Things I never thought I would say as a mother...

Wow, this week was a funny week. There are a few phrases that I said that I never thought would come out of my mouth.

Here are my 2 favorite ones...

1. Parker, can you please put away your gun?

2. That's right Andrew, we don't put poop in our mouth and eat it.

I'm sure that I'll think of some more things I've said, and I'm sure this is not the end of the never-thought-I'd-say-that communication.

I would love to hear yours. Leave me a comment.

My family all went to the park for dinner one night last week, and being the competition type, my husband decided to show everyone this yoga move and see how many of his sisters-in-law could do it with him. This is how it went down. (or maybe I should say up!)

(left to right - my sis Natalie, hubby Jeff, sis Emily, sis-in-law Wendy)

My sister Natalie stayed in for a short time, but still came down first. Emily and Wendy never even made it up to the full headstand. Jeff, of course, was so happy that he could hold the pose the longest.

Oh what do you do in the summertime - when all the world is...wet?

We just had a rainy day awhile back that would have put me in the nut-house - well, if it weren't for these empty boxes I had laying around.

So, what did they do - made BOX CARS!

My kids totally had the greatest time ever with these boxes. It was a total Mastercard commercial (you know, the ones where they get the best toy, the best book, and all the kid wants to do is play with the cardboard box it came in - priceless)

The car turned into the robot, you see. (Can you tell he was excited about going to see the new Transformers movie later that week?)

Garage Sale Succes!

Now, most of you may not usually see blog posts about garage sales. But, this one might peak your interest.

See, I had a garage sale this past weekend, along with my sister and a friend. Together we filled 10 tables, had 4 canopies (because it poured rain!), and put numerous boxes, storage containers and items under all 10 tables. We even had a separate hanging apparatus for the adult clothes for sale. Plus there were 3 desks, 7 office chairs, 3 lamps, 5 bookshelves, and 3 computers. And it all fit into a 3 car garage! It was truly amazing.

The best part of the story is how much we made –
Together we made over $1200!!!!!

And I took a good chunk of that change home with me - $848.25 of it, to be exact. Wow, huh?

I've had several people ask me how I could have made that much money. After much thought, I have decided to share of few of my tips.

First, here is my disclaimer (sorry, I'm married to a law school graduate):
I have had a garage sale every year for the past 8 years, and have made $200-$400 each year. This year was a little different in the fact that we had some office furniture from our magazine business that brought in quite a bit more money than I would have made usually.

This is a long post, so you can come back to read later if you need to. I'll understand.

• There are 2 parts.
  
  PART 1
  
  Preparing for a garage sale:
  
  
• Go thru EVERYTHING in your house. I mean everything – from your kid’s toys and clothes, to your bathroom and linen closet. From your garage to your storage unit/shed. From your kitchen to your home office. This process will take you at least a month. Pick a day to go thru one space. You should allot at least 2-3 hours per space. If you try to do it all in one day, you won’t get it done, and then your house will just be a mess.
  
• Place your garage sale items in storage bins. When you go thru each space, place a storage bin next to you. This will be easy to know what you are planning on selling, and easy to transport and store until your sale.
  
• Make a commitment that you will be honest with yourself. If you have multiples of it, sell it. If you haven’t worn it in the last year, sell it. If you haven’t used it in the last year, sell it. If you haven’t seen it in the last year, SELL IT!
  
• Price your expensive things online. If you have something that is worth more than $20, look it up online and print out what you find. Then keep your papers with that item when you price it for the sale. Also, you could go a little lower on the price to show that you are giving the shopper a good deal. It’s always handy for the shopper to see that it’s really worth more than what you have priced it at with an Ebay printout.
  
• If you think that someone won’t buy it, you’re wrong. Garage sales are funny events. I’ve had items at garage sales that I thought were so dumb to have there, and someone bought it in the first hour! I’ve also had things that I thought would FOR SURE sell, and they ended up being donated. My rule of thumb is this – if you don’t want it anymore, put it in the sale. You never know what people are looking for – and you can always donate anything you don’t sell.
  
  Part 2 – Garage Sale Do’s and Don’ts
  
  Here are the do’s for the garage sale itself:
  
  
• Do place ads anywhere you can. Newspapers, Craig’s list, thrifty penny, etc. Get the best deal that your money will buy. You want a lot of people to come, and if they don’t know about it, chances are they aren’t going to just drive by. A good visible ad will catch their attention, and bring in money.
  
• Do invite neighbors to join in. You can organize it by street or subdivision. The more people holding sales, the more buyers you can attract. Give them plenty of notice (like a month). You can always split the cost of advertising too.
  
• Do put up directional signs. Place these at least 2 days before your sale. If it’s a subdivision sale, place the signs at least 5 days early. For a personal sale, you’ll want a sign at your main entrance, and then a sign at every crossroad that buyer would drive by. It should direct them to your house! One of my pet peeve’s is entering a subdivision and then not knowing where to go. Ugh! Make sure you put dates and time too. No one likes to search for a sale that was last weekend.
  
• Do use tables. Most people will not get on the ground to search thru stuff on a blanket. If you don’t have enough tables, at least flip boxes over or use storage bins with the lid on. It’s a lower version of a table, but it’s more appealing to the shopper. If you want to rent tables, they are usually pretty cheap at your local party or event rental store.
  
• Do put a price on everything. It’s a lot easier for the shopper to shop if they see a price on it. If you’re not sure about the price for an item, write down your best guess for what you might pay for it if you saw it at a garage sale. Then if you see someone looking at it, tell them that you’ll take less if they really want it.
  
• Do have a FREE box. I’ve seen a garage sale where stuff is marked at 5 cents. It’s not worth it! There is usually a lot of junk we collect – fast food toys, miscellaneous odds and ends that are not worth the time to price. Dump them into a box and make a sign on the front that reads FREE.
  
• Do have a money box/bag and change. Many people will stop by the ATM on the way to do their garage sale-ing. I’ve seen people come to me with 20’s, 50’s, even 100’s at my garage sales. Stop by your bank the day before and get at least $100 in change – dimes, quarters, ones, and fives. Remember to subtract that out when it comes time to figure out how much you earned.
  
• Do greet people as if they are coming to your “store”. They are a customer, and a friendly face can win them over far more than a good deal.
  Have grocery sacks for multiple items. We all have a ton of the white plastic sacks we don’t use, so get rid of them here. Offer your shopper a sack for their goodies.
  
• Do negotiate! People love a good deal – why do you think they are out garage sale-ing? If they ask you if you’ll take a lower price, make a deal with them. If you think it’s too low, go up a little from their offer. If it’s reasonable – say “Sure!”
  
  
  Some don’ts for your sale:
  
  
• Don’t put anything out for sale that is less than 10 cents. If it’s worth less than that, put it in the free box. You can always bag a bunch of little toys and mark the bag for 25 cents.
  
• Don’t leave your money unattended. You might think that this is a no brainer. But you can get carried away - especially when there are a lot of people at your sale. You might be talking to someone, or welcoming them, negotiating or rearranging items on a table. No one wants to have their money stolen. Keep it in your hands or stand by it at all times.
  
• Don’t argue over a price. If you are negotiating, be pleasant. You want them to buy your stuff, so it’s best to keep your happy face on!
  
• Don’t let your stuff come back into your house. If you don’t sell the item at the garage sale, don’t keep it. Take your stuff right to Good Will, Deseret Industries, Savers, etc. right after your garage sale.
  
• Don’t get discouraged. A garage sale takes a lot of time to put together, but it can be well worth it. It’s a good feeling to make money and cleanse your space at the same time! Remember, a clutter-free space is a clutter-free mind.
  
  Send me some of your stories or tips that you have found to work.
  To your garage sale success!

Andrew's candy search

Ok, we have been potty training with absolute great success for a week and a half. Only one accident to date. Wahoo!

I've been giving Andrew a treat whenever he goes potty on the toilet. I know, you are supposed to give them stars or stickers, or whatever, but this is what's working. So be it.

So the other day, I came downstairs to find a chair next to the counter and this in front of it...

This is a picture of a partially chewed Viactive calcium chew from my vitamin cabinet. He obviously didn't like what he had tasted and just left it there.

Then, I went into the play room to see where Andrew had gone. And this is what I found...

This is Andrew fast asleep with the SweetTarts candy in hand. The funny thing is that he hadn't eaten any of the already-opened package. He just couldn't wait to get candy, but then he was too tired to eat it!

The Grass is greener on the other side……………..….or is it?

This phrase we use so commonly about the grass being greener on the other side can sometimes make complete sense. We have a well on our property for our sprinkler system, and in the spring we have to have professionals come and “turn on” our water system before we can use our sprinklers. Before this happened in late April, the weather was nice with some extremely warm days. Our lawn was starting to get some brownish spots to it. I would look in envy at our neighbor’s yards and see how nice and green their lawns were; no brown spots, no weeds. It appeared to be that the actual grass was, in fact, greener.

Back in high school, all I wanted to do was make the cheerleading squad. Did you ever watch the cheerleaders as they hung out in the hallways, in their cute skirts and long blonde ponytails, talking with friends and cute boys? Did you ever study them at the games while they cheered and yelled for their team to “shoot that ball!” or to block their opponent by screaming “defense!” ? They always looked like they were having so much fun. They were always surrounded by people, and were well liked by everyone. And I just wanted to be a part of that. Their “grass” looked so much greener.

In my high school, there were usually more than 75 girls who spent a week in late May learning and practicing a dance routine, yelling cheers and chants, perfecting jumps, turning cartwheels, and if you were really good, throwing a back handspring or two. It all came down to 2 sets of “competition.” The first being in front of a panel of judges, composed of teachers at the school, as well as the cheerleading coaches. They were there to critique your every move – strong arms, straight legs, loud words, and high jumps. They were going to pick a total of 16 out of the original 75 to go onto round 2. Imagine a huge high school gym, a table at center court, 5 chairs occupied by your teachers, and you – all by yourself in front of them yelling at them to “B – E – Aggressive!” It was nerve racking. And the odds were stacked against you.

Funny thing however, every year that I tried out, I ALWAYS made it past the judges into round 2.

This is where it got difficult.

Round 2 was in front of our peers – on stage, at an assembly, with everyone getting a chance to vote afterward. Only a total of 8 Varsity cheerleaders would be chosen. We would perform our same dance, same cheers, and same jumps. Then the student body would go back to their classrooms and cast their ballets. All 16 of us would be called down to the office and they would tell us the outcome before they announced if over the P.A. system to the rest of the school. This is where I NEVER got enough votes. I was always 1st or 2nd runner up….which basically meant squat!

(I know, this isn't a picture of me, mine are in storage somewhere. Plus, I have better hair!)

Until my junior year. During Christmas break, one of the Varsity cheerleaders decided to quit the squad. You can imagine my utter shock and surprise when the cheer coach called me and informed me that I was to take her place. No way, is this a joke? Is this real? Oh my gosh! AAAAAHHHHH!! One of the cheerleaders came to my house and taught me all the chants and cheers in an afternoon cramming session. In January, I showed up to school with my cute skirt on, and my blonde hair in a ponytail. And just like that, I was one of “them.” I felt good, I was well liked, and I was on the “greener” side.

It’s amazing what you can find out once you are on the other side. I started to see how these girls acted outside of school. It wasn’t the image that I had studied in the hallways. I saw the girls in whole new light – and it wasn’t green. It was an atmosphere that I started to dislike and was glad when it was finally over.

What I learned about my brief experience as a high school cheerleader - while the grass may seem greener for now, once you get into it, it could be full of bugs that just eventually turn it brown later.

I didn’t try out for the cheer squad my senior year. I had bigger and better plans coming my way.

BTW, my neighbors' grass is turning a little brown.

Airing the laundry

Have you ever had a day where you are just going along and in the middle of something a strange thought enters your head?

Today was one of those days for me.

I was folding the laundry this morning, namely socks. My husbands’ socks, actually. (I know, a little June Cleaver-ish, but it’s a good thing)

I noticed that there were more white socks than there were dark dress socks. Now, normally I wouldn’t care how many or of what color his socks are. But then I realized why this was the case.

Last weekend, Jeff got to go on a “guys” weekend to Bend Oregon to play golf. I’ll have you know that it’s been a really long time since he has done anything like this with just the guys. And of course, he wore white socks all weekend. (I would hate to picture him wearing dress socks with his golf outfit!)

It made me smile to think about him hanging with guys, talking trash about each others’ golf game, most likely burping and farting to their hearts content, with a little movie trivia thrown in for good measure. He came home refreshed and happy.

SUDDENLY
(that was my AH-HAW moment)
I realized what this soon-to-be parable was about.

We need to have a balanced set of white and dark socks in our laundry!
(What???)

Yep, you read it right.

Think about this - what kind and color of socks do you wear when you have an office meeting, go to church, meet with an important client, or go on a nice date?

What kind and color of socks do you wear when you work out, go to the park with the kids, go golfing, or working in the yard?

Here’s the parable - If you have a balanced number of white socks to your dark dress socks, you are most likely leading a balanced life. AH-HAW!!

We work hard. But we should also play hard. A balanced life is so necessary during these times. We need to take back the simple things in life. We need to refocus our energies into what is good and pure and makes us happy.

Seize the day – and go balance your laundry!

Just a few of my favorite pictures from these last 2 months

An inch taller and we wouldn't have this pic!

The sisters-in-law - after we each received our own temple packet made from my mom's wedding veil.

I wonder who instigated this event.

Root, Root, Root for the Daaahh - jers! (Dodgers, if you didn't get that)

Nothing beats walking on the beach with your daugther

He waited all day to see Mickey Mouf...

For some reason, Parker didn't want anything to do with this picture!

We are here, we are here, we are here!

AHHHHH! We're back! Did ya miss us? Don't tell me if you didn't.

We have been so busy with all sorts of activities, businesses (yes, that's plural), holidays, family, church, and sports - we even included the kitchen sink! (well, not really)

Here are a few photos to catch you up...Enjoy!

Christmas was at the Boyle's house - all the cousins loved being together and singing Christmas songs. You should see the video!

We had a small get together after Christmas at my sister Emily's house. Andrew really wanted to take some pictures to capture the moments...

I know - total future in photography!

Then we had our Business Expo that I got to run while also being a supermom (glad that's over! The expo I mean, not being a mom :-)

That is Coach Peterson next to me (Boise State Head Football Coach) He was our guest speaker.

Jeff and Parker went Go Kart racing - Jeff totally won his heat (he actually lapped everyone, then went an extra lap and still came in 1st!) That's my competitive husband for you!

Grandma Bev, Katie, Andrew and I all had fun cheering them on.

And then we just went up to Bogus Basin to go skiing - we taught Parker over Christmas break, and Katie just wanted to go sooooo badly, so we all went up and had a great time. And suprisingly enough, 2 of my kids know how to snow ski now. Ha!

wondering where we are?

ok, I have to apologize to ya'll. I have a big project that I'm in charge of, so I promise I'll get back to this blog in February.
Until then... :-)