Happy Birthday Dad

Today was my dad's 52 birthday. He may be 20 years older than David, but he's still a tough old man.David and Dad wrestled to see who would end up in the water. David didn't want to hurt Dad, and Dad couldn't take David down, so it was somewhat of a draw.Then Seth decided to lend a helping hand while Dad was relaxing with his feet in the water. But Dad's quicker than he looks... Finally, David got Dad's head and Seth got his feet and in he went! Happy Birthday! Meanwhile, Grace played in the sand with Aunt Hope and Queenie.

They brought beach toys to play with.
And Grace found a little seat, but her bathing suit kept falling down when she'd stand up. So it wasn't long before we had to go back inside for lunch and a change of clothes.

Fun in the sun

After slathering down with sunscreen, we hit the beach first thing in the morning. Well, around 9:00 am in the morning. Grace was very excited!It was a beautiful day, warm and breezy. We played in the sand and walked the shore for about an hour before the sun became too hot to stay out. Then we headed back to cool off and eat some lunch.

We ate lunch at Lulu's. Lulu is Jimmy Buffett's sister.

It's a very cool place with great seafood. It's right on the water.


While we waited for our fabulous fish baskets, Grace played with Mommy's "eyes."

After lunch, we took a nap and then hit the beach again. We played in the sand some more.
David and Grace built a sandcastle, kinda. We didn't have any shovels or buckets with us at the time, so they improvised using flipflops and seashells.Then we dug a hole and put Grace in it.Next we played "tea party" and Grace ate sand.Then we walked along the beach and found an abandoned sand castle. So we played hide-and-go-seek for a little bit.And Grace climbed on top and jumped off over and over and over again.What great fun in the sun.

Happy Birthday Honey!

Today Grace and I flew to Mobile to visit David for the week. We've missed him so much over the last couple of weeks. Yesterday was his birthday, so we had a little surprise for him. We baked him a birthday cake and took it through airport security and all the way to Mobile for him. Plus we packed his present in our suitcase. It's such a big package that we had to pack our clothes around it. When we finally got to Mobile, I wish someone had a camera available to take our picture. Imagine this: me wearing my backpack as I kicked our big suitcase along with Grace's carseat on top, Grace in one arm wearing her little monkey and the cake in my other arm. Quite the challenge if I do say so myself.

Anyway, we finally arrived and got to see David. We decided to drive down to Gulf Shores for the weekend for a little latent celebrating. Here he's opening his present - the Keuring ultimate single cup coffee brewer. If there's one thing my hubby needs (besides us, of course) is his morning coffee.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETIE!!!!

Bearded lady

Just one little magic marker can turn a little girl into a bearded lady.

Grace learned a new trick

Tea party anyone?Grace is such a nice hostess. Mmmmm...tea tastes so good!

WOW - if you drink your tea really fast you can let go!

Look - no hands!

Update on the house

It's been a while since I lasted posted on my Home Sweet Home blog so I thought I'd give everyone an update. Yes, our house is still for sale. No, we haven't found THE buyer yet, but we are still hopeful. To date, we have had two offers. The first was ridiculously low. So low, in fact, I thought they made a mistake when they called us. The second offer was somewhat better but there's a real estate agent involved who wants a $7,000 commission. Hmmm. If we threw out his commission, we could probably come to some type of arrangement. Alas, the bloodsucking vampire wants his money, so we haven't accepted it either. There is hope though. We are having another open house yet again this Sunday afternoon. Maybe it will bring the future owners of our home. The third time's the charm, right? I certainly hope so.

In the meantime the search is still on for our next home. David has diligently been searching in Spanish Fort and Daphne. Just yesterday, he perused a foreclosure that had been high on our list (until he saw the interior, that is). Unfortunately, it has massive, and I mean MASSIVE, water and mold damage so we quickly crossed it off.

I don't think he's found "THE ONE" for us, yet. A few weeks ago, we saw a foreclosure together that we both really loved. It was a little rough around the edges and needed some work, but it was a diamond in the making. Too bad someone else snatched it first.

Now we are considering a condo in the Gulf Shores area. There are a lot of beachfront foreclosures around $150,000 that we think could be a great investment. Maybe we'll buy one of those so Grace and I can move on down and be with David. Then once we sell our Omaha home, we can purchase something on the east coast of Mobile Bay and then turn the condo into a rental. The biggest problem with that is David would have an hour commute one way to work. Ugh.

I guess we'll just have to trust that everything will work out as it's supposed to. In the meantime, please keep us in your prayers as David is down South and Grace and I are in Omaha. We miss him dearly and know he misses us, too.

The hunt is on...

My palms are sweaty and my heart is starting to race. We are in the Jeep slowly cruising around the corners as we drive up and down the streets in the neighborhood. I must hurry or I might be too late, but if I go too fast I'll miss the perfect opportunity. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot it. It's big. It's beautiful. It's just what I've been hunting for.... a garage sale.
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My adreneline is racing as I quickly park the Jeep on the curbside. I grab Grace and rush up the driveway. Luck is on our side. We're the first customer of the day. It's a success. The bounty is plentiful. We spend an hour scrupulously inspecting and selecting from the harvest before we leave.
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Then we make our way home to enjoy our spoils. Once at home, I breathe a sigh of contentment. I am satisfied and relaxed but still slightly exhilerated. Our hunt was more successful than I could have possibly hoped or expected.

1 Ty pink monkey (Grace is a sucker for monkeys)
9 dresses

6 pairs of shorts

2 pairs of jeans

24 shirts/blouses

31 outfits that include a top and bottom

2 bikinis

3 sets of pajamas

2 pairs of shoes

2 sets of books

1 set contains 8 "Dear God..." books that help answer kids questions about life and God

1 set contains 3 touch and feel counting books like "5 Silly Monkeys"
1 Strawberry Shortcake counting puzzle

and 1 Fisher Price tea cart and tea set

Now guess how much we spent for everything?

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Wait for it.

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Fifty-two dollars and fifty cents.

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Amazing, isn't it?

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I found the majority of the clothes at one garage sale where the poor lady told me that it was her first garage sale ever and she spent hours pricing each item. Yesterday was the first day of the sale and she said that just about every shopper wanted to haggle over the prices before she finally got fed up with it and decided to sell everything, I repeat everything, for fifty cents each. That included outfits or individual items. Since I was the first customer of the day, I was able to get a great many things for Grace. The clothes range in size from 2T to 4T with name brands like Gymboree, Carters, and Children's Place. I hate that she had such a bad experience, but at the same time, I am so thankful I was able to find such nice clothes for Grace by hardly spending anything. Normally, I wouldn't have bought anything larger than 3T (for next year) but at .50 per item, well, it would have been crazy NOT to buy stuff, right? And the Fisher Price tea cart (with cups, saucers, serving tray, tea pot, and creamer) only set me back $5.
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Garage sale shopping has become one of my favorite past times. I eagerly anticipate the hunt and the excitement it brings when I find great items at great prices. But most of all I enjoy the sense of accomplishment and resulting satisfaction of saving my family a lot of money in the long run.