Is This Normal?
The chaos that is the KerbersArchive for July, 2009
The big garage sale, day 1
So today was the opening day of the big sale. I got everything out into the garage, but I’m telling you there was not a single solitary empty spot on any of the eight huge tables I had in there. In addition to the garage being full, I had at least 15-20 things out on the driveway, as well. Needless to say I was hoping for a huge turnout.
Grandma Judy came down to help with the kids and the sale. Thank goodness she was here, because there was no way I could have done it being the only adult here. The kids were all excited for the sale and were very interested in people coming to buy things from us. However, we had a box marked “FREE” with a bunch of little toys in it. There were mostly things in it that the kids had gotten in Happy Meals from McDonald’s. You get the idea…it was a box full of junk that I was sick of picking up in our house. When we were collecting all of these things, Ben was all about getting rid of them. But then, the morning of the sale, he freaked. He didn’t want anyone to have anything in that box, and he “just wanted to take it all back inside!!!” It wasn’t even that the stuff was free…he didn’t even know that part. It was just suddenly harder for him to part with his “treasures” than he thought. After several minutes of trying to convince him that we weren’t keeping any of that crap, he spent some time on the couch crying. Eventually, he got over it and for the rest of the day he was all about people getting things out of the box. Go figure.
All in all, it was a great sale day. We had a lot of traffic in and out all day. I had a few people negotiating prices, but not too many, so that wasn’t too annoying. There is still a lot of stuff to get rid of tomorrow, so I hope that we have just as many come through. I still need to get rid of the rocking chair…that’s the one big thing I really don’t want to have after the sale is done. Keep your fingers crossed that we’ll get rid of more tomorrow!!
The fair!
Tonight the McLean County Fair began. Now, it’s difficult for me, having been raised near the Sandwich Fair (i.e. the greatest fair ever), to go to another county fair and not be critical. But this fair cannot even be put into the same category as the Sandwich Fair. I would say that it’s more comparable to the Mendota Fair, but not even quite as good as that one. But it’s here, it’s a buck to get in, and it’s still a fair, so we packed up and headed out there tonight.
We took Ben last year and he loved all the rides and the animals. He remembered going, so he was very excited. Emma, as usual, was just willing to go bye-bye, even though she pretty much had no idea where we were going or what we’d be doing. We really thought that she’d love it, too. We started at the rides, and sadly Emma was a little too short for most of them. Neither Dave or I had even considered that! Luckily, though, several of the carnies let her get on their rides, anyway. Gotta love the carnies! 
They drove trucks,
and then drove cars.
Next was the ferris wheel and merry-go-round.
After we had some classic fair food for dinner, we headed to see some animals and climb on some tractors. Both of those things were popular with the kids, but neither one could touch the thrill of one of the exhibit buildings. In it were a giant combine you could climb into and baby pigs you could pet. Daddy climbed up into the combine with the kids and it seemed like they all enjoyed it. 
But the baby pigs were absolutely the hit of the night. You could see the pure joy on both of the kids’ faces while they were petting those things. Periodically Emma would let out a little squeal not unlike those of the pigs themselves. Ben had no fear of the little guys at all, and he was as into it as Ems was. It was awesome. Before we left each activity the kids got a giant sticker to wear announcing their participation. Of course I tried to get a good picture of both of them wearing the stickers, and this was the best I got:
We then went to see the 
baby chicks, and Emma loved them, too. Ben wasn’t as thrilled with this building. Sadly, I think he may share a little bit of his mother’s fear of birds. Of course, it could have had something to do with the fact that the building they were in was right next to the rides, too. We hit a coupe more of those before we headed for the car. We piled in two tired, dirty, and happy kids and headed for home.
As much as I like to make fun of the little fair, it really is the perfect size for toddlers. I don’t know if they could handle Sandwich…and we don’t know if we’ll even try it with them. Yet.
More garage sale woes
Ok, this thing is getting out of hand. I can’t even put into words…just look.
I know it’s only Tuesday, but there is still a lot of work to do to get this thing ready to open on Friday. Wish me luck!
An actual babysitter
Tonight we sheduled dinner out with our friends Dan and Glenda Stewart. Dan was Dave’s best man at our wedding, and it had been far too long since we had seen them. For any of you who don’t know, Dave’s best friend from high school Mark was killed in a grain bin explosion when we were 20. Dan and Glenda are Mark’s parents, and Dave stayed close with them even after Mark’s death. So when it came time to choose a best man, Dave knew he wanted Dan.
Anyway, we finally got our schedules connected, and planned to go out pretty early to beat the Saturday night restaurant rush. Typically we can make plans whenever we want because Aunt Theresa is always happy to have the kids over for an evening. However, Aunt Theresa had her high school reunion tonight, so she couldn’t babysit. I convinced Dave to let me have Danielle’s daughter Grace come babysit for us. I knew we’d feed the kids before we left and we’d be home before their bedtime, so really it was the perfect babysitting job to break her (and us) in.
Dave was a bit nervous about it all, but I was really proud of him. He didn’t freak out too much, and he kept himself pretty calm. The kids were really excited to have Grace come to our house. They never even thought twice about us leaving…it was bye Mom and Dad…have fun!
Of course everything went fine. The kids had a ball and Grace handled things beautifully. I’m so happy we had such a great first time experience with a non-family member babysitting. It was a good thing for all of us, I think.
Garage sale woes
Next week we’re having a huge garage sale. We’ve decided that we’re done having babies, so we’re getting rid of all of our baby stuff. This includes baby clothes (of course I’ve picked out some things from each kid that I just had to keep), bouncy seats, a pack ‘n play, the high chair, the double stroller, the jungle gym, the rocker glider and footstool in Emma’s room, the baby bathtub and a million little baby related items like bottles, sippy cups, silverware and burpcloths. Then we move to toys. I don’t feel like our kids are totally spoiled, but when you start sorting through them, the stuff they’ve outgrown or don’t play with anymore adds up really quickly. Throw in some random household things from the basement and office and stuff that Dave brought from the farm, and we’ll be lucky to fit it all in the garage!
Of course it’s been a lot of work pulling stuff out and hauling it up to the garage, but I’m afraid that the real stress is ahead of me. I’m having a hard time figuring out how to price things. I want stuff to sell, and I’m really not doing it for the money, but yet it’s hard to just give away nice things that were hardly used or worn, too. I’m struggling a bit. Right now I’m thinking that I’ll put most of the clothes on a table with a sign that says “All Items $1.00″. Then on another table I can put the more special or nicer items with individual prices on them. I haven’t decided for sure if that’s my strategy yet, but I do think that would probably be the easiest. It would also make for an easy check out with my math deficient brain!
I know that this is all a process, but it’s been more difficult than I thought it would be, and I think that has a lot to do with my pricing dilemmas. Getting rid of all this stuff is just so final. We’ll never use a bouncy seat again…or an infant bathtub or even a high chair for that matter! It makes me sad, even though I’m thrilled to have the space we’re freeing up in our storage area. I have a feeling that next Friday will be a challenging day for me.
The jump
Tonight was “diving board night” for the Level 1 swim students. We had talked about it a lot today, and Ben was stoked to jump off the board. Last night he had jumped off the side four times by himself (with a life jacket on, of course) and now he was ready.
Watch what happened.
Obviously, the board was a little more wiggly than he thought it would be. He panicked a bit, but he did it. It may not seem like much to you swimmers out there, but for us, it was a really big deal. Needless to say, he was pretty proud of himself, and so was I.
Ben’s quote of the day
Ben: Do I have swimming lessons today?
Me: Yes, tonight after dinner. Today is diving board day…you get to jump off the diving board!
Ben: (smiling) Oh boy…I get to jump into…into…my girl!
He can’t remember his teacher’s name, so he’s now just referring to her as “his girl”. Sorry, Jill, but I love it!!
Playdate craziness
Today we brought Ali home from preschool with us. Her mom had to take her brother to a doctor’s appointment in Peoria, so she was asking us for a favor, but it was a great opportunity to have her over for a play date. The pick-up went great. It was actually a lot of fun listening to them chatter with each other in the backseat. We came back here and I made lunch. That all went really well, too. The three kids (Ben, Ali and Emma) all ate well and again they chatted between each other. It was so cute. Then, everything changed.
After lunch we went outside to play. Three different times in the next hour or so, Ben had hysterical screaming fits and ended up back in the house on the couch. I felt badly disciplining him when his friend was here, but he was acting very inappropriately and I just didn’t feel like I could let it go. All three fits were because of something really tiny…and all of them basically centered around him not getting his way. It was super ugly behavior, and I hated it. Luckily, Emma was having a grand time with Ali here, and the two of them were getting along famously.
I hate these kinds of parental decisions. I obviously know that I couldn’t just let him have a tantrum and then get his way. But man, it killed me to have him crying so hard when this should have been a fun play date. The thing is, when Ali’s mom came to pick her up there was another crying fit because he didn’t want her to leave. I thought that four was supposed to be better than three. Ugh…you can’t win for losing with this parenting thing.
Euchre, euchre, euchre
Today we had a Euchre tournament. Well, we didn’t “have” the tournament…we played Euchre in a continuation of a tournament that has been going on for approximately 22 years. Please let me explain.
In 1987, my high school friend Patty and I were freshmen at U of I. Her sister Irene, also a good friend of mine from high school, was a senior there. Irene’s friend Mark was a first year law student at U of I, too. We got together one night to paly some Euchre. It was simple fun…we drank, we ate, we listened to good music, and we laughed a lot. Somehow, after that, we came up with the idea to keep a running score. Once we would get to one level, we would just create at new one, and the Euchre Tournament was born. Mark started keeping score on a notepad in 1992, which was way after we started, so we’re not really sure of the exact history before that date. But since then, he has documented when and where we played, and has kept a running score. At some point Mark and Irene’s friend Jeannine took Patty’s place, and this is the current group who periodically gets together for a day filled with the same fun. The system basically goes like this: you must win 2 out of 3 games to win a match. You must win 11 out of 21 matches to win a mega-point. Today started with us behind 7 matches to 10. Jeannine and I had a great streak, but Mark and Irene finally won that last match and got themselves a mega-point. Right now, after 16 years, the score is five mega-points to three.
It’s so outrageous that it’s incredibly fun for us still.
Movie night
Dave and I went to see the new Harry Potter movie this afternoon. Yes, our date nights have been pushed back to afternoon movies now. I know, it’s pathetic, but it just works better to go to the very early show, have a quick dinner, and still pick up the kids from Theresa’s early enough to have our normal bedtime routine. But anyway, I digress…
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”. Here’s the problem. We all know that no movie is ever as good as the book. But now that we’ve gotten to the point in the Harry Potter series that the books are way too long to make into movies, the movie versions are really starting to suffer. The last one was really good, but there were some things about it that were really different from the book. It annoyed me, but I didn’t feel like it really affected the quality of the movie. This time, though, I really thought it did. There was just something missing in this movie. I felt like there were several really pertinent scenes that were glossed over very quickly, while others that seemed inconsequential were drug out way too long. Maybe I’m just cynical, but I thought the whole teen love story part was focused on way too much while the basic good vs. evil theme, the biggest theme of the entire series, was surface-treated instead of explored more deeply.
I will admit that part of the problem is that Dave just finished reading (actually listening to) the book, so he was like a Half-Blood Prince expert and could easily point out many of the inconsistencies. That didn’t help. But I think that both of us were pretty disappointed in the whole thing. It’s very sad, but I’m sure we’ll still see the next two when they eventually come out!
