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Showing posts with label Rummage Sale. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rummage Sale. Show all posts

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Walk around the clock

My family and I participated in Relay For Life two weeks ago.

Our team, Team Joe, set up a campsite around the track at Badger Middle School in West Bend and someone from our team was on the track at all times from 6:00pm until 7:00am. My brother's fiancé gets the unofficial 'most miles walked award' for walking 14 miles.

I just wanted to share with everyone that the West Bend Relay For Life event alone raised $103,326.71. Wow, hey? Proof that even a small event in a small town has the ability to do great things. The $103,000 is going directly to the American Cancer Society for cancer research and support for those dealing with cancer right now.

Our team (our family) raised $2,125. My mom raised the most on our team, coming in at $545. Great job Mom :)

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who supported our team this year. Some of you donated items to our rummage sale. Some of you bought items at our rummage sale. Some of you donated money online or via check.  Others visited us at the Relay event. You know who you all are, and we're sincerely thankful for your help.

I know my dad was smiling down on all of us that night. I felt his presence when Matt, Caroline, Liam and I were sitting in front of the music stage listening to an amazing 14-year old girl sing the most beautiful songs. The stars were out, a cool breeze was blowing and I was surrounded by people that I love most. In that moment I felt proud to be involved in an event that remembers those who have died from cancer (such as my dad), acknowledges those who are fighting the fight right now, and also celebrates those who have won the fight (my brother's fiancé).

I was so busy at the event, talking to everyone & watching our kids & running around, that I barely took any photos. So here are the very few taken on my iPhone:


We were late to the event. We got stuck in a crazy hailstorm.

My niece Isabella selling her do-dads for a donation.
Quite the little entrepreneur she is.

Decorating the campsite. This year's theme was 'celebrate more birthdays.'

Hanging out.

I personalized a little shirt for Chloe.

A couple of the luminary bags I dedicated to my dad:



The bag that my niece Caroline made in memory of my dad. Melts my heart :)



And a link to my blog post from last year's Relay For Life: Relaying

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Monday, June 30, 2014

It pays to fundraise

This past Friday and Saturday my family held a yard sale as a fundraiser for our Relay For Life team. This is the first year we held a yard sale to raise funds and it was a success! This is our fourth year participating in Relay For Life of West Bend as a family.

A few months ago we sent emails to our extended family and friends asking them to donate rummage items for the sale. People were so generous - they donated more boxes of items than we could count.

Two weekends ago my mom and I organized all of the items in our garage so it'd be ready by the time this weekend rolled around. I've never hosted a rummage sale before, so I didn't realize how much time and effort it would take to organize one from the ground up. I have a new found respect for people who hold rummage sales every year (seriously, how do you find the time & energy to do it?).

Matt and I, my mom, my grandma and my brothers and their families all helped out with the sale. We all took turns moving the tables in & out of the garage to the driveway, handling the cash, organizing the goods, watching the kids and cooking meals for the group. My niece Bella sold crafts that she made. And my other niece Caroline & my brother's fiancé sold baked goods for some extra $.

Here are some photos from the sale:

We posted signs at 7 different locations in our neighborhood.


All of the money we raised will be donated to the American Cancer Society.


Most people who bought items also bought some baked goods.


My five-year-old niece raised $21 selling her beaded artwork!


Childrens' books (most were donated by my mom's friend) were a hot seller.


We had lots of space in the driveway for tables and tables and more tables...


My mom modeling a Brewers bobble head.


My sister-in-law and grandma keeping an eye on the sale.


What's a yard sale without a moose cookie jar?


Board games and puzzles were also hot sellers.


Chloe was in charge of the whole thing.
She just sat there and told everyone what to do.
She was so bossy and controlling.


Liam had a blast playing with his cousins for two days straight.


The bouncy house came in handy.


And at the end of each day....


....we enjoyed meals together as a family.


At the end of the sale we loaded up all of the remaining items onto a trailer 
and donated them to charity.

It was hard work preparing for it, but it was totally worth it in the end. We raised a total of $609.75 in two days. Pretty good, considering most items were 25 or 50 cents!

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If you were unable to make it to our yard sale but would still like to make a donation to our Relay For Life team/The American Cancer Society, please visit my page here: Team Joe

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Monday, April 29, 2013

A thrifty weekend

We had a thrifty weekend.

We excitedly said YES to our neighbors when they offered us their beautiful playground set for our yard. It has swings, monkey bars, a rock climbing wall, a lookout tower and a slide.


It will be perfect for Liam to play on as he gets older! And the coolest part is that they just gave it to us. They didn't even want any money for it. They were just excited that Liam (and any other future Bremser kids) will be able to use it and enjoy it. We feel so, so blessed that they thought of us.

It's in pretty good shape. We have to anchor it to the ground yet, once we figure out exactly where we want it in our yard. We may add a few shingles on top of the lookout tower and a fresh coat of stain to the wood. I'm hoping to find a toddler swing (at a rummage sale) so Liam can swing in the sunshine this summer.

Liam is already enjoying playing with rock climbing rope and likes to crawl underneath everything. And he loves swinging on the swing with his mama :)



We also picked up a plastic swimming pool for free from our neighbors house! They had it on the curb, so we took it. Liam's going to love splashing around in it this summer.

Okay, and one more thrifty thing from this weekend: there's a church a few blocks away from us that had a huge baby & kids rummage sale on Saturday. They had crazy amounts of kids toys, bikes, books, clothes, etc. Matt and I rummaged through the 12 month and 18 month boy clothes and found some great finds for Liam. The best part is - all of the clothes cost us only $14. And that included a sa-weeeet pair of garden boots for me :)

Here are a few photos I took of Liam this afternoon in our backyard:


I love this little boy so dang much!



He finds random sticks in the yard and thinks they're the coolest things on the planet.

Exploring.
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DAILY SMILES
Things that made me smile last week:

4.22.13
I pruned all of our hydrangea bushes in the sunshine, on Earth Day!

4.23.13
I enjoyed talking to some people that I used to work with

4.24.13
Liam enjoyed coloring a birthday card for his pal & then we delivered to him

4.25.13
We found out from our veterinarian that our cat Marlee is all healed :)

4.26.13
We enjoyed delicious burgers that Matt made on the grill

4.27.13
We hung out with my brother for a few hours

4.28.13
Liam and his friend Reegan had fun playing on the new playground set
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