What I Live For

Pant and Short

2012-05-08T09:38:00.002-05:00

Yesterday my 5 year old was folding and putting away his clothes. When I told him to put his pants away, he looked at the lone pair of pants and said to me "You mean my pant, right mom?!"

I then had the wonderful opportunity to explain to my son how bizarre the English language is and teach him about the singularity and plurality of pants and shorts. It's amazing any of us learn the English language sometimes, but I couldn't help but smile when even my 5 year old was able to realize just how bizarre we speak sometimes.

Teaching moments where my son and I get to talk to each other one-on-one are some of my favorite moments and are definitely What I Live For.

Shout® at Walmart

2012-05-04T04:47:00.001-05:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Triad Retail Media for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I remember when I was pregnant with our first baby. My brother-in-law, who at the time had six kids, explained to me that laundry would never be the same. He explained "you will never be able to wear the same shirt twice before washing it" and I came to quickly realize how true that was. I remember learning gradually which foods would stain baby onesies and how to treat different stains. I was devastated when my favorite onesie, that brought out the blue in my baby's eyes got stained with a fudgesicle, and I never did get that stain out.

There are some stains that seem to require drastic measures, but I have come to learn with my kids' clothes that often, all that is required is a spray of something like Shout® Trigger will get the stain out wonderfully. Some of the benefits of Shout® Trigger is that is has a convenient trigger dispenser, it is safe for all colorfast washables and it works in all water temperatures. I love that with a lot of stains, if I spray the stain when the clothing item goes into the dirty clothes basket, that will be enough to get the stain out and I don't have to worry about it until the next time my boys somehow stain it!

I have two boys. My clothes are constantly spotted with whatever was on their hands when they hugged me randomly. Their clothes are constantly covered with whatever they have had contact with. Probably the biggest stain I deal with is dirt. My boys will spend all day outside digging in the dirt and will come in covered head to foot, looking like Pigpen from Charlie Brown comics! Products like Shout® Trigger save me time and save me stress.

Did you know you can find it at Walmart?

Dinosaur Party: Dinosaur Cake

2012-04-23T06:45:00.000-05:00

To wrap up our week of dinosaur birthday party ideas, I wanted to show off the cake I made for K’s birthday party.

I was pretty thrilled when both of my boys asked for a dinosaur cake this year since their birthdays are 2 weeks apart…it just meant a little less creativity required on my part and C’s cake allowed me to learn and practice before K’s party where more people would actually see his cake :).

K begged me for a volcano so I took the corner I cut off at slant for the water, layered it on top of another corner and put a Ding Dong type snack on top of that. Even still this cake is not done to scale, but K loved it and I was pretty proud of how it came out. I also got to use some of the cute little dinosaurs I bought for the fossil eggs I made.

Happy Birthday K!

Dino Party: Fossilized Dinosaur Eggs

2012-04-20T09:34:00.001-05:00

These party favors are fun to make and fun to destroy. Fossilized dinosaur eggs are what we chose to send home with our party guests and I got a few reports back on how much the kids loved breaking them up…

Also known as Treasure Stones (thanks Skip to My Lou and about.com), these eggs are made from a dough and dried so that they resemble rocks. I do recommend making these a week in advance so there’s time to dry the eggs. All you need is:

1 cup flour
1 cup used coffee grinds. If you don’t drink coffee, just stop by your local Starbucks and ask for their used grinds…I got 10+ cups of grinds in 5 minutes! Spread out overnight to allow them to dry.
1/2 cup salt
1/4 cup sand. I bought a bag at WalMart for under $3.50 and now we have a fun little sandbox from the leftovers.
1 cup water
Small dinosaur toys to put inside your eggs

1. Mix all of the dry ingredients together. I multiplied this recipe by 10 so we used a big bucket to mix in…

2. Slowly add the water and mix with your hands until you have a stiff dough.

3. Take a glob of dough and press a dinosaur toy into the middle of it. Take some more dough and cover the toy. Shape the ball of dough into an egg shape.

4. When all of your stones are done you can either leave them out for several (5-7) days to dry or put them in the oven at at 150 degrees for 2 hours. Then leave them out for 2-3 days to finish drying. If you live somewhere humid, put them back in the oven the day of your party for an hour to make sure they’re hard. Then you can send the eggs home with kids or have them smash them open at the party…

Just so you know, if you’re not a fan of the smell of coffee, this craft is pretty stinky. We just made sure the eggs were outside as much as possible! :) We smashed them outside and spread the remains in the garden since it’s all compost-ible.

I’m linking up to Preschool Corner Friday, Fun Stuff Friday, Friday Fun Finds, Friday Favorites, Fancy This Fridays, A Little Knick Knack, Friday Link Party, and

Dino Party: Felt Dinosaur Banner

2012-04-19T06:43:00.000-05:00

When I saw Dana’s Peep bunting this year, I knew I had to make a dinosaur banner for K’s birthday party! This was so easy to make and it was fun décor which now hangs happily in my boys’ bedroom :)

This banner was super easy to make. I just cut out felt dinosaurs from my applique post, and hot glued them onto a long ribbon. I then hot glued googly eyes onto each dinosaur and hung it up. As simple as that!

Dinosaur Party: Fossil Prints

2012-04-18T06:30:00.000-05:00

While Land Before Time played in the living room during K’s dinosaur birthday party, the kids had the option of making fossil prints in salt dough in the kitchen. Any kid who loves Play-Dough will love the activity and it was a fun way to keep the kids’ hands busy for a while.

To make salt dough, take 2 cups all purpose flour, 1 cup salt and 1 cup luke-warm water. Mix the ingredients together to form a dough.

I think I multiplied this recipe by 5 so we had a huge bowl of salt dough. Each kid got a lovely glob to play with and use to make dinosaur fossil prints using the various dinosaurs my boys have collected over time. If you have a way for kids to take their fossil prints home, the salt dough can be left out for several days until it becomes hard like a fossil and your kids can hang on to this fun memento from the party.

Thanks so much Get Down & Get Your Hands Dirty for this fun recommendation! I’ll be linking up to Kids Get Crafty, Works For Me Wednesday, What are little boys made of? Preschool Corner Friday.

Dinosaur Party: Dirt Pudding

2012-04-17T07:09:00.000-05:00

I know it may be a stretch, but since archaeologists have to dig quite a bit, I felt that dirt pudding was perfect for our dinosaur party. The adults actually appreciated the pudding while the kids devoured cake and it worked out perfectly for us…

I was so bummed when I couldn’t find dino gummies to put in the pudding, but these cups of tasty dirt were still a hit and are perfect for a party! Thank you recipetips for this fun treat.

All you need is:

1 package Oreo cookies
1 small package of chocolate pudding (4 serving size)
2 cups cold milk
8 oz Cool Whip, thawed
1 package of gummy worms
8-10 plastic cups

1.To make your dirt pudding, start by putting the Oreos in a Ziplock bag and crush with a rolling pin.

2. Mix the pudding mix with the 2 cups of cold milk. Whisk until the pudding mix is dissolved and allow to set for 5 minutes.

3. Add the Cool Whip and 1/2 of the crushed cookies to your pudding. Stir until well blended.

4. Put a large spoonful of crushed cookies in the bottom of each cup.

5. Spoon pudding mix on top of the cookie crumbs until cups are about 3/4 full or to desired height.

6. Place 1-2 gummy worms in each cup so the tail is in the pudding and the head is hanging over the edge of the cup.

7. Spoon cookie crumbs around the gummy worms to hold them into place.

8. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

I’ll be linking up to Tuesdays at my Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, and Works for Me Wednesday.

Dinosaur Party: Invitations

2012-04-16T07:10:00.000-05:00

Get ready this week for an abundance of dinosaur party theme posts because we just celebrated K’s 5th birthday, and it was dinosaur-rific!

For the invitations, I just printed out my dinosaur applique from my No Sew Applique post, cut out several by hand (no Cricut for me-yet!), and printed the information on white paper. When I glued it on, I just trimmed the white paper to the same shape as the cute little dino and glued a googly eye on. Simple, cute and cheap!

Sadly, the day of the party it was stormy so we had to relocate to our home, but more on that to come…:)

Garden Tip

2012-04-11T07:21:00.000-05:00

I don’t know where I found this tip, but we planted our garden recently and the best thing I found to use to mark where everything is planted is popsicle sticks…

Just write the name of the plant on the stick and stick it in the ground. These worked so well for me in the beginning, though in full disclosure popsicle sticks do not hold up the best to little children stepping on them ;). The nice part is that if they break, it’s super easy to replace!

I’m linking up to Works for Me Wednesday.

Miracle-Gro® Expand ‘n Gro™

2012-04-10T21:00:00.001-05:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Scotts® for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

This is the first year I have lived somewhere as an adult that I can grow my own garden and I am so excited to already have pumpkin, squash, bell pepper, tomato, hot pepper, onion, garlic, peas and green onions popping out of the soil. Our soil here is quite clay like and I am honestly surprised at how well everything is growing thus far. I do worry about my little plants as they grow bigger and need more nutrients but I am considering this year a trial period for how I hope future gardening endeavors will happen.

With how lousy our soil is, I can only imagine how much a product like Miracle-Gro Expand ‘n Gro™ would help my plants not only grow, but thrive. Apparently Miracle-Gro® Expand ‘n Gro™ Concentrated Planting Mix can help product up to 3x the amount of flowers and vegetables that normal soil would. The planting mix improves soil for several years and feeds plants for up to 6 months. Another benefit is that this mix is lightweight, but when water is added, it expands up to 3X and the natural fibers retain 50% more water than normal potting soil.

If you are looking for a product to optimize your garden, maybe you should look into Miracle-Gro® Expand ‘n Gro™ Concentrated Planting Mix. Leave a comment on my post for a chance to win a sample of the product. This could be an easy way to prep your yard for the spring and summer seasons this year :).

A visit from the Fairy Hobmother

2012-04-10T13:51:00.001-05:00

To be honest, I felt a little bit like Cinderella when I received an e-mail saying that I had been visited by the Fairy Hobmother, who spreads light and joy across the internet thanks to Appliances Online.

I may have even been slightly giddy after the visit and am so thankful for the Fairy Hobmother’s kindness and generosity. So now I’m curious, have any of you been visited by this wonderful fairy? Leave a comment on this post and the Fairy Hobmother may just find you too :)

Disclosure: The Fairy Hobmother is kindly compensating me for writing this post. All opinions expressed herein are mine.

Pirate Ship from a Box

2012-04-06T07:12:00.000-05:00

For some reason, my boys have been very interested in pirates so when the delivery truck dropped off a massive cardboard box, the chosen remodeling project was a pirate ship (after, of course playing in the box for at least 1/2 an hour)…

I just cut off one of the sides of the box, folded two of the flaps to make the bow (or pointy front)…

Secured the stick (rolled up piece of cardboard from the side I cut off the box) which holds the sail with a bench of sorts…

Constructed a sail by sewing two casings along the top and bottom of a rectangular piece of fabric to put sticks through (I left a small gap in the center to attach it to the pole holding the sail up)…

Cut out a lovely helm and attached it to the ship by using a paper clip in a Brad clip sort of fashion…

cut out port holes…

And set sail! I cut out a sword from the leftover cardboard and we finished the night off by watching Hook. My boys are still talking about pirates and it was a day well spent :) Arr!!!

I’ll be linking up to Kids Get Crafty, What Are Little Boys Made of?, Fun Stuff Fridays, Preschool Corner Friday.

Grocery Bag Flowers

2012-04-03T06:41:00.000-05:00

If there’s any craft I get really excited about, it’s one that recycles every day objects into awesome, new things! Flowers from grocery bags was no exception…even though I use tote bags for much of my shopping, I still have plastic bags growing out of my ears so I was stoked to find Silly Simple Living’s plastic bag flowers thanks to Pinterest!

I added a few twists to make these flowers make-able for anyone with stuff we all have lying around including…plastic grocery bags, paper clips, scissors, and masking tape. Use different colored bags for more diversity…I even left the wording on some of them because I liked the contrast on the “petals”.

First, take your grocery bag and lay it out flat. Cut off the bottom in a straight line and spread the bag out…

Now, take the bottom of the bag and fold it up to just under the handles. Fold the bottom up again and one more time (or as many time as you want your flower to be small)…

Fold one side of the bag over to the other side and fold it in half once again…

Take a small round bowl, or other circular object (I used the lid of a mason jar) and trace that circle onto your folded bag…

Now cut that circle out through all of the layers of the bag. Don’t worry if each circle isn’t perfect…it adds to the dimensions of the flower :).

Now take a few layers of circles (around 4-5) and fold those layers in half, and in half again and in half again so your circle is now folded in 8ths (I think!)

Take your scissors and round the corners of the folded circle as seen below in the first picture so when you open your circle(s) up they will look like the second picture…

Repeat with all of the circles you have.

Next take a paper clip and unfold it, then bend it like so…

This will be your stem. Take the stem and poke it through the center of each of the flower circles. Once all of the circles are on, pinch all of the layers against the loop on the paper clip stem and wrap a strip of masking tape around the bottom of your flower. This will help form the shape.

Then you just bunch up the petals and separate them as best you can to give the flower the desired shape. These flowers would look so cute in a vase or on a spring wreath…I just love the simplicity and how pretty they turn out. All from a grocery sack!

I’ll be linking up to Get Your Craft On, Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays, Tip Me Tuesday, Works for Me Wednesday, DIY LInky Party, Creative Share Blog Hop, Penny Pinching Party.

“God Gave Us Love” Book Review

2012-04-02T15:50:00.001-05:00

Of all the books I have reviewed on this blog I think that God Gave Us Love by Lisa Tawn is my favorite. I love the message of the book especially! A book that teaches my children what love is and where it came from is well worth the read. Trust me, we have read this book several times and my boys and I love it just as much each time we read it, if not more.

The pictures and story are adorable and keep my kids actively engaged in the book from beginning to end. I remember sitting on my grandpa’s knee, learning life lessons; reaping of his wisdom and experience. I think the author of God Gave Us Love chose the perfect setting to write this book in-a grandfather imparting of his wisdom to his grandchild. It just seems to perfect.

If you’re looking to help your home library grow, this cute little board book would be a perfect addition. You can also choose from a few other God Gave Us… books by Lisa Tawn to teach your children through.

I received this book free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion of it from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

"Like" to Donate

2012-03-28T23:00:00.001-05:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Pfister for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Over 30 years ago, Rebuilding Together was started as a grassroots activism and community engagement in Midland, Texas. Rebuilding Together is a national nonprofit organization which provides home repairs, improvements and modifications for low-income homeowners in America. This organization provides service to homeowners at no cost to those helped.

Since Rebuilding Together began, they have completed work on over 100,000 homes, and have delivered more than $1.3 billion in market value. 3.4 million volunteers have made this service possible.

Until today I had never heard of Rebuilding Together but with the limited information I know about this company, I am thus far thoroughly impressed. A foundation that provides such crucial service is well worth sharing about!

Now, we can each donate $1 to Rebuilding Together by liking the Pfister Facebook page. Pfister has been a leader in the plumbing field for nearly 100 years. Right now, they are working toward the goal of $20,000 towards Pfister faucets which will be donated to communities in need. You can also check out the Friends of Pfister campaign site to learn more.

It is amazing how much work Rebuilding Together has done. Be a part of their efforts by simply liking Pfister.

Dinosaur Cake

2012-03-26T20:08:00.001-05:00

Recently we celebrated my 3 (!) year old’s birthday and he requested a dinosaur cake…I love the simplicity of making cakes for my boys because they want the toys on top and they are fairly simple to decorate:

I just made a 9x13” cake. On one corner I cut the top off at an angle to make the beach/water and I put the corner that had been cut off on top of another corner for a little hill.

I can’t believe my little boy is 3 and am so excited to watch him grow and develop every day. Happy Birthday C!

I’ll be linking up to Works for Me Wednesday, Kids Get Crafty, Create and Share, What Are Little Boys Made Of? and Fun Stuff Fridays.

Get away to Kefalonia Island

2012-03-21T14:06:00.001-05:00

So, there’s a retired couple at my church and at least annually they disappear for several weeks to go on exotic vacations…cruises in Europe, touring Egypt, etc, etc, etc. I’ll admit I get a little jealous and dream of the day when maybe, just maybe, my husband and I can go on a romantic vacation. When we got married, we spent as little as possible and our honeymoon was in a little town in Colorado. I loved that time with my husband, but it doesn’t mean I don’t dream of a second honeymoon some day to somewhere a little more exotic :). Of all the beautiful places I would love to go, spending weeks in Europe definitely tops my list!

Of all the places in Europe, I think I would really enjoy a stay on the Greek island Kefalonia. At Kefalonia.co.uk you can learn all about this beautiful island with their bounteous resorts, boutique style hotels, and beautiful beaches. Apparently this is the perfect location for couples to get away and spend quality time together and it looks like the ideal honeymoon type location!

Have you ever heard of Kefalonia before? What intrigues you most about this island and, if given the chance, would you go there?

Disclosure: Though I am being compensated for this post, all opinions herein are mine. Please see my disclosure policy for any questions.

Buy 2 get the 3rd free at Zenni Optical!

2012-03-20T04:00:00.001-05:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Zenni Optical for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I was one of those lucky first graders who got to wear glasses, and they were the terribly attractive thick plastic frames that I am still embarrassed about. Ever since, my eye sight has only gotten worse, as has my dependency on glasses. Until recently, I had only viewed my glasses as purely utilitarian, but I got a cute pair recently and it has made a huge difference in my life! Now I am so tempted to get a bunch of different pairs, and to actually use my glasses as a fashion accessory and the thought is kind of exciting to me.

I had never even thought of buying prescription glasses online until I started reading blogs and reading the amazing reviews and after seeing several different online glasses sites, I am very tempted to shop through Zenni Optical. Right now, their hugest promotion ever is happening where you can Buy 2 Get 1 Free. When you can get $6.95 prescription eyeglasses, why shop elsewhere, especially if you can find frames that you really like.

I am beginning to learn that glasses are nothing to be ashamed of, and when you can buy eyeglasses affordably, why not have some fun and feel attractive while still maintaining a decent field of vision?

How to Make Slime

2012-03-07T17:53:00.001-06:00

Here’s a fun project to do with kids on a rainy day…and the best part is the fun can last for weeks. I found the “recipe” on pinterest via Tinkerlab and was shocked to see both of my boys spend ages playing with the slime.

All you need is some Elmer’s Glue, Borax and water, and food coloring if desired! I halved Tinkerlab’s recipe because that’s the amount of glue I had and it was plenty of slime for my son to play with…

I took 2 oz white glue and mixed it with 2 oz lukewarm water. Now’s a good time to add the food coloring. In a separate bowl I mixed 1/2 tsp Borax with 1/4 cup water. Then I slowly added the Borax mixture to the glue mixture while stirring, only adding until the mixture begins to form into the wonderful consistency of slime.

My 4 year old helped with the mixing and was so excited…the same day he sat and quietly played with his slime for 45 minutes, cutting, rolling, etc…

When not using your slime, store it in an airtight container until it starts stinking (ours is going on a few weeks and still smells fine).

I’ll be linking up to What Are Little Boys Made of?, Preschool Corner Friday, Fun Stuff Fridays, and Kids Get Crafty.

Art of Marriage & Applebee's Giveaway!

2012-03-02T08:55:00.000-06:00

In January, I posted a widget with different ways to help military families keep their marriages and families strong after their loved one returns from deployment. I'm excited to share with you today another widget-The Art of Marriage Ops-which can also help these men and women strengthen their marriages.

In the widget, you can tell friends, text to support and help send military couples to events centered around strengthening their marriages, and more. PLEASE check out the app and share it with your friends by tweeting with the hashtag #marriageops.

And, if you check out the widget you can enter in the Rafflecopter form below to win a $20 Applebee's giftcard which you can give away to a couple that needs a date night, or use it to strengthen the relationship you have with your significant other! Just follow the instructions in the form.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Homemade Sugar Scrub

2012-02-23T06:52:00.000-06:00

Have you ever been stopped by the ladies in the mall trying to sell super expensive sea salt to heal the dryness in your hands? I am always amazed at how much better my hands feel after they have scrubbed my hands and right now my hands are intolerably dry. In a last ditch effort to stop the cracking and bleeding I decided to try making my own sugar scrub…

My hands are still dry constantly, but the severity has lessened each time I use this sugar scrub because it scrubs all of the dead skin off and helps to prevent cracking. I use it twice a week at most and my hands feel amazing right after!

All you need is olive oil, granulated sugar, and essential oils of your choice (I used peppermint). Mix 3 cups of sugar with about 1 cup of olive oil and add several drops of essential oil which helps cover up the olive oil smell and adds a soothing touch to the scrub. Once it’s all mixed spoon it into containers that you can close tightly.

When you want to use it, just scoop out a tablespoon or two and rub it all over your hands. Rinse well after and feel the difference :). If you want to give this away as a gift you can put it in a mason jar and add pretty ribbons or labels.

Thank you Maybe Matilda, Stephanie Lynn, and Petit Elefant for your great sugar scrub recipes and recommendations!

Back Pocket Pot Holder

2012-02-21T07:18:00.000-06:00

I LOVE creative ways to reuse jeans. When I came across Creating My Way to Success, I had to make my own back pocket pot holder that day! It was super simple to make and I had everything on hand :).

All you need is:

A back pocket from a pair of jeans (I used men’s jeans so the pocket was bigger). Make sure to leave as much denim around the pocket as possible.
A piece of fleece the same size as your back pocket piece. This acts as the insulator to prevent you from getting burned. I have used this potholder several times and have never been burned so I know the fleece works fine.
A piece of fun fabric the same size
Bias tape of your choice in color
A sewing machine

Make sure all 3 pieces (the denim pocket, the fleece and the decorative fabric) are the same size. Remember that the decorative fabric should be facing the opposite way as it will be the back of your pot holder.

Take your decorative fabric and fleece pieces and sew them together with the decorative fabric facing out. I did squiggly lines for fun. Trim all of the loose threads.

Line up your decorative/fleece piece with your denim piece (wrong sides together) and pin the bias tape around the edge, making sure it overlaps all of the pieces. Leave a tail on the end to make your loop.

Sew around the potholder making sure to catch the front and back of the bias tape as well as the denim piece and the decorative piece. When you get to the end, keep sewing until the end of the bias tape.

Then fold the end over once and fold that end over to the pot holder. Stitch in place and hang your fun pot holder up with pride :).

I’ll be linking up to…Get Your Craft On, Sew Cute Tuesday, Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays, Anything Related, Tip Me Tuesday, Take-a-Look Tuesday, and Tutorial Tuesday.

NMEDA

2012-02-17T22:00:00.001-06:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of NMEDA for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

NMEDA is a non-profit association that works with people with disabilities to increase their opportunities to drive and/or be transported in vehicles modified with mobility equipment.

As a teenager, I had a neighbor that was caring for a young woman who was paralyzed. For a while they used a regular van and there was quite a strain in transporting this young woman. When they did get a van equipped to transport her in her wheelchair, which could later be converted for her to drive, everyone's lives were drastically improved. The van gave her the potential for independence as well as relieving a lot of strain for her caregiver.

Each vehicle should meet the need of each individual with a disability. A NMEDA dealer can assess the needs of each individual to make sure their vehicle is best equipped to meet their needs. Their Quality Assurance Program (QAP) seeks to satisfy customers consistently by having a systematic and documented approach to quality.

If you or someone you love could benefit from NMEDA and their services, visit their homepage and search in the dealers locator to see if there is a qualified dealer near you. I know of a dealership within 20 miles of my home...do you have one near you?

Embroidered Cards

2012-02-17T07:12:00.000-06:00

I thought it would be nice to send my dad a unique, embroidered card for his birthday and I truly hope he likes it because it took a lot longer than the usual cards I send and I was pretty pleased with how it turned out…

I just printed out the image I wanted, traced it onto cardstock and used a needle and embroidery thread to carefully embroider the image onto the cardstock. If you know how to embroider or want more practice this is a fun, unique, personal way to show someone you care!

I’ll be linking up to Works For Me Wednesday, Penny Pinching Party, Show and Tell, Sugar & Spice and Everything Nice, Creative Share Blog Hop,

Involuntary De-Cluttering

2012-02-16T07:23:00.000-06:00

Children require a lot of things from beds to clothes to toys and it can all add up. At one point our apartment was packed from top to bottom with junk because I thought that anything I had I might need one day. I kept everything!

Over time, as my first son became mobile and inevitably started getting into things, things would break. Instead of getting upset, I learned to see it as a blessing in disguise. No matter what I would still love my son, but the things he broke were only things.

My mindset changed and I began to see the broken things left behind by my toddler were merely involuntary de-cluttering! I started to let go of junk and my home is so much easier to maintain. I have also found that the things I have let go of, I usually don’t even miss them when they’re gone.

I’m linking up to Works for Me Wednesday,