Operation Minimize: 337-520

by Stacy on September 1, 2010

Wow! I can’t believe I actually did it. I made it passed the 500 mark, meaning my home is now rid of 500 pieces of useless clutter. THAT IS HUGE. yet not. Since I obviously still have so far to go. I chose not to tackle any specific areas, but rather to just pull junk from anywhere I happen to be at the moment. The results are slower but I feel less confined by rules (alright, I’m a rebel). Corners of my home are starting to look better and I am “getting” to the point that I might be comfortable posting photos of my progress.

What do you think? Would you like pictures to go along with this challenge?

I hope you guys will not think less of me or cast judgements based on the state of my home. We’ve got three kids and I am borderline pack rat … it was only a matter of time until something happened and I would much rather lay out all my dirty laundry here with folks that care about me then ever be on an episode of Clean House. Sure Niecy is cute & all AND I would love to see what outrageous outfit or what color flower she would wear to my house … but … I would never, NEVER want the world to see my home like that.

NOTE: My home actually looks nothing like the ones on Clean House – we have all the usual – you know, visible floors, usable chairs & other home furnishings so I’m not sure we could even make it on the show but you get my drift. Don’t you?

It’s the lack of visible counter space that is driving me mad. The state of my bedroom which somehow became the drop off point for things we would put in the garage sale one day … when is THAT day going to come? Soon I tell you, people! Soon!

This week we sent 40 more items to the Medina Children’s Home, 133 items to the recycle or trash bin and 11 items marked for resale.

I gave up 13 magazines (one of my weaknesses) which is monumental for me, hey that’s more than an entire years worth of magazines folks! And found out my baby boy has only 4 shirts and a few pairs of shorts that actually FIT him. Hence the reason if you see us around town, he is rocking his older brothers way cool swim trunks. No worries though, new threads are on their way and I’ll be trading in some of his nicer duds for some new ones at our local Once Upon A Child.

274 Trash

59 To Sell or SOLD

187 To A Better Place

__________________
520 Items No Longer in My House!!

I even had a moment to create this snazzy new tracker which I will use to keep you updated on my progress along the way. Why yes, the Mister is out of town this week … why do you ask? No, I actually get this much stuff done all of the time. Thank You Very Much. Ok, I’m lying now. Not only am I a horrible liar but I actually don’t get all that much done around the house with three kids 4 & under and none of them in school.

How about you? Did you rid your home of some useless junk this week? If you did, you KNOW I want to know all about it!

I added this post to the Raising Homemakers homemaking party!

Miss the start of this series? No problems, you can catch all the decluttering goodness right here:
Operation Minimize – A journey in decluttering

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Where I blog

by Stacy on August 31, 2010

I keep seeing all these posts floating around of these incredibly beautiful and homey spaces where people sit down each day to blog. They are all incredibly inspirational and I just love getting a peek in to the lives of my readers and friends. Still, at the same time I can’t help but laugh when I think about where I am sitting at the very moment I’m reading about all of these fabulous places. So without further ado … I bring you the answer to the question I know each of you are dying to know …

“Where do I connect with of the rest of the world?”

Where I blog

I can pretty much guarantee none of you thought all of this fabulousness came from a toddlers papasan chair in my living room.

Yep, this is my little corner of the world. The place where I go to unwind after a long day and just you know, relax. (I hope you can sense the sarcasm here) I can’t really tell you how this all came to be. It just sort of became a habit.

The chair is small, it makes my bottom numb and there are metal braces poking up in the back that give me killer knots in my back. Still, I stick with it because the settee I bought for this specific purpose gives me back spasms so bad I can barely walk (getting old, I know) so I keep coming back to this … it’s been almost a year now (somebody please stop me!!) It started because my husband had the couch and my sister in law had the other seat in the house, but my husband is never home and my SIL has been gone for 3 months, yet here I still sit. I must look really ridiculous.

Maybe this post was exactly the push I needed to take action. I started scouring craigslist for something … anything …. and look what I found! Wish me luck it’s still available tomorrow.

This post is part of Centsational Girl‘s link party,

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In the blink of an eye

by Stacy on August 30, 2010

It happened so suddenly, almost seemingly overnight. Although I know rationally it MUST have been a gradual change. Something happening right before my very eyes during each and every moment but when totaled up in hours, days, weeks and months seems so giant I almost tremble just thinking about it.

One day, I had babies.
Happy_Sweet_Little_Babies

The next day, three beautiful children.
Happy_Sweet_Little_Big

I’m not sure yet what to think of these new creatures taking over my home, but I’m quiet sure I’ll love them every bit as much as their younger counterparts. :)

We’ve traded tantrums for sibling rivalries
Blocks for Cars
Puzzles for Pretend
Bottles for Cups
Milk for water
& even pull-ups for big girl panties

Who knew it would happen so fast and right before my eyes like this. Like a rug was pulled out from under me I am speechless, yet in awe at the same time. Watching the three of you morph in to your new selves has been such a tremendous experience and I wouldn’t change it for all the day jobs in the world!

I’ve had the pleasure this week of watching Happy make so many connections. Symbols are becoming letters he can translate at will. Dinosaurs are his true love and current infatuation. Last week, we checked out 7 dinosaur books from the library and today when I came back from laying Little down for his afternoon nap, Happy took me by the hand to show me something he had made for me. (He’s such a sweet boy)

He led me into the living room telling me to close my eyes and not to peek and when I opened them … there were all 7 books propped up across the couch (with one Art book & one Cars book thrown in for good measure, of course). It was story time and boy, could I tell this was going to be a good one. :) We sat there, curled up on the couch together for an hour and a half reveling in tales of the Triassic, Jurassic & Cretaceous periods. Captivated by the meat eaters, tall necks and giant beasts that once inhabited our great planet. Elasmosaurus, Parasaurolophus, Baryonyx, Deinonychus …. we learned of them all, all the while holding each other as tight as possible, neither of us wanting our Mommy & Happy time to end.

To Be Continued …

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Hugs for Heroes

by Stacy on August 28, 2010

On Saturday August 14th, children around the world gave smiles, hugs and heart-shaped cards. They gathered in groups to clean up streets, parks and beaches and to tend community gardens. They made and sold cookies, brownies and lemonade to raise money for various causes, from local animal shelters to global nonprofits. They delivered treats and thank you messages to public servants, from firefighters to librarians to elected officials. They did kind deeds for seniors, military families (here’s where we come in), the homeless, the hospitalized, for family members, friends and strangers.

Delivering Balloons & Water

Handing out Balloons to kids & cold water to the soldiers on this HOT, HOT day

Hugs for Heroes

{Conquering the shyness factor & doling out hugs & High Fives for Heroes}

Held on the second Saturday in August for the last three years, The Great Kindness Challenge is one day where kids around the world do acts of kindness. This year the challenge managed to reach all 50 states and many places around the world! Super proud we got to be a part of it this year & we can’t wait to do it again next year!

What we’ll remember about today: I asked Happy what he learned during our Great Kindness Challenge & he told me, “It’s easy to make friends when you have balloons!” On a brighter note, when we went grocery shopping this week he still high-fived all the men & women in uniform and thanked the retirees. :) I’d say the Challenge was a smashing success in Texas!

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See anything different?

by Stacy on August 27, 2010

Notice anything new at Kids Stuff World, but can’t quite put your finger on what it is?

We went from this ….

To this …

So, what do you think? Same, but different right?

I guess I just wasn’t ready for a whole new look, I just couldn’t bear to part with the stripes. They were here from the beginning and were done by one of my friends, Janny. So, … I just decided to take it up a notch or two. I think it freshens up the space and I love that it gives me TONS more color options to work with. I asked for some help from design guru, Jenna Rammell, and I’m so happy I did. Her inputs helped me come up with this snazzy version you see now.

Have you heard of her? Oh man, was I smitten. Just check out these fabulous State Prints she sells on Etsy. She what I mean?  (and just wait till you see what I’m planning to do with these in the near future!!)

(get yours here)

And some of her work you can find on the web.



Think you could use a little help from Jenna too? Well, you’re in luck because she’s hosting a giveaway on her site, qadesigns, until Monday. Enter for your chance to win your very own custom header from Jenna and tell her Kids Stuff World sent you!!

Enter to Win a
FREE CUSTOM BLOG HEADER from Jenna Rammell

Hurry, the giveaway ends at midnight Monday the 30th!

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