Transition Period

Being as there has been virtually no fall here in the Northeast, my household has been in the midst of our summer to winter transiton period. This time usually takes a whole season to accomplish but this year it is all being jammed into a 2-3 week period. I have actually been messing around with clothes for about 2 weeks now. What started out as our usual change of season/size clothing swap turned into something much bigger. After we were all done, we got an invitation to an actual "Clothing Swap". We were to bring any clean, gently used clothing which would then be displayed and set up throughout my friend's home as a shop would. Any left over clothing was going directly to the Rescue Mission in our area. What a great idea, I had to get on board especially after realizing how many clothes we actually have and how few of them we actually wear. We ended up donating 11 bags of clothes from size newborn-size 14 Womens. I was also able to organize our collection of clothing totes so that each tote houses 1 size from newborn up to my stuff. Not only did we donate clothing, but also shoes and accessories. Bird and I made the swap a date night and had a great time. Bird came home with a few tee shirts and some jewelry to share with Bean and I came home with a quilted LL Bean fall jacket. I may not be able to wear it this year, but I expect that next year when I do get to wear it, it will be quite a gift. Sug and I have deicded that after our yard clean up (hopefully this week)the girls will be getting their own rooms. This will afford us the opportunity to donate toys (the "extra room" is currently a disaterous playroom) and give each older girl a place of her own. We will also be setting some new house rules/disciplines/family times into affect. Sug and I haven't gotten the time to sit and talk about it all yet. Sug has been busy chopping wood for our hastily appraoching winter, but I was able to secure some free babysitting at the Clothes Swap for 3 hours next Sunday evening. Wow!!! Although, I'd rather leave such things out of our rare date nights, I think we can come up with some things that will afford us some more quality time inthe future. Whoever said that the only constant is change sure knew what they were talking about!

For Every Season

Since Bird was home 'sick', yesterday, I took the opportunity to start to switch our clothes from summer to winter. Don't get me wrong, I do believe that Bird was sick when I picked her up from school, but all yesterday's activity told me otherwise. To find out last night that she had a temp of 100.0 still, baffled me. Upon waking up this morning to the same (even after another night of 'sick socks') just didn't seem right. After some diagnostic testing, the verdict is that the temporal thermometer is broken. Bean had pulled the tip off and replaced it after I had taken Bird's temp a few days ago. So, with a day of us all stuck at home, 'sick', moving clothes it was. I have to admit that after 5 years and three kids, I have finally gotten the system down. I am blessed to have quite a bit of storage in my basement (being as it is unfinished). I have a storage tote for each size: 0-6, 6-18, 24-2T, 3T, 4/4T, 5, & 6+. The 6+ is for all the clothes that people give us that have not yet been designated a tote of their own because nobody is big enough to wear them. At one point, I tried to even separate summer from winter, but I realized that I usually hang on to at least 3-4 outfits from the previous season to help make the transition smoother. There is nothing worse than having an unusually warm day in October, and no short sleeve shirts to celebrate. I begin with Bird, I clear everything out of her dresser and closet and fold them out into sizes/seasons. I bring up the totes for whatever size is in her closet/drawers and the next size up. I pick out a few key items from this season to hold onto, and try on things from the next size to see where we're at. This year, Beanbag had more things than would fit in her drawers and closet, so I let her go 'shopping'. I picked out anything that was stained or I didn't quite like and set them aside. Ithen let her pick out what she liked and packed the rest back into the tote (Bunny may have different taste by 3T). Today it's my stuff and Bunny's stuff. Going through Bunny's stuff always makes me sad because I realize it may be the last time I'm seeing these things. Whether we decide to have another child or not, there is no guarantee that it would be another girl. My clothes on the other hand are depressing for a whole different reason. Because of my constant increase (maternity/ size 22 at my largest) and decrease (size 6 at my smallest) in sizes the past 5 years, it's always a chance drawing on what actually fits and corresponds with the season. Pray for me and my current endeavour.

Greening the Cleaning

It works out perfectly. My husband's birthday is the first week if September. In order for me to have people over for his birthday (which is also the birthday of my twin sisters), I need to clean my house. In my world, cleaning is VERY different from straightening up. Straightening up is done 1-3 times a week and includes throwing all the toys in the playroom, vacuuming, cleaning the kitchen and bathroom and occasionally dusting. Cleaning happens 2-4 times a year and consists of walking around to each room with a bucket of supplies, vacuuming screens, dusting ceilings and the like. Since I got pregnant with Bunny, I started becoming a little more aware of what I've been doing to the environment. I've slowly been replacing our household cleaning products (bleach, ammonia, Lysol...) with all natural, frugal, and environmentally friendly products (baking soda, vinegar, soap nuts, Mrs Meyers...). It's been pretty difficult to convince the hubby that vinegar and water is just as effective as Windex, so I've been a little devious and when the Vinegar Windex bottle was empty, I just refilled it with vinegar and water, and we are both satisfied. (Because I confessed this to the cyberworld, the next time I see him using it, I will have to confess it to him as well.) Today, I'm really excited to clean because it is the first time I will be using only all natural products to clean (not including my toothbrush and sponge). I've been using soap nuts for my laundry detergent, but yesterday I whipped up a batch of concentrated soap nut cleaner. I found the recipe here: http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2009/09/using-soap-nuts-for-household-cleaning.html. And since I will be using it in conjunction with my Lemon Verbena scented Mrs. Myers, I will be adding a splash of lemon juice to my mixture. I will also be washing Bunny's dirty diapers with it. Yeah yeah what a day! I may have to take before and after pictures, but they will never make it here as I don't want the world to see the before pictures.