Time to simplify!

We spent most of our day filling up our storage unit with the remainder of our stuff from Lewiston. I was amazed at how much you could squeeze into a storage unit when you get creative with your packing! I am also amazed at all of the crap that one family can accumulate through the years! Gone are the days when I moved all of my belongings to Washington State University in a Suburban! I have decided that I need to simplify a bit but first I have to find the time. It seems that every time we move it is such a quick thing and we never have time to organize and purge. When we move into the new house I need to implement the Flylady techniques again!

All of the stuff was the result of our spontaneous trip back to Lewiston this weekend. We had a couple of renters we needed to meet and we decided we would just take the opportunity to pack up the rest of our stuff while we were there. The only problem was that we had underestimated how much we had left in the house and we ended up filling up our 26' uhaul truck and still leaving some stuff behind. The good news from the weekend is that we found some good tenants that want to lease our house for 18 months. We are thinking that the market will pick back up in the next 1 1/2 years and we will be able to sell the house for more. This is definitely new territory for both Brian and I, being landlords. But the people moving into our house are landlords as well so hopefully they will be good renters. We could have never imagined that we would be renting the house instead of selling right away but God had different plans.

As far as our new house goes we haven't made much progress since my last post as Dave, our builder, was back in Lewiston last week as well. Hopefully by the end of this week I'll have some more pics to post.

I did buy a fridge for our new house at Sears! They were closing out all of last years models so I took advantage of the sale and got a new stainless, side-by-side counter depth beauty of a fridge! The best part was that it 70% off! By next misson is to get a stove and dishwasher to match at 70% off as well! Hopefully I will be able to find something in the next 3 months.

Decorating the new home????

I know I am thinking ahead but I found a great deal on a sweet little girls' bed, armoire and bedside table this week (pictured above.) I am really trying not to buy things before the move but this deal was too good to pass up. I also have some furniture that I am going to sell before we leave so that will balance it out. The picture below is the comforter that I we will use. My friend bought these for her girls and the room turned out so cute! They were on clearance of course...I think only $10-$15 for the quilt. It is kind of a vintage shabby chic pattern with roses and plaids. I am not sure what color the walls will be. Maybe a combination of 2 colors from the quilt...I was thinking a light blue and light coral. I have a little time to think about it. I know my crazy decorating in-laws will offer lots of decorating assistance when the time comes! You know I love you!! :0)

Jordan and Brock will be using the same bedding that we have now unless I found something cuter that is 90% off in the mean time. I am also on the hunt for a new bed set for Riley. His room will double as the guest room so I want something that will be cute for him but nice for the people who stay as well. I found a comforter set at Walmart that I kind of like. I thought I could use some of Brock's nautical decorations with it. Once again...I'll consult the decorating gurus.


That's it for now...it had been a while since I blogged so I thought I should share something. We are looking forward to our weekend with family from Olympia and hopefully some nice sun-shiney spring weather!

My little man!

I took this picture yesterday and thought Brock looked like such a little man! He would probably look even more grown up if we could just get rid of that binky! I love the jacket that he was wearing! I got it last year on clearance at K-Mart for $1.80. What a deal!

Deal of the Day

Brian is out of town with Riley for the evening so I thought it would be fun to do something fun with Abby and Jordan. I arranged for a babysitter for Brock so it would be a little easier. Knowing that I was already spending $ on a babysitter I thought it would nice to not spend much on our "date." So we opted for dinner at Shari's...not my favorite but the kids like it and they eat free! That's right...on Saturdays and Sundays kids eat free with the purchase of a child size drink ($0.99) Their meal also includes a "Cookie on a stick" (kind of like a cookie lollipop.) So we got the cookies to go and headed off to the $1 movie, Enchanted. They already had their snack so we didn't have to spend an arm and a leg on movie treats. In total for my kids and I to have dinner out and go to the movie it only cost about $11! That's my kind of deal for a night out!

My love for Old Navy (and Brock too)!

Just thought I would share a picture of Brock in his new jammies from Old Navy...did I mention I only paid $2.94! I was so excited to find a couple pairs of these jammies for that price. I just love how soft they are and they always wear really well too so I will be able to pass them down when he grows out of them. The best part is that I had been looking for new jammies for spring because he is starting to get to tall for the one-piece footed jammies he has. Can't wait to live in Missoula and have a Old Navy minutes away! If you would like to me to put you on my speed dial I will give you a call when I am at Old Navy and I find great deals like these! Better go now...Brock's new jammies need to be introduced to his bed (translated he is getting grumpy and mommy's ready for some quiet time!)

Day 1: Missoula Vacation - Binky Fungus??

Today was our first full day of vacation in Missoula. The kids and I started off by sleeping in which was nice. Brian had a meeting with the superintendent of the school that we are hoping to rent for the church and that went really well. We are praying that it all works out...it would be a great location. Our day started to go downhill when I realized that Brock had white spots in his mouth. Yuck! Brian said he thought it was "Binky fungus" Well close...thrush! So it was off to Walgreens for a prescription and then to Target for some tylenol and a little retail therapy for mommy. That didn't go so well with 4 kids...what was I thinking! Brian did take the kids after lunch so I could hang out with Jamie for a little while. We hit Old Navy and Dillards and found some great sales. PJ's at Old Navy for $2.94 and 75% off + an add'l 30% at Dillards. Brock's mouth seems to be better this evening so hopefully he will be in a little better mood tomorrow.

Deal of the Day

Today I did a little shopping...I know some of you think that is all I do but really I am just very efficient when I go. I walk into the store and immediately scan the clearance racks. I am not talking about the 25 or 50% off. They must be at least 75% off to peak my interest. So, I have been keeping my eyes out for a leather "cigar" chair for Brian's office for a while now. They range in price from $500 - $1000 generally. I did see a pair of chairs at Costco for $700 but I really only wanted one. Well, today I hit the jackpot! I walked into Shopko and found a faux leather chair and ottoman set similar to the one in this picture that was originally $280.00 on sale for...$59.98. That is 79% off! I bought the last chair but they have more ottamans for $19.99. They are so cute and the open up for storage. They have some other really nice furniture at great clearance prices. I really tried to find a reason to by a cute coffee table with wicker baskets underneath but we just don't need a coffee table right now. So if your in the market head over to Shopko! I also found some great deals at Eddie Bauer...lots of 70% off right now!

Deal of the Day

This was my bargain yesterday. I went into Payless shoes because Brock is quickly growing out of his shoes and is in need of some new ones. As I walked into the store I noticed the BOGO (Buy one get one half off) sign and then upon further inspection I found that quite a few of their children's shoes were on clearance. So the end result was this:

• 6 pairs of shoes
• Original price $142.31
• I paid $26.10
• Average price per shoe $4.35
• 82% OFF!
  

I love deals like this! I was able to buy a pair for Abby and Jordan and 2 pairs for Brock and Riley. And all for the price that I would have paid for one pair of shoes. You may at his point be asking if they really needed 6 pairs of shoes (that would be what Brian is asking.) and my answer is yes, they do. Well maybe Abby's were a splurge. If you can call $4.35 a splurge. She is always well stocked in the shoe department because girls shoes are so cute! I didn't even get a chance to look in the women's section because I had 2 kids with me so I might have to go back to see what I can find for me!