Excuse My While I Organize My...

...My Everything...

Beginning with throwing out creepy, crappy toys like these ones

What are these things?!?! I'll tell you. They're weird, strange, ugly, scary, cheap giveaway toys from Happy Meals. If America needs another reason why we should not let our kids eat fast food, these "toys" should be the poster children:

"Don't buy Happy Meals because your house will end up
being cluttered with nonsense toys like us!"

{for the record, I do buy Happy Meals for my kids once in a while and I don't apologize for it,
but these particular toys were given to my kids from our babysitter's collection of happy meal toys.
It's a long story.}

Anyhow, back to the point of this post.

Ever have a big project looming, but you just can't seem to find the motivation to kick start you into gear? That's where I'm at right now. For me organization, or the lack thereof is quite debilitating. I can't concentrate, I feel anxious, I have a hard time sleeping. I know, I have problems.

So while I have a bajillion dresses, skirts and pj bottoms that need to be sewn for an upcoming craft fair that I'll be participating in, I spent my weekend ORGANIZING! It just had to be done. I was inspired by Clover Lane's 40 Bags in 40 Days challenge for herself. And while I may not be Catholic and I am not resolving to do anything for Lent, I do allow myself to steal inspiration from just about any source that I can find.

I mainly worked in the kid's rooms. Here's a recap by the numbers:

6 40 Gallon trash bags filled with donations and hand me downs, between 2 rooms
2 trash bags filled with garbage
8 storage bins completely cleared out
4 drawers completely cleared out
1 very happy mom

Here are some before and after pictures.

Bags from Taylor's Room filled with clothes she doesn't wear anymore,
toys, stuffed animals, books, etc.

I can't stand messy bookshelves, it's like disrespectful to books.

This is her nightstand drawer. What a mess!

Ahhh! Much better :) Hi Baby Jesus!

Empty dresser drawersUgh, the nightmare that is her closet! I could use the excuse that we just moved in 6 weeks ago, but to be honest it gets really bad like this at least every couple of weeks.

this is a stash of books I found in her closet. She and her brother like to pick an item (this week it was books), and take a million of that item and hide them somewhere. The hiding places change. One time its the closet, next time it's under the bed, next time it's behind a chair. Are my kids the only ones that do this?

Syd's clean bookshelf
Bags from Syd's roomA clean closet for my boy :)

While doing this I had a few Ah-Ha moments (I love those). We are really trying to get Taylor and Syd in the habit of keeping their rooms somewhat tidy. To me its a value I find very important. Growing up I learned to try and take care of the stuff I had because I wasn't going to necessarily get something new if I trashed what I had.

I get so frustrated with Taylor, more so since she's older, because I see her just throw stuff wherever, and not take care of her things. But it dawned on me that A), we need to do a better job of leading by example. So instead of just telling her to clean her room, I need to show her what the expectations are and how to manage those expectations. DUH! And B) these kids have TOO MUCH STUFF! How can I expect them to keep things straight when they have 10 Barbies, 20 t-shirts, 40 toy cars?!? We need to cut down, and stop bringing things into the home. I kind of felt a little disgusted with myself and disappointed that I filled 6 bags of stuff.

Anyone have any thoughts on teaching the fine art of being tidy to young ones? I could surely use some guidance in this department!

On a lighter note, it wasn't all work and no play. Sunday morning the kids practiced with the big daddy camera and took some pretty sweet shots. Syd took the one below of Taylor.

Taylor took this one
And Syd took this one. The camera was getting heavy at this point and he couldn't continue to hold it up, which is why Tay and daddy are crouching down to get in the shot

And meet the chillest baby boy ever. Carter Brandon Gerding was born on February 19th and is just a doll. One second he was awake, and then the next he was asleep. So peaceful. No ssshhhing, swaying, bouncing, patting or rocking was required.
It was a unique experience for me :)

And finally, I will be on and off the bloggity blog for a few days as I tackle my sewing. I made my craft project list, went to the fabric store yesterday and picked up some sweet goods, and will begin a sewing extravaganza!

Have a great week everyone. Details on the craft fair will be forthcoming.
Oh, and I will commence the Two Things I Love Around My Home next week!