Garage sale-ing for the kids

Many of you that know me, know that I have learned to value a good garage sale.  When the kids were young and their heads not filled with crazy things like opinions, I could buy lots and lots of play clothes for not much money.  Toys were easy to buy and exchange (and then throw-away) and the possibilities were endless.  Now, it is a bit harder as Emma, and yes Evan even, don't always where the $.50 - $1 clothes I buy. So, now I buy other stuff and still feel the satisfaction of a good buy.

Kristen and I resumed our Friday ritual of packing up the kids in the van, putting on a movie for them, and cruising around the neighborhood looking for neon signs.  It is exhilarating and fun and a good way to get out of the house, avoid cleaning, and try to score a great deal.  On the hunt today?  Bikes for Evan and Kyra.

Evan has been riding Emma's princess bike around since it started getting warm out and he decided that he was too big for a trike. The purple streamers, flowers, and princess stuff didn't seem to bother him at all, but, seriously, the little boy needed a boys bike.

I always try to do some Craig's List research before we head out, to land us in a general direction of the neon sign, and Kristen and I found the targeted one right away.  The ritual: slow down and do a drive-by.  If we see lots of pink and red plastic, it is normally a good sign that we should stop.  We stay away from those that have golf carts, random furniture, or sparse items on the driveway.  Then, I hop out first and do a quick walk through.  If it is a promising sale, I head back and help get out the troops. 

Anyway, the first sale was a good one.  Kristen found a game she used to play with kids at her previous employer, so that was a good score.  I found a few clothes for Emma I thought she would wear -AND - a bike for Evan!  It was a small little boys bike that was black and yellow. While, there were no training wheels, Tim said that we could take the ones off of Emma's old bike and put them on.  (which, now when I garage sale and call Tim for advice, he answers with "Now, what did you find?")  Evan also got a large free dinosaur because as the garage sale lady said "Oh, he is so cute!" (because I said no to his request for the large dinosaur)

He could not wait to ride it and prompted Tim to take the training wheels off of Emma's bike right away. Tim had to paint them first, because they were white with flowers on them, but then he was off!

The next garage sales were good too!  We found some cheap hosta plants and a scooter for the Kayle!  So much fun!  Evan and the babies did great and good fun was had by all.

And - from a garage sale last year:

Emma's new desk!  This was a $15 find and only required some sanding and painting.  Emma is so happy to have a desk in her room and can be found many times drawing, working on her math homework, or reading at her desk.