Sunday, July 1, 2012

Clean

I've been working on something. Something big. I've been learning how to make my house CLEAN ENOUGH. Not spotless, just liveable, so I'm not embarrassed if someone stops by. To do it I neglected most of the house for roughly 4 months (the book I read, the one that helped me accomplish this feat, estimated it would take me 6. I thought, no way, I can get it done in 1 month. Ha ha). Then I carefully considered each item that I own. Let that sink in for a minute. Every single thing. In every cupboard, on every shelf. I catalogued problems, repairs, needed remodeling projects. I considered whether the things I had were things I loved, or if I kept them because of guilt or frugality or some other reason besides actually wanting to keep them. I also examined whether or not the things I owned had a place where they belonged.

A concept that is completely shocking and new to me is this: If I don't have room for it, I can't keep it. This is causing me to get rid of things like my eliptical machine, furniture, clothing, books, records, 8-tracks, and even MY CD'S. If you know me, you know that in high school, I had all my cd's in a book (they probably numbered about 200, they had grown significantly since) and I would tote it to my car and back again anytime I went anywhere. More recently the cd's were making me crazy since they were always being left face down on the countertop, microwave, kitchen table, craft table, in the car, and on and on. So I sold the bulk of my music at our yard sale for $20. Now I get to start over with a digital music collection.

I still have work to do. Some of the projects I want done are too big to do now. I have not done the outdoor areas of the yard, cars or garage yet. I set up new systems for dealing with clutter and some of these systems still need adjusting. Here are some of the things I changed:
*a new mail/paper sorting system- i sort the mail each day
*laundry system ( and family chore system- these are integrated.) So far, I've got the dirty laundry down, if anyone has any pointers on how to get the clean laundry actually put away- please share
*I collected swimming gear in one bag (thanks Shanalee for helping me see that this needed to be done)
*I collected gift wrapping gear in one closet
*my home office is in the hall closet
*bill pay/letter writing center
etc.

I went so fast and now I'm running out of steam, so maybe writing this post will help me to remember how far I have come so I can keep going. Once I get through everything, the house should run so much smoother, I can't wait.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Funeral

I lost my sweet Grandma this week. I told 4-year-old Zealand that her spirit, the part of her that made her alive and made her body work, had gone to live with Heavenly Father. I told him that when Jesus Christ lived on the earth, the same thing happened to him, but Jesus came back, his body and spirit were together again. I promised him that someday Jesus would come again and help Grandma to put her body and spirit back together. It was a pretty short conversation. He didn't ask any questions, and didn't act like he cared too much. Then we went to the funeral, where I cried A LOT. The next day, we went to the lake and had a picnic. He was really quiet and then he said to me, "My body works!... and your body works, Mom." I was amazed at how much he really listened. I am grateful for our faith and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because of it I have so much hope and know why I am here on the earth. I miss Grandma, and I love her. I know that she is with her loved ones and I know that I will see her again.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Easter 2012

We went to the city's Easter Egg Hunt for the first time this year. Z couldn't figure out why everyone was screaming. There were plenty of eggs to go around. He calmly picked up half a dozen and then he was done. He treasures them, he won't eat the candy- just saving it up.




Sis was calm about the whole thing too. In fact we are just a pretty laid back crew. We saw one mom dragging her daughter across main street, screaming at her because she had done something embarrassing. The mom kept saying "How could you do this to me?". I felt bad for the little girl and her ruined Easter. I'm trying not to be a screamer.


Zealand

My baby boy is 4 years old. What the what??? He swims with out me now.
This was from last years swim lessons, where he learned so much and became so confident in the water, that, the next time we went to the lake he went out too far and I had to go in and fetch him.
He knows songs that I didn't teach him, he often tries to teach them to me.

He likes to make faces and he likes to take pictures. Here are some silly faces for you Zealand...
He likes to do what Daddy is doing.
I love to see him growing up.
I say every age is my favorite, but good gravy this one is awesome.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Random

I love the aquatic center in our town. Somehow, we always manage to get there just a somebody poops in the pool. This was Charlotte's first time swimming. They kicked us out of the main pool while they cleaned and the lap pool was freezing- poor kid, she sat there just long enough for me to snap a photo of her in her swimsuit.






This was Zealand's first time roller skating. He had a ball, and I got a major workout trying to keep him on his feet.


I'm so glad legwarmers are back. I kept one from the eighties (yes one, I lost the match) because I loved it so much- it serves no purpose except to make me smile when I open my sock drawer.

July 4th & Christmas 2011

Zealand is the age that makes Chrismas so fun. He would open a gift and be so amazed with it that he couldn't be persuaded to open anymore. He got the hang of it before the day was done though. We got a camera for Christmas and had so much fun snapping pics, it's hard to narrow them down.













These pics taken just before Charlotte was born, and I love them. We did fireworks in our driveway almost everyday during July.