thrity

I have a new love ... thrift stores!!
I haven't been in awhile, mostly because I have kids. you need patience and time to dig. having one child with me is very doable, and seeing how Elliott and I are still attached at the hip (actually the breast!) we go together, and then Sam gets to hang out with Papa for big boy stuff.

I'm somewhat of a cheapskate, but not stingy.
think about this - getting a something you want &/or need on sale, it always makes you feel good. and when you get something you love on clearance, it makes you feel even better, right? so for me, going to a thrift store and finding steal after steal is just AWESOME!

many times it's better than your average garage sale. when people are trying to sell their own stuff, it's suddenly worth a bit more than it should. at Goodwill or Salvation Army someone has already "thrown it away," so instead of it piling up our landfills even more, it's sold for dirt cheap.

today at Goodwill I got -
2 4t shirts .99 each
"newer" Evenflo high chair $15 ... not a steal, but definitely a good deal because it's still in great condition
3 Xmas tins .79 each
2 new & in the box scented drawer liners .79 each
2 hand towels for my bathroom .79 each
10 new aluminum pie pans for .89
2 games for Sam - Green Eggs and Ham (I had no idea that was a board game!) and Boggle for preschoolers 2.99 each

keep in mind that there are still items new in their original box there. more than you think. early Christmas shopping maybe? go check out your local thrift store, because you never know what you'll find!

want pictures? maybe next time I'll show you my treasures, as I will be heading back again soon!

switcheroo

so I've been thinking ...

I think Thanksgiving and Christmas should switch. not the dates, not the meanings, but the American tradition.
Thanksgiving is a time to reflect and be thankful. so let's see ... I thank God for a roof over my head, clothes on my back, food in the fridge, and most importantly my family and friends. to show thanks, a gift seems appropriate to say "I'm thankful you are here and in my life."
Christmas is (or should I say ought to be) centered around Christ. It's his birthday ... so let's have a birthday party! a BIG dinner and a cake with some candles. of course gifts are normal for a party, but he hasn't returned yet ... when he does, we can shower him with gifts.

makes sense, right?

and yes Morgan, food and gifts would be fun for BOTH!!

Elliott


Elliott's first swing ride. he did pretty good. can't quite stay sitting up though; the seat is too big still.
we live about 5 or so blocks from a park. we go whenever the sun shines, otherwise, it's just too cold!








Elliott sat in this jumper off and on for a couple of months; only now is he starting to have fun with it. Sam never had one of these. even while pregnant with Elliott, times are so different 3 1/2 years later.








Elliott found his toes last week, and now that's all he does. Sam found his closer to 4 months, so this is the first difference among them ... although it's not a big deal or anything, just one of those mom-things I guess.
cute slippers, right?! I love those bear feet.





and last but not least is Elliott and Auntie Elizabeth. she is 3 and within 10 seconds of us walking into her house, she wants to hold the baby. she does pretty good, considering. this time, Elliott wasn't too happy about it. she just loves him to pieces!

mmmoooo

from babycenter.com -
A baby needs loads of energy to fuel his growing body. If he were your size, he'd require twice as many calories per day as you do.

so this explains why I'm so darn tired!
when we moved I wasn't able to take the milk I had pumped and frozen. I had like 6 bags of that liquid gold ... all to get thrown away.
so since we've been here, I'm trying to get stocked again. but now that Elliott is eating cereal, I have to mix it with milk, which means I can't freeze everything I pump. but I can't really pump anything this last week because he is eating it ALL! he eats and eats and eats and eats!


wow, I'm tired.

family fun


he's not a fan of flying

the Grimm's
since we're in CO, hubby was going for the mountain man look. ha!


Saturday morning cartoons
where am I going to sit?


brothers
Eli grabbed Sam's hair seconds after this - ouch!


tough Mr. Incredible
and
the cutest bumble bee
I couldn't get a very good picture. maybe I'll dress them up again so I can - I still have the costumes!


and last but not least - Sam's birthday.
he woke up and we stuck a party hat on him with a 'birthday boy' button. he was so excited to be 4!

I bought Sam new pants the other day. if I were to see just the pants, I'd say there is no way he'd fit into them. he is all legs.
since Elliott is 6 months, I had to update his wardrobe too. goodbye to those really really really cute newborn clothes.
*sigh*
my boys are growing ... and it's blowing my mind!

on the road again

now that our computers are set up and the camera cords are found, I can get on with this! ok, a little catching up to do ...
this is a shot I took out the sunroof while I was driving. I love clouds. do you know there is a national (or is it international?) cloud association? they have some very cool pictures!
the majority of the driving was through mountains. so cool. I've never been to the grand canyon, but the next few pictures is what I'd imagine it to be like.

this was HUGE!


I was driving behind this the whole way.



because I was driving behind the truck, I was only going 55 mph the whole way. after many hours of this, I got bored. so I got out my camera and this happened. I'll spare you the others I took ... I'm a dork.


here is the best shot I could get of our moving load. we filled a 26' truck, towed the pick-up with that filled too! like I said before, you're stuff begins to own you.


these shots remind me of some of the scenes from Forest Gump, when he was running.
"I just felt like running!"
I love that movie!

captain adorable


Elliott is coming up on 6 months old already. how fast did that fly by?! too fast.
although I have to say that I'm VERY happy those sleepness nights are over ... mostly. that is the hands-down worst part of babies. if somebody ever wants to torture me for information, sleep deprivation would totally work - I'll tell you anything!
today is the day he becomes an infant - at least this is what I call the turning point into infancy. Elliot enjoyed his very first bowl of rice cereal today. he's been eye-balling our food pretty hard these last couple of weeks, and of course papa gives him a few lickin's of whatever he's eating. from the pictures, you can tell he was happy about it.

as you can see we used his bumbo seat, we don't have a high chair yet. and yes I know, you're really not suppose to put the bumbo on a table ... but he IS still alive, so don't worry!

our CO beginning

sorry blogger friends. this should've been posted 2+weeks ago. I promise to get better at this!

so here is a picture from our drive to Colorado. I have others ... somewhere. this is on the side of the road in Utah someplace. don't the mountains look surreal?! being a Wisconsin girl, all mountains look like a movie backdrop or something. actually I'm from Illinois, so I'm used to seeing miles and miles of cornfields, not mountains. this was the ENTIRE trip - huge mountains, huge clouds, and just incredible views. it was a full 2-day drive (because we had to go just 55 mph) but it was worth it. sometimes it's hard for me to believe that there are beautiful places left in a world that can be so ugly. this other picture is of the same spot. we tried to set the timer on the camera, but hubby couldn't run into the shot fast enough. it was pretty funny to try though!


here is me and the kiddies; we're missing one, but I think she's the one taking the picture. but this is how the Grimm kids are - always happy, always hanging on you, um, I mean loving on you, and SO MUCH ENERGY! they're a fun group, no doubt. we stayed at my in-laws for a couple of weeks until our new place was ready. there were 5 kids total - can you imagine the frenetic energy?! it got CRAZY! I love all those kids ... but I'm happy to have my own space again. we are now less than a mile away from them, so we still see them often.
more of our new CO life to come!

bbbrrrrrr!

so we're officially moved in ... now comes the unpacking part.  as much as I hate moving, it is good to get organized, or reorganized rather.  I'm not a messy person.  I very much like order, so I'm not much of a pack-rat.
if you know me, or have taken a second to read my little bio, you'll know I've married a man that is my exact opposite.  that said, we have plenty of things to move and unpack!  we even had a huge yard sale before we left, but we still managed to fill a 26' truck.  ridiculous.  I can't help but think of the movie Fight Club - your stuff ends up owning you!  if you haven't seen it, I recommend it.

tonight is our first night in the new house.  it's cold tonight and I can't seem to figure out the thermostat, it's some crazy digital set-up, and I don't know how to light the pilot for the fireplace.  this is the first and last night I don't know that!!

as soon as I find my camera and computer cords, I'll post pictures.  stay tuned.