The Toy Box Years: Garage Sale Saturday

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!!

I love garage sales! I love having a Saturday morning to myself, Starbucks in one hand and my list of garage sales in another. I do usually have a plan of attack. The night before, I'll scan Craigslist checking out the garage sales that are listed. I'll print out about 4-6 different ones and plug them into my GPS. Then I'll hit each one according to what time they start. I try to get there as soon as they start because I'm a firm believer of scouting out the good stuff early!

Memorial weekend was no different, except that I took Nani with me. I usually give her a dollar or two and she gets to pick and choose what she wants -- no questions asked from mommy.

We found some great buys this past weekend including this awesome logic game - Castle Logix by Educational Insights.

I found this gem sitting on a dusty table for just $1 and snatched it up. It was like new and looked like it had hardly been played with. To be honest, I had no idea what I was buying -- it just looked interesting and fun.

When I looked it up on Amazon, I found this description:

Construct castles, block by block and tower by tower, as you flex your logic muscles with this beautifully crafted 3-D wooden puzzle. The challenge is to assemble the wooden blocks and towers into one of the castles in the puzzle booklet. With simple puzzles for inexperienced builders to complex puzzles that will challenge skilled ones, Castle Logix is designed to stretch a player's logical thinking skills and to develop spatial reasoning abilities. It includes seven durable wooden castle pieces and a full-color, illustrated booklet with 48 multi-level puzzle challenges. Made of smooth, high-quality wood, Castle Logix has the look and feel of a classic children's game.

I honestly have to say that this was probably one of THE best garage sale finds I've had. Nani just LOVES this game. Over Memorial Day weekend, she must have sat on her blanket for hours just going through the book, putting together the puzzles. Even Nudgie enjoyed playing with the pieces, creating her own little castle masterpieces.

I highly recommend this game - even if you can't find it at a garage sale! They have another game similar to this one called Royal Rescue. We're already thinking about getting it for Nani for her birthday!

So, do you shop garage sales and if so - what are some awesome things that you found?