School, Trip, Garage sales, OCD, & more

It's been awhile once again since I last blogged. I guess that simply means that we've been really squeezing every minute out of our days.

Truth is, we have...Josh had been on 6 day work weeks and extended hours until this week. He still has some extended hours, but at least now he isn't having to work the 12 day straight shifts. He did a few of those. Before you think I'm complaining that he has a job or what-not..hear me out...by no means am I complaining that he has a job or gets hours or any of that. We are both very thankful for our jobs and God's provision for our family!!!
The thing I'm saying here is...we just simply get really busy & worn out!! When he works all of these hours, I take on single mom role. I have the girls by myself all weekend (minus the hours from like 11pm-6am) where we are sleeping...lol. That's okay, as I'm very used to that schedule although there are things that we need daddy home to help us do. I mow the lawn, get the groceries, work on finishing home-schooling, and try to stay up on laundry & housework (in addition to my job). I guess this explains why both of us are tired...lol!

Anyways, the great parts...we have finished school for both 4th grade & kindergarten and both girls did very well!! They have learned oodles! Another great thing...Josh is off today (at the dentist right now).

We squeezed in a trip over Easter weekend to the Chicago burbs. We had a glorious time eating at our favorite places, shopping at the beautiful mall (full of tulips), swimming, and just enjoying each other. My birthday was squeezed in there somewhere too. We celebrated Easter at our house with yummy lunch and an egg hunt after early church. We were exhausted on Easter afternoon!

So, with the beautiful spring weather the garage sales have returned. I grew up going to garage sales and for awhile I hated them. In the last couple of years, I was re-inspired to go again for several reasons. First, I read a blog where the girl would go to sales and then picture everything she got and the prices. I loved reading it each week. She would even have people link up their finds as well.
Second, in 2008 we had several awesome sales in our area. People were selling all of the stuff I normally purchase at the stores for next to nothing. My parents found these sales first and I was nothing short of amazed at what they were finding. I had to "educate" them that it was okay to pay $20 for a brand new w/tags and box Coach wallet...not a knock-off. Third, inflation is crazy and garage sales are MUCH, MUCH, cheaper!! Anyways, now we have branched out to go to neighboring cities and certain neighborhoods where there are great things.
You see, I like nice things just as much as the next person, but my tastes are typically champaign taste on beer money. (I'm paying off my car) Anyway, with the garage sale sites online and the great sales...we are saving a boatload of money and paying off that car sooner...lol.

To help me remember where the great sales are as people typically repeat, I have started a little garage sale book. I write down the address, what I bought, and the prices. It shows me what I'm spending and reminds me if I see an ad that I need to go to that sale. I have several sales that I know have children that will have clothes in my kids sizes each time. This is great! My oldest is in dire need of shorts and clothes for camp. She's as small as a rail so she can wear like a sz. 5 or 6, but we also don't want booty shorts. The problem with 5's & 6's are that they are getting too short. I looked at Abercrombie kids on the weekend as they had a phenomenal sale, however my 9 year old doesn't need shorts that barely cover her undies. And, oh yes...that camp thing...I have this mental image in my head of a little girl returning home from camp without any clothes. Why?? Well, she is just that way. Maybe absent-minded and too interested in other things to worry about bringing clothes home. My thought is if I purchase some clothes at cheap prices, no loss if she comes home without. Clothes have gone up exponentially in price lately! We had shorts on our list on the Gymboree shopping trip. We came away with none as $35 for kids shorts was not what I had in mind.

So anyway, grandma is looking for the shorts too. We have had luck finding her some really cute shirts that she loves for next to nothing. Josh and I don't really look for anything in particular, but we sometimes find neat things too! I went to an awesome sale a week ago where I had so much, I could barely hold it all! I picked up all of these black frames (not looking at the pictures). They were $2 each! Turns out, they were pictures of the Eiffel Tower & Paris and the people had them framed at Hobby Lobby. So, I got several great framed pictures for my house that I love! Josh is the one that typically picks up DVD's maybe or a book he has been wanting to read. Overall, it is just a fun family thing that we do.

Noe turned 19 months yesterday and is finally on track with teeth! Yay! She has 7 and is working on at least one more right now. She chatters away and says so many things. We love it when she answers a question we ask her. The answers to questions include: yes, no, uh-huh, yep, and yeah. She's full of personality and loves animals and playing outside. She's very attached to her Buddy dog and magically knows if we try to give her the "replacement Buddy". Replacement Buddy is the exact same as hers, however she prefers the "loved" one and the silly girl even knows the difference in the night time! The replacement one gets tossed aside. The one she loves gets dragged everywhere and needs a bath quite often! Right now he has pink/blue/purple streaks on him from the sidewalk chalk.

Off for now to enjoy my sweet family! Thankful for them!