My Mom's Store

My mom has a store in Ashley, ND named "Prairie Connection". It is like no other consignment store on earth. Today we bought: a stuffed monkey, a swimsuit for Ava, a sweatshirt for myself, and a bag of rocks (future craft project in waiting). This bag of stuff cost us $8.50. What a deal! But wait....the "store" owed me $35.00 for items I had consigned so we actually walked away from the store with a bag of goodies and some extra cash to spend next time we come home. After 12 years of runing the store my mom is starting to think about selling it. My sister probably described the feeling best when she said, "It must be like perpetually moving. Packing and unpacking boxes for 12 years." I can understand why it would get old, but what a great place!

Vacation

The first day of vacation was off to a rocky start. The kids were fighting and the parents weren't doing much better. But, after that first 24 hours things perked up. And after watching Daner sort through Grandpa Ron's fishing tackle box with him for an hour, and after watching Grandma Kris playing with the kids at the park, the mother of the pack decided it was time to let go of stress and enjoy herself. She constantly reminds herself to "live in the moment" as clique as it sounds, she has learned that it works. Live in the moment. Hug and kiss the kids. Make homemade play-doh. Make stupid crafts that have no point other than the process itself. Drink a beer at 3:00 in the afternoon. Play in the sand. Read a book. Don't plan on the day before it even starts...just live.