Thursday, April 29, 2010

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Hi My Name is Jeanette.....

and I am an addict.
Granted it isn't illegal, deadly or looked down upon by others (well, maybe snooty people), but an addiction nonetheless! My addiction is Thrift Store shopping, thrifting.
I don't know why it has hit me all of a sudden. I have always gone to "Goodwill" shopping for the girls since they were babies. Probably about 90% of their wardrobes have constituted purchases from 2nd hand stores. I buy what is in good condition or what I can easily fix or clean. I mean my children have grown out of their clothes so quickly and need bigger ones that I donate probably more to "Goodwill" than I will ever be able to buy!
But the good stewardship has grown, ballooned, avalanched into an addiction... not quite overnight. It started with me browsing through some blogs (I do like to see how others are set up and look) and came across some "vintage" blogs. Blogs that I really enjoyed looking at for about a month.... of course the majority of vintage goods come from..... thrift stores! So then I started looking for blogs about thrifting. Quite a few out there! From those that are fashion conscious shoppers to those that enjoy the furniture side of thrifting. ALL are great! Fun, creative, and money-wise!!!
So the web browsing has come full circle and I have been enjoying searching out Goodwill (my favorite) and other thrift stores in the near vicinity. I'm am doing my best NOT to go overboard by telling myself that money is money... it will only go so far. Just because it is a 2nd hand store and I can get the girls' clothes for .99 each piece doesn't mean that they need 200 articles of clothes (AS IF).
I have gotten a few other things for the house too. A new mirror for the master bathrm., a set of dishes (with sunflowers), some silver pieces for the bedroom, and a wooden tray for the kitchen table (upon which I have set the sunflower dishes for easy access, and it's pretty too).
Sometime in the future I may start posting pics of the outfits I find for the girls. Of course if you see pics of them here they probably are wearing something that I have thrifted for them.

The only thing that has gotten to me lately is Liyah! She is succumbing to the same addiction. We made the trip to Dundee to get GP on Tues. and on our way home we stopped at a Wally-world on the way home for household needs (we had to borrow a roll of tp from my mom's the other day!!) and as I was pulling out of the parking lot what did I see across the street? Beckoning me, like a lighthouse guiding me to the safety and security of a unique shopping experience after having endured the franchised fracas of Wally-world!!
So I said, "Look a Goodwill that we've never been to before! We should go and see what they have!" To which Liyah piped up in the back seat, "Yea!!!! Goodwill (which comes out with a cute southern accent sounding more like this: Guuudweeeell). Let's go, let's go. Get me clothes and shoes too!!!"
See what I mean folks.... addiction runs in the family!
Greg actually came home last night with the girls from mid-week Kingdom Knights @ church, with rollerblades for the girls, from the Goodwill that is just down the road from church!! This could be reason for an intervention.

OR NOT (I still have to go to a vintage thrift store in Grand Rapids called "Coat of Many Colors") and I don't want to go there without the ability to enjoy the experience without guilt!

Wednesday, April 28, 2010



So I'm going to put up a couple cute pics of Greg and the chickies..... the girls sang this past Sunday in the kid's choir at Church. Two services to sing for, and they had to get up @ 6 am to get there on time. You go girlz....

Vacation is over....

GP has been in Ohio for 2 wks and came home yesterday. I made the 3 hr. trip down and 3 hr. trip back with Liyah as my co-pilot. Actually, she was busy watching Scholastic Books on DVD (something we can check out at the library for FREE!) to worry about me and my driving skills!
She did really well, she was very excited to see Aunt Linda!! A favorite of both my girls.

I've enjoyed the two weeks w/o GP, and although I love her, I really wish that I didn't have the responsibility of her care. It's good to have Greg to help me with the stresses and daily care.

The girls seem to be a little more agreeable to her being in the house. It was really getting to the point that there wasn't any peace in the house. There was just a lot of dissension between the girls and GP. Liyah is 4 now and better able to understand why grandma is living with us and why she (GP) does a lot of the things she does. We tried to talk to the girls and let them know that grandma was coming home and that they really needed to try and be helpful with her, not so ornery and rude to her. They have been doing well. Hugs were given for gifts she brought them (hair stuff), and there was a lot of talking and smiling and enjoying each other at the dinner table last night.

I don't know how long this will last, but here's to enjoying it while I've got it!!

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Wondering lately....

what's come over me! I don't seem to have anything to report from the home front, but I don't think that the girlies are changing their ways. So, how is it that I don't feel so much like I'm going insane? Ahhh, they do say that those that are mad don't believe themselves to be.... huh.

Maybe, it's the fact that the girls are getting out of the getting into everything and making a mess and leaving it there and not caring what other's think and going and getting into something else and making a new mess and then leaving that there.... has slightly diminished.

Maybe, it's the fact that mommy has become a hard nosed, Nazi-esque, freak of nature, my way or the highway, tight boundaries kinda mom, and I ain't puttin' up with their whiney ways no how..... kind of mom.

Maybe, aliens came through their bedroom window in the middle of the night and sucked their underdeveloped, selfish, tantrum throwing, let's see what we can do today to make mommy and daddy raise their voices, devious and contrary little minds out... through their noses.

Maybe, I'm too worn out to care and too busy to see, too lazy to look and too CRAZY to want to find out what exactly they have been doing every minute of their waking hours.... yeah, that one's probably the one.

I will say that maybe it's the time of year (you know everyone gets a little happier, even w/0 the happy pills) when the sun shines more, the trees are turning green and the flowers are starting to dot the landscapes. I think I'm feeling more relaxed within myself and not taking things too personally. I'm letting the girls make decisions about what they will do or not do... of course EVERYTHING comes with good or bad consequences eh! So I'm beginning to feel less stress about them cleaning up their toys (if I pick them up they are mine for a wk), getting ready for school (WHAT! you don't have your clothes on?.... too bad grab 'em and go the van is NOT waiting any longer), eating meals (oh, you're hungry, I have this nice plate of dinner waiting for you... you don't want it... must not be THAT hungry huh?)

The only thing I'm sorta stressing about at the moment is my flower beds. The last two years I have really enjoyed planting flowers and tending them. I have found it is a place where I can putter around and do what I want. This year however with the new addition to the family (see previous blog about the naughty husband and the puppy) I have many holes dug in my flower beds and I'm not sure what to do to keep the BIG rascal out of them. Not only are my flower beds ruined but my front and back yards are strewn with stuff that the "DDD" (dum-dum dog) has chewed up and spit out, and drug hither and yon! I don't know how to keep up with everything inside and outside of my house.

It is a good thing that Greg is the responsible person for the doggie pooper-scoopers. That WOULD send me over the brink.... I think!

May your day be sunny, even if there is no sunshine!!

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

For all the Jane's out there....

who think I'm inspiring, or funny, or totally insane thank you! Thank you for reading this mish-mash of thoughts, wrecks and otherwise embarrassing events in my life!
The chillin's actually have been on some good behavior the last month or so. Oh, yes don't fret about me not getting any good material. They are still themselves, every last ornery atom of their anatomy!! They are still fighting, arguing and bickering, with me and Greg and GP and each other!! They are still able to get me tired out before going to bed, and they are still able to make me not want to cook (something I've enjoyed doing since I was young).

Actually, I did "resign" from cooking last week. I took breakfast and lunch time off. Lauryn and Liyah were in charge of fixing their own breakfasts and Lauryn had to pack her own lunch for school. Sure she put up a fight, sure she thought it wasn't fait, sure I stuck to my guns and told her get used to it!

She got the idea I think. I actually heard with my own ears, coming from her pretty little mouth, "Mom, may I have a drink please? I prefer water." SAY WHAT?!?!

Liyah is now 4 and becoming the fashionista. She is a great dresser (in 4 year old styles) and thoroughly loves dressing up (4-6 outfits a day). She loves shopping with me and likes going to the Goodwill stores and scrounging around.... not that it's a real fashion find but she did find a brand new Dora helmet yesterday that fits her perfect!!

To backtrack to where I was going with this story...... she got herself dresses yesterday to go shopping with me and then came to my room and said she was going to be picking out my clothes....did a pretty good job too. It wasn't what I would have picked out and I really did pass up on her shoe choice (dress shoes with 3 inch heels for running errands isn't my style), but it was cute and I enjoyed wearing it!!

Thanks Liyah! Mommy is really looking forward to doing more shopping with you!