How did I forget to mention the flamingo umbrella I found at Hobby Lobby the other day? I walked in and it was the first thing I saw. It was $14.99 and I knew they were doing away with the 40% off coupon but I wasn’t sure when it started (It has started!). I put the umbrella in my cart . . just in case.
When I got to the checkout, I asked if they were still doing the 40% off coupon. The lady told me no and told me when they had stopped but, of course, I don’t remember. All I remember is that it has stopped. I said “Then I’m not going to get this.” The lady said “Oh, but it is 40% off this week”. YAY! Addie now has a flamingo umbrella. I’m sure it isn’t going to last long. The little stand will probably be the first to go. I’m hoping she doesn’t take it to school but . . once I give it to her, it’s hers to do with whatever she wants. I will talk to her and explain that it may not be terribly sturdy so if she wants to risk taking it to school and having it break, if it’s worth her friends all seeing it . . that is her choice. I think that’s how we learn. We either realize or someone explains the consequences of our actions and we either opt to be careful . . sometimes too careful, or we take the chance and often wish we hadn’t.
No matter, I paid about $9 for it . . less than I pay for eating lunch out. It will make her happy, at least briefly.
Donna Williams says
Super cute!
dianne says
we both have kid-sized cute umbrellas to prop over the steering wheel and the passenger seat to keep them from heating up in the summer … i knew when i bought my TMNT umbrella with the Michelangelo handle that it wouldn’t be much protection in a rain storm (which we almost never get here anyway) … but i WANTED it and came up with the steering wheel excuse … and it really does work
Susan Nixon says
It’s really cute. When you are young, fleeting happiness is okay. =)
Deborah says
You bring up a huge growing up lesson for me. I hold on to things that were my grandparents and great grandparents out of obligation to preserve them and pass them on. Not so with the new generations. When we give something away, no matter how hard we have labored or sacrificed, it is the receiver’s to do with what they wish. My DIL has chosen to use a quilt I made for my son as a drop cloth under their daughter’s high chair. She can drag the chair around and wash the quilt as many times as need without a worry. She saves the quilt her grandmother made, which is technically inferior in so many ways, as the quilt she saves for special of occasions. I remind myself that a gift freely given should not then have tentacles to me that dictate how it is used and I remind myself that at least mine is getting used if not albeit abused. It’s a grim reminder that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Nothing I do, perfectly or imperfectly, will dictate how the receiver treats it. So…..I’ve quit giving quilts to my family and their babies. I give them to people who ask or admire one. I might as well have them go to someone who will appreciate them.
Judy Laquidara says
I learned that lesson with tithing and giving at chuch. I always told friends . . I don’t feel called to dictate what the church does with my donations. I feel like it’s my duty to give and after that, they answer to a higher power as to how they use the money. If I were going to a church I felt was squandering the funds, I’d probably have other reasons to find a new church.
When I was making and donation quilts, Vince always asked me “How do you know they will appreciate them?” I don’t. I make them and give them away because that’s what I want to do. Once they’re out of my hands, they’re no longer mine to control. Now . . if I was giving someone a quilt every year and they didn’t take care of it, I’d stop giving them new quilts but the ones they already have are theirs.
Tee says
I walked into my son and DIL’s house and saw the quilt I made my son when he was a teenager on the floor of the dog kennel. I decided then and there that I loved the dog, so why wouldn’t she have a quilt made by “grandma”? It was hard to go there, but I figured there was nothing going to happen if I put up a fuss, so I gave the dog a hug, wrapped the quilt around her tighter and smiled.
Judy Laquidara says
And you didn’t leave angry and they weren’t sad that you were hurt! I had a quilt that an elderly lady made for Chad when he was a baby. I never let him use it because I knew it was one of the last quilts she made and I just wanted to keep it forever. I gave it to Chad when Addie was about 3 and almost gasped when I saw her dragging it around with her dolls but my old friend would have loved seeing that. I know she made it to be used and would probably have been disappointed that I didn’t let Chad use it. I would have a hard time seeing any quilt in a dog kennel but you definitely handled it in the best way possible.
Donna in KS says
It has been interesting to me to learn how much a gifted quilt means to some within the family. One DIL doesn’t really care about anything I’ve handmade, (quilt, table runner or knit prayer shawl) but several of her children do and have even made requests. One son and DIL use, display, appreciate all we have made for them as do their children and now their mates also. Several years ago we gave the grands in KC, beanbags and raggy quilts that Clyde made. As they grew taller they asked him to enlarge and they had figured out how much! Grandpa said, “I’ll make you new ones”. No, they each wanted those enlarged! He did as they had asked! They also do have quilts for their beds, appliqued dinosaurs that I made. The quilts get good care!
Donna in KS says
And that’s a cute umbrella! I am so ready to get out and shop…..I don’t know what for but I’ll know when I see it!!
Judy Laquidara says
I love how you think! 🙂
Judy Laquidara says
That’s too cute that they wanted them enlarged. Most of the beds at Chad & Nicole’s have quilts I’ve made. I asked Addie if she wanted me to make her a quilt for her new room (she’s moving into the guest room). She said “No, something from Walmart will be fine!”.
Rebecca says
This talk of “It’s theirs to use as they see fit” reminds me of some quilts I have given that were valued TOO much. *grin* I made my in-laws bed quilts, which I heard were “so beautiful” that they were hanging on the wall. I had a friend whose resident granddaughter I made a little wallhanging for. I think it got put in a closet because she didn’t know how to hang it to best advantage. So when I made her (the grandmother/friend) a large quilt, I did tell her that I hoped she would use it. And she does!
Carolyn says
Hobby lobby stopped the 40% off coupon, but most everything there is 40% off anyway now, sometimes MORE.