The Toy Box Years: Thrift Store Finds

The Creators of the Toy Box Years

The creators of the Toy Box Years are my two beautiful daughters and wonderful, handsome soldier husband.

"Nani" (our oldest) is a 11 year old 6th grader who loves Taylor Swift, ballet, books, fashion designing and sewing. Ask her what she wants to be when she grows up and it changes daily to anything from "an artist" to "a teacher" to "a singer/dancer". Nani is also currently fighting a battle against brain cancer -- recently diagnosed in June 2016.

"Nudgie" (our youngest) is a very smiley, very happy, very giggly, very spirited 8 year old 3rd Grader who's favorite toys are anything that gives mommy an anxiety attack - ladders, stepstools, the climbing wall at the playground. Like her sister, she has a love of reading and coloring, loves gymnastics and still provides mommy lots of snuggle time!

"My Marine" is my high school sweetheart. We've been married over 20 years and met when we were 17. (You do the math....) His favorite toys are Blackhawk helicopters, the lawnmower, our steam cleaner, and microbrew beer bottles. My husband is also my hero in that he proudly serves his country as a Blackhawk crew chief (hence his favorite toy!). And need I say that there is nothing hotter than my man in uniform!

All About Me......

Once upon a time I had a career and worked in the corporate world. Once upon a time, I dreamed about leaving that all behind to follow my true calling -- being a wife and mommy.

The first part of my calling was fulfilled in 1995 when I married my Marine (now soldier) and my love. Little did I know that being a military wife would change me in so many ways and that because of that, I would have an extended family all over the world from Japan, to California, to North Carolina.

The second part of my calling took a little doing, but I finally achieved that dream in 2004 with the birth of our first child, followed 4 years later by her baby sister.

So now, when someone asks me what I do for a living - I simply smile and say proudly that I'm following my calling - I'm a mommy and a wife -- and I couldn't be HAPPIER -- I'm living in the Toy Box Years!!

The other day, I did my monthly rounds of our local thrift stores. There's three good ones within a 5-10 mile radius of each other. I've decided to limit my "thrift trips" to once a month -- as that's about all my wallet can handle!

This trip was pretty successful. At the ARC stores, yellow tags were 50% off this particular day. Just check out some of the gems that I found!

The two puzzle boxes are from Lakeshore. One was marked .99 and the other was marked 2.99. When I brought it to the cashier's attention, she gave them both to me for .99!

This box of chalk was .99. I like this box because it's the skinny chalk (reminding me of school days!)

I was digging through a shelf of misc. paper, binders and such when I heard Nudgie say, "Mommy, look!" She had this cute farm domino set in her hands (and to be honest -- wouldn't let go....so into the cart it went! And it was $1.99)

I found this bag of math flash cards for Nani. Marked $1.99 - and it was a yellow tag so I got them for $1.

Blank artist canvases (a package of 2) - Marked $1.99 - yellow tag, so I got them for $1!

And my final find. I came across this box "Read, Baby, Read". When I opened the box, I found a treasure trove of word flash cards - sight words, verbs, nouns and more! And --- wait for it -- it was .99!!!

I also picked up:

(3) sets of kid's mittens for .99/each. (I plan on using them for "mitten painting" later this week.)
(2) winter baby hats for .99/each (I plan on using for a snowman crafting project as well.)
Various scrap fabrics for $1/bag
Crockpot for $9

Have you found any good thrift store finds lately?