Blessings Abound

Over the last 2 days, the babies and I have been organizing their bedrooms. This means (they know it happens every year), going through old clothing and tossing severly nasty clothing, placing small stains in the 'play clothes,' drawers and setting aside clothing that no longer fits and replacing it with new Christmas clothes.

Today, I sold 47 pieces of boys clothing with backpacks for $15, a Bible Box for $5 & an old but very still very good boys bicycle. While I organize and clean, I am not only receiving the blessing of a sale, but others are able to buy clothing for less than $1 and how about a bike for less than $20?

The girls room is always the worst, but I think more so because there are 2 of them in one room. All in all, I was able to gather up 28 pieces of girls clothing and some of it brand new and place it on our local recycle web-site. We will find out if it goes or not.

Usually I hand down all the oldest clothing to her sister, however, she is 2 sizes behind her at this time, so I decided the best thing to do was just clean out their closet and drawers. Their closet is amazing but still has no extra space.

Tomorrow we are venturing out to exchange diva girls Christmas shoes for a pair that fits her and next week when I go to the doctor, I will have to exchange a stack of clothes at a local store there.

But one thing about this time of year, the children get blessed with lots of new clothing and new shoes and others get blessed by having what they can't wear anymore. I usually send it out to their baby sister, however, she only wears a size 5T at this time, so I see no reason not to make a few dollars while clearing out the house!

Tomorrow we will take the ornaments off the tree, collect all the Christmas decorations and pack them all back in their places for the cedar chest or the attic. Perhaps the kids and I will work on cleaning out their bathroom closet and while I do not expect to find anything there that could be sold...I do expect to make a list for things we will need to replace:

1. Bandages
2. Neosporin
3. Cotton Balls
4. Cotton Swabs
5. Peroxide
6. Shampoo
7. Conditioner
8. Soap (Looking for someone who makes handmade soaps)
9. Replace any outdated medication
10. Toss out any paper thin towels or washrags

When it is completed, that side of the house with the exception of the kitchen will all be neat and organized and clean. The kitchen is too big for me to tackle on my own or with the help of the children, so will have to have hubby help me when he has some time.

I will get my file box cleaned out and ready for tax time over New Years day. Hubby will bring me the files as I need them, I will set a pile for taxes, a pile for trash and a pile for shredding. I am also going get some of those plastic file boxes for each of the kids so I can save their school work from each year.

I will have to place an order with current cards as my supply of cards is running out. I purchased a huge variety of cards from a drug store going out of business years ago and now I seem to have cards and no envelopes, a few childrens birthday cards and sympathy cards left, so it is time to replace my card stock.

As always, my mom and her husband sent all of us new gloves, hats and scarfs for Christmas and we have a 8 drawer chest in the living room filled with all of them. Yesterday, I had baby boy take his and place them in the drawer under his bed and that leaves an empty drawer for whomever has the most.

I will also be emptying out some old fabric so watch for it on one of my giveaways and I am hoping hubby and a few of his friends can get my cutting table to the basement and that will open up a wall in the living room and it will look less cluttered.

Lastly, I will tackle my desk with an honest eye and heart and toss out things I keep saving for some odd reason like old business cards, resumes and job applications...and when it is all done, I will sit down and like always, fill out a list of creditors from low to high and work out a payment plan to pay them all off.

I can't wait until it is done and all clean and organized. Next year, hubby said we will be having a housekeeper come in at least once a month to perform the tasks I can no longer do:

• Sweep and mop floors
• Dust shelves low to the ground
• Change sheets
• Make beds
• Vacuum the patio
• Vacuum the floors
• Vacuum the stairs
• Clean the fridge

Yes, for once, I need to recognize, I need help and even if it is just one time a month, that is a time I can look forward to knowing I will have the help I need without feeling guilty about not doing it myself.

If you need some help organizing or suggestions, contact me, I would love to help!