Monthly Archives: July 2013

Garage sales

I come from a long line of garage salers, auction salers & over all deal getters. Leo has even enjoyed garage saling for the last two summers. However I have never hosted or been on the non-buying side until this weekend. In an effort for my sister in-laws to get rid of most of their baby stuff (they both have 2 kids and aren’t planning on any more) & my husbands need to clean out our garage we had a multifamily sale this weekend. I had loaned a bunch of our baby stuff to one of my sister in-laws & now felt the pressure to give up some of these things so they wouldn’t just take up space. We are unsure if we can have another child & the thought of getting rid of everything felt like I would be giving away all hope for another child. In the end I let go of a few of the bigger items & was really excited for the Grandparents-to-be who scooped them up. However I’m a little sad they are gone but it was a great feeling that I could help someone else out. Even thought my sister in-laws made way more $ than our family overall both found that the $ made was not “worth it” but also found some joy in helping out others. They are in the mind set not to have another garage sale. Now I’m conflicted because if folks or myself feel like garage sales aren’t “worth it” will I still be able to enjoy them in the future? I sure hope so.

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Leoisms

Leo is a reasonably humorous little boy, and will hopefully eventually appreciate me capturing some of the funnier/sweeter/wackier bits he says here. If not, Paul and I will still be able to look back and smile.

Here are a bunch to start with:

6/11 — “That’s a mommy dinosaur. And that’s a Leo dinosaur.”

6/11 (playing with his farm set) — “Hi Daddy horse…I love you.” [*hugs*]

6/13 — “Mommy, garage sales are so much fun! But where did the trucks go?” Sorry, Leo, this one only had a puppy who gave kisses.

7/12 (after I dropped something in another room) — “Mommy, are you okay?” My heart melted.

7/12 (while making popcorn) — “Look at all these popcorns. It’s coming!”

7/13 (when asked to put on shorts after nap) — “How about leave that alone.” You need shorts on, Leo. “Leave that alone.”

7/13 — [cousin Lorelei:] “Leo’s my best friend! I’ll go play at his house.”

7/20 — [Paul:] “Leo, do you need to pee?”
[Leo:] “No.”
[Paul:] “Leo, do you need to pee standing up?”
[Leo:] “Yep.”

7/21 — “Mommy, we’re on the bed. Let’s jump like monkeys and eat cookies! Like Cookie Monster.”

7/24 — Leo couldn’t fall asleep tonight & wanted Mommy. I said we could rock-a-bye a little & he was my little chatterbox. Without prompting he told me “I love you. & Mommy rock-a-bye is so much fun” yes it is. :)

7/29 — “My Mommy & my Daddy. In Leo’s house. This is beautiful!”

Philly Road Trip Review

A few Philly trip highlights:

Leo’s first movie

Paul & I took a little break from our giant to-do list and took Leo to his first movie in a theater. We saw “Monsters University” and when we got the tickets Leo told us he didn’t want to go anymore. I think it was the after-nap/not-quite-awake syndrome. We enticed him with some popcorn & an icee. As the first preview started Leo was hooked. Paul & I were like little kids too—just so excited to be there as a family. Leo did have to sit on the edge of the seat because otherwise it folded up on him, but he didn’t mind. Unlike some other kids his age he wasn’t scared either. As we walked out, he saw the “Planes” movie being advertised. Paul & I will have to save up because I think Leo is hooked and movie aren’t a nickel anymore. Loved sharing our love for movies with Leo. He even stayed through the credits.

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Is pudding a fruit or a vegetable?

After our trip across the country, Paul & I where hit in the face with the American obesity problem. I know we both could stand to lose a few pounds, but we had a hard time finding vegetables or fruit on most menus. Which shocked us. I know we are not the healthiest people, but we try. When Leo was little and could only eat veggies or fruit and milk it didn’t seem hard to find on menus when we were out. Thank goodness Paul packed berries & veggies in a cooler. They were our saving grace. At one point, both Paul & I were like we need some veggies so we both order the soup & salad bar — which was filled with pudding & cheese. So how is the average American family suppose to eat right while on the road? Is the only option to pack your own?

Philly road trip: Day 8

After a quick night’s sleep we are ready to get some breakfast & head out — we are still about 10 hours from home. I was really excited to finally have a Cracker Barrel breakfast. Leo really liked the grits even though he kept telling me, “no grits mommy that’s oatmeal or papa cereal.” Gotta love this kid. Just before we headed out, Paul did a little check of the car and noticed a cut in the fount tire. He tracked down a tire store in town & with in 2 hours we had 2 new tires. Just wish we would have noticed it before breakfast but glad we noticed before we got on the road and it blew out. Leo seemed to enjoy our pit stop at Dollar General & I had time to stock up on wedding cards & sympathy cards. Two cards one always wants on hand but never seem to have time to shop for.

On the road again and at some point I can hardly stand sitting one more minute & we are at least 2 states from home. Leo was ready to be done too & what a smart kid we have, he knew if he asked for food we would stop. We were not impressed with all the toll stops in Illinois especially around Chicago. Around supper time we were near the Wisconsin Dells so we took Leo to Buffalo Phil’s to see the train. Man was that not a smart decision on our part. It was really busy, Leo was crabby, there were like no veggies at all on the menu & we ended up leaving our diaper bag there. However Buffalo Phil’s staff were really helpful in getting our bag back to us. We finally got home around 10pm & got to check out the storm damage from Friday’s storm here in the cities that left our neighborhood without power for 3 days. Our outdoor furniture was scattered around the yard along with many branches. We did have to clean the fridge & freezer. The hardest thing to throw out where the new box of dilly bars I just bought. I was happy to be home, but sad our adventure was over.

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