Not so much.

I have been an avid e-bayer, craig's list, Kingwoodyardsales.com person for a while now. I have been both a buyer and seller and have never had a single problem.. sigh. I guess I was overdue for a dud. Upon receiving the package of what was supposedly Lincoln Logs yesterday, I had to write the seller the following: Dear klittle5727, Thank you for the prompt shipment of my item. However, I am extremely dissatisfied for the following reasons: 1. The entire package: box and logs, only weighs 6.5 pounds. The description clearly states 8 pounds of logs. 2. Of the contents only about 1/4 are actual Lincoln Logs. The remaining contents are as follows a)1/4 from some other NON COMPATIBLE set, b) 1/4 some type of homemade non commercial set, also NON COMPATIBLE with the true Lincoln Logs c) PURE JUNK. Broken, splintered, shards of wood. Something resembling molding used to trim floors or who knows what. I thought when the description said mixed sets that it meant mixed sets of Lincoln Logs, not mixed sets of junk. Lincoln Logs is an actual brand product name, if you aren't sure then you should put "unknown wooden building set" or something. 3. Lastly the box is full of spider nests and bugs. I would NEVER send someone a box of spiders, especially if I knew it was meant for a child's birthday as I told you. How hard is it to run the hose over it before packing it up? Honestly! A little dust or grime, I would expect but to pack up a bunch of splintered off molding covered in spiders and say it is Lincoln Logs is beyond ridiculous. I didn't even get 8 pounds of ANYTHING. I am a veteran e-bay-er with only positive feedback and I have only ever left positive feedback. While you state you don't take returns I sincerely hope that you will do the right thing in this case because what I got is unacceptable and could actually be DANGEROUS for my children. Here it is 2 weeks until my 5 yr old son's birthday and all I have is box of junk. I am crying as I type this, it is just unbelievable. I beg you to please do the right thing and issue me a refund or do something to make this right. Sheltie_Momma And the Seller's response: Maybe my scales are off they are old and they showed over 7.5 lbs. And we both know there was no spider webs as the pictures show and they also show mixed sets as states,, however i want you to bo happy as i when i buy an item.. Return to me and i will refund your purchase price less shipping as all others who offer refunds on ebay.. Sorry you are unsatisfied... The issue is that a refund in this instance doesn't really help - because the cost of shipping was so high, I would end up spending $28 for nothing ($14 in shipping each way) or else keep it for having spent $33. I'm so angry! Having slept on it, what I think I will do is measure out how many pounds the guy shorted me. And then say fine, you want to stand by your description - so "mixed sets" means some of them are homemade and aren't even compatible, fine. You want to say you said "old" and old means covered in spider nests and broken shards, fine. But you also said EIGHT pounds and BY HIS OWN ADMISSION I didn't get what I paid for, so I think I will take my purchase price per pound and tell him he should refund me by the amount he shorted me. I think it will come out to like $6 or so. I think that's fair and will free up a little money for me to go back out on the hunt. On ebay, all you have it your word, if you say something is 8 pounds then a person expects 8 pounds, it is simply unacceptable to say your scales are old! What? Then stop using them! Are you kidding me??? So...what now? Will I venture out in the wold of ebay or has it lost it's allure for me? I'm not sure yet, but this bargain hunting Mom probably won't let one bad apple keep me away. Logs in terrible,broken off condition: Spider nests Junk

Showing box weighing only 6.5 pounds (It should be 8.5 as the box weighs a half a pound!)

SCORE!

Jacob loves Lincoln Logs right now. We have one set, but it makes just one choice at a time, of three possible cabins, or of course whatever you can imagine on your own. Only there aren't enough to imagine anything really major and there certainly aren't enough to give some to your sister to share. So I went online to see what sets they had since certain people have a birthday around the corner. Oooh those Lincoln Log people make me so mad - all they sell now are sets. You can't get just one honkin' huge set to make whatever you want, instead it is all broken out, one set to make a cabin, one set to make a frontier store etc. Each with less than 50 parts. Each costing over $20 before shipping. Grrr. Finally I see a big one, like 150 parts, but oh wait - it is a collector's edition and costs over $100!!! Are you KIDDING me??? So, I check on ebay, and found just what I wanted, a big old mixed up pile of multiple sets! Hah! So I won the auction today for a box of over 300 assorted pieces for just $18, shipping wasn't cheap, almost $15 - but it is EIGHT pounds of Lincoln Logs!!!! It would have cost me a fortune to get this many all brand new. I can't wait to see Jacob's face when he sees all the logs we will have now! Now, we'll just have to get one of these...

Back To School

Both children began the new school year today in new classrooms. Although they have been at these schools (two locations) since birth, there is still definitely a "back to school" vibe. Bella has moved to the big kid wing of the school into Sweet 250, big changes for her will include drinking from open cups, potty training and field trips on the bus. Jacob will be in Sweet 500, the last of the preschool classes at the school. For anyone wondering, he misses the cut off for kindergarten by 12 days and so will finish out one more year in preschool. No worries though, he stays busy with Spanish, Computers, Gymnastics, and Art in addition to a fairly rigorous pre-K curriculum. This weekend was tax-free weekend, both kids got some new shoes and were excited to get to class in their new kicks. "Hurry up and take the picture Mommy, I want breakfast!"

Bella's is TWO!

A giant rambling, picture filled post - all about Miss Anabel.

Anabel May turned two years old on August 13th, we celebrated several times... As I blogged about before her big, big present from Will and I was a playhouse for the backyard, I found one I wanted back earlier in the summer and since we knew we would be away at the beach we went ahead and set it up early. Plus it just seemed a shame to waste all those fun summer days with the playhouse packed away over technicalities :) Bella's Grandma and PawPaw came over early in the month to celebrate and shower her with presents, kisses and hugs. Our baby girl loves to doodle - so the easel and art set was the perfect gift. Actually it is a gift for me too - the two sides of the easel mean both kids play happily while I cook dinner - hooray for toys that keep kids busy and get their creative juices flowing!

On her actual birthday we went to the beach and to the pool, had a tasty lunch followed by cake and more presents. The bigger kids were very eager to help out with the candle and opening of the presents! Daddy and his TWO year old!!!

Early the next morning I took Bella down to the beach for a birthday photo shoot:

In case you are wondering, I am letting her bangs grow out - only a few inches to go and I can tuck it behind her ear, trust me I am counting the days! Also she loves the sand so much it was hard to ever get her to look up!

When we got home on our doostep were presents from Grandma Julie - so she had even more birthday! Is our girl loved or what! Thank you everyone for being so generous and helping us make her birthday special!

Last week, we had to do the not so fun part of turning two - check up and shots at the pediatrician. She seems very grown up to me all of the sudden - reading books in the waiting room.

Our girl is still tiny, she is 24.6 pounds, 31 3/4 tall - about 25th for weight and 5th for weight! But her doctor says she is just fine, we have nothing to worry about, just that she likely to be small like me as an adult.

She is doing great, bright, happy, easy going. She eats anything you put in front of her, except green beans which she says "ooh that's yuck". Bella talks us a storm, she speaks full sentences and quite a bit of it is understandable even by folks other than me! She loves her blankies, she has several in rotation. She steadfastly refuses to learn her colors but is learning her ABC's and some numbers. When she counts to herself she always says One, Two, Three,Ocho...She is brave and happy to set off on her own to check out new things. Happy Birthday sweet Bella - we love you!

More from our vacation...

Why drive all the way to Florida to go to the beach? This one picture says it all!

View of the surf and sugar white sand about 7 AM. The water was simply amazing, crystal clear and emerald greeen.

Our family beach shot.

After watching from the beach all week, on our last day Will and I, and our friend Bill, all decided to go parasailing. Jacob came too, just to ride in the boat. We went up about 450 feet, that's as high as a 40 storey building. It was very peaceful and quiet up there, I had expected it to be windy but it wasn't. It was very gentle. I liked it a bit more than Will, who really isn't much for heights.

Here is a short video of Will and I getting dunked at the end of our ride.

Tucked back in one of the golf communities is a really neat area for shopping, eating and family entertainment called The Village. It is kind of a like Disneyworld meets the Woodlands Mall. Very very charming and cool. It is set up like a small coastal town with boardwalk dining, all kinds of little shops and a park and a playground.

Bella and Daddy waiting for pizza to arrive, just look at those blue eyes!

Sunset views from our balcony:

Hello from Destin, Florida

I am not very good about blogging our vacations, I get overwhelmed by all the pictures and trying to write out what we did. Then so much time passes that it gets ridiculous so I just don't do it. This time we're in a place with wireless so I'll try blogging as we go.

We arrived in Destin Saturday evening. It is meant to be a 9 hour drive but we had bad weather in Slidell and really slow service at the Chili's in Biloxi, so it was closer to 12 hours for us. The kids did great though and the bigger car and DVD player were a blessing.

Once I saw our condo, and the views and the beach and pool, I realized it was so worth the drive to get here.

We are vacationing with another family that has kids the same ages as ours - plus they have one

more on the way :) The kids have had a great time, the condo has three bedrooms and three bathrooms so there is plenty of space. We have been to the beach or pool or both every day. We planned out meals and went to the store so it has been very relaxing, just cooking in at home without the hassle and expense of eating out every meal with four kids.

I don't have a ton of beach pictures yet, the first day I left my camera and I've just been enjoying myself and Bella is so very brave and fearless that it is a very full time job watching her at the beach! The picture below is funny because of what isn't in it, I had to crop out a lady off to the side who was, um, lets just say very comfortable in her skin :)

Bella is the youngest child of the bunch, she likes to get into the older kids toys, such as green markers! (This happened on Daddy's watch!) She totally looks like me in this picture, I think.

The views... I have spent HOURS on this balcony, curled up with a book while the kids nap each afternoon.

Ramsey and Jacob Got to love the goggles!

We don't really have an agenda, we just get up each day and discuss over coffee what we feel like doing. Sunday and Monday we went to the beach and pool. Today we drove over to an area called Seaside which has a lot of fancy houses, galleries and shops. We poked around and ate lunch then came home for naps. I sat on the balcony and read for an hour and a half straight, completely uninterrupted (This never happens!) Then we had a swim while a casserole cooked in the oven.

Still, I have had some hard decisions to make lately -

Hot dog or hamburger?

Beach or Pool?

Coke or Dr. Pepper?

Long nap or reading?

Ice cream or snow cones?

This is the life!

Noodles

This is random but I wanted to jot it down before I forgot. A few weekends ago we went to Austin for a reunion of people Will's Dad grew up with in Venezuela. We stayed at a hotel and since we knew there would be a pool we brought swim toys. One toy we had Bella kept eating. I mean she would take big chomps out of it and I kept having to fish pieces of it out of her mouth. Finally I look at her and say "Baby girl, why oh why do you keep trying to eat this noodle?" and she says back "I eat noodle, I like noodles". Then I understood - the whole afternoon we kept talking about the swim noodle, and Bella must have thought it was a noodle you eat! Babies are so silly!

Outtakes

 

Bear Necessities

Isn't it cool when your kids really like something that you liked when you were little? This week Jacob has really gotten into The Jungle Book. He has watched it about 50 times it seems, he acts out all the parts and sings all the songs, it's really cute. He loves the Bear Necessities song, just like I did at his age. Just now I overhead him singing, "It's just the Bear Necessities, the simple Bear Necessities, Forget about your hurries and your wife!" Kids are hilarious.