A Great Find!

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, I swear! I'm still around. I have lots to share with you, I'm just trying to get my thoughts in order. Not to mention my house in order!

In the meantime, check out these awesome blogs I've found:

Fun Crafts & More I could read this one for hours! Be sure to scroll down to the Pumpkin Rocks!

Poppy Lane I can't even sew on a button. Thankfully, she has an Etsy shop.

How About Orange An eclectic mix of wonderful ideas!

jcaroline Check out what she does with this Goodwill couch!

I will be back very soon, I promise!

I'm At It Again!

Our garage sale was so huge last weekend that we've decided to do it all over again!

What's shocking is the insane amount of even more stuff I was able to dig out of closets, drawers, cupboards and the garage. Where does all this stuff come from?

Ahhh...it feels so good to get rid of old crap gently used, quality items. If you want, I'll come over to your house and get rid of your stuff too!

See you in a couple of days!
Have a great weekend!

Tuesday To-Do List

1. Continue decluttering and adding to the garage sale pile for the second weekend.

2. Finish the dishes for Pete's sake!

3. Laundry (whites)

4. Deposit check in bank.

5. Drop off mom's group funds to the church.

6. Pick up playroom (does this really ever end?)

7. Help my friend set up her blog.

What's on your To-Do list today?

Sale'ing By

Is sale'ing a word? Well, regardless, it's what I've been doing these last two days. Garage sale'ing, that is.

Some friends and I decided we had too much crap gently-used quality items cluttering up our homes so we banded together to pass along our treasures to some other fine folk in exchange for their hard-earned pocket change.

It was, by far, the largest garage sale I've personally ever been a part of. There were seven of us total participating in The Purge and that made for a lot of crap gently-used quality items strewn about the garage, drive-way, lawn and 1/3 of the neighbor's drive-way. There was so much stuff that when we started sorting through it the previous night we realized there was no way all of this was going to fit in the garage for the evening. We ended up leaving it out the entire night while Anita and I slept on her pull-out in the front room with the window open.

You never know when someone might come along at 2 a.m. to steal your case of 80's music cassettes, worn bowling shoes or Chicken Dance Elmo. Seriously, you never know.

Another view:
You can't see it, but the garage is full of crap gently-used quality items, too.

Our two junior entrepreneurs (ages 9 & 5) cooked themselves up a little sidewalk cafe with the help of their dad who handled the burrito making. After two days, the girls made $35.00. Not bad, huh?

Here's Friday morning crew taking in the morning sun along with the fresh scent of other people's cash and fresh breakfast burritos.

I don't know how they did it but all three of these women looked stinkin' cute at 6 a.m. It's not fair, I tell you. Not fair! I was at no time cute these last two days but "stinkin'" would sum me up pretty accurately. I had that garage sale "aroma" about me. You know the one.

All in all, we did excellent. Our entire garage sale pulled in over $900 with my take being a whopping $265! That's a lot of crap gently-used quality items I managed to pass off to some fine folks.

And that, my friends, does not stink!

What I'm Doing.

Okay, I've been a little bit AWOL. Sorry about that. After my Savvy Mommies weekend where I volunteered for two 4-hour shifts, shopped more than once and manned the M.O.M.S group table for my church for two hours, I took a much needed break.

Check out the local news spot about Savvy Mommies here.

My dogs were barking! So much so that my dear, sweet, foot-phobic hubby actually gave me a foot massage. God bless that man!

Now I'm concentrating on the multi-family garage sale I'm having with a few friends this weekend. Since me, hubby and the real estate market have decided we need to down-size, there is a lot of stuff that won't be making the move with us.

A LOT:

That doesn't even show what's in the garage. What's in the garage you ask? Well, let's just say that it's a three-stall garage but only two cars fit in there.

I'll be taking pics of the event to blog about later because I know y'all are just dying to hear about it.

You know, like your dying to hear about how I clipped my toenails last night. Sorry, no pictures of that.

To-Do List Tuesday

1. All Savvy Mommies clothes into the wash!

2. Hang up & tag Savvy Mommies clothes that don't need to be washed. (half-way done)

3. Church MOMS group paperwork/emails.

4. Make arrangements for babysitter for Friday evening. (working on it)

5. Clean playroom. (don't see this happening)

6. Grocery shop.

Just a short list for me today since #1 & #2 are HUGE!!! Pray for me that I get it all done, would ya?

What's on your list today?

A Great Find!

There's nothing quite like finding an awesome blog post somewhere and posting a link to it from your own blog. Makes this whole blogging thing much easier!

Here is a great craft that even the kiddos would enjoy!

Marble Magnets from NotMartha.org.

Check out her How To Make Stuff section while you're over there.

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Also, if you haven't had the pleasure of reading Ree's blog, Confessions of a Pioneer Woman, then you have been missing out. Easily one of the best blogs out there. I highly recommend reading her true life love story - Black Heels to Tractor Wheels. She's not kidding when she recommends having a cold shower handy. It's a hot one!

Oh, and she cooks, too!

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Looking for some great Halloween ideas? Check out this post over at TipNut.com

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My friend, Andrea, has something going on in Sedona, AZ this week but you have to leave a comment on her blog to find out what it is. Check her out at Yoga For You!

Have a great Monday everyone! And don't forget about those To-Do Lists tomorrow!

Super Savings Saturday

I didn't do much shopping this week but still managed to grab a few deals.

CVS clearance:
Hannah Montana umbrella: 90% off. Paid .69 cents!
Pink paisley purse: 75% off. Paid $3.25
Celine Dion perfume: 50% off. Paid $5.99

Goodwill find:

I found the Cars racetrack tower at Goodwill for $1.99. I saw it in Walmart a few days later for $21.00! What a steal!

Garage Sale goodies:

Cute cottage chic rose print pillow: $1.00. I'm wondering what I could get for this on ebay.

My snowman addiction:

I love snowman and I love decorative boxes so I was thrilled to find this set in excellent condition for $10.00. The lady was asking $15.00 but took my offer because her friend (who was actually selling the boxes) wasn't there to say otherwise. Yay!

See how everyone else scored this week at MoneySavingMom.com!

Don't Worry, Pee Happy

Awhile back someone asked me if I was worried that my son, who was running around naked at the time, would pee on the floor. No, I wasn't worried about it. I expected it. That's not to say I was looking forward to it or enjoyed the clean-up after. No, it's just that when you let an otherwise diapered child run around naked, you should really expect the undesirable to happen.

So why not just avoid the hassle and slap a diaper on the boy? Well, in all honesty, he simply enjoys being naked. I mean, really, who doesn't? There's nothing quite like a cool breeze across a pair of naked buns, wouldn't you say?

Oh, that's just me then, is it? Ah-huh, riiiiight. Don't admit it then, that's okay.

Chicken.

The reality is, moral standards and current decency laws only allow running around "nakey" (as we like to call it) for a very short period of time in one's life. I say, let 'em enjoy it while they can. There are so few freedoms allotted to those under the age of three, why not let them have this one harmless, though sometimes messy, freedom?

I've even made up a song for The Boy's "Nakey Time":

sung to the tune of Mr. Sandman

Mr. Nakey-man

Those buns I adore

But don't you, please, pee on my floor

Not on the tile

Or on the carpet

'Cause Mommy doesn't like it

When you get her things wet.

Mr. Nakey-man

Go ahead and toot

But don't let nothin' else

Come out of that chute

Nothing icky, black or brown

'Cause poop on the floor

Makes Mommy frown

Have You Seen This?

To-Do List Recap

Although I didn't clear everything off my list yesterday I still have to say not half bad.

In addition to the items on my list, I also hosted a 3 hr Bible study and started organizing a possible six family garage sale for the weekend after next. So, like I said, not half bad.

Today, however, getting the mattress set on Craigslist and getting London to make a thank you card top the list. As well as continuing work on my Savvy Mommies stuff.

I hope the rest of you have a productive day as well!