Searchin' for a Deal = Quality Family Time

The last couple weekends the entire family has piled into one of our vehicles and gone hunting for deals.  Apparently this time of year, the snowbirds are coming back "home" and are realizing they have things they want to get rid of so there are yard sales EVERYWHERE.  So far we have gotten, 2 adult bicycles, some electronic stuff hubby hopes to repair and sell, a few items for the kitchen, and storage bins (lots of them). 

This last one is particularly important to me.  My regular readers are aware by now that my son is a builder.  His favorite material for building is K'nex.  In fact, there is hardly a day that goes by where he isn't building with K'nex.  Unfortunately, they tend to get all over the house and I step on them all the time (luckily they are not as painful as Legos).  Anyway, I've been trying to figure out a way to organize his K'nex so that 1. He can find the piece he wants without dumping the (large) box on the floor thus making a HUGE mess and 2. He can leave partially completed projects out without me stepping on them.

My solution was two fold.  The first was to rearrange part of the sun room so that there is a building / crafting area.  The second was to sort his K'nex into the drawer storage bins that hubby found at a yard sale.  The day we got the storage units, the kids and I spent a couple hours sorting the K'nex and to say my son is please with the arangement is an understatement.  This Mama is pretty happy too.  No K'Nex under feet for a week now! 

Technically we have more drawers than we need right now, but I know something my son doesn't.  He's getting more for Christmas.  A LOT more.  I found 2 bargains on ebay and my parents found something too, so the boy is going to be swimming in K'Nex soon.  I'm pretty sure he's going to hole himself up for days after opening them.  But you know what, he will have a blast, and he will be learning in the process so I'm cool with it.

Not only that, but we've been able to spend quality family time together the last few weekends and it's been great!  We still have Christmas stuff to find, so there's a good chance we will be back out again soon.  Looking forward to it!