Consignment Success

Who loves consignment sales? I know I do! When Ting was just a few months old the first Rhea Lana sale was held in our area and I went to check it out.

For those not familiar with Rhea Lana, it is the children's consignment sale that is really big in our area of the country.

Ever since that first sale, I have pretty much bought the bulk of my kids' wardrobe at each sale. I look forward to the bi-annual sale for two reasons.

First of all, my mom goes with me each time. We get exactly two nights each year that we can hang out together, have a real conversation, and just be together. Rhea Lana night always starts with a meal at Applebee's and then heading to the sale. We both shop for the kids and then divide everything up and each pay for half.

The second reason is the awesome deals I get on my kids' clothes. I try to wait and shop the half price sale each time so I end up getting an ever better deal than usual.

This year for Ting we got several pairs of shorts, several dresses and a couple of tops. All of the shorts are Gap Kids, the yellow sundress is Juicy Couture, and two of the dresses are Bonnie Jean. I also found her a brand new pair of PediPed Flex shoes she can wear in the fall for school.

For Bug we were able to get several sets, some shorts and shirts, and even a swim suit. Almost all of his stuff is Gap Kids. One of his short sets still had the original tags on it marked $49, and I paid only $3.50!!  I even found him a Texas Longhorn shirt - at an Arkansas sale! Score!!

This year I also consigned for the first time. Since we are officially done having babies around here I can finally start getting rid of all my stuff. I consigned several large items, all of Ting's newborn clothes, and some of Bug's clothes from last summer.

So, at the end of the week I came out way ahead. My mom and I combined spent $89 (yes, only $89 on all of that). My consignor check at the end of the sale was $286.




Karen Weido

Cousins!

You know what I love? I just love how much Ting loves her cousins. If you've been here a while, you know that my kids have three cousins. Nephew J is nine months older that Ting. Niece is nine months younger than Ting. And then Nephew A is a year younger than Bug. (My niece and nephews seriously need some cute blog names)

The cousins only get to see each other 2-3 times per year, but the love they have for each other is over the top. To see Ting get so excited over just talking to her cousins makes my heart smile.

Last week I got to tell Ting that we are going to spend a few days with her cousins during Spring Break. Oh my word; we can hardly contain the excitement around here. I finally got out a blue marker and marked the days on the calendar that we are going to visit. I'm one of those people that marks off the days at bedtime, so each morning Ting counts how many more days until we leave.

Tonight Ting asked if she could call her cousins and tell them we were coming to visit. Listening to her talk to them on the phone is hilarious. I feel like I'm listening to a bunch of teenagers on the phone. Ting was trying to talk Niece into talking her mother into letting them sleep together while we are there.

I even heard Bug trying to talk to them as well. I heard him say hi to Niece and the way he said her name was just the sweetest thing I've heard.

So we are officially counting down the days to Spring Break around here. I'm sure I'll have some fun stories to share when we get home.



Karen Weido

The Weekend

It's sad when you sit down to write a blog post about the weekend, and then you can't remember what you did all weekend. Haha!

Let's see...

Hubby had to work Friday night so the kids and I had an easy dinner and then a little movie night. We watched our new Hermie & Friends movie that the kids had gotten the previous week.

Saturday morning Ting and I headed to the hair salon. We both needed trims and a little pampering. We went to a new salon that was recommended by pretty much everyone I asked. We both got our trims. I got some long layers cut into mine so it can have a little bounce to it. I also got recommendations on styling products to help with that bounce.

Ting needed a trim and some shaping up. When I chopped it off in the fall I didn't exactly get it even but now it looks so much better. Our new stylist also thinned the back bulk for her. Ting has crazy thick hair and it seems like it takes forever to get all the shampoo washed out of it. Blow drying is a never ending chore. It seems so much better now.

Saturday afternoon we had our weekly Walmart run and then naps for the kids and me (yay for weekend naps!).  Saturday night I cooked a full dinner - I even used the food processor. That's big time folks!

Sunday just Ting and I went to church. Bug had a runny nose that wouldn't allow him in the nursery and Hubby wasn't feeling 100% either. We tried a new restaurant after church, and then came home for another round of glorious weekend naps.

Some playtime and night routine, and then we headed to bed to start another week.  We've got plans for Saturday so hoping this week goes by quickly.




Karen Weido

I Will Trust God {DVD Giveaway}

A while back we received our first Hermie & Friends DVD at our home. My kids immediately fell in love with it and have watched it over and over. And over. And over. And over and over.

When I received my Tommy Mommy selections for this month I was thrilled to see a new Hermie & Friends DVD included. Not only would we get something new to watch, but it was something that I knew my kids would immediately love.

If you haven't met Hermie & Friends, you need to check them out. Hermie is a worm who lives in a garden. He hangs out with his friends, other garden critters, all day and get an occasional visit from Max Lucado (he created Hermie after all).

I Will Trust God lived up to all my expectations from the very start. In short, it is a fun spin on the story of Noah and the ark. God tells Hermie to build a boat in the middle of a very hot drought. Hermie tries to get his friends to help him, but they all make fun of him. Of course, the garden floods and they all are pretty happy that Hermie listened to God.

My kids love I Will Trust God. Both Ting and Bug just sit and hang onto every word and move.

As always, Tommy Nelson is giving one of my readers their very own copy of this awesome DVD. If you have young kids in your life, you need to enter this for sure.

The entry form is below. All entry methods are optional - pick and choose what you want to do.  Entries close at noon CST on Saturday, March 8th. I'll email the winner Saturday night.

Good luck!

Entry-Form

Karen Weido

Random Saturdays

We had some beautiful warm weather. And then it turned cold again. I'm over it. Bring me Spring.

Hubby and I are always so far behind on getting into TV shows. We recently discovered Scandal and have been watching it almost every night. We caught up last night. That show is awesome!

My new beauty love right now is the Revlon Shadowlinks. Its so cool to be able to pick whatever color combination you want and then snap it together to make one product. Plus is stays on all through my work day.

We found a great deal on a fancy-smancy mattress pad for the bed in our camper. I'm really looking forward to going camping.

We have two festivals and a Spring Break trip planned for March. It's going to be a busy month, but I'm excited to get my kids out and have some fun.

Happy March!!




Karen Weido

Guess Who's Talking

I'm one of those people who never worries about anything. But when it comes to my kids I tend to worry quite a bit more. I guess that's what a mom does.

One of the things I have worried about so much is Bug's verbal skills. By the time Ting was 18 months old we were having full conversations with her like she was an adult. Bug has not been that way at all.

I have worried and worried about Bug not talking. I've read books and blogs and websites like crazy. Our doctor reminded me that he is both a boy and the second born. Plus his big sister never shuts up. I was informed by all sources to just chill out.

Then a few weeks ago Bug woke up and just started talking. Not just spitting out words, but putting sentences together and communicating with us!

So what does this kid have to say?

Every morning when I get him out of his bed, his first words to me are "want chocolate milk". No good morning, no hi mom; just a request for his chocolate milk.

After he gets his milk he heads to Ting's room, climbs up on her bed and starts saying "get up sister, let's go".

He is so proud of himself when he does something and then he runs around high-fiving all of us saying "I did it"!

In the mornings when I tell everyone to head to the van, Bug starts running through the house yelling "let's go sister, let's go".

We ask him to go get something for us and he says "I'll find it", and then when he sees it he yells "there it is!"

When I call his name from another part of the house I hear "I'm coming Mommy".

He is also fond of "I want a bath" at bedtime, "I pray" at dinner time, and "let's play" all the time.

He loves to sing and mostly makes up his own songs. But he does sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Jesus Loves Me, and Ring Around the Rosy pretty clearly.

And my favorite of all - when I do something for him or give him something, he tells me "Thank you, Mommy". It melts my heart a million times over.




Karen Weido

Festivals and More

We are gearing up for festival season in Arkansas and Ting and I are excited. Ting loves festivals as much as I do so we made a plan this year to attend all the festivals in our area of the state.

So starting next month we are going to start a tour of Southwest Arkansas festivals. We will hit up the Daffodil, Jonquil, Blossom, Watermelon, Purple Hull Pea, and Oil Town Festivals. And any other festivals that come up, we will hit those up as well.

Want to keep us on the festival tour? Just click the "festivals" tab above to get the run down of our fun.






Karen Weido