Kelly's Kids Road Trip

My friend Laurie and I are a bit obsessed with good deals when it comes to children's clothing. She introduced me to the huge world of consignment sales a few years ago and I have gotten pretty good at earning some money that way. Two years ago, we ventured out of town for a Kelly's Kids clothing warehouse sale in Natchez, MS. We had both attended such a show when it took to the road and landed in Memphis in 2006 but had never been to the warehouse before. That trip was a success but seemed low-key compared to what we were facing this time around. Kelly's Kids decided to stop the road shows 2 years ago due to the economy and had not had a warehouse sale since May 2008. Therefore, they had 2 years or 4 seasons of clothes to unload. We first received notice via Facebook and then e-mail regarding the sale this year. Everything was going to be $5.99!! That was amazing as these clothes at the trunk/catalog shows is anywhere from $20 to $50 or $60 depending on the item and whether you had it monogrammed or not. Laurie and I decided this time to make it a family road trip and that our husbands could let the kids swim at the hotel during the trip.

So off we went to Natchez, MS! We enjoyed a nice dinner on Friday night and then Laurie and I decided we would get to the warehouse at 7am for the 9am opening time. When we arrived, we were approxmiately 50th in line. Not too bad. About 7:45, the ladies that were running the sale passed out a "rules sheet". This was getting serious!! Then, at 8:20 out of the clear blue, they opened the doors. We ran to put up the chairs/blankets we had been sitting on and our reading materials and entered the craziness. They had SO MANY clothes and they kept bringing out more racks. Laurie took size 3-4 for our little ones and I took size 7-8 for our older girls. Luckily our girls are the same age and size so we can tag team easily. Within about 15 minutes we each had 2 sets of everything it seems. Then we sorted and shopped some more. It was fast and furious but the rush was amazing!!

We then approached the checkout line...I ended up with 60 items which was not bad because everything was in sets, it was for 2 girls and it was for 2 seasons! I even ended up with some outfits that were matching for the girls which they enjoy. The girl behind me in line who had about 10 things asked me if I had a store or if I was going to wea all of those clothes. That made us laugh!!!

Overall, great success. The girls loved the clothes. I loved the prices and we had a great time!!

the crowd in front of us in line

the racks quickly emptied, but the employees brought out more!!
the rules sheet....love that the final rule was that you would be 'ejected' from the sale if your behavior was unbecoming.

laurie with her stash

me with my stash

Last day of school--Anna

I cannot believe the school year is over!! Anna has had a fantastic year in first grade and is so excited about second grade. She had all A's on her report card in the subject areas and good conduct as well. She really enjoyed the Accelerated Reader program and was awarded one of 2 awards in her class both semesters for having the most points and high accuracy. She really loves to read. She loved Mrs. Brown and we have been blessed by awesome teachers every year for her. She's ready for the fun times of summer.

anna loading up on food during her end of the year party

anna and cody speed....she's sweet on him and he is an awesome boy! he won the citizenship award in the class and his mother is the room mom. we have known the family for three years and have enjoyed watching the kids grow up!

some of the girls from anna's class


anna with mrs. brown, such a sweet woman and awesome teacher

Last day of school--Caroline

Caroline has enjoyed being in the train room with Miss Stefanie and Miss Kim! She was in an older 2's room due to her birthday occuring after the August 1st cut-off date. We were told she could move up at Christmas but that would mean Junior Kindergarten in the fall and we knew she was NOT ready for that! She learned a lot about her letters and numbers and can successfully spell her name! We are ready for summer camp which she knows includes a water slide day each week and hope for another great year next year in the 3's class!

caroline with her best friend mya
caroline with miss kim
caroline with miss stefanie
enjoying the moon bounces and slides @ her end of year party
to end the party, the kids enjoyed ice cream sundaes!

May happenings

Lots of happenings around the Zyriek household in May....thought it might be better to just post pics instead of separate blog posts. Busy times indeed!

anna participated in a mini-cheer camp @ school
the ladylike cheerleaders after their pep rally
we attended the auburn alumni annual meeting in memphis..gary got to meet tracy rocker, the speaker, who was a huge defensive player for auburn in the 1980's, winning the lombardi and outland trophy his senior year and then onto play for the washington redkins. he is now a defensive line coach for auburn. gary was thrilled!!

caroline attended a princess birthday party for her friend kate and belle was there! caroline was in awe of belle....wonder how she will be @ disneyworld in october!

the girls finished up 2 rounds of swimming lessons

anna was honored at the end of the year assembly with her AR star reader award and her perfect attendance award. she was so proud!!

Butterfly Pavillion

Anna received a butterfly pavillion for her birthday. This is basically a net pop-up type home for butterflies. The gift comes with a coupon to send off for 10 caterpillars that we can then watch transform into butterflies. The girls loved watching the various stages and at the end were sad to let the butterfiles go. They definitely want to do this again and I think it is an awesome science lesson!

anna the morning that the butterflies started to emerge from their cocoons
our first butterfly!
one butterfly and several others in waiting
release day....girls were excited but sad too
caroline was a little nervous having one on her hand but then thought it was awesome!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day....a day I have often stressed out about trying to plan for others. I've tried to tell myself that it really is not that important to worry about but still I think that is just part of my nature. This year was one of the first years in my memory that I did not see my mom on Mother's Day. She was in Dallas keeping my nephews Blake and Drew for a week while my brother and his wife were in London. I did feel sorry for her being by herself. My brother and I both sent her flowers and we celebrated with mom at our house before she left, but still not the same!! Dad invited all the kids that were in town to dine at the hotel on the campus of U of M for Mother's Day. We had a great lunch, enjoyed the company and had a great day. The weather was a little cool, but overall a nice day. The girls were great (Caroline kept thinking it was my birthday) and let me chill out for the afternoon. I was very appreciative!! I enjoyed the nice flowers, cards and my best present was a new color printer/scanner for our office at home. This may sound dorky, but Gary and I have had the same printer (no scanner) for the entire time we have been married....yes, 12 years. It has served us well, but it is time to upgrade seriously. I think Gary is also tired of hearing me complain about being downstairs on my laptop and not being able to print wirelessly. He solved all the problems. Yay!! Maybe now I can scan in old pictures onto facebook and embarrass my life-long friends!!! Happy Mother's Day!!!

the girls posing ever so sweetly with me before church

Harding LOVES their Parents!!

Today was parent appreciation day at Caroline's school. It was nice to have a joint day to recognize both the mothers and father, especially since father's day is after the school year is over. Caroline was excited for us to share breakfast with her and the spread was very nice. She worked hard on our gift and was happy to give it to us in her classroom. Of course, she thought it was a Christmas ornament which really made me laugh. So sweet and I am so thankful for the school where our kids attend as they really do love the parents!

caroline is so sweet!!
loved our gift...not sure it will work as a Christmas ornament as Caroline thinks it should, but still such a cute gift!