Garage Sale-Thumbs up Thumbs Down

Hmmmmm, I did my first garage sale and the verdict is still out on do it again next year or never do it again. I can't give a firm thumbs down because I made some serious cash, but I did a lot of work for the cash so that is a thumbs down! It was crazy that the going items this year were my clothes and household items. I put a lot of baby things in and that was harder than I thought to let go. For example, I had trouble letting my breast pump go. It makes no sense, it was a machine that made me feel like a cow, get it out, but it was hard to watch it go. I think it just seals the end of a phase for me! Yet I love each new phase with the kids, every time we hit a new phase I think this is my favorite. Then we hit the next phase and it just keeps getting better and then I think no this is my favorite. I think all of it is my favorite, just learning that I have a lot of favorite things now! Just hard to let the little things go because I can't live in denial that they are actually growing up! I only have 13 years until Mason leaves our "clan". Seems like a lot of time, but in reality it will never be enough!

Black Friday

I hope I can score a deal like this another time, but this was a steal of a deal. Our dear friend craig that is craigslist really came through for us. I am a bit embarrassed how I found the deal, but it is a humorous story.

We were visiting Larned, KS over the holiday and the options for black Friday shopping are nil. We arrived on Thanksgiving Day and we heard that Wal-Mart was going to open at 10pm for some door busters for early early black Friday shopping. They had motorized cars on sale for $100. I was tempted to drive the 30 min to Great Bend to get Ellery one for Christmas, but I was really tired and Rob was post call and going on little sleep. Grandma Debbie offered to be my co-pilot, but I couldn't do it! We should have gone shopping because we ended up staying up late chatting. In our chatting moments we surfed the Internet for deals and were peeking at motorized cars for kids. We had the bright idea to look on craigslist in Omaha. I came up empty on my search for motorized cars, but I didn't come up empty handed. I found a motorized wheel chair for $150. This Jazzy Select Motorized Wheel Chair was gently used, we are talking barely used. This model is still sold in stores for $3000+. I am one proud shopper and Papaw is one mobile man!

Shopping Carts

Our little Bryson is growing and so is Mason. I can remember putting Mason in the germ infested shopping carts, first with the cart cover, and then into the "fun" cars after Ellery was born due to necessity. The cars that make our shopping experience more enjoyable. The dilemma of short term peace, with the possibility of a long term consequences if a germ is caught! I think the short term peace will be the answer for Bryson from now on. He LOVED sitting in the cart like a big boy next to his brother. The only problem is Mason is getting so tall that he doesn't fit so well! I still prefer to do my shopping kid free, but it is hard to squeeze into our schedules so my 2nd choice is doing it with 2 or 1 child!

Sucker Mom

We went to the mall with a friend to today to play in the play area along with riding escalators for fun. Mason gets a thrill out of riding up and down the escalators. We ended up passing the Build A Bear shop and I was suckered inside with my little Mason leading the way. He couldn't resist looking and touching the stuffed animals. I had a weak moment and let him pick out a dog and began the process. I was very weak and even bought the dog sound that was stuffed in his paw, it barks and pants. For anyone not familiar with the Build A Bear store it is quite the set up. First you pick out an animal, then you go to the large stuffing machine and stuff your animal. It is a huge machine and you can see the stuffing rolling around inside as they push the pedal and stuff the animal. Ellery was in awe while watching it move. You also get to pick out a stuffed heart about the size of a quarter, do a dance, kiss it and then stuff it inside the animal before they sew it up. Next you move onto the grooming station. It has a pedal the kids get to push for fun while they have their pets under shower heads and brush them. The next step is to pick out clothes for the newest member of the family, we skipped this part, but I have to say some of the clothes were as cute as little girl clothes. You then proceed to filling out the birth certificate. I asked Mason what we should name our dog and with no pause he stated "Hudson". This ought to make Rob proud. We then left the store with a beaming Mason carrying the rather large cardboard box filled with his new furry friend.
While doing this whole process I asked the associate how Build A Bear was doing in this economy. She informed me they were doing great and stated "parents are always willing to spend money on their kids". I told her she was onto something and to look at this sucker referring to myself. She then told me the store was a crazy house on the weekends filled with all sorts of suckers. I guess it gives me some comfort knowing I am not alone on the sucker train.