just doing some dishes

 Someone please tell me that I'm not alone in the "toddler thinks they need to be between my legs at all times" boat?!

Kids Clothing Inventory

Your neighbor drops off a whole bag of clothes for your kids, but they don't fit quite yet, so you sort them, and put them in boxes in the closet for a few months.  Later, you find a great deal on some clothes and you want to stock up in bigger sizes for the kiddos.  But, you can't remember for the life of you whether or not you already have jeans in a certain size, or pajamas, or a coat.  Suddenly, the deal doesn't seem so great because you don't want to buy something you already have.  Yes, you could buy it and then exchange it later, but what a pain!  If I've dragged my two kiddos out of the house already, there is no way I'm going to waste my time!

Enter my solution for the problem.  I knew I needed a list of what clothing items I have for each size and gender and a way to access it whenever I am out shopping.  I had already started an excel document on my computer to keep track of the clothes I had, but I didn't have a way to keep track of it on the go.  Now, if I had a smart phone, this would be really easy, but alas, that's a no go right now, so this was my solution.

I whipped up two separate trackers.  One for girls clothes, one for boys (and just in the sizes that are coming up in the next 2-3 years.  My excel spreadsheet has everything from newborn-about 7 years old, but I needed something concise so I don't have to carry a lot around).  This took about 5 minutes to whip up, so when I need one with new sizes, I'll simply make up a new sheet.  I wanted to always have access to the information, so I made it a size that would fit in my wallet without creating a lot of bulk.

                                    Exhibit A: The wallet that I have with me 24/7.

 Because I always pay for things with my debit card, I don't carry a lot of change.  Enter the change pocket that is WAY underused right now.  I cut them to fit perfectly inside so that I could still zip the pocket and they won't be in the way unless I need them.

This makes perfect sense to me.  I simply keep tally marks under each size and clothing category so I know how many of each thing I have.  When I'm at the store, I simply glance at my sheet and I know what items I should stock up on.  When I get home, I have to take my reciept out of my wallet and enter it on the computer anyway, so I simply update my excel sheet and my wallet inventory while I'm at it.  It takes about  4 seconds and saves me tons of work in the long run.

I love getting ideas from other people that make my life a little easier.  I hope this will help some of you! 

Deal Me In

I love a lot of things in life, but one of my very favorite things in the world is getting a good deal.  There's nothing better than the thrill of walking out of the store, my arms loaded with things I love for a great price.

Yesterday, I walked into Khols to exchange a few things that I was given for Brigham that he never wore because he grew too fast.  And what did I walk out with? (Please forgive the pictures, it's rainy and no light is coming in.

10 shirts/pants for Brigs (varying sizes), a dress for Eden, and jeans for me. All for $26.47.  Can I get a what!?what!?

As you can see these are high quality clothes.  Carters is a great kids brand.  The shirts ranged anywhere from $12.00-24.00 normal price, Eden's dress was originally priced at $32.00 and my jeans were normally $44.00.

I found the clothes on the 70% and 80% off racks.

As you can see, I paid little to nothing for these BRAND SPANKIN NEW kids clothes that will last me for years!  My jeans came out at a staggering $9.60.  I'll tell you what, my theory is that if I find a pair of jeans that fits me, I buy them!  And if they are only $9.60 I would be a complete fool to pass it up.  To make the deal even better, I got a $10 Khols cash coupon for making this purchase, meaning that I can go back today and get 3-4 more shirts for my kids for FREE.  Yes, FREE.  That will mean that I will get roughly 14 shirts/pants for the kids, a Sunday dress for Eden and jeans for me for a mere $26.  (Do the math, that's less than $2 a piece including adult jeans)

I love dressing my kids in really cute, new clothes, but that doesn't mean that I turn up my nose at used clothing.  I'll get a deal however I can and I frequence the D.I. and yard sales each week to see if they have anything good-the rule of thumb is that if you always have what you need, you'll never be forced to pay more money for something just because you need it. So when you find a great deal, stock up!  Buy things in bigger sizes so that your kids will grow into them.  Yes, you don't need a 2T shirt for your 3 month old right now, but if the deal is incredible, you may as well buy one because otherwise when he gets to be 2T and you find you have no clothes for him you'll pay full price for things because you need them.

The best way of getting clothes for the kiddos are hand me downs (let's face it, they sometimes grow out of a size in a week and $3 is way more money than you should spend on shirt they will only wear once!).  If you can pay $0 for clothes, that's the best deal of all.  The picture below is of a bunch of clothing that my cousin gave me yesterday.  Most of the clothes are size 2T but there are a few 18M, 3T, and 4T along with 3 great pairs of shoes and socks galore.  Thank you, thank you to those who have given me things!!  I even have a whole bag of things to pass along to someone else because I was given more than I need.

 But somehow, even though free is best, I still love the thrill of the shopping even more.  Here's to finding great deals and walking away knowing you are awesome:).

**Watch for my follow up post that will share how I keep track of what clothes my kids have so that I can quickly grab things that I know they need when I find a good deal.**

Labor Day Weekend

Last year, we went to my sister and brother-in-law's home for Labor Day weekend in order to help them with their harvest and had so much fun, we just had to do it again.  We spent the weekend picking the garden, canning and freezing tons of veggies, swathing?, and generally having a wonderful time.  We sure love spending time with our family and missed Blake and McKay so much.

Little Alfalfa moment for Brigs

My first attempt of "getting in the shot".  I want my kids to know that I was there with them, I want them to look back and see my love for them. So my goal for the next few weeks is to work on getting some beautiful shots that show that I was there.

Selfie

There's no getting this girl to look at the camera when there is a tractor to watch.

Eden loves Lauren and Aubrey so much, I love getting shots of them together.

Lauren is such a champ, she spent her whole weekend carrying Eden around to everything she wanted to see.  E loved watching Clark on the lawn mower.

The boys husking corn. Nate, Levi, Kyson, and Ty.

What's a family weekend without any sports?  Sport of choice this time?  Volleyball.  Shout out to my little sister, Aubrey who made the Jr. High volleyball team as a 7th grader!

Making Jam with Katie's delicious raspberries.

Licking sugar

Aubrey and Lauren made the jam this year and even did a great job of letting Eden help without getting jam all over her, a feat I'm sure I wouldn't have pulled off.

3 Months

This kid is 3 months old.  And with all the heart worry during pregnancy and some testing at Primary Children's Hospital last week, he's cleared with just a "normal heart murmur" and a "patent foramen ovale" neither of which should affect his life at all.  We're feeling very blessed around here.

His stats are as follows:

Weight: 17 pounds (off the charts)

Height: 24 inches (99th %ile)

Diaper Size: 3 

Clothing size: 6-9 months

He loves batting at toys and cooing, laughing, and talking to anyone he can get to look at him.  You've never heard a baby giggle like he does-melts my heart.  We sure love this big, happy, sweet, sleeping through the night (10pm-7am) kid of ours!  We are truly blessed.

This Time it Happened, Plus a Little Rain

Remember how I told you about the time we almost went to the zoo?  Well, we tried again this last Saturday and completely conquered it!  However, it did start to rain, make that pour, have way through.  But, a lot of rain couldn't dampen our spirits.  Here are a few pictures to prove that persistence pays off.

How to do Your Hair

Step 1:  Look completely adorable so that mom will grab the camera.

                     Once you've got the camera on you, begin your work.

                       

                                                            Victory!

All pictures are in their original state.  I'm trying to decide if I should touch them up and shorten the series to just a few to put in the bathroom.  Thoughts?