Yard Sale post 4 (Iast one)

One of our girls gives great massages.  She's doing a scalp massage.  Delightful!  This was on one of our sale days during a lull.

 This Barbie bike was one of several really old Barbie items we got.  The only ones that sold were clothes.

 This was one of the very first things that sold.

 I thought this chandelier lamp thing was pretty neat, but very taste-specific.  It did not sell.

 One of the girls, exhausted.

 Some interesting items in a cart.  The monkey sings and dances.

 Some unique lamps.  These did sell.

 Someone gave a whole collection of owls.  There was also a lot of owl jewelry.

 Some pretty glasses.  My mom got these.  I was glad, I really liked them.

So that's it.  Yard sale over, profits close to $4000 with more money still coming in.  I love that our congregation is so generous--they donate all this stuff to us so that our youth can raise money for their big trip.  They are going back to New Orleans, and it's going to be hot.  The last trip was also to New Orleans, but I didn't go because I had just had Karina.  This sale really helps take care of the cost; it's over $1500 per youth to go.  It's worth it though!

Yard Sale post 3

 Baby clothes

 This is where the pile of doom used to be.  What a difference.  Now it's electronics.

 And here are the seemingly hundreds of TVs that did not sell (only one, a very large one).

 Baby clothes expanded

 Stuffed animals and some shoes

 Shoes

 Linens

 Frames

 Baskets

 Books

 Outdoor/rec

 One side of the gym

 Full shot of the gym, looking the long way down

It's amazing how much work we do in a week.  It's all worth it though!

Yard Sale post 2

 I am cleaning out an old sewing table that was full of cool old sewing stuff.

 Making progress on the clothes.

 Furniture is looking good.

 Holiday table

 Books

 This pile will become the garden/recreation area.

 Toys are getting organized.

 Office supplies

 Holiday

 The signs we use to organize

 Another shot of the sewing table.

 Price cart. Notice Karina's goldfish, colored pencils, and book.  I had her there for two full days; the first day she was perfect.  The second was not so pretty.

 Trash and a pair of leather motorcycle chaps.

Yard Sale Update

Blueviolet asked how things were going, so I'm giving you a quick update.

It is going great, to sum up.  Other than being really tired from working so hard, and having Karina there two full days with me, it's great.  The kids have worked soo hard, and compared to last year, when it felt like Kelly and I did all the work, it has been awesome!  Everything is set up and ready to go, we've already had a ton of presales (as usual, to church and school people) and we're just gearing up for the influx tomorrow morning.  We always get the serious people, like dealers, first thing Friday morning, which isn't our favorite part, but once that part is over, it's a piece of cake.  The sale days are the easiest of all.

We have a ton of toys, more clothes than we've ever had before, more shoes than ever, and a ton of furniture.  We have fewer books than before, fewer linens, and fewer household items.  We have gobs of stuffed animals, too, which is different from years past.  The clothes, though, they just took over the gym!  We have about four tables plus three racks of hanging clothes.  We have a bunch of beautiful prom dresses, some nice coats and jackets, and a bunch of baby clothes, too.  I found a Benetton denim jacket for me and a nice warm winter coat for Karina.  I also got a cookbook stand and Bill and I got a new coffee table and cabinet for Karina's toys in the living room.

I have been trying to take pictures along the way, but it's been pretty busy, so hopefully I have enough.  I'll probably be able to take some more tomorrow once the crowd thins.  I am planning to have a good long post with lots of pictures after the chaos dies down some.  Look for it sometime next week, hopefully!!

And thanks for asking about how things are going, Blueviolet!

It's Yard Sale Time Again!

Our mostly annual youth group yard sale preparation has begun!  Yesterday we were down there all day, from 9-5, doing the initial bulk sort.  We have SOOOOO much stuff!  You thought last year's was crazy, wait til I share the pictures from this year!  I had to have Karina with me for the morning, and she was not feeling like herself.  I actually thought she was getting sick.  I think she was more just out of sorts and cranky about knowing her dad was coming to take her away at lunchtime.  She was pretty good most of the time, but at one point, she walked up to me, arms outstretched, and said, "Mommy, don't like this place."  It was so cute, but I felt so bad!  I didn't have the heart to tell her she'll be there all day Monday and most of Tuesday as well!  By then it should be more organized and maybe there will be some toys to distract her (we have tons of them this year; it's just a matter of finding ones she wants to play with).

After this sale is over, I'll do a blog post or two with pictures of the chaos and the organized space, you know, before and after!

Happy Birthday, Nana!

Today was my grandmother's 85th birthday.  We celebrated quietly at our house with hot dogs and hamburgers and cake.  Karina provided the entertainment, hee hee!


I think I've posted about her before, how she married my grandfather during WWII after only three dates, and then came over here on the Queen Mary alone at age 19.  She raised 3 wonderful children and then let my family move back in with her and Pop when my parents got divorced.  We (my brother David and I) grew up in Nana's house, with her and Pop and my mom.  I am just so lucky to have such a wonderful woman in my life, one who has been strong and gracious and done amazing things.

She is one of 12 total siblings, three of whom died as young children.  Only she and her sister are still living; Moira still lives in Scotland.  My grandmother grew up in Edinburgh; her mother worked to support the family because her dad contracted encephalitis during the war and eventually had to move to a type of nursing home.  He wasn't able to be at her wedding.

Nana and Pop moved around a lot at first, and finally when my aunt was in 5th grade, Nana put her foot down and told him she wasn't uprooting the kids anymore.  They stayed here in my hometown ever since.

She worked as a school secretary all the years I remember, and practically ran the school.  When she retired, they had to hire two people to replace her.  She managed that even though she had no high school education and had left school at age 14, as was common then, to go work to help support the family.  She worked at Woolworth's.  That's where she met Pop (he gave her a whole pack of gum when she asked for some, instead of just a stick, as most of the guys did).

I'm really proud to be Nana's granddaughter.  I'm happy that my mom gave me her maiden name as my middle name, and now Karina has it, too.  I don't want to expose too much of Karina's personal information, so I won't tell you what it is, but it's a Scottish surname, and I love it.

Happy Birthday, Nana!  I love you!

PS I tried to find where I posted about Nana and Pop's story, but I can't find it.  Maybe I never did?  I guess I'll have to look again tomorrow, and maybe do a new post to tell the whole story.

Things Karina Says

I was recently reminded that I should be writing down the cute things Karina says and does.  (This from the mom who barely touched her baby book; any second child is really going to be out of luck!)

So here are just a few adorable things she says right now, at 2 1/2 years old.

1. Yes, do.
2. Me too, my turn, I come.
3. Noise!  Noise!  (When she wakes up in the night and wants to come in my bed)
4. When asked what are we looking for on our walk, "Big rainbows."
5. Pointing to two cars parked front end to front end, "Talking" and "Friends"

I am going to try and keep up with this list and add to it as she says other cute things.  For now, at least it's a start.

A Little Cutie (Not Karina)

Okay, so maybe not the world's best photos, they were shot through my kitchen window after all, but I think you can see this little cutie checking out my rosebush.  For some reason, the photos were uploaded in opposite order, and I have the worst time moving them around once they're on here, so you're getting them like this, he he.  Check out the one where he's scratching his ear, is he not just so cute you want to gobble him up?

He is trying to crawl under my rosebush (yes, that is a rosebush, it's very young and has no buds right now) where the dirt is very cool and fresh to lie on.  He is a very young rabbit, so he's pretty small.  I'd say he's probably the size of a really big cantaloupe.

Cutie bunny!

Last year we hardly saw any rabbits around, but this year there's been a bunny boom, and they are everywhere.  I just love them!

Water park

Today we went to a local water park.  It's pretty big and has some great kids areas just for little ones.  We went with the youth group, but they pretty much do their thing and Karina and I do ours.  The kids just check in every so often.  Kelly and Erik and their 2 young kids went, too, which is nice because N who is 6 likes to ride rides but A who is just a few months younger than Karina can do the same things she does.  Today was different though.  A kind of didn't do much with us, but N kept hanging around.  He really loved playing with Karina!  They played some sort of chase game in one area of the park, and Karina would just squeal whenever she saw him, and try to chase him.  She didn't really get the concept of tagging him, though.  She just chased him and laughed and had fun. 

The first thing she did was lie down in the shallow water in the first kid area.  It has one of those gradual entrances like the beach so she just walked right in with me and we walked around a bit and then she just dove right in and started crawling around (that is "swimming" to her).  Then we played a kind of swinging game in the deeper water where she could still stand but it was up to about her chest.  She would hold my hands and pick up her feet and swing through the water.  Much fun, hard on my back! 

Then we got hungry and went to get a snack.  Snack turned into lunch since nothing was open til 11.  We had a hot dog and a huge cup of sliced strawberries, of which she ate all but four.  Then we went over to another kiddie area that has a fake boat and a triple slide.  The kids climb up the steps on one side, choose which of the three slides to go down (they are all right next to each other in a row) and parents can catch at the bottom.  She really wanted to do it, and I told her she'd have to go up by herself.  SHE DID!!!  She went down with no hesitation, but I wish you could see the shocked face she made as she came down!  It was kind of like terror and thrill mixed.  I scooped her up at the bottom after her big splash so she wouldn't cry and she didn't, but she didn't want to go on it again, either.  I was so proud of her and told her how brave she was. 

Then we went back to the first area to meet up with Kelly and have my lunch.  I had mozzarella sticks, watermelon, and chocolate cake.  Karina ate half of it as well as a bunch of french fries.  We debated on whether or not to nap the two little kids, and Kelly finally decided to give A a nap, but I knew Karina wouldn't.  So instead we went to this lazy river where you float in tubes around a big circle that has another play area in it intended for slightly older kids to much older kids.  Getting into the double tube was tricky, but luckily this really nice lady held it for me.  Then we ran into Stephanie (not Stephanie who went to the scrapbook store, Stephanie the babysitter who does youth stuff with us; I should call her Steph Q to be clear in the future).  Once we found her in the little river I knew we could get out.  Up til then, I wasn't really sure how I was going to do it!  Karina really liked the river, and ended up asking to go again later.  After we got out the first time, we went to the middle area and Karina got to play with N some more.  Steph Q and her sister Melissa were there and so was Erik.  Karina just had the best time chasing N and going up and down the stairs.  Even when she fell once she was okay.  A woke up and Kelly came to join us for a while.  Then Karina wanted to ride the lazy river again, so we did that and then headed to another kid area.  This was our last stop.  We were all ready to drop!  This last area we had been trying to go to all day, but every time we went by it was closed...to be cleaned, if you catch my drift.  (They're swim diapers, people, but they aren't magic--you gotta check them!!)  Anyway, this area has about 5 tiny slides and one bigger one, and another area with double tubes that the kids can just float in.  Karina went down one of the slides about 10 times, tried the others at least once, and on the last one, she took a face full of water and started to cry.  She was kind of scared to go on that one anyway, because at the top there was this steady stream of water that comes down.  But N was up there, and he stood under it so it wouldn't splash her!  Wasn't that so awesome of him?  I didn't even ask him to do it, he just did.  After the face-ful, we went to the area with the tubes and she got to sit on one (half is open tube and the other half has a bottom so little ones can sit without falling through) while N pushed her around the area.  She was literally falling asleep in it! 

We left after that, and Karina crashed in the car.  She slept all the way to Kelly's where we dropped off some of the youth who rode with us, and then slept all the way home.  I think if the car hadn't beeped when I turned off the engine, she would have stayed asleep.  When we got in, I laid her on the couch, brought everything in, and then took her upstairs.  She laid on her bed rubbing Lambkin's ear for quite a while, not sleeping, but just resting.  Finally I had to get dressed so she came with me to my room and laid on the bed while I changed.  Then we had dinner and the rest is boring!

But this was a good day.  I was really proud of Karina for trying the slide, and for going on others after she got scared.  I was also really proud of N for being such a great friend to her. 

And no, I took a grand total of zero photos today.  Sorry!  (It's hard when you have to be with them every second)

Annual Road Trip

Yesterday my friend Stephanie and I drove to our favorite scrapbook store about 3 hours away.  We go there every year, and this time we brought our daughters with us.  Her daughter is 6 but got along with Karina really well.  The drive down was uneventful, we had a nice lunch at Steak n Shake and then hit the scrapbook store.  It was harder to shop with the girls, but still was fun.  Karina insisted on carrying her own basket around, even though it was huge and she kept whacking things.  She was so excited to get a sticker of a schoolbus (she loves them) and a sheet of cupcake stickers.  After the store, it was 2:15, so we decided to head to the mall where there was a Build a Bear that Stephanie had promised Riley could do.  I was hoping Karina would nap in the stroller there, but she didn't.  We went to Build a Bear and Karina wasn't interested at all, not unusual for her.  Then we wandered the mall, had a cookie, and were wondering what to do next.  Then Riley saw the Disney store so we went in there.  As soon as we walked in, Karina saw the display for Cars2 and went right to it.  She started playing with the big plush Cars characters and when I asked if she wanted to take one home, she immediately grabbed Tow Mater and started hugging him and cuddling him!  My girl who hates stuffed animals finally has a plush (besides Lambkin, who is still Number 1) that she likes!  I was very excited.  She carried him through the mall as though he were a pillow with a tiara on it--you can just imagine, holding him in both hands and making all these shy, coy little faces!  It was so cute.  On the way home, they both fell asleep, and when we stopped to eat about an hour from Stephanie's house, Karina was NOT happy.  She wouldn't eat, wouldn't get out of my lap, kept crying over every little nothing.  Poor thing, I felt bad for her.  Once we got in the car, though, she was fine again.  I think she was just cranky that we weren't going home.  She didn't want us sitting there not going somewhere.  As we were driving to Steph's house, Karina was looking out the window and talking, and kept saying "tea".  I tried to figure out what she meant.  Mommy drinks tea?  No.  The trees?  No.  Cheese?  No.  Are you saying "tea"?  Yes.  Then I asked her to tell me more about the word she was saying.  She kept saying, "T, T, T" the sound of T and then she moved her hands across her face and said, "Move".  Finally Stephanie figured it out.  She saw the telephone poles going by, and they look like capital Ts!  So of course, T is moving past her, it made sense!  She was so happy once we finally got home.  She went to bed around 10pm, very late for her, and then this morning Bill got up with her...at 6:15!  She is napping early today!!

We had a lot of fun, but next year we're leaving the girls at home for sure!

Karina's Card Game and Counting

Karina tries to count to 18:
one, two, three, whoa, whive, ix, (she always skips seven and eight) nine, ten, wewen, twev, whuteen, whoteen, whoteen, whoteen, whoteen, etteen, etteen.  It's pretty cute to listen to her.  Everything from 14 to 18 sounds the same, and she never gets to nineteen and twenty.  Here is why.

She tries to count to 18 because of her Sesame Street cards.  A while back I got a combo game set with checkers, bingo, and memory match.  It has been worth every penny (and it wasn't expensive) for the card deck alone.  She loves it.  It has blue and yellow cards, and each set has the same characters on it, but in different poses.  The blue deck shows their faces close up and has their names, and the yellow deck has them without their names doing different things, such as Elmo doing a hula hoop.  Each deck has 20 cards, but she has taken out the Abby Cadabby cards because Abby is her favorite and has to be kept out special.  So now when we play games with the cards, there are only 18.  I count as I lay them out for Karina's version of Memory Match, which is really more seek and find. 

Here is how we play (and keep in mind we've been playing this game morning--literally the second she's out of bed--noon, and night): I lay out one deck of cards upside down in three rows of six.  Karina picks up a card, usually the first one, and shows it to me.  She tells me who's on it, and then I have to turn over cards until I find the match, but I don't leave them face up.  So then she chooses a new card, and I have to do it all over again.  Sometimes she'll do the last four herself.  Once we finish with one deck, she tells me to play again with the other color deck.  A a a a l l l l l l l   d a a a a a a a y.  I guess it could be worse, but it does get tedious sometimes!

Baby Banana

If you have read this blog for any length of time now, you are probably familiar with my daughter's quirky sense of what is a baby and what is not.  Her latest venture into mommyhood was this morning.

Every morning for breakfast she has oatmeal and a banana.  Today, she decided the banana was a baby.  She started cradling it in her arms and rocking it.  Then she suddenly grabbed me and, "Mama walk, walk" made me come with her to the kitchen.  "Up!" She insisted that I pick her up and let her see into the cabinet where we keep the unused bottles, sippy cups, and some fruit veggie mixes that are technically baby food but we tell her are applesauce.  There are also her pink white cookies (frosted animal crackers) in there and some washcloths.  There was no telling what she wanted. 

She wanted the bottle.  I had some cheap bottles that I never used and that she was allowed to play with for a long time.  I got one out for her (how she even knew the thing was up there is beyond me) and she began to feed her baby banana.  She sat in my lap in the big chair and played this for several minutes.  When she went out to help her daddy water the trees we're growing in pots on the porch, I had to watch her baby for her and give it the bottle. 

She is absolutely the sweetest thing.  Too bad she won't play like this with stuffed animals and baby dolls, but she's happy, and she obviously has a good imagination!

Good News from My Friend

My dear wonderful friend Danise told me the other day that her neuro-opthalmologist said her eyes and brain are stabilizing!  This is fantastic news, although it means a surgery sometime this summer.  Still, I'm taking what I can get, and I'm happy.  I just thought I'd share.

You can read more about her situation here and here.

She said she and daughter are still coming back to visit us again this summer, and she insists she will schedule her surgery around it if she has to!  (We'll see about that, but it's good to hear her being positive!)

It's my anniversary!

Today is my 4th wedding anniversary!  It's hard to believe it's only been four years.  It seems longer, but we've done a lot in four years, plus we were together for a few years before we got married of course.  In the four years since we got married, we moved out of state (back home!), changed jobs (Bill changed jobs and I basically stopped working), bought a house, got pregnant, had a baby, lost Bill's mother, and had my brother move in with us.  That's a lot!

Bill is a great husband but sometimes he gives odd gifts.  Usually he gives things that he might like, or that come from electronics stores.  It's hard to tell him what I want because he wants to choose things himself.  I am always skeptical about what my gifts from him might be.  For our first anniversary, he surprised me by looking at a chart to see what the traditional gift is supposed to be (paper).  Then he ordered these amazing origami flowers, and hunted all over town for some pretty paper fans.  I have them all displayed in my craft room.  After that, we have stuck pretty much to the gift list, trying to choose things based on what you're "supposed" to give.  It helps!  This year, I saw small appliances on my list, and Bill saw flowers, fruit, and small appliances.  I stretched the definition of small appliances to include under cabinet radio/cd players, and that's what I gave him.  He likes it and I'm glad. 

Bill gave me fresh roses (gorgeous), a movie called "Baby Mama", some forsythia branches that light up, a pretty glass plate with a strawberry pattern on it (for the fruit part), a home electricity use monitor (which I thought was the big gift and was very disappointed in), and THIS:

Yes, that is a complete tea set of my china pattern, Royal Doulton's Old Country Roses!!!

I have wanted this forever and it's so expensive I never thought I would ever have one!  I started to cry when I opened it!  He said it's got flowers on it and that's how it goes with the theme.  HE IS AMAZING!!!!

BEST ANNIVERSARY GIFT EVER!!!!