The First Annual Thiessen VV Frenzy

Seeing as we are heading out of the snow and into the sun , our abundance of fleece and mittens will do us no good. In light of this, it seemed as if a shopping trip would be in order. However, shopping for 5 people (Barton never seems to 'need' anything) can be a) tiring b) annoying c) expensive and d) futile. Not only would we need stuff now, but seeing as the kids are growing like weeds, they would barely fit anymore by the time summer comes here to Newfoundland (if it does...). THEN, since we are going away next January (Disney Half Marathon) another shopping trip, mid-off-season would be necessary. Sounds expensive?

So, I had a thought (they come every now and again). On top of wanting to save money etc, I am also trying really hard to not buy those cheap, crappy clothes that fall apart after three washes and are only available to us thanks to the hard work of a small, underpaid child. They may be cheap, by you can almost guarantee that when something is cheap - someone else pays (yes, I stole that quote). And in the long run, you end up spending more money because you have to replace items that don't last. But, I won't get into that now...

I invented the (First Annual) Thiessen VV Frenzy. If the initials V-V mean nothing to you, you missed out in your teen years on the shopping excursions and long digging sessions in your local Value Village, the joys of which I am rediscovering in my (oh-so-wise) adulthood. The (First Annual) Thiessen VV Frenzy was quite fun and very successful, however, considering the events in the year to come I may have to change the name to Bi-Annual (does that mean twice a year or every two years?? Bi-half-yearly?). Again, I digress.

Riley, Bridger and Nikolai were each given $20.00 and one hour (well, okay, not really but that's what it ended up being) to scour VV for summer clothing that would benefit them on this trip. They already had swim suits so top of the list of necessities were shorts, sandals and beach appropriate shirts and I promised prizes for the winner! The loot collected included top brands like Gap, Children's Place, Please Mum and Old Navy. I even found an unrelated but exciting find in an LL Bean fleece suit for Mattea that was just what she needed. Fits now, but a bit big so perfect in fall.

Here are photos of the summer loot, click to enlarge (prizes are yet to be awarded... hopefully tomorrow if I can get my act in gear...)

For $18: Riley














For $18: Bridger















For $20: Nikolai




















And for $19: Mattea

Winners announced tomorrow! (and don't worry, this won't be one of those contests where there IS actually a loser...)

I did also 'play' the game, though I spent a bit more than $20... :)