Bring Love In

The Mother-load of Frugal Finds

I had the good fortune of stopping by an estate sale last Friday in between appointments. I love estate sales because you can find the neatest things and they are usually in pretty good shape.  I knew I'd scored on this one when I walked into the basement and saw a whole woodworking shop set up.  As you all know, Matt has been stretching his woodworking muscles lately so I was sure I could find him some necessary items to keep his creative juices flowing.  And sure enough...there it was...a Craftsman Radial Arm Saw.

New model

It wasn't the newest model, since it didn't have laser pointers, but I could tell it was well loved, based on all the hand made items around the shop.  It also had a shop vac with an attachment that sucks up the sawdust as you cut, roller table (not pictured) and a bunch of blades to go with it. Price tag- $400...bummer.  No $400 in the budget but while I was standing there, the man running the sale announced everything was half price.  Hmm...was it worth $200? I'm sure it was and a quick look on Amazon showed new ones are selling for $1,000.  But the thing was huge and we really didn't have room for it.  I texted Matt but he was wavering on price, where we would put it, etc. I offered the guy $175...he said he really couldn't take that much.  So I said, "ok, I'll take the patio table & chair set for $50 (originally marked $100).

Note my lovely assistants model our new patio set (aka Chloe & Matt)

Before I filled in the amount on the check I said to the man running the sale, "you sure you can't take $175?" And he said, "well, ok, but don't tell anybody."  SCORE!!!!  I called Matt & told him "Merry Christmas, now figure out how we are going to get this mammoth thing home and where we are going to store it."

Our neighbor had to come help us unload it because the thing is so heavy, I can't even pick it up with Matt's help. He was super impressed with my purchase and said the shopvac alone was probably worth $175.   I can't wait to see all the projects I can talk Matt into now that he has some serious tools!

Save the Adoption Tax Credit

The Adoption Tax Credit is set to expire at the end of the month and I'm afraid Congress is so caught up in the fiscal cliff fiasco that this "minor" piece of legislation will fall through the cracks.  Please call your Senators and Representatives to ask them to pass the Make Adoption Affordable Act.  Here's a quick link to what you need to do.  If you don't feel comfortable calling, you can send an e-mail. In case you need 3 reasons to make the effort to contact your Congressmen/women, I've posted of picture.  The tax credit made a huge difference in us being able to provide for our goofy kids.  Please take a few moments to make a difference for future adoptive families.

Frugal Christmas Find

Michael's Deal of the Day is this art tub for only $5.



I snagged 2 for the girls and personalized them with puffy letters.  I think they'll love having their own art supply box and I love that they were only $5 each. Plus they are filled with all kinds of new art supplies!

The Gingerbread Houses

The girls went to a birthday party yesterday and made gingerbread houses (great activity when you have a house full of 7 year old girls).  I was very impressed with our girls' creations. 

Chloe's house

Chloe did not put a roof on her house because she wanted to be able to see all her "furniture".  The mints are the couch, the graham crackers are the TV.  She couldn't remember what the marshmallow was. 

Essie stated that she asked her friend's mom if she could use some of the green napkins to make grass before she put the snow (coconut) down. 

The sad ending of this tale is when we came home tonight, our very bad dog had helped himself to Essie's gingerbread house and so it is no more.  SO glad I took the pictures yesterday. 

An Evening with the Sand Artist

On Friday evening our alma mater, Asbury University, hosted sand artist Joe Castillo and made the tickets free to the public.  (Mr. Castillo is an alumnus of Asbury Theological Seminary and lives in Richmond, Kentucky.)  So, our family went over to Hughes Auditorium for the second time this week (see the Messiah post eariler) to see the America's Got Talent finalist do some amazing storytelling using sand and light.  If you're unfamiliar with Joe Castillo, here is a video from his audition for America's Got Talent:

Here Joe performs the same patriotic piece from his television audition in honor of the 71st anniversary of Pearl Harbor.

While telling the story of Creation, Joe draws a lion.

See the lion begin to become an elephant.

Adam and Eve

A unique telling of the Christmas story

Mary, Joseph, and the Baby Jesus

Here is a video we took of Joe telling the story of Jesus' crucifixion.

The Risen Jesus

Our kids were amazed by Mr. Castillo's talent, and it was fun to watch them gasp when they realized what was taking shape on the screen.  A great night of family fun.

The Game of Carrom

The other night, Matt dug out the old Carrom board that he brought back from Gigi's house. If you are not familiar with the game of Carrom, join the club.  Basically, its a miniature pool table and you tap you discs into you appointed pockets.  Apparently it is a Hindman family tradition and Matt decided it was time to teach our kids how to play.  They were quite fascinated and caught on quickly.

Sorry the pics are a bit blurry, the hand movements got a bit intense as the game progressed.