Did you remember to set your clocks?

...because we definitely didn't. But I'll get to that later.

We had a fun Halloween weekend! Jackson went to his friend Logan's party on Saturday. He had fun hanging out with his Gymboree buddies and discovering new toys and Steven and I had a good time talking to the other parents.


That evening, we tackled one of my biggest fears... a thrift shop. I blame my parents for this irrational fear of other people's things. When I would ask to go to a garage sale, my Dad would ask me "Why would you pay for someone else's junk?" This, plus the fact that I may or may not be a bit of a princess, has led to my disdain for all things used. However, after talking to some other parents, I finally got up the guts to go to Kid 2 Kid. Yay me! Steven was shocked out of his skull that I actually asked to go.


But when I found out that Logan's mom got this toy (above) from K2K, I was finally ready to give it a chance and I'm so glad I did! We made out like bandits! In addition to finding the bouncing zebra that Jackson had liked so well, we also found a bead maze (the same one he plays with at Gymboree, below), and a set of blocks and wagon.


The best find of the day was a brand-new Melissa & Doug toy that I had all but given up trying to find. If you know us, then you know that Jackson was born in Japan, the country where Steven and I began our marriage and still holds a very special place in our hearts. Several months back, I saw that one of our friends from Japan (the Kaspareks) had a wooden sushi set by Melissa and Doug and I have been scouring every toy store since then trying to find it! Even though I had pretty much given up on finding it, out of habit I went over to the M&D display with no luck. Not surprised, I started surveying some of the other used toys and there it was! Tucked in behind some of the used toys, beautiful in shiny plastic, with a full-price sticker... the holy grail of toys!
Our sushi set!! Jackson is still far too young, but I've been looking for so long, I knew I had to snap it up now! Steven was already checking out, but I ran over to make sure he bought it too. I had to explain to him that I had been looking for it forever, but since it was Japanese, I think he understood why I was so excited to get it. I almost always find "one more thing" while he's checking out... he knows that if he doesn't just go to the register that I can wander around the smallest stores for hours... don't even take me to Target!

So, our grand total at K2K was $76... compared to the $80 we would have spent for the zebra toy by itself. I think we got a deal!

We took our new toys over to the house, where we handed out candy to the kids in our new neighborhood. My favorite moment of the night came from a little boy who was with his grandmother. She prompted him to say "Trick or Treat" and after I gave him his candy she asked him "Now, what do you say?" and, seeing Val, he blurted out "I WANT A PUPPY!" It was the cutest thing ever! I giggled and told him to take it up with his parents.


Can you blame him? Who wouldn't want this cutie??

So, the next morning we woke up and got ready for church. It took us a little longer than expected, and we were 15 (!!!) minutes late! I took Jackson to the nursery and apologized for being so late, and Steven went to go help with the Sunday School. I was talking to the other nursery workers and asked why there were so many older kids in the nursery. They speculated that it must have been because of the time change. Time change? I started laughing and told them that we weren't 15 minutes late! We were 45 minutes early! Oops.


Jackson didn't seem to mind too much. He had a great time playing in the nursery, even though we had few little criers. One sweet girl would cry unless she was being held. I am such a cuddler, and since my little crawling machine won't let me snuggle with him for very long, I was able to get my baby cuddles! She was content to sit in the chair with me and play with my necklace, which just about melted my heart. Then Jackson came over to check us out. I was worried that he'd see me with another baby and try to get my attention as well, but instead he started kissing her leg and giving her "pats" like he's learned to do with Val. I was so touched that Jackson saw me loving on another baby and took it as a cue that he should love on her too! I know it was probably because he knew I would give him positive attention, but I don't care. It was the sweetest thing I've ever seen him do.

After the 11:00 service I came back to see my angel napping in the arms of one of the nursery workers. What a perfect end to an accidentally long morning at church.