LIFE

This week/month/first half of the year has been incredibly busy. SO much to do and very little time in which to accomplish my goals. Now more than ever, everything is a work in progress. As I mentioned before, I am trying to see my never ending "to-do" list as a way to realize how very fortunate I am, vs. getting discouraged that the room I just vacuumed now has cracker crumbs all over the floor. I am fortunate that most of the time, the children's friends play here. It isn't uncommon to have 9, 10, 11 kids here at a time. How fortunate that their friends are comfortable here, and that I know exactly where my children are and what they are being exposed to. (It goes without saying that the homes they are allowed to go to, I have complete trust in those families and what they may or may not be exposing to my children)

This past week I have been able to get lots accomplished in anticipation of an upcoming move (hopefully things work out) I have been purging like mad, even though the move is 6-9 months away. I figure if I purge now, and then purge again, I will get rid of WAY more than if I had just done it once. My kitchen was a toughy. My mom had come over last year and we purged my kitchen like you wouldnt believe. FILLED the trunk of my van full to the brim, but my cupboards were still bursting at the seams. I have SO much stuff that doesnt get used, especially Tupperware. Anyway, I repurged through my kitchen and got rid of so much stuff. I had 7 9x13 pyrex dishes, I cut that down to two. (They are sitting in my basement with all our other yardsale stuff and I keep debating if I should bring them back up and start doing freezer meals again. That was so easy to make two meals at once and freeze one..... any advice on that one?)

After I hit the kitchen I hit the hall closets. SO much stuff that NEVER gets used. A Lite-Brite cube I got Sage for Christmas back in 2009. I put in the lightbulb and it hasnt been touched once. Lots of extra sweaters and sweatshirts. Three huge bags, just from those two closets. When Aspen got home and saw what I had been doing, she was VERY excited.

She is a born organizer. She reminds me of Emilie Barnes. She knows just how to get everything in a place and she likes it that way. At four years old she would, on her own accord, transfer the wash to the dryer, being careful to set aside items she had seen me hang dry before. When she puts away her laundry, all her clothing would come out so it would be color coordinated in her drawers. (sage is my messiest child and them sharing a room causes Aspen a great deal of stress when it comes to the messes Sage leaves behind) As I was saying, mess and disarray drive her insane. She unloads the dishwasher every morning first thing when she gets up without ever being asked. She is always trying to keep things in order.

So, it is no surprise when she came home that day she was VERY excited. She asked for free reign over their room, which she was granted. The only rule was as she filled each bag, she had to get approval from me for the items. She filled five garbage bags with toys, books and clothes. All I pulled out was one book and one little purse (which was mine when I was 2) She was IN her element. (a few months ago she told me she didnt understand why people get their kids toys for christmas because the kids play with them for a day then they sit under the bed. She thinks instead of items, families should take a nice vacation they will always remember.) That girl is wise beyond her years.

Last night I cleaned out the game armoire. We have a beautiful armoire we bought for our bedroom. It doesnt fit, so our nicest piece of furniture is used to store board games in the living room. We often have family game night, and I play games almost daily when they kids are home and Farren is at work. The huge armoire was so full you couldnt shut it. Games had to go. I started sorting games and puzzles and Aspen and I were able to cut it down by about half. We got rid of about 15 preschool games and all our Melissa and Doug puzzles. That was harder than I thought it would be. I have so many memories of not only my babies, but nephews and friends children struggling with the ABC train puzzle the first few times. It would take forty minutes to piece it together, we would have to sing the ABC song at least 25 times to remember what came next. When they finally attached Z, they were always so very proud of themselves. But, it had to go anyway. The only preschool age game we kept was Crocodile Dentist, as it not only entertains the smallest of children (last week my cute nephew Zane (almost 3) and my adorable niece Gretchen (12 months) played it forever. It also entertains all of my children, and my husband too!

The kids also (finally) finished school yesterday. We had rootbeer floats to celebrate, and I discovered all my kids are weird and don't care for rootbeer floats. Only their friends wanted floats. Crazy kids :) I LOVE year round school September through May, but when May hits, I wish we had the traditional schedual. I would LOVE my kids home all summer AND often through the school year as well. The best of both worlds! (One can dream cant she)

I have LOTS of things I want to do with the kids this summer, I am excited that we can FINALLY get started!!