The Closet Purge

That's it.  I was sick of looking in my closet and saying "I have NOTHING to wear".  Dig dig dig as I might through options, I still felt like nothing would fit this growing rotund (yet adorable and awesome) belly of mine.

What to do when "you have nothing to wear"?  Purge...go through the closet and take out everything that you are not wearing.  I'm not saying you have to get rid of it completely...just box it up until you'll wear it again (size-wise, style-wise, or season-wise).  Or if you can purge something, ask yourself 1) when was the last time you wore it and 2) when will you wear it again.  If it haven't worn it for a year, and you won't wear it again for a year, purge it.

So there I was, standing frustrated at my closet, when I starting pulling things out.  Granted, being pregnant & packing for a move, it was easy for me to say, "Does this fit me?"  "Will I use it before I move?"  etc...and in no time at all, I had a pile stacked up to my waist on my bedroom floor of give aways and pack aways:

And the result was one full closet of maternity clothes that FIT.

Now, what to wear?

Cha-Ching Baby!

School Fundraisers.

I don't love them.

I don't push them.

In general, I don't do them.

But when it's Butter Braid season, sure, I promote it.

So Carter and Addison both wanted to sell Butter Braids this year (the magazine, wrapping paper, and chocolate nut order forms went straight to the trash).  My stance on fundraisers is that they do it themselves...and BOY what a team they were!  They tromped through snow up to their knees to go door-to-door (to our neighbors that we know) and had a great speech all planned!  Turns out, Carter and Addison won first prize for selling the most in the whole school!

And what was their prize?

A Brand New Crisp 50 Dollar Bill!  

which was only nearly as exciting as having their names announced over the loud speaker in school!

We were surprised!  Excited!  And eager to go to the bank and trade it into 2 sets of $25!

Good Teamwork, Guys!  And thank you to all who bought Butter Braids...yum!

Funny story, about our kid who LOVES to read!

Dear Teacher,

I'm afraid you chose the wrong month for a goal of 200 pages read.  You see, it's only the 5th day of the month, and I've already read over 300 pages!  

Sincerely, Carter

Dear Carter,

WOW!  Great job!  I had no idea you read so much!  Let's change your goal for February.  What do you suggest?

Sincerely, Teacher 

Dear Teacher,

How about 900 pages!  I can do it.

Sincerely, Carter

Sure enough, he met and exceeded his goal...on the last day of the month, Carter turned in his reading log...with a whompin' 1049 pages read!

• We only tracked his chapter books, and excluded all magazines and picture books.  
• And we only included books he started and finished -- how many books upstairs have bookmarks halfway through!  
• And we only included books that we remembered to write down.

He gets so into reading, and reads so quickly, and enjoys it so much!  And I certainly LOVE the peace and quiet when he's cuddled up in a book!  What a reader!

Still, his favorite books of all time are:  Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and My Father's Dragon Trilogy.

Our Snow-Missionary

While it really was a team effort

Some were more interested in, well:

 And who can resist a good snow angel?

This guy, Addison, is CLEARLY our winter baby!  There is rarely a time when he wants to come in from the snow!  He takes EVERY chance to shovel, play, sled, ANYTHING!

25 Things that (apparently) Make Me Happy

From Carter's homework packet.  "Make a list of 25 things that your mom happy":

1. Lilacs  (Way to go, Carter...you know me well!)
2. Reading
3. Yogurt
4. Valentine's Day
5. Christmas
6. Fourth of July (boom boom!!)
7. Halloween
8. Mother's Day
9. Home Videos
10.  Bedtime (Amen!)
11. Playing (I think what he meant was when we kids are playing nicely)
12. Ice Cream
13. Favorite Book: Goose Girl (It IS a fun book)
14. Blogging
15. Winning Uno
16. Wisconsin Dells
17. Key Lime Cove
18. Water Parks
19. Family
20. Family Reunions
21. Beach
22. Picnics (even more so if I didn't have to pack it)
23. Beach Balls (random....?)
24. Grandma
25. Grandpa

Not a bad list, kiddo!

A new SPIN on winter fun!

Steve wins the award for most creative winter dad this year for when he took the boys over to a field near our home that had been flooded, then frozen.  There was about an acre of ice just waiting to be played on!  

All boys, from age 5 to 30-something, came home saying this was the best day EVER!