Consignment and Such

I guess you might say we are in the winter blahs.  Nothing overly exciting going on.  Reading a ton... post to come on some good reads. Bennett pretty much stays attached to my leg or at the very least must be in the same room as me.

 The boys and I took a weekend visit to my parents.  My parents took all 4 boys Friday night and I had my first girl's night since before Bennett was born... can we say overdue?!?!  Thanks Holly and Leah for a grown up time!  And thanks for my parents for taking the kiddos. I didn't take a single picture but it was fun!

I just finished tagging my very last item for an upcoming consignment sale.  Though I have a shopped a handful of consignment sales, I have never consigned any of my stuff as I was still in baby having stage... thank God that stage is done so I am now getting rid of bins of clothes.  I have two bins to consign, 3 bags to donate, and 1 bag to trash.  It has proven to be a multi-week endeavor but I will be officially done with it all on Thursday!  YAY!  This fall I will purge the reminder of the baby clothes (winter stuff). 

I have put in  hours of work and I am quite curious to see if it pays off...otherwise, it is just all going to Salvation Army next time.

These two pics are the consigned clothes...  if anyone wants any of it, you have until Thursday afternoon to get it before it goes to the sale (most of it is 3 month to 9 month stuff)

Speaking of clothes, does everyone feel like they are swimming in kids clothes?  I mean, my attic is just filled with bins and bins of clothes.  Don't get me wrong, I am so thankful that we have been given and can afford to buy these clothes, but it just reminds me that we really do live in a society of excess.  Even in my efforts to purge, I think I "need" this or "need" that.  Why do I need to keep over 14 t-shirts in one size?  WHY? 

All of these bins are currently stuffed full and in my attic.  Just in case you were counting... that is 10.  And that doesn't count the winter bin of coats and gloves/ hats.  And these bins cover 18 month to size 8.  Don't even get me started are the clothes that are currently in their closets and dressers. 

 

 

 

I actually look at these pictures and feel guilty.  I could clothe a small army of boys! 

And just for grins, here are these adorable (well dressed) little men.

Valentines Day and Snow

Wow!  What a snow filled couple days.

My old faithful girl.

The kids have been out of school since 1:00 Tuesday.  We have been snowed in since Wednesday morning.  This morning, our 6" of snow has packed down to make quite an ice surface.  Thankfully, it is supposed to be warm today and most of it should melt.  At least enough where we are no longer captives in our home.

We probably had between 5 - 7"... it was a beautiful snow.

Here are some of our snow antics.

The boys and snowman

Bennett was not impressed with Frosty... he kept looking at him and then started crying

The perfect packing snow for a snowball fight (Shep had already gone inside to play legos)

The 3 boys that remained outside

My baby

Bennett and Molly

The big boys

And of course, today is Valentines Day.  I look around at my little ( and big) loves and am so thankful. Here are the sweet notes I got today.

Hunter did the first one... straight the point.

Ashton was next with his competitive nature coming out and wanting the biggest and best note to me.

He is doing so good sounding things out.  However, you might need me to decipher some of the words.
Note 1:
From Ashton  To Dad.  I beat my dad at soccer.  My dad never defeat me on soccer ball.  My dad is big.  My dad is older than mom.  I remember when I was little.
 Note 2:
From Ashton To Mom. My mom is nice.  I like my mom.  My mom is cool.  My mom sleeps with my dad (hahaha).  My  mom takes care of Bennett.

And Shepherd with his artistic flare wanting to paint a Valentine.

 And we cant forget my romantic husband.

In case you are wondering what this is... it is nothing.  Good thing I am not a romantic type. haha 

I honestly didnt do much either.  Each boys (big and small) got either Dark Chocolate Raisins (Hunter and Bennett) or Dark Chocolate Pomegranates (Ashton, Shep, and Chad) and each boy got a new book.  The snow storm kind of forced simplicity this year... which is quite refreshing.

Have a Happy Valentines Day!

Hunter and Bennett Stats

The oldest and youngest had their check ups this past week.

They both did great and are so healthy... which means I am so thankful.

Here are their stats.

Hunter - 8 years old
Height 54.25"  (94%)
Weight 69.8 ---wow!  almost 70 lbs!  (87%)
So, Hunter continues to keep the top of the chart rocking.

And then there is baby Bennett.  Weight is still tiny but he did move up on the height end of things.

Bennett - 12 months
Height- 30" (50%)
Weight- 18.14 --- wow!  not even 19 lbs!  haha (12%)
Head 18.5 (74%)
Bennett had 2 shots- Prevnar and Hep A.  He has a little ham at the doctor and so far, the shots really havent affected him.

This may be my shortest post ever but I am in the middle of trying to get clothes ready for consignment.  I have never done this before --- man, is it a lot of work!  It better be worth it!  I have an obscene amount of clothes that I am slowly making my way through.

The Mountain House

 What a perfect trip!  Besides me breaking the bench the in the kitchen and my camera battery dying half way through, I dont think I would have changed anything about it.


Back in the fall, my brother, Nolan, suggested that we do a mountain ski trip instead of a beach trip.  We all agreed.  This past weekend we went to Banner Elk and stayed in the a perfect house that housed 7 adults and 7 kids.  The house had enough room for everyone, a hot tub outside, and gorgeous 360 degree views. 

The house was at the tip top of the mountain and both vans (ours and Zachs) needed help to get to the top.  The boys were funny as they were a bit nervous we were going to slide off the mountain.

We got up there safe and sound Thursday afternoon.  We decided to do the skiing part of the trip on Friday when it would hopefully be less crowded... plus Saturday was supposed to be pretty warm (especially to ski).

We decided to put Hunter and Ashton in ski school for a couple hours.  Nolan took Shepherd and helped him learn the basics.  I was so proud of the boys, they all did great!  The ski school was a bit boring for the older two but I do think they picked up some essentials so it was worth the money.  They had time to play around on the skis after the session.  Here are some of the pics... unfortunately, I didnt get more good pictures of Ashton and Hunter since they were in ski school most of the time.

God Bless Nolan--- he did a lot of this.

Getting the basics

This was the reaction we all had to Shepherd.

Shepherd LOVED it!  He was actually pretty good too.

Aunt Anna with Caelum.

Uncle Zach and Owen... Owen and Caelum both did a really good job too.  Zach was very serious with his instructions.

Ski school picture.  Ashton is in orange helmet and Hunter is to the right.

Hunter getting some lessons from Zach

Hunter wipes out going down a practice hill.

Ashton getting ready to go

Going on a side angle down the hill... Nolan was just off to the right

Taking a break--- skiing wore the adults out! 

And here are just some extra shots from around the mountain house. 

Look at that view! so pretty

7 snow angels!  :)

Hot tub fun  (Zach had them the first time and Chad had them the second time).  There is not much better than a hot tub in the dead of winter, in the mountains on a crisp clear evening with a glass of wine waiting on you inside.

 The rest of these are from right before we left... my camera battery was dead so it was all iphone pictures... I know some of you swear the an iphone can take just beautiful pictures.  Let's just say, I am quite bummed my battery died. :(

Great pic of the boys... wish I had my camera!

The original 5!

This picture right here is the one that I would give anything to have had my camera... such a sweet picture of my brother and pretty  little niece, Esme.

Cousin life

If you are just dying to see more... here are a few video clips of the boys skiing.

Hunter

Ashton

Shepherd

And just an absolutely adorable picture of Bennett... this one might just get blown up!

 We had such a great time... I know that my crew was not ready to come back (well maybe Chad was but he is a stick in the mud... hahaha).  We made some memories and the boys are already talking about the next time we go to the mountain house!