thrift store finds and honeybee tees

I have been doing a good job of getting to the thrift store once a week, most weeks. I deserve a pat on the back for that, right… finding random objects I didn’t know I couldn’t live without and blowing our miscellaneous budget on them each week? No? Well, here are my latest finds anyway…

First one of those little white Chinese lotus bowls that I always see stacks of at thrift stores…

I finally realized I could plop in a tea light and it would make a perfect white floral candle holder I needed to round out a display on my dresser for $1.49…

Then I also bought a small goldfish bowl. No, it is not for fish…

I had stolen one of these from a friend’s house when we were organizing and she no longer needed it and loved it for my ribbon scraps, but it got broken, so I was glad to see several of them available at the thrift store, and selected a smaller size than I had before. So cute. $4.99.

Then I took home a small gravy boat go next to my larger one in my display of white serve ware…

We actually use gravy boats a lot around here, but I stink at gravy, it is usually for serving my alfredo. =) Pour it on, baby! $2.99.

So when I went shopping downtown on my birthday I had it in my mind to get a new antique pitcher. I had a sweet yellow one but it cracked when I put boiling water in it to brew some iced tea. I like the old ones because of the real thick glass. But at the antique stores there were none under $30 and I couldn’t find a color I really liked, finding myself wishing for a clear one that was cheap…

And there it was at the thrift store for $4.99! Score! Made me some iced tea already!

I am in a fashion funk and keep feeling like I need some new jewelry, so I strolled over to that area and found this sweet vintage necklace…

I think it is vintage because it is formed out of metal rather than the plastic beads seen these days…

It is just the pop of color I was looking for. $2.99. I also picked up…

A great cognac elastic belt, perfect for layering over dresses and long shirts! I wished it had been a little cheaper (it still had the tags on and was only $14.99 to begin with), but it was new with tags, cute, and a Nordstrom brand, so I paid the $6.99. Still a good price for a cute, brand new belt. Like it better than the cheesier Tarjay one I settled for a while back.

Last but not least… Since Susie has discovered bracelets, I tried to get her a couple I thought she would like…

A Chinese elastic one that would actually stay on (if she didn’t immediately throw it on the floor every time) and a nice big bangle that would be easy for her to get her hand through (if she had any interest in it). What a little stinker. She prefers the links!

So those were my latest finds.

In other shopping news, if you read Darby’s blog, you know about her little business, Honeybee Tees.

I wanted to get some for my nephew’s baby shower gift, but had to wait until she restocked a certain tee…

I got the Canoe Ride and Off to the Bay tees (the Bronco and Land Cruiser (FJ) are favs of my brother and I, so fitting for his baby boy) and was really happy with them! I was totally pleased to find that they are made on American Apparel tees, which are the only t-shirts I like now, and the quality of the whimsy screen prints was really good. I paired them with my favorite OshKosh carpenter jeans for what I hope was a sweet little boy gift.

Also, speaking of American Apparel, I found a little secret… Molly Moon prints most of their shirts for their stores on American Apparel shirts (though not all of them). In American Apparel stores, the T-shirts are $20 but at Molly Moon, the styles that are going out are only $10!!! I might now own 3 shirts and one sweatshirt. And I still want the sweatshirt Leah linked recently.

That is all the random goodness I have for you today. Peace.

big kid bed and childish antics

Okay, so the newness of Susie’s nursery has worn off. Here is the reveal and here is a recent update. The original plan was to keep the walls gender-neutral so Mark wouldn’t have to be in a pink princess palace when he was playing in there, but I still wanted it colorful. I should have gone a tad more muted on the walls but I got over it. It was lively – I figured I needed to live a little. We rocked it for a while but it is time to change. I know, already. The kicker for me was really when Mark had a couple sleep-walking episodes and had to start sleeping on the floor in Susie’s room(he had been sleeping upstairs and dangerously close to sleep-walking down them). Moving things out of the way and putting his bed on the floor seemed to put the room over the top, from fun and lively to cramped and chaotic; see for yourself…

Pretty crazy, huh? Especially when it is messy. Can I just be a boring control freak mom for a minute and tell you that I detest toys that are sets of lots of and/or small pieces? They are horrendously messy and the kids end up spreading them all over the house but not so much playing with them as a set. Case in point; the kitchen. I have packed it up and am giving it a rest in the attic for a while. I shot some delicious pictures first…

I assure you the food she was ‘cooking’ was not delicious, but… Those might be the most adorable thighs I have ever seen. She loves her boots. With any outfit.

Susie has been lots of fun lately, in between our moments of intense fellowship. Have you heard of those? You have had some, you just don’t know it. In the words of Christian comedian, Anita Renfroe, “…we don't ever say ‘fight’; we prefer to say ‘intense fellowship’ or ‘spontaneous conversational-growth opportunity’…” See? You have had some, yes? Well me and Susie have lots. She has lately become quite the helper though, which is great, because asking her to help me with something makes her feel useful and she loves it and I love it when she is not screaming…

Look at Mark dinking around while Susie hauls in the slats for their bunk bed! One time she came in hauling two! She may have carried more than Mark. She was down to business, hauling them right to the pile and going out for more. And she was wearing a headlamp as a necklace.

She is already a little diva, and has also discovered bracelets…

Her favorite bracelets are those links for hooking baby toys to car seats and strollers. She discovered them all by herself and I don’t even wear bracelets so I don’t know what compelled her. You can see above, she likes the bangle look. =)

Oops! How did that handsome guy get in there? Notice that white strap around his neck? It is the apron I made for their kitchen, only he wears it backwards, as a cape. =)

Anyway, Susie has also discovered belts (don’t worry, Leah, these ugly ones were headed to the Goodwill pile)…

And shoes…

She loves anyone else’s shoes that don’t fit her and might cause her to trip or break her ankle (my new big-girl heels, for example), those are her favorite kind.

And she thought her Easter egg basket was the perfect purse…

Between being such a girly girl and having such an attitude… I am afraid she might end up on a Real Housewives show when she grows up!

But, she has also discovered dirt…

And she loves loud things; she’ll try to chase after dad when he is running the weed eater (of course I don’t let her) and won’t stop yelling and pointing at him on the mower until I put her on it…

So maybe she has enough Tom-boy in her to become a dirt bike racing champion! I’m not sure yet!

Anyway, this turned into a huge Susie update! That is my life these days though, so there you have it! As far as the big-kid bed goes, it is a low bunk bed, and as for design; it is certainly not ideal, but I have some painting and re-arranging coming up to try to make the best of it, and will certainly show you what I come up with!

my new babies

 

We got chicks again!!!  So I did my coop research, and the Logger approved me to go ahead with converting our feed room into a chicken coop, instead of the horse stall.  It is very nearly complete and I think it is going to work well.  I finished 90% of the work and rewarded myself by getting the chicks to expand our flock!  Yesterday we had a couple sun breaks so I went out to have a little fun with my favorite chick (at the moment), a Buff Orpington…

Haha, I think she was a little confused.

Nothing says spring to me like baby chicks!  I love it when all the letter-board signs on the Co-ops say “Chicks are in!”

I ended up with ten little guys…

I got three Rhode Island Reds and two Black Sex Links from one co-op and two Buff Orpingtons (the friendly, fat breed that I recommend to beginners), one Buff Wyandotte, one Barred Rock and one Americauna from another co-op.  I love these guys gals.  You would think Susie would love them, wouldn’t you?  We visit the coop once or twice a day so she can do this…

Throw shavings.  She is obsessed with the shavings.  She occasionally comes over to where I am holding the chick and takes one finger and gently pushes down on his little head and then squeals and goes right back to the shavings.  Strange little thing!  =)  And she wanted to wear that tutu, and then wanted to go outside and wear her rubber boots.  As Mark says, “Susanna gets ever what she wants.”  It might be true.

Lastly, I was a little late getting my eggshell grass started.  This is what it looked like yesterday vs. today (same spot)…

 

It is sprouting fast!

post Easter sugar high

 

…or is that just me?  Oh.

First and foremost- something awesome happened at Easter service…

Yep, the Logger finally got baptized… –again!  He was baptized when he was real little and doesn’t remember it, so he decided to take the plunge now, as an adult.  That picture may not be a photographic masterpiece, but it is so dear to me!  I was baptized in that same pool of water, a couple years before meeting the Logger, and here he is being baptized there with our little guy looking on.  With Mark so into his swimming lessons and going under water, I thought he might  jump in too!

On to the festivities.  I had forgotten how fun those first egg hunts can be for toddlers!  We had the family over to our house for Easter and did a quick egg hunt in the lawn (quick because it was drizzling).  You won’t really know it from the pics because I used Photoshop to add a little sunshine – I couldn’t help it.  I took wayyy too many pics of Miss Chubby Cheeks, so I will try to narrow it down to just my faves and will try not to narrate for you how cute she is in every picture…

 

Sorry, I tried to limit it, but I have too many favorites!

It was so fun to watch all the kids buzzing around.  There were quite a lot of distractions!  We finally had to drag them all in.  Susie was following the dog around everywhere he went… oh yeah, about the dog, he hangs out with us all the time so you will see him popping up in pics now and then, but despite the likeness, he is not our old dog, Bruce.  We even had to do a double take ourselves!  Mark was the most motivated one racing around to get all the eggs like a madman.  And Maddie was very interested in the cow.  We finally had to force them all to come in and remind them they had a loot to discover in their eggs.  We had candy, coins, dollar bills, stickers and verses in ours.

Well now that the kids are over the croup and I am over my sore throat, maybe I can stop sleeping in and start blogging again in the mornings! 

when the boys go racing…

 

…the girls go crafting!

The boys had their biggest dirt bike race of the year last weekend (as in a week ago; I am late posting this), so the Dirtbike Wives, as we like to call ourselves, congregated at my parents’ house in the wilderness for some lounging, crafting, gabbing and face-stuffing.   This trip, it was just Leah, Kristel and myself.

But before we get to that, many of you who read Leah’s blog know she has moved to California.  :(  We miss our friends dearly already but we know they followed God’s lead in going there.  I have to show you how cute my late going-away present for Leah turned out…

I struggled to get a great photo, but you get the idea.  I had it strung across my window to see how it was going to work out because that is what she planned on doing with it, too!  I was supposed to make one for her going away party that she could take with her, but didn’t get to it, so I had her go with me to pick fabric and made it in time to give it to her on this dirtbike event she and Eric were flying back for.

She also commissioned mooched this off me…

That is a case for her MacBook (?) and it was sort of a pain.  On the end with the pleated charger pocket, I was dealing with nine layers, one of which was pleated!!!  It has a layer of thick fusible fleece fused to each of the four total inside and outside layers.  And the other end had a zipper which I have only recently mastered.  It is safe to say I will not be making these for the shop.

And then for some reason, (might have been the tears) I made her this out of the goodness of my heart…

Now, these little zippered pouches will end up on my Etsy shop soon!  I still have to make more of them, but I have camera straps and tea cup pin cushions ready to list very soon! 

Anyway, back to our weekend retreat.  It was not a total retreat, since we had the little boogers with us.  By the way, watch my daughter (the tiny one in the middle) in this picture story…

What is that you have there, Lucy? Hmmm…that looks neat.

 

I’ll take that!!

 

Oh, do you see something else that I might like?

 

Whoa, you’re right, I would like to have that!

 

Don’t worry, I got it.

 

Thanks, Luc.

 

Lucy: Mom, why do I always have to play with that Mean Girl?

Notice Susanna already having some kind of fit in the background.  My oh my is she different than her brother!?  That was basically the whole weekend.  Lucy is 4 months younger than Suzie but pretty much the same size or bigger, so I am hoping one day she’ll teach Susie a lesson if you know what I mean.  Aaron, start teaching her to wrestle.

They had some fun times together though…

Then poor Lucy had to go home and try to get some better sleep because she had been up all the first night with a croupy cough.  Now my kids both have it.  :(  They had already had it a few months ago and I didn’t think they would get it again.  Oh well, I’m still glad you guys came with us, Kristel!

Grandma treated Mark and Susie to a movie and popcorn, which was a big hit…

 

And they thoroughly enjoyed getting in the way of all our projects…

As far as the crafting, there was a little of this and a little of that…

A tutu was tied…

Should’ve gotten a finished shot!  Kristel did good – it turned out so cute and puffy, despite Susie getting her little fingers on it.

My goal for the weekend was to finish cutting all pieces for the remaining 38 star squares yet unfinished for my dang quilt…

I am elated to say I finished all cutting!  More on the quilt later in the week.

Leah didn’t bring any projects.  You would think she needed a vacation or something.  ;)  And when I tried to put her to work putting letters on her bunting, she decided she wanted them plain.  Funny how that works!  ;)

We all made this little project using paint chips, though; even Leah.  It is so simple you don’t even need words…

My mom shared the idea with me ahead of time, from here.  I went and got the paint chips (like, wayyy more than I needed, I realize now) and the girl at the check stand questioned me intensely.  I evaded getting arrested.  The link used Behr chips but any chips will work depending on the size of your egg and how you want your stripes.  I know this because I wanted Behr ones but went to Lowe’s.  Oops.  Valspar would have to work.  We used her Cricut to cut out the letters and a glue pen to add them to our eggs.

Anyway, that was our little retreat, and a sweet and quick little project you could get done before Easter and for free!  I should be back with some thrift store finds tomorrow!