School time!

The girl's are off to school this morning and honestly, I feel a little lump in my throat.

Not because I have a hard time with them bein gone, I just feel like we weren't really prepared.

They both got new shoes but neither one got to do the American tradition of "back to school" shopping.

I told myself that it wouldn't be a big deal, we don't need to conform to the retail madness..... couldn't even if we wanted to ;) 

 Ava was pretty happy and she didn't mind that she had to use the A.L.F. lunch kit. Sarah wasn't havin any of the Roger Rabbit lunch box, however! She said "I hate old, mom! It's just old."
I didn't push it on her because I don't want her to grow up resenting vintage.... wow, did I really just say that?

 And she wasn't too thrilled with not bein able to wear her usual kimono, either. Sorry, baby, it's Daddy's new rule. What can you do?  

Oh, you can slump. That always seems to take the edge off for me, too. 

 But after all the wardrobe fuss (from me, too) ,

 as soon as we pulled up it was smiles all around :)

 And I know that they will be more than fine. 

I know that they will excel in everything they do,

 because they are so loved and treated as the gift that they truly are.

Welcome to the front room!... Part one

If you been around for the long haul or just caught up with some serious back log archivin' (I can relate!)

you know that our home was a miracle wrapped in a death throttle (ours).

When everyone was tellin us to move on and let it go, we just kept swingin. I haven't formally shared much of the details of our home but now that life's settling back down from some major drama, I'd like to do just that.

Our front room was originally the formal dining room but if anyone can strip the "formal" outta somethin it would definitely be us......

I got two people givin me little girl lunch kits tomorrow. If it falls through, my girl's will be using these for school on Monday and I will be nervous about it all day. You think I'm playin?  ;)

A vintage koala bear that snuck up on me. Collections happen like that.

Knock-off legos from Playskool that are very difficult to join. No wonder Lego came out on top!

My little Tupperware Eggster with all parts, he was featured on here back around Christmas right here.

It sure would be nice if I started learning how to "embed" stuff instead of just mentioning it, right?

Yes. Owls run amok here.

But it's not obnoxious Dollar General  owls. These are more" seasoned" owls.

And I break up the owl craziness with a sprinklin of random childhood fuzziness.....

These golden spines make me think of that Goodwill Geek 

There's WAY more than that around here........

This little baby looks how I feel right now with wisdom tooth woes.... Aint lettin it get me down, I have the wedding of the century to attend tonight. And yes, I got "the dress". Been sellin all kinds of my stuff, but I got that dress!

It needs it's own post,  it really does.

Hope ya'll have as good a weekend as I'm about to have!

Celebratin' folks

I don't blog like I used to, do I? It's not to build any suspense, I promise ;)

Life's just full of toothaches, recent family estrangements, financial tight spots and such.

But life's also full of really, really good things that are so much more consuming than that stuff.

Like my guy turnin 35! 

 I truly, truly celebrate this man.....

                                     And then a couple days later my sister Coley turnin 29!

 Delena was sweet enough to bring a cake for my sister's birthday.

We are broke and didn't get her a thing, just let her spend a week at our house which she claims "is an awesome gift!" Guess, we are pretty neat ;)

 What a beautiful, well made cake, buddy!

 You obviously put a lot of love into it and you obviously didn't smash it on accident. ;)

The girl's head out to school on Monday mornin and it'll just be me and the boy.

Kinda lookin forward to it :)

Polly .......

Went to KCM  resale for "the dress" again today. No dress but definitely not a bust.....

I picked up this box for $4 because after a little peek through the sides I knew it would be money well spent.

(and all the responsible people chuckled)

Yep. Polly Pockets :)

 And the girls were SO excited! But then they were SO mad when I wouldn't let them manhandle everything..... look at Sarah's Home Alone face, ha ha!

Seriously, these are not re-enactments, folks. These two were livid.

Here's a sample of dialogue that was spat at me during the whole Polly Pocket

 freeze out:

"You're mean! God said you need to share. To share for girls!"

"Awww, mom! I wish when I grow up I could remember that when I was a little girl you let me play with that box."

And I heard Sarah whispering "We're gonna make a clubhouse. So we can sneak that box..."

And yes. That is a real tear.

I also got this sheet set (fitted and top!) for $4.  I think an ebay seller must've died because there was some amazing stuff today. But $10 was my budget/all I had to my name : / 

(and all the responsible people chuckled again)

So now, in two trips to look for a suitable dress I have successfully spent my dress allowance.

So I will have to wear this sheet.

I can work it ;)

Soooo, I know this post is becoming tedious......

but later I snuck into my room with the box and pulled it all out.

 This is my memory of Polly Pocket....

 And this little one.
I actually remember owning this lip gloss one. But unlike this previous owner, I ate mine all up.

 Talk about some "rich kids toys" ! Like, I didn't even know about all these multi-level set-ups....

 And freakin ponies with hair braiding and accessories action?!
I should've taken more shots of the business inside but the girl's could have came in at any moment......

 Gabe came in but I allowed it.
He got a few hand swats....

 And a super bonus of Snoopy awesomeness was also in that box :)

A thrift haul on a HOT steamy day......

We hit up our Goodwill this afternoon, real spur of the moment style. I need to find a dress for an upcoming wedding but wouldn't you know it, I couldn't find a decent dress. I kinda knew "the" dress wouldn't be there.

But you know how it goes when you're goin with someone else. You gotta provide them with a "score object". I don't relate, but most folks need to feel buoyed to a specific item that they're searchin for.

So, the dress was in the scope but you better believe I was scannin all angles ;)

And I scoped some pretty good stuff for a little over $7.

 A 1981 Garfield dressed as a Canadian cop or Simon Pegg in Hot Fuzz (maybe not completely accurate)

 The miniature terrarium to end all terrariums!

 I can't stop buying any doll that speaks of Mexican heritage.....

 And I can't stop buyin cups!

 But isn't this one awesome?! And I'm sure that this part of Disney has been long renovated into somethin more Pixar-y related and I never got to go to this attraction and now I never will so at least I can hold this cup and drink a refreshing iced tea from it.....

Almost the same thing.

 Had to have it. It's a girl thing :)

 A 1985 Treasure Troll. Not a huge troll fan, but somethin is happenin to me lately and I'm kinda diggin em'. And you know anything small and unmarked you get for 49 cents, anyway ;)

I always act nonchalant when I ask the cashier for a price, like they'll suspect the weird little object I'm tryin to buy is actually worth somethin and slap me with a big number (irrational, I know) .

 And the BEST thing today! A Puppy Surprise!

 (another "rich kid toy" I always coveted as a youngster)

 And YES! This is the "Surprise"!

 Mortifying, disturbing, a whole heapin of way too graphic for kiddos......

 But it's all just nature, right?  ;)

 You know, one of the best parts about scourin the shops for all these little odd and random finds is the extended life of these things. They get a new post, I guess you could say. And I get to see my kids enjoy the same toys I once loved and dreamed about (who's the rich kids now, sucka!)

Toys were just better back then and don't even try to sway me. I'm just a stubborn fool on this one.

I don't see any inappropriate, mock C-section assisted birth toys on the  market for little girl's nowadays. 

Have you?