"Hats Off" to found Games...and the Santa Maria

I know it's been a few days, but honestly, this is the first chance I've had to actually sit down and type since last Friday!
(I'm also so behind in catching up with most of you, but I know a lot of you can relate to falling behind at times and totally understand when my replying gets a little sporadic! Just know I'm still thinking about you!)
*Edited to add an extra tidbit near the end...

We had a slight change of plans for this past weekend. The weather reports all declared downpours so he postponed the roofing job and we decided to go down to Mom's to empty out her garage. All the weather reports proved wrong, but I guess we were meant to do what we had to do!

As most of you know, we are getting her house ready to sell...not so easy after she has lived in one place for thirty years. We had separated the garage into keep vs. throw away vs. donation. Then my husband rented a u-haul and he filled it up with trash. I sorted the donation and keep piles, making runs to G*oodwill.

In total, my husband filled the big u-haul truck one and a half times, and I made two trips to the donation center with carloads of giveaway.

A. Lot. Of. Stuff.

But you know, my mom did surprisingly well about all this! There might have been a time when she would have completely stressed out knowing things were being flung into a truck bound for the dump or at the very least, carted away to be sold at a discount store of $1.99. But instead, she completely trusted us and was just grateful we were doing it all.

At the end of the day, both my husband and I had tired, achy muscles but I had never seen that garage look so clean and barren since the day we moved in back in 1978!

And I did find several things worth saving...mostly letters, some more of my old stories I wrote growing up, and some of my favorite childhood board games which I brought home to the girls.

Does anyone, anywhere remember Hats Off? I got this when I was around five, and there was nothing more fun than aiming and firing those little colored hats into the holes!


The box has seen better days, but before taking up residence in my mom's garage, it had traveled with us through countless moves before this, after being under my Christmas tree in 1968.

And I know everyone remembers Battleship! "You sunk my battleship!"

Growing up, my nephew (just three years younger than myself) and I would have so much fun playing this one. But wait...why do Mom and Sister get stuck in the kitchen washing dishes in this picture while the "boys" have all the fun? I'm not really a feminist by any means, but really....;)

All in all, our Saturday was exhausting was very productive.

And Sunday evening, we attended a new home group through our church and were incredible blessed. Such sweet families, and a beautiful presence of the Lord as we worshiped and fellowshipped. They have just started it, and we had never met any of these folks before so weren't sure how it would go. But it was wonderful.

*Edited to add that we also had a birthday party for our pup on Sunday...one year old. The girls made cards for her while she sniffed them obligingly, in actuality looking for that big bone stashed behind us. Plus a squeaky toy. She was beside herself when she had both of them...Toy? Bone? Oh, the wonderful, horrible decision!

Today, though, the girls and I are having a low-key school day. I admit it... I'm still recovering from the weekend and if I could, I'd just crawl into bed for a nice, long naaaaaap.
So, in honor of the holiday, we're reading about Christopher Columbus and doing some crafts made out of toilet paper rolls. Yes, we are.

Here's one of them...how do you like her Santa Maria?

Have a great week, everyone!