A Progress Report

Three quarters of the year has passed and I was thinking about the resolutions I made back in January. I wondered how I was doing. Pretty hard to gage that since I really didn't remember what my resolutions were. But then again I don't remember a lot of things, like my children's names . . . when people ask me what the baby's name is many times they think it is Ahreese because I always say "uhhhhh . . . Reese" when they ask me. Sad but true. I really have a difficult time remembering her middle name and one time I had to ask Aaron what it was. I think I told someone today that she was 10 months when she's actually only 9 months old. So I have trouble remembering anything so it was no surprise that I didn't remember my word for this year is Simplify. Now I remember! In my quest to simplify I resolved to declutter, make lists/menus/schedules, get the house ready to sell, save money, play with the kids more, and do something creative everyday. I am pleased to see that I have been doing all of these things.

I sold stuff in 3 yard sales this summer and took some stuff to a resale shop. I made about $1000 doing all that and then took some things to Goodwill. Keely jokes that this was the "summer of tubs" because she and I have been hauling tubs of baby clothes between our homes all summer. I have more decluttering to go and am slowly working on our closets right now. I have gone a little list crazy lately and need to simplify my lists but I do feel way more organized plus it's the only way for me to remember all the things I need to do. The roof is almost complete, we painted our fence, installed a gate, and today I painted our porch swing. I have a lot of painting projects on my "to do " list while the kids are at school -- aiming to do one each week. We also have the kitchen floor bought just have to install that tile this winter. Our house project list is getting whittled down little by little. We are doing better at saving money -- doing the roof ourselves helped there immensely. I played with the kids quite a bit these past few months and I am so glad I did. I must get back into the habit of that again once things settle down with school starting. I have gotten a lot more creative time in too although not everyday. I think I am getting more "organized" and will have some creative time next week.

I really feel like I have made a lot of changes over the spring and summer. Not just with the resolutions but in other ways too. I stopped having the TV on all the time. I hardly watch any TV from 9am to 3pm now and just makes things quieter and simpler. There was nothing on anyway. I started saying "no". If I don't want to do something, go somewhere, or take something someone is giving away, I just say no. I was tired of doing stuff because other people wanted me to. It's very freeing. I have no guilt about it either . . . I quit the guilt thing when the kids were born -- waste of time and energy! I really feel like my life has been simplified even though we have 4 kids under the age of four and it's stressful at times . . . life is good for the most part. How are you doing on your resolutions?