Project Simplify: Kids Clothes and Toys

On Monday Eli and I rearranged pretty much the whole house. We moved the couch out of our room and into the kids' room where we will actually use it. To make room for that we moved the crib into a little alcove in our room. It looks adorable as a little nursery! Well, the office was in that spot so we had to find a new place for that...etc...etc... Because of the rearrangement I had to re-situate Esther's clothes. Just before I sat down to find out this week's hot spot on Simple Mom, I told Eli that organizing the kids' clothes would be on my to do list this week. How convenient to then find out that the official Hot Spot #3 is children's clothes and toys! I eagerly read Simple Mom's suggestions and tips on how to manage this troublesome area.

So Tuesday morning I dumped every stitch of their current clothes that I could find on the floor in my room.

Children's clothes are a challenge to stay on top of. Seasons change before I know it and the little munchkins just keep on growing! They crawl around on the floor and put holes in their jeans, they spill food, they play in the dirt... I already work hard to keep up with their changing wardrobe and their changing needs, so mostly I just refolded and put things back into place. But there were a few items to sort out and some to pass down.

Too big.

Too small.

Esther's too small.

To go OUT.

An example of the finished look.

The kids' clothes are in one half of an oversized closet in their room. The dresser and everything hides nicely when the door is closed. Clothes ready to be handed down stack on top of the dresser and their church clothes hang on a mini closet rod hung across the depth instead of the width of the closet. Yes, I realize that I have enough dresses to keep an army of little girls clothed for a month of Sundays. I have gone through them. Repeatedly. Really! They're just so cute! If only my daughters would stop growing...

Well, I was on a roll, so I put Esther down for her nap in my room and we tackled the toys next. It's amazing how many will accumulate after 3 baby showers, 4 Christmases, and 9 birthdays!

Who says organizing is drudgery?

I do sort toys regularly so there were only a few old or broken toys to get rid of. Mostly they just play with Duplos so I try not to have too many other little sets of building toys. I couldn't really get a picture of the after effect because everything just looked put away. The building toys are under the bunk bed, the toy dishes and larger sized cars are on shelves, and there's a small set of drawers in the closet with toy animals, army men, and matchbox cars. The stuffed animals go in a funky mesh sorter thing I found at IKEA for quite cheap. When Lucy settled down on the couch for her quiet time after we were done, she said, "Mom, our room looks so nice and clean!"

Really, there's a part of my that wants to toss it all and just let the kiddos play with the Five Best Toys of All Time.

Project Simplify: Paper Clutter

Hot Spot #2 is paper clutter. Head on over to Simple Mom for some great tips on how to tackle and manage this on-going housekeeping issue.

I would describe the level of paper clutter I have to deal with as minimal to average. Our utilities are included in our rent agreement (including internet), we don't have any house payments and all the papers that come with that, we don't have a land line phone and we paid for our cell phone in one big chunk since we're on Eli's brother's plan. I haven't even started homeschooling in earnest. Maybe I'd better make that paper level minimal.

Still there's paper around to deal with and since there's so little, we tend to let it pile up. Here are the problem areas:

My desk

Misc. papers sorter: suspiciously empty.

Basket for family worship papers: mostly full of old Sunday School projects.

Eli's desk: not my responsibility, right?

Bedside nightstands: just how many books are we reading right now?

So I collected everything in one place. I was not planning on doing any major re-filing or catching up on financial paperwork. I just wanted to get it put away.

The Pile

About 50% of that got recycled. 25% was just books that needed to be put back on their proper shelves. And that basket in the middle holds (dare I admit it?) Christmas letters and cards. (I have an excuse: most of them are from church friends and we get them all on the Sunday before Christmas. If we read them right away it would take a whole evening! We've been meaning to go through them...)

I moved the wicker paper sorter to the place where papers tend to pile up and replaced it with my cookbooks. Yes, that is a Bible next to them. Man cannot live by bread alone, right?

All those slots are labeled. There is a place for everything, now we just need to put everything in its place.

Maybe I'll actually sit down here and write or something now!

Several books went back up to my nightstand. Yes, I really do need them all up there.

This basket looks pretty much the same, but now the papers in it are useful. I put all the unread Christmas letters here. Maybe we could read one each evening and pray for the family?

Ah, much better!

In conclusion, there's not really anything I can do to improve the system. We just need to stay on top of it.

Project Simplify: Master Closet

I'm joining up with Project Simplify on the blog Simple Mom. On Monday she announces a hot spot to de-clutter and organize and then on Friday everyone gets to share before and after photos. This week: the Master Closet. She has some really good tips so you should definitely check out her website!

On Thursday, Joshua was upstairs playing with Legos with Nathaniel and the girls were happily amusing themselves so I took the opportunity to work in my room.

First I took care of this. I hate it when by the time I'm done folding the clean laundry, it's time to wash another load!

Then I ironed that little pile draped on those drawers.
How long had they been sitting there?

Those boxes of candles wouldn't fit in the drawer designated to them. One drawer was full of lovely frames, empty since we got them for our wedding. I pulled them all out and evaluated. Use them or loose them, that's my motto. But I really like them! So I found places for them and soon I'll get some pictures printed to fill them. With that drawer empty, the candles fit easily.

That paper bag was the remnants of a sewing project from last year. But the container that my project materials are supposed to go in was overflowing. So I sorted through all that stuff and threw away scraps of fabric and yarn that really are too small to use. I did end up putting all my fabric into a separate bag, but the container of yarn, crochet hooks, knitting needles, and whatever else is much more neat and accesible.

By this time Esther was ready for her nap so I put her down on my bed and put Lucy in her bed for quiet time. Joshua was still playing Legos. As the girls took their naps I poked around my room and finished the project.

A few months ago I had already given this area a big re-organization so you could call this week's project a re-re-organization. However, since I usually just use my maternity clothes out of their storage container or stuff them in drawers on top of my regular clothes, I decided to use this opportunity to fully rotate out clothes that don't fit with clothes that do. So I piled those on the floor and did the great switch. In the process I sorted stuff out. This time I really let stuff go.

The rejects.

After

It's not really all that different, but just going everything a go-through results in drawers that close, clothes that fit on the rod, and the knowledge that I have a little less stuff that I don't need. I love that feeling!

This is the stuff that needed to be put away. Mom had an extra container I could use for the pile of costumes in the middle and Eli brought home an empty container from the Exodus attic for that pile of clothes that don't fit right now on the right. Both fit easily in the closet. I still need to get an over-the-door hook for our bathrobes.

This closet and a half a linen closet are the extent of our storage here. The too small baby clothes are all I have stored elsewhere (at Exodus). I love the simplicity that comes from only keeping what we need! Head on over to Simple Mom for some tips and tricks for getting and staying organized.

Soup

I have made soup a few times since we've been married, but mostly they've turned out watery and bland. Last night I finally made a soup worth eating - nothing worthy of a five star restaurant or anything, but it was savory, creamy, and warming on a cold fall evening.

Here are four essential elements to a successful soup:

1. A savory meat broth. I was able to simmer two bone-in chicken breasts for an hour or more for this one.
2. Sautéed vegetables. Yes, the sink was piled with pans when I was done, but the flavor was worth every one.
3. Fresh herbs. I don't usually have any on hand, so my soups end up tasting like salt. This time I used fresh basil.
4. A roux base. The fried butter and flour is the most flavorful way to thicken soup and mixing the milk into it keeps it from separating. 

Served with whole wheat artisan bread, that was a soup fit for a king! And my tummy is happy knowing that there's still half a pot left in the fridge.

Diaper Talk

My brother is having a baby (!) so I was talking diapers with my sister-in-law. Like me, Hannah likes to keep things natural and cheap. But if natural isn't cheap then both of us tend to say, "Why bother?" I was convinced that cloth diapers are indeed cheaper than their pumped-full-of-chemicals, bad-for-the-environment alternatives. After our conversation I looked back through our records and let the numbers speak for themselves.

Joshua was born in 2006 and I began buying the Wal-mart brand of diapers. They worked pretty well for me, only leaking when the size was wrong or if the blow-out was particularly huge. Also, I didn't change his diaper very often because I was too cheap to throw away a half used diaper. If I was to go back I would probably be spending about 30% more because I'm now used to keeping the children's bottoms fresh.

2006 - For Joshua’s first year we spent $300 on disposable diapers. That’s really not that bad for the convenience of just throwing them away. And it’s a lot less than pro-cloth diaper people will tell you that disposable diapers cost.

2007 - The next year Joshua was a toddler so he wasn’t changed nearly as often, but we did have Lucy in diapers too for the last three months of the year. We spent about $250.

2008 - The year after that Joshua and Lucy were both in diapers for the first five months and then Joshua potty trained. Lucy continued to use disposables until August. We spent $220.

In August that year I made my first cloth diapers purchase which totaled $80.50. Esther is using those diapers now. Cotton prefolds and waterproof wraps are the most economical option and I find them easy to wash and dry.

Including that purchase, I have spent a total of $380 on cloth diapers (wraps and wipes too) and most of it is still going strong. I will be using all the diapers themselves for at least one more child and possibly another after that. The waterproof wraps that I buy are about $12 each and I use 4 for each of the three sizes.

I did buy some used wraps that I didn’t like and I ended up getting rid of them. I used other wraps when Lucy was too big for them so they stretched and wore out early and I had to replace them. I also spent a bit more on one wrap (wool to breath better since Lucy got such terrible diaper rashes). The wipes that I’ve gotten aren’t worth the extra money. If you want to do cloth wipes (disposable wipes are easy and cheap) just buy cheap flannel to cut into squares. The number above also includes the aloe that I bought to make wipes solution.

I have looked at our water bill before and after diapers and it did not go up significantly.

Realistically, if you wanted to do cloth diapers, here is what it could cost:
Infant diapers: $1.50 each x 36 = $48
Regular diapers: $2.00 each x 24 = $48
Wraps: $12.00 each x 12 = $144 (this is for three sizes so you don’t need to spend this all at once)
Total (good for about 3 kids): $240

Anyway, maybe this is more information than ant of you are interested in, but these are real numbers from our experience.