To much!!

Chalk it up to having 5 kids and seeing the cost of having a large family or the fact that I am going through my house cleaning out all the clutter and abundance of stuff, but I have been seriously rethinking how I go about presents for the kids(birthday, Christmas, Easter, etc) and also other items we bring into our house.

I went into the girls room the other day and in only 20 minutes had 2 garbage bags of stuff to get rid of. 2 bags and that didn't even make a dent. We have allowed our house to become storage for stuff we don't really need. I want to change that and the amount of money that we spend on things we shouldn't spend it on.

Anything worth having is worth working towards

We have become a society where we want what is easy. As a whole, we have become people who if it takes a little work or time, we would rather just not have to do it. We don't want our kids to have to go through a little bit of a hardship, to go without something they want, buy them cars when they are 16, bring their stuff to school if they forget it, come to their rescue if they have their littlest issue, etc. What are we really teaching our children and ourselves?!

I for one seeing the effects of this in my life and my family and I am not liking it. I am becoming a soft, selfish, lazy person. I want to teach my kids to become responsible, hard working, active people. And how can I do this, if I constantly make excuses why I am not keeping up with what is my responsibilities, or taking care of myself .

I heard something the other day, "If you really want it, you will make it a priority, if you don't, you will make an excuse." It is one thing to have a legitimate reason that you are unable to do something you HAVE or NEED to do(not meaning everything people would like you to do, but the things that are needing to be done because it is your responsibility), but if you always have a reason you can't do something, but you have time to do other things than you are just making an excuse. Example. I need to work out but I don't have the time. Yet I have time to park it in front of the tv for hours each day, then it is just an excuse! This is one of my problems. With sports season right now, I can't make it to the class I started going to, but I am trying to make time during the week to do a home dvd to make up for it. Not giving into the excuses going through my head!

Embracing change

Maybe it is the hormones from after having a baby or old age setting in, but I have noticed recently that I have changed in some ways. How you ask? Well my tastes in fabrics has changed. Now maybe others would not notice something like this, because not a whole lot of people work with fabrics often, but I love fabric! It is a love I don't always get to indulge because of my busy life, but when I get a chance I love to create.

Here recently I have been making stuff again...clothes for the girls; bunnies, robots, and rag dolls to donate; a blanket for a friend's baby; and recovering my dining room chairs. I picked out material for my chairs and the girls' dresses that a year ago I probably would have never considered putting in my house, but now I love them both!

I also notice that I gotten into the mood to purge stuff that we don't need. I have gotten rid of TONS and I mean tons of stuff that was in my house or storage sheds that we don't need or really want. And even with what I have already gotten rid of, there is still probably at least 1/4-1/2 of the stuff in our house that we don't really need. We all have way to many clothes, many of which we never wear, the kids have so many toys that their rooms are always a pit and they have no idea what they even have. Heck I went through the girls room once and got rid of a bunch of stuff but now see I wasn't picky enough about what I kept, and went through the boys room twice and they still have too much stuff. I want to purge a bunch more and simplify my house so it is easier for me to manage.

And then there are the ways I want to change. Like my housework. I am by no means a perfect housewife! I look at all these blogs of other moms with 4 or more kids and they are posting about organizational tips they have, or how they keep their house presentable while chaos is running amuck around them and know there is no way that will ever be me. And I don't really have any desire to spend every minute of everyday cleaning, but I do want to have a house that I am not ashamed when people stop by unannounced.

This week I have decluttered  my dining room and kitchen a bunch(you can actually see the top of the dresser in there) and have been keeping up on the dishes. I have washed dishes 3 times a day everyday. I am so proud of myself! Actually is quicker to just do them after every meal. And then I have been trying to keep up on laundry and fold them right away, which doesn't always happen, but I am trying.

I think the decluttering of my house will help with my desire to keep my house look more presentable. And also better organization and storage usage in my house. I know some people hate getting older, but I am embracing the older me and how I have changed. Well at least the good parts, the weight gain I am not embracing. lol