Rhea Lana's 101

What's Rhea Lana's? Click here for all the information and to see if there is one near you!
So, among my friends I'm the Rhea Lana Momma. I've had several friends ask me about doing a RL post to share some ideas on doing consignment well. Sorry it's taken me so long to get this on here, but I've been  a little busy with all these Little Smittle's!
Below you'll find my tips on selling at Rhea Lana's. If you have more questions that aren't covered here leave me a comment or message on facebook and I'll answer your questions or turn you in the right direction of someone who can.

• Getting my stuff ready for Rhea Lana's is actually is a year-round activity for me. About once a month or so I go through the kids clothes and purge their closets of anything that they can't wear or aren't wearing. I keep them on the hanger, pin on a tag, and lay them flat inside a GIANT Rubbermaid tub marked with the season(spring and summer/fall and winter). Once it's sale time I've already got all of my things ready to be organized and entered into the RL database.
• When getting my things ready to put into the system I first separate the clothes by gender and size. This is so so helpful when you are in the store putting your things out on drop-off day.
• I always start with my smallest size and go up. That's how the store is set up, so entering your things in this way makes it easier to drop them off on the right rack when you are there.  For instance I'll do newborn/preemie girl stuff first then up the size chart to 6. Once all my girl stuff is entered I'll do the same with the boy stuff.
• While entering your items into the computer be sure to number the tag with the item number. This is simply the number of the item in the list on the computer. The tags will be numbered the same way, so it will help you go quickly with tagging your items in the store.
• Be sure that you pin any loose items together. This will ensure a good sale for you.
• When you get to shoes be sure to label each shoe with your consigner number(a three digit "number" with letters or numbers. Be sure not to confuse your consigner number with your batch number. Your consigner number is the one you enter when you log onto the system.) and the price. I generally use masking tape for this. You can also use your leftover labels, but it's best to have this part done before you get to the store. I always add my shoes on after all my clothing is entered.
• Once I get all my clothing entered I add in my "stuff." These are the items that REALLY sell at RL, so really be strict on purging out those playrooms! Games, toys, and sports equipment are usually the first things to sell! Riding toys, and furniture are always top sellers too.
• Be sure to label EVERYTHING clearly with your consigner number and price. If something(like a pack-n-play) has several parts be sure to label them all with your number. Each item will also need a string tag, so be sure to find a noticeable place to put your tag.
• Price things really reasonably. Look at ebay and amazon to see what other people are pricing your things at and go a little under that. You can usually price things about 30% of what you bought them for. For instance if you paid $75 for an exersaucer, you can probably price it at about $22.50.
• Make sure EVERYTHING you bring in has been laundered and is CLEAN. Dirty stained stuff does not sale and will likely not make it past the check-in process.
• Put batteries that work in all of your electronic toys. They have to be in working condition to be accepted into the sale.
• Buy string tags early. During sale season they are often sold out at local stores. I bought a GIANT box of 1000 a long time ago and I'm still working on those.=) I also get safety pins in bulk.
• Always ask to keep store hangers so that you can use them for your things for the sale. You MUST use plastic hangers.
• After the sale, if you aren't pleased with your sales consider lowering prices. Usually if something isn't selling it's because it's either out of season, out of style, or priced too high.
• Always consign your kids"fad" clothes. Anything that's really in style will sell. It's best to sell it instead of keeping it for your smaller/future children, because it's unlikely that these things will still be in style by the time they are ready to wear them. This is a lesson that took some time for me to learn, but I've realized that keeping staple items for my smaller/future children and cycling out the stylish stuff is the best way to go as far as consignment goes.

Good luck! I hope that you enjoy consignment season and the MOO-LAH you can make!

Father's Day

I just love special days like Father's Day. We don't do big extravagant gifts, so there's no pressure to get just the right thing. I work with the girls leading up to the day on thinking about the person we are honoring(for birthdays, father's day, mothers day) and ways we can make them feel extra special. We have done lots of things in the past. One of my favorites is from last Father's day when I put together a little video of the girls talking to me about their dad and what they liked best about him. Looking back on that this year I see how much they've grown, and changed, and matured. It's amazing to me the smart things that come out of their mouths!
This year I had each of the kids use watercolors and paint on a sheet of cardstock. After they were dry I used a tie template that I made out of another sheet of cardstock and cut ties from each of their pages. We worked together to thank about what we wanted to say and settled on, "We Love Our Dad!" After that I had them help me string on the ties and we made a simple banner that I hung on Sunday morning while Scotty was in the shower.=)

Notice the homemade cinnamon rolls waiting to go in the oven. We have recently started making our own because I was about to have to take up stock in Pillsbury we were going through so many for Sunday morning breakfast. We make a variation of this recipe. Scotty actually makes them. He makes up two batches at a time then freezes them. They are OH so GOOD! We've been having cinnamon roles on Sunday mornings since Emma Claire was about 18 months old. She started asking for them every Saturday evening, and now it's just a tradition that we all enjoy. ANYWAY, back to Father's day!

I taught the kids a little song to sing to Scotty first thing in the morning. They love to sing, as most kids do, and it is so easy to make songs from tunes they already know and get them to remember them. We often use "Mary had a Little Lamb", "Happy Birthday", and "Are you Sleeping" for our songs, but you can do any song they are familiar with, then add in easy lyrics for a sweet way to bless someones heart. People LOVE to hear kids sing!=) Here are my littles singing to their dad. Notice brother starts to cry at the end! He got embarrassed, I guess, but it makes my heart melt that he reaches over to hold his sister's hand! OH SO SWEET!! Gotta love that sibling love!

 

After the song, we had our breakfast and the kids each took turns praying and thanking God for Scotty. It was such a special time. Addison simply said something like, "Thank you God for Father's Day and please help daddy to have a GOOD day!" Emma Claire thanked God that "daddy takes us to church and makes really good cinnamon rolls." Zaiah said "Dada Thank you" Then it was Olivia's turn and what came out of her so freely made me want to kiss my man right there on the spot and reach up to heaven with a PRAISE JEEESUS! She went on about what a great leader Scotty was to our family and how he always wants to point us in the way of Jesus. It was just beautiful and completely accurate. I think that God allowed Scotty that moment to prove that even in the chaos of five kids we are doing SOMETHING right and that HE(God) is getting glory! Love that precious girl.

After breakfast we had church, then went out to Scotty's favorite, Los Amigos for lunch. We came home, put the kids to bed, and rested the rest of the day. Such a great day.

Welcome To the Family

Since I've started blogging again and have gained several new readers(Hi! And Welcome!) I thought that I'd post a reintroduction of our little family. Feel free to ask any questions as I'm limited on time today.

First is Olivia, AKA Sister. You'll hear me refer to as Lulu or Lucy most of the time. Luc is 6.5 and just finished the first grade and is a reading WHIZ! She's a fantastic oldest child and dreams of one day becoming an Animal Rescuer. She recently lost her first tooth. It was such a big night in our house. Lulu and I both cried happy tears and I cried a few(ONLY A FEW) sad tears. I can't believe she's growing up so fast. I've always thought I'd like it as she got older because she's such a good helper to me, but now that she's actually getting older I want to freeze her in time so she'll always be my baby girl!

Next comes Emma Claire, AKA KK. Emma Claire is 4.5 and is the single most hysterical child you'll ever meet. She's VERY smart but lacks common sense which makes her a hoot to be around. She dreams of a day when she can eat whatever she wants whenever she wants. She has plans to become a "McDonalds Worker" someday. You can ask KK anything about the Bible and she can answer it.  She's amazingly beautiful and loves to sing really loud. KK is a typical middle child and always wants to do everything her older sister does. Emma Claire had a rough first start in life, but she's very strong and brave.

Then there's Addison Faith AKA Addi. You may hear me call Addison Fae. Most of the time she's Addi Fae to me. Fae will be three on the fourth of July! She's a little firecracker, that's for sure! Addi is the fair maiden in our house. She's sweet and darling and I could just sop her up with a biscuit. Sweet and SASSY. She can be sneaky and mean, but I'm hoping this is just a phase!!AND, this child could talk the bark off of trees. She NEVER stops talking. She's very articulate for her age and is as sharp as a tack. She knows how to get what she wants. I picture Addison being a mommy some day and if you were to ask her that's probably what she'd say too. She's often found "nursing" her babies and singing to Amelia. She's my blue eye baby girl!

Next is Isaiah. AKA, Brub, Brubby, Brubsy, Bubba, and just about any other variation of brother you can come up with. Isaiah is 16 months old. The only boy in the mix, Zaiah is our rough and tumble dig in the dirt child. He plows over his sisters and yells and throws things. We're working on the meaning of gentle right now. He LOVES his sisters though and is always trying to be right there with them wherever they go. He makes me laugh and I want him to always be a baby. He's so squishy and lovey. Isaiah was born with a condition called Congenital Esotropia, but had corrective surgery at 7 months. I can see him being a politician some day. He has a winning smile and great personality.

Last for now is Amelia Joy. AKA Mimi, Mia, and Minnie. Amelia is 5 weeks old. Mia is our first child born full term and was birthed at home with a midwife. It was a wonderful experience and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. She's been a sweet cuddle bug so far and I can't wait to see where she fits in to things as far as her brother and sisters go. Isaiah is very protective of her, so I'm thinking she's going to just adore him.

I guess I better include the MM and me. I'm married to the love of my life, my darling, Scotty Smittle. I most often call him MM or the manly man. He is strong, faithful, kind, caring, tender, loving, and HOT! He's a hard worker and a fantastic father. He works as a behavior therapist for UAMS KIDS First. He's also involved in the Arkansas Association for Infant Mental Health(I probably got that wrong), and a new program coming to Arkansas called Court Teams. Scotty also teaches psychology classes for a degree completion program called PACE at our Alma Mater, Central Baptist College.  He loves me even though I'm crazy and tired most of the time and he tells me he'd take care of me if I was ever mauled and disfigured...

I just recently turned 30, but have felt old since about the time that our third child came along. I love to sing and create things. I'm an organizing junkie and a perfectionist. Some day, when all my kids are grown and gone, I'd love to move to Africa and take care of little African orphans. I have a heart for raising our children to love God and love each other. I'm loud, rarely wear make-up, and like to wear long dresses so I don't have to shave my 90 foot long legs everyday.

I hope you'll enjoy your time here!