Trash to Treasure

My mom has been itching for me to post about this weekend. We had a yard sale at her house on Saturday. I know there are several people who read my mom's blog and my sister's blogs. Sometimes you get repeats. Sorry about that. It happened last weekend with Halloween and she decided she would give this one to me. It was kind of crazy and pretty blogworthy.

I have never had a yard sale before, but mom has had lots and always swears she will never do one again. She warned me it was a lot of work. Aren't moms usually right? She was this time, for sure! I don't recommend trying to get ready for one with young children running around. Some crying to be fed, others crying because they want their stuff back. There were a few moments of "is this even worth it?" Fortunately the weather last week was gorgeous, so for the most part we enjoyed the time outside.

The plan was for Steven to take Ellie and Luke from mom's house on Friday afternoon and have them until the following morning. I would stay with Andrew at mom's so we could get up before the crack of dawn to get started. [sidenote: That used to sound absolutely dreadful-to get up while it was still dark, but I have grown to look forward to that time of day. This is for several reasons, but mainly 1) because it gives me at least an hour of quite time without children and 2)coffee. Coffee and I started our love affair after Luke was born. I think I will definitely be one of those old people who go to bed when the sun goes down and is up before it rises.] Anyway, back to the yard sale.

So I managed to get in bed by about 9. Sooo sound asleep and mom comes in (who was in bed before I was) and wakes me saying, "Luke is throwing up" I was so disoriented. I could hardly figure out where I was, where Luke was and what I was supposed to do about it. I almost said "okay" and laid my head right back down.

Dad offered to drive me home. Sweet dad. And I have to brag on Steven. He had things very under control when I got there. Luke was bathed, laundry was going. Luke seemed to be doing okay, just very worn out. And Ellie seemed to be loving the drama at 11:00 at night. We made a quick plan B and brought Ellie with us and left Steven to tend to Luke.

I don't know about you, but when someone in our house throws up, my mind races to the worst. What are we in for? Everyone in the house is going to start throwing up within the hour. No one will get any sleep tonight. How am I going to take care of three children and a husband when I am throwing up myself?

Luke did throw up once more after we got back to mom's house. But I didn't hear from Steven again the rest of the night and I took that as a good sign. So after lots of sleeping rearrangements at mom's house (because I think I forgot to mention Ada and LB were there also), by about 11:30, I think the entire house was soundly sleeping again. A very short 4 1/2 hours later, mom and I were starting our day.

We kind of forgot to advertise, but it worked out so well, because apparently there were yardsales all over the place that day. We had a steady stream of shoppers from about 6 a.m. until 11:30 or so. While I really did not enjoy any of the setting up and taking down, I thoroughly enjoyed the actual sale. As you can imagine, after three babies, I am starting to accumulate a lot of baby stuff. Lots of clothes and I sold Ellie's crib bedding. It was hard. I literally watched the girl put it in her car and watched as she drove away. But I think it is in good hands. A first-time pregnant mom and she really, really loved it and seemed very excited to have it. Am I wierd or normal? I am okay giving most of my treasured stuff to others if I know they will love it or at least know that I loved it.

Ellie had a hard time letting go of some of her stuff too. Look at her face as she watches someone pick up something of hers and decide if they want it or not. She seemed to think that if they didn't want it, she could have it back. My rule was: if it's out here, it will never enter my house again.

Do you like her outfit? Pajama pants with a jacket, no brushed hair.

How do you like this contraption?

Ellie's baby clothes :( sniff, sniff.


Luke's bug hat.


Lots of coffee. Ellie included. I add about a tbsp. of coffee to their milk in the mornings. Call me crazy. But they love it! And personally, I think it's better than juice. Less sugar, anyway.

It was successful, I guess. I made about $250. Well, before I gave some to dad for a Taco Bell run. Mom took a picture of this guy at the end of the day. She said he looked sad, like nobody wanted him. Reminds me of the children's book Corduroy.

P.S.-I still have a great king size Pottery Barn duvet cover that I would love to sell. It is a neutral/cream/off-white color with a little embroidering around the edges. If you might be interested-let me know-annrbarber@hotmail.com.

There you go. I'm trying to recover. We stayed home from church today and Luke threw up again this morning. He was okay after that, he laid around a little more than normal, but other than that, has seemed pretty good. He's been telling people he "growed up" instead of "throwed up".

I'm wiped. Good-night!