New for School!

Today our family was getting ready to head out to Goodwill. Right before we left I decided to take a quick glance at Craigslist & scroll through the yard sale list. One immediately caught my eye. She had a long list of learning items! It turns out she is a school teacher & had cleaned out her classroom of things she didn't need anymore. I was happy to help her out. Lol!

Front of kit ~ BRAND NEW, never opened
Back of kit
This will be perfect for Bugsy this year!


We can use these for so many projects, adventures & experiments!

How cool to have one for each child & Mama too!
(Of course some for back up are always welcome!)

Perfect for Boo Bear's studies this year.

Princess already loves these.

Bugsy!

I'm looking forward to seeing what silly sentences he comes up with.

The flash blocked it out but it says, "Rhymes with pan". You flip up the flap & not only does it say "fan" but has a list of several additional rhyming words too.

Blank world maps.

A calendar for Bugsy & eventually Princess. It also has two additional posters of the calendar set up. I may use these for assignment or activity calendars. Hmmmm.........

Bingo chips. I can use them for Bingo, math, reading or even other games.

I've been looking for some quick, easy crafts & these are perfect!

Here they are out of the bag.

Elvis found 3 bags of play marbles. I bought one for him.

As we walked back to the car I realized I had better get one for Bugsy too! He wasn't with us and was happy & surprised with his gift!

I'll post my Goodwill finds soon!

Life Skills

A yard sale is a wonderful learning opportunity. The kids learned about organization, cleaning out, helping others, hard work, manners, pricing, negotiating & giving. Another lesson was money. How to make change, how to be a good steward, denominations & how to calculate.

After the sale & clean up I called Elvis up to our room where I was counting the money. Working with money is his favorite in math. I had it split into different denomiations and had already counted it. He was given the job of counting it himself. I checked his calculations with mine to get the final tally. He did a terrific job! He got them all right the first time with the execption of one. And that one he got correct on the second count. Go Elvis!

He proudly shared his totals & calculations with his daddy.

Yard Sale

Our yard sale 2 weeks ago went well. I think it may have been the hottest day of the year! The heat index was 116 degrees! We were outside from 5:30a.m. until 4:30p.m. Some of that time was set up & clean up but we were still in the heat & humidity. A shower never felt so good! I had fun meeting a lot of new people & helping many. We only had a couple that weren't friendly. We didn't do as well as some of our friends did earlier in the summer but still made more than we ever have at a yard sale. Yay!

I didn't get pics of the set up but here are some afterwards.

All these boxes went to charity.

It took quite awhile to pack everything up.

We piled the stuff on the patio that was fragile.

Lots of toys went to charity too. I was proud of the kids for giving away so much!

Tea Party

Saturday morning it was Elvis' turn to go to yard sales with me. The last one we went to had a huge free bin full of odds & ends. We dug out all these play dishes for Princess. Elvis found something for everyone! Elvis was proud to be able to bring gifts home for all his siblings.

One lump or two?

Stirring the tea

Sniff, Sniff....

The girls & I have been prepping for a yard sale. This week I went through Princess' clothes. I have to say it was a sad couple of hours. So many memories are tied into those precious little outfits. I did keep some extra special ones. I can't bear to part with all of them. But I put a good bit into our yard sale corner. So very hard....

All ready to go!

The folded ones, little things like socks & bibs and a sack of my clothes.

Hunting for Treasures

Everyone that knows me knows that I am a yard sale addict. I absolutely LOVE bargain hunting! A good yard sale can yield a ton of neat things and is like a fun treasure hunt. Plus of course it can save a ton of $$$ too! On Saturday Boo Bear, Sweet Pea, Princess & I set out to hunt for some gifts for Christmas. Boo was able to fill her list. Yay, Boo! I found a few little treasures but was getting doubtful about finding anything to really dance about. Then it happened. We went to one that was off our beaten path. I was so glad I did! It turned out not only did they have many things I was looking for but because we visited around noon they marked everything down to half price! I found my treasures-of-the-day at this sale! Whoot whoot!

I found these at the half price tag sale. I have been looking FOREVER for affordable prints for Princess' room. They were marked as $12 for the pair (a good buy in itself) but I got them for $6!


These were also at the half price tag sale. Also originally marked as $12 for the trio, (usually $10-$16 for each at Target), I got them for $6!!!! So all 5 prints for $12!!!! A steal or what?!?!?

This nice, big basket was $1.

A winter coat for Princess. Only $1.50!

These guys were 25 cents each.

I know I got more trains but they must be in another bag that is not pictured. These will be for the boys for Christmas.

These baby toys are for Princess at Christmas.

Total cost? $5!

Two of the toys are Lamaze toys too!

This & the prints were my BEST finds of the day. I have been looking for a dresser for Princess since before she was born. I found this in pristine condition. Half price sale made it $10!!!!! I was ecstatic!

The drawers were super clean & even lined!

The dresser & prints will be a part of Princess' Christmas gifts. It will be fun to decorate her room.

These will be Christmas presents too.

Trains for Bugsy & Bionicle & Tree Frog for Elvis

A little bug house for Bugsy.

Now he can join the big kids in their hunts!

In addition to the above I was able to find a couple of outfits for Princess for $2,
a few books for Sweet Pea at 25 cents each, a bag of stockings for Princess $2, a large bag of bottles & sippies for a $1, a Gap sweater for Elvis & a Fisher Price train set and tracks for only $4! I'm excited at these frugal finds! I am tucking most away for Christmas surprises. =0)

Living Room Picnic

Those of you that know me well know that I am a yard sale fanatic. This year due to all the work at home, the Open Houses & Dave being away I haven't been able to go. Last Saturday there happened to be one at the end of our street. Since i only had Bugs & Sweet Pea I stopped on our way home. Sweet Pea dug through one of the boxes marked "50 cents" and found all the pieces to a play picnic set. I thought this was a sweet thing to do for her little brother. As soon as we got home Bugs set up his picnic in the living room. I love watching him play pretend!

A Very Happy Picnicker

Goofing for the Camera

Setting Up

Chowing Down