6/40 - Junk cleaning, tidbits, and "The Striped Jacket"

Hello again! I spent much of last week in bed with a fever, so it feels good to get back into a routine again and to catch back up on the house. Aaron and kids did well fending for themselves during meals and life in general while I laid in bed watching movie after movie on Netflix.

Challenge #6 celebrating my upcoming 40th birthday is to clear out 40 bags of junk/things I don't need or want before I turn 40. I tried this a few years ago of doing a bag a day for 40 days. I did really well for about 20 days, but then got derailed a couple of days and lost my motivation. So I figured if I don't put the pressure of doing it every single day, then I will more likely finish it. Some days I may do several bags, other days none. I'm at four having started it a couple of days ago. 1/10 of the way there! My thought process is that if I have less junk in my house, it will be easier to keep it tidy. Ha. I would probably struggle in that area even living a minimalist lifestyle.

I found a few random pictures from this summer that made me smile, so I thought I'd share them with you. Abby trained for a little one mile race early on in summer. Here she is after a training run stretching. She ended up leading Scarlet and her "bestie" Gloria in a stretching session. It was pretty adorable. 

Ana got her permit this summer. We always start our first driving lessons in the school parking lot (when it's empty) to practice starting, stopping, turning, parking, reversing, etc. We needed a picture before our first lesson. We actually haven't done much by way of practicing since this. We'll focus on it later on this spring/summer and get her driving, since David will be leaving this fall and my built-in chauffeur will be gone. Sadness. 

This jacket. Oh my. I got it at a garage sale when Ana was in 4th grade. She wore it to school Every. Single. Day. 

My kids have always been very particular about what they wear and when they find something they love, they love it with all their heart. The days I insisted on washing it instead of letting her wear it to school were tragic days. I was extremely happy when she outgrew it and couldn't wear it anymore. Until Abby seized it when it became available. Then Abby wore it to school Every. Single. Day. For two and a half YEARS. Washing it was even more tragic for Abby than it was for Ana. I was even more delighted when Abby finally outgrew it. She was only okay with that because she found several other striped sweatshirts she could start wearing every day. She became known as "the girl in the striped sweatshirt". Really. I'm not lying.

"Do you know Abby?"

"Abby? Is she the girl in the striped sweatshirt?"

"Yes. That's her."

I sometimes wonder if people think we are dirt poor and can only afford one shirt for Abby. I would like to invite them to view her closet of beautiful untouched clothing hanging neatly in her closet. (Thankfully they are hand-me-downs. I learned to not waste money buying clothes they won't wear) I keep reminding myself that we need to pick our battles. This doesn't need to be one of them. I am just slowly accumulating brightly colored striped sweatshirts for Abby to wear on a rotating basis. She has about three that she likes now. I consider it a small victory. There is also a Steel Wheels jacket that occasionally gets worn. It is neither striped, nor brightly colored. Crazy.

So today, Scarlet came downstairs wearing The Striped Jacket. I have tried to get rid of that thing off and on since Abby outgrew it, but I have never been sneaky enough because Abby always sees and stages a protest. We will see if this becomes a staple of Scarlet's wardrobe or if she maintains variety in her clothing like most normal kids.

Tell me: Have you or your child ever had an article of clothing you loved and wore frequently? Share it with me!

- I had a fuzzy green jacket that was very warm and comfy that I wore more frequently in my early days of marriage than I should have. Aaron didn't find it to be attractive and named it "the frumpy frock". I took the hint and found some warm and comfy clothes that were also attractive. :)

Are you a neat and tidy person naturally or do you struggle with it?

I think you know where I stand on that. What about you?