A Craigslist Tent

Before the counselor and I had kids, we did our fair share of camping.  

Since I just keep having babies around here, I don’t do much camping anymore, but Derek loves to camp with the older boys up to the mountains.  All these years, he’s used the same tent.

The tent we used.

The tent built for two.

But now that Chandler and Payson are the height of small adults, we set out to get a new tent.

As a girl who’s never shopped tents, I had no idea how expensive they were.

Hundreds of dollars.

We hoped to find one used, but the counselor wanted a few specific things in his new tent.

Since he’s 6’5, he wanted something tall.

He wanted the tent to be divided into two rooms.

He wanted it easy to assemble.

That’s what he found on craigslist.

After weeks of searching, he found a grandpa in East Mesa with a Coleman tent, used only once, for $40.00.

My husband, with the patience of Job,

setting up his new tent while 5 kids jumping around with excitement, using the tent poles as sword, stepping on it with wet dirty feet,

rolling on it and chasing one another right over it and then losing interest all together.

Payson spying on the neighbors.

Mayer squirting the dog with the hose.

Reef playing in his toy pool.

Eden watching Reef.

Eventually, he and Chandler set it up.

Never once did he loose his cool.

Dresser and Mirror Redo

I picked up this ornate mirror a few weeks ago for $5.00- knowing it would be perfect for my little girls room make-over.The trick with repainting mirrors is to make sure the mirror can be removed from the frame, otherwise you'll be able to see the original color on the back of the frame reflected in the mirror. This may only bug people that have OCD like me- but it's a tip worth pointing out. The perfect match to the mirror was this french dresser I picked up several months ago...
With a little black paint- I had the perfect set for my 2 and 7 year olds room.
Here's a closer look at the knobs...
I'll be adding a lamp and some accessories and I can't wait to show you the build Mr. Right is working on. We need to have the room all done by Sept. 29 for my 7 year old Birthday. We'll keep you posted on the progress. Love, Kelly.

A few of my favorite things

With the weather cooling, I find when I work outside on painting trash, the kids follow.

My mom rides by on her bike.

One of the perks of selling trash is the joy of working from home. I’m with my family while making money.

I was here when Mayer lost his first tooth.

A labor of love, I finally finished painting the china hutch for a client of mine.

Here’s the before

And after.

I love how it turned out.

I put a lot of hours into this piece, but it was worth it.

Redoing furniture is new to me, so it really built my confidence.

A few of my other favorite trashy things?

This enormous office hutch.

It was too big to fit into my Honda Pilot, so I looked around the thrift store parking lot.

I saw a lady who liked really nice getting out of a truck and asked if she'd delivery the office hutch to my home for $20.00.

I really don't have a problem talking to strangers.

This little Kidscraft kitchen I found at Goodwill for $30.00 has been the hit of the week.  

Eden can't get enough.

On the same visit to Goodwill, I found this adorable toy box for $20.00.

Around here, toy boxes turn into hiding places.

We have several of them.

I found this vintage end table for $15.00 and had to have it.

Another piece to practice on

and it turned out great.

Estate Sale Friday & Saturday 7am-Noon!

My Dear Trash Estate Sale at 2222 E. Hackamore St. Mesa 85213. We will open at 7am and close at 12:00pm.

Some items include:

Power Lift recliner, Complete bedroom set, Full size mattress set, 2 Kitchen Table sets and chairs, Big screen television, corner hutch. desk hutch. wall unit, hide-a-bed, wing back chair

Antique needle point chair, lamps, artwork, Magnifier lamp, Tons of plus size women's clothing

Tons of fabric, trims, crafts, books, Silk Plants, Primitive Farmhouse Table, Toys, Candy machine and so much more. Here's a few photos- but I promise you wont be disappointed- There is so much great stuff!

Hope to see you at the sale. Love, Kelly

A tornado in my own backyard

Last Saturday night, the counselor and I, along with the kids went out to dinner to celebrate Grandpa Lofgreen’s birthday.  There was a beautiful lightning show and it started raining just before we left the restaurant.  By the time we were several minutes into the drive, we realized this was not your typical rainstorm.  The rain was literally blowing horizontal and it was difficult to see the road.  

We came home to a house with no power and had cake and ice cream by candlelight.  

At this point, the storm had died down and the weather was breezy and cool.  All in all, it was a beautiful night.

When it was time for everyone to leave, we walked outside and my neighbor called for us to come over.

This is what we witnessed (these pictures were taken the next morning). 

There was a fallen tree in her front yard.

And a fallen tree in her backyard.

Pictures don't do justice of how huge these trees are.

Her two 40 foot pine trees had toppled over.

That’s right.  They were blown down by the wind.

Our neighborhood had experienced a tornado.

It was like a war zone, with trees down at almost everyone's house.

It was 11:00pm before we walked back home.  Still no power and the street was completely black.

The power finally came on around midnight.  

The counselor walked into the backyard to check out the pool, complaining that it would be full of pine needles and storm debris, but this is what he saw instead.

Our other neighbor’s 40 foot pine tree had snapped about 10 feet up and had fallen in our backyard. 

It had been so dark, we hadn’t seen it.

Our huge pink grapefruit tree was crushed.

Hundreds or grapefruit litter the ground.

You can just see what used to be the kids Little Tikes jungle gym, buried underneath the mess.

The miracle is no one was hurt.  The tree didn’t hit the house

or the trampoline (the kids want to point this out).

The block wall and pool fence are just fine too.

If any of her other pines would’ve fallen, they would’ve crashed into our house.

Today,  the tree is being chopped up and we have more firewood then we know what to do with.

And it’s a day to count my blessings.