Summer Barbeque

We had a summer barbeque earlier in the month and had a nice turn out. We grilled hamburgers and hotdogs and children played. We discovered a turtle that was laying eggs and guarding them--pretty cool. There were babies everywhere. We also had neighbors that were moving come down and inform us that they had hundreds of homeschooling books they were throwing away if people didn't take them so we all took a field trip up to their house and loaded up our cars with tons of books. (These were nice old books like Landmarks, Childhood of Famous Americans, curriculum, etc.) I brought some back for my brother as well. All in all in was a full, fun night.

Turtle nest

We all know Isaiah will be a football player

The kids playing in the house...it was a disaster zone but so fun!

The books I collected...still have to find a place for them.

Driving Like Mommy and Daddy

A man at our Church was having a yard sale recently and allowed us to come by early and "shop", I saw this little pick up truck to play in and fell in love...isn't it so cute? The kids can play in it for the longest time...they say they are playing "mommy and daddy"--notice Tirzah drinking tea while driving? Brett gave us quite a gift in this truck and we truly appreciate it.

Yard Sale Update-"-How to do it" article published

So for those of you wondering if I gave up on yard sale shopping the answer is no. I have been busy recently however helping a man at our Church who was in need of his house being cleaned out of kids toys and clothes. So I went through everything and put aside quite a bit that could be sold and have been working on that. It was quite a bit and so it has taken up a lot of my time and space. I don't really have any things left to sell except a couple items. We also have been busy the past few weekends so I have let yard sale shopping go...

However for those of you interested in how I do my yard sale shopping for free I wrote an article and got it published on moneysavingmom.  It has the details and if you have questions feel free to ask them and I'll try to get back to you.

These are some of the things I got to sell for the man at my Church...the Little People items sold crazy easy and I have sold about 3/4 of the rest of the things. 

This colored sand is a special item we were able to buy with our yard sale money...so glad we have some extra money to do fun things for the kids!

Field Trip to a Cave

My Mom has started to take trips out recently to do things in Roanoke with her grandkids and daughters and we have been trying to make it to the zoo. One day a couple weeks ago everyone got together and it rained so we looked around for something else to do and hit upon going to our local Dixie Caverns...so we all walked through the rain and went underground into some pretty cool caves. Gideon and Tirzah loved it and it was a great tour. We had a fantastic tour guide who was quite creative and funny. We learned a bunch and had fun.

Beth and Isaiah were part of the group

Mimi holding Gideon while he touches the wishing rock.

Wedding bell part of the cave

Fishing Date--why you should always have a Goodwill Bag in your Van

So I have made up a list of things I would love to do this summer and fishing was on that list. This past weekend was free fishing day in Virginia so I asked Joshua if we could do a fishing date and we was game! So we dropped off the kids at Grandparents and off we went to the river. I had dug up a bunch of worms but the river was quite fast flowing so we didn't know if we would have any luck. We started fishing and the worm wouldn't even drop with the water moving so quickly. So we saw a Dad with his kids and he said they had caught some fish. So we decided to move up stream to a quieter spot. Joshua started to fish (we only have one rod) and I moved down close to the edge with him...that's when it happened! I slipped and tried to grab on to anything...and then SPLASH!!!! I totally fell completely in the river, everything but my head went under!

We continued to fish and both wound up catching the same little blue gill fish--we threw him to live a longer life! We had so much fun. Thankfully we had a towel in the van and then I remembered I actually had a goodwill bag of clothes I was getting rid of in the van so I was able to change and be dry...

We finished the night by getting take out at Applebees of fish and chips and eating it by the river.

All in all a delightful evening and it poured when we were on our way home!!!

Memorial Day Cook Out

Sunday before Memorial Day my Dad came out with several of my siblings and we had a cook out...it was a lot of fun. They even helped me garden a bit before dinner.

 Matthew and Isaiah

 Isaiah and his Daddy

 Gideon and Benji

Cooking the food

Yummy

Miriam and Tirzah

Yard Sale Week 8

Well this week I was able to hit some good yard sales, I took all three children with me by myself as Joshua went to a work day and Grandma was out of town. So I braved the shopping alone and it was fun. I got them all out at three sales and two of them were a great success and the kids had a lot of fun looking at all the toys and playing with things.

At the first sale we went to it was right down the road from us and we got some great deals. I got a deluxe umbrella stroller that has a sun visor and pockets for $5. I got a bunch of good books for $.25 a piece. I also found a nice stool/chair for our computer as we just moved it into our dining room I got it for $5! I also picked up a couple cute singing toys and a puzzle and some clothes for Tirzah for $.10 a piece.

I also picked up at a second sale a train table with trains and wooden tracks for $20. I was really just intested in the box with tracks and trains but she wanted to sell them together for $30 so I offered $20 and my offer was received. I also picked up the cutest little weed eater and chain saw that make nosie and pretend work for $2.

Also I should start keeping track of everything people give us free at yard sales. As I was leaving the first one the lady asked if my kids would like this little guitar that plays music (like Wild Thing, Rockstar, etc.). I told her they would play with it so she just gave it to me...maybe so she wouldn't be annoyed by the constant music?? :-)

So I spent $40.50 this Saturday...most of the things I have just listed so I haven't actually sold them yet but this is what I am going for, I might lower a bit seeing how things go.
                                                                                        Paid                       Listed/Sold for

• Train table and trains and tracks            $20                             $40-50
• Tea Pot                                                $1                               $5 
• Cookie Jar                                           $1                               $5
• Umbrella Stroller (traded mine out)        $5                              $6
• Puzzles                                                $.10                            $3

Update:

•  Breast Pump                                       $5                                 $20
• Booster Seats (sold 2)                           $1.75                           $13

Dress Up Time

I have been picking up some dress up clothes at different yard sale and the other day the kids wanted to play with them. I was so excited I had three animal costumes. One even fit Chloe...it is definitely worth it to pick up costumes for $1 or less than to buy them brand new even on clearance...

 A giraffe that can climb????

 Dragon, Lion and a Giraffe

 Baby Chloe all dressed up, boy did she try to get the hood off...

 Roarrrrrr

 Gideon put this ensemble together himself, isn't he darling?

Baby Birds

Every year we have some little birds that make a nest somewhere around the house, this year they made it right near our back deck. We were able to see them build it a bit and then before we knew it the nest was full of baby birds. They have already flown away but it was cute to see  them all piled in there and then the Mommy on top of them!

9 month Chloe

Chloe Elise is doing all sorts of things these days. She is waving and saying "Hi", "Bye", "Mama", "Da" and pulling up on everything. She crawls really fast and eats all sorts of big people food! She is always hungry and she is still nursing. She still only has her two bottom teeth but they are so cute!