler or even color the rice to make finding the toys more difficult.

She also makes hers out of cloth bags and clear vinyl. I like this idea a little more when dealing with kids. This will be much easier for a younger child to hold and if they decide to wop their big siblings up side the head with it, ala The Youngest, maybe it won't hurt quite as bad.

I have tons of scrap children's fabrics from my quilting days and have been looking for a way to use it and this would be perfect. I'm also going to make a bunch of small rice/bean bags for one of the Youngest's class parties out of some of the fabric as well.

I can't wait to try this. This would make some great birthday and Christmas gifts too, and not just for children. I know plenty of adults that would find this amusing as well if you can put in some neat stuff for them to find.

Just thought I'd pass the idea along...

Weddings, Knitting, Crafts & KIsses

All in all, I've decided that weddings are way more fun when they're not yours. There's no pressure on you and no planning. If you have a few "liquid refreshments", no one will really care cause you aren't going to be the one saying the vows.

We had an absolute blast this weekend.

I got some knitting done in the car. Would've gotten farther if I hadn't chosen sock yarn to make a scarf with. Why, oh why, didn't I use worsted weight??



First (after driving a bazillion hours to Tampa from Atlanta) we got ourselves (me, dad, mom, & bro) all cleaned up real pretty for this informal shindig:When we got there, I got the professional photographer's panties all in a wad because I wanted to take pics of the bride in her wedding shawl that I made, dammit and that's what I did. I couldn't have cared less that he was upset. I was very careful not to have my flash interfere with his, so in my opinion he could just go and stuff that camera where the sun doesn't shine. (I held that opinion for the rest of the wedding too.)

Didn't the Wedding Stole turn out perfect with her dress?



Oh yeah, and she was lovely too! As was her Mom:Couple of things I really liked about the ceremony:

1. Informal and fun. No stuffiness here. An example? The bride & groom wore flip flops. (The pastor did too and he also wore a Hawaiian shirt but I didn't get a pic of that.)

2. An Arts & Crafts moment was included - Instead of a unity candle, they used "Unity Sand". One color of sand for each of them was poured into an engraved glass bottle during that part of the ceremony.


3. And last, but not least, "The Kiss" was WAY HOT:
The groom is definitely a cutie. Sorry, his brother is married too.