8/6/15

Special Things

I found these blank paperback books in the dollar section of Target and couldn't resist.  They have three different sizes (each pack is $3) and I am saving them for Janey because if she is anything like I was as a little girl (and the way Abbey was) she will love to make her own little stories.

I can't tell you how long I have had these trays, but boy do we use them.  I came home one busy morning from shopping with Abbey for dorm supplies to find that Andrew and his friend from next door had fixed lunch for themselves and the younger kids. I could have cried tears of joy.

An alley find!  When walking one day I found this sweet chair set out by the garbage-this is about a week after I found this:


Isn't it gorgeous?  All worn in the right places and buttery smooth.  Again out by the alley in the garbage.  I walked all the way home with both of them each time, what choice did I have?

I am planning on starting a little series on toddlers.  Because I love love love this age and while I am in the thick of it, I want to write down all the tips and tricks I have learned and have been passed down to me by my mother mentors to truly treasure and enjoy and appreciate (and survive:) this wonderful time of growth and development and adorableness.   

But for right now-August!  How I love August.  
But it's busier here in August than in any other month.
August makes December look like nothing.
I desperately need to get my act together because I have three birthdays to celebrate, two kids to send off to college, one an anxious (and excited daughter) I will be sending off for the first year at a huge university (I will be packing a jumbo box of tissues).  I have three other school start dates, supplies to buy, three busy sports schedules, and a house and calendar and to-do list that must support it all.

18 comments:

  1. Oh my I am exhausted just reading your list!

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  2. I have been reading your blog for awhile (love your insight and beautiful pics!) and I can't believe your daughter is going to college? What?? Wow! And your little one in that dress - how cute is she? Love the little curls. When my husband and I first got married - I was super thrifty with money and found 2 vacuum cleaners at the dumpster at the apartment we lived in. I took them and had one cleaned and serviced and it worked perfectly for years! I would just get a $10 cleaning every year! Now I have a Dyson.....

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  3. oh I would LOVE a series on toddlers. I have a 3.5 yeaar old, 24 month and another one coming in a few short weeks. Some times I have no idea whats going on.

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  4. I am pregnant with my first, and I have been reading your blog for years. I love taking lessons learned from you. My favorite (40 in 40). So necessary:)

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  5. Sarah, I think we are kindred spirits. What a nice blog. Love that you love being a mom.

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  6. Can't wait for your post on toddlers! I have a very spirited son who will be 3 late September and I could use any tips or tricks you have tucked up your sleeve! :)

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  7. Love, love, love your alley finds! Makes me wish I had an alley.
    I also love that you are blogging again. I missed you and your family. My kids are grown and I am now a Grandmother but I love reading about young Catholic families like yours. It gives me lots of hope for the world to know that there are still parents who know how to do families right.

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  8. What great alley finds! It would have been a sin to not take them home! :) Little Janey is surely growing up and that dress - she is adorable!

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  9. I love toddlers, too!!!!! I feel like my parenting skills peaked at infant/toddlerhood and go progressively down as my kids get older. haha

    And there's that picture of sweet Janey I've been waiting for. Thank you!

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    1. Oh, and we have those exact same trays and have had them forever. Most of our plastic plates and cups didn't make the cut with this last move, but those did.

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  10. Will your children be at the same college? I use to think I would love them to go different places and now I want them all at the same place!

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    1. No Leah-opposite directions! But wouldn't that be ideal!

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  11. I love glimpses into your life and all its stages...and those chairs?! Precious finds:-).

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  12. Toddler series sounds wonderful! I have 2-year-old daughter as well as 12-year-old son and 15-year-old daughter. So I enjoy reading about your family.

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  13. I just love your blog. I am dropping off my youngest at college in 4 days. Big changes happening in our household!

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  14. I cannot believe Janey is a toddler already! I love the glimpses into your life because it helps me to know I can get through each stage too.

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  15. who is that grown child at your sink?! Too fast, too fast!

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  16. I have a high chair very similar to that find that I found at a garage sale when my first baby (now 10) was 9 months old--we love it still! Good for you!

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