Thrifting Haul

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I love thrifting.  I have only been out to the local spots a couple of times this summer.  Last night my daughter and I stopped in Goodwill and were quite giggly as we looked over the aisles and showed each other random and strange items. 

Our thrift haul last night included the items pictured below [which I combined with my most recent St. Vincent's (another thrift store) purchase]. 

Books for me [paid $0.25-$1.00 each]

 

Books for the kiddos [paid $0.35-$0.40 each] 

My husband was running an errand and snagged a 9 inch globe for a quarter at a garage sale in our neighborhood.  I've got a strong affinity for globes, so this made me smile.  I hope he brings more globes home because it spells love [to me].  This is probably my favorite of all the finds.  

Back to the giggles...so, I bought this whale.  My daughter thought I was joking but I wasn't.  It came home with us for $1.50.  Maybe the heat was getting to me.  My thoughts:  Remove numbers, fill hole, prime, paint, and hang on bathroom wall.  It's for the kids, you know. 

 

This image for makeover inspiration via 

Today and tomorrow St. Vincent's is having a 50% off sale on everything in the store so the prices listed below were especially low.  

  

Here's a few of the things I saw but left behind: 

 

"Breakfast set" of bowl, plate and mug= $0.75

Set of 5 canisters.  Brand was "Clay Art"= $10.50 

(Original price tags were still on- $29.99 for large size (x3) and $24.99 for smaller (x2).  

 

print of a rose [and other similar botanical prints] in quality frame and mats= $2

And a few more things I did buy:

Baskets for the girls' bedtime books = $0.75 each 

Heavy metal lamp base=$3.50.  [Plan to paint it an undetermined color.]  

Today I'm linking up with "share your thrift haul" at Simple Design. 

-Kate 

local finds [farmers' market, airshow & ice cream]

We're still new to this town and finding things we like.  It's been a good season...

Last Saturday I discovered the local farmers' market.  Total love!  I know I'm a nerd- farmers' markets have the same affect on me that office supplies do...they make my heart beat fast.

Fresh produce and flowers, baked goods, handmade items, and locally roasted coffee.  I love the atmosphere.  I came across an elderly couple who were vendors.  They had their pickup truck backed right up to their stand.  Their display was quaint with vintage bushel baskets and handwritten signs.  I'm trying to remember if they were wearing overalls?  [I should have brought the camera.]

I did bring home flowers [$3 filled two large vases], onions, cilantro, and cucumbers.

The hubby and I also went with friends to the EAA Airventure OshKosh which prides itself in being "the world's greatest aviation celebration."  Now aviation is not really my "thing" but I definitely can appreciate over 10,000 airplanes in one place.  My husband and I liked the Warbirds Exhibit.  The actual airshow performances were definitely the highlight especially when groups of planes flew in formations.  Walking around in the sun, in 100 degree heat, was the low point.

 [picture captured with my husband's phone]

Which reminds me, we found another new favorite...a great ice cream shop!  Talk about priorities.  Don't we all need to know where to find the best ice cream?  Although I must say, I've also been buying a good amount from the grocery store.  What is your favorite flavor?  Brand?  I need to run to the store for more soon.

 via

Loving summer,

~Kate 

The Day We Waited For...[x16]

Last weekend we were in Saint Paul for our first reunion with [many of] the families from our adoption travel group.

In December 2010, 16 families from all over the U.S., flew to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and met each other for the first time.  [This was after "waiting" in the official process for about two years.]  On that trip, not only did we meet each other, but we met our children [for the very first time].  Our children were in care together in Ethiopia and most are very close to the same age.  They spent nearly their first year of life together...in the same little rooms with their cribs lined up side by side. 

The finalization of our adoptions hit many delays and roadblocks and as we shared these experiences together we bonded in a unique way.  Even many of our social workers commented that we experienced something special in our group in the way we formed a community.  We reached out to each other, not only in Africa, but once we returned home.  It is a wonderful group of people that I am glad to know.    

This weekend we met at a global market for dinner, attended the event Ethiopian Kids- Summer Mehaber at the MN State Fairgrounds, enjoyed another dinner together and a backyard BBQ.

As we celebrated together, it was the celebration of a day long waited for.  As I was talking with one of the fathers...looking out over a backyard full of families and toddlers....he told me this is the day he and his wife waited their whole lives for....to have a family.

It was like toddler heaven...toddlers running and playing.  Enjoying kiddie pools, a slip 'n slide, sand box, swing, balls, lawn games and being with each other.  

  

They didn't even want to stop to eat.  Did I mention how cute they looked in their swimsuits....?!

Get out of town...this girl is so cute I can't even stand it.  

They all are...

Totally delicious.  

It did the heart good to see them [10 of the 16 kids] together.   

It is meaningful to me because our daughter was surrounded by these children shortly after her birth.    It is a connection we are thankful continues.  

~Kate 

ten on ten: July

Today I'm linking up with a bit of sunshine. 

  

a photo an hour for ten consecutive hours

Finding much life and beauty among the ordinary things of our day

 

  

Finding beauty.  Here.  Now.  

~Kate 

Color Our Nest

We've been in our new nest four months.  In reading about my personality type 
[see earlier post ] it said my type has a need for order and beauty in the home.  
It might help explain my tendency to constantly "nest". 

Because paint colors make me drool, I thought I'd share the colors of our new nest.  Yes, I have painted.  This palette is much lighter and cooler than our previous homes.  I tend toward a love of brown and earthy colors and was quite obsessed with "sandy brown" for a decade.  This nest is "cozier" than our last and so I was thinking lighter and brighter...and different.  
 

Stonington Gray [Benjamin Moore]= living room and bedroom.

Hawthorne Yellow [BM]= kitchen.  Soft Fern [BM]= master bedroom.

Silk Sheets [Behr]= girls' bedroom.  Chocolate Froth [Behr]= bathroom.

I've still had thoughts about the sandy brown color.  Maybe it would be a good choice for the basement.  'Course first we would need to remove the dark paneling sheets and hang sheet rock.  We'll save that for another day. 

~Kate

Going Home

I've been absent from the blog.  We were on a week long vacation in Minnesota and, as our kids said, we were "guests" in our old hometown.  It was our first time back, since we moved to Wisconsin seven months ago, to the quiet, little town that was our home for 10 years.  

The whole trip was rather sentimental for me.  First, we visited the [little] town where I spent my childhood [on the shores of Lake Superior].  Late one night we drove by my childhood homes.  My mind was trying to retrieve the memories.  I can almost hear the childrens' voices and play from decades ago.  Then we went to visit my parents who have moved back to the town where I lived as a teenager.  It feels kind of like entering a dream. 

Then later on in the week we drove by the [two] homes my husband and I owned.  I know they are just houses but they represent a time in life for me. 

I miss the window boxes at our first house.  [It was there I discovered my love for flowers.]

I miss the porch at our second house.  [It was there I fell in love with coffee.] They were happy things I loved.

We had a beautiful week spent with friends and family.  It makes me appreciate the gift of friendship.  It reminds me of how you just never know where you might find a friend and how life is so much richer when we experience life together.  I'm thankful.  I always knew leaving would be hard and it has been.   I'll always look back on those years as a sweet time, not without challenges, but sweet. 

The hard thing about moving is you can feel a little displaced.  The new place doesn't feel like home [yet].  The old place isn't home.  Where I grew up seems like another life ago. 

I once told my husband I could live nearly anywhere so long as he was with me [and now our three little honeys too!].  I mean it.  Home is with them.  I'm thankful for the sound of childrens' voices and play in our home.  I'm thankful for our third home which is becoming home.  We are planting our roots and growing.

We had a wonderful week away.  It's good to be home. 

~Kate