Birthday Party For Three Boys Paid By My Dear Trash

I've been so inspired by Kelly's Big Challenge. It's a blast to see what she makes each week and watch her get closer to her goal of $4,000.00. The idea behind The Big Challenge is to pick something you want (Kelly's taking a nice trip to Disney World with her Mr. Right and 5 girls) and earn the money to accomplish it by selling trash on Ebay, Craig's List and/or your own garage sale.

I've been working to pay for the birth of baby girl, but I needed something a little more exciting then paying a huge hospital bill. I wanted a challenge that provided instant gratification. The three youngest boys have birthdays just a month apart, so the counselor and I decided to throw a big blow-out birthday party before baby girl is born. I cleared it with my doctor. She said anytime I go into labor from here on out is fine, so I went to work (secretly hoping I'd go into labor).

Our family spent 3 days doing yard work, moving a huge pile of fire wood, cleaning up after dogs, house work, laundry, moping floors, shopping, baking and just overall making the house look beautiful. I love having party's at my home because it's one of the few times the house is really clean. Plus, the counselor really get's into it too and he's so strong.

I'll also admit we hired a neighbor to help with yard work and a friend to help with house work. All this was included in the money I earned from selling other people's trash.

For the birthday party, I wanted a bouncy. I found a company on Craig's List that had what the boys wanted; a sports bouncy with a basketball hoop. The rental fee for the day was $95.00. Since we rented it on a Monday, the owner offered it to me for $75.00. That was a nice gift I wasn't expecting so Happy Birthday to me too.

The invitation for the party said "Come for dinner and games."

Dinner was a burrito bar, salad, fruit, the best darn lemon-aide with lemons from our overgrown/desperate lemon tree and ice cream cake that could feed an army. The party was a blast, even though I didn't go into labor.

Happy Birthday, Payson. You're 8 and great!

Happy Birthday, Mayer. You're 5 and so alive!

Happy Birthday, Reef. You're 2 and way too cool!

We love you, little buddies and are so happy you had such a fun time.

I'm also happy to say the $300.00 tab from the party was picked up by yours truly. I have a few other Big Challenges in mind too: A new computer, a trip to Utah for a writer's conference and a summer vacation to Newport Beach, CA.

Plus, just this week the money I earned from My Dear Trash paid for a huge household project totally $1,000.00. I'll be posting that beauty tomorrow. What Big Challenges are brewing out there for you? We'd love to follow your journey as well.

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