My mom likes buying stuff for cheap!

Just a word of warning, before you read the whole post: there is going to be a photo of me.  I, along with 3/4 the female population, am not fond of photos of myself.  So don't read all the way down if you would rather not embarrass me by looking at the picture.

I went to Goodwill in Ames today, and had great luck finding girls' dresses.  Sundays are the only days that the Ames and Boone Goodwill stores have sales on their clothing.  Today blue tagged clothes were $1.29.  Nothing I bought had a blue tag- but since kids' clothes are regularly $1.98 it was not a big deal.  I bought 4 dresses for less than $8!

Erin's is  Hanna Andersson- I just love their girls clothes- always bright colors and fun patterns.

Katherine loves green, so she was happy with this one.

Funny story about raising kids while shopping at thrift stores:

When Katie was in kindergarten we went to Dubuque over Christmas break to visit Jeff's sister.  We forgot and left Katie's snow boots there.  I knew we would eventually get them back, but she needed some to use in the meantime.  I figured I would go to WalMart and buy a cheap pair.  Well, they were $20 at WalMart and that was more than I wanted to spend.  I ended up at Goodwill and was lucky enough to find a great pair that fit her perfectly.  I was telling the store manager my story about how we needed the boots and I was so happy to find them, when Katie piped up, "Yeah, 'cause my mom likes buying stuff for cheap!"

Well, yes I do.   



(Here's the part where you should stop reading if you want to skip the picture of me)

I wanted to show that it is possible to find high quality women's clothing second-hand.  This whole outfit was thrifted- see below for the details:




Necklace: $5 Premier Designs- new in package from a garage sale
Pink Shirt: $13 from Miss Meyer's consignment store
White T-shirt: $4 from Miss Meyer's
Black Dockers Dress Pants: $.25 from a garage sale

You can't see my shoes, but they are black Clarks $3.89 from Goodwill

 

I have gotten so many complements on that shirt.  If you live anywhere near Ames- check out Miss Meyer's shop.  It is a very fun place.

Happy thrifting!  As always, post a comment to share one of your great finds.

What Katie Has Been Up To......

When Katie was 4/5 she and Erin took a dance class.  It was through Ames Park and Rec, which is a great program for learning sports.  There were all these tiny girls in adorable dancing clothes. 

They learned some basic ballet moves.  But mostly they twirled around and argued over whose wand was whose (the wands were props for the recital).  Erin loved it.  Katie was bored.

  The next year she chose gymnastics, and she has never looked back.

This past year (3rd grade) she switched from the Park and Rec program to Success Gymnastics.  They have a lot more equipment, and she got to learn some new things.  She did great!

Do you know that feeling, when you see your children learning how to do amazing things; things that you have never in your life done?  And you are proud and a little in awe of them?  And it is such a happy moment?  That's how we feel about Katie. 
(and Erin too, but this post is about Katie)

She passed her level (Level 2) and was asked to join the competetive team, XCEL.  This is a beginner's level of competition.  We're not sure what this will be like, and it requires 3 practices a week.  She has agreed to try it for the first month, then decide if she wants to stay on the team or go back to taking gymnsatics just for fun.

Doesn't this look fun?

Who knows what she will be doing next!