JBF time!

So, you may have been wondering where I've been and why I haven't been posting. I've been busy getting ready for the big spring JBF sale. Just Between Friends is the most amazing consignment sale for anyone with kids. The Fort Worth sale is the 2nd largest in the franchise. Can you imagine over 45,000 square feet of space, FULL of any and every item you could need or want for your kids? It's incredible! Here's a local news story and mini fashion show with amazing JBF deals. I love that I can clean out the kids' toy boxes and closets twice a year for this sale! Only to fill them back up :)

These are a few shots of the amazing amounts of stuff offered at JBF. All these are pics I took at 11pm on the night of the first sale. So much stuff was already gone by then!

Yes, as far as you can see down, clothes. The aisle I shopped, on just the right side had only sizes 6 and 7 all the way down. Incredible!

A small section of the toys. You can find the same item, 10 times over, at a variety of prices, all in good/great condition.

Need a bike or trike? What about a baby swing?

The view from the corner. Isn't it incredible?!

But honestly, better than the deals, is the time with friends. We shop for our kids then meet in a corner, talk about what we found while we look it over again (sometimes stains get through inspection). With our lives busy in different directions, I really enjoy this time hanging out.

Alyssa and Erica. Yes, Alyssa has a shopping cart. I really should find one next time. The clothes rack I rigged up didn't hold up to all the weight of the clothes I found as I tried to roll it around. Katherine and Tracy started shopping at 4:30, and they're usually the last ones left when it's all said and done that night. They're a hoot! Yes, all those clothes you see are theirs. Tracy has a shopping basket too. Katherine's hubby rigged up a furniture dolly and a big bucket. Maybe I could do that. Hmmm....

The next morning, Beth came downstairs and was overjoyed to see all the skirts and dresses I'd found for her, just as she requested. Then, I pulled out the 10 Magic Tree House books I got her, and I got a HUGE hug. Jacob was super excited about his new GeoTrax set Grand Central Station, complete with a RC train, people, cargo, trax and the station (about half of what's in this picture). He loves it! And so did Kevin when we got it all put together.

So much fun! The next sale is in the fall, and I've already got a few buckets of things to get rid of. I hope you check into a JBF sale in your area!

Ants on a Log

I've seen two variations on this snack. I thought if Beth helped me make them, maybe she'd actually eat them.

First we got all our ingredients together- celery, for version 1- peanut butter and raisins, for version 2- cream cheese and craisins

Beth helped spoon the cream cheese into the celery. She wanted to keep licking her fingers between celery sticks. So, she learned an important lesson in cooking- don't lick and get your slobbery germs on food other people will eat. You can lick at the end :)

Once they were all made, both kids tasted one. Neither kid liked them. Well, Beth licked the cream cheese off her, but that was it. I, however, thought they were both tasty.

Big Boy

The time has come. One more step toward being a big boy. Sunday afternoon, the kids down for naps, I made a diaper run to Target. While I was there, Kevin called to tell me that he had gone to check on Beth and heard a little noise behind him. Sure enough, it was Jacob. He'd climbed out of his crib, opened his door and headed down the hall. It scared the tar out of Kevin to see Jacob when he didn't expect to. I only wish I could have seen the look on their faces! Needless to say, there was no nap that day, with the excitement of a new trick. Sunday night, he was still in the crib. Monday morning, he knocked on the inside of his closed door to let us know he was up, at 6:10am. I got upstairs before he could try to come down without help (he's not quite good enough yet). That afternoon, we made the switch to the toddler bed. He is just so proud of his big boy bed. He loves getting in and out of it. He loves that Beth can rest in the bed with him. He still thinks it's fun to get out and peek out of his door when he's supposed to be sleeping. Needless to say, we have some work to do on sleep training in the bed and STAYING in his room. Momma needs a good night sleep, even if Jacob doesn't.

Record setting snow!

I'm sure you all know about the record setting snow storm in Texas. With the DFW official snowfall of 12.5 inches, it broke all records for the highest snowfall in one day since record keeping began. Wow! We got about 6 inches of that. I also read that 49 states have snow right now! Incredible! Global warming, huh?

We had an absolute blast playing and watching the snow. It was fun to be in the yard and hear families and kids around the neighborhood out enjoying the snow. SO many snowmen too!

Day 1, the day the snow started- We played as the snow continued to fall. We threw snowballs/handfulls and built two snowmen. We tried to run around in the snow. Beth got cold quick and decided to go inside but couldn't handle watching the rest of us playing and came back out. When it snowed at Christmas, Jacob wasn't crazy about the snow. This time, he had a blast! He initiated the snowball fight. The only time he was upset was when snow got inside his jacket.

Day 2- It stopped snowing some time in the middle of the night. Our snowmen were covered with extra snow, about to fall over, all our tracks had been covered. It was an amazing sight! With all the snow on the satellite dish, we couldn't watch anything except local channels. Good thing we had stuff dvr'd for the kiddos. When we headed out to play, we were amazed at how deep it was. We built two more snowmen, so we'd have a whole family. Then, Jacob being the boy that he is, knocked the head of one, laughing and laughing.

When gloves and pants and even socks were soaked, we headed inside for some hot chocolate. Who would think that we'd have a winter day like that in Texas? We still have snow and plan to get back out there to play again today. It's a fun novelty, but I'm still ready for spring. Next year, just in case, I'll make sure the kids have boots of some kind and thick gloves, just in case this kind of snow happens again.

It's cold out there!

Disclaimer- For any non-family readers, this may seem odd to get worked up over snow, but I live in Texas and have for 94% of my life . 'Nough said. :)

I'm so ready for spring, but according to ol' Phil, it's not time yet. Today, we woke up to a white lawn. The snow wasn't supposed to start until this afternoon, a reminder that God is in charge, not the weathermen. It's supposed to snow all day and partly into tonight. Both these pics were taken at 10:45 am, and the snow hasn't stopped yet (it's now 1:15 pm)

School let out early today and canceled tomorrow (they expect this to melt and then freeze into hazardous conditions). Sadly, that also postponed the Valentine party I've been planning for Beth's class.

When the kids get up from naps, we'll bundle up and head out to play. I'll take lots more pictures and measure how deep it is. I guess since this is such a rare occassion in our neck of the woods, I should enjoy it. I may even be wishing for it when our temps are in the 100s this summer.