Purge baby, purge

I am feeling overwhelmed with junk in our house.  Not things that I picked out & loved, but junk.  Junk from garage sales, junk that was simply on sale so we had to buy it.  Junk.  I've been inspired by some friends to purge & organize.

Yesterday I told Jack if he got rid of 15 toys, I would buy him one toy that he really wanted.  It was hard. He immediately went to the bin of Annie's toys & started pulling things out to get rid of.  I kept suggesting toys to get rid of & all of a sudden they were his favorite, really special toy.  He ended up doing really well & I got rid of the horrible, plastic Thomas train tracks that haven't been played with for a year, so he'll get his new toy.  

Last night when Jack was asleep I went to the basement & filled a huge Goodwill box with even more toys that he won't miss.  Now I just have to keep him away from the box until it leaves the house.

I've also made a few guidelines for myself.  No more garage sale toys just for the sake of cheap toys.  If it's something I think the children will still play with a month from now, then I'll consider it.  But our house is littered with someone else's junk just because it was a dollar.  And I won't buy any more clothes that I don't love.  A $5 t-shirt from Target isn't a great deal if it makes me feel even more frumpy than I already feel daily.  And, at the end of our toy purge, if Jack gets a toy, he has to get rid of 2 toys.  We'll see how long I stick to these guidelines.  I just don't want our house to be overrun with stuff that I don't like & is taking up what little space we have.  Besides, Jack has more fun outside blowing bubbles & throwing rocks than playing with plastic toys.

All that ranting to say, go purge some junk from your life today!  It feels good!

Picture Page

Annie's eyes officially turned green about a week ago.  

Now Jack is the only one with blue eyes.

Post bath cuddle time.  Jack is obviously having fun.

Tummy time.

Chunky monkey & full of cuddles.

Calling All Crock-Potters!

Do you use your crock pot?  Do you have a favorite recipe or two you can share with me?  Two children means not much time to prepare dinner.  We're starving over here!

No, He's Not Giving You the Finger...

Here's a photo of our favorite household web-slinger.  This costume is one the little klepto borrowed from his friend & we still need to return.  (Seriously- the kid loves to "borrow" things.  Stash your silver, hide your cash!)  Sunday morning at Sunday school he was slinging webs at the teacher.  Someone better teach that kid some manners.  And, no, those aren't crocs on his feet, they're rocket boots.  Get that straight before coming to our house!

Some of my favorite recent Jack quotes include:

"Mom, will you snuggle with me in my bed?  I need some of your warm stuff.  I'm cold."

"Mom, you have to do bed time, Daddy is too sparkly (AKA- scratchy)."

"I love you Elasta-girl."  This was whispered in my ear while giving me a big hug.  Yes, I am a superhero too.

Annie is battling her second ear infection in 3 weeks.  Same baby, different ear.  Little stinker.  She's also been rolling over from her front to her back, batting at things, and wearing cloth diapers.  I just love doing laundry, so I thought I'd give cloth a try.  I actually really like them.  I feel like I'm saving money & she looks super cozy in them.