Free Clothes!

Okay, so that title might be a bit misleading.  I just want to let you all in on where/how I buy most of my kids' clothes for almost nothing.  It does require a little (or a lot if you are Lisa Lord) time and some hard work but it is all worth it for a year's worth of clothes for little or nothing.

Here is the down-low.  My kids have all gone to preschool at the St. Philip Early Learning Center.  First of all, amazing program, teachers, staff, everything.  We have been so happy there.  The ONLY (yes, no selling cookie dough or wrapping paper) fundraiser that they do is a yearly consignment sale.  It. Is. Awesome.  It is so much fun to be a part of.  They have over 350 sellers, selling over 60,000 items in 4 days.  They take the church where they hold preschool and turn it into a HUGE, very high quality consignment sale.  People bring in their gently used (usually Brand name) clothes, toys, baby items (almost anything baby and kid related) and sell it.  The seller gets 70% of the profit and the preschool gets 30% (which you get to write off on your taxes since they are a non-profit).  Everyone wins.  Everyone goes home happy.  Usually the preschool makes between $20,000 and $30,000.  That means they sell over $75-100,000 worth of kids items.  Which means there are some great deals to be made!  I sell all the things my kids have grown out of.

This is my car fully loaded to drop off to sell.  So freeing to get rid of all that "stuff"!

I have sold items the last 4 or 5 years.  Each year I get a little better at it and each year I make a little more money (let me know if you want to know my tricks of the trade).  Usually the goal is to make as much money as I spend.  The last 2 years I have made MORE money than I spent (last year with over $100 in my pocket)!  That means I got all of my stuff for FREE!!!!!!!  I buy everything there: bikes, Legos, clothes, Keen shoes (as long as I beat Eryn Hodges to the shoe room), costumes and on and on and on.  My kids LOVE when the sale comes.  They can't wait to see what treasures I bring home.

Tanner's Favorite "buy" from last year.  See the white tag still on it?  This ninja suit has seriously paid for itself.  He LOVES it and still wears it all the time.

 2 years ago I brought home this sweet swivel chair that looks like a hand (seen here in JJ's 3 year old photo shoot).

It still resides in the basement and 2 years later... the kids still fight over who gets to sit in it.  It got it for $10.  So worth it.

So have I convinced you?  If you are interested in selling, it is SUPER easy this year.  They have gone electronic!  You do everything online, print your tickets and pin them on.  I have already done most of mine and it took me half the time!  Then as the sale is in process (hour by hour updates), you can see what you have sold (and therefore know how much you can spend)!

If you want to shop, shop early.  Trust me, it is the only way to go!  The girls at church heard me say it for years, but last year one of them actually volunteered and was able to shop early.  She told me how amazed she was at how much better the selection was.  All you have to do is volunteer (or have your husband volunteer) for 3 hours.  That is it!  And you get to shop on Wednesday night before the public on Thursday morning.  If you really want to get the good stuff, then you volunteer for 12 hours (or more-or 6 hours in childcare) and you get to leisurely stroll through the amazing deals with about 40 people instead of several hundred.  It is worth it.  If you are really crazy (and devoted to the school and love spending time with your friends) then you can be a committee chair (we are still in need of a Cashiering Committee Chair).  You have to attend 4 meetings in the months leading up to the sale and put in 15+ hours the week of the sale, but you get to shop on Tuesday night (and get the really, really good stuff).  Not only do you get the best stuff, but you get the best prices.  For example, there might be three identical exersaucers.  If you shop on Tuesday night, you get the nicest one and the cheapest one.  Is there still one available on Thursday morning?  Yes, but it costs $20 instead of $12.  One year I got a brand new double jogging stroller/bike trailer for $75.  Of course, I was the 2nd one in the door and I sped walked to get it.  Still use it.  Worth every hour I volunteered.  And then there are the crazies.  Like me.  I am the head honcho of the whole sale this year.  Which means I get to shop whenever the heck I want to (but won't actually have time to do it!).  Plus I get to shop on Tuesday night for the rest of my life.

Anyway....I am not saying you need to be amazingly dedicated.  All you have to do it show up for 3 hours and have a great time sorting clothes, or helping people, or taking tickets, or bagging purchases, or working the bake sale cart.  It is all easy, and FUN!  Do I sound like a commercial?

The best part about volunteering....signup is all online.  You can get on the website and sign up for your volunteer hours without ever having to talk to a person.  A huge advantage for me.  I avoid talking on the phone at all cost (especially with strangers).  You can sign up for what time you want to work and what area you want to help with.  There are weekend and evening shifts too if you need to work when your hubby can be home to watch the kids (or if you work over 15 hours, they have childcare that you can sign up for).

I always have fun at the sale and look forward to it each year.  Can't wait for the last week in April to come this year!

Please, please, please sign up to sell and/or volunteer.  I guarantee you won't regret it!  And if you do end up selling, volunteering or shopping come find me and say hi.  I will be there every minute of every day!  And don't forget to get a famous chicken salad sandwich.  They are legendary and to. die. for.

See you April 21-27th.

Sneak Peek: Gavin

Spring is in the air (at least until it snows a foot tomorrow) and picture time is picking up!   It is so nice to be doing what I love again!  I love meeting new people and capturing their memories. 

The little guy is going to be turning two next month and his mom wanted a recent picture to put on his invitation!  We met up North at a Historical Museum and I followed this little guy around for a bit like the paparazzi.  He was the smartest little not quite two year old I have ever met!  He knew all of his colors and talked up a storm.  Such a rarity for little boys!  He was so smiley and such a pleasure to work with.  It made for a wonderful Saturday morning.

Isn't he a cutie, with so many fun expressions?  I hope I get to work with this little guy and his family again!    For more pictures visit my website or check me out on Facebook.  Happy Friday everyone!

Totally Redeemed Myself

Any Dumb and Dumber fans out there?  You know the scene after Lloyd drives 400 miles in the wrong direction and he and Harry have a big fight and Harry goes stomping off.  Then in the next scene Lloyd comes driving up on a motorcycle.  Harry says "Just when I thought you couldn't be any dumber.....you go and do something like this......AND TOTALLY REDEEM YOURSELF".  That is how I felt today.

So, by now you should know that I am not a pack rat.  I hate to have things lying around, so I tend to throw things away.  Most of the time, the kids don't even notice if I throw away a certain McDonald's toy or school paper (as long as they don't see it in the trash can.  Parenting 101: NEVER LEAVE ANYTHING OF YOUR CHILD'S VISIBLE WHEN YOU THROW IT AWAY.  Bury it deep within the trash can where no little eyes can spy it.).  However, occasionally there is something that I have thrown away that is remembered a few months later.  The kids have learned where their missing toys go.

Today, Tanner and Jameson started playing superhero dress up (I love that boys play dress up too).  They went on the hunt for their paper masks that they got at a birthday party last July.  Sorry guys.....paper masks that are over 6 months old don't last at the Lord house.  They were thrown away long ago.  I told them to look in the toy box on the odd chance that they "made the cut", but to no avail.  They whined....."mom, did you throw them away?".  Got caught red handed.  Pretty sure I threw them away before Christmas when I was trying to make room for new Christmas toys that would need a new home.

Uh Oh.  Now what was I going to do.  I suggested that they make new ones.  Nope, not going to work.  Then I suggested that I could help them.  They immediately jumped on board that idea, because they know when mom gets involved they are off the hook.  So, I did what any good mother would do.  I asked myself "how can I make these masks quickly and easily?".  Yep, I Googled it.  And the first hit was "printable super hero masks".  Jackpot!

So here is the link for the Captain America mask, and here is the one for Iron Man.  These were super easy and quick and they are AWESOME (even kind of 3D)!  Some tape, scissors and 15 minutes and Viola!  Totally Redeemed!

I love being a stay at home mom and being able to do fun things like this with my kids.  Of course, I will be throwing them away as soon as they have outlived their usefulness!  But, now I know where I can make more!

Party of Five

This weekend we have the pleasure of having our nieces for the weekend.  They are 12 and 8 and are lots of fun to have around.  However, 5 kids is a lot!  They are very helpful and the kids are all pretty self sufficient, but man.....I have made a lot of food and done a lot of dishes this weekend!  Yikes.  I can't even imagine having 5 kids all of the time.  Hats off to you moms of 5!

Yesterday we wanted to have some fun with the kids so we took them to the sledding hill by my parents house where I have been sledding since I was a kid.  We got to make the first tracks!  The snow was perfect and the sleds were flying!  Sometimes the snow is too thick or slushy and the sleds are slow, but yesterday they were awesome.  Also, all the kids could go down (and more importantly up) the hill all by themselves.  First time in almost 10 years that I haven't had to carry a kid up the sledding hill.  I could hear the angels singing!  We flew down the hill for over 2 hours (with no crying!!!).  It was a good time indeed.

What good is sledding without a jump!

Our girls

McKenzie's "Shawn White" pose.

This is how pre-teens sled these days

'Sup

They were flying!

Snowball fight

A huge train down the hill.  What a blast!

I made it into a picture!

Make that two pictures!

After our sledding adventure (and a ginormous lunch) the kids wanted to build a snowman.  So into the front yard they went.  This is what they came up with.  They named him Cowboys Underpants.  The underpants were found in the front yard amongst the snow.  Don't judge.  No clue how they got there, but to my credit I am pretty sure that they were clean.

Cowboy Underpants

Later in the day I was trying to find things to keep the kids entertained and I decided to make play-dough.  Thanks Pinterest for the idea and the recipe.  We made it with Kool-aid and it was so vibrant and smelled so good that I wanted to eat it (especially the Tropical Punch, that is my favorite).  All five of the kids LOVED it (even the 12 year old)!  The 8 and 9 year olds both whined when I made them finally put it away.  I think we will be pulling that out again today!

Then last night I had a stroke of genius.  I remembered one of my favorite meals as a kid.  So, with Ashlynn's help we made it happen.

When I was a kid (probably late elementary or early middle school age) my parents went to a Sunday School dinner with their friends.  They came home with the funniest story about the dinner they had.  They were pretty excited about it and thought that we would enjoy it as well.  So the next night, they treated us to the same dinner.  Needless to say, this dinner was repeated at many a birthday party with our friends at the Party Palace (aka Coombs house).

My server

Here is how it works.  You make a menu.  Here was our menu for last night.  It is best if you have 12 things on your menu because it is a three course dinner and it is nice to have 4 things to serve for each course. (if you click on the pictures, they will get bigger so you can read all of the writing).

Take note of the healthy items on the menu.  It is always candy bars.  You can choose whatever candy is your favorite.  We tried to keep the majority of our candy options dairy free so the 4 year old with milk allergies was not totally confused.  Then the kids got to choose 4 "candies" per course.  Here is what Jameson chose.

Then the real fun begins.  It is best if your serving area is separate from the kitchen area.  Not possible in our house, but it makes for more fun if your "customers/guests" cannot see what you are doing!  It is time to start preparing your first course.  You must have all of your dinner and dessert ready to go at the beginning of your "meal".  Now, you need the "cheat sheet".  This has your real menu and your candy menu side by side so that you can decipher the order.

Be sure to include forks, spoons, napkins and drinks as a part of your "menu".  It makes for a more interesting meal.  Make sure that you do not have anything on table as the guest will be given what they "order" for each part of the meal.  So no silverware or napkins on the table.  For ease, we used paper plates and used different ones for each course.

Now, let the fun begin.  The person may get some really silly things for their first course.  For example, McKenzie got applesauce, salad, spaghetti sauce and a drink for her first course.  Too bad she didn't order a spoon or fork!

For Tanner's first course he got noodles, bread, applesauce and salad.  Again, no utensils!  They love it!  It is so fun to watch their faces when the plate is put in front of them.

Course #2 for Makai: bread, a straw, a fork and applesauce.  Pretty sure he used the straw to eat the applesauce.

Course #2 for Tanner: ice cream, sauce, a napkin and a spoon.  He thought it would be funny to put the sauce on the ice cream.  And actually ate it (later admitting that it tasted pretty weird).

Jameson got bread, applesauce a napkin and a spoon for his final course.  He gave the dinner a thumbs up.

It is so fun for them to eat a mixed up meal (and eat ice cream before spaghetti) and it is just as funny for the parents to serve the crazy meal.  So next time you are bored at home (or are hosting some friends), you should try this.  It is a real kick in the pants!

*disclaimer.  After the mixed up meal, they were able to have whatever part of the meal they wanted again (except the ice cream and cone).

Diagnostic Advise

It has hit again.  The dreaded Strep has once again invaded the Lord household. 

After almost 10 years (wow I feel old) of parenting three children, I have learned to diagnois Strep with staggering accuracy.  My mom tells me that as children, my sisters and I loved to pass Strep back and forth to each other.  Apparently, it is hereditary.  Both my sister and I (and husbands and kids) have a knack for spreading the Strep germs.  In the infamous summer/fall of 2007 we had Strep over 20 times between our two families.  Thankfully, my sister and nephew got their tonsils out and we have not seen nearly as much strep.  However, at least once or twice a year, someone gets it.

This time, it is poor Tanner.  Of course, Strep has a way of invading the house at the most inconvenient times (not that there is every a convenient time to have this nastiness).  Last time it invaded the Luebcke house, Dan was on a 2 week trip to Poland and Julie was crazy busy trying to keep the household running and working and..... you know.  The infamous summer/fall of 2007 I got Strep the night that my father-in-law died in an accident at Lake Powell and then my 2 year old had it at the funeral 5 days later.  How is that for horrible timing?  So, when it hit this weekend while we are up at the family cabin in Fairplay, I can't say I am surprised. 

So, let me give you some sage advise from a woman who has had Strep A LOT and who is seemingly swimming in Strep bacteria.

The number one most important question that I ask people who are trying to diagnosis Strep is, "how did you sleep last night?".  What?  You mean it isn't "does your throat hurt?".  Nope.  #1 diagnostic took: your sleeping patterns.  If you have Strep, you feel like you can't get comfortable and you are literally awake all night long.  Tanner slept with me last night (after I suspected that he might have Strep) and guess what?  I am pretty sure that I was woken up (needing a drink, potty, tossing and turning, almost puking, etc.) every 15 minutes last night.  Torture.  I know that whenever I am questioning if I might have Strep, I just have to try to sleep at night.  If sleep avails me, then get to the dr. first thing in the morning.  If I slept pretty good......most likely not Strep.

Sign #2.  Once again.....not throat hurting.  Does your stomach hurt?  Usually nausea is a very good sign that you have strep (if accompanied by sore throat and difficulty sleeping- get to the Dr. ASAP).  Especially if you have stomach cramps but no diarrhea (and don't usually puke, but sometimes you do).  I have actually taken my kids to get a strep test without them having a sore throat.  The dr. or nurse always gives me strange look and then the "I'll just humor her" look and they do the test.  5 minutes later they come into the room TOTALLY amazed and apologetic saying "you were right, they have Strep".

Sign #3.  Does your/their breath smell really bad?  If so, straight to the dr.  I could always taste and sometimes even smell my own nasty breath when I had Strep.  And today when I took Tanner into the dr., she looked in his mouth and said, based on the puss in his throat and the way his breath smells, I can tell that this test is going to be positive.  Also, does their voice sound funny, like there is a ton of gunk in there?

Sign #4.  Is your kid being a whiny pill?  I mean, way more than usual?  My kids always turn into a weepy, whiny mess a day or two before the other Strep symptoms show up.  Strange I know.  Usually this is one of the hindsight symptoms.  Like after they get a sore throat, fever, bad breath, you start to think......man they have been kind of a pill lately.

Sign #5.  Okay, now you can ask "does your throat hurt?".  If you look in the back of the throat and there are puss filled zit looking things (I know nasty), then you know what you are dealing with.  Usually they have to be pretty far gone in the Strep process for these babies to show up.

I will say that most time (at least 80-90%) I take me or the kids in for a Strep test it is positive.  It is because I have learned these tell tale signs. 

Here is the best part (or I should say one of many) of having a sister (especially one with Strep experience): if I am questioning if my kids have Strep I just give her a ring.  She says "how did they sleep last night?, Do they have a stomach ache?, how is their breath, did you look in their throat?  Are they talking funny?  And then she says "yes, take them in!".  Guess what?  It works both ways.  I do the same for her.  Sometimes it is just nice to have someone you can call for back up when you are doubting yourself as a mother.  If you ever need someone sisterly to call about Strep, give me a call (or just refer back to this)!

I hope all of you (and the rest of us) remain Strep free!

P.S.  I had a dr. once tell me that Strep is NEVER accompanied by a cough (and I have found this to be true).  So if they are coughing, save yourself the co-pay and guess that they probably have a sore throat from drainage from a cold.

P.P.S.  Strep gets way worse the longer you wait to get it treated.  SO DON'T WAIT.  It is an easy throat swab, a 5 minute wait for the diagnosis and then a prescription for an antibiotic and you are feeling SO much better within a few hours.  However, if you wait a few days before you go in, the recovery time is way longer!

P.P.S.S.  Don't eat or drink anything (including gum) for at least 15 minutes before they swab you or it can show up as a false negative.

Can you tell that I have a lot of Strep experience?

If I only had a housekeeper.....

I must confess that I have been watching a little too much Downton Abby as of late.  Who am I kidding, one can NEVER watch too much Downton Abby.  If you have not jumped on the bandwagon....it is totally worth jumping on board.  It is a such a wonderful show with great character development and rich stories that are set in historical England.  I love a good story and Downton is full of good stories. 

Watching this wonderful story gets me to thinking.  What if I had Mrs. Hughes and Mr. Carson to run my household for me?  Would it make me a better mother and wife?  Perhaps.  Or perhaps not.

Are there any other stay at home moms that have the same problem that I do?  I can't seem to keep my house in order.  It doesn't seem to matter how much (or little) time I put into keeping my house clean, it just won't stay clean!  I am NOT a pack rat (in fact I seem to sway a little to the other side and throw too much out), but my house just seems to be overflowing with stuff.  Perhaps it is the three little people that thwart my efforts.  Part of that is my own fault.  I need to be a little better about teaching my boys responsibility and cleaning up after themselves.  Patience, however, is not a virtue that I possess and therefore, I find it easier to just do it myself.

I will say that it is getting a little easier.  My kids are starting to be more interested in electronics and less in toys.  It was refreshing/awesome (and a little sad) that my kids barely got any toys for Christmas this year.  And as it is getting time to start cleaning out the house and preparing for selling some things at the St. Philip Preschool Sale, I am purging the toys (go here if you want information about the sale).  I also cleaned out the sippy cup cupboard and got rid of all of the sippies except for one (for when little kids come to visit).  I have been waiting for that day for YEARS!!!  Those darn cups were the thorn in my side and every time I opened up the cupboard one or two would fall out.  But, when the time came to throw them away (they were too nasty to give away/sell) I found myself getting a little sentimental.  Crazy how that works!

I feel a little guilty saying that I need a house keeper.  That is supposed to be my job, right?  All I do is stay home and take care of the house and the kids right?  Wrong.  I am always going to meetings for room moms, women's minstry, worship team, preschool clothing sale, etc.  I also substitute, run a photography business, blog......and the list goes on.  But if I had a housekeeper would I be able to do more?  Would I spend more time with the kids?  Would I be less stressed?  YES!

However, my mind keeps coming back to the movie/book "The Help".  Those ladies were stay at home moms who had their "housekeepers".  Did they spend more time with their kids?  Did they spend any time with their kids?  They just filled their time with more stuff and meetings and causes (guilty).  Who ended up raising their kids?  The women who they looked down upon and didn't count worthy of using the same bathroom with.

So, I am thinking that as much as it would simplify my life, I am going to have to leave Mrs. Hughes at Downton Abby and chose to be content with my crazy, messy life.  I think that perhaps by having to roll up your sleeves and keep your house in order keeps you grounded.  It keeps it "real" and makes you appreciate what you have and makes sure you keep yourself in your life and not above your life.  (Side note: if I ever go back to work full time, it would be an amazing blessing to have a house cleaner come once or twice a month. I am not above a little help!)  I am going to make more of an effort to "play" with the kids too. 

Happy Monday Everyone!  I have to go do some laundry now.  And clean up the house.......again.  But maybe with some appreciation for what I have and a little smile on my face. 

Pinterest- The Highs and Lows

Tonight I became one of my favorite people in the whole world.  Mary Poppins! 
 
That was my favorite movie as a kid.  I cried the day that I found out that Julie Andrews really had strawberry blonde hair (I think I was in 6th grade).  I love the scene where she sings "spoon full of sugar" and they "tidy up the nursery".  I don't know about you, but getting my kids to help clean up is like a form of ancient Chinese torture.  Many times I hate to fight it and know that I can do it faster and without the weeping and gnashing of teeth, therefore I just do it myself.  I know that I am enabling my kids but I like to look at it from the perspective of saving them from the Evil Queen (me) who comes out when they take forever cleaning up and fight the entire time.

Rewind to last week.  I was going through all of my old magazines that I had dog-eared the pages of cool things I wanted to do/try and pinning them to Pinterest so I would have an easy way to find those good ideas and put them to good use instead of sitting ignored in a file folder downstairs.  One of the things I came across was from FamilyFun magazine.  It was a way to get your kids to clean up.  (Tried to pin, but couldn't find it!)  So, I tried it out on my kids tonight.  Guess what?  GENIUS!!!!!!!!  My kids cleaned for 30 minutes straight and were begging for more.  Now they are nicely playing together with all of the toys they discovered during our "game".  JACKPOT!  Are you catching my excitement?

Here is what you do:  Grab a flashlight (or headlamp my case).  Prepare the kids that you are going to play a game.  Shine the light on something that needs get put away.  Have the kids race to grab it and put it away.  That is all.  Seriously.... my kids were fighting over whose turn it was to clean up.  My house looks really good.

If you are not on the Pinterest bandwagon, you are missing out.  Of course, I have a million (okay not quite that many) pins and have only tried some of them, but I am working on it.  There is one thing that has caused me to wonder on my many pinterest wanderings and that is.......how do all of these women have time to do all of this crap amazing stuff.  Do they not sleep?  Do they not have children?  Do they just hole up in their house (with the occasional daily trip to the craft store)?  Are they made of money?  Do they have a wife housekeeper that does all of life's daily drudgery?  Maybe they don't sleep?  Whatever it is, I am amazed!  I feel like most of the time I am just trying to keep up with the laundry and the kids' school and activities.  Perhaps when my kids are older and I win the lottery I will be able to do more projects.  For now, I am kind of a once a month (if I am lucky) type of DIY person.

I have found some really amazing things on Pinterest.  However, I have also found lots of equally UNamazing things.  Meaning that it looks amazing and then when you try it, but it was a total waste of time and money.  I am going to go through my experiences in Pinterest.  For specific links to pins, check me out on Pinterest (at Lisa Coombs Lord).  I have created two new boards "tried and failed" or "tried and AWESOME".

Let's start with the bad news.  Any sort of pin that involves using glow sticks to make things glow in the dark: Fail.  Most of the science experiments in general: Fail.  Microwaving something to "clean your microwave": Fail.  Many of the other "homemade" household cleaners: Fail.  Most of things that didn't work for me, I deleted, but from now on, I will be moving them to the "tried and failed board".  Any pins that you have tried that have been an epic fail?

Now for the good stuff.  What has been good?  The Coca-Cola cake. 
DELICIOUS!  Lots of butter, but delicious.

The Taco Ring.
 
Well, let's just say that the 4 year old who won't eat ANYTHING asked for seconds and thirds of this easy and delicious recipe.

Hot dog octopus.

Another favorite of the "I go to bed hungry most nights of the week because I won't eat my dinner" 4 year old.  In fact we had it for dinner tonight!

So, that is the skinny on Pinterest.  Let me know if you have found any new favs and check out my pins!

Lisa