For the last two weekends our CRAZY family has had a yard sale one day of each weekend!!  UGH!!!  We had been talking about having a yard sale for about 2-3 years and the garage had gotten soooooooo full of potential yard sale things that it was pert near a death trap to even enter it, let alone try to find something.  The perfect date just NEVER seemed to come to us...... so..... our impetus was our next door neighbor who was having one.  He had put an ad in the paper and so we just needed to set up, put our signs up and be thankful for anyone who might come to his yard sale and then pop over to ours!:):)  We made about $45.00 the first weekend and were kind of bummed about the amount of work versus amount of $.  But, we were still VERY THANKFUL!!  So.... we called our GREAT church and were told that we could keep the tables an extra week to use for a yard sale the next weekend.  We kept ALOT of our stuff on the tables and covered well (or so we thought!!) the stuff underneath.  What we learned as we uncovered on Friday night...... 1)  tarps are not ALWAY RAINPROOF!!!  UGH!!!!  Some clothes were very very, WET!!  And 2) candles left out on a table in heat..... can melt onto the table and then..... the wax leaves but the dye remains!!!  UGH!!!  So our last two days have turned into Google searches and mad chemistry experiments!!  So far, the candle dye stains remain!:(:(:(:(  If any of you know of any amazing tricks or removals, I would LOVE to hear or try them!!!!  So far we have tried: bleach, anti-bacterial hand soap, rubbing alcohol, simply green, hydrogen peroxide, WD-40, non bleach cleaning spray, cleaning spray with bleach and  baking soda.......  We will keep trying!:)  And how did our yard sale do????  Way better than the weekend before!  We had a different approach where we highlighted what we had, played Christian music all day and tried to be a blessing in 95 degree heat with little or no shade!  Ultimately God blessed it and I am sooooo grateful!!!

Last week our girls had swimming lessons every night and they have them this week for three nights!  I had forgotten how challenging it can be to learn the front crawl, elementary backstroke and sidestroke.  I used to be a lifeguard, so I just pretty much do them. :) It is different, though,  to try and help our girls grasp the hand and feet motions and then to put them together.  One of our daughters is sometimes  challenged by complex body mechanics and if I am in the water then I can help move her body parts and simulate the movement..... until she gets it on her own!:)    It is a bit intimidating for me, however, because I am the only parent in the water and it probably draws attention to us!   It definitely keeps me humble as it is not at all about me, but about her learning how to swim!  I tell myself that every night as I hurriedly get in the water.:)  They are both learning and I am happy for that!:):)  I am hoping to go swimming so that we can work on the strokes a little more before the last night!!

Today all three of our children have been using our amazing apple peeler, slicer and corer!  They are having a BALL with it!! ( It was my sweet husband's turn to play with it last night! ) And we are freezing apples, making applesauce and finding out if our dogs like apple peelings!    I am thankful for our neighbor's apple tree which God has abundantly blessed this year and for our generous neighbor who is sharing with us!:)  God bless!