A story from "The Frumpy House"

as most of my followers/readers out there know, I have an etsy shop...a shop for vintage items.  If you didn't know, check out the righthand sidebar on my blog that links to the shop and has pics of newly listed items.

This is just some info for you who may like to shop vintage....

A few weeks ago, Greg and I, made an impromptu day trip to Detroit.  We had never been there together. I hadn't been there since I was a kid.

My mom's sister, Joyce has lived and worked in Detroit for the last 35 yrs or so.  She has been at a mission in the downtown area.  Well, the mission has of course people giving them things (some people leave them their whole home & contents) to do with as they want.  Usually, they sell the homes and items to help fund the mission.  One of the things my aunt does throughout the summer is run yard sales.  Just down the block from the mission they have a large (I mean LARGE) garage/storage facility that is just piled high with items that they set out, hang up or pile up for people to look at and buy.

Well, in a visit with my aunt a few weeks previously I had mentioned my shop and that I was selling vintage things that I had thrifted or found at sales (yard, garage, flea etc).  She said come on down and have a look through the items we have.  If you find something you can sell, sell it and we can split the profit....

So of course, we made the trip!

I wish I had taken pics of the place.  It was amazing.  Like going to the largest rummage sale ever!!  Rummage I did....for hours, to my hearts content.  I found some pretty amazing and fun things.  I was digging through huge bags of clothes, as in moving these bags out of the way to get to some boxes, to get to boxed items that I hoped would hold some treasures.

Treasures found!!  So, here are some pics that show a few of the things I have listed.  There are more to come!!

Vermillion, Springfield, MO 100% Walnut Salad Set***

The biggest Granny Square afghan EVER!!

Mattel toy gun, not listed yet, have to research!

The 100% Wool Beret, not the cutie, is for sale!

Lincoln, Beautyware Coffee and Tea Canisters 

Pretty in Pink '50's Salt, Pepper and Vinegar Set

Melamine Fish shaped Hors d'oeuvre Set!

There is soooo much more, I'm hoping to head back to the Motor City and find some more goodies, possibly @ the end of the summer!!  We'd like to take the girls to the Detroit Zoo....Maybe a dual purpose trip!

***So, I'm thinking of marking items that are from the mission in the shop.  Would it make any difference to any of you readers in making a purchase if you knew a certain percentage was going to a good cause?  Let me know what you think, I may or may not, depending on feedback!

The end of an era....

As of today we will no longer wake in the night as we hear the rain pitter patter on the skylight! We will no longer jump up and rush the towels & buckets to catch the aforementioned rain as it ran in rivulets down the aforementioned skylight.

THAT my friends is a good thing...& I am very happy!!

My dad, the best "free" contractor around....sometimes whatever is freshly baked is enough for payment....worked hard all day to repair the roof & close up the skylight.

I'm usually the apprentice I just don't get to do all the technical stuff, I'm more of a hander-upper.

So early this morning we had this on our roof...



Working minutes it looked like this...



Now it looks like this...


Thanks again dad! It's gonna be my job to "finish" the job....cleaning all the dust & debris up tomorrow!

PS: since I had an appointment in our nearest "large" town (re: has a Wal-Mart & more than one fast food restaurant) I did a little thrifting.....will share some fun things soon!

--Jeanette using BlogPress on iPhone

She is the best of times....

She is the worst of times!! Yes, my lovely Lauryn! My first born, my golden haired beauty, my strong willed eldest!!

She can go for days at a time being petulant, moody, oppositional & grotesquely whiney!! Yet the girl has all the lights on, plus a few amped up flashlights if you know what I mean!!

She has brains in her belfry. Illustrious gray matter in her noggin. She's got them there smarts y'all!!!

Lauryn is blessed with many things....she is quite stunning with her blue almond shaped eyes, symmetrical facial features, naturally curly blonde hair.....she has an outgoing personality, odd little sense of humor & smarts from somewhere other than maternal or paternal!!

Golly, that girly is S.M.A.R.T.

We are blessed enough to send her to a private Christian school which not only teaches her her ABC's and 123's, but the beliefs that we hold dear!!

The end of the year is much like any other school! She got her last report card, a printout of how she scored on the National CAT testing and of course the bill!! Everything looked great, well it had been great all year! She'd been on A Honor roll each quarter (95% avg or above in each subject) so nothing new to us!

Then comes Honors Banquet, where all students are recognized for their achievements throughout the year! Yeah Tigers!!!

We were sitting toward the back of the auditorium, due to the nonstop action of the 5 yr old girly!! But we weren't missing a thing!

Imagine with me now.....name, blah, blah, blah, applause.....no disrespect to anyone, it's just fewer words when you "blah" a bunch out!!

Outstanding work by all! Lauryn's name was called & she was given her certificates for music (did you see the penny whistle post?), volleyball (she actually got to play a game this year due to kids being sick & the other school having a young team too), and pins for recognition in each subject that she had the highest % (or GPA).

Ummm, HELLO! 5 PINS!! Heck yeah!! That's my girl!!!




Math, social studies, science, English, and spelling!! Whoooeee!




She had so many things to hang onto, she started dropping them!


Then comes the fun part....trophy time!!
I was back in my seat after rushing up to take pictures of her getting her certificates & pins....

When they said the honors of highest GPA for 1st thru 5th grade levels goes to "Lauryn"!! I decided maybe I should get a pic. Then they said the highest number of PACES (the curriculum is made up of workbooks that are an avg of 25 pages long, each student must complete 3 books in each subject (Lauryn had 7 subjects) each 9 week quarter w/ above 80% on their tests) for the 1st thru 5th grades, "Lauryn"....um yeah! Wait I'm coming for pictures, stay there....




Posing for me....she looked upset about the wait didn't she!?!?

Okay, that's all the excitement a momma can take! I was about to burst my buttons, and NO it was not from the fine dinner we had beforehand!

So the night progresses & many other wonderful students get awards....then some more come Lauryn's way!

Our retired principle still comes to the school everyday & works with the students who may need a little extra help. She is very involved in the group 'Daughters of the American Revolution'. Embarrassing as it is I'm not sure what all this group does, but they are national. Each fall the children are given a topic to write an essay on & draw a stamp. This years topic was "keeping history alive"....I think! Eeep!! Bad mommy....anywhoo, Lauryn won 1st in her grade level for district, state & honorable mention @ national level. I'm pretty impressed & she was given a $10 prize, she was VERY impressed!

The last major award of the night goes to the students who have memorized 8 months of scripture (a passage of about 12-20 verses)! Lauryn received a trophy for that accomplishment too!!

Whew, this has been a lengthy post. I usually try to keep my insanity to a low level...but for reals, this stuff is too good to not share!!

SO CONGRATS LAURYN, you've gone and doned us parental units proud!!!!
















Oh, did I fail to mention Lauryn is 7 and just completed the 3rd grade?!? No? Well, I tried to tell ya the girly is S.M.A.R.T.....she's also a smarty pants (so don't hate, I'll be the first to tell you none of us is perfect)!!

I Love my Lauryn & I'm really excited to see where her smarts will take her in life!!



--Jeanette using BlogPress on iPhone