Friendly Reunion

When we moved to Georgia I was five months pregnant with my first child, an only child myself who never had any intention of moving away from home. All of my family was in Louisiana, as well as Hubby's, and many of my friends were people I'd know since elementary school. But opportunity came a knocking (for Hubby at least) so I packed up and left Louisiana - the only home I'd ever known. It wasn't easy and for the first few years I was in denial...I refused to call Georgia home and I dreamed of the day we'd return to our real home.
By chance, a good friend of mine from college had a sister in the Atlanta area who attended the same church we had joined. He came to town for Thanksgiving, just a few weeks after our big move, and hooked us up. I believe his sister's first words to me were, "You're going to want to join the mom's group." The church had a group of stay-home moms who met weekly for playdates, field trips, and everyone's favorite, Mom's Night Out. Being new to the whole game of motherhood and staying home, I of course followed her instructions. What wonderful advice that turned out to be. I often say those moms saved my life! As if making the adjustment to motherhood wasn't enough, or going from working girl to clueless homemaker, I knew absolutely no one (with the exception of Hubby and newborn Sport) in my new surroundings. I lived for our weekly Wednesday get-togethers and was a regular long before Sport was old enough to actually participate. These women were my lifeline. When I had surgery and later a miscarriage, these were the women who fed my family and took care of my son when I couldn't. It was an experienced mother of three who gave Sport his first solid food - a graham cracker stick - when I was too scared to try. Leading up to the day Spice was born so many of them were on stand-by, ready and willing to take a phone call in the middle of the night and stay with Sport while Hubby and I headed off to the hospital - no small commitment considering Spice was born just two days after Christmas! In the days after Spice's birth they once again fed us and gave Sport a place to go that was much more fun than sitting home watching mom nurse a new baby. Life was good.
Then the unthinkable happened...our babies began to grow up and head off to school and one by one we moved into new homes, new churches, and new directions.
We tried to keep in touch, but with this kid at soccer practice and that kid at scouts...it got hard. Table reservations for our monthly night out slowly dwindled from 12 or more to eight, then four, sometimes only two and sadly at times even none. There've been the occasional e-mails and phone calls with pledges to "get together soon" and always the annual Christmas card photos that leave you scratching your head and wondering where the years have gone when you stare at the older and wiser faces of children you still remember as toddlers just learning to walk and talk.
Earlier this week, I was so lucky to welcome two of these dear friends into my home for a little "friendly reunion." C and I keep in touch fairly regularly. Up until a couple of years ago we lived just minutes from one other and Sport has always considered her youngest among his best friends. Unfortunately, it hasn't been so easy keeping up with B, but this week, the stars aligned, the Heavens opened up, and for a few short hours (too short) we were able to once again sit around the table and chat while kids climbed trees, ran in circles, played ball, and had a grand old time in general, all around us. I've often lamented to Hubby that no matter how hard I've tried, I've never been able to find friends as wonderful as that first group of mothers who so readily welcomed me into their circle when I needed it most. As B left several hours later, she confirmed my complaints, "You know, I've never found another group as good as this one. We were so lucky."
Earlier in the day, looking out at the kids piled around two tables on our deck eating lunch I couldn't help but flashback to snack time during the old days when chubby little hands and faces dug into more toddler friendly fare, and I couldn't help but think of the old adage, “Make new friends, but keep the old; one is silver and the other is gold.”
Do you have any "golden" friends you've been missing? If so, call them up make plans to catch up, real plans. It'll do your heart good.

Shopping At Sears Works For Me

While I buy most of Sport's and Spice's clothes at the annual consignment sales that are big business in the Atlanta area, there are a few times when I go all out and buy brand spanking new stuff from Sears. It is a closely guarded secret, but Sears has a KidVantage Club that lets you return kid's clothing that has either worn out or not stood up to the rigors of childhood and exchange them for the exact same item. For instance, Sport can wear a hole in a pair of jeans quicker than they've had a chance to fade. I now purchase all of his jeans from Sears then take them back once the first hole appears, usually about two weeks later, and swap them out for a new pair. I try to buy them a bit bigger since you have to trade in for the same size.
There are no fees to join the KidVantage Club and no cards to carry around. Just tell the cashier you want to sign up, give them some basic info and you're all set. After the initial sign-up, all you have to do is tell the cashier you're a member and give them your phone number to make sure future purchases get credited to your account. Returning an item for a replacement is easy too and you only need to keep the receipt for certain items, like Levi's brand jeans. Once you've spent $100 you will receive a coupon for 15 percent off a future purchase. The best part is anything can count towards the $100, not just kid's items so anytime you make a purchase at Sears, make sure to tell them you're in the club.
If you have multiple children of the same gender, joining KidVantage can be a real bonanza. You can purchase a pair of pants for your oldest, let him wear them out then swap them out for a new pair to be passed down to a younger sibling. Even though I only have one boy, I still swap out Sport's stuff then pass it down to someone else or donate it to charity.

The KidVantage Club makes shopping at Sears work for me. To find out what works for others, head over to We Are That Family for Works For Me Wednesday.

Bargain Hunting

Last week I loaded up the kids and did something I haven't done in a long time...went garage saling. We actually hit a couple of Thursday sales which was new to me, but after reading Thrifty Decor Chick's post about Thursday sales, I figured they were worth a try. At least there's not a lot of competition first thing Thursday morning.
We hit paydirt at our very first sale. If you are a homeschooler, garage sales are an excellent source for materials. I picked up 2 small dry erase boards, lined on one side for handwriting practice and blank on the other side, a set of shape magnets for Spice, an unopened pack of Handwriting Without Tears writing paper, a set of number magnets along with a write on/wipe off book for math practice, and the game Smath, which I've read about on virtually every homeschooler's blog for a whopping $2.50!!!


It was obviously the week for retired teacher yard sales because I also managed to pick up a boatload of learning games in all subjects as well as reams of paper, 2 potholder knitting looms with the loops - which will come in handy for our upcoming study of colonial America - and quite a few other school related materials that I never took pictures of, for under $5.

It wasn't all about school bargains though. Spice zeroed right in on this Parisian Kids zebra print fleece vest for a dollar...



and Sport was in Heaven after spying a Lego Bionicle at the very first sale for only $1.50 (a savings of over 6 bucks). When we left the house that morning he announced, "I'm going to leave my wallet here because I want to save my money for more Bionicles." Guess who need a loan right off the bat?

Why Moms Can't Exercise

So I dug out my pilates mat the other day for the first time in a very long time. After two straight days of exercise, I come down on the third day and find this...



My exercise mat has become just another Lego build center. As if the huge tablecloth in the background that's been there since Sport's birthday party in April wasn't big enough.

Easy Peasy "Pizza"

Yesterday we were in Wal-Mart when the inevitable question came up..."Mom, can we get a Lunchable?" I'm not a fan of Lunchables. As a rule we only buy them when we're traveling for a fun lunch treat to be eaten on the road or when they're really, really on sale, like for $1. Being the quick-thinker that I am, I remember the mini pita breads I bought at Trader Joe's the day before. The kids were begging for pizza Lunchables anyway so here's our homemade version:
Ingredients

mini pita breads
pizza sauce
cheese
pepperoni

Spread some sauce on each pita. Top with cheese and pepperoni. Place in broiler for about a minute and a half or until cheese melts. Enjoy.

We all agreed they were better than the real thing.

Hope this recipe works for you as well as it worked for me. To find more great tips, head over to We Are That Family for Works For Me Wednesday.

Not Me Monday - My Little Angels

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. This week's NMM is a special Not My Child edition. It's hard to think of anything my little angels do that's not perfet, but maybe I can come up with a few...

Sport does not have an aversion to sleep so he does not come down the stairs every. single. night. to announce that he can't sleep, doesn't feel good, can't make his brain stop thinking... I have not overlooked this for many years thinking he would one day "grow out of it." I have not recently begun to envision nightly phone calls in my future from my college age son in need of a virtual tuck-in from Mom.

Spice does not need anger management classes. That sweet little shy girl you see out in public is the same sweet little princess we see at home. She does not conduct regular (daily) beatings of her older brother and has not been known to use a bicycle helmet as a weapon. She does not have a short fuse. In fact she doesn't have any fuse at all.

Since Spice is such a healthy eater, I do not have to resort to Deceptively Delicious style cooking techniques in order to get her to eat a vegetable. I do not have to spend extra money at the grocery store on little packs of sliced apples because that's the ones she will eat. She also does not refuse to eat "broken grapes" (i.e. cut-up) and I do not try to pass off every meat I cook as chicken nuggets in the hopes of getting her to try it.

Sport did not scream, recoil in horror, and cover his eyes when he walked in my room the other day and saw me standing there in a two-piece swimming suit. On the other hand he also does not insist every time we go in Target that the swim suit model on the large sign hanging from the ceiling looks just like me.

Spice did not just announce the bread I purchased at Trader Joe's yesterday is not up to her standards, then ask, "Did you make this bread 'cause it doesn't taste too good?"

My children have not become underwear obsessed. A favorite activity during our most recent hotel stay did not involve open their sibling's dresser drawer and announcing, "I see Spice's underwear!" or "I see Sport's underwear!" thereby sending the owner of said underwear into hysterics.

Not Me Monday - Family Fun Edition

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else has not been doing this week. As for us, we've had a busy summer so far. Here's a few of the highlights...

We have not spent so much time away from home this summer and on the road that Sport and Spice have not been begging to "just stay home and lay there."

Spice did not give me a "foot massage" with a bottle of hotel lotion yesterday. When I told her I had enough lotion on my feet and she should put the rest on my legs, she did not grimace and say, "But they're so scratchy."

When I was attacked by a bird during our stay in Alabama last week, my loving family did not just sit and watch from the car. When I ran for safety and dove back in the car Hubby's first words were not, "Darn it! Where's the video camera when you need one?" I think it was something more along the lines of, "Are you OK, Honey?"

I did not avoid the dreaded chore of putting away laundry after our most recent trip by stuffing most of the freshly cleaned items back in our suitcases in preparation for our next trip to the beach this week. Our suitcase has not been sitting half-packed/unpacked at the end of our bed for three days now.

Sport did not lose the weapons that came with the Lego Bionicle sets he purchased during our trip to Louisiana within the first hour of playing with them. The rest of the family (i.e., Spice, Hubby, my parents, my grandmother, my uncle, and me) did not spend a good 20 or 30 minutes scouring the floor, the yard, the driveway, my dad's shop...looking for them while Sport sat inside happily playing with his new toys despite the missing pieces.