Thred Up

This is sort of a combination bargain/kid post, and I'll throw in a little downsizing in the process.  I recently ordered from ThredUP (read down for bargain alert!) for the second time, and I just have to sing their praises.  The last time I just opened the box and threw it out, but this time I took the time to photograph the beauty.

First, you get this awesome looking box.

That's just the outside, though.  Inside the box were some of the most gorgeous, like-new dresses for some incredible prices.  My kids were thrilled with their "new" clothes.  They come carefully wrapped in tissue, and again let me commend the quality of the items received.  These dresses were great name brands like Gymboree and Rare Editions, and a couple of them looked like they had never been worn. 

Also in the package is your own prepaid envelope to send back the items that you would like to sell.  Because the best part of ThredUP is that you will be able to earn credit for shopping by sending them back your own gently used clothing items.

Want even more reason to try out ThredUp?  If you click through this link, you will get $10 off and free shipping on your first order with code SHIPJAN13.

$2.99 Whole Album Downloads

I am mostly done with the bargains, but I can't resist a chance to fill up my cloud with cheap music.  There are a TON of $2.99 albums available on Amazon right now.  This started Monday, so I'm not sure how much longer the deal will last.

There are greatest hits from our favorites and a lot of new(er) releases.  Just a few of my favorites here, but hit the link for the full list.

Kid Convos

They are 8 and 5 for these exchanges.  Just typical of their interactions, one fights with her words, the other with her fists.

(actual photo.  Possibly their first fist fight.)


The younger one has the sharing bag, and is looking for something to put in it that starts with the letter N.

BG: You could bring in a nuisance.
LG: I don't HAVE a nuisance!
BG: Will you fit in the bag?

(punching)

LG (eating carrots): I'm serious!  It's yogurt, it's orange, and you eat it with your hands.
BG: Did you know that eating orange yogurt with your hands is a sign of low intelligence?  Besides, it shouldn't crunch like that.
LG: It's frozen yogurt!

(more punching)

Are They Knockin' Your Socks Off?

My 9 year old has always been very serious and had a vocabulary beyond her years.  She picks up phrases from all around her, and it was a constant source of amusement when she was little.  This is her watching Americas' Got Talent.  I think she was just turned five at the time.


Big girl:  What on EARF?  (it was a sort of Bollywood performance)

and later on: Are they knockin' your socks off? They're knockin' my socks off.

Captured Moments

This would be the little girl at 2 1/2.

Always on the move, and sometimes referred to as "Babyzilla." 

The Naughty Pteranodon

I'm sure lots of children have imaginary friends.  My little girl's do all her naughty stuff for her.  This pteranodon used to spend a lot of time in time out, and finally had to stop going out in public with us at all.  The little girl once explained the whole circle of life to a poor woman stuck in the grocery line behind us, and another time he got pretty naughty in Target.

There we were, looking at toilet paper for the best prices.  I was figuring cost per square foot, stacking coupons, and doing all the fancy math required to be a coupon queen, and I wasn't really hearing his dialogue.  As always when he got an audience, the pteranodon chose that time to discuss in detail and with all the potty words he knew what exactly he was going to do with the toilet paper.  As the volume increased, I noticed there was someone else in the aisle with us, looking slightly amused and a little disturbed.

Here he is, after watching the Decorah Eagle cam far too much, tearing up a sheep to feed his babies.

Comparing Kids

As I am gathering my memories, photos, and old scraps of information for this blog, I ran across this little gem.  Since, I'd just posted the photo of my younger daughter's kindergarten goal sheet, I thought the two photos made a very obvious contrast between the two girls' personalities.

This is my older daughter's from the start of kindergarten.  She started carrying around a little planner when she was 4 and wrote down things in it all the time.  As she was preparing for kindergarten, she felt the need to have her schedule all written out.

Great Goals

The little girl's kindergarten goal sheet. This still makes me laugh.

You've Got to See This!

This morning, just after I sent my two children out to meet the bus, I suddenly heard a commotion.  The little girl, unable to open the door with her gloves on, was pounding on the door and repeatedly ringing the doorbell as I hurried to get to the door.  The big girl was also yelling, so I was already picturing a horrible disfiguring accident.  Why is it always hard to get to the door when it's an emergency?

I finally got down, and the yelling got louder as the door opened.  MOM!  MOM!  You have to see this sunrise!

This is just a bad cell phone picture that doesn't even begin to do the morning justice.  The significance for me, however, is that in this world of too many indoor distractions, video games, and TV, I've managed to get that love of the outdoors instilled in the two young children who live with me.

I love that they not only appreciated the rare beauty of a full-colored sunrise, but that they came back to make sure that I could appreciate it with them.

Always in with the bargains, I've had information about free fun events for children and families, and I've reviewed a few places that we've visited and loved.  It's so much more difficult to do a blog post like that rather than throw up a few bargain links, but that is where I am heading more with my blog.  I'll try not to get too heavy for too long.

If you want to read through some of my older wandering posts, just click the link.  Go wandering with us.

You Can't Change Crap

As I change the focus of my blog, I fear I will have to allow people to know things about me that maybe I don't like to always admit.  The first one is going to come out eventually, so let's get it out of the way now.

Admission #1: I may have a bit of a potty mouth.  It was MUCH worse before I had children.  Once my older one got big enough to start repeating the stuff that came out of my mouth, I realized I needed to watch it.  Crap is a word I still use way too often.

So, there we were, riding along in our car.  The big girl was about five and the little girl was just over two years old.  All of a sudden, a keening reached our ears in the front.  We pulled over, thinking the big girl had been injured.  Finally calming her enough to get her to speak so we could understand her, she cried out, "you HAVE to change her diaper!  It smells sooooo bad."  Much retching and more wailing followed, so you could just barely hear the little girl pipe up from the back seat, "It's just crap.  You can't change crap."

A Little Different

Bear with us as we switch out the format.  I will put some of the best bargain information into some permanent posts across the top, and I will leave all the old posts here for searching.  My 9 year old has been wanting to blog for a while, and I have decided to switch up my scope to be even more family-oriented.

For future posts, I will allow a 9 year old guest blogger.  She's a girl with a lot on her mind, and I am going to just let her do what she wants.

I will also introduce my 5 year old through some silly stories and pictures.  She isn't quite as interested in blogging, nor does she have the spelling ability, but she has a lot on her mind.

As I am going to be taking some stories from my personal Facebook page, I will introduce them as the big girl and the little girl.  I was tempted to name them after Roseanne's kids to keep with the title of my blog, but fear I might get too much into copyright infringement.  On occasion they may also be K and C, the older or the younger, but their personalities are so diverse that I think they will soon be recognizable even without names.

I hope that my few loyal readers will enjoy the change.