I'm addicted...

Okay-I admit it...
I'm addicted...
to cute little pants and checked shirts.
To little zoo animals and footballs on shirts.
To little billed caps and stretch hats...


But for this grandma-to-be, my downfall is the thrift stores.
Once an outfit is bought and washed and worn it is used right?
And babies grow fast so many of the outfits are barely worn.
At thrift stores you can find Carters, Old Navy, Osh-Kosh, Gymboree, and other name brands for much less than new.
Add to that the 1/2 off color tags and separates go down to under $2 each.

Yesterday I was looking for some silk flowers and a little vibrating, rocking seat was only $5. These things are like $50+ new!
Today I went looking for a little shelf unit and found a shopping cart cover for less than $3.
New they are $20+.

and I won't even go into the cuteness on the clothing racks!

I don't think I will be buying anything else...
well maybe a little play yard with a built in bassinet,
but other than that gram's house has all it needs.

I am confident I can keep this addiction in control...
at least until I see another really cute little thing that is an awesome deal!

So very true...

“When you buy from a small home

business, you are not helping a CEO buy a

third vacation home. You are helping a

little girl get dance lessons, a little boy get

his team jersey, a mom put food on the

table, a dad pay a mortgage, or a student

pay for college. Our customers are our

shareholders-and they are the one we

strive to make happy. Thank you for

supporting small businesses!”

-Unknown

We sure appreciate all those that help us grow our business...

Gary and Karin

This and that

This is a very image heavy post, but fascinating...

Yesterday Gary asked me to drive him out to see the swollen Lewis river. We love to take drives together and since I get motion sick so easily I'm usually driving.

As we neared Battle Ground we saw huge clouds of smoke and I realized the controlled burn of the old elementary school must be scheduled. So we headed that way, there were a lot of people out and the school was most definitely burning. I dropped Gary off as I headed to find a good vantage point from the car. It was nippy and windy outside. I found the perfect spot and headed to let Gary know where the car was parked. As I neared the street, the heat from across the road instantly warmed me. Wow, what power fire has! As I said in my facebook post- Gary had his camera so here are the best of the images he took...











Wasn't that amazing?! We did go to the river too but Gary forgot to get those images ready for me...

Now onto prettier things-

Amy convinced me that we needed to rethink the layout of the craft cottage. So last week Gary helped us move things around. We had to make a trip to IKEA for supplies and then this week
she came and helped with the finishing touches. She is so good at that! We always forget the BEFORE photo though. Here are the AFTER-thanks Gary for the cut rate photography!

What you see when you enter,

most of which I already had, we just reconfigured it....

what I see from my crafting chair,
the boxes in the rack are new-I had a whole bunch of mix matched
plastic bins that you could see all the supplies(crap) through.

Lots of cute vignettes to look at...

the view from Amy's crafting seat...

You know Amy can only come on the weekends...that crafting seat can be filled by anyone who doesn't like to craft alone...hint-hint.

Journaling and classes

I'm fairly new at this process of journaling. I took the Soul Restoration class last year and did a lot of journaling. Mostly with prompts provided by the class. I searched my past to see what truths/lies I could discern.
I have signed up for another class with the Brave Girls that I hope will finally show me how to be at peace in the body God gave me.
but...I saw this class by Red Velvet and thought it would probably be fantastic. It's self paced, and they give all the lessons at once. So I can do one a week, or maybe one each day for 52 days. Whatever works into my schedule. It is really affordable too. They have ideas and prompts of what to journal about. Totally looking forward to their unique spin on things...

Post Christmas...

I guess I should say "since I last wrote," because the first photos are actually Christmas...

I laughed when I first saw this photo of me talking to Gabriele because of the look on Amy's face.
She almost looks mad that she isn't part of the conversation. When in reality she is looking beyond us and probably reacting to what is going on there.
Stocking time~looks like Gabriele likes how we altered the dollar store stockings.
My dad looks pleased with his anti-stress doll. Not that he has stress in his life but we thought he would enjoy the eyes, nose and ear things popping out when you squeezed it.
This gift is in route from China so I got a photo of it. The cutest necklace with an owl charm.
Nick and Gabriele wrapped up all the special clothes I had saved from when Nick was little and added a few new items for Amy and Karl to use with "peanut".
Laughing at how short the legs are in proportion to the big butt area~
Nick gave Gary tickets to go see Sherlock Holmes in the living room theaters.
Karl got a baby barbell rattle...can't start them too early I guess.
Nick and Gabriele have there own "you are special" plate...the tradition continues...
Two Francine Rivers books for Gabriele to read during her break.
Daisy liked her new catnip toy...for about 5 minutes and then she ignored it!

*****

After Christmas we got together with a group of friends for dinner here at the house and then went to the Eisinger's house for dessert and games. I loved the Barbie trees she had done. The big tree was white, pink and black with her vintage type Barbie ornaments...
The second tree was pink and full of the accessories she has collected.
We played a rousing game of Catch Phrase too. And took the name literally as we didn't want to get caught with a buzzing game piece!

I have done a bit of thrifting too~as always...found this little piece for Amy's nursery.
Got together with my Brave Girls to share December Daily albums...
and this weekend baked 8 dozen cupcakes for the Magenta Theater's annual awards program.
Oh my did I enjoy tasting these for quality control. Yes, I only tasted them but I wanted to eat at least one of each...
which brings us to the latest...which is an update of "the bump"...
only 14 weeks to go~isn't she cute?!

I bought this book and hope to read it soon-
and this class begins in a few days...I have grand hopes to finally come to terms and peace with the body I have and myself in the process.
Until next time...ttfn-K