Garage Sale

We casually started the process of getting rid of all our stuff a few months ago.  We've been listing stuff on Craigslist and I've been selling things off as I hear friends say that they're looking for things that I happen to have.  That's definitely been getting us decent prices, but we wanted to really make a dent in some of the smaller stuff, or stuff that might not be worth taking the time to list on CL.  Twice a year our community has a garage sale and we decided to participate this time.  We spent the weekend before gathering and pricing all our stuff and got it all ready to go this weekend.

This was the first time I ever hosted a garage sale.  It was interesting.  I feel like I priced things ready to sell, and even then many people tried to offer half.  We learned that hubs was ready to take anything whereas I was a harder to move.  Usually it went in my favor.  Some creative marketing also helped.  This girl bought this picture I was selling.

What was it a picture of?  I'm not sure.  I can tell you it wasn't a family picture or a picture of an animal.  I hope that she likes it- she definitely had a good sense of humor about it.  Where was Little Miss while this was happening?  She was with the babysitter doing really fun things like this:

At the end of the sale we moved a fair amount of stuff, but I still made hubs take 2 car loads of stuff to Goodwill.  I took the clothes that didn't sell and put them right back on the closet already tagged.  They were mostly summer clothes anyway so they'll be ready for the Spring sale.  If they don't sell after that I'll send those on to Goodwill as well.  We made some money, but I think that by the time we factored in how much we spent on babysitting and put any sort of value on our time it wasn't really worth it to do.  In the future we'll most likely just donate anything that's worth less than $5 and then try to CL the rest.  We currently have the luxury of time as we try to downsize.  If for some reason we need to speed up, donation will become even more appealing. It was a fun day and we got to know some of the neighbors on the alley better.  By the end of it, I came inside to find Little Miss playing like this:

Looks like garage sales wear her out, too.

 

Huckleberry's Hat

Because apparently every dog needs to wear a hat every now and then.

He was such a good sport- just kept chewing his rawhide while she had her fun.

Who's Walking Whom?

If you were to hang out in our neighborhood, you would see this sight more and more:

Little Miss is obsessed with walking Huckleberry.  She often goes to the closet and points to his leash until I pull it down for her.  Then she tried to put it on Huck.  One day she brought me the Kinderpack and the leash signaling it was time to go for a walk.  Other times she brings me my shoes.  I like that she's able to communicate what she wants and that she enjoys walking, but it can sometimes be an exercise in frustration.  In the mornings I like to take her and Huck on stroller rides on the greenway so I can get some exercise.  On this particular day it went well until we were almost back.  She got really fussy because she wanted to walk Huck.  I tried giving her the leash in the stroller and that made her happy for a while, but it was too difficult for me to intervene when we encountered another dog on the greenway and the leash kept getting stuck in the wheels.  When we made it back to our neighborhood I let Little Miss out so she could finish the walk with puppy, barefoot and all.  She was in heaven.  

In some ways, walking Huck has made our walks easier.  He doesn't seem to care one bit that she's walking him and doesn't mind a thing she does.  He does, however, follow and listen to me.  I usually walk in front and guide him and she just follows along after holding the leash.  Our walks have gotten much quicker and there's a lot less drama because she's happy as a clam.  Hubs said last night strangers were stopping their cars and one man asked to take a picture of her walking Huck. Not sure if this is a phase or not, but it's kind of fun and really cute.

Good Morning to Me

Little Miss can now climb on big chairs.  This is not new or shocking, but she did just recently discover my desk chair.  The back leans back and the chair is on wheels, so this makes me a bit nervous, but I don't think it's worth the fight to keep her from trying it.  It also means that nothing on top of my desk is safe anymore.  However, with that bed head and big smile, who can care?

More Parking

It's finally starting to cool off a bit here.  Some moms and I have been meeting at a local place for Weenie Wednesday.  It's a small weenery in an old VW van with a little park next to it.  We just usually have a picnic and a little play before heading back home for nap time.  On this occasion, I thought that I'd check out a nearby nature playscape first.  It was a short walk from the parking lot and Little Miss insisted on helping carry things.

She had her water bottle and my keys and wasn't going to give them up for anything, until we reached the sand box.  This was Little Miss' first experience with sand.  She liked it some, but mostly enjoyed watching me play with it.  It helped that the toys and things were similar to those in her water table.

There were also big stacks of branches which she was too little for, and tree stumps of different sizes. She enjoyed having me lift her up on each one and look around from a higher perspective.  For safety reasons, I was unable to get a picture of that.  There was also a water pump, a big dirt hill and other things that will be good as she gets older and able to make more friends while there.  It's a good resource, but doesn't have a lot of shade so will be something we look for more in cooler weather.

Zoo!

I took Little Miss to the zoo earlier this summer and it didn't go well.  I would point out an elephant, and she would look at the grass in the foreground.  I would watch the monkeys, and she was watching her friends.  In the petting zoo, this was all she was interested in.

I didn't take her at all this summer because I thought that she simply wasn't ready for it.  However, I took her back this week and it was a much different experience.  I don't know if it's all the practice looking at deer and wildlife at our state park, but she was really into it this time.  She pointed at the gibbons that were jumping in the trees and squeaking loudly and loved watching the meerkats.

She loved looking at all the animals in the reptile house, but the biggest hit was the petting zoo.  She really got it this time and ran from goat to goat to watch and pet them.

There were things like camels and large tortoises to look at, but I couldn't get her away from the goats this time.  I wanted to have time for a picnic lunch before heading home for nap so I cut it short there, but the zoo was definitely a success.  So much so, I'm thinking a membership may actually be justified at this point.

Like Daddy, Like Daughter, Example 32

A Walk in the Woods

You all know that we take Little Miss walking in the woods all the time.  What we don't often do is let her do the walking.  I've resolved to let her do more.  She loves being outside and I thought that I'd see what would happen if I let her get in on the exercise as well.  We saw lots of deer.

We stopped to look at some grass.

The biggest hit was a field of rocks, or one rock in particular. She sat with the rock,

 laid on the rock,

and gave it lots of attention until I demanded that we get going again.  A walk that usually takes 45 min took 2 hours, but Little Miss walked at least 1/2 mile and had a great time.  I'm trying to give her more opportunities to get up an active, but I have to admit that I am missing my exercise.

Close Shave

We were playing with a friend earlier this week.  The weather was great and she got a new swing set in her yard so we went over there to check it out.  It was fun, but it got pretty hot and on our way in we stopped by the water table and the girls wanted to stop there for a while.  Her friend's mom also squirted out some shaving cream.  Little Miss loved it, putting it on the top of my shopping list.

She's really good about not eating it.  I can't wait to see what she does this coming week when we try to paint with it.

Finally Nailed It

For as long as we can remember Little Miss has freaked out whenever hubs tried to cut her nails.  It was so bad, that I wouldn't even attempt it and she squirmed and squealed and made it so difficult for him that her nails were always incredibly long before he attempted it.  A couple weeks ago he cut her nails and she didn't protest a bit.  We were perplexed.  Last week I came downstairs while he was trimming her nails and it was so calm I had to take a picture to commemorate the occasion.

He's been telling her for ages that someday she's going to like it and pay people big money to trim her nails- maybe it's finally sunk in.  

Sticker Fun

Some mama friends and I are putting up weekly art activities to try.  The idea is that we'll try new things and motivate each other to do things we might not have otherwise done.  One mama posted about using sticky dots and a pen as entertainment while waiting at restaurants or what not.  We don't eat out much and I didn't want to go out and buy sticky dots, but I did find some stickers that we had around the house and decided I would see if Little Miss was old enough to enjoy them.  Turns out she is.  She had a great time.

Sweet Home Alabama

Last weekend our little family went to visit hubs' cousin and his little family.  It was quite the trip for Little Miss.  When we got there, we had quite a fun time exploring the house.  Because her cousin is quite older, there were lots of little legos, we had to keep her away from, but Aunt JoAnn found a really cool light-up fan she was fond of:

She also had a great time playing outside.  I love the little courtyard we have at our house.  It's fenced in so I can let Little Miss play out there while I bring in groceries or take laundry to/from the line.  It doesn't have a lot of nature or fun things for her to explore, but she loves spending time out there.  The yard at this house was incredible.  There was a huge side lot, woods in the back, and trails that led to a creek.  We got to see it all.  One of the best things was that the trail that Little Miss loved most led to nowhere, so I didn't really need to worry.

They also had a fire pit.  Little Miss loved carrying one particular log around:

and climbing in and out of the chairs:

Speaking of climbing, Andrew still had his old tricycle and was kind enough to share it with Little Miss for the weekend.  She was way to little to actually ride it, but she loved pushing it around the yard and trying to climb it.  It was quite the cute photo op.

There was also time to play in the yard.  Hubs and Andrew had a rousing game of frisbee.  Sugar Pop was mesmerized and thought it was hilarious to watch the frisbee being thrown and caught.

Here's a close up of her.  Doesn't my little girl look like she's getting so big?  (sob)

By far, the best thing about the weekend was all the animals.  There were two cats that lived at the house.  One of them named Mulan let Little Miss cuddle her.  (She was amazingly gentle.)  Sugar Pop adored that.

That wasn't even close to all the animals we saw.  The second day we got to go their farm.  Little Miss received an unauthorized lap ride once we got to the actual farm as we drove to the barn.

While up there, we got to see their two horses, which rocked her world.  While we petted both, Fletcher here was the gentle giant and tolerated us the best.

He even looked right into the camera for the photo op with hubs.

There were also two kittens there.  They're in the process of getting acclimated to the farm and spent the night there in a crate.  We got to see them and spend time with them.  They were very friendly and Little Miss asked to go back to their stall to see them again and again.

But wait, there's more!  They also had a pond with fish.  We got to have a look and watch the fish get fed.  It was only mildly difficult to stop her from walking in to explore closer.

It was so much fun spending time with all the animals on the farm, but the real reason we were there was to watch our cousin play a baseball game.  We got all the right treats,

and found a nice, shady spot to watch the game by.  It was fun, but Little Miss didn't understand anything that was happening.  She did get a good picture with her cousin.

After the game we headed back home, so we made sure to get a picture with Uncle Bobby and Aunt JoAnn before we left. 

We hope that we get to see them again soon.

The Best Time of the Day?

Naptime!  We're lucky that often during the weekends Little Miss takes wonderfully long naps.  Puppy does, too.  He looked so peaceful that Hubs felt compelled to cover him up with a t-shirt.  Then he just looked angelic.  What a cute fur baby I have!

Body Art

Little Miss loves to draw.  I keep the markers and crayons in a caddy that is at her level, but turned towards the wall so she can't just go into it and make a huge mess.  She often points to the caddy when she's ready to do art.  Whenever I open the drawer with the art media, she always chooses the crayons and markers. One night while doing art after dinner, she decided to draw on herself.  She was very deliberate about the colors she chose and where she chose to apply them.  I would love to know what goes through that beautiful mind of hers.

Chalking it up on a Rough Day

I can officially announce that Little Miss has given up her morning nap.  She may catch the occasional snooze in the car as we drive somewhere, but I've learned that trying to put her down in the morning is simply an exercise in frustration.  The tricky part comes when she's had a poor night's sleep.  That does still happen occasionally, and she woke up one morning cranky, tired and ready for sleep.  Except that she wouldn't nap.  I tried for almost an hour to get her down with no luck.  I packed up our things to meet some friends at the zoo thinking she would take a car nap on the way there.  As we were getting ready to leave, she melted down so I stupidly tried to put her down again.  Not only did it not work, I missed our window to go to the zoo.  At this point Little Miss and I were both exhausted and grumpy.  What do you do at this point?  Grab out a new weapon in your arsenal: sidewalk chalk.  

Little Miss was intrigued and enjoyed watching me draw things like her name.  She even made some marks of her own:

Then, like all good scientists, she explored where else her chalk would work.  She tested the mulch,

the pavers,

and saw what would happen in the water.

Mostly, she just practiced taking the chalk in and out of its container.

And what did Mommy do during this time? Drink copious amounts of wine. Draw and send love notes to Daddy.

It was a nice way to salvage the afternoon until finally, finally sweet sleep arrived.