Thrifty makeovers

These were only .50cents each and I thought a good coat of spray paint or maybe some stain and I could make them into a shelf....unless you have another idea.
Everyday my friend Sarah and I walk the neighborhood and everyday we would see these things laying by the curb just calling for someone to take them and every day we would talk about taking them until last Thursday...trash day. I decided that if Sarah didn't take them then I would! I drove over and the trash men were trying to decide if they should throw them in the trash truck and I told them I wanted them and they said "Good we thought they were too good to throw away but we weren't sure"

So, I've never been one to dumpster dive and I actually didn't have to get in a dumpster this time but they were someones trash and now my treasure!

This past Sat. I was out and about and decided to go to some garage sales. I found some items that I thought could use some makeovers but I'm not sure EXACTLY what I'm going to do with everything yet. Kimba at A Soft Place to Land always has great ideas and Traci at The Bakery turned a coffee table into an amazing pet bed....if you have any ideas for what I can do with these things PLEASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSE leave me comment! Also, don't forget about my 500th post giveaway...it's coming up soon!

My fav. thrifty makeover was Kenzie's ugly chair into a cute chair!

489th post

I'm getting closer and closer to my 500th post and I have a 4th of July scrapbook that I'm giving away the day I have my 500th post! If you want to win just leave me a comment saying which post in my blog history is your favorite! It's a super cute scrapbook that says FREEDOM and I posted one of the E pages!

Another garage sale extravaganza!

Kylan .50 cent clothes

Kylan's shirts were $1.00 each



This was a 3 piece travel set in perfect condition for $1 for all 3 pcs.













This was the best deal of all. Makenzie has a look a like American Girl that looks just like her but we have been reading all about Josephina because she's from NM and that's where I was born and the kids have been to NM almost every year since they came to the USA so it really brings that story to life for them. We found Josephina for $40 and she was still in her box!

Makenzie also got the American Girl PJ's for $10 which included the doll PJ's and the child size...her size and both of them had slippers and a sleep mask! Too cute!!

She also got the Greece outfit for her and the doll for $10 including the matching necklaces for both of them!

Kenzie's clothes





Last year I hit the jackpot at several garage sales in our town and this year I hit it again but it was all at 1 garage sale!

Since Makenzie is dancing so much she is wearing out the knees in all of her dance clothes because they have several slides in their dance this year so I bought her 8 pairs of dance pants and they were .50 cents each, 3 outfits that are 2 or more pcs per outfit for $1 each and a cute Christmas dress for $1, 2 camo shirts, 1 leather jacket $1, a pr of black velvet pants and shrug both from Justice for $1. Actually most of these clothes were from Justice which just happens to be Kenzie fav. store.

Kevin and I didn't get anything but that's OK we don't really NEED anything! It sure was fun shopping for my kiddos though. Have you gotten a good find on anything lately???

Now, who wants to go garage selling with me today or tomorrow???

Super chameleon

We were looking for videos about chameleons for a homeschool project that we are working on and came across this video and the kids have watched it over and over and over! It's VERY cool!

Anna's story

500th post giveaway

I'm nearing my 500th post so I decided to celebrate with a GIVEAWAY!!! YEAH!! Please leave me a comment about your favorite post on my blog and you will be added into the contest! The winner will be announced once I hit my 500th post! I started blogging Sept of 2005 and I can't believe that I've kept it up this long but it is a fun way to connect with friends and family. I'm not saying what the winner will receive but almost everyone knows what my favorite hobby is....so that's just a HUGE hint!

Makenzie's 9th birthday!

This year Makenzie wanted a Little House on the Prairie birthday party. I tried to get the field at the church and any of the picnic areas in our town so we could play games and have a "prairie" look but everything was already booked up so I finally thought about Will Rogers Birthplace and it was PERFECT! I think everyone had a good time, we played potato sack races, bobbed for apples, made some whirligig toys, some kids wore their prairie dresses, and we petted and fed the animals, we also had an AWESOME, AMAZING log cabin cake that Aunt Connie made for Kenzie. To view more of her cakes or to order one click here and not only do the cakes look amazing they taste WONDERFUL!!!!

Kenzie was so happy that we had a bunch of family and a lot of her girlfriends at the party!!! Enjoy our take on Little House on the Prairie!

Birthday dinner

Makenzie turned 9 today and I'm so happy because my sweet girl is growing into an even sweeter girl, she's such a joy to have as a daughter and I just can't imagine life without her. God has TRULY blessed our family with our Korean princess!! She asked for Korean food for dinner and I taught her how to make bulgogi. Tomorrow she's having a party with friends and family but it was just the 4 of us tonight and after dinner we are going swimming!

Dr. Maltsberger

A couple of weeks ago I took Makenzie in to get her teeth checked because our dentist had told us that she was going to need braces. So, as we are sitting there with the orthodontist he says, "oh, it looks like Kylan is going to need them too. Can I check him right now." In my mind I'm thinking NO WAY, I don't want to have 2 in braces at the same time due to the cost factor! But I said OK and Kylan hopped up in the chair and of course he needs them too but then they tell me that the kids are great candidates for this other product that's similar to braces but is easier on children. It's called an occlus o guide or some call it Ortho-tain. They talk to me about prices and I am floored with how much braces cost...for 2! Anyway, yesterday was the big day that they got their appliances (that's what they call the mouth piece) so here are some pics of the process.

Little House on the Prairie-2009

Last year we went to Little House on the Prairie and we had such a wonderful time so this year we invited a bunch of friends and family to join us. As a surprise for Christmas my Aunt Kat made Makenzie and Paige and Brooke prairie dresses and bonnets. They LOVE their dresses and looked so adorable running around in them. Aunt Kat came all the way from NM to join us at Little House. It was a great time. I hope you enjoy all of the pictures! I made some videos too...check them out!

This is Kellee milking a cow!

Peyton and Kylan in a pumping water contest

Crystal garden

After putting the garden together

Poured the liquid into the garden and waited about 10 minutes. Notice it's already starting to grow on the tips.

1 hour later

5 hours later

This is about 10 hours later

This is the next day

Totally finished-it was so pretty the picture makes it look white but it was really vibrant!

Last year for Christmas my friend Cathy gave the kids a crystal garden. We finally got around to growing it and it was so cool! Our family was AMAZED at just how quickly these crystals start to grow!

Opening a coconut

Trying to get off all of that tough outer husk

The coconut with the outer husk pulled off

Hammering the nail into the eyes to get out the milk

This is the coconut split in 1/2

While in Mexico Kylan found a coconut and he stuck it in our beach bag and we've had it ever since. I wasn't sure if they would let us bring it back to the US but customs did let us. So, we've had this coconut and hadn't opened it yet. It's a pretty small coconut and still had the husk (the hard outer shell) so Kevin got a hammer out and started pulling that stuff off and we finally got to the round coconut that everyone is used to seeing! Then, we got a nail and hammered it into each of the 3 eyes on the end of the coconut and then we poured out the coconut milk...it was really more like water and the kids drank it. We then cracked it open and scooped out the coconut meat on the inside. It's really yummy! Kylan was so excited that we finally opened his little coconut!!!