Ice Skating & Garage Sales

Last week was a bit hectic indeed - while it was the first week without soccer practice we managed to keep quite busy... 

First - the big event was Princess on Ice.

We went Thursday evening (the very first showing) primarily because my friend was part of the Disney club and able to get cheaper tickets that night. So, of course any night you have an after-school event you have some major back to back running around. 

Overall, she loved the show and upon driving home fell fast asleep - so asleep that she had to question how she got into her pajamas the next morning. 

Then came... THE GARAGE SALE. 

I got a major internal pull to have a garage sale... It is such a nice concept in theory - sell some stuff / make some money. Well... November garage sales are maybe not the best month, and my parents house as a location may have set up unrealistic expectations of what we might have for sale - plus many of our potential shoppers were clearly not interested in semi-useful but clearly used stuff. 

I also think the small stuff is what sells (and now I know). The dollar items - especially Morgan's clothes were very popular but the real money makers (or as I saw them were barely given a glance). The end result - $70. Yep, two days of prep / sign making, etc... all for $70. 

Now, it's money I did not have and I am grateful AND we were able to clear out some house-filling clutter that needed to be gone. My co-sellers (my friend Brianne and parents) did not fair very well either - but again, we got rid of stuff and made a little money. 

I think that my parents actually did okay just based on the fact that a few things that had been gathering dust (like an old motorcycle that was strictly good for parts) made it out the door. 

Morgan seemed to have fun with it too - she liked going through her things for items to sell, and she enjoyed hanging out at the cashier table (although being a colder day she did have to retreat inside for part of it). 

By end of Sunday we were exhausted. Here's looking forward to a much less busy week (hopefully). 

Close Up and Personal...

Because the picture yesterday was a bit small... 

Sometimes you feel like smiling.

Sometimes, you don't!

Fall Season Complete...

The fall soccer season came to an end on Saturday.  Her photo below kind of sums up the season - sometimes good - sometimes well.... yeah... anyhow. :-) 

She was invited to play again as the whole team is going to sign up together so the kids can have the same team - we gave a TBD status. Six months is a long ways away so who knows how she'll feel...

Double double toil and trouble....

Double double toil and trouble...

dress like a witch and fly to school on the double.

bring with us a decorated tray of fruit...

made to look amazingly cute.

Carve a pumpkin and add a hat...

place it by the doorway mat.

excited to go to trick or treat...

enjoy the candy - her most FAVORITE thing to eat!

Hope Everyone Had a Very Happy Halloween!

(the fruit platter was very cute - but in my hurry I never got a picture of the final... it was great though I promise)

Trike-A-Thon Thank Yous...

Today was the big trike-a-thon for St. Jude's Children's Hospital. I know you received your table-side deliveries but I wanted to send another big thank you to everyone for your generous donations to a great cause!

 They should really investigate trike-a-thons for adults, because I so would do that in a second. 

:-) 

Journey to the Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday Morgan had her first school field trip at a local pumpkin patch. 

There was a hay ride... 

..and corn maze...  

...pumpkin picking (this took her a while to choose just the right one)...

... and one very happy group of kids...

It was cold... and there was a small batch of snow flurries but overall it ended up being a good trip to the pumpkin patch. 

I also happened upon my own fabulous find (photo to come later). I could not help but zoom in on a turkey shaped squash - totally natural... And, then I could not help but buy the bumpy little thing (after the kids packed up of course). It's going to be such a great little Thanksgiving craft project. 

The Year of the Ugly Witch

With Halloween quickly approaching it's costume time! About a month ago Morgan said she wanted to be a witch and she has stuck to her choice - not wavering one bit, which is the first time that has happened in terms of costume options. 

We went on the costume purchasing expedition tonight and it indeed turned into an expedition - who knew finding a simple witch costume would be SO tough. There were witch costumes to be had, but all of them were frilly / shiny / pretty / etc... all of these things that normally make Morgan a very happy child do not make the perfect costume when she wants to be an "ugly witch". 

Luckily she is growing older and has a greater understanding and level of patience. We went to three stores and finally decided it was late, cold, and past a normal dinner time - all adding up to heading home. I assured her that we would find her ugly witch costume and that we could look on the computer after dinner. She agreed and also chose to head home for dinner - can I just say how much I love the reasoning and understanding that comes with age!

We were successful in our search and found her ideal simple / ugly witch costume, orange stripe tights, and a broomstick. Because every witch MUST have a broomstick. We're going to embellish the broom with spiderwebs and other creepy things and I have also promised to paint her nails black. We'll also explore the world of green face paint - but will have a trial run to see how that works and how she feels with that amount of make up spackled to her face.

It will be great to see it all come together. I  loved being a witch for Halloween (and I always secretly hoped my broomstick could really fly) - can costume preferences be genetic??? 

ps - this is yet another instance that confirms my hobby interest - I need to learn the magical art of the sewing machine!