Rain For An Over-Active Lemon Tree and My Top EBay Sales of the Week

Rain in Arizona is like an over-due drink of water for a marathon runner.

The transformation is amazing.

Trees stretch and are finally able to do so without breaking dry, brittle branches.

Flowers bloom and fill in the gaps of what is normally a brown dusty backdrop.

The wind blows and there’s just a ting of moisture moving through the cool air.

Yellow grass catches morning dew and holds onto it for dear life.

Children play like they're on vacation.

Every morning, I pick an orange from the backyard tree. It quenches my thirst like nothing else. I don’t know why Florida get’s all the attention from the citrus industry.

I have a lemon tree that reminds me of an over-active dog.

It’s just so happy to be alive.

It produces more lemons then I ever know what to do with.

Last year, it broke a major branch. Why?

Because it couldn’t carry the weight of its fruit.

This year it’s threatening to do the same thing.

Do you ever feel like this?

Overworked and under-picked?

Or maybe just over-picked.

I’m using the lemons as fast as I can.

The kids get home from school and we make lemon-aide icees.

Only in Arizona are lemon-aide icees even desirable in the winter.

Here’s the recipe.

Squeeze the juice of three lemons (by the way, I paid $3.00 at a yard sale for this retro super sweet juicer).

Pour lemon juice into your blender.

Add ½ a cup of sugar (more if you like it sweeter).

Add 4 frozen strawberries.

Fill the blender with ice, then add water to the top.

Blend until smooth.

Share with all, and be prepared to make another within a few minutes.

Like the lemon tree, my EBay sales have been lively and abundant.

Here are my top EBAY sales of the week.

Abercrombie & Fitch! You rock and this week, these Women's size 12 lowrise flare jeans sold for $31.00.

Gap Overalls, my unpredictable friend. Does it make a difference if you are XL. I think so. This week, you sold for $25.49 Way to go!

Men's Ralph Lauren Jeans. Waist 46, length 30. Sometimes these hard to find sizes sell really well. At $20.49, the seller and buyer both have a great deal.

Banana Republic, Size 10 NWT $79 Pants, you never looked so good. $14.99 is a great profit for me and an even better price for the lucky buyer.

Men's Abercrombie & Fitch does almost as well as the women's. These hot button fly 32x32 vintage jeans sold for $20.50.

Dollar Day is every Thursday at your Phoenix Valley Goodwills. Get out there and see what you can find.

Game Board Wall

I've often said I love Games- Game boards, pieces, dice, fake money, etc, etc. When you love something and you can buy it for .50-1.00 you tend to have a lot of it. This is the case with games. A few years ago I decided to display the kids game boards on the wall in their toy room. It's taken me that long to finish it up by filling in blank spots with vinyl lettering. Here's an overall picture of the game board wall.
It was difficult to get the games to fit precisely in the space so this week I finally filled in the spaces with vinyl quotes.

We wanted the game boards to be functional so we attached them to the wall using grommets and hooks. When friends come over they can see what games we have to play and then easily remove them from the wall. To give an even border, I just cut up the lids to the games and stapled those on the wall.

All the pieces are neatly stored in the window seat in clear containers. This makes clean-up fast

A few games are stored in larger boxes.
Like I said, this has been up for a few years and has stood the test of time. I enjoy the graphic element of game boards and the kids seem to play with things more when not hidden in a closet. Hope you enjoyed. Love, Kelly
Linking up to:

Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous

Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed

Remodelaholics Anonymous at Remodelaholic

A Baby Is Named; EBay style

I read today that a woman is auctioning off the name of her baby on EBay (click here to read more). She’s hoping to make $20,000 to 25,000 and is giving the lucky winner the opportunity to name her baby anything they’d like. The bid is currently at $2,700.00.

Is this a bad economy or do people really have the money to buy rights to name a baby?

For her sake, I hope the winner’s really nice and mentally stable.

I’m in the process of picking a name for my baby.

The process of picking a girl’s name is like picking a bouquet of wild flowers.

Image found here

The meadow is full of beauty, but only a few flowers fit into my arrangement.

Image found here.

Eventually, only one will be selected, even though the others are all so beautiful.

Image found here.

The counselor and I have chosen to name our children after Arizona towns.

This didn’t start on purpose.

The name of our first son, Chandler, means “maker of light.” Very appropriate for a boy who has brightened our world in every way.

Payson, our second son, is a strong name, meaning “warrior” or “soldier”. Let me tell you, his strength and will power is something to appreciate and it makes his soft side that much sweeter.

So, after having Chandler and Payson, the counselor and I noticed an interesting trend – both names are Arizona towns.

With our third son, we actually opened an Arizona almanac with the intent of picking another Arizona town.

We love the music of John Mayer. When we found the town Mayer, we knew it was the name for our third baby boy. Mayer is a German name and means “major” or “leader.”

Reef was born at an interesting time. I’d just completed my book, Colors of the Sea. My young adult book is about a marine biology student running from a troubled past, but finding strength and hope through her relationship with the sea. Derek found the name Reef on a website for Arizona ghost towns and we both knew it was the right name for our fourth baby boy.

So, with this first little girl, I’m listing the names we’ve found. No, I'm not selling the rights to her name, but I do love feedback. And if you find another Arizona town name you like better, leave it in the comment box and the counselor and I will take a look.

Here are the names we like so far. Like a bouquet, they are in no particular order:

Rye

Winona

Sedona

Eden

Sunflower

Hope

Ruby

Taylor

Page

Image found here.

Picking a name is one of the best things about having a baby and I wouldn’t sell that opportunity for anything.

Magazine Rack Re-do

Do you remember the magazine rack I purchased for $2.00 at a garage sale last week? Here's a little reminder...

Very cute, but I needed her in a different color. So... I little Rustoleum Semi Gloss Black and here she isI decided to distress the edges a bit and love the way the old red came through in some areas. I do, by the way have a huge red sectional in my family room.

Here she is in her new location.

Here's the overall shot, so you can really see how she fits in.

Hope you enjoyed. Love, Kelly

Linking up to Strut your Stuff Thursday at Somewhat Simple

Go, SUNS, Go!

My boys are pretty chill most of the time, really the non-demanding type of children. They help with chores, get their homework done and play basketball.

They play A LOT OF BASKETBALL.

My boys (including the counselor) are NOT CHILL when it comes to the Phoenix Suns. They hoop n’ holler and will bring down the house during a close game.

They want the Suns to win, Win, WIN and will do anything to show their loyalty to their favorite NBA basketball team.

This is where my dear trash comes into play.

I find all sorts of Phoenix Suns memorabilia out thrifting & yard selling. Chandler helped with taking photos of our favorite finds.

Mayer loves his backpack. We found it at Mesa Thrift for $2.99.

This is a hand-painted piggy bank. I think it was done at one of those pottery-painting places. I appreciated that I didn't have to paint it and it only cost me $1.98 at Goodwill.

I found this lamp at a yard sale. It sits on a nightstand right by the boys beds.

Derek's sister, April, sent us an Al McCoy talking bobble-head doll for Christmas last year. How long do you think it lasted in this home before it was broken? Yeah, about a day. But, a few weeks ago I found the exact same bobble-head doll at a yard sale, new in box and never opened, for $2.00. The counselor was thrilled, and quickly put away on the top shelf of his closet.

Jersey's are expensive, costing up to $100.00, but not when a Goodwill is around the corner. For Father's Day, 2009, I had the boys dress up in their Phoenix Suns gear, most of which I purchased at Goodwill's $1.00 day. The photo season was painful, but we got through it.

The trampoline was just too much of a distraction, so we moved over to the grapefruit tree. Everything's going great and I finally get the perfect picture. It's only later, I notice my dog is in the middle of cleaning herself. Thanks, Sadie.

Leandro Barbosa is a top-playing Suns man and we had the chance to meet him at the opening day of the Phoenix Light Rail. It was freezing (alright, 65 degrees), but we found a way to come covered in head-to-toe Suns gear.

Reef even made it on the nightly news. He looks so cute wearing the counselor's headband.

Once a year, the counselor takes the boys to a Suns game, nose bleed, but still worth every minute.

Last week, Chandler asked if I would paint a Phoenix Suns logo on his bedroom wall. I'm always one for a challenge, plus I love the Suns too. We start with the logo of Chandler's choice and he prints it off the computer.

Next, I sketch the logo pencil. I won't deny I spent the whole day in my pajamas.

Mayer is pleased with how it's turning out.

Time to mix the orange.

The boys loved watching the transformation. Their compliments are great motivators to getting the job done.

And even with a few minor distractions, (Reef hiding in the closet & Mayer getting used to wearing my rollerblades during a fuse ball game with Reef).

we continue on our journey toward completion.

Chandler watches in amazement, but I notice he's left the room. After some internet searching, he comes back with a few more ideas of what I can paint on his walls.

I wish, buddy, but not today.