I Went in for an Iron . . .

And as we were locating a cart, the cheerful worker handed us a paper bag and said (the magic words),"Fill it up with any books you want and it's only FIVE dollars!" There was no thinking about it. I snatched that bag up and began giving instructions to the girls with me to start looking. After we had piled an enormous amount of books in the cart, we sat down and sorted through them. P3(girl's beginning initial + birth order) became very concerned that ALL the books were going to fit in that one paper bag. Never fear, super-book-packer to the rescue. We carefully packed and repacked the books (can we count this for math in some way?)until they ALL fit. We located standard favorites, such as Hank the Cowdog, Madlibs (unused,YAHOO!), Amelia Bedelia and quite a bit more. I found a real gem.



It is not in pristine condition but it really doesn't matter because I would never sell it. I love old children's' books. There is something very special about the stories.I can't quite put my finger on what it is though.



They are simpler than the stories told today but the language is not dumbed down. The children are children. They play games, imagine things and get into all kinds of crazy situations that would never be allowed in modern books. They also all teach something but are less pushy about it. It seems that a lesson is shared quite by accident.


Unlike the story we read from the library tonight. The children in the book went to the beach, then they put on sunscreen, they only went into the water after they had paired up. One of the friends went too far and almost got hurt . . . blah,blah,blah,blah! There was no story, just a long list of rules about going to the beach with cute pictures. It made me shudder. It also makes me shudder to find the true treasures discarded. Many of them come with discard stamps from the public libraries. Arghhhh . . . what are they thinking???



Well, it is my personal duty to collect as many as I can for my children and grandchildren. Hey, who knows maybe I will open my own private children's library one day! What is your favorite oldie but goodie?

I Am Addicted

My plan for my mom's day out this week was to visit my lovely (single) sister in Gainesville. I decided I needed a new shirt to wear and while I was at it, why not two? This is the same pattern (from dear Wendy:) that I made before. This time I squared off the neckline a bit, omitted the elastic in the arms and used a knit. I also cut a sharper curve on the seams. I think this helped deal with the prego look.



The color in this photo is very washed out. Argh! The knit is actually a bright, cheery yellow that screams summer. I also included a button in the middle. I am sure my husband is wondering if I made the shirt just to show off the button. I certainly spent enough time picking out just the right one.



And while in Gainesville, I worked on personalizing my second shirt, drank coffee and popped in at my sister's favorite thrift store. And lookie, lookie:


Yahoo! And totally within my limit. My lovely sister has hard a rough go of it this past year. I am proud of her. She is strong and beautiful. I am blessed to have her in my life and I plan to live it up while she is close again. Because you never really know where she will go.

Plans

I was so excited. I had all three of my projects planned and cut out. I had all the materials arranged in neat little piles on my table. I had a nice, long,relaxing week ahead of me and then . . . I laid down on the couch and only managed to get up last night. Ugh!!!!!!! Sigh . . . I had some kind of sinus/head cold/extreme fatigue thing going on. So, back to the work table I go and it is nice to have everything sitting there waiting for me, all ready to go. Like the little coffee pot? It was our find on this past Thriftin' Tuesday.

Thrifting Trance

Every Tuesday, the three younger girls and I, take The Boy to karate lessons. A Good Will and a Quigley House thrift store are conveniently located within a five minute drive of his dojo. Some days we just pick up a book or a "new" pair of jeans for someone BUT sometimes it is a very good haul. This past Tuesday was one of those trips.

Though our day for taking pictures was cloudy, my lovely models brighten up the shots. I love Fire King's colored dishes and my hubbie has a certain appreciation for inlay so I had to nab that tray. It is extremely sturdy and I have already served cookies on it!

We have five girls, all of whom are horse crazy. Even the youngest ,at 20months,will point to a horse and cry,"Horsie!!! See!!! See!!!". I scored almost 4 yards of fabric covered in English riding saddles. Included in this stack is a small piece of brown courdory and a brushed, black velvet-like piece.

I hardly ever purchase trim or buttons from "real" stores. This time I truly felt blessed. Those red things on the right are really long, industrial strength zippers. I have no clue what I will do with them. They were in the bag with the rest of the trim.

My only excuse for this purchase is we have five girls and every household with five girls needs a blanket with unicorns and rainbows. I would like to add a back and some handy triangle pockets (like the ones on Denyse Schmidt's beach blanket). I think it would be a perfect keep-in-the-car blanket.

This bundle of sweetness has won over all the ladies at the thrift stores we visit. She greets everyone with an enthusiastic wave and sometimes even a "Hello!". The gals over at the Quigley House thrift store always manage to find chocolate to hand out. Happy thriftin' adventures!