I losed!

I went home after work yesterday and the boys were in the front yard again, this time fully dressed (thank goodness!) We went in together and played "Don't Spill the Beans". My nephew is 3 1/2 and like most kids, doesn't like to lose. During most games, he'll melt out of his chair onto the floor and cry, "I losed!" My son, who is 4 1/2 is generally okay if an adult beats him playing a game, but mad and pouty if his younger cousin wins. So it's always a challenge playing with the two of them together, they are very competative with each other. We had fun though and there weren't any tears during the game, though when it was time to clean up the beans off the floor and put everything back into the box, my son made it into a race and we picked them up in record time. When there weren't any more beans to pick up, my nephew did his melting act and cried "I losed!" So apparantly he won the game and lost at clean-up?

I only left them alone for a few minutes!

We have a lovely front yard now. Easy Turf lawn, a huge tree that provides lots of shade, a pretty white fence all around. And my brother and sister-in-law just brought over a fantastic table and chairs set so we can enjoy the outdoors. The boys love running around in the yard so I wasn't surprised to see my son and nephew playing in the front when I drove up after work yesterday. What I was surprised to see was two naked booties! They were bare-butt naked, running on the grass and jumping on the mini-trampoline (for the love of Pete!) I got out of the car and my son, throws up his arms and states the obvious, yelling "We're naked!"
"Yeah, I noticed! Does Grandma know you're naked?" I scan the yard for the kiddie pool, thinking maybe she's just grabbing them a towel or something. Then I look down the street to see if anyone has walked past, but nope, no neighbors thank goodness.
"Let's go inside and see Grandma, okay" I'm trying not to make it a big deal, they are only 3 and 4 and nakedness is no biggie to them.
The boys run in the house ahead of me and I hear my mom squeal, "Where are your CLOTHES?!" The boys explain that they threw them behind a bush. My mom puts her head in her hands and laughs and says, "I just came inside after checking on them! I've only been in a few minutes!"
So we dress them up again in fresh clothing (their abandoned clothes behind the bush were covered in fuzzy things from the tree) and send them out to play again, with instructions not to strip in the yard anymore...Oh, boys! :)

Seasonal Outfits

I do love this time of year, lots of activities, holidays and events...more reasons to dress up the kids in theme outfits! I've been a busy bee these past few months, working on holiday outfits like a crazy woman and here are a few that I've made and are on Ebay. Click the link on the left to track them down.

He shoots, he SCORES!

My little guy had his first soccer game on Saturday, which also happened to be my birthday. It was over 100 degrees of course, no shade and those poor kids had the reddest cheeks and sweatiest heads after just a few minutes in the sun. But they also had the times of their lives, at least my guy did, judging from the big smile on his face as he chased the ball around the field!
Here he is in practice:


I love how they look in their baggy uniforms, hardly any skin showing!


Could these uniforms BE any brighter? LOL

The new bike

My son got his first "big kid" bike last week, given to him by my kindhearted Uncle Tom. I think Tom gets a kick out of my little guy because he's quite personable and a funny character, so Tom promised him a bike when we went to my cousin's wedding the week before. When we showed up at my grandma's house this past weekend for her 100th birthday party, there was Tom with the bike already assembled in his car. It's a cool bike with bright flames, something my son has deemed "sporty", the ultimate compliment in his book! (And I was so proud of my older guy, who showed no jealousy whatsoever at his brother getting a gift)

Here they are, smiling behind the sporty new bike

Would you like SMORE?

Click the Ebay link on the left side to see these auctions, modeled by the darling Vera and Alanna (vera*lana). The sets feature the darling Moda Smores fabric and each piece mix and match with each other.

Closing Summer

Time to close up summer...
We had our last Disneyland vacation last week, the end of our Annual Passes. We had such a fun year going to Disney every few months, I'm sad to see it end. My oldest went back to school on Monday. The little one is still at home with grandma and grandpa. I'll be working on his alphabet writing and numbers in anticipation of kindergarten next year.
Of course it will still be hot here for another few months so "summer" hasn't really ended for us. Closing with a cool picture of my oldest dunking his head in our water play table.

Mailing List Promotion

There will be a random drawing for new and current mailing list members. Click on the EBAY link to the left and go to my ME page to sign up (or just post your email address in the comment section here and I'll add you!)

Vegas Vacation

It's been nearly a week since we came back from our Vegas vacation...it went way too fast! Vacations always seem to take forever to arrive and then bam, they're gone :(

Since I like to prepare and plan, I had a daily list of activities to do on the vacation and surprisingly, we did them all!

Highlights from the trip:
Fremont Street Experience and trying to eat ice cream cones before they melted down our arms, while everyone in the street sang along to Don McLean's American Pie lightshow on the rooftop.
Driving down the Strip and getting to see the Bellagio water show while stopped in traffic, then having a giant billboard on the back of a truck with pictures of near-naked ladies and thonged booties right alongside us for half the ride. My mom finally shouted, "Enough booties!!" which sent the boys into a giggling tizzy, of course.
The really-cool water fountain in the Embassy Suites lobby and how cute my little one sounds when he says "let's go in the hot tub again!"
Going to the Ethel M Chocolate Factory and cactus gardens and remembering the last time I was there and the trees were just knee-high sticks in the ground.
Having the lions in the MGM Lion Habitat walk right over the clear tunnel and seeing the excitement on the faces of my boys at being so close to a wild animal.
The thrill of the boys winning their first stuffed animals on the CircusCircus Midway (even if the only person playing against them was me and maybe I just didn't try my hardest to win!).
Losing my oldest in the AdventureDome but keeping my cool because I know that he's really smart and that he's go up to a security guard for help.
The excitement of the Tournament of Kings at Excalibur, eating with our fingers and cheering for the bad guys because that was the section we were seated in. Didn't enjoy the giant explosion at the end of the show though as it resulted in a concussion and instant migrane headache and I forgot my sweater when I left, bummer!

In any case, it was action-packed! Enjoy the pics.
On Fremont Street, waiting for the show to start.


In the Ethel M chocolate lounge (isn't my bow so cute?!)


With the boys in the cactus garden

A WILD Halloween!

Just listed this wild and twirly Halloween dress, click the Ebay link on the left to go to the listing!

A Sweet Solution

So after I left the resale shop yesterday (see below), I was in tears. I called my mom and told her what happened. Mostly I was upset because I was counting on having money from the sales to use for the weekend. We are going to Las Vegas on a mini-vacation and with making the last payment on my divorce and having my sewing machine repaired, I was out nearly $500 this month and have absolutely no spending money for the trip ("hey kids, you don't really want to EAT on our vacation, do you?")
My mom reasurred me that it would be okay, my dad had set money aside for the trip and they would fill in with whatever we needed for the weekend. So...big sigh, I was feeling wiped out but okay by the time I got home from work that evening.

My little guy saw me pull up and ran to the fence to say hi. "Did you get a ticket Mom?"
What? A ticket? "No, I didn't get a ticket", I tell him laughing.
"Grandma says that lady didn't give you a ticket. You don't have a ticket for Las Vegas?"
Oh, he must have overheard my mom's conversation with me this afternoon. "It's okay, sweetie, we have the tickets for Las Vegas. We're still going."
He smiled coyly and said, "I have a ticket for you Mom, stay right there!" and then ran in the house. He returned a minute later, holding a dollar bill.
"I have this ticket for you for Las Vegas. I took it from my Piggy".

Awww, what a little sweetie pie! My mom told me later that when he heard I was upset about not getting any money from the woman at the shop, he went in his room and took the dollar out and told my mom he was going to give me the "ticket".
"He couldn't wait until you got home Julie", my mom told me, "he was so excited to give you the money".
Well, just that nice little gesture from my son really made a crummy day so much sweeter, that's for sure!

I should have just sold it on Ebay!

If you were a business and had a new store policy, wouldn't you make sure everyone knew about it? Wouldn't you tell people when they called? Wouldn't you post a big sign about the change?
I went to a children's resale shop today on my lunch break to sell a bunch of Ian's Gymbo clothes and shoes he'd outgrown. Everything was in a great shape, I washed everything, scrubbed the shoes with a Magic Eraser, no spots, no stains, all wonderful condition. I called the shop yesterday to verify their store buying times and what they were accepted. No baby clothes under 12 months? No problem, I took those out of my stack. I checked their website this morning and read over the policies again. They take 50% cash, 60% store credit. Sounded good to me! I clocked out from work just after 11am and drove to the shop.
It was packed full of ladies with the same idea. I checked in with the gal behind the counter (the owner I later found out) and she handed me the clipboard with the top two pages folded back and had me sign in and told me it might be a while. I wandered around the store, read the store policies again which were posted on the desk and wandered around some more. I noticed that some people who had come in after me were being taken first so I asked if my name had been skipped and she said that those people were selling equipment which took less time to review than clothes. So...on I waited. Over an hour I stood in that store waiting to be called. Finally! They took my two baskets back and I waited for them to tell me the amount. The owner eventually came out and said they could give me $52 store credit. Credit, no I didn't need the credit, I would rather take the cash. Sorry, she tells me, they aren't buying for cash on clothing right now, only store credit. I said that I'd reviewed their policies posted on the desk and online and it didn't say anything about only accepting clothing for credit. She said that with the economy, blah blah blah they had changed the policy and it was written on the clipboard and she showed me on the first page where it was written at the bottom of the list of sign ups. I said, "You folded that page back when you had me sign in, I never saw the new policy". Of course, by this time, I was getting emotional. When I get angry, I start to cry, darn it, so I was going to lose it big time. I was so mad after waiting all this time and now I was only going to get store credit for a shop with baby clothes (and you can't even use the credit for outdoor toys, probably the only thing I would ever buy there!). I told her, badly holding back my tears, that if she'd told me the new policy upfront I never would have waited so long, nearly two hours by this point. She asked me if I'd called before coming in and I told her yes. She said, "oh, they are supposed to mention the new policy on the phone, sorry I wish there was something I could do". UGH, you can give me the cash, woman!! In any case, I was so disappointed and upset by this time that I just left, my measly $52 credit logged into her system. She said as I was leaving, "Maybe if someone is having a baby shower, you could come in and use your credit that way!" Yeah, just what I want to do lady, give used clothing at a baby shower, humph!!

Last Back to School custom this year!

I listed this whimsical Owls custom, ends this Friday. Set includes the appliqued blouse and double-layer skirt.

Sweet Little Bookworm

I listed this great 3-piece set last night. It's super-twirly, as the darling Emily is showing! My Ebay link is on the left handside of the page.

Kiss the...Bacon?

My little guy and I went to Denny's for dinner last night. He had a postcard for a free meal from the Birthday Club. Thank goodness the waitress didn't ask about his birthday, I've been holding onto that card since he turned 4 in December! LOL
Since Denny's doesn't have his favorite broccoli cheddar soup on the menu anymore he decided upon the French toast sticks with a sausage and bacon slice. I am so very lucky to have been blessed with a fantastic eater. I've never had to cajole or beg him to try anything, he'll eat whatever is put in front of him and has a wonderful appetite. Let's just say he didn't get it from me, the Queen of Picky. But I tried from the start to offer him a wide variety, without fuss or pressure, and he's always at least taken a taste of something. He doesn't care for either baked or mashed potatoes, but that's about the only thing I can think of that I put on his plate that he doesn't really eat. For the most part he enjoys eating and always thanks us for cooking meals and readily cleans his plate.
Back to the breakfast for dinner...he picks up the bacon and declares loudly, "I LOVE bacon!" and proceeds to kiss the crispy slice, so silly! Then onto the French toast, sighing over each syrupy bite. After he was done the waitress told us that with the free meal he could have a sundae. He chose strawberry and when it came, he took the cherry off the top and has a repeat performance the same as the bacon, kissing the cherry, eating the cherry and then kissing the stem! Such a goof-ball! After a few scoops of sundae, he looks across at me and says, "I wish you would share this with me". Sigh! So sweet, and of course I obliged :)
Here is my silly guy, posing at the Sea World tide pools this past weekend. He's wearing a darling outfit from Carol of tictactogs. And yes, he'll eat seafood too!