Disc Golf and Mens Birthday gifts

 

Paul's birthday falls a couple weeks after Christmas which makes the challenge of finding him nice gifts extremely hard - he's tough enough to buy for just one occasion, but two occasions back to back? It really has been a challenge for me to think up gifts he would really enjoy. 

For his birthday this year I bought Paul the basic discs for Disc Golf - he had done it once before and really enjoyed it and I thought it would be fun for him to have his own set and maybe it was something we could get into doing together. A friend picked out the right discs for me and the boys and I gave them to him as part of his birthday gift. Paul loved them... and now I have 11 months to think up his next round of gifts!

Living in the South Disc Golf is a great sport to play as you can play year round - wind and rain are really the only reasons to not play. We live about 5 minutes from a really nice park that has the disc golf course and a couple weeks ago the 4 of us and a friend headed out to play. 

 

I quickly realized disc golf wasn't an activity I could ever really get into. Throwing a Frisbee isn't a skill I have ever acquired and in this game that skill is kind of the point of the game. Judah and Wesley lacked the skills too.
 

Wesley turned his disc into a hat. 

 

Judah was happy to just chase it. 

Paul, however, enjoyed it. 

And got better at it than his first game.

And I enjoyed lagging behind and taking pictures. 

 

 Like of this little pond. Isn't it gorgeous? The park where the disc golf course was set up was gorgeous. I'd totally learn to play just as an excuse to walk the course again - but I have a camera, and that is a good enough excuse for me to walk it again!  

If you want to try this gift for your husband, brother, father or mailman it cost about $25 for the first three discs - which is what is recommended as the minimum for playing- and they should be available at your local sports store.

The Story of the Boots

Since we've been married Paul has bought me a purse each birthday. He has fantastic taste and I've gotten 5 fantastic purses from him - this year being no different.
A few weeks ago we were talking about the purses and how I've probably got enough and next year he could start a new gift trend.
The one item we both thought would be kind of fun was cowboy boots.

So just so we're straight: a couple weeks ago Paul decided that next year for my birthday he'd buy me a pair of cowboy boots. And yes, he's pretty much that organized thinking so far ahead about gifts. He's fantastic.

Saturday was my birthday, and as you know it was just me and the boys together that day since Paul is away doing some training.
I took the boys out to some yard sales and one of the homes we stopped at was selling these gorgeous boots.
They still had a $90 price tag on them. I asked the lady what she was selling them for and she said $20.
When she saw me put them down she said "well, I will take $10 for them."
When she saw me walking back to my car she said "Ma'am, would you like to make me an offer for the boots?"
I told her I'd pay $5 and she said that was fine, I could have them for $5.

After I paid for them and was back in my car it hit me: I'd just gotten a pair of cowboy boots on my birthday. Perhaps it's a bit silly, but that thought completely delighted me - that God in His abundant gracious loving kindness had a pair of boots for me on my birthday, a year ahead of when Paul had planned to buy me a pair.

Your loving kindness is better than life,
My lips will praise You.
So I will bless You as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
Psalm 63:3&4

Yard Sale Finds - Present Edition

As promised, here is a sneak peak at a few of the items I have picked up and am saving to use for Judah's birthday or Christmas gifts:

Our new favorite book. Check out the image below - one of the bad guys in the book is a fruit fly! How cute is that?!



I have also picked up a collection of Dr. Seuss books at .25 cents a piece.
And I was THRILLED to find this Bill Peet book at a yard sale. I loved Bill Peet growing up. Highly recommend his books!

I got two veggie tale dvds for .50 cents a piece.

We picked up this bike with training wheels for $5. We need to clean it up a little bit, but it was in great shape!
I think this horn will be his favorite part of the bike :)

We need to find a better hiding place for it! Everytime he sees it in the garage he asks to sit on it - he is pretty close to being able to ride it right now - his legs are long enough to peddle and he puts in a good effort to make it move! I think it'll be perfect for him at Christmas!


This is my favorite item - I even played with it while taking pictures! It is a Melissa and Doug item, and it came with a wooden car garage, which I didn't take pictures of. It was .50 cents.
A large collection of road signs:


There would have been a serious accident if that yield sign hadn't been there to save the day!

The trees didn't come with the set, but they work well, and so I have added them to the set to give him at Christmas time.

You CAN get nice gifts at yard sales.
The total for these gifts brand new would over $150.
The total I spent on these gifts was $9.
All but the Dr. Suess books are in like- new condition (or will be! once we clean the bike :)

And you can get more than just kids gifts in brand new or like brand new condition at yard sales, but I can't get into that here. Certain family members read this :)