What's wrong with my clothes?

When I got pregnant with Ella, I packed away all my "skinny" clothes. By "skinny" I mean size 14. I had spent all of college in 16-18s and after my leg surgery, I'd even been into size 20. So when I was able to buy a size 14 jean from Old Navy, I was on Cloud 9. How funny that I was the thinnest I'd ever been right before I got pregnant. I was so happy with what I call my "woman body." I had sexy curves that I didn't hide. I was the most comfortable with myself that I had ever been in my life.

After Ella's was born, I brought out some of the clothes thinking I'd be able to wear them soon. Oh how wrong I was. It's been 5 years since I've been able to wear those clothes.

In an attempt to make more room in my house, I decided to part ways with my hot, sexy clothes from days gone by. If I am ever that small again, I deserve a brand new wardrobe. I am keeping some of my jeans though....for some reason, I just can't get rid of them.

I decided to take my best stuff to Karen's Kloset, a consignment shop in Champaign. I had never tried to sell anything there before, and I thought it would be easy. Just drop off my clothes and get a check in a few months.

Yesterday, after Ella's doctor appointment, I stopped by KK with about a dozen items. As soon as I walked in the door I felt uncomfortable. The staff, although nice, had a certain....vibe(?) to them that made me uncomfortable.

As I was filling out the necessary forms and reading over their policies (they are going to charge me $5 to pick up the items that don't sell? WTF?) the woman behind the counter was checking over my clothes.

She finished and when I looked over, she had put most of them back in the bag. She said, "Ok. You have 4 items here that I think will sell nicely for you." As she continues her rambling, telling me exactly what I just read, I am angrily wondering what is wrong with my other clothes. The 2 black GAP sweaters I brought in are in great condition. That Eddie Bauer sweater doesn't have a stain on it.

Inside, I'm fuming. How dare this woman not take my clothes! This is a resale shop! Those clothes cost a lot of money! She tells me that in the future, "we ask that when you bring in items, to please have them freshly laundered, pressed, and on hangers." I look around, and all the items in this shop are on black hangers. What are they going to do with the hangers I put them on? And all my clothes were clean and wrinkle-free....I'm not going to bring in clothes smelling like moth-balls.

I should have asked her what the deal was, but I didn't. Seriously, the place made me really uncomfortable, and I just wanted to get out of there. I know I won't be going back except to get whatever money I might make...minus that $5 fee.

Harley Q suggested I try Plato's Closet or EBay. I've never been to PC, and I've never sold anything on the Internet. If any of my friends would like to take these clothes off my hands, I am happy to hand them over. Just let me know.

What a great day!

The weather on Saturday was great! Brady was able to mow the grass and we set up the playhouse Ella got for her birthday. For the first time in what seemed forever, the bugs were almost non-existent, and we were finally able to play outside. I put all chores aside and spent the entire day outside with the kids. Here's some pictures.

Photos are just easier.

WTF is this?

Everyone is talking about how bad the bugs are this year. Monday I was attacked by Pirate bugs. Those tiny bitches still have me scratching my skin raw.

One particular bug that gives me the heebee-geebees is this one. I took this picture in my garage.

I have no idea what it is, but it has overrun our town. We get them every fall, but they seem to be worse this year. I won't take the kids outside to play or even for a walk. As you walk down the sidewalk, they sense you coming, and then swarm. Seriously...they swarm into the air.

I have heard people say that these bugs don't bite humans, that they eat mosquitoes. I don't know about that. What I do know is that they are creepy, and they are all over our front porch. All I can hope for (like Freak) is a frost.

On a funny note, Ella calls them mosquito spiders. If they had a web, she'd be right.

Ella's class photo

Of course Ella can't be looking at the camera. :)

The Backyardigans Live!

Last night, I took Ella to see The Backyardigans Tale of The Mighty Knights. I had kept it a secret from her until we got in the car on our way to the Assembly Hall. She was so very excited, and I think I was too.

We had really good seats. Section A, Row 7, seats 8 & 9. I could have gotten us the "prime" seats for more money, but after sitting down, I realized that we were in a great spot. I thought that (based on commercials for the show) that the kids would get to sing and dance in front of the stage, which was the only reason I had even wanted to be on the floor. Come to find out, they could only do that prior to the show and at intermission. So that extra money I could've spent would have been a waste. The show was far from sold out, but there were enough children there screaming to give an average person a headache. Of course, one of the loudest ones sat right behind me...go figure!

At first, I thought the show looked a little cheap. Then I had to step back and think about it. They travel this thing all over the country, only staying at each venue about 2 days. The set obviously has to be easy to put up and take down. Also, these kids didn't notice. They were so excited to see the characters, that the set could have been made of duct tape and paper bags and they still would have had fun.

Ella did really great. She interacted with the show and was standing in front of her chair marching to Dragon Mountain and singing along with the Grabbing Goblin. She got excited when the Flighty Fairy used her magic wand to send bubbles out into the audience. She held up her cardboard shield (given to her at the entrance) and shouted, "We're knights, that's right!" with all the other kids.

On the way home she held her magic light-up wand that I bought for her, and was asleep before we got out of Urbana. When we got home, I put her into her bed and she woke for a moment and said, "Backyardigans, Live!" and closed her eyes.

I don't know if the show was worth the $35 per ticket, but we had a really good Mommy/Daughter evening out. So maybe it was priceless?

Celebrating Ella's birthday at Curtis Orchard

We went to Curtis Orchard yesterday to celebrate Ella's birthday with some of our friends from C.A.R.E. We were minus a few due to the outbreak of illness in the area; somehow we managed to avoid it and I'm thankful!

One thing we didn't avoid was the horrible infestation of these tiny black biting bugs. According to Harley Quinn, they are called pirate bugs. They were everywhere! On our clothes, in our hair. The kids didn't really seem to notice, but they were running around so I think the bugs couldn't catch them! But all of us moms were constantly swatting them away, or killing the ones that had just bitten us.

Although the bugs put a damper on the afternoon, we still had a nice time seeing our friends.

Pictures from Ella's 4th birthday.

Auntie Caroline helps the kids with their treasure chest craft.


Grayson plays peek-a-boo.


The cake.


Ahoy!


No one be getting this here treasure!





Ella sneaks a lick of frosting!


Happy birthday to you!


Ella, Grayson, Aubry, and Lucian

Ella's 4th birthday celebration

We celebrated Ella's 4th birthday over the weekend at my parent's house. It was a nice party. I think my only real complaint is that we had too many people cancel after they said they'd be there. Some people had valid excuses. My grandparents went to North Carolina to be with my Aunt Martha because she had brain surgery on Thursday. Our friend Art's father passed away on Tuesday, and they had family in town for the services. As far as I'm concerned, all the other family and friends' excuses were lame. I had planned the party around a certain amount of people. I planned food, cake, goodie bags, crafts, balloons, and everything in between for all these people, and then they cancel at the last minute. I should know better. This happens all the time. I think I even blogged about it before.

I now have TONS of cake left over. Tons! Ella had asked for a "pirate-dinosaur-mermaid-ocean" party. Of course I had to give her what she wanted - it was her big day. I made this HUGE cake. It was a pirate ship on an ocean sailing to a desert island with a treasure that was guarded by dinosaurs and pirate ghosts. Oh, and there were mermaids in the ocean guarding the island. The cake was great. It wasn't my best, but it was cool. It was also big enough to feed a small army. So if anyone is in the mood for cake, just let me know. I've cut it up, and I'll be freezing it today.

Ella had a good time. It just so happens that the street my parents live on had their annual block party on the same day we chose for Ella's party. There was all kinds of games going on; kids were riding their bikes all over the place; snacks were set up on tables in the street.

Ella loved her cake and all of her gifts. She got to play with her cousin & best friend, Aubry. She got to ride her new bike up and down a safe street. She helped Uncle Troy paint rocks gold for her treasure chest. She really did have a good birthday. And I know that she didn't miss any of the people who didn't attend. Next year, we'll be having her party at our house. She'll have friends from playgroup and school at it, and I'm sure my immediate family will also be there, and I know she'll have another great birthday party.