Simplify

I love my new blog picture. Each of the 3 youngest got to take a friend and use our season passes and buddy passes at Silver Dollar City. My two youngest are in the maroon and the green...one of our friends is in the stripes. Unbridled excitement/fear/surprise. I laugh every time I look at this picture.

I have some more pictures of Wear What You Have, but I've decided to make an adjustment. By now, I'm wearing the same outfits over and over. Boring for anyone that happens to read this blog. So, I'm going to post when I wear something new. And, I've got a few pictures in my camera of "I can't believe I bought that!" items that I think you'll get a kick out of.

One of my dear friends has decided to sort of define her year with "one little word". Something she can use to try to give herself direction...something to work on this year...something to pray about and for. I'm not a big fan of resolutions, and I initially didn't think I'd do something like this...but there is a word that is ringing in my head these last many weeks. It's the word "simplify". There are so many ways to apply this word. Things, thoughts, spirit, desires, etc... I have a lot of ideas bouncing around in my brain, but I know myself well enough to know that I need to do just one or two things at a time. I tend to jump into the water with both feet and then find myself crumbling under the waves as I'm pulled in so many directions. So, while I contemplate simplifying myself internally, I'm putting effort into simplifying externally. Lately, my concern for the poor has transferred into some self-guilt. I am so incredibly blessed, but don't deserve a darn thing. Why do I get the great family, the warm home, a pantry full of food, cars that make life more convenient, a closet stuffed with clothes I don't wear, stuff that fills my home but not my heart? How do I continue to try to teach my children that more is not necessarily better, that money doesn't equal happiness, to be thankful for what you have, and how to say no?
All good questions...I'm still working on answers. Anyway, for this month, I'm going to simplify my bathroom. No earth-shattering changes...just simplify. Why do I find it hard to let go of a full bottle of nail polish that I haven't worn in 5 years? Do I really think I'll wear it? No. But it's as though I'm admitting I made a mistake if I throw it out. So, here it is...I'm laying it out for you to see read. Are you ready? I wasted my money on some nail polish and now I'm going to get rid of it. There you go. Holy cow! Are you still there? Who knows what'll go next?

Wear What You Have

Well, we've hit the ground running in 2011. We enjoyed such a lovely vacation. Oh the joy of waking up with no real plans, only to spend the day with each other. Perhaps a little outing here and there...playing with Christmas toys and finishing projects that were put on the waiting list during the Fall. Have I mentioned that I love vacation... Not to be confused with a vacation. Going somewhere to visit/tour/sight see is a ton of fun. But I love the other vacations... summer vacation, Christmas vacation, Spring Break vacation, even Thanksgiving vacation. The go nowhere vacation. Love them!
Here's what I got for Christmas. It's a little 6'x9' spot o' sunshine!

For the week after Christmas I got to do a little planting. I've since been up to my elbows in seed catalogs and gardening books. I really want to try to do year-round gardening, so my Handy Man got me this to help me out. And, he got it on sale with free shipping! Even better.

We lost one of our chickens a few weeks ago and replaced her with a new Aracauna. The new one is called Muffin and she's so sweet. She gave us her very first egg this week. I'd forgotten how small their first eggs are. We all just oo-ed and ah-ed over her first delivery. She can stay now.

Also, after quite a bit of purging last month (I made 3 trips to the Salvation Army), I've been a little convicted about how many clothes I have. So, I'm going to be trying a new project this year... It's called Wear What I Have. Honestly, it's embarrassing all the clothes I have when I consider the poor. So, I'm going to keep track of what I wear and get rid of anything that doesn't go on my body this year. Don't worry...I will buy new underwear and socks as needed :-) but that's it...I hope.

Jan. 1 - Black tuxedo shirt (Walmart), brown boucle sweater vest (J Jill), cozy knit pants (J Jill)

The Verdict - Love this. Very comfortable and I like the way it makes me feel. Casual but not dressing down. I suspect you'll be seeing me wear these a lot this year.

Jan 2 - Black skirt, long sweater, black boots, tights.

The verdict - I wore this to church and I liked it. I don't wear this sweater too often, but I like the way it looks and feels. I'll keep this.

Jan. 3 - J Jill Arctic sweater, J Jill True Fit jeans

The verdict - I've had this sweater for over 4 years. It's gotten too stretched out over the years and I just don't like the way it feels anymore. Notice that I had to roll up the sleeves... The sweater is going into the "give away" pile. The jeans stay.

Jan. 4 - Cozy knit pants (J Jill), black tuxedo shirt, heather gray knit jacket (J Jill)

The verdict - I really like this. I got the jacket so I could layer without having to do a sweatshirt. I like things that hang down a little over the "back side". I feel good in this and can remove the jacket if I need to. This all will stay.

Jan. 5 - Black turtleneck, brown vest, green velour pants (all from J Jill).

The verdict. I like this too... The pants are almost too short, but their are so super comfortable that I just ignore it.

Jan. 6 - Cozy knit pants, gray striped shirt (J Jill)

The verdict - This is really comfortable too. The shirt is a little tighter around my behind than I'm used too, but not enough to make me get rid of it. And, I like the way it looks with the pants.


Jan. 7 - New blue button down shirt, blue boyfriend pants (all from J Jill)

The verdict - I love this. I like that the shirt has a little bit of shaping and is super comfortable. The pants are a little thin for the winter time, but I just love them. I feel casual and put together, but very comfortable.

Jan. 8 - Purple heater sweater, gray straight let jeans (all from J Jill). The red house shoes are from Land's End.

The verdict - This is a sweater that I really liked until I washed it. It's just a little tighter around the behind than I like. I suspect it will be "eliminated" sometime this year. I really like the gray jeans for the color, but the cut is not good. These ride really low on the waist. When I first put them on, the stay put just fine, but as the day goes on, I'm constantly having to pull them up. Because they ride low, I don't have a belt that fits around my hips! Right now they will stay in the game because I like the color and the look of them, but I probably need to find a belt for them that fits or I'll probably start avoiding them.

There you have it. The first week of Jan. Can you guess what my favorite clothing store is?

Snow Day

OK, what a great day! I was doubtful, but the snow finally started and it's lovely! The kids went out for exactly 10 minutes before they were back in, wanting to sit by the fire. Thankfully, we had 2 ricks of wood delivered yesterday. We've already been through 6 ricks this winter. Our fireplace is connected to our home's ductwork, so we've only run the heater a few times this winter. In our old, victorian house on Wright St., our monthly gas bill was anywhere from $350-450 a month! Now, our gas bill runs around $50. I can handle that! But, we ran out of wood last week. I think these 2 will get us through the rest of the winter. It's funny how we've trained ourselves to "keep the fire going". We hate to start a new fire from scratch, so we do everything we can to keep the flame going.

Now, let's talk about laundry. In my last post I mentioned that I had done 3 loads in one day. I was talking to a friend of mine and she was surprised that 3 is a lot for me. With 7 in our family, our laundry is never done, but we always have clean clothes and towels. I have a few "rules" that help me keep my sanity. First of all, I tell the kids that they should be able to wear their clothes at least twice. Now, I know that toddlers/babies may need several outfits a day! But, I'm past that stage. And, since baby clothes are much smaller than kid/adult clothes, I think it would be easy to keep up with thiers as well. I tell the kids that they can wear their clothes for 2 days, and they should wear their pajamas at least 3 times. And, they can use their big, bath towels at least twice. I have hooks in their bathroom that they can use to hang their towels. And, there are hooks in their room to hang their clothes/pajamas. I do, however, tell them that I should see their underwear in the dirty hamper every day! So, we have a laundry shute and the kids are able to get their clothes down the shute and I do one load every day. I start, or I have Katie start one load first thing in the morning. Now, of course, if the family is sick...well...all bets are off and the goal is survival! And, of course there are times that the kids get really dirty and can't wear their clothes twice. That's life. But, getting one load completely done each day is easier for me than trying to do 7-8 loads in one day. I used to separate everyone's socks, but with 4 boys, there's just no way. So, I have a basket on top of the dryer and all the socks go in the basket. Now, they can get their own socks! It's a beautiful thing! I know that there are those that put their laundry in a basket and take it somewhere in the house to fold, but for me, it's just easier to fold right out of the dryer. It's too easy to take the basket somewhere and then not get the laundry folded. I have 5 dish tubs in my utility room, one with each child's name. Their laundry goes into their tub. They can take their tub and put their clothes away each evening when they get their pajamas on.

OK, you know that you're boring when the most exciting thing you can post about is laundry! We just found out that school is canceled again tomorrow, but of course, there's no reason to cancel homeschool! But it's sure tempting! Right now we're getting ready for a hot game of Sorry! Now that's exciting!