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Jessica Acs. Crazy Happy Chaos

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Daily Life

Thrifty Thursday – Great Finds

February 20, 2014 by Jess Leave a Comment

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We have found some incredible deals at thrift stores so I wanted to share some of our best finds as of recently. When I lived in California, the area I was in did not have many thrift stores at all and the ones it did have were a big disappointment. So while I was living there I gave up on thrifting. Sad. So it really does depend on the quality and abundance of thrift stores in your area. We have a few that we really enjoy going to, and then there are several that we won’t step in ever again. Thrift stores, resale stores, kids consignment stores – these are where we have found some great deals. We tend to go looking for stuff we can use for the animals such as new crates, cages, bowls, etc. One time we found a giant parrot cage that was brand new ย – for $60 (regular price of the exact one is $400+) so you better believe we snatched that up pretty quick. But we have found some wonderful other treasures as well!

Here are our most recent “Great Finds”

“Toot” the Train

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This one was a few months ago but it’s still one of our favorite additions to our home. It’s a Fisher Price train set “Toot the Train” – complete set and it is fully working as well. It’s in excellent condition and was all neatly packaged together when I found it. Guess how much? $4. I found the exact one, also used of course since it’s from the late 90’s, for $100 online. So for $4, it was an INCREDIBLE deal. Even better though, we set it up Christmas Eve in front of our Christmas tree, and all of us adults (my parents, Steve and myself) were just enthralled with it. I have always wanted a train set to put around our tree, or in front of it. This train added a whole new level of magic to our Holiday. Ava loves it as well and knows how to turn him on and everything. We have all spent lots of time playing with Toot!

 

“Elmo” Wilton Cake Pan

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When I saw this cake pan I knew I had to get it to put away for future use. Even though at the time Ava didn’t have a clue who Elmo was, she has very quickly learned who he is just within the last few days. She is now obsessed with everything “Elmo”. So glad I listened to my inner voice and bought this cake pan a couple months ago! It’s brand new and was only $3. Score!!

 

Glass Cake Dome & Plate

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I love this so much and was so happy when I found it. It is really quite heavy and beautiful in person. A glass cake plate with dome and for the set it was $4. Amazing. I washed it as soon as we got home and left it to dry in the dish rack, so anxious to use it. I had baked muffins that day and my wonderful husband saw it in the rack, dried it and put all the muffins in it. It looked great on the counter, and he even said to me “this was really a great find! I’m glad you found it”. Yes, I’m glad too.

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DVDs

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Thrift stores are a great place to pick up some cheap DVDs but I always open the box and examine the DVD before I get it. If there are any scratches at all, it goes back. We have been fortunate though in finding several brand new and sealed DVDs even. Most recently I picked up some kids DVD’s for the future when Ava might be interested in them. I’ll be honest and say that the Berenstein bears one is more for me, haha. That was always my favorite series when I was a kid, and it was a special treat when the cartoons came on TV. Now those same cartoons from the 80’s are on DVD’s and I think I own almost all of them now. I keep telling myself that Ava will like them one day. DVD’s were all $1.99 each.

 

Books

Ava LOVES books, a girl after my own heart. She has quite the library already and ย she literally spends hours everyday looking at books, bringing them to us to read to her, and scattering them all over the house.

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The first thing I do at any thrift or consignment store is to check out their book section. I’ve managed to find some excellent books (Where the Wild Things Are, Courderoy, Berenstein Bears, Board Books) in almost new condition for anywhere from 0.50 cents to $1 or $2 each. Most are around $1 or cheaper. I try to be picky with the books we get though since she has such a great library already, but there are just some I cannot pass up.

Also in the book section, Steve goes nuts here. He always comes home with at least a couple new books – usually the “do-it-yourself” type books. Oh or Star Wars. Actually anything Star Wars related that we find usually ends up coming home with us.

 

“Farley” the Singing Frog

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This frog is quite hilarious and since Ava loves stuffed animals that sing or dance, this was a must have. It is a Gund and still had all original tags on it (and original price tag of $35) and was clearly brand new. However he barely made a peep so I figured his batteries had died and just needed some new ones. For $4 he was a great deal! Yes he is wearing a graduation cap and is holding a diploma but that doesn’t bother Ava. He sings “Shout” and waves his arms around while his mouth opens and closes as he sings. It’s actually not nearly as annoying as some of her other toys, which is good since we have to listen to him sing “Shout” about 20 times while she is eating dinner. She actually has 4 of these critters now that sit on our table and they provide her with entertainment while she dines. What a lucky kid, Dinner and a Show every night! ๐Ÿ™‚

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Ava’s Dinner Entertainment Group.

Pottery Barn Kids Clock

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I found this a few months ago as well and it made a very nice addition to Ava’s room. It’s in perfect condition and was only $5!

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Baby Shoes

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We have this wonderful Kids Consignment Store nearby and they have a great selection of little shoes. Often I’ve been able to find good quality shoes that are almost new. Recently I found this pair of Skechers and a pair of Puma shoes too – both were $2 a pair and look like they’ve barely been worn. I’ve found many Stride Rite’s, Keen’s, Skechers, Merrill’s and Crocs at this store too. Ava officially has more shoes than I do now.

Bee Bop Band

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I was really excited to find this as all pieces are here including a couple wooden Melissa & Doug pieces! All for $6! I really like these toys by B. I’ve eyed this set many times at Target and Ava has a few other toys from this company which she really likes. I washed everything as soon as we got home and Ava has enjoyed playing with her new stuff.

Thrifting is so much fun – and addicting! What are your favorite thrifty finds?

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Filed Under: Daily Life, Frugal Living: Deals & Tips

Randomness Today in Our House/Zoo

February 13, 2014 by Jess Leave a Comment

Today Ava still isn’t feeling 100%, far from it I think. Back to the Dr we go tomorrow. *sigh*

So we stayed home all day, and Ava had a PJ’s day.

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She asked continuously for a muffin and it’s so hard to say no to her when she asks so nicely “Pease??? Pease???”

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When I do say no, this is the pouty face she gives me:

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The muffins are pretty healthy though so I admit I did give in quite a bit – to an extent! (the muffins have veggies in them! See recipe here)

ย While Ava napped I made a huge batch of cookies for Valentine’s Day. Well actually I made 2 slightly different recipes that I created this morning. I love how both came out but I actually preferred the one with spinach in it! Yes spinach! I think I’ve been having too much fun lately creating new recipes with hidden veggies. The cookie recipe (both recipes are dairy free) without the spinach is here and the one with spinach is here.

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All 3 of us went crazy for the cookies later, they turned out really really good!

Ava loves to look at the fish in our kitchen. They are actually the fish from our pond outside but we decided we’d bring them in for the winter – I’m so glad we did! With this crazy weather we’ve had the last couple months, there is no way they would have survived out there. (even though they did survive out there last winter). Yes their names are Moby, Goldie and Fanny. I’ll let you guess who is who. Aren’t we original with our naming? And yes that’s a piece of muffin in Ava’s hand. Of course.

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Our patagonian cavy, Waldo, came by for a visit today. There was a point where he wandered away and I didn’t see where he went. I checked under his usual places like under the table and behind the chair in the living room. Nope and nope. Then I said it… “Where’s Waldo??”. Ugh. Why on earth did we name him Waldo? lol

(It turns out that Waldo was down the hall checking out Ava’s room but I quickly brought him back to the living room)

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A little bit later Ava and I skyped with my Mum. Of course as soon as we turn skype on, my usual chatty child clams up and no matter how hard my mum and I both try to get Ava to say something, to say anything, we barely get a “hi” whispered out of her and a small wave of her hand.

Next was bedtime for the kiddo but since Steve was out working tonight, I had another helper…..

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But as you can see, Norman wasn’t much help at all.

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Sweet Dreams!

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Filed Under: Animal/ Zoo stuff, Daily Life, Recipes

Ready….Set….Go!

February 6, 2014 by Jess 4 Comments

Since I haven’t blogged this past month I thought I should follow along in Stephanie’s footsteps and participate in a Blog Your Heart Out post. Why not?

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Here is my random photo: one of our baby hedgehogs. We now have 6 hedgehogs and we’re keeping all of them. ๐Ÿ™‚

Here I go!

1. ย One of the newest things Ava has been saying this week is “Ready…Set…Go!”. It’s pretty hilarious. To us anyway. ๐Ÿ™‚

2. This past month has been rough. Ava has been sick for over a month and this past week both Steve and I have been really sick too. Never before has it hit me more how incredibly hard it is to be sick and have a sick baby at the same time. I know this is just the start of it, but when you get no sleep at night, your battling a fever & nausea and all you want to do is close your eyes and pass out… but you can’t cause you have a tiny human to look after still. And a whole whack of animals too. I so wish we lived closer to my parents. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so lonely and secluded as we did this week. Ok enough whining, moving on now.

3. An embarrassing amount of dishes had accumulated in the sink from the previous 2 days. Really though, the last thing you want to do when your head feels like it’s going to explode is stand in the kitchen washing dishes. Since I was feeling much better yesterday I managed to tackle this task and then I continued on a cleaning spree throughout the entire house. It felt really really good.

4. While doing the dishes, Ava was playing happily with her Leap Frog magnets on the fridge and the dogs & Norman kept asking to go outside. I was constantly letting them all out and then in again almost right away. Norman is the worst one right now. He hates the snow and cold and does not want to go outside at all right now. I don’t know if he keeps forgetting its cold outside or if he is succumbing to peer pressure from the dogs but he is right there with them begging to go out. However, as soon as he gets outside he turns around and starts banging on the door to come back in. Yes, he actually bangs on the door. He gets up on his back 2 legs and throws himself and his 2 front piggy hooves right into the door. I’m actually a little surprised he hasn’t busted that door down by now, he’s so darn heavy.

5. We have so much snow here now that it’s almost taller than our dogs. Crazy. They don’t seem to mind though and they have made a nice path for themselves all the way through the yard over to the fence where they bark at our neighbors dogs. Steve has cleared an area for them all near the back door but they still have to run over and pester those other dogs.

6. Bananas. All Ava wants to eat right now are bananas. She asks for them all day long. Then has a meltdown if we say no, but we can’t let her have endless bananas. Clearly she does not get her love for them from me.

7. High Fructose Corn Syrup. I was super disappointed lately when I went to give Ava some infants Tylenol and I saw that it contains HFCS. Really??? Why?? I try not to give her anything with that crap in it and something I trust like Tylenol contains it. However now that I check labels for everything, I found that the Up and Up Brand from Target (equivalent to infants tylenol) does NOT contain HFCS. And it’s dye free as well. Win-Win. Thank you Target. I suppose I will forgive you for the giant hassle last month with the security breach of our red card.

8. Coconut Oil: I can’t say enough good things about this stuff. I have officially ditched all kinds of face creams and I now only use coconut oil. In the past I have tried them all: all natural creams, expensive creams that promise stuff they never delivered, extra sensitive creams, etc. Now that I have been using the coconut oil as my only face “cream” for months now, I can safely say that it’s wonderful. I have had only 1 blemish in the last couple months, whereas I was getting numerous ones continuously with all the other creams I used. Plus there are no chemicals in this stuff so I feel much better about putting it on my skin. I buy the organic kind and a little goes a long way – this stuff lasts for so long so for the cost – it is really really cheap. I have one jar in the bathroom that I use for my face, one in Ava’s room that I use as diaper cream for her, and one in the kitchen that we use for cooking. Awesome awesome stuff.

9. I haven’t done any giveaways on here for awhile so I’m going to get one up here soon – for some scrapbooking supplies and a copy of my book.

10. I have been working on a bunch of new toddler friendly recipes so I will get those into a post within the next couple days. I have also created some yummy family dinner recipes that are healthy and low in sodium. ๐Ÿ™‚

11. It’s February already. How the heck did that happen?

 

Filed Under: Daily Life

Our Holiday Recap

January 22, 2014 by Jess Leave a Comment

I really should have blogged more in December, that way I wouldn’t have 200 photos to show in this post. Just kidding, there aren’t quite 200 photos. ha!

So here is our December recap:

We started out by celebrating an early Christmas in Indiana at my sisters with my family:

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Then a few days later my parents came to Illinois to spend Christmas with us. We got to do some fun things around Chicago such as spending the day at the Museum of Science & Industry:

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We also visited the Volo Auto Museum for the first time, it was actually really cool. They had all kinds of cars/vehicles from the movies and TV so that was fun to see:

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We got to have lots of great family time! Some random pics:

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Our raccoon came in for a visit one day to meet my parents. ๐Ÿ™‚

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We played with baby hedgehogs because we could and why not? Aren’t they just the cutest little pincushions you’ve ever seen?

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We bought a huge turtle pillow for Ava but the dogs claimed it before we even had a chance to give it to her. It has now been moved to our room and they sleep on it every single night. Except Moose, he sleeps right next to me.

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Angus has now claimed the pillow.

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This little train “Toot” was the overall hit out of everything (for us adults too!). You should have seen how much fun we all had as we set it up for Ava on Christmas Eve. I just have to add that this was a fabulous $4 thrift store find! Score!

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Zoey is patiently waiting for her turn on the turtle.

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Steve reading “Twas a Night Before Christmas” on Christmas Eve

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My favorite photos from Christmas Morning:

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Family Photos:

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And a few more randoms:

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Well I think I got pretty close to 200 photos on here anyway! I think I probably took a couple thousand throughout the Holiday…

Filed Under: Animal/ Zoo stuff, Daily Life

Toddlerhood: 18 on the 18th

January 18, 2014 by Jess Leave a Comment

Today my baby turns 18 months. 18 months on the 18th, exactly a year and a half. *sigh* To think it was just a matter of months ago that she wasn’t even walking yet, and now she is literally RUNNING all around. She says new words every day now and she is understanding more and more of what we say. (Which makes us really aware of our language in front of her now!). She’s amazing. She’s cute. She’s already testing her boundaries. She’s the toddler that will wave at everyone in Target with a huge smile on her face, then a minute later have a major meltdown because we wouldn’t open a package of goldfish crackers for her. Ah yes, toddlerhood.

We’ve been working on “please” and “thank you” with her for weeks now but we always have to prompt her to say them, which at her age, is understandable. Tonight though, as I handed her some milk, she took it and then said “thank you” as clear as day. No prompting. Very proud Mama moment!

 

Ava had her very first haircut a few days ago, she was as good as gold ๐Ÿ™‚

If you have a KidSnips nearby (Chicagoland peeps), I recommend them – they were awesome!

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Filed Under: Daily Life, Kids/ Babies

3 Dogs & a Baby: Visit Santa

November 26, 2013 by Jess Leave a Comment

Last week when Steve and I went out for our date night, we stopped at the mall to do a little bit of early (well I guess it’s not that early) Christmas shopping. I noticed a sign up near the Santa visiting palace that they were doing a Pet Photo with Santa night! Woo!! Back in the day when Angus and Zoey were young pups I took them to see Santa for a few years in a row. Weย I was so excited about the possibility of getting a Santa photo with Ava AND all the dogs! So a couple nights ago, back we went to the mall for Pet Photo night (with all 3 dogs and Ava in tow). Despite it already being way past her bedtime, Ava was remarkably pretty happy. She was over the moon excited about being there with all these other dogs and we had to continuously go visit them as we were waiting in line as she happily announced “puppy!” to each of them.

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Filed Under: Animal/ Zoo stuff, Daily Life, Kids/ Babies

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