Book Keepers

Some days when I walk into my favorite treasure finding stores, I head straight for the book section.  Although never planned, I always seem to spend the most time in the children's section.  My boys are entangled around my feet, pulling books off the shelf, settling in on the hard linoleum floor to flip through pages of brightly colored pictures.  They stop after each one to decide which ones they'll ask to get, and which ones can be crammed back onto the shelf.  In those moments we are connected, I too begin to pull books off the shelf, thumb through the ones that look interesting, and then place the ones I will enjoy in the cart.  Later the boys will add their keepers.  Often I find a book that is in pretty bad shape, but the pictures are so sweet, or the title so great, they still manage to find the keeper pile.  So now what?  What do I do with all these books?  Here are some ideas some friends and I have come up with.

This past weekend one wanderer at our gathering preview walked away with a Raggedy Ann Pennant. She remembered the story from when she was young.  Hopefully now it graces her own daughter's wall as a piece of her own childhood passed from mother to daughter.  It's hard to cut up cute old books, even the ones that are in bad shape, but turning them into something new seems to breath a bit more life into them.  

Sentimental Treasures

Sometimes I walk into a second hand store and I see something that triggers a memory from my childhood.  I'm sure it has happened to many of you, you see something that clicks that switch in your brain, and you hear yourself saying "Oooohhhhh..... I remember this."  Usually it's in the form of a toy, or something you tinkered with as a child, but sometimes it's something your parents may have had.  Well, that's what happened to me, there it was, a cedar chest, one that looked very similar to my own mother's, and lets be honest, really quite U,G,L,Y.  I tried ignoring it, but I ended up getting it in the end, and really a few coats of paint later, I actually find it quite lovely.

A Huntsville Gathering? Why? What? Who?

NAME:  Got it, what’s next     

D.O.B:   That means I’ll be…. wow, will I really be that old come fall?                                                 

ADDRESS:  That’s easy, Huntsville, Utah.                                                                                        

OCCUPATION: O.K. do I put N/A, no I’ll put homemaker, I wonder if they’ll think I’m just between jobs and homemaker sounded better then unemployed, no they wouldn’t think that, I really do contribute to our family, well alright maybe not financially, but hey I’m the one that makes order out of life’s chaos….   

“Mom, I gotta take treats for my entire class today, and the bus is going to be here soon, it’s got to be glutten free, and already pre-packaged, with no artificial food coloring, what can I take?”  

“What’s for dinner?”                                                                                                                

“Mom can I play with my friends…., Oh come on I’ll do my six pages of homework in that short time period after dinner, and before we get ready to go to bed.”                                      

“Hey Hon, did my one work pants get washed?” (I really wish there was more description)  

“Mom I lost the most important part of my Megatron toy, I neeeeeed it, help me fiiiiiiind it!”    

“Mom, make me a Hawk Eye costume o.k.?”                                                                           

“Mom, He’s not letting me play!”                                                                                                

"Hey, where do we keep that one thing, that we use to cut stuff?” (Once again more description would help)                                                                                      
“Mooooommmm, cooommmme, wiiiiippppe, meeeee!” (Man what do I feed that kid)                

 "I Love you!” (Bingo!)

Man, if I could only fit more in that little box they give me, I’d put….  domestic coordinator/transportation receptionist/caterer/clinician/child care director/sanitation inspector.  Yep, I think that would cover it, well good enough anyways.  But I think those of us who are homemakers know what it means, it’s no easy feat, but we do because we want to, and hopefully we love it.  I found that being at home allows me to find great happiness in the little things, I get excited for play dates (I like hanging out with the moms as much, maybe even more, then my child does with the other children), bike rides are my favorite outing, and new Lego sets are a true prize.  
 

Don’t get me wrong, I have stuff that I do and love that I stand alone in, I just found that if I can find a way to mix those with my other duties, I get to do them far more often.  For example, shopping, I like to refer to these outings as treasure hunting. I rarely go alone, I usually have at least one child with me, and you’d be surprised how much patience a snack can buy you with a three year old.  Also exercising, something I’ve had to embrace, I do not have a naturally slender figure (I’m shaped more like an ice cream cone, mmmm ice cream), and I like to eat, so exercise I must.  Hence the need for walks, hikes, bike rides, and even an occasional run, all done with my favorite boys, ages 3, 5, 8, (and my oldest) 37.  Don’t forget hanging out with my friends, and guess what, lucky me, my best friend’s children are also my children’s best friends. 

   

 Next, and probably my most favorite, projects.  This is the one word that encompasses what I do most, whether it be crafting projects, painting projects (including painting the entire exterior of my house, with a 3 inch brush from the dollar store, toot toot, yep, that’s me tooting my own horn), sewing projects, and even major house projects.  Projects are what I do, they are what keep me happy, so how can I put them into my life to serve even more of a purpose?

I have friends that are so full of talent, from sewing, to creating amazing art, I’m lucky to have them.  As friends we talk a lot about our role in our families, and how we really feel so lucky to be able to stay at home, but we wonder if there is a way for us to help out more with the finances. We don’t need much, just enough to support family fun activities, or even our own hobbies.  The truth is, these things add up and do affect the family budget.  Why can’t we combine forces, and do something together?  Can we take the things that we enjoy doing and are passionate about and make them into dollars?

 Well…. We can, we will, we are.  Away we go, with paint brushes in hand, children at our feet, and a needle and thread in our teeth, our adventure begins.   Moms on a mission, and their mission…. FUN, and hopefully the funds to do so.  Our gatherings now have more of a purpose, we’ll work together on one unified goal.  And when we meet in these gathering spots, we’ll invite others, to participate, or come to even do their own “treasure hunting”, either way it will be fun to-gather (get it… to-gether).