PLAY KITCHEN DOWN, TRAIN TABLE TO GO

So I was successful in getting rid of Brianna's play kitchen. She made $40. She will put this money toward a 10 gallon fish tank and stand. I still have the train table to sale. Hopefully, it will be just as easy to get rid of it as it was the kitchen. I don't want anyone to get the impression that I'm selling off her stuff to make money. That is so not the case. I am only trying to get rid of the things that she doesn't use anymore to make room in her room and in the rest of the house. And in return, she gets a bigger fish tank that she's been wanting for a while now. I have to work Saturday till about 2. I plan on going shopping for school clothes afterward since it's tax free weekend and everyone will be having sales. Then Sunday, I will be off to the Flea Market to try to unload more of my "trash". You know what they say about it being someone else's "treasure".

FLEA MARKET FEVER

Heather has been on my case for a week now to post. I told her I wouldn't post until there was something to post about. Well, I didn't really do anything this weekend worth posting about. But I can tell you what I did.

I have begin to notice all the clutter around my house, and after months of looking at it I am finally doing something about it. To start it off, I went up into my attic to pull down all of Brianna's baby stuff. Not the big things like her crib, changing table, swing, stroller, high chair that kind of stuff. Cause one day I might actually need it, and do not want to have to go out to repurchase all those things. I did pull out all her little baby clothes, which made me so sad. I also pulled out the baby toys that I had kept, 2 bins of stuffed animals, a bouncy, a johnny jumper, a walker, and a crib mobile. After spending all Friday night sorting through that stuff, I loaded it up into the truck Saturday morning at 5:00 AM!!! And headed to the flea market on White Horse Rd. As soon as my table was set up, it started raining. So I covered everything up and waited it out. I stopped after about 30 minutes. The crowd started coming a little bit around 8 and I sold some clothes, toys, and the walker. Then the rain came again, that was it! It was 9:30 and I had gotten rained on twice. So I called it a day. One good thing though was that I made $40 in the short time I stayed there. So again I loaded up the truck and went home. But my day wasn't thru yet. I had to bring in 2 huge tubs full of baby clothes and run them in the dryer because they were soaking wet. Nobody wants to buy clothes with mold on them. That night, I had checked the weather forecast, clear and sunny, and decided I would try my luck at the Thunderbird Flea Market in Spartanburg. I headed out that way at 5:45. By the time I got there and got everything set up it was about 7. The sun was hot and the heat was miserable, I left at 12:30 with a $100 in my pocket. I started out with a truck bed full of stuff and went home with just 1 tub of whats left of her clothes. I guess you could say I have flea market fever now. I have to work this Saturday, but you can bet that if it's not raining, I will be back out at that flea market selling more crap that I have found in my house this week. And if you are wondering, "Well, what's she gonna do with that money?" The answer is that I shall use it to purchase my child school clothes for this year. Pretty good huh?

But on a quick reality check----it's a lot of work. By Sunday night I was so thoroughly exhausted. I know in the long run it will be worth it because my house will have less clutter and I will have a few extra bucks in my pocket.

And if there is anyone looking for a train table set or a play kitchen, I am selling those too. They are both in EXCELLENT CONDITION. I even have the box that the train table came in. It still has all the tracks, trains, and accessories. We paid $250.00 for it for Brianna's 2nd birthday. If you are interested or know anyone that is, please ask them to check out my blog and leave a comment.

UPDATED PLAYLIST

Hey guys,
I updated my playlist. I was feeling a little nostalgic so I went back in time for a few songs. Hope you enjoy them!

HONEY, I'M HOME!!!

Yep, we are back in South Kakalaki. We got in last night about 7:30. I had to go back to work today and that was VERY hard. Anyway, it's good to be home. I wanted to give a special thanks to everyone that took such good care of our animals while we were away. Brianna sure did miss them, and Bonnie, Mr. Pickles, and Orea missed us too. The fish, I'm not too sure they even knew we were gone.

We also wanted to tell everyone back home in New York that we miss you guys already. Thanks for all the fun while we were there. And to that "Old Man", my Father-in-Law, I know you are already counting down the days till you see me again :). Believe me, I can't wait! I'm going to fry you up a couple of grilled cheese sandwiches! Thanks for everything.

FRIDAY NIGHT PLAYING Wii

We all had fun playing Wii. The bowling was a lot of fun and the girls look really cute playing tennis.

*Heather, you better watch out! Oh, I'm just kidding. Even Brianna did better than me!

GREENPOINT PICTURES

This was the best day! We all had such a great time.

Katie

Ryan and Nicholas Jr.

Brianna playing in the sand.

Katelynn and Brianna going to look for crabs.

Found some!




Brian and his dad clamming.





Brian showing Brianna a clam.

One last trip in the water before leaving.

Check out the clams!

ONE MORE DAY

We will be flying home tomorrow afternoon. We have had a really great vacation. Brianna and I went to see Kung Fu Panda at the movies Wednesday afternoon. She enjoyed it and I think this is the first movie that she actually sat through and watched. On Thursday morning, Katelynn was dropped off to spend the day with Brianna. After going out to breakfast, Nana took the girls with her to look for a Wii and Brian dropped me off at the beach. I layed out there by the beach listening to the waves of the ocean and soaking up sun. There was a nice breeze that kept me cool, but I still had to make a couple of trips into the water. How could I not? After 3 hours, Brian came to pick me up. And yes, in case you are wondering, I did get sunburned. I guess I waited a little too late to put on sunscreen.

Friday, the whole family went to Green Point Park, which is almost at the end of Long Island. We went there to play in the sun and sand. There is a bay there that we all played in to cool off. Brian and his Brothers helped their Dad dig for clams. Digging for clams in case you don't know(cause I sure as heck didn't) consists of moving your feet back in fourth in the sand "digging" until you feel the clams. Then you pick it up and put it in a bucket. They were very successful. They got 2 5 gallon buckets full of them. I mostly laid in the sun(as if I needed more sun) and played in the shallow water with the kids. Brianna absolutely loved it! She was finding small crabs and snails. But the cutest thing was watching her with her daddy. You should have seen Brianna out there twisting back and fourth trying to dig those clams up. I know Brian probably enjoyed doing that with her. But it wasn't long before she was looking for more snails and crabs. After a couple hours, we went to the picnic area. Brianna, Katelynn, Nicholas, and Ryan all ran around and played while the food was cooking. As soon as we were finished eating, I took the kids into the water one last time. Brianna didn't want to leave and I must say, I didn't want to either. But we had gotten there at 11:00 and it was 5:00 when we left plus we had a hour drive ahead of us to get back home.

Today, Saturday, we will be having a big seafood dinner. Whatcha think they went clamming for? I think I will probably have Wendy's!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Our day at Smith Point Beach, Tuesday

MUNDANE MONDAY

Brianna stayed over at Katelynn's last night. I'm going to pick her up later this afternoon. I thought she would have more fun playing over at Aunt Gina's than she would staying in the house all afternoon here. I don't think I've seen the sun since we have been here. I had hopes of going to the beach a couple times while we were here, but it doesn't look like it will be today. So I've used this free time to catch my blog up and to check out other blogs that I've missed out on. It's great to be on vacation. Brian and I both needed to have a break from all the stress that we have been under. I'm not sure what we will be doing while we are here. I know that we are supposed to be going somewhere Friday for the guys to go clamming, and the kids to play in the water, and have a picnic. Hopefully there will be sun for that. I was thinking about maybe taking Brianna to the aquarium and the dinosaur walk one day and maybe take her to the movies to watch Kung Fu Panda another day. And Brian and I will be taking her to the beach at least one day this week even if the sun doesn't come out. She doesn't need the sun to play in the sand and in the ocean. But me on the other hand, I am in desperate need of the sun!! I had high expectations of coming back home with at least some color on these white legs of mine. Oh well, I guess I will just have to see.

BRIANNA & KATELYNN VISIT BUILD A BEAR

Katelynn has never been to Build A Bear and Brianna absolutely loves it so Nana took them both there yesterday. It's so cute. Everything that Brianna has, Katelynn wants just like her. So when we were at the store yesterday, I told Katelynn she had to make one like she wanted. I think she did a great job. She picked out a pink cheetah and dressed her up in Hannah Montana clothes and a blonde wig. I bet you can even guess what she named it. Brianna picked out a leopard and dressed her up in a Hawaiian themed outfit, even down to the coconut bra. Her name is "Beachy". The girls had fun picking out their animal, stuffing it, then giving them a bath and dressing them.

PLAYING WITH COUSINS

Brianna spent all day Saturday playing with her cousins. They are all so close in age and just had tons of fun. We had a cookout so the kids mostly played outside. Nick, Brian's brother, brought over the Powerwheel for the kids to play on. That kept them occupied for a long time. Although we were all sitting on the edge of our seats hoping that no one would get ran over or that the tent would not get knocked down. After dinner the kids cooled off with ice pops and took a quick rest then it was back to playing some more. The night ended with all the kids, except Chris Jr., sleeping over. I took a few pictures so that you all can see how the kids are all growing up.

Ryan, Nicholas Jr. & Brianna

Brianna & Katelynn

Katelynn, Christopher Jr. & Brianna

Top Row:Nicholas Jr. & Brianna
Bottom Row:Ryan, Christopher Jr. & Katelynn

Brianna helping Katelynn to take a ride.
Katelynn taking Brianna for a ride.

FUNNY STORY #7

So we all have heard now the song by Katy Perry, "I Kissed A Girl". Well, the other day when we were driving to the airport Brianna was in the backseat telling me and Brian all about it. This is what she said:

"Momma, you know what I heard on the radio the other day? I heard a girl singing a song about kissing another girl. And she liked it! When I was down at MyMy's today, we were watching Fox News and they were talking about that song and girls kissing girls and boys kissing boys, and that it is just confusing to kids! Girls don't kiss girls and boys don't kiss boys."

I just told her that they were probably just friends, and friends do give each other kisses on the cheeks.

I personally like the song, however, I will be changing the station when it comes on the radio if Brianna is in the car with me. I really don't want to have to address these types of social issues this early in her life. I wonder what she will be asking me next.

FOURTH OF JULY

We started out the Fourth with a trip to McDonalds. Uncle Kevin wanted to take Brianna there so that she could play. Other than that, we just stayed around the house. Brian's brothers already had plans to go to other get togethers so we are going to have our Fourth of July Cookout today. We played outside with the big bubble wand. Brianna had fun making really big bubbles and believe it or not she kept wanting me to take her picture. I know, can you believe it? I definitely took her up on the offer. I took some cute pictures of her "posing".
Brianna was disappointed that she didn't get to see Katelynn yesterday, but Nicholas and Ryan came over last night and they played together. We went outside and caught tons, I mean tons, of lightening bugs. Then we all sat outside to watch the neighbors shoot off their fireworks. This morning, Brianna had to let each one of those lightening bugs go, one at a time she had to say goodbye to them. She isn't too sad about that because she knows that she had to let them go so that she could catch them again tonight. Anyway, so everyone will be over at the house today for our Fifth of July cookout. I'll take more pics. Until then, check out the ones from yesterday. I hope you all had a good holiday and we miss you.

A SPECIAL THANK YOU

I would like to say thanks to a couple people who are helping out with our animals while we are on vacation:

Amber, Kaylee and Abbey--Thanks for watching Oreo. I hope he doesn't get to be too much for you.

Karen Holt--Thank you for watching our fish. I know you will take good care of them.

MyMy--Thank you for watching Bonnie for us the first couple of days, even though I know you don't want to. :)

April--Thank you for taking Bonnie off my mom's hands when you get back into town on Sunday. My mom will be THRILLED!! And just for you, I had Bonnie bathed and had her breath freshened. Don't forget about the storms, you know how she gets.

Granny--Thank you for coming by every other day to feed Mr. Pickles. Even though you will probably never see him. But trust me, that cat will NEVER go hungry.

A FEW CUTE STORIES BEFORE WE LEAVE

FUNNY STORY #5

We were shooting off fireworks the other night. We shot up some bottle rockets that squealed as they went up in the air. Brianna said, "Mommy, I don't like that at all. It's very "disturving". "

I corrected her and told her it was "disturbing."


FUNNY STORY #6

This is a conversation that Brianna and I shared yesterday morning:

Brianna: "Momma, you know them beetles that keep eating up my cherry tree. You know what they are called? Oh yeah, June bugs. They are eating my tree to death."

Me: "Well, Brianna I guess they are just hungry."

Brianna: "Well, they are laying all over my tree getting married."

Me: "What do you mean getting married?"

Brianna: "They are laying there on top of each other. That's what getting married is."

QUICK POST

Sorry, you all haven't heard from me in awhile. In case you don't know already, we made a last minute decision last week to go to NY for Fourth of July. Our plane will be leaving Charlotte Thursday night at 10:00. We will return on Sunday, July 13th. We are excited and can't wait to go. We definitely need a vacation. Needless to say, it has been very, very, very hectic around here. With work absolutely CRAZY, trying to get things packed, and tying up other loose ends....its been just awful. But I know come Friday, it will all be worth it. I just wanted to write a quick posting to let you all know what's been going on, just in case you were wondering. I will try to post again before we leave. But just in case I don't get the chance, please pray for our safe flight there and back.(As you know, I am absolutely TERRIFIED of flying.) You all have a fun and safe Fourth of July as well!!