It's good to be the (consignment) Queen!

Our vacation is fast approaching, so all my boys need some spring/summer things in advance of when I usually buy them. Last weekend, I did the dreaded task of sorting through all my bins in the garage that hold out-of-season and outgrown clothes, so I knew what I already had. I found that strangely enough, one of my children had ten pair of shorts, and one had zero pairs! I made a little mental list of who needed what (Andrew; shorts, Bentley; pajamas, etc) and headed to the consignment shop with Elvis in tow. He insisted on being held, so as I grabbed up clothes as fast as I could, added them to a stack on the counter, then went back for more, I had a little baby trying to grab everything off the shelves! I had store credit, from the last batch of clothes I consigned, so I ended up getting practically everything I need, including hoodies all around and shoes for Andrew; and the big hit of the trip; a Boise State hoodie for a lucky Bentley Jeffrey! I love the little terrycloth beach cover up for baby Elvis! It was only 2.95 and perfect for keeping him warm poolside and at the beach! After my store credit was deducted; I bought 28 items for $47.97! Not bad!

I posted earlier about needing summer sandals for myself, and I went to Payless to look for the shoes I have pictured, tried them on, and found that they were the kind of shoes that slip off your heel continually while walking! No good! So I sort of fell in love with the green wedges with the flower on the toe, and as it turned out, I didn't even need the wide width! I also picked up these blue sandals with a buckle and again, the flower; I couldn't resist these, and I wanted to have some flat sandals for Disneyland in case the wedges prove too high for walking. I love colorful shoes! To me, almost any color goes together; and since I know have a blue pair and a green pair; I can't think of a single color that would clash with both! Payless was having a BOGO sale, so I ended up getting two pairs of shoes for myself and shoes for two of my boys for $60. Not quite consignment prices, but not bad for shoes!

This morning we had the unwelcome surprise of having Callan wake up with a croupy cough; it's been exactly a year since my little Callie scared the daylights out of me and his daddy by developing a life-threatening case of croup, which led to a two day hospitalization and sleepless nights for both of us whenever croup is afoot. Fortunately, the usual remedies helped tremendously, and we're hoping for an uneventful night. We will probably sleep with one ear out for him and clothes laid out for a quick getaway to the hospital if necessary. I've learned that with so many children, sickness is inevitable, and I don't waste a lot of time worrying about what could happen, I'm just thankful we live in a day and age where they have effective treatments and that we live only 5 or 10 minutes from the hospital.

I was thinking about that yesterday, when I was practically shaking with exhaustion at the grocery store, since I'd been up most of the night. I think a person's happiness depends a lot on their level of thankfulness, although I occasionally have bad days, I always know how lucky I am; I've known loneliness and sorrow in my life, but I always knew it was not forever, and the pain had no portion in me; I always could see this life, the one I dreamed about, and knew it would happen. So even though I'm often overwhelmed, and exhausted, and have many things I could spend a lot of time worrying about; I am a content and thankful person. I wish that peace and happiness for everyone.

I have a busy day of laundry today, with hopefully some time to work on my sewing; have a great Sunday!