Too far south...

This morning the girls and I bundled up to go on a bird hike, a very special, first annual Kids' Christmas Bird Count at the Mitchell Lake Audubon Center in San Antonio. We love Mitchell Lake, and we love our birding friends who lead the Young Birder's Club of San Antonio who were co-hosting the event. I am not the best birder, my identification skills are quite lacking, but what I lack in precision I try to make up for in enthusiasm and photojournalism.

I really could say a lot about our bird walk this morning, the weather was lovely, just chilly enough to be comfortable in a few layers but not cold. The company was jovial and eager to identify and count birds, and laugh at the number of Northern Cardinals and Northern Mockingbirds strutting in front of us to make sure and be noticed. But the minute we got the phone call that the Long-eared Owl had been spotted, the rest of the morning's events were trumped by this special, and quite unusual sighting (this owl doesn't usually come below Plano, so his being in San Antonio is causing quite a stir in the bird world). And he was a very photogenic owl too. :)

And these two little White Crowned Sparrows just posed so beautifully, I couldn't resist but share the shot I got of them before they flew away.

There were quite a few more birds this morning, but I haven't had time to cull through my photos. I was dying to see the pictures of the Long-eared Owl, so I got those up, and I just had to share!

Getting my act together...

Fresh from the printers, and now time to limber up my writing hand and begin the addressing process. Merry Christmas Y'all!

Be on the watch for one at a mailbox near you! And if I don't have your real physical address... Let me know! 

It's beginning to look a lot like...

I still have a couple more to design, but thanks to some sleeping in children and some Pinterest inspiration, my chalkboard wall in the kitchen is beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

A Beautiful Mess...

Every so often a new something comes out that promises to clean your dishes better, or dry your clothes faster, or make your car smell fresher. Most times I look around and realize that my whatever works fine and I move on. This is especially true when it comes to computers or phones or apps. I usually just yawn. I spend a great amount of time agonizing about the blessings of technology and whether or not they outweigh the curses.

One technology that I do enjoy enhancements in is photography. I have been known to stand in the camera aisle at Costco and salivate over the newest Nikon. I have a folder on my iPhone with a number of camera apps. Instagram in an obvious favorite. Halftone keeps Noah entertained. But Hannah showed me some new stuff in an app called A Beautiful Mess, and it is just plain fun. :) 

What we do in November...

Last week the temps dropped into the 30's. This weekend they neared the 90's. So, we did just like any reasonable sun-loving Texas family would have done. We went swimming. :) 

I have always contended that there had to be at least a few perks for surviving the harsh Texas summers. Wondering if we will be swimming in December... stranger things have happened...

Shedding the weight...

I had to take what I could get in little bursts of time here and there, or in larger blocks after bedtime and before kids awakened. Finally, though, one room has been entirely thinned out. The upstairs craft room. As I worked, I couldn't believe how much the craft room was like the widow's jug of oil, no matter how much I got rid of, there was still more and more. In the end, this is what is leaving...

The top left picture is all going to be given away. The top right photo is trash. The bottom left picture is all baby and toddler stuff (new and gently used) that is being passed on to a niece expecting her first child. The bottom right photo is a glimpse of the number of plastic boxes freed in the decluttering process. 

And this is what is left:

Nice, orderly, relaxing. No precariously stacked boxes or overstuffed cubbies. I look forward to creating here. The twins have already asked for some time to sew. :) E said he plans to telecommute at the desk. 

I still need to finish the downstairs office turned extra sitting room. It is admittedly slower going in there. I know not what to do with cords and wires. I think some of the newly reclaimed plastic boxes may become the home for groups of wires since the drawers that used to house them don't fit in the new configuration. With all the decluttering upstairs, I was able to move some boxes with crafting supplies upstairs where they belonged, freeing some much needed space downstairs. Hopefully, I will get the office trimmed down and straightened up this week. It makes my heart happy to lighten the loads we have been carrying in stuff. And it makes me never want to walk inside a Target again. 

The office so far (not a pretty sight):

Our bedroom will follow the office/sitting room. I will be going through all my books in January. I am having to contain my excitement and set realistic expectations for finishing this project. I am still a wife and mommy, not just a clutter buster. :)

My heart's desire is that simplifying our belongings will simplify our day-to-day lives. Less stuff management, more living. I am thankful to the Lord for stirring my heart to loosen my grip on the things of this world. I am praying for the fruit of peace to reign in our home as the chaos of excess is swept out of it. 

How do you simplify? Regular decluttering or "can't handle it anymore" purging? Any advice on keeping the clutter at bay? 

Some ideas...

A few people have asked what I will be doing with all the "purged" items I uncover. Two days ago I would have had no idea. After some prayer and discussion with Elliott, I have a battle plan.

First, I plan to work really hard through November purging my home and my mom's garage (where stuff that never got moved to my house 7 years ago still resides). Then, in early December I am going to host a party, a "Blessings Bash", and I will invite everyone I know to come have coffee and dig through my stuff and take whatever they want. Yep. Anything and as much as they think they can use. Anything left over after my bash will take a trip up I-35 to the New Braunfels Women's Shelter. 

In the New Year I plan to tackle books. I have around 4,000. No, you didn't read that wrong. And it might be more, I stopped counting. I like books. A lot. But, a solid half of those are children's books, especially younger ones, ones we've grown out of. So, I am going to box up anything I can't live without and I am going to call some local orphanages and see if any of them would accept a donation of used books. I am hoping they say yes, I will probably be able to start a library for them! 

Some stuff is just hitting the trash. It isn't a blessing to pass on broken stuff or loved until the pages have fallen out books. I am growing excited over the idea of living leaner. I think the kids are too. There have been a few sighs and "whys" when something they had forgotten about makes it into the "leaving" pile. A gentle chat and reminder of how long the item has been gone and why it was forgotten to begin with has helped calm the seas. 

I realize that eight people with different interests, ages and stages will still leave me with more "stuff" than the average family, even after the purging. My true desire is to remove the stumbling block of unnecessary excess and to free us to live more purposefully without the hindrance of "stuff management" to contend with. And, I will try to remember before and after pics. Though, I usually forget, in which case I will just take a photo of the piles and let your imagination do the rest. :) 

True purging...

For a year I have been tiptoeing around my need to purge. I have learned a lot about myself in the last few years. Some of it I don't like. In the past I have bought too much, if one is good isn't four better?!?!? I have been trying to make excuses for myself, I have organized to justify myself instead of humbly admitted my wastefulness and moved on. I have been drowning in a flood of my own making, that of my neatly appointed hoarding.

I marvel at my children keeping every random scrap of this or that when in reality, I have my own piles of "one day I might" with a cutely named Pinterest board to match. I keep boxes and boxes filled with "one day projects" but say no to the "can we now projects" because the floor is covered the remains of toys no longer loved or crafts never done. And I keep harping on the need to be good stewards at the same time the piles by my bed teeter back and forth threatening to crash at any moment. The hypocrisy of it has never been so apparent to me as it became this evening.

E was at a Spurs game tonight. So, after the kids' gymnastics and Tae Kwon Do classes, I got a haircut before we came home for dinner. I was tired and decided on letting the kids watch a movie while Dad was gone. During the movie, I decided to go pick up the craft room. I would like to think that one day I will craft here. For the time being, it holds things to make crafts with and when it is nice and neat I feel creative and inspired. When it is not, I feel crabby and angry. As I cleaned I realized there were too many things and not enough spaces. I also realized that there were things that I had purchased for crafts well into five or more years ago that I never touched, much less crafted with. This was actually not a unique realization. In the past I have convinced myself that "one day" I will or I would feel guilty that I spent money on this or that and thought that giving it away would make me a bad steward.

I have no doubt that the Lord orchestrated tonight's events. I went into my children's rooms at bedtime and observed their overflowing drawers and cabinets and nearly lost it. I am so tired of the constant battle against the mess. I told my children that they showed good stewardship by taking care of what they had or by being mature and humble enough to admit they needed to let something go. And then it hit me. I needed to stop feeling guilty for past decisions and purchases. I need to walk in light of Christ's forgiveness and cut the weights pulling me down. I thought that I would be a good steward to organize and keep so much, but instead it was weighing me down, hindering me from joyfully engaging my children. 

It will be hard work. I will have to ask myself hard questions and be willing to swallow my pride as I get rid of this or that which I just had to have. It will be humbling. And I need to be willing to go to my children and ask for their forgiveness in setting a poor example of stewardship, especially since I have been so bold as to exalt myself as such a good one. I need to ask Elliott's forgiveness for not being a good manager of our resources. Of course, I need to seek the Lord and pursue His forgiveness and seek His guidance in changing my heart to rest in Him alone for my contentedness. 

As I gaze at the first pile of many more to come, my mind dancing with the possibilities... Garage sale? Blessing swap? Drop-off donation? Save up stuff until I have enough to do something grand with or get rid of stuff in onesie-twosies as I have time in the midst of schooling and living and serving the Church? 

Any ideas? 

Crafting fun...

Some scrapbook paper pumpkins...

Some cute water colored leaves...

A line of kids waiting to make some melted crayon art...

And then cutting out leaf shapes to make fall sun catchers...

There was also a cute fall "snow globe" I made for each of the moms who came, but that escaped photographic documentation. Since I was the crafting "cruise director", all the above pictures were taken by my kids. And I found all the crafts on Pinterest. Seriously, I think that site is my new best friend (even though I did totally make fun of it when it first came out...). 

My favorite thing about our Pumpkin Patch and Play day is that in just a few hours we have created enough things to decorate our house to feel all nice and cozy and festive. And I get to fellowship with other Moms while my kids play happily with friends. 

In the end, we all had fun. Some of us may have had too much fun...

Fall is in the air...

I can't remember a whole year of weather that I have enjoyed more than this year. The summer was incredibly mild, by Texas standards that is. And fall has come in right on schedule. Windows are open most every morning, the birds have begun migrating, Monarch butterflies can be see wafting by overhead. It is pure joy for my heart, and I wake each morning yearning to spend the day out of doors.

An annual tradition around here is something I have deemed Pumpkin Patch and Play day. It is when I set a deadline for myself to get the kids dressed in coordinating outfits and we head over to the local Methodist Church Pumpkin Patch for our yearly Mommy-taken kid photos. We invite friends to join us at the pumpkin patch and then back to our house for a brown bag lunch and fall inspired crafts. It was another fun event!

I imagine we will attempt to make another trek out to the patch this coming week as I did not seem to capture a group shot, and I want to try to conquer the lighting, but when friends arrived, all focus on Mom was understandably lost. If a return trip doesn't happen, here are the kids' photos for the year... they are somewhat becoming our "school photos". :)

 

 

Another post will contain some snapshots of our crafting fun! 

All dressed up...

The culmination of all the sewing projects...

And this week at Chick-fil-A a pair of knights may or may not have been seen having lunch...

Just keep sewing...

A few sneak peeks of what I have been busy doing (since I have obviously not been blogging)...

I'll try to get the back story up this week, as well as some photos of everything coming all together! 

A little weekend...

It's a long story, but our family was spoiled and pampered this weekend by the amazing folks at the Omni Colonade Hotel. All in all, my floors didn't get mopped, dishes weren't washed and I got behind in laundry, but it was totally worth it. :)

A little fall harvest theme to the dinner Friday evening...

Waiting to get started on our Sea World adventures...

We found Shamu!

I love my iPhone camera...

Front row seats...

Probably my favorite show of the day, Azul, with diving and synchronized swimming and beautiful animals from God's Creation. It should be called the 5th day show with birds above and water creatures below...

I love sharks!

I think they liked it...