truths I believe to be universal

circa 1991?

Children become engrossed in their most creative, independent, cooperative play just as one wants to put them down for naps, or take them to bed.

At the moment, it is well past  their usual nap time but because they are dressed in fancy dresses (Emma in my circa 1991 glittery homecoming number) wearing white washcloths on their heads as caps, drinking tea, and talking about things that are "splendid", they're getting some extra time.

Children are their most irresistible in the middle of the night, when they come to your bedside all doe-eyed, drowsy and whispery-voiced asking to snuggle.

Mary has been showing up at my bedside quite regularly the past few nights asking to sleep in between me and Dan. She kicks like an angry cow, throws arms and elbows around and has a mean pair of what is known in our family as "thermal thighs", but darn, she's too cute to turn down. At least for now.

from the thrift store where...

The best thrift stores are in sleepy little towns where the ladies sit behind the counter watching soaps, and bounce your baby on their knees and feed her bright orange peanut butter crackers while you shop.

It was fill your bag for five dollars. I didn't fill mine all the way so they only charged me four. But I brought home this tattered quilt top. Think there's some pillows in their somewhere? Or maybe a little kitchen window curtain? And the ladies held Elizabeth until her 26 pounds of chubs became too heavy for their frail laps and fragile arms and she slipped down their legs onto the floor to happily dig in the hanger box.

Kittens are cute.


kitten update 5. 6. 08 from molly balint on Vimeo.

Wrestling kittens are even cuter.


Untitled from molly balint on Vimeo.

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Good!will

Oh, newly-discovered Goodwill. You were good to us today:
P1010013
Soft summery sheets. (for swirly-girly dresses)
A green metal bird bucket. (any inspiration on how to put it to use?)
A pretty yellow teapot with a crackle finish (by the same company as these faves of mine)
And best of all, a shiny-new pair of green chucks for a five year old. (erin, are you jealous? you probably have a pair of your own.)

And of course a few books:
P1010017
The girls are really digging reference books lately. Ever since my sister (who needs to expand her blog now that the puppies are sold. She's so stinkin' creative!!) bought them a horse reference manual for Christmas.
And another children's book whose illustrations caught my eye; and a Book of Common Prayer for Dan.

When we turned into the parking lot this morning and the girls discovered we'd found a new Goodwill store, they squealed with pure joy. You would have thought I'd told them tomorrow's Christmas. I've trained them well.
And Emma is the ultimate deal-maker once we're in there:
"Mom, if you'll just let us look at the toys FIRST, I will let you look at all the fabric you want!"
She'll let me?? What a girl.

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thanks for the advice

When we first moved here a few months ago, I was whining to Hillary about the ridiculous prices at my "new" goodwill. Sixty dollars for a dirty 70s chair, six dollars for a plastic Barbie laptop? Forget it.
But Hillary wisely recommended I find a thrift store on the junky end of town.

Bingo.
Edgewood_thrift_store

If you recall, the girls and I went last week. I will probably avoid going with my children in the future, it's just too much trying to keep them at my side, when there is a carousel (yes--like a carnival carousel) filled with crap children's toys. I was even lucky enough to be scolded about keeping my children in the cart over the loudspeaker in the store. Is grumpiness and general dislike of children a prerequisite for working in a thrift store?
Anyway, despite the "friendly" staff, I scored big. So big in fact, I'll be sharing the wealth here tomorrow...a little "birthday in reverse" where I'll be giving the gifts instead of receiving....so stay tuned.

In the meantime, I sat down with three little baggies of thread and such this morning and tried to untangle the mess. I have a small obsession with thread on wooden spools. I love the stuff. And these baggies had the spools in all different sizes from gi-normous to eensy-weensy. Love it. And there were some other goodies buried inside as well:
(and I'd love to know what the mystery needle is in the last picture)

Bags_of_sewing_supplies

Giant_wooden_spool

Loot_thinned_out

Embroidery_needles

Red_cross_labels

Tapestry_needles

Mystery_needle

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