Adoption Fund Yard Sale

Yard sales aren't really my thing. I mean, I like a good deal as much as the next guy/gal...but getting up early to paw through things other people have discarded is not really my cup of tea (mostly the getting up early part!). Not to mention, the awkward moment when you realize you have absolutely no need for any of the items on display and yet feel somewhat obligated to purchase SOMETHING since you made the commitment to walk into their yard so you find the lowest priced item that you think maybe, just maybe, you might put to some sort of use (or at least won't feel too bad about tossing later) just so you don't make the folks hosting the yard sale feel bad about their treasures on display...it's just too much pressure for me! So, I prefer to sleep in, thank you very much! ;)

Being on the other side of the yard sale, where you have your discarded treasures on display for strangers to show up at oh-dark-thirty to paw through them and have to come up with a price for said treasures that's high enough for negotiating room and yet isn't so high that they don't even bother trying to negotiate, isn't any fun for me, either. Speaking of negotiating...really, REALLY? You want to give me 5 cents for an item that has a $5 price tag? I'm all for dropping the price a bit if that means the difference between the item hanging around or you taking it away, but let's be just a little bit realistic here...how would YOU feel if the tables were turned? And yes, for those of you wondering, that really did happen! ;)

Having said all that, I think you get the point that yard sales aren't really my thing...and yet, if that's what it takes to bring Christopher's sibling home, I'll do it...TWICE, even! :)

Yesterday was our very first Adoption Fund Yard Sale...hosted at my mother-in-law's house...and it was quite an adventure! :) We had friends all over the area donating items for our yard sale (and we are extremely thankful for that!)...we had quite stash! Lots of GREAT items, too...many of them we would have loved to keep, but for the sake of the adoption, put them out anyway! :) One of Christopher's friends, Jacob, even donated some of his toys that he still enjoyed playing with...he said if he really liked them, then maybe another kid would, too & that would help us raise money to bring Christopher's sibling home! Imagine that kind of selfless, giving attitude coming from a nine-year-old!

I think that's what has humbled me the most in this whole experience of raising funds for the adoption...the selfless giving of some of Christopher's playmates! Christopher's friend Noah and his sister Mollie happily gave up their weekly Starbucks treat for a couple of weeks so they could apply the amount they would have spent toward our adoption. Noah even offered to contribute some of his own money to help the cause...he said that baby belonged with Christopher and he wanted to help make that happen! WOW!!! It's obvious that these children are being raised by parents who are teaching them great values and to live like Jesus! :)

Back to the yard sale...we started making trips over to David's mom's house early in the week to drop off portions of what we'd collected. Friday, David took a few hours off work to start setting up in the garage and Christopher and I joined him shortly after SAINTS PE class. We brought in the final load Saturday morning of the sale. David and Christopher went early Saturday morning (a friend of mine likes to call this time of day "the crack of crazy") to Grandma's house (since it take boys less time to get ready in the morning than it does this night-owl-never-gonna-be-a-morning-person chick!)...and I came shortly behind with breakfast in hand! Let me just say...David is an absolute master at organizing things in general...but especially when it comes to a yard sale! Seeing as I'm not the yard-sale-kinda-gal, this was really my first experience at appreciating his yard-sale-organizing-skills at work! I'm sure it has something to do with all the years he did estate sales with his friend...but still, I was amazed! The yard sale was laid out like a store...toy section, clothing section, video section, etc! I wish I'd thought to take a picture...it was certainly picture worthy! :)

Christopher set up a lemonade stand, which also became a bottled water stand, thanks to some bottled water Grandma gave him to add to his supply. ;) Christopher was very excited to be able to contribute toward our adoption with his lemonade/water stand...he's quite the little entrepreneur in the making! He was a little disappointed, however, that not every customer wanted to purchase his lemonade! ;) Oh well...life lesson! :) I still think he is by far the cutest kid I've ever seen behind a lemonade stand! :) Wouldn't you agree?

We had a pretty slow start to our morning...but it didn't take long to find out why. One of the customers came in and made a reference to finally making it through border control...and several others made similar comments as they walked up! ;) You see, David's mom lives in a gated community...and most of the time, this is a good thing, especially for her safety. But, the community had recently hired a new security guard company, so they were flexing their muscles a bit and being very strict about the rules. There was apparently a line a mile long at the gate, and the guard was requiring anyone coming to the yard sale to have the complete street address of said yard sale! It was apparently not enough to just know what street it was on...you had to know house number, too! If you did happen to know the full address, you had to produce your driver's license and have your tag number written down before he would allow you access into the community. A few of the more tenacious customers made their way through...one lady said she got through because she was making the guard wait while she looked up the address on her phone from the newspaper ad...he apparently got frustrated enough, he let her through anyway. ;)

So, we probably didn't have as many customers as we might have had otherwise...but all in all, we did fairly well. We raised an additional $362 from the yard sale & Christopher's lemonade stand toward our adoption...not as much as we would have hoped, but still a respectable size dent in what we owe.

Needless to say, we were all tired after the sale...but the work was far from over! Once the yard sale was over, the work of repackaging the items that didn't sale began...and then, of course, the caravan of cars to bring it back to our house for the next sale! We loaded up my car, David's car, and David's mom's car and the three of us drove across town to bring the items back to our home. It was quite a sight to behold! ;) Once we got the three cars unloaded and let David's mom head back home (probably for a nice rest), and then rushed to get cleaned up and ready for church! Whew!!! :)

So...yard sale numero uno is behind us... but there's no rest for the weary! In two weeks...on Sunday, February 5th, (yes, Super Bowl Sunday!), we'll be joining our neighborhood in a community-wide yard sale! Hopefully, we'll be able to get rid of the bulk of what was left...as well as a few items that never actually made it to my mother-in-law's house because we simply ran out of time to transport it all! ;)

So...we're a little closer to our goal. Thanks to the Money Tree Baby Shower that my friends Sherry & Tonya are hosting, this yard sale, and David's bonus that we'll receive at the end of this month, we will be able to make our $5,000 payment at the end of this month! WOO HOO!!! :) We have absolutely NO IDEA where February's payment will come from, but God does...so, we try not to worry too much about it...He's got this! :)