Convo

So Anna asks me what Alivia will be able to do by her second birthday.  (We are talking through Alivia's uncontrollable, unexplainable crying fit).  I tell her and Adalyn that Alivia will grow out of these fits hopefully.  Anna asks me if she'll be talking more and I explained that she's learning new words as we teach them to her.  So Anna said, "Alivia, can you say ball?" Adalyn said, "Alivia, can you find your armpit?"

Oh the joys of having multiple teachers!!!

Min-i-mi-zing....in baby steps

In an effort to scale back...we're talking waaaaay back... I thought I'd google some ideas for where and how to get started with this.  It turns out, there's a word describing the desire to survive on the least amount possible.  It's called minimalism.  I thought I was just nuts.  Additionally, there are others out there like me, frustrated when that needed thing can't be found, the Christmas gift from 3 years ago hasn't been touched because you can never find the time to do it, and most organizing projects is just moving clutter from one place to another.  We can't do those things we intend to do and be about because we are all so consumed with stuff.  Then we feel guilty we don't do this or that with that or this.

So I found a few starting places.  One was a project to scale down to 100 things.  100?!  I've got 100 things in my purse!  There's half that amount in our daughters' dress-up container.  Anna's Littlest Pet Shop collection has that many pieces.

Another idea was to pair down your wardrobe to 35 things. Then to box up the others and in 3 months, send it away to donate.  I inherited that many pajamas from an aunt who passed away.  

So I guess we'll start with reducing our things in our two level home to fit into our new one level home.  How in the world do you eliminate an entire level??

A few yard sales here.  And one section at a time.  It's no wonder exhaustion is looming so much these days.  

You've got to move it, move it

There are the inevitable pitfalls and difficulties of moving, like breaking 5 things in two days of packing.  Or realizing after you've packed stuff that you've just got to have the cinnamon shaker for cinnamon toast and you've got to cut the tape of a sealed box.

Then there's the good:

• You have the chance to finally make yourself sort through that one box those tons of boxes of clutter you've put off for a few months.  
• You get to see how creative your kids can be using boxes for their sole mode of entertainment.  
• You get to have a really big yard sale.
• You have a chance to reminisce over things of sentiment before you pack them away.
• You have an excuse to give up cooking for a while.  I love cooking, but I don't love the clean-up.  I'm thankful to the cook day Louis and I had that stocked our freezer.  Now we are down to throw away dishes.  What a dream!
• You're able to part with excess stuff and not feel guilty about it.  But you're also counting your blessings in realizing how fortunate we are to have what we have.
• You're able to look at people and things in your church/community and note the fine qualities about them and realize what you'll miss when you're gone.  
• You have people telling us what we've meant to them and how they will miss us when we are gone.

We are blessed beyond belief and while we are nervous about serving a new congregation, we know The Lord will walk with us.

Beef- it's not what's for dinner.

When your 4-year old makes a casual comment about the crockpot, you should investigate.  "Off" slow cooks nothing.