Week 48: Random Kids Stuff

This is from a really long time ago (probably two months), but I never got around to posting about it.  I guess that's what happens when you have 3 kiddos! All Things Kids accepted #315-317 all that is pictured to the left, #318 the blue striped shirt to the right, and also a knit sweater (not pictured).

All that is below: #319 that Turkey Outfit went to a friend and #320 the blue and brown striped one underneath it went to another. #321 Shoes and #322 Clothes went to Empty Tomb.

Week 47: Bathroom Makeover

On Bo's paternity leave after Mei Mei was born, he took it upon himself to give our downstairs bathroom a makeover. Fabulous idea, if you ask me.  Part of the reason we are PURGing is so that when we move from this place, there's less junk to throw away because we don't want to move it and don't have time to deal with it.  Instead we PURGE slowly and find good homes for all our junk.  Our eventual move from here means first selling this place, which means sprucing it up.

And did he! Not only did Bo paint, but he also replaced all the fixtures too. So now instead of chrome like we have in each of the other bathrooms, the downstairs bathroom is outfitted with brushed nickel.  Our original fixtures (#309 Towel Rack, #310 Light fixture, #311Toilet paper holder, #313 Faucet) plus a #314 wall decoration went to Habitat for Humanity Restore.  They take all sorts of household stuff.

These are just the types of things that would end up in the basement, attic or garage. They still have many great years of use, so why not hang in to it.  Trust me, you'll never use it.  Save yourself the time and get rid of it now!  Bring it to place that can use it right away and you save it from going into a landfill too!

Week 46: Similac Sharing

The hospital gave us a bunch of free Similac stuff when Mei Mei was born, but we likely won't use because I'll exclusively breastfeed.  A friend of mine who had a baby 2 days after I did requested all of it.  So I gave Lisa #304 4 bottles Similac, #305 4 Nipples, #306 2 canisters of dry formula, #307 3 Coupons and #308 a cute gift bag (gotta count everything that leaves the house!).  It feels great to help a fellow mom!  I know I'll keep getting stuff from Similac in the mail and the rest will go to Lisa and her baby.

Week 45: Coats for Kids Drive

My kids' children's ministry at church are sponsoring a Coats for Kids drive to benefit Empty Tomb.  Actually, they are collecting all types of winter outer wear: coats, hats, gloves, mittens, scarves, etc.  So, when I went through our tub of stuff from last year, I found some extras that we won't use.

My mom loves to crochet scarves, so my boys picked the bright blue ones located in the middle row and we donated the rest of #299 Baby hat (Mei Mei already has too many) and #300 6 hand-made scarves.

If you'd like to donate, I'll be collecting them for ET even after the drive at church is over, so just post a comment or contact me directly.

I also made a drop to Empty Tomb myself after taking another look at my closet and PURGing some stuff that I thought a mom of 3 shouldn't wear.  At the top is #301 some lounge wear that says bride '04.  Yep, that was me over 6 years ago.  The drawstring waist doesn't quite hold up to my newly shaped waist and the hoodie is a little bleached on the cuffs.  In the middle are #302 hospital socks.  Really no one should wear these outside of the hospital, but what a waste to throw them away.  The 4 long sleeve shirts #303 were all too short and too tight.  Granted, I tried them on right after I gave birth, so that's understandable. But I'd like my clothes to be flexible enough that if I gain a few pounds the still fit alright.

There are several more tops that fit this description, so I'll go through them slowly.  I'm finding it so much easier to PURGE but not as easy to buy clothes for myself.  I hope I don't run out of clothes soon!

The Challenge to Live Simply with a New Addition

My daughter, Mei, was born in the middle October, and I've been maternity leave from PURGE since then.  Hee-hee.  J/K.  I've still been setting aside items to get rid of, but just haven't quite gotten them out of the house yet. 

With our new addition to the family comes a LOT of things in the house that will eventually need to be PURGEd again: clothes, play gym, co-sleeper, carseat, etc.  In fact, part of what is already set aside to PURGE soon is some of her freebies from the hospital and stuff she's already outgrown.  

Despite all the stuff that coming into the house for our baby girl, we're still committed to living simply.  We've bought very few things brand new for her if any.  We got a lot of hand-me-downs from friends and freebies from freecycle, which got us mostly covered.  The few things that I did buy, I got from consignment, garage sales and craigslist.  Getting used items instead of buying them new helps lessen our impact on the environment.

We still need a crib mattress and  we prefer to not get a used one, so we are looking into new organic ones.  Too bad all are several hundred dollars (eeep!), which is why we still haven't gotten one yet.  We've got our eye on the Pebble Mattress by Nook.  It would last her for years and should also last for her kids.  Now if that's not green, I dunno what it.  But is that worth $500 green ones?  I love this dad's review of it, especially when he calls it "nanorganic!"