First day of the Sale!

QUICK UPDATE:

It went well today, sold a lot of things! Wish I could sell a lot more tomorrow. I have our kitchen island and changing table that are our bigger items that are left from today. Brooklynn did a great job with the lemonade today! It is amazing how much little kids can make from a lemonade table! I told her she could keep all the money and buy something special with it. I am actually really surprised how well we did today seeing as how I didn't put it in the paper. I hope tomorrow is just as successful! It is amazing to see just how much stuff you end up with once you have kids. I seriously have enough to have three more days of sales.
Funny thing: Brooklynn loved all of our "costumers" she wanted us to have more come and really didn't want to take a nap. Thank goodness there wasn't anyone outside when they went down.
Andrew wanted everyone to see Bailey, he kept saying "Baey Dog"
So since Chip is gone all day, I am going over to a friends for dinner tonight. I was going to bring Bailey with us but I think she will be fine for about 3 hours in her house.
So I have to go get the kids dressed, pack things up from outside, and shower. I will blog about tomorrow! Please pray we at least sell our big items! Otherwise Chip says they go to Good Will. He has a good point, there is a great feeling getting rid of things and blessing others with our things! I told someone a memory about one of Brooklynn's dresses....seriously funny, she didn't mind!

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!!

Yard Sale~

So I am going to attempt to have a yard sale this weekend....Lord willing we will get rid of a lot of things! My hope is to completely clear out our basement, with exception of our winter clothes, and one box of my favorite baby things. Let me be the first to admit, I have clung to the kids clothes saying what if we have more kids or do you remember when they did this in this outfit. CRAZY! So, for some reason this week I have been in a purge mood....maybe it will help make a lot of money and get things out of our house. A lot of the items will be kid related, and our clothes that don't fit or something Chip hasn't worn in forever! I do have some/most of my scrapbooking things and Stampin' Up items that are going out too. I still love to scrapbook and need to do Andrew's book, but I need to get rid of a lot of my things too. We also have some huge things to purge too, the baby swing, a night stand, etc. So tomorrow will be pricing everything! This time, I will have everything starting out on the tables according to size and gender! I am really prepared for it! Hopefully the weather is as nice as they were forecasting for. Seeing as how last weekend was supposed to rain (60%) and it only drizzled in the evening but didn't rain all day like they thought. This weekend is supposed to be sunny and rain free, not even a little percentage. Watch, my luck being so ready it will turn out to be bad weather....
This week has gone by so quickly:
Tuesday I went to the beach with the kids, they had sunscreen on but unfortunately I didn't put any on....not really thinking I would have a problem....well by 5:30 I was hurting, and bright red. I would love to show a picture but I'll spare you! I had Chip put on aloe and it felt as if he was rubbing it on with a knife....and today I have blisters on my back. Needless to say I will never forget to have sunscreen on myself too.
Wednesday again I had the five kids, we played inside and built with the blocks. We even played with some domino's counting for the girls and colors for one of the boys. We ate yummy lunches and then headed out to swim since the sun was still out! We finished right before it got cloudy and started to hail and rain. It actually hasn't stopped since then...bummer~

Here are a couple pictures: not of all the kids but most together :

Benjamin, Brooklynn, & Abigail posing for a second!
Andrew hamming it up!

Brooklynn and Andrew taking a break!

This was the best teeter-totter I found for $2 at a yard sale!

Thursday will be spent pricing and cleaning house, and then we are probably going to get together with Christine and Becca for a playdate!
Friday will be the sale and then I have to clean at one of my houses I clean for...then home to rest and prep for Saturday.
Saturday will be the sale in the morning and then I have to clean another one of my houses in the afternoon.
Sunday I will be taking the kids to church and then leaving to go serve 50 people brunch...this day is giving me the most stress. Chip will be taking care of the kids until I get back. So if you can pray for the change between services....as this will be the most stressful time with Chip getting ready for the 11:00 service and trying to keep the kids in one area. I am already packing a bag of snacks and juice, paci's, books, etc. Total time between service is about 30 min. I am sure it will be fine, Andrew just has a hard time going to the nursery without me taking him down. I will be sure to have my phone on vibrate! :)
On a happier note, I love being able to cater and serve people. I have not served 50 at one time by myself....last time I was able to bring someone in with me....I'll be sure to post about how it goes!
Have a great night~
Blessings~

First Time At North Beach!

We went to the beach with our friends Christine and her daughter Becca. Becca and Brooklynn go to pre-school together, and they were instant friends! It was great to get together and have a blast in the sun! The girls braved the cold water, but didn't want to leave even though it was after 5.
The beach is nice and smaller than the state park. This has a playground, a pavilion, a bath house, and a short walk to the water! I had just bought sand toys, and the kids enjoyed building. Andrew had a blast with the sand toys, he didn't mind standing at the edge of the water, but did not want the waves to hit him. It was so funny to see them and how they interacted at the beach
This I am sure will be the first of many beach picture posts~

Brooklynn and Andrew of course on their beloved swings!

Brooklynn showing me just how independent she is!

Brooklynn and Becca playing in the chilly water...
although they would never admit to it being chilly!

Andrew's Beach Feet!

Andrew has a new love of playing at the beach and making sand castles!

Snack Time!

Christine and Becca~

Wednesday!

Today I have five kids running around my house! We are planning on having fun with playdough, coloring, I have a little craft to do, and maybe we will play outside before lunch! And maybe during nap time I can clean the bathroom and price some of our things for the yard sale! Who knows....
I always get a little over zealous with things I want to get done during my day, there just are not enough hours in the day! Lord, can we do anything about that? Not getting an answer, guess that is a NO! Last night I was making a list of things to do this week before our sale, Brooklynn came and sat at the table next to me with a crayon and some paper declaring that she too was making a list and that daddy would be very happy with her. I had to laugh, she is going to be just like her mommy making lists, but the funniest part of her statement was that she would not put too many things on her list so that she could get them all done and that is why daddy would be happy! I have to admit that I am notorious for putting everything I WANT to get done on my list, instead of what is actually practical and what can actually get done in the time allotted. I am getting better at it. Chip just tells me that if I write the top three things I want to get done then I won't have a feeling like I failed at the end of the day by not crossing everything off my list. Good ideas from the man I love!
I'll post pictures soon of the kids and of the garden!

Crazy Week!

Oh my goodness, you think coming home from "vacation" would be easy, we came home with clean laundry, etc. BUT, we have been non-stop since we got back. I miss the days of hanging out at home with my family. I miss being home with my family. I took for granted my surroundings, don't get me wrong, I enjoyed and valued every moment....but I wish for so much more time. When we get to the end of the week or visit, Chip always knows to say if we need to be gone at 12 he will say lets leave by 11, because even though we are packed and ready to go, it always takes me an hour to get out, hugs, kisses, water, final check around the house.....you get the drill. I don't like saying goodbye to my family. I love my parents house, if I could pick it up just the way it is and bring it here, I would have so much more comfort here in Michigan. Well, much more if my family came with the home too!~ Wow how much more of a fairy tale could I live in?!

So once again, Chip is back into the swing of things at the church, and I am back to the nitty gritty here at home. I am back watching kids and cleaning! My mom got me a new book that I am really loving reading! I have learned that I love having a shiny sink, and am more relaxed when I am fully dressed in the morning, instead of staying in pj's or relaxing clothes! I have got my zones down and have started blessing my house! Thank you fly lady! I really want to get better organized in our basement. I took two boxes of clothes to the consignment store....I had a really hard time finding out what they kept....(long story, but if they don't accept what you bring in they donate it to charity) which is great, but I would have loved to take it there. I think I would have had a better release if I had the opportunity to do it instead of them.... Chip says I would have just stuck it back in the car and brought it home. Maybe he is right, we have been blessed with the clothes that our kids have had. It just hurts to know the memories that were made in those outfits. Besides what am I going to do keep all of their clothes their whole life because of a memory. Well maybe a few outfits, but not all. RELEASE LISA!
Tomorrow is Friday, I will bring the pack and play downstairs and sort for two hours and do laundry! I guess writing it here makes it more official~

The kids and I have had a lot of fun playing outside. We got them a plastic pool! We are still looking for a swing set, they are going on sale now, so we will find one~ Brooklynn and Andrew both love to swing~ I would love to find one at a yard sale but that is next to impossible and at least a couple of the ones that I have found aren't that great.
I am finishing with the garden this week! I will post pictures soon, pray we have good veggies!

So we decided to put the house on the market again, for three weeks we will continue to list by owner-praying that is how we sell it....then we will list with a realtor. We are now on the search for another one, the guy we wanted to use isn't working full time as a realtor, which is what we need, someone who will be need to sell it as much as we are wanting to sell it! We would love to go with someone that isn't in our church if at all possible so that we don't hurt any ones feelings.... Pray right now that something happens soon! SELL SELL SELL!

Have a great night, it is already 1am now and I need to sleep before my over zealous day tomorrow!

Our Date Night!

Alright, so the best part of vacationing at home, is you have built in "FREE" babysitters! I know, I know, I know~ so horrible, but every time we are home my parents always offer to watch the kids and let Chip and I go out. So one night we went out to the movies~ We saw The Chronicles of Narnia -Prince Caspian. It was a good movie, unfortunately I started having some heart palpitations and we went straight home. It continued for most of the night. But at least we had a great beginning of a date!~
Although that date didn't go as planned, we did have some other fun times to get out and enjoy each other! It is amazing to think that we have been married for almost five years~
As always we still went a paroozed the car lots, and dreamed a lot! Chip loves to look and think about what we will do in the future. WE are very fortunate to have two running working vehicles, we just pray we can have at least three more years with the van!
We also had other moments where we were able to get out just the two of us...we had a great time! Even just going to Wal-Mart with just us, it was fun to walk and look... :)
Thanks mom and dad for always being so willing to take the kids! You know you are amazing, but I just thought I would let you know again!
Love you guys!

The Children's Museum!

Tuesday Chip and Dad dropped the car off at the repair shop/mechanics at 7:30 a.m. (Chip really loved that~) Then after they got back we fed the kids breakfast and left for Indy's Children's Museum- the largest Children's Museum in the World! The kids had a blast! Here are a few pictures from the day!

The kids loved the boat station! Water and boats are a huge hit~
I love this picture of Andrew and me, he is such a ham!~

This truly shows how intrigued they are in things~ They are amazing kids!

The kids loved the healthy house, they did the the activities and
of course they enjoyed playing with the food~

Brooklynn and her Mimi enjoying the carousel, of course she had to be on a horse!
Brooklynn also loves to play pretend, she was serving all the kids and insisted that Andrew was the daddy!

Chip helping Andrew with the Curious George site, and Brooklynn waiting to make the special ooze, oh yes and we left with the recipe (I'm sure it will not be made at home~ :) )

The kids had a blast, and we had fun with them too~ The kids were worn out by the time we got to the car. They fell asleep within minutes even with a movie on!
We should have bought the family year pass, as I am sure we will go back again....but maybe we will be on top of that next year! Indy does a great job with the museums and the zoo~! I love that we are close enough to take the kids there~