Yard Sale 101

Considering the size of our families, and the fact that we both have too much stuff and not enough house, the Phipps' and the Austins decided to have a monster, 4th of July yard sale extravaganza this past weekend.

As depicted by the picture above, the girlies had a great idea and decided to set up a lemonade stand. They would have made a profit if their store would have stayed open for more than 10 minutes. I basically had just enough time to take this picture...then they started to drink their product, hide the proceeds from one another, and use up all 150 plastic cups among the 5 of them...all within twenty minutes.

Now, on to the grown ups...we learned a lot as well. We are not yard sale professionals by any means, but we stumbled upon a few pointers that will be helpful in the future, or to whoever else would like to have a yard sale.

1. Offer free delivery!! People ate that up...It was the hardest part for Bryan and Chris, but I have a sneaking suspicion they didn't mind getting away for awhile.

2. Salt does not taste good in coffee, even if it does look like sugar.

3. Put a futon in the yard...it adds ambience and serves as a great place to chill during the slow periods.

4. Kim LOVES!! cherry-limeades. We will make sure that is on-hand for the duration next time.

5. Put a jump-o-lene in the yard....it entertained the kids for awhile. Kiddies do not like yard sales.

6. One man's junk is another man's treasure, it's always the things that you don't expect to sell that go first, such as a box full of a bachelor's unused kitchen utensils, or a diaper genie full of three-year old diapers!

7. After a few hours, just go inside and put out a sign, "Ring Doorbell for Service." It gives people an opportunity to steal stuff, and getting rid of the junk is the objective anyway.

8. Yes, some women do still prefer to have a whopping chaw of 'baccer in their mouths while shopping for treasures!

9. It takes $20 worth of gas to drive to the lake, even if you don't drive.

10. Oh yeah, did I mention that Kim loves cherry limeades....yeah, I did.

8 Things!

Kim tagged me, so here goes:

8 Things I Did Yesterday!

1. Dusted

2. Printed pictures off our computer

3. Held our 2 month old niece, Cambden

4. Missed my girls being that little

5. Enjoyed cookout with good friends and family

6. Watched kids run, play, laugh, cry, squeal, (& loved every minute lol)

7. Kissed my husband

8. Laughed ALOT!


8 Things I Look Forward To:

1. Lazy Days at the Pool

2. Regan's 7th Birthday!

3. Nice, sunny weather

4. Anniversary Trip - love you Bryan :)

5. Getting hugs and kisses from my girls

6. Taking days off from work

7. My next Scrapbook magazine to arrive in the mail

8. Traveling with Bryan after retirement (yes I know it's quite a long ways away)


8 Things I Wish I Could Do:

1. Be More Patient

2. Play an instrument

3. Win the lottery

4. Own a restaurant some day

5. Be more creative and artsy

6. Get front row seats to a Dave Matthews Band concert, (For Bryan)

7. Sometimes... Make Time Stand Still

8. Keep ALL children in this world safe and in a loving home!!

8 Shows I Watch On TV:

1. Greys Anatomy

2. So You Think You Can Dance

3. Whatever, Martha

4. Today Show

5. Everyday Italian with Giada (Food Network)

6. Two and A Half Men

7. Hell's Kitchen

8. Disney Channel, depends on what time in the day

Busy Busy!!

The last month or so we have had lots going on. I think we will start with our Cincinnati trip, we went with our friends, the Austins. We went to a ball game, which the guys and the girlies loved. I think the highlight for them was seeing the fireworks after a homerun.

Then Sunday we went shopping at IKEA. This was our first time at this store and I absolutely loved it. It has everything under the sun for your home. Way Cool!!

A few weeks ago, Regan had her gymnastics show. She practiced very hard to perfect her cartwheel. At the start, she could barely get her feet off the ground. But slowly but surely she got the hang of it, and after 30 cartwheels in our living room just about every night, she could finally do one. She was so excited!! All of her hard work paid off....

The weekend after was Abby's night to shine, her dance recital. Like Regan, she practiced her dance moves for weeks. From the looks of things, I believe she liked being on stage. She is quite the performer! We were so proud of our little Abby.

The day after Abby's recital, we were off to Virginia Beach. Bryan has a conference there almost every year, and we always tag along. This year was a good year, usually we have one that doesn't like the water, or that doesn't want to get in the sand, but this year they liked it all.

Weekend Visit

 We had such a wonderful time this weekend.  Our dear friends, Sherry and Jon, (Sherry is a friend from college) and their kids, Lacy and Izaak, came to visit us for the weekend.  Last time we visited with them, we went to Martinsville for Sherry's baby shower, just over a year ago.  We finally got to meet little Izaak.  He's such a happy baby, always full of smiles.  And Lacy has grown so much, so much taller than when we last saw her.  As you can see the kids had so much fun.  The girls played, played, and played some more.  They had a ball camping out in Regan's room.   It's always tradition for our guys to go for a round of golf during our visits.  The weather did not cooperate as well as they had hoped, but despite the cold weather Sunday morning, they went out anyway.  Must be a guy thing!  We can't wait for another visit, hopefully it won't be an entire year this time.  

Abby's Three Birthdays

Abby turned four today. She was very excited to learn that her official birthday had finally arrived, since we technically celebrated it two weeks ago. Seeing as how we never miss a chance to have a party, we provided birthday cupcakes for Abby and her classmates at EduCare. As you can see, Abby was very interested in her treat!



The fun part for me was having the opportunity to take the girls to Applebee's (at Abby's request) to celebrate her birthday yet one more time. Bella had to attend a meeting, which is the position that I usually find myself in. So, it was nice to be able to have a Dad's night out with the girls for a change, even if Mom had to sit this one out.



Abby was thrilled to have the opportunity to enjoy her favorite food, dessert! She was very cute when she looked up at me and said with a mouthful of ice cream that she was soooo happy to have had three birthdays: one at the hotel, one at her school, and one at Applebee's...that's going to be a hard combination to repeat.

Travel fun...

Yesterday I had the worst travel experience of my life (thus far). All in all, and considering the frequency, I haven't had that much difficulty traveling throughout the country. Yesterday was a different story.

I woke to gently falling snow in Big Stone Gap, and diligently jumped in the car at 5:00 am for the trip to the airport. Before I left, and along the way (though not the safest practice), I checked my flights to make sure they weren't delayed. All systems go...no delays.

I arrived and checked-in, and was immediately informed that my flight was delayed for 45 mins...not bad considering the weather. To put this into context, the day before Delta had to cancel some 300 flights due to a winter storm. Some left-over issues could be expected.

Well, I get to the gate and 45 mins. passed...then 1h, and then the guy in the suit shows up and lo and behold there is an issue....the first of many

To make a long story short, here's an accounting of my day yesterday.

5:00 am - 6:00 am            Drive to airport

6:00 am-3:00 pm              Sit in terminal, wait on plane

3:00 pm-4:00 pm              Fly to Atlanta

4:00 pm-5:45 pm             Sitting in Atlanta, waiting on plane that was supposed to leave at 4:30 pm to be brought from hangar to terminal


5:45 pm-8:45 pm         Sit on plane, waiting on mechanic to fix crucial instruments that were     needed to fly that wouldn't work because the plane was cold, and then while it is being de-iced, and then in line for take off, and then during the runway inspection that ensued, and then...you get the point.

10:00 pm (Midnight east coast) Arrive at Hyatt Tamaya in New Mexico

I am pleased to report that I am safe, none the worse for wear, and know many people that had worse days that I did. Plus, the morning view wasn't too shabby either.

What a day....

The view from my seat while stranded in Atlanta...more details to come

Party Day

Well Abby and Taylor's party day finally arrived.  They had been so excited about their Wizard of Oz party.  If I do say so myself, it looked pretty Wizard of Ozzie, complete with the yellow brick road.  They loved it.  I believe all the kids had a good time, they tossed a ring around the tin man's hat and roared like a lion.  We thank everyone that came to celebrate Abby and Taylor's birthday with us.  

Our Abby has the most super duper curls.  I experimented one evening after bath just to see what we could do.  She loved her new do, but of course she's not Abby without the bouncy curls.  She even said "Mommy, you took my curls out".   

The best part...

For me, the best part of traveling is the coming home part. While I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to see the country the past few years, nothing ever compares to the excitement of traveling home and knowing that in a few hours I will get to see the gals. As our friend Kim aptly points out, travel can often be rejuvenating and is a bit slower paced than the day-to-day, but I never lose the feeling that there is something, and some special ones, that are missing. Being able to come home and see the girls, or seeing them first thing the next morning, is always the best.