Ward Tailgate Party

Last Saturday, our ward had a "tailgate party". We were all supposed to dress up in our favorite sports team attire and decorate our vehicles. Our team was BSU Broncos...of course! This was my attempt to make our van look like Buster the Bronco. Ok, he looks more like a reindeer or kangaroo, but I tried. Unfortunately it was raining so hard that day, we didn't get the decorated car to the church and the party was taken inside. It was a little crowed, but still lots of fun. Our new ward is SO friendly and sweet.
GO BRONCOS!

Cute Lunch Organization

I think we should all do our kids a favor and teach them to be self-reliant. Ok, I have to admit...it benefits me also.

When Rylee was about to go into Kindergarten, I bought her an alarm clock. I told her that when it rang, in the morning, she should get up, get dressed and go eat breakfast. This allowed me to get a few extra ZZZZ's and not to have to nag her out of bed. The other kids are following suit, although it doesn't come as easily to them.

Part of this taught self-reliance is having them make their own school lunches. I provide the food, they make and take the lunch (hopefully not forgetting it in the fridge or on the counter). I was recently inspired by a blog I was reading, about how each child having their own container. So I bought some little crates, from the dollar store, to fit into our kitchen pantry. I fill the crates, at the beginning of the week, for the whole week. So they have to regulate how much or how little they use each day. Once their lunch snacks are gone...they're gone. (Although there are always less fun ingredients on hand like carrots.)

At first there were no names on the crates, so it was easy to "borrow" (or steal) out of one another's crate. I put an end to the no-name crates in a cute, crafty way. Hopefully it will cut down on the "borrowing".

Cute crates



I think Treyson's is my favorite. I like the colors and the buttons.

See how they fit so nicely in the pantry.

He called to me ALL week!

I have recently frequented, a fairly new home decor store in town called, "Real Deals". It's the kind of store that's in a warehouse and is only open 2 days a week. I saw this finial last Saturday, and he called to me all week, "Come buy me...come buy me." I had to wait until Thursday, to finally go see him. I couldn't leave the store without him, so he now sits above my kitchen cupboards smiling at me. I'm not sure that he's in his final destination, but he's satisfied to just be with me.
A tin star and tile also made it home with me that day. Lucky them.
I didn't get this at "Real Deals", but it is a recent purchase. I bought it from a lady in Nampa who purchased a vinyl cutter, with her sister, just to support their own habit(s). She only charged me $14! I think I'll be a returning customer. It's not necessarily unique, but I LOVE it.

More Hair-dos

Humor me please.

I'm having so much fun doing new things to Abree's hair, that I have a few more hair-dos to show. (Are you sick of seeing the back of her head yet?) She is getting quite used to it and is starting to expect a picture every time she gets dressed and ready for the day. Am I creating a monster? Here she is with her Hello Kitty. She requested this photo be taken after she brushed her hair and put a headband in. Next she asked me to take a picture of her with Arial (Little Mermaid). Two was her limit for the day.

Twisty braids
This was supposed to be a "flower bun", but her hair didn't cooperate, so we ended up with a messy braidy bun.
Pull-through criss-cross
Zig-zag piggy buns
Rag dolls.
Rylee has been begging me to try putting "rags" in her hair. With the Sacrament Meeting Primary Program being tomorrow, I finally agreed. Wonder how they'll turn out.

We'll see tomorrow...I'm sure I'll update you.

New Bows = New Hair Do's

Along with new bows (my new found obsession) has to come new hair-dos. So Abree has been nice enough to be my guinea pig. The first few are just my own little dos, the last one is one I saw demonstrated on this cool blog site. Here's the address if you're interested www.shedoeshair.blogspot.com. There are a TON of fun hair-dos on her site. Check it out.
Flippy, pigtail buns
Tri-braid flippy back bun
Criss-cross piggytail braids
Lattice pigtails

I love this one. It was easy and so cute.

"Moppet Togs"

What's this all about? What a mess!

I've been participating in children's consignment sales for the past 3-4 years. I sell clothing/items that my kids have outgrown or don't use any more. There are three different groups I've consigned with. They are all very similar, only differing in location, management and quality of items. They take 20-30% of your sales. (If you volunteer, you get 80%, otherwise 70%.) You name your price and tag your items. It can be a lot of work, but it's kind of fun and you can sell stuff, you would otherwise D.I. or give away.

I've been most loyal to "Moppet Togs" www.moppettogs.com. They have this cool system which allows you to enter your items on-line, at home. Then when you go to drop off your items, they print out adhesive labels and you put them on your stuff. The labels have the description you entered, price, your consignor # and a bar code. (So when things are purchased, all they have to do is scan the tag and it automatically enters it on-line. So professional. You, as a consignor, can look on-line during the weekend sale and see what has sold and how much you've earned.) It's so cool.

In the Fall, I like to put Halloween costumes into the sales. I purchase them on clearance, at the end-of-season, and sell them that next year. --I really should catalog and keep receipts to see how much money I am actually making...if any. :o) --I store the costumes in moving wardrobe boxes. It works ok, but I'd like to get something a little more sturdy and permanent.

I love Halloween costumes and dress up. (Although I've never been a huge dresser-upper and hate it when my kids leave dress-up everywhere and refuse to clean it up.) I have so much fun buying them at wonderfully discounted prices with exciting thoughts of the next year's profits. I think part of it is the season and part of it is the thrill of the bargain hunt. It's kind of a weird hobby, but I like it.

*This year the sale is September 18-20th. If you're in the area, you should stop by. It's located in the old, "Play It Again Sports" building, in the ShopKo shopping center at Fairview and Milwaukee. Come check it out.