It all started when my Mother bought a Little People School House for the Little Miss this past Christmas. She sat and carried her little people around for days. This Summer, we put them on our thrifty list so we can expand her collection. And as you can see, it has expanded! (Except for the School House all the rest of the items came from Thrift Stores -- all items not pictured!)
The Knight Tree house with Knight and the Knight Horse Cart, the Big Barn, the Little Barn with a horse and buggy, and the pink/blue Jeep with several Little People Seats were picked up from a Thrift Store. They were all in excellent condition with nothing broken. I was tickled to realize that we received them all together for less than the Toy Store price of the Big Barn.
We made several trips to our local Thrift Store to look for Little People. I enjoyed the hunt. Now, we have about 30 of them. I don't know how much they are at the local Toy Stores but I was able to purchase them for 25 cents a piece.
Occasionally, we are blessed with something nice and big like the little airplane, school bus and a water sail boat too!
The Tow Trucks came from a garage sale. They were 25 cents a piece too. These can often be found in other parts of the house though. The boys often try to claimed them on the off chance that she won't notice them missing.
She is very happy! She spends a lot of time putting the Little People all in a line. She stores them all in a little container and is very particular about it. Yes, Indeed!! She doesn't appreciate it when she finds brother's legos in her stuff! She is telling me all about it in this picture! There was a good bit of pointing and a lot of "no's" with some purging of the leggos out of her container.
I am very thankful that the Lord is so good to provide really wonderful toys to my Little Ones. I don't keep a lot of inside toys. The toys we have are duplo legos, wooden blocks, lincoln logs, mega formers, little people, and train tracks which all are in a separate container bin that fit nicely into a closet. We do have a limited amount of baby doll type items, army men and horses also! But, that is mostly it! And, in the garage you can find a container of dress up clothes and a container of puzzles which are brought out for a treat! Simplicity has become important to me and quality is always important over quanity!
I am so blessed that the Lord has really shown me that even if I could go out and buy the same things new and have a house full of items that I shouldn't do so. I think the biggest lesson has been learning how little all of us could live with and still be just as happy! The biggest advantage has been the excitement to know the more I focus on shopping to save (by shopping thrifty) the more I am able to save up to share -- share to advance the kingdom of God!
Funny you posted this, I just told my hubby that Legos and Little People and American Girl toys are the only ones we should buy. Because believe me, we have tons and most of them are junk! They are more pricey but they hold up compared to the rest. She looks so adorable playing with the people, something about those Little People are just so endearing and adorable.
ReplyDeleteOh Yay! Peoples!!! We just love peoples. : ) I have some sets from when I was young, we save them all.
ReplyDeleteYou are so smart to have just certain well loved toys for your children.
I'll be writing soon, you are loved and appreciated! xxxooo Amelia
I tried to post a comment on an older post about all the questions your little ones ask, and for some reason Blogger wouldn't let me.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to tell you how much I respect your answers that you gave your children. I feel much the same way about things as you, but I'm afraid I don't answer as patiently or sweetly as you did your little ones.
When Bear, (my DH) was deployed the first time, I went a bit rebelious and got a second hole pierced in my ears. He did not like it so I immediately removed them and let them close up. Many people asked me why I did it, afterall..."It's your body, blah, blah, blah" and all of that. Many women today just do not understand the concept of headship and that dreaded "s-word" submission.
It is good to see others around me do so. Respect is a good thing, ordained by God and meant to be taught and passed down to our children.
Oh, dear! I've written another tome! So sorry. Anyway, Thanks for visiting my blog!
Oh, that is great -- great ways to use her imagination.
ReplyDelete..."and still be happy." That is such a beautiful perspective. Sometime I think we might be happier with less.
ReplyDelete