Who wants some clothes?

So, I am not sure if it is becuase I started crying when my wife asked if I wanted  a fourth kid or if she could simply see it in my eyes that I did not need another female in the house, but somehow she has come close enough to accepting we are not going to have a fourth kid that she was okay with me selling our baby clothes and baby accessories and maternity clothes.  I told her I was going to have a garage sale.  She said something along the lines of "Give it all to charity, you are dumb."

Trying to defy her wisdom, I am currently sitting here:

At this point, I would tell you it is going "mildly well".  The highlight so far has been selling a rocking chair glider (purchased by the wife in the morning, picked up by the angry husband in the afternoon).

But, after my synopsis of the days events, I have decided to write a brief "Best Practice" for garage sale shoppers.  Please, if you will be swinging by my garage sale. read the following five points first.

1)  Commit.  Please stop drivng by, slowing down, and then not stopping.  Really, you saw the 4,000 items I have for sale from behind the wheel at 3 miles an hour.  You do understand that you chose to go "garage saling" yet you are not stopping at garage sales.  Why don't you drive to Target.  Go in and walk by all the cashiers and then go home.  You would be using your time just as efficiently

2)  The person running the garage sale did not do this "for fun".  We have a ton of merchandise that we don't need.  That does not mean that it is poor quality, it is just that I don't need it.  I did not set up every table, and make my parents come over to help price and fold clothes because we thought it would be "a hell of a good time".  So please treat my items with respect.  If your kid thinks it is funny to unfold all the clothes and shout "this is pretty" I find it should be your responsiblity to fold the clothes back up.

3)  Really you need one thing?  A guy came to my garage sale today and said "I'm just looking for some silverware"......I punched him in the face.  Okay not really.  But I advertised this sale as baby and maternity clothes and he thought it would be a great place to pick up a five set of forks.  Why don't you browse.  Perhaps you would like that cuisinart coffee maker that I am practically giving away.

4)  Do you really need to haggle over everything.  I am selling 300 feet of electrical wire.  I am asking $20 for it.  Johnny Old Guy stopped by and literally yelled at me "how much for the wire"  When I told him $20 for all fo it, he huffed and left.  Listen Tommy Tightwad...I am asking for 6.67 cents a foot...loosen your wallet.  When I was little, my family used to strip electrical wire that my dad collected from the dumpsters of worksites he was at so we could sell the copper.  Don't haggle over a good deal.  If you think $60 is too much for a used stroller, let's talk....but if you want to argue that you should pay fifty cents instead of a dollar for Gap children's clothes...leave.

5)  I brought change, you should too.  My first customer today perused my quality offerings, and selected a book, a toy truck and one baby shirt.  She owed me a $1.50.  She gave me a $20.  REALLY?  You decide to go garage sales for the day and the smallest bill you bring is a $20.  Because I had been prepared, I paid her back $18.50 in change.  Because I was pissed, I gave it to her all in quarters.  Sorry Betty Big Bills, next time bring something I can break or spend more money.

Those are my five hints for buyers today.  I have to go now because a wind storm is hitting my garage sale.  More fun for me.

Because my oldest told me she was running the cash register, and my 6 year old told me a dollar is the right price for a bottle of water "because it is ice cold"...I love my girls.

We Should all think like Children More Often

For those of you who do not live in Minneapolis, you probably wonder why those of us do.  We had a 60 degree day a couple of weeks ago, and on April 3rd, we had a winter storm warning, and it snowed about 10 inches.  Literally.

So many people complained, traffic was horrible, most people gave up and didn't go to work, so many people questioned why on earth do we choose Minneapolis to live our lives if we have to put up with snowstorms in April.

Without us knowing Katelyn (8) and Addison (3) instead did this:

Thankfully, my neighbor saw and took this picture.

Because they can see a smile in the biggest storm, I love my girls.

Look out Disney

So, we are leaving for Disney in "one more sleep" and this is how my youngest is preparing:

No explanation necessary, cause I love my girls.

Shakopee holds many secrets

Fantasy Football is something I am fond of. For those of you counting, I have three daughters, and a wife....none of which whom like football. I thought I might have had Ashley on the hook, but she keeps telling me she is my Sunday Night Football girl, and then when Sunday comes, and I tell her to get ready for football, she says she is my Monday night football girl. I have yet to catch up to the night. That being said, my Sundays are typically filled with getting the kids out of their pajamas and trying to help with breakfast, because at 11:30 I tune into football....for pretty much the rest of the day. But, as you may know, Katelyn recently celebrated her 8th birthday. Typically, all of the girls get a 'mommy and me" day to celebrate with just mom. This year, because Katelyn is pretty much the nicest human being on earth, she said that she wanted to take all of her sisters to the corn maze because it was so much fun last year. So her mommy and me day was Katelyn and family day.

This is us at the corn maze in Shakopee.  No, we have no idea why Ashley is posing for her Hollywood glamour shot.

Shakopee holds this little secret that isn't so little.  It is this huge corn maze, with different things to jump on, ride on, climb on, etc...that I can see why Katelyn had so much fun last year.

The only problem was....we went on Sunday....and arrived at 12:03....to late for me to set my fantasy lineups.  I lost in both leagues.  Simply because I did not check before we left for the corn maze.

I most likely would not have won either league I play in....but it did not help to lose only because I did not check my fantasy football.

That being said......I would trade all of my fantasy leagues every year to see again the smiles of my little girls climbing around in a corn maze or a corn pit.

Because the oldest is nice enough to share her day with her sisters, I love my girls.

She never knows

I have been away from posting for a while, and I would love to blame it on life and being too busy and what not, but I have two sisters who manage to keep the world updated....so I thought I better try.

My kids are amazing, more amazing then yours,  (although I am sure I am biased)...but my wife is more amazing than all and I have never explained why.

So, why.....

1)  Kelly has an ability to put her kids first, no matter how the day has gone.
2)  She runs a million dollar company, that she would throw away if any of her daughters said they did not get enough attention.
3)  This company she started with an intern now has clients like Cargill, Land O Lakes and Ecolab
4)  She has never missed an event for her girls...whether it is reading to the first grade class or going on a field trip to the zoo
5)  She sends me a "week in review" to help me know who needs to be where and when
6)  She lays out all of the kids clothes each morning......including mine.

I could go on and on with what she contributes...but what I want to share with all of my readers is this.

Monetarily, we have been successful....but the sole reason my kids will succeed is because they have a MOM.  I do not know how she does it.  I am consistently amazed that she runs our household as she does.

Sadly, as with many moms, she does not hear "good job" enough.  She NEVER KNOWS how much she is needed.  But tonight, she is in Chicago...traveling for business.....and my girls could not have cared becuasethey got to say goodnight to her, they got to see her thanks to Face Time and they know that before she left...she laid out all of their clothes and told dad what their snacks should be.

So, I share with you this not because I think you should reach out to Kelly and say "good job" but because all of my posts only talk about my kids.

I am hopeful that in the future when they read this, they will read about an amazing gal who helped raise them.

Kelly, your achievements will never be documented enough, but please know that you are an amazing individual.

Because every time I ask them if they love me, they ask me where mom is....I love ALL my girls...

We made it 5 innings

My company was kind enough to share our Twins tickets with us so I got to take my girls.  We made it 5 innings, which was four more than I thought we would.  Just as an FYI - they had me buy these hot dogs, for $5 a piece, and then as soon as I took the picture, they both gave me their hot dogs.

Thanks Mosaic for the tickets, Thanks Katelyn and Ashley for doing a boy thing :)

Because they cheered as loud as anyone when a home run was hit (I think because there were fireworks)  I love my girls.



My Little Pianist

This weekend was a great weekend all in all.  I got to go to what is known as Shakopalooza III.  This is a friend of mine who lives in Shakopee and each year he invites about 30 friends to head to Canterbury to watch the Kentucky Derby, then back to his house for a poker tournament.

Poker, horses, blackjack, friends.  I am looking forward to Shakapalooza IV already.  Thanks dear for taking care of the home front while I was running around playing.  Although I didn't win on the Derby, Kelly and the girls watched closely as they each had me bet for them.  Katelyn bet on Goldencents, Addie bet on Charming Kitten, and Ashley was cheering for Uncle Charlie.....we don't know why...there was no horse running named Uncle Charlie.

Then on Sunday, we had my nieces confirmation.  Congrats Maddie - thanks for letting us come celebrate.  Then we had a little time before the first piano recital in the Smith house.  Ashley has been taking piano lessons for about 8 weeks, and last night was her end of the year recital. 

After hearing a preview at Aunt Kerry's house, Kelly and I were a little nervous as to whether or not Ashley would deliver.  Apparently though, if you put a new dress and some sparkly shoes on your 5 year old...she can tickle the ivories with the best of them.

Ashley kicked out Rockin Pony Ride and was the cutest little girl there.  She loved dressing up like a princess and had no fear performing in front of a pretty big group.

This one on the other hand..... well it might be a little while before she cares to "get all cleaned up and in nice clothes"

Because one is the cutest little girl in the world even when covered with chocolate, because one is the cutest little girl in the world at a piano recital, and because when I asked the oldest one if she will always be my little girl she responded "Daddy, I have no control over life's mysteries"....I love my girls....