Seriously, Mommy is not trying to kill you!

From the second us mothers know there is a baby in our belly we become protectors. We change our lives for the good of this tiny human.

The changes are numerous- our diet, our daily activities, our clothing (ya know not wearing those heels that are just asking for a fall), we take vitamins and read books about every possible thing that could (and we think will) go wrong. We search endlessly for the perfect Dr and visit him/her as often as possible. We screen for more what ifs. Then we begin the researching and shopping. We buy safety items for every inch of our home. We check recall lists, avoiding hand me downs becasue surely it isn't safe, especially if some other baby has used it and not been injured or died.

Then this little person is born and a whole new set of worries comes along. Wash your hands don't touch the baby! Don't bounce him too hard, make sure you burp him just right. Are they eating enough? Too much? And of course the constant need to go check on this little person if they sleep for more then 10 mins. Poke, poke, are you breathing???? What was that a little cough? It doesn't matter if it is the middle of the night, I better call the Dr.

So why is it then that these miniature people repay our worry by acting like we are out to kill, injure, maim, and torture them at any given moment????

The Bathtub- Just look up honey, I swear if you look up the shampoo won't get into your eyes. Nope. No way, not gonna do it. Okay so how about you lay back in the tub and I'll hold your head to get the shampoo out.... Nope, you'll drown me, I'm sure of it... you won't hold my head... nope....Seriously child of mine....

The vacuum- a child death machine of course, that is why we use it don't you know. Yep, run baby girl becasue I am going to suck you up. I've spent near 4 years taking care of your every need, feeding you when I was too sick to get my own food, comforting you at night when I haven't had a decent nights sleep in weeks but what the heck- lets end it all now- with a vacuum....

Nail clippers- yes, I want to cut your toes off so I have to carry you around the house for the rest of your life, that sounds fun.

Toothbrushes- secretly these are made to slowly scrape your gums away until your teeth fall out.

Homework- this is our favorite form of torture- why? Oh becasue it is one that tortures us right along with you.

The list goes on and on... I know my kids love me, I know they trust me. But there are just some crazy fears that seem to supersede all the trust. I guess it is like when you are in the car with your husband, he is driving and you are freaking out becasue you know- he IS trying to kill all of you.

My Post Secret

This may not seem like a big deal to you, but it is to me....

I have stopped may daily ritual of reading the obituaries. It started when I was a kid. I guess it was the faces in the paper that drew my attention. That and I adored my grandma and she was always reading the obituaries, though she had a purpose, her friends were actually dying.

For a long while I didn't get the paper so I had " kicked the habit." Then came the internet (dun, dun, dun). My habit began again, but not daily...more like an "I'm bored lets see who died kinda thing" (hush, it makes sense to me!). I have no idea what my fascination is. The first thing I do is browse over the names and then I always look at the person's age. If they are above 70, I browse it over real quick. The younger they are the more intently I read. Sometimes the crazy person in me even put their name into the facebook search. Why, again I have no idea, I think it is well established I am a crazy person!

Anyways, after my dad died the whole ritual took on a new purpose. I couldn't miss a day of obituaries, not one. If I did then lucky me, you can search past dates, and I would. I'm a little embarrassed to say why I had to search the obituaries but here is where I let it out.... post my secret....

Drunk Driver- everyday since you killed my dad I have searched the obits for your name. When I found out you moved to a new city/state, well I started daily watching the obits there....


I don't know what I thought I'd find, relief perhaps? Probably just hoping justice would finally be served.

But I am happy to say that this is no longer my secret. Not only becasue I just told you but becasue I've stopped looking. One more tie that this man had over me is gone.

I am Free!

Dropping the ball. Errr, the soap!

I was in the shower and had a realization.... Yes, one that I can share without a TMI moment... but not quite yet. First I must pick on my Brad a bit. It isn't his favorite past time of mine but he knows it is all in love so here goes....

Like all men, my husband is oblivious. Oblivious to the laundry basket 2 inches from where he tosses his clothes, oblivious to the dishwasher sitting open after dinner waiting for plates to be fed to it, and oblivious to the child reaching for something that he just can't reach when he is again only 2 inches away. But I guess that is a gender trait- I can't fault him for it ( though I do becasue really IT IS TWO INCHES FROM YOU!!!!) I digress....

Unexpectedly, while I was in the shower I came to a realization. There are a few things, okay probably many, that I am unaware of  but are on his radar  (however, since I am perfect, everything is on my radar so I don't know what crazy I am talking : P )

Anyways, I never have to replace the soap- there is always a bar there when I go to take a shower, always. It made me think, what else in the house is just always there for me without me having to make sure it is... I came up with nothing. I'd like to joke here that my husband can do nothing but remember to change the soap. And then make another witty comment about how it is he still manages to be a stinky man when he does such a good job with the soap. Or maybe something about how  his own stink is what reminds him to get soap but I won't.... see I didn't type a thing about that!

What I will say is that I know for a fact, being the perfectionist that I think I am, I often overlook the small things Brad does for us or even the big things that I don't think are done the way I would do them. So I'll work on it Brad, I promise. Everyday when I am in the shower with my bar of soap, the one that I didn't have to be responsible for, I'll be reminded. So don't forget the soap! Because that I will surely notice!

To friend or not to friend....

I'm ready for summer to be over. I do prefer it to winter but I also love Fall oh so very much. And then there is that other summer thing- the kids home ALL day. Summer is that enjoyable yet unenjoyable time of year. Not to mention during summer I am isolated to the house or shaded areas thanks to my skin revolting against the sun... I seriously think I am so white I am glowing now...

But back to the kids- don't get me wrong I want to see my kids and I miss them when they are gone all the time with school and such but the craziness and monotony (yes, I know those are contradictory)of them here all day every day for months makes me a little crazy.

My schedule is off- I don't seem to keep up on cleaning as easily as when they are gone. Hmmm, might that have something to do with them being here trashing the house non-stop? It is defeating to clean a room and then within the hour find the more things all over again. Dinner goes in spurts of cooking and not- it is hard to plan dinner in advance when you don't know who will actually be in attendance for said meal.

Then there is the constant flow of kids in my house. And yes, IN- becasue for some reason I can't get my kids OUT of the house. I think perhaps I need to keep a less cushy home! I'm sure this is sounding like I don't want the kids friends over but that is NOT what I mean. I don't care if they are here most of the time as long as everyone is getting along.

It is just the quick run to the store isn't possible unless I send everyone home, and what a pain that is. Plus then my kids are whining becasue they just want to play and here I am dragging them to run errands. I'll have plans for the kids and myself, then a friend calls and suddenly no one wants my plan anymore, they want friends over. Maybe I am just sad they are picking friends over me?

I'm not sure why I can't say no to the constant playdates. Probably becasue in some ways it is just easier. Easier then listening to them whine about not having anything to do or why they can't play with so and so (yep, my kids friends are named so and so!) And easier then entertaining them all day on my own. I am not a get down on the floor and play with you kind of parent.

The kids summer wishlist is sadly unaccomplished. And mostly becasue friends are always here or one of my kids is gone with a friend. I guess I could figure out how to include friends in the plans but why is some family time too much to ask for? I think back to my childhood- my parents didn't make summer plans with me. Heck, I hardly even saw my parents. I spent the entire summer outside or at a friends from when I woke up until I went to bed. I'm not sure how I would have felt about plans with my parents but I think I would have been thrilled. Maybe my kids have it too good- I am too available to them. But is that even possible? To be too available? I think not. Perhaps I am projecting my childhood dreams onto my children?

So even though my kids are choosing friends over our wishlist I somehow feel guilty for not having them accomplish it anyways. I had visions of them reading and working on more school work all summer as well- but then as soon as we wake up someone is here, nothing gets done.... I didn't do school work during the summer so do they really need to? I think the problem is I am pretty good at putting myself in other people's shoes and seeing it from their point of view so I can logically see the kids POV for wanting friends over and skipping the reading. Then yes, I can see the teacher POV telling me what a disadvantage I am doing to my kids. Then back to the kids POV- what a disadvantage I am doing to them not letting them have this summer memories and build strong bonds with their friends...

Oh I could ramble on and on.... I'll stop.... I'm certain there is something I need to clean- oh and shockingly there is a kids argument going on and someone is crying.... I think it is ship you outside and lock the door time!

Where Have I Been?

My blogging is long over due. Not because I don't have anything to blog but because frankly, I have too much. There was the vacation up north with the in laws. Followed up by seriously considering buying a new house. Finding the dream house only to have it squashed by repair work needed and it already being at the top of our budget. Next was finding another house we love, making an offer, having it accepted, and listing our house for sale.

Listing our house meant crazy quick work at organizing that one room I had been putting off for months, okay you got me, years (dun, dun, dun...) the basement. And also fixing all those little things that are wrong with your house but for some reason you don't take the hour to deal with it you just put up with it. Why do we do stupid things like that? Oh I know because they are "Brad jobs" he likes to almost finish something then move on to a new task. I guess I really need to learn some "man jobs" so I can just do them and quit complaining huh?!

The big kicker and summer eater.... well that is the lovely phone call I received from members of my mother's church asking me if I " knew the situation at her trailer." Well yes, I've known the situation my entire life. But, really I didn't totally know the situation. If I had it would have been dealt with already. What is this situation? Well it is my mom's hoarding of course but with an added bonus this time- a mouse infestation. Her home turned into a garbage dump over run with mice, the whole place their toilet. Fantasic, just what I wanted to deal with.... I mean how many times am I going to have to clean her house out? I'll tell ya what this better be the last time!

She didn't call us, nope she called her church, and thank God she did because I just don't know what I would have done. I mean it would have been taken care of but how? Ugh! I shutter at the thought. The church called me three days into their cleaning frenzy, and barely a dent was made. Words can't even describe the disgusting conditions. How could any human chose to live in that? It baffles me.

So now my sister and I are taking over everything for our mother. We took over her finances and are trying to dig our way out of the credit card, QVC, donate to any charity that calls mess that she has created. We found her a new home because living in my daughters room was not going to work for long! And we are dealing with what to do with the trailer and it's belongings, what goes where, making a new system so she never goes back to living anywhere close to how she was, all the little details that add up to so much work.

Sometimes I sit back and am baffled by all the things I manage to do at the same time but most times I feel as though there was so much more I could have done but didn't. Even with all the craziness my short summer has seen I still think there is more I could have done so far. ( like blogging, why wasn't I blogging?) That is what you get for being an efficient person I guess.

I hope the rest of my summer is just as busy but in a better way! I want to sell our house quick and move before school starts even though we are staying in the same district.  I want to do more fun activities with the kids. The sun allergy makes the free stuff like park trips hard but we can find something. Getting my mom's life in order is something I can't wait for as well. I want the garbage dump trailer to be gone and behind us, I want all the money stuff in order, and the day to day life for her planned out with all the things she needs to have a successful life set up.

I have been successful in one summer goal- my house is organized- it is beautiful- show room status at all times! I LOVE it and the new house will definitely be put together the same way. Day to day life is much less stressful when there is less clutter. I still have to work on getting the kids to do more but one step at a time right? But you know me, I like to do 4 steps at a time.....

Please Keep the Linens off the Floor!

Have you ever solved a problem you've had for a long time and then thought to yourself, wow I must be an idiot- why didn't that solution occur to me years ago??? Obviously I have, and just did.

Two problems actually, have recently been solved in our home. The solution- oh so simple- not an Oprah "Ah-ha" moment but more like an "Oh duh!" moment.

I'd like to blog and say oh I am a genius- sadly, I don't think I can this time...but who knows, maybe you have one of these problems and have not yet solved it? I can hope right?

Problem # 1- Sheets on the floor or shoved down under the comforter on the boys beds. Do they use the sheet? Nope. So why do I keep putting it on? Solution- no more sheet on their beds- and I mean the top sheet, the one that wraps around there mattress can stay.

Problem #2- Hand towels on the floor. Who wants to pick a towel up off the floor next to the toilet to dry your hands off? I don't! Same thing in the kitchen- ok well not the same, there is no toilet in my kitchen! But the towel that should be hanging on the oven door was always on the floor. Solution- clothes pins! One clothes pin on the kitchen towel and two on the bathroom towel. I figured this gem out about a month ago after replace the bathroom hand towel once or twice a day. Now I have to remember to swap the towels out on a regular basis since I didn't have a schedule for this. No towels on the floor- it is spectacular.

So did I solve a problem for you? Are you having an "Oh duh!" moment?

The Case of the Missing Side Dish

So what is a household chore you loath?

Mine is probably being responsible for food. All the shopping, storing, preparing...it is just too much pressure some times. Thank god my kids aren't overweight. When Brad's BP and cholesterol was too high ack! it was so stressful to me. I would worry that my choices were killing him. There are just too many labels to read and every single one tells you " buy me, buy me! I'm good for you!" But they are all liars! What is the best for you at the best price and will your family actually eat it, these are the quandaries of the grocery store. Plus try to read all these labels with three kids clambering at you incessantly. Oh, I hate grocery shopping.

After buying it well then I have to figure out just where is the most efficient storage area. It can't be too far back because no one will see it to eat it, you have to rotate the older items to the front, look at expiration dates....annoying, annoying!

Then comes preparation followed by clean up. I'd eat more fruit and vegetables if someone cut them for me (and yes I know they do sell pre-cut fruits and veggies but haven't we established I am too cheap for that? I'd rather complain!) Deciding what is for dinner equals frustration; picking a healthy mix of foods that go well together, decide if the kids are going to whine about this (which is a given, Wyatt will complain about any and everything), deciding just how much whining I want to put up with.... then all the cutting, measuring, cooking, dirtying of pots, pans, bowls, utensils, plates, the counters, the table....I could make this sentence run on and on but for my English major friends I'll stop...maybe...ok, I will....

When is someone going to cook for me? You know food always tastes better when it is prepared FOR you not BY you! My mom never really cooked for me. I grew up on Mac and cheese (big shocker I know), spaghetti (just noodles no sauce), hot pockets, and fruit roll-ups all prepared by me. I did have a babysitter that made me lunch every day in the summer, yum (thanks Brenda)! I ate her out of house and home. But the point, Brad doesn't cook. I can understand on weekdays I am home, it is my "job" but weekends, well there could be another chef in my house. I tried before to have Brad responsible for a weekend meal- we'd end up going out instead, not that I mind that but I don't get to pick "lets go out" every time I don't want to cook!

And here is a great example of that very thing....

I didn't want to cook tonight, I never want to, but today I really didn't. There isn't much in the house anyways becasue guess what- I haven't went grocery shopping either! So I call Brad and offer up Chinese to him- we have a gift card so we won't be spending any extra money, sounds perfect (as are all my plans). That boy said "I was really hoping you'd cook something yummy today..." Grrrr.... He must have had Chinese for lunch- that punk. Not only does he get a home cooked meal every night but he gets to go out for lunch every single day too. Turns out he didn't have Chinese but that is neither here nor there (what the heck does that even mean? ).

Anyways, I decided on chicken in the oven ( easy!) and a box of Tuna Helper as the side dish- sans the tuna. The chicken is cooking so I put the T.H. on the counter and went downstairs (to complain on FB about having to cook dinner of course). When I came back up the box had disappeared and in its place is Lucy's notebook. Will Lucy fess up to taking the box? Nope! I searched my entire house for a good 10 mins looking for that box. I didn't have anything else to use as a side dish and didn't think Brad would buy the " I lost 1/2 our dinner" excuse. I'm seriously thinking this must be a sign from God that I should not cook tonight. But alas, I found it.... in my tupperware cupboard shoved in a bowl. Obviously the work of a three year old.

Then as I start it cooking FB distracts me again so I burned some of it....now because I don't like to cook doesn't mean I don't know how. Usually my food is spectacular (no bias here). So great just great- not only have I had to cook and now eat this meal I don't want- well now it is burnt. Brad wasn't home for about 15 mins after I finished dinner. I kept holding out on eating becasue I had this hope he was going to walk in with a yummy dinner to surprise me, but frankly I should know better then that by now- he doesn't plan well enough for that to happen. (Jess you read my blogs right? Carrie? anyone from RMI??? Give this boy some pointers- nice thing to bring your wife after work. I mean he works with a ton of women) Ah well, I gave up and ate my dinner. It wasn't horrible.

Then Brad comes home (take out free) and says " so where are we going?" WHAT!!!!!???? I could have not made dinner? I told him after all the hassle that dinner was he better eat a big ol' plate and tell me just how great every single bite was! He was smart and he complied.

But now who is going to wash these dishes?

It's a Bird, It's a Plane....

I feel  like I've almost hit my stride as a wife, mom, woman... things just seem to be going so well. My house is under control most of the time ( we are purposely leaving out the basement and garage here), the kids are pretty well behaved, Brad and I- well not to brag (which always means "hey I want to brag") but we've always been a perfect match.

Things just seem easier these days. Maybe it is part of my Simple Life goal working its self out? Maybe it is that the kids are getting older. This is the first 3 year cycle we haven't had a new baby since we met (yep, when we met I already had a baby). And by age three all those annoying baby things are long gone- no diapers, bottles, baby food, all that darn baby equipment; and bonus- you can somewhat reason with a 3 yr old... all in all just so much easier. Why didn't we stop sooner- oh right I wanted a girl....frankly, that was a grand decision and worth the extra 3 years of the baby/toddler stage. She will definitely prove her worth (I say this like she hasn't already, wink, wink)- that child cleans up after herself (most of the time), tells the boys what to do. She just takes control- oh it will be so nice when I am not the only one who walks into a room and sees the mess (boys seem to have a blindness to things that need to be done). So the real question isn't why didn't we stop but why didn't we have a girl sooner!?

Anyways, no matter what it is I just feel like I am almost the mom, wife, woman I want to be. My interests have been changing, everything seems easier, I really do feel like I am living up to the me my kids view me as (if that makes sense to you).

When Clothes Piles Attack

An Iron? What is that for? Getting out wrinkles? Haven't you heard of a little thing called THE DRYER!?

The dryer is this great appliance that tumbles out wrinkles, well most wrinkles. There are those few articles of clothing that just become wrinkled messes after being washed and dried. Those are the outfits I wear several times until I decide I just have to wash them or people will not want to sit near me. Then what happens to these misfit clothes? Well they join the "needs ironing" pile and the "do not wear this outfit often due to ironing" section of my closet. Often times I try rewashing and drying them rather then pull out the iron. Yep, I am that against ironing.

Why do I have such an aversion to an iron you may ask? Well it isn't because I think ironing is hard, it isn't. It is because of the ironing board (also known as a great place to start piling clothes). I store the ironing board under my bed. One- because it is the room I am in when I pull clothes out and decided they need ironing and two- because it takes up room so monsters can't live under there (and by monsters I mean boxes of Brad's junk). But storing it in my room means I iron in there, which means I set it up there, which means I leave it there, which means I start piling clothes on it there.

Why not put the ironing board away as soon as you are done with it? Well it is simple- the iron has to cools somewhere and ironing is usually done last minute, just enough time to remember to unplug it before we are off. Then, before I know it something has been set on the ironing board. I mean it is so convenient right there. It is made to have clothes on it- so frankly it just calls my clothes to it, "cover me in clothes," it yells through the house. Everyone hears it- not just me- and they all obey it. Within a day, sometimes less, it is covered.

Do I clean it off right away? Never. That would be too simple a solution.

Two weeks ago I needed to iron a shirt. One of those shirts that come out of the wash wrinkled up like someone wadded it up into a ball. Normally a shirt like this would not be worn very often but it is one of my sun allergy shirts- long sleeve and thin- so I have to iron it because it has to be worn. So now the ironing board is up- covered in clothes. But not the clothes that need to be ironed- no, those are in a pile on the other side of the room. (ya know because that makes a ton of sense) My room likes clothes piles- another reason why it is the perfect place to store my ironing board.

I need an ironing board with no legs- just a board to set on my bed- maybe then I'd put it away. Or maybe Brad would just find himself sleeping on a board... Hey how'd that get left there???? (insert evil grin here)


and just an FYI- I was debating drier vs dryer so I googled- here is the consensus- "A clothes dryer makes the clothes drier."

Viewed with Fresh Eyes

I did it again, I forgot to take before pictures...

My friend Cheryl came over to help me reorganize my kitchen. As I stated previously, I thought a fresh pair of eyes could help me solve some of my storage issues. Things that bother me about my kitchen are...

-I don't like anything stored on my counters
-My counter always seems to be a mess
-My cupboards are crazy deep and some even turn so it is near impossible to reach items
-I forget about and never use those items that get shoved into oblivion
-I have to keep certain things like the dog's bowls on one wall becasue he is banned from our kitchen

Before Cheryl came over my kitchen was a mess, as it is every single day. The kitchen seems to be dumping ground for everything. Anyways, I didn't clean it, I wanted her to see what and where these messy people just leave junking up my kitchen. Plus it isn't like it is a very big cleaning job just an annoying one, so I knew I wasn't making more work for her.

I told her my issues, we opened every cupboard and I explained what was in it, why, and how often I use it. Oh! and if I would use it more if it was more easily accessible. Right off the bat she had some great ideas.

I have a food pantry cupboard- it is deep as are almost all my cupboards- so putting cans in there gets difficult. Really anything in there other then cereal has to be "dug" out.

Oh let me go off on a little story here.... Cereal and Brad- Pretty much the only food Brad gets out of the cupboard is cereal ( lucky guy gets all his meals made for him!) Anyways, the cereal used to be on the very bottom shelf. Brad was constantly whining about this " I don't want to bend over....boo hoo..." So one day I told him to feel free to reorganize the pantry. He did and moved the cereal up 2 whole shelves. While Cheryl and I were reorganizing I decided to take a shelf out and move the cereal to the top. I told her Brad is going to be thrilled about this. Once he notices it, it will be all he sees or cares about. So when Brad walks in I open the cupboard to show him all our hard work. The first thing out of his mouth..... "YES! The cereal is on top! No more bending over!!!" Oh, he is so predictable!

I had never considered that the bottom shelves didn't have to have food on them. The food could be in several different cupboards in my house depending on what it was, what a novel idea! It seem like a duh! kinda thing but really, the thought never crossed my mind. I was quite obviously stuck in a rutt. (here is a semi-before (I'd already started moving stuff when we remembered to take pics) and an after picture)

Just below and to the right of my pantry is a cupboard with a shelf that pulls out- what do I have on it? A crockpot. But what could be on it? Cans of course!

Next to the stove I have some baking stuff, a George Forman Grill, hot pads, samich making stuff, candy, drink mixes, and mac n cheese (Cheryl thought I had the Mac there since it was close to the stove. Nope, sorry my Mac is there becasue I buy so much of it that is the only cupboard I can fit it in!!!). But all of this stuff is just kinda shoved in there- again a deep cupboard- and this one is weird shaped too- triangular. So we moved all side dish items (not just mac n cheese), drink mixes, and baking supplies to nice organized locations in the triangle cupboard.

On the wall where the dog's bowls have to go I had a small 2 person table that no one ever uses. Well they do, but just for setting their junk on. I kept thinking the kids would sit there and do homework since you can't see the TV from it but nope, it is too full of junk for anyone to sit at. I do keep the junk in a nice pile- ya know if a pile could be nice- I'm here to let you know piles are NOT nice- no matter how neatly you stack stuff it is still just that- a pile- a "I'm on my way to becoming a hoarder" pile! My pile was kid magazines my mom suscribes the kids to. They never read them and I felt bad just throwing them away, but with a little help from my friend I tossed them (normally I would send them to school but it is summer break).

On my garbage can wall I had a metal shelf I had brought in during Brad's surgery to keep all of his foods on (so he didn't have to look at ours while getting his and be sad). So great idea- get rid of the table and move the shelf over to it's place. This way the dog's bowls can move over the few inches they really need to and the junk table won't be there to serve faithfully as a collection point. What to put on the wire shelf was a little difficult. Because the dog can reach that wall the only food that could go on it would be cans but we already found a home for those. I knew juice needed to go on the bottom shelf so that was easy. Then it hit us- we haven't cleared the counter tops yet! Perfect solution, my reward rock jars and my paper files.

These files were my genius idea on dealing with all the paper. The kids bring home a ton of papers from school, Brad is never happy about where I put his mail, and I have store ads I want to hold on to for the week or kids papers I just don't feel like moving to their permanent file in the basement. So this seemed like the perfect solution. It is a good one, I haven't made it perfect yet, but I am working on a plan to! The problem is I never make people empty these so as you can see in the picture, everyone's file is pretty full.

The rocks, well that is my behavior/chore system. The kids get rocks for doing chores, being punctual, good grades, good attitudes, etc.... When their jar is filled they get cold hard cash- how ever many years old they are is how many dollars they collect. The system was working really well but has slowed down. I am going to work on a new twist to it- make a list of jobs and how many rocks they are worth. My hope is they will then voluntarily do more chores without me even having to mention they need to be done- here is to hoping!

But back to moving the table out- I'm so glad we did! The kitchen feels so much bigger, more open. I do have to touch up some paint thanks to the table but no biggie- I actually have a small wall on the corner that never even got painted becasue the patching of it wasn't dry and then I forgot to go back to it- oops!

I do need to come up with a solution for my recycling. It goes on the same wall as my garbage can. I also have a stand there for bags which has to stay becasue it keeps the shocker disk for my dog on it, this is how we keep him out of the kitchen (he will eat all our food, open cupboard doors, and dump the garbage if he was allowed in). I've put the disk in many places but that exact location is the only way to make the perfect perimeter for him. Anyways, I think I might buy another trash can like the one I have but mark it for recycling so the kids don't throw trash in it- it would help with symmetry for sure!!!

All in all my kitchen reorganization was a success for sure! We moved a lot but we also left a lot alone. I'm anxious to see in the coming weeks if it stays cleaner and functions smoother. I highly recommend having a friend over to help give you new ideas. I truly think once you have lived somewhere for a while and just get used to things in a certain place it is hard to see where things could move for a more efficient and organized kitchen. But sorry those of you who know Cheryl, she is all mine and I'm not sharing!

So here is the after shots around my kitchen....(and fyi, those are princess magnets on my dishwasher not dirtiness)

Open Fridge, Insert Milk

Last night my family discovered the milk was bad. Our milk very rarely goes bad but I over bought. You know when you go to the store and you don't check the fridge first- well if you don't buy milk you need it and if you do well then of course you don't! I had done the latter. I was trying to push the milk to get the 2 full gallons consumed prior to the expiration date but obviously, I failed. Frankly, I even forgot that the milk was going to expire sooner then usual.

So last night when my children and my husband discover that the milk is bad what do they do? Oh they put it back in the fridge. Why not? I mean of course that makes the most sense. When I called on my way home and asked if we needed anything Brad said nope. Maybe had he dumped the milk out instead of putting it back the fact that we had none would have been a tad more fresh in his mind. But maybe they all just wanted to re-taste the bad milk. (They had to know I wasn't going to drink it, I think everyone here is well aware that I am not a milk drinker.) That must have been it because this morning they tell me " the milk is bad, what do we do." Um, eat something else???? So here is my kids genius move- they pour a bowl of cereal and then pour the bad milk in! What?!

Geniuses, my children are geniuses.

The Simplifying Update

I figured you are due a decluttering update. Rooms done thus far-
master bedroom
boys room
Lucy's room
bathrooms
family room
living room
hall closet
dining room
front closet

So that leaves rooms left to work on-
the kitchen
and (doom, doom, doom- insert ominous music)
the basement
the garage

I've been putting the kitchen off because I am certain there must be a better way to store things that I am just not seeing. Maybe they make organization glasses for those of us blind to it? I don't know why I have a hard time organizing- I am a very efficient person. I think that is the problem- I am too efficient- yep, going with that. I can see too many different strategies of what would work best for different reasons and I just can't condense them down into one good way. My plan is to have a friend come over and brainstorm with me. Plus bonus! That is an extra pair of hands too (wink wink Cheryl).

I would ask Brad but frankly that would be like asking one of the kids to give me a hand. I love him but that boy can't even locate the dishwasher. He thinks everything belongs on the counter tops. (When I read Brad this blog, I'll leave that part out... he thinks I bash him, I think he should be glad he makes so many appearances is my blog and I love him not in spite of his quirks but because of them. Okay, I could do without the dirty dishes and clutter on my counters from him but I'll go the safe route and say that is all part of what makes him him- the him that I love! Plus what would I have to blog about without him?!)

So, Kitchen- kinda done, some stuff gotten rid of but what is there needs more organization.

The basement is what I am dreading the most. I think a hoarder lives down there. A messy, messy hoarder! There is no real system of organization going on in that dump. Boxes seem to empty themselves all on their own. I straighten it all the time is seems, but with in days it is back to its strune about messy self. This is an area that Brad has to be totally on board with me. The last time I cleaned the basement I counted Brad's boxes of random things. Twenty, he has twenty. And I'm not talking twenty small boxes. Nope, more like big monitor boxes. I covered the whole Brad won't let me get rid of his stuff thing in the blog about cleaning out our bedroom. I mean God Forbid I throw out a notebook from college that has only one page of notes in it or his 1980's High Top British Knights from high school basketball. I mean he might want to pull those bad boys out if he goes to shoot some hoops. (alright they were Nike not BKs and after much ado he did let me donate them) I'm guessing the basement is going to take a few weeks. I'd like to do it in a weekend but I am pretty sure that won't happen, Brad needs time to part with his ancient belongings he hasn't seen in 10 plus years or even remembered owning.

The garage- well that won't be too bad. Just straightening kid toys and some of Brad's stuff lining all the walls.

Once I get everything done then the plan is to do another run through every room. Things are bound to get moved around. Places I put thing may not be working as well as it could be.

Part of my life simplifying plan is to work on behavior issues with the kids. Levi yells at Wyatt too much and Wyatt cries about everything. Lucy, well she is 3- I think she is doing ok so far. So I need to figure out how to address and change these issues. Then there is things like getting the kids to do chores without me telling them over and over. Frankly, I'd like to not even have to tell them- I want them to know what they are to do and then they just do it. Maybe I am dreaming but I think this is possible as well.

School is out on Thursday ( I can't believe how late into the summer it is running this year!). I plan on coming up with some strategies and having a family meeting over the weekend so we start out the summer with guidelines in place. I'm not completely sure what these guidelines are but I do know one- we will have "Wire Free Wednesdays" We all need a day without TV, computers, and video games. I'm sure I'll have FB withdraw, Brad and Wyatt will have gaming withdraw, and Levi and Lucy will have TV withdraw. But I think it will be a step in making us an even closer family. This is important as the kids get older and are pulled away more and more.

So I have some brainstorming to do over the next few days! I'll fill ya in later with what I come up with and how it goes.

The Repeat Offender

Birthdays, Christmas, Valentines, St. Patty's, Presidents Day, Labor day, Halloween, 4th of July.... if there is any form of holiday associated with a day my mother will get my kids something. But not just one something but a whole bag...per kid...that is times 3 people. And I'm not talking gift bag size, not even grocery bag size, nope I'm talking garbage bag size! She also has moved on from those regular old garbage bags, you know the ones that don't stretch. Lord knows you need the stretch ones so you can fit every last bit of dollar store crap you can in there. At least she uses a fitting bag, and no I don't mean fitting as in room, I mean fitting as in the stuff inside of it is junk.

Occasionally there are a few treasures. Every time she actually gets the kids something they like and they gasp in excitement, I sigh with discouragement- oh no! She knows they like that, now we will be bombarded with it. My sister and I learned at a young age never to mention a new like, hobby, etc... becasue in no time at all it would be ruined for us. We would drown in it. Because you see if you like something you need every possible item having to do with it. And apparently you can never outgrow your likes either.

I can't even remember how far back it was but my sister made the mistake of letting my mom find out she liked Garfield. So what did she receive on every gift worthy holiday (which if you forgot is all of them) oh Garfield everything; a stuffed Garfield dressed like  Santa, one holding a heart, another with a graduation hat, then a smaller Santa one (why? becasue it isn't the same size as the first Santa silly, you need them all!) But it isn't just stuffed animals. Nope, you get Garfield clothes, jewelry, and of course home decor becasue frankly, who wouldn't want that cat just over taking every corner of their house? I mean you like Garfield so he should be everywhere, if you turn your head you should see him. Oh so that means your car needs him too- Garfield air fresheners, floor mats, window stickers... And don't worry if stores stop selling Garfield items well then you, my dear, will be lucky enough to receive any generic orange cat item she can find. You can tell her over and over that you have moved on from Garfield but sorry that does not compute. Even if you are 30, you will still enjoy a little Garfield figurine don't you know.

At some point you will finally you break down and tell her a new like becasue if you see one more Garfield you might just lose your mind. Anna (my sister) moved on to Nutcrackers. I think she foolishly thought our mother would only find these gems at Christmas and couldn't possibly over do it. I mean they are nutcrackers they don't make a ton of stuff with them on it, right? Wrong! I'm telling you if they make it she will find it (said in your best Kevin Costner voice). I think my sisters Nutcracker "Army" could overtake Cuba if someone built them a little Nutcracker Boat and sent them on their way. Maybe my mom will even find a Nutcracker boat and then we can set them sail! I'm sure Anna is game. Seriously though, at family get-togethers Anna tries to stuff the Nutcrackers into other peoples bags. And since most get-togethers are at my house she tries to leave them here lurking in my basement.

So anyways, back to my kids. They have yet to clue in on this wonderful trait their Grandmother has. They realize that she buys them the same few things over and over. And in their case she really does buy the SAME thing- she stays on the theme- Levi gets Star Wars, Wyatt's is Batman, and Lucy well her garbage bags puke pink princess everything. But she just keeps getting the same few things. She can't drive and only has limited store resources so every holiday she buys whatever they have in the according themes not realizing they haven't changed their stock out and she has already give my kids these things.

I try to tell them not to rave about something to their grandma but it is too late already. Levi will be receiving Star Wars items for the rest of my mother's life. He could be grown with his own kids and you know what my mom will buy him? A Star Wars toilet seat- and no, I'm not joking (my kids watched Sponge Bob while she was here- I was the proud receiver of a Sponge Bob toilet seat at the next visit- um thanks mom, it will really match my rock and water bathroom theme).

Anna will be having the next grandchild, maybe we will get smart this time and tell her the baby likes money. But then the little cutie will end up with play money, a towel that looks like a $100 bill, money wall paper, wallets, coin purses, piggy banks, anything that  happens to be green ( becasue money is green of course), oh man, there is no winning this is there.....

Always read the second line!

Today I am at my cardiologist- wow I am so old I have a cardiologist... there is a whole other blog- being the only one not collecting social security in the waiting room- great way to feel young but so old all at the same time.

Anyways, I had just finished up a stress echo that wore me out. The appt was at 9am, a time when I am usually comfortably snoozing in my comfy bed, NOT running on a treadmill, pretty much topless with wires attached to me. Quite the look, but I'll spare us all pictures of that! So needless to say I am exhausted at this point. I just want to sleep, my head is a little spinny...

I move to the next station (with my shirt on thankfully) where the lady calls me back for my halter monitor to be put on. I requested different sticker things for the wires because I have pretty sensitive skin. While she was in the other room locating them I saw a sign on the door.

I'm a speed reader, I read the important parts, once I get the gist I move on. So on the sign I read- Five Important Tips for Cardiac Patients.... (okay, lets see what this says) #1-Dress warm ( I wonder if that is why my feet are always cold? Are people with heart issues always cold? Old people do always seem to have sweaters on), #2-drink a lot of water to stay hydrated (Man oh man, people are always telling me to drink, well I just dn't like to- am I the only person? Nah, otherwise there wouldn't be signs like this), #3 have someone else help you drag and clean the deer" (WHAT? How did a deer carcass make it on this list? I'm so confused! Am I really that tired, let me read again). Yep #3- have someone else help you drag and clean the deer. I must have missed something here... Ah, the second line- Five Important Tips for Cardiac Patients....While Hunting this Season"

I guess sometimes speed reading doesn't pay off... but the nurse attaching my halter monitor had a nice chuckle, you should as well... so my tired stupidity wasn't for naught.....

Long Live the White Label

I'm a cheap person, I'm pretty sure I've already established that. When I grocery shop I have some name brand things I have to buy but most of the time I just go for whatever is the cheapest- generic works for me unless it is Mac n Cheese, gotta have the blue box, cheese slices same thing has to be Kraft, are you sensing a cheese pattern? Really I buy off brand cheeses like provolone, etc...But this blog isn't about cheese so lets move on!

 I figure generic is just the same thing as the name brand but the name brand pays for all the advertising and has a higher price. That must really piss the name brand people off. I mean think about it, they spend all this money on marketing their product and then what happens? Consumers like me show up to buy some Tylenol, heck we even call it Tylenol not acetaminophen, but then we see the generic brand right there next to it for half the price. All those big words on the back look the same, just the box is different- usually white, no fancy packaging. I'm sold- same thing cheaper price; keeping some money in my pocket and down with the push it down your throat advertising to my children!

But today I started wondering if I was mistaken about the generic brand wonderment. I have bought off brand detergents for quite sometime. My clothes smelled clean but never that laundry smell that your grandma's towels have. So I picked up some Tide. Wow, the difference in smell right out of the drier! So now I am wondering what else have I went generic on and it is inferior but I have no idea. I might have to re-evaluate my whole system! Nah, I'm too cheap for that... I'll find these little gems on accident one day...long live the white label!

The Focusing Face

Wyatt is my child that I always seem to have a story to tell starring him as the main character. Because he is just that, a character. He has the funniest quotes, the quirkiest style; his brain goes a mile a minute and his logic is usually either amazing or just plain humorous. He never fails to entertain. Even his whining is funny at times, the things that bother that child are too many to tell so of course many just make you laugh. (please remind me later about the humorous part, I may forget!)

I've started a journal full of funny quotes my children have said. I have always wanted to do this but never got around to it, always thinking I would remember them all. But I've realized I don't (insert sad Becky face here). So sadly, Levi will feel left out I'm sure, his funny days are behind him at the moment, I'm sure they will come back at some point though. Wyatt, well he is the king of my quote book thus far. He was mad the other day because his fortune cookie told him to take a weekend away and clear his mind. "Why would I want to clear my mind? I like being smart!" Earlier today Levi asked him to bring a piece of cake outside and he announced quite annoyed like " I am like some cake servant carrying this around!" Or there is the whole "when your hair turns white your brain stops working and you die" theory he has after I explained how my grandma died (apparently not very well!).

Then there is just the funny things he does- like wearing two different shoes becasue one shoe in the pair is wet so why put a whole new set on when you could leave the one and just swap out the wet one?! Everywhere we go he seems to be in a costume. Taking a Power Ranger, Batman, or Indiana Jones to the grocery store, well that is the norm around here. Wyatt is simply amazingly amuzing!

So a few weeks back when Brad decided to pull out the BB gun and teach the boys to shoot it why would I expect anything different. So no more typing from me, just some fun pictures of my little character giving his all- and you should know before looking that frankly, you just can't focus unless you are making a good focusing face...

Polymorphic Light Eruption

Ah, it is summer. A time to spend outside, beautiful walks, bike rides, trips to the park, laying out by the pool, sprinklers, picnics...

Summer is the time that people talk about how to spend their time outside. No one talks about what to do inside during the summer! But that is where I am finding myself. What to do indoors, away from that evil sun. Yes, evil. All right, I know it isn't, we need the sun and yes, I like the sun. Maybe I should go with my evil immune system. It has something against the sun.

I have Polymorphic Light Eruption (PLME). What that means is if I got out in the sun I break out in an itchy rash. A rash that doesn't seem to go away quickly or lessen with any type of over the counter products that I've tried thus far. Last summer when I had my first outbreak I spent an entire month of the summer itching. I had to take steroids to ease the itching. The rash,well a year later the rash is still visible (lessened but there). My Dr. told me it might possibly never completely fade. Nice... (this isn't me but pretty much what it looks like)

So how do I function this summer? What in the world do you do when you have 3 young kids and you can't be in the sun? I can cover up and wear a special sun block but even that fails. I can't seem to get everything covered. And man it is hot to keep covered from head to toe. I don't know how muslim women do it.

I'm glad long skirts are in this summer, I hope they stick around for quite some time- like until I get to a point where I just don't care what I am wearing- gosh I hope that day never comes. So anyways, long skirts that is easy- legs covered- check! Shoes, well just going with flip flops, my feet haven't broke out yet and I need my feet cool.

Shirts, this is the area I am having a hard time with. I can't seem to get it right. I have been wearing long sleeves- even on 80 plus degree days! Not enjoyable! But, I seem to keep letting my chest and neck get attacked by the sun. Apparently I need a turtle neck for the summer time; that or scarfs. Yes, I just said scarfs and turtlenecks in the summer- ugh!

For my face, yes my face has been effected, I have over sized sunglasses and a big ol' hat, I call it my Diva hat. I feel stupid wearing it even though everyone tells me it is cute. I personally feel like an idiot. Like I am over dressed for the event or that everyone thinks that I just think I am fabulous. I'm going to have to be that person walking around with an umbrella on a sunny day. "Look at me! Look at me!" that is what my outfit will be screaming. While I on the other hand will be hoping to no one is looking. (this is me and my far too low cut shirt!)

Really I guess I just need more confidence (and a self cooling body even when completely covered). Changing your style is hard. Not that I have a great style to begin with but it works for me, I feel comfortable. I do love the skirts though. I guess I am becoming more girlie in my old age (of 25, yep I am 25). Last summer I had started wearing skirts prior to the PMLE diagnosis, just knee length vs ankle. The long skirts, well they are super comfy- elastic waists, flowy, nothing riding up.... But, elastic waist can be dangerous- you can gain weight and have no idea since your clothes still fit! And today I found some cute light-weight turtle neck short sleeve shirts. I'll have to wear a light-weight shirt over my arms. I'd still rather go with a tank of some sort. And the hat, well the hat is something I could definitely go without...

Ants! Ants On The Counter!

It took a few tries and I seriously thought to myself, Good Lord you can't even do this? But finally success! I, my dear friends, am an ant farmer! Move over Uncle Milton, I did it, and without your mail order ants!

Okay, I have been successful for a day, yes one day...maybe I should keep my gloating over my mad skillz down to a minimum. But my ants are awesome.

So here is the story to how I became an ant farmer, becasue I know you are dying to hear it, er um read it. Wyatt, my 2nd child, has a ridiculous bug phobia. It came out of nowhere last summer. One day he was fine the next he was screaming and clawing himself out of his car seat becasue "dear lord there is a fly in the window 5 feet from me but I think it will eat me alive..." or something like that. But seriously, this fear has been crippling for him. He barely went out last summer. I would carry him out on the porch, toss his shoes out the door and lock it just to get him outside. (Yes, I did win mom of the year last summer, thanks for asking) He would sit on the porch screaming until we came up with some compromise- he stop crying and swing for 5 mins then he could come back in, something like that...what usually ended up happening is that he would pace around in a circle in the driveway swatting at bugs that weren't there until his time was up. I'm sure the neighbors went from thinking I was beating my child  to maybe I have a special needs kid becasue man oh man did he look crazy.

Flash forward to this spring, the bug phobia is coming back, at the moment it seems less crippling but all the bugs aren't really out yet. So the Dr. told us we should think about counseling. Last year I was joking we'd end up in counseling but this year, well now I am dreading it. Let's take this step by step and start with an ant farm our Dr suggested, so we did.

My dear sweet friend, Andrea, found an ant farm for me on clearance- jackpot! I am a cheapy cheap person- clearance is great! But my clearance find was missing the coupon for free mail order ants. I can still get ants but I must pay. No one local seemed to carry ants. And really, why should I buy ants? A cheap person like me is not going to pay money for something that is in abundance all around me. So began my quest for ants.

I read up online about how to catch these lil buggers, I didn't find much help. I did find a few important tips 1- make sure all your ants are from the same colony and 2- if you put them in the fridge for 15 mins it will slow them down so you can get them into the ant farm.

So day one ant catching Wyatt is thrilled. We can't get ants in that farm fast enough for him. I set out with a star burst and a baby food jar with oil around the edge (oh that was a google tip too, so they can't crawl out.) Man oh man were those buggers hard to catch. I was trying to just get ants there- no dirt. I'd get them to walk on the candy but then I couldn't shake those darn things off- candy equals sticky- stupid, stupid! Finally I discovered a magic rock. I picked the rock up and an ant was on it, I shook it off into the jar, put the rock down and when I picked it up again whala! another ant! I think I got about 10 ants in and then catching ants was just too much work. I decided 10 ants was good, I mean it is a little ant farm and a lot of my googling told of people whose mail order ants had mass casualties and they only put a few ants in so I thought we'd be good.

Off to the fridge with the ants for 15 mins. Then it was time to load them in. I did not plan this well at all! What google failed to inform me of was that those little ants spring right back to life once they are out of the fridge. I'm trying to shake ants out of a jar, Levi is having to run his hands back and forth over the top of the farm to keep them in while Lucy and Wyatt stand in the way yelling " Ants! Ants on the counter!" I got most of the ants in so we shut the lid and put them in the basement (cool and dark for the first night- another google info). Wyatt kept checking on the ants but they weren't doing much. I did notice there was one light brown ant, the others were black, hmmm.... is he from a different colony? Me and my spectacular ant knowledge decided he was from the same colony but he just had a different job so he looked different, shut up you watched ants and saw they all looked different based on their jobs too, oh wait that was Bee's wasn't it- stupid Jerry Seinfeld, you should have went with ants....Okay but there are ant movie were the different job ants look different so I'm justified (in my own mind at least).

The next morning we woke up to an octo-something homicide, the one brown ant had killed  the other eight ants. He had a speedy trial and was sentenced to banishment.

Try 2, pretty much the same thing- somehow ended up with ants that killed each other. Try three, I decided ant farming was not for me. I can't seem to catch ants that aren't homicidal. Plus every time I have to get these ants I feel like they are crawling on me all day long (shudder). So I sent Brad and Wyatt out on an ant expedition. They took a shovel and dug up a ton of places until they hit the mother load. I brought out some bread for them to climb on and we shook them into the ant farm directly- No freezing ants only for them to jump back to life w/in seconds this time. They captured about 25 ants.

I was certain this third time was the charm, plus of course Brad would have to upstage me here. Well, the next morning we woke up to an empty ant farm. Those little buggers were just that- little. They escaped out the air holes. Now don't tell Wyatt but there are 25 ants in his room somewhere!!!

So now I've given up and decided cheapy me is going to have to buy some freaking ants. Ants that are too big to fit through the air holes. Stupid ants, why do you need air?! But as I am sitting outside waiting for Wyatt to get off the bus I see the perfect opportunity for ants. There is an abandoned wasp nest on the ground packed full of ants- just sitting there. All I have to do is pick that thing up, toss it in the ant farm and wha-la! 200 ants in one swoop! I had been thinking about the air hole problem and coming up with solutions prior to my find so I decided to go for it.

Stupid me did try to do the fridge thing though just so I could keep the wasp nest out. That failed miserably and I had to quickly kill about 20 ants on my counter while once again Lucy and Wyatt stood in the way yelling " Ants! Ants on the counter!" I swear I should just have cameras running 24/7 in my house, I could win some serious money on America's Funniest Home Videos. Needless to say, I gave up on trying to shake them out of the wasp nest and just tossed it in and closed the lid.

The ants seemed to get to work pretty quickly. I was excited! I put tape over the air holes and then poked a smaller hole with a tack. Genius, I had decided, this is genius! And it was, kinda. By the next morning a few ants had chewed their way out- stupid working ants! But I had a better solution- duct tape! Duct tape fixes any problem right? So I should be all set. It has been near 12 hours and no one has escaped yet.


And bonus, my awesome little ants are great workers! They have made a ton of tunnels already (say that 10 times fast)! And tada! I seem to have no little Hannibal Lecter ants in there killing everyone!

I think I am the one most intrigues by these little ants.  I have spent over an hour just watching them work tonight. It is pretty cool to me how they all just know what the plan is and do it. I guess they have their own ant language but wow, what a great team they make. Too bad we can't be like the ants, the non-homicidal ones that is....

I'll Spare you the Play by Play....

I have Lucy's room mostly done now. I'll spare you the play by play (well most of it you know a short story still takes me a while)...

Her room was rather hard because unlike the boys she does play with near all her toys on a pretty regular basis. BUT she also makes a gigantic mess and doesn't have the shelf space like they do so really she should have less, funny how that works! She has a pretty big closet but it is over the stairs so one wall is slanted,making it useless. Ah but not to genius me! I had decided long ago (like when it was Levi's room back in the one kid days) that a couple shelves on that slant would be spectacular. Well finally eight years later there are shelves! And yes, they are spectacular!

Her 2 shelves are full as well as bins under her bed. We couldn't add a 3rd shelf becasue he clothes have to hang somewhere and I already have her dresser in there. I may have to weed through some more after her birthday on Friday. My mom called to say she had a "bunch of stuff" for Lucy, yay....

There are also some toys up on the top shelf in her closet she can't play with unless I get them down and far too many books... I really need to just donate a box of books. But like I said her room is MOSTLY done...this decluttering gets tedious, I start to lose focus. I think every room will probably get the initial declutterization and then a follow up later. Too bad I can't charge like the Dr!

Unfortunately, I still have to go through everyone's clothes. I'm putting clothes off because though drawers are full they still shut (ah the wonderfulness of hidden messes)! Birthday's are about to be over so after my mom drops her load of junk on me and school is out, summer clothes are out in full force, well then I will go through everything.

So here is what you are waiting for (because I know you are just dying to be a part of my everyday life! lol) the before and after pictures, though I did forget to take a before pic of the closet with no shelves....

People of Garage Sales

Give, sell, trash???

I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with all the clutter I am removing from our home. I'm certain I have mentioned before that I just hate garage sales and Craigslist...oh stupid Craigslist people don't even get me off on that tangent!

Giving everything away just seemed wasteful. I knew a lot of the items could sell if I bothered. But man oh man I just don't want to! Luckily, the perfect solution appeared (ahhhhhhhh (this is angels singing))- my Mother in Law (not the angel- haha sorry V had to add that ya know) was having a garage sale. What? Put my name on stuff and then dump it for someone else to deal with???  I'm so there! Okay, so I didn't have intentions of just dumping it, I knew I'd have to help some. But no sign making, no advertising, no having to bother getting change, I can be late, leave early, blame the sun for my need to not work, I'm  like a bad employee that still gets paid! SOLD!

The sale started on Thursday. My intention was to have everything at her house, priced, and set up on a table in her garage on Wednesday night (ya know in case I was late Thursday morning 9am is terribly early for me). So in true Brad form (haha, okay Becky form) at 8pm Wednesday night after the kids were already supposed to be in bed, we loaded up the kids in both Jeeps (picking which items to take right then!) and headed to the in-laws. There we began setting items on our table and quickly pricing them.We sent the kids out back becasue Lucy had already cuddled herself up with a Pooh Bear I had removed from her room over a year ago and Wyatt a singing cow. Ya know stuffed animals- a mothers favorite toy.

Let me go off on a tangent here... who gives kids stuffed animals? I'll tell ya who- people without kids! Stuffed animals are the most useless toy ever. And they take up a ton of space. You can't just toss those things in a bin or toy box they take up the whole thing. So then what do you end up doing? Oh either hanging them in a corner net to collect dust because no one can reach them or stacking them on the end of your kid's bed. They fall off constantly cluttering the floor, when the bed needs to be made you have to remove the small army of stuffed germ carriers first then pile them all back on afterward. Those things can't really be washed either. I'll give ya that every kid need one or two stuffed animals to sleep with but all you insane gift givers out there- leave it to the parents to buy these lovies, keep your Christmas bears, singing farm animals, and gigantic monkeys for your own house!

Now that I got that out, back to the sale. Thursday morning I was up and at my MIL's house before 8:30! And I am talking AM here not PM! We set up and I hung out most of the day. A trip to take Lucy to the Dr back home to grab Wyatt but back until I had to get Levi. Friday I had plans so I wasn't going to show up but my plans got canceled, guess I better go help. Actually I didn't mind. Laying on a blanket under a tree in the shade was nice. The kids just ran around and bonus MY HOUSE IS STAYING CLEAN!!!  No one is there to dirty it! Plus the fridge is still broken so no groceries equals no cooking still either!

 Yep! That was my view all day long!

Friday was the day I cleaned up, money wise that is! I swear every sale was mine, it was nice to see my list get longer and longer. But on Friday my sun allergy kicked in, I developed an itch rash on my chest. I'm not sure if it was from Thursday's garage sale time or a trip to the park on Tuesday??? Nevertheless, I was itchy and far more conscious about the sun light the rest of my garage sale time.

Saturday, the whole gang came along- Brad included! It was a nice family day just lounging in the yard. I was blogging Wyatt's fish story and Facebooking of course. ( I was blissfully unaware of this picture being taken and uploaded to Facebook by my wonderful husband who should know by now people w/o chins do not like pictures taken from the side! Warn a girl! I gotta try to stick that bottom jaw out, we can't all be so lucky as to have jaw surgery and a new chin- haha yes, I said lucky! No, I don't want to endure what he has all for a chin, I'll pass and continue complaining about random side view pictures for the rest of my life instead, thank you!)

Brad, other then snapping horrid pictures of me, was sewing- yes, sewing... Our camping shair he was sitting in began to rip ( HIS chair not mine, I'm a feather) and to my surprise he went in, got a needle, thread, and a thimble (yes a thimble!) and began repairing the chair!) How domestic!!!

 

I lowered the prices on a few items and at noon we made most of the stuff 1/2 off. My table was getting emptier and emptier- yay! I really wanted to sell a stroller and a toy box. I got the stroller sold- so that's good.

There weren't too many crazy garage sale people. I was really hoping for a fun garage sale story, who needs peopleofwalmart.com when you could have peopleatagaragesale.com, maybe there is already a website for that? I'm not looking- you can! There was this guy in a crazy weird pointy hat- I tried to get Brad to snap a picture but apparently his camera only works if he needs to post a bad picture of me. Oh and there was a couple ladies in this car- I can't believe this car was actually driving. It was a big 80's boat car with the front lights/grill area just gone. The color- well it was just all rust, no idea what color it used to be. I swear they just drove that thing straight out of the trailer park, oh sorry I mean junk yard. ( and yes I can pick fun at trailer parks becasue I grew up in one!)

Anyways, out of about 3 Jeep loads we only brought back maybe one. And really near all of that is going to The Goodwill tomorrow! We made near $200, not a fortune but it is something.  And now I feel like I can just donate the rest of the stuff I find as my declutterization continues. I only have a toy box and like 3 new-in-box toys to try to sell at the moment!!! I'm wondering if I should take our "donate stuff" to the closest Goodwill, it is usually the one I do- very convenient, drive up, they get it out of your car right there....BUT it is the Goodwill my mom goes to, will she just re-buy it all and bring it back? You do know she can't be stopped!  I was noticing as I have been decluttering- she has bought nearly everything in my house...okay the small stuff, the get rid of stuff, toys, clothes, dozens of hot pads, plastic dishes, candy (omg the candy! and no I'm not donating candy- I serious threw away an entire garbage bag of candy the boys had stored in their closet- how in the world had the dog not sniffed that out?)

My path to a Simpler Life is going well. A few more rooms/closets to go but so far I am quite proud!