Spring Cleaning Challenge!

It's that time of year again! Time to sweep winter's dust out of the house and let in the sun and fresh air!


I know over the past weeks I've been calling upon my friends to make a donation to beautiful Josephine's adoption fund. This little girl is so much like my own beautiful Skink, I ache inside knowing what she could be faced with if we can't find an adoptive family for her and raise funds to help that family bring her home. See THIS post for details on Josephine's situation.

I also know that like me, many of you don't have a lot of extra cash lying around. You may figure that there are so many children in need out there, you just can't help them all. I understand. I really do! So what if I had a neat suggestion that could make it easier to come up with $10 - $50 to help out - and with NO hit to your bank account?

Here's Josephine's Spring Cleaning Challenge:
Sometime when the kids are at school, napping or otherwise engaged in some (somewhat safe and non-destructive) activity (assuming you have kids), sneak into their rooms and look for cute-but-outgrown clothes and the toys that they haven't really played with in about 6 months or more. C'mon - you know there are some in there! Maybe a lot more than you know. All those things like the extra set of crib bedding that never got used, the Easter or Christmas clothes from last year, the Halloween costume that will never fit again, the baby crib toys that currently have no other use than giving your kid something to step on to climb out of the crib and OH! That toy that Uncle Bubba sent for Christmas that makes that horrible noise you can't stand! Yes! THOSE items!

Now... Put 'em in a box! Or a bag. Or a pillowcase. And here's what you do...

In may cities and towns across the US, there are children's resale shops (and no, they don't resell used children). They go by names like "Cutie-Patootie Kids" and "Once Upon A Child." Find one and take the toys, clothes, furniture, shoes, and horrible-torturous-noise-making-devices to it. They will hand you CASH for these items! Yes - even the one that makes that horrible sound! Now - donate the amount they give you to Josephine's fund!

Can't find a children's resale shop? Put the stuff out on Craig's List or set the items in your front yard this Saturday. People will give you money for them! Don't have kids? I'll bet YOU have some odds and ends you really don't need any more... don't you. Don't you?

Now you have a slightly less-cluttered home, and Josephine's adoption fund is a little larger! It's a Win-Win situation!

Once you do that, go leave a comment on Marianne's Blog (click here) and for your cleaning efforts you could win a $50 gift certificate to Starbucks or Subway! How cool is that?

We may not be able to save them all, but I have to believe there's something great about doing something to help! Call it good Karma, call it God's work, call it your good deed for the day. What ever you call it, you are helping to show that this little girl matters.

 Click on the button to go to Josephine's donation page!

Now - doesn't it feel nice to get that "freshly-cleaned good Karma" feeling just for getting rid of that noisy toy that you hated anyway?

Thank you for helping Josephine, and enjoy your less-cluttered (and quieter) house!

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Follow the link and scroll down until you find Adasperdown Town.

 

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Very Quick Aulancraphobia Update!

I briefly mentioned in THIS post that The Skink had an irrational fear of bagpipes (code name: Aulancraphobia). This phobia was most unhelpful at the recent St. Patrick's Day parade where she turned into a pile of quivering goo in my lap whenever the bagpipe groups came by.

But... The Skink came up with a plan! I have an educational App on my iPhone called "SoundTouch." It has all sorts of pictures of everything from animals to vehicles to musical instruments and when touched, the child can listen to the sound.

Well - for the past few days, The Skink has been taking part in self-assigned immersion therapy. Yup - my brilliant little girl has taken the bull by the horns and made herself look at and listen to bagpipes over and over and over on my iPhone!

I daresay that at next year's St. Patrick's Day parade, she'll be the one yelling, "Bring on the bagpipes!" which will leave my lap open for my older daughter who doesn't handle anything loud well...

We'll just take it one phobia at a time!

Don't forget to help spread the word about Josephine! Click on her picture for more information!

Enjoy this blog? Let me know by voting on TopMommyBlogs! 

Follow the link and scroll down until you find Adasperdown Town.

 

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As the Years Pass

I find it interesting... the older I get, the less interested I am in "celebrating" my birthday. I'm still OK with what I see in the mirror, but "happy birthdays" are for kids. I mean, should I really be happy that I'm another year closer to getting to order off the seniors menu?

The Skink playing with Mimi this past weekend.

We spent the past weekend at Mimi and Pop's house where I took lots of pictures with my new birthday present (more on that in a bit) and avoided checking my mailbox.

Though that sounds random, have you ever noticed how certain businesses love to send birthday cards? "Hey! Happy 42nd birthday! You know what that means? Time to call us and set up an appointment to let us feel you up and then smash the living crud out of your boobies for your yearly mammogram!"

"Happy Birthday!" I bet you're feeling like you're 100, so c'mon in to Smith Chiropractic and we'll make you feel like your 80 again!"

"Happy Birthday! You're getting up there, so come in to Albert's Optometry and check out our new line of hideous bifocals that should help hide some of those wrinkles!"

I also got lots of well-wishes from wonderful friends who hoped I would have a good birthday. Nobody died, so I'd say in the greater scheme of things it was "good." The proverbial icing on the cake was when I got to take Iraq to WalMart to return an item she had shoplifted the evening before when we went there to purchase the non-diet cake that I really shouldn't have eaten. Fun times! As she is in the Autism spectrum, words don't come easily to her in new and uncomfortable situations, so I had her write a letter:

"Dear Walmart, I am vary sory I stole this while you wernt looking. I promise not to do it agan. Iraq"

The people behind the Customer Service desk fought to keep straight faces. They tried hard to look stern as they accepted her apology and we took the walk-of-shame back out to the parking lot. I really hope this facet of her "issues" goes away. Far, far away.

Aside from getting un-younger, this year I was surprised by my awesome hubby with a new camera! No - those geese above did not let me walk up to them and take their pictures. This thing has a 35x zoom! I haz a happy! He also sent me flowers! Best birthday since I got my first pony when I turned 13!

And this morning I got a compliment... As I was putting The Skink on the bus at 6:15 a.m., the bus driver asked if I just had my two girls. I responded that no, I actually also had a 16-year-old boy too. The bus driver and her aide looked at each other with "that look" and back at me. I could totally see (to my great pleasure) that they were assuming I must have had him... young... so I quickly interjected that Wednesday was my 42nd birthday and that I had been 26 when I had him. They both paused and together said, "Really?"

All I can say is that I'm loving the soft, dim light at 6:15 in the morning!

So, although I just celebrated the 21st anniversary of my 21st birthday, it's all good. Something about having younger children at this age keeps a person younger (and reintroduces one to the joys of mid-day napping before the bus brings them back!).

And don't think for a moment that if we were in a better place financially, we wouldn't be making this little pumpkin part of our family also!

Marianne who adopted little Darya from Eastern Europe is helping me raise funds for Josephine. Check out her giveaway of $50 gift certificates for Starbucks and Subway at her blog, A Home For Darya!

The best birthday present I could get would be to see adorable Josephine's adoption fund grow! That, and finding a family (of any age) who can adopt her!

I'll be announcing more giveaways soon on my blog too. Don't forget to check out my current giveaway for cute toddler bedding HERE.

And remember... you're only as old as you pretend to be!

Enjoy this blog? Let me know by voting on TopMommyBlogs! 

Follow the link and scroll down until you find Adasperdown Town.

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Springing for Spring

This weekend we decided to load everyone up and go to Mimi and Pop's house. The hubby's at work, so this was no small  undertaking to pack for 3 kids and a dog. What is normally an hour drive took at least 2 hours once we made all our detours and went back to our house to pick up Broadway's forgotten ADHD medication (yeah... it's THAT important!).

I don't know who was more excited about our visit... the kids or Mimi and Pop. Mimi found some lovely clothes for playing dress-up. Much to my amazement, Mimi produced one of my high school prom dresses from the back of a closet. Iraq was thrilled to try it on, then asked to see ME in it.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahaaaaaahaaaaaaaaaaahaaaaahahahahaha! Right... possibly my left butt cheek!

Following the high school prom look, we tried out the Middle Eastern look...

and what ever you call this look...

Outdoorsman formal wear?

It wasn't quite warm enough for a boat ride, but we went down to the dock to enjoy the windy spring-time scenery... In a prom dress...

Now that's a tree!

When we came back up from the water's edge, we toyed a bit with the Asian look.

After playing with clothes and enjoying the lake on this beautiful spring day, we shared the fun with Brandy. I'm proud of my 70lb bulldog. With her size and strength, it would be an easy thing to take The Skink the gravel-road equivalent of water-skiing, but no squirrel or deer could tempt Brandy to try such a trick. She stayed right next to The Skink for as long as The Skink chose to walk her... (translation: until Iraq came and took the leash out of The Skink's hand, informing her it was her turn!)

Hep! A BEAR!

No? What do you mean, "squirrel?"

Thanks to my readers, my blog has been nominated to the Circle of Moms Top 25! 

Thank you for voting!

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I just had to share some pictures!

These pictures are of Josephine - the little girl I am trying to raise funds for and find a family for. She is just the cutest little thing!

This one is my favorite! Could she be more angelic??

This adorable little angel needs our help! Please go make a donation to this sweet pumpkin's fund. Every dollar helps. Leave me a comment to let me know about your donation and I will add your name to one of our future giveaways - and we have some GREAT stuff to give away soon!

Click the above picture to go to Josephine's page.

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Wow! Thanks to my awesome readers, my blog has been nominated to the Circle of Moms Top 25! Thank you!

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