~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life. ~
{pretty}
The weekend before last the three oldest went hiking with their Dad! It was the first time that Twinkle Toes had hiked this particular peak and she enjoyed it so very much.
Late that night I discovered this beautiful vase of flowers on my dresser which she had picked!
She is always so sweet and thoughtful…
{happy}
During the girls sewing class last week I took the rest of the children bowling! The boys had won four free games during golf camp this year and the nice gentleman behind the counter let Rose bowl for free as well!
Trying to imitate her older brother, as usual, she was hilarious to watch and actually ended up with the highest score of all!
In the meantime, Bud had a blast watching the “BALL!!!”
Oh! And guess who tried eating lettuce for the very first time on Wednesday night?!?! This picky picky eater of ours (who literally starved himself as an infant rather than eat foods he didn’t like) noticed that his little sister was enjoying her salad and decided to give it a try. He was pleasantly surprise that it “tastes like nothing!” The texture was still a challenge for him, but with the promise of a scoop of ice cream for dessert he finished a whole leaf of green lettuce.
Hip, hip hooray!
{funny}
Early last week (after splurging on a new bunk bed for the girls using “Bill Me Later”) I decided to have a Yard Sale! We live a ways from town on a dead end road and I wasn’t sure if it would be much of a success, but I figured it was worth a shot… As I was working on decluttering our home, our older children were busy with their own preparations!
From Instagram on Friday afternoon: I sell something for 75 cents and they wait for their 25 cents in change…. The kids sell a large bottle of water and 2 fudge brownies for $2.50, the customer gives them a $5 and says keep the change! Whatever. 😉
{real}
I tend to make a huge mess when I “organize.” This is what my living room/entry looked like early last week as I started piling up everything to sell.
The kids started to get a little nervous, especially when I decided that I wanted to sell the entertainment center and TV too! (I purchased the entertainment center for my apartment when I was single. The television was from a neighbor and the only one we have ever purchased.) We don’t have any television reception where we live, and have never had cable, but we do have a Wii and a DVD/VHS player. I was just getting so tired of answering the constant “can we watch…” questions!
I decided to have a two day sale and set up everything out front on Thursday. Sean had to work both Friday and Saturday but was able to put up (and take down) the signs all along our road on his way to and from work.
The boys helped me put little price tags on everything and we made a large “FREE” pile as well. (It seemed that everyone who found something in the Free pile would then try to also find something to purchase as well!) We had the same about of traffic (45 cars according to our tally marks) each day but Friday was the most successful with $305.50 in sales! Saturday I sold another $209.25. Then on Sunday a woman from Mass gave me $100 for the remaining entertainment center, TV, Bookshelf with glass doors, track light, and blue recliner, for an over all total of $614.75!!! The children also made $15.50 in sales from some of their own toys plus another $46.00 in baked goods and water!
Overall I’d say it was a huge success and definitely worth the work! Between the yard sale and what I already have saved in my Paypal account I have almost enough to pay for the bunk bed!!! I still have a basket of skirts (though I did pull them out for a couple ladies to look through) to list on ebay and am also planning to host another Online Curriculum Sale Blog Hop here August 1-7th for all who are interested.
It will probably be replaced at some point, but so far we haven’t missed the TV and the new question I keep hearing is “Can we listen to…” which I don’t mind at all! The boys have already finished the first four books of The Ranger’s Apprentice series and the girls are currently listening to Anne of Green Gables!
Visit Like Mother, Like Daughter for more pictures of contentment.
What size are your skirts? We have 8 girls and myself and we always need skirts and dresses. Any other toys or things you might be able to email me:) Save you some money with ebay fees:)
impressive yard sale.
I need to look through them again, but I think they are mostly size 6-8 (though they probably range anywhere from size 4-12). Over the years my collection has grown (since I have fluctuated so much in size with all the pregnancies) and I counted 70 skirts total. (Just a little excessive, right?!) I am determined to sell about half of them. I think I sold 6 or 7 at my yard sale for $5-10 each. I won't have time to get to it this week, but perhaps sometime this month I can take pictures to post. I'll probably list a few of the remaining educational toys/games in my curriculum sale August 1st! 🙂
Well when your ready I would be interested in your skirts:)
Will you share photos or thoughts about your bunk beds? I've been considering them for our girls too. Your yard sale is lovely – as is everything you do!
Mary
Looks like a great sale!! Wow, the most I ever made on a garage sale was $90, but at least everything was gone. Of course, I sold/donated 98% of our baby stuff in October and found out in November that we were expecting, again! LOL
Wish I could take some of the skirts off your hands, but right now I have no idea what size I would need. You just always have such nice skirts:)
So thankful for the Rangers Apprentice recommendation! We just came out of BAM with #5-10!! I asked him to 'pace' himself ;). Our boys are about the same age and I would love to know what else he likes to read!
Wow! Looks like a really nice yard sale. I wish I could have come to it.
Love the outdoor pictures of the kids.
Great! I will let you know!
I don't have much to compare it to, since I don't usually shop at yard sales and have only had one other one here about 6-8 years ago… (I think at that one it was just one day and we made $200 or so) I did have some bigger items that really helped (jogging stroller for $50, set of chairs for $50, toddler bed $30, etc). I went back and forth on whether it would be worth it or if I should just donate everything to St. Vincents, but I figured anything would help pay for the bed and I am so glad I gave it a shot!! 🙂
And I was very careful to not sell all the baby items! 🙂 I did sell one of the toddler beds (we had two) and a few other things that we either wouldn't need or would need to be replaced by the time God decides to send another.
Thank you Mary! 🙂 I will be sure to post pictures of the new bunk bed once it arrives! It is scheduled for sometime in the beginning of August! Rose has been ready for a big girl bed for awhile now (she is still in a toddler bed) but I think we might give the new bunk to the older girls and their bedroom furniture (which use to belong to my sisters) to Rose. We've also been considering putting all three girls into one room and then giving one of the girls bedrooms to the two younger boys. It's so hard to figure out what would work the best…
I keep telling my boys the same thing!!! — and then I picked up book one to re-read on Tuesday and had finished it within 24 hours. 😉
My boys are at a friends home today, but sometime soon I will have to have them work on a list of all their favorites! 🙂
I'm having trouble commenting on your Civil War lap book. Maybe it's me? Anyway, your timing is perfect for me! We just started the Time Traveler's Civil War lap book and I LOVE your idea of incorporating our Catholic Faith. I agree that it's worth the extra time and effort (and I have 7 kids under 14!). It really sticks with them and helps them make connections. Thank you so much for sharing your ideas. God bless your beautiful family!!!
Thank you, Amy! I'm not sure why it's letting you comment on one and not the other… hmmm… I'll take a look and see if I can copy your comment over.
That hike looks gorgeous! And looks like your garage sale did beautifully. I should have come up there and looked at that toddler bed! Sigh. Oh well, lol.