Day 164 - Hall Closet

My MOPS group is collecting donations this week for a pregnancy resource center.  I went into my 'gift stash' in the hall closet and found all of these items:

1. Size 6 diapers

2. Baby Washcloths

3. Toddler Underwear

4. Pacifiers

5. Sleeveless Onesies

6. Infant pants

7. Nail Clippers

I thought I might as well find the rest of my daily 26 while I was in the closet.

8. Box for my jewelry box. I kept this because I moved so much in my young adult life and I wanted to keep the jewelry box safe, but now that we're pretty settled it's just a box taking up room in the closet.

9. Box for a fan we don't have anymore. I kept this initially because the fan fit inside the box inside a carryon suitcase which was great for vacation and needed white noise for the kids. Fan died.

10. Box of 3 Lenox frames.

11. Teeth whitening kit I bought about 7 years ago from a dental hygienist friend

12. Diaper cover

13. Diaper cover

14. Crumpled Gift bag

15 & 16. Packages of foil squares

17. Graduation Tissue Paper

18 to 20. Sunscreen stickers

21. Back massager

22. Starfish Girl - I picked this up somewhere because I thought it would be a hilarious white elephant gift but I didn't get to use it last Christmas and I don't want to hang onto it for another 7 months.

23. T1-81 Calculator

24 to 26. Sterile pee cups

Katie

Day 162 & 163 - Crayons

Today DH was digging through the crayon box and I was wondering what he was doing.  Shortly, he handed me two ziploc bags and said, "Here's two days of twenty-six."  I made a face and said, "Crayons?"  His reply was, "Sure.  It's stuff that will be out of the house." 

So here they are, in deference to DH's participation.  Two days worth of discards.  I'll try to have something more substantial tomorrow!

Katie

Day 161 - Stuff Hidden From Company

We had two new families over for dinner last weekend and as their arrival neared I swept many things off my kitchen counter into a box.  Does this embarrass me?  Apparently not since I'm posted it for the world to read.  Hm.

Today's selection is all from that stuff I swept off the counter.

1 to 4. Homeschool plans (I make these once a week)
5.  Several sheets of notes for a short public speaking thing a couple months ago
6 & 7. Kits for baby handprint things
8. Warrantly for 5 year old mattresses
9. Bible study notes from a study I did over a year ago
10. Receipt from September 2011
11 & 12. Reminders for our dentist over a year old - we just got new annual reminders.  Whoops!
13. A mailing from a charity we wanted to contribute to
14. A Bible storybook my kids destroyed
15. Serendipity book my kids destroyed
16. Baby picture book my kids destroyed
17. DD#3 art project
18 to 20. Magazines I was saving to finish the puzzles.  There will be more puzzles another time.
21. DD#`1 Sunday school art project
22. Packing material - styrofoamish - I was saving for an unknown purpose
23 to 26 (plus a few) - DD#2 drawings for me that all say "mom" on them.  I just can't save them all!

A couple of notes - I am a book lover.  It makes me so sad that my kids have managed to hurt the books shown here today.  I could have mended two, but it's just not worth the time/effort involved.  We've had several grave conversations about caring for our books, but the baby still gets hold of some things she shouldn't.  I can't believe what accumulates on my counter.  It's like I just keep adding to the pile and don't realize what's tucked in there!

Katie

Day 160 - Small Kid Toys

1. Pez Dispenser - Hello Kitty's friend
2. Pez Dispenser - Hello Kitty
3. Pez Dispenser - Fawn the fairy
4. Pez Dispenser - Silvermist the fairy
5. Jasmine lipgloss
6. Foam dart
7. Bead ring
8. Littlest Pet Shop neck accessory
9. Shark toothbrush holder
10. Magnet
11. Crocodile
12. Rubber ball
13. Tinkerbell gamepiece
14. Littlest Pet Shop neck accessory
15. Fabric square with an animal scene
16. Pig
17. Horse
18 to 20. Tiny, impractical paper clips
21. Christmas ornament - painted and glittered by a girl
22. Whistle we got for free somewhere
23. Press-on nail
24. Bead - part of a build-a-bug craft
25 & 26.  Broken strands of beads

A lot of these I just get tired of picking up repeatedly and trying to find a home for them.  When they don't have a home, they never really get put away and I just keep picking them up.  I felt good about getting rid of all this stuff today.

Katie

Day 159 - Clothing Assortment

Once again, folding the laundry yielded a number of items making today's selection possible. 

1. A shirt DH doesn't want anymore even though it fits him beautifully and he's a hard size to find!  I want him to keep it, but I'm not the boss.  ;)
2.  A worn out dress shirt of DH's.
3. A shirt of DH's that needs to be ironed.
4. A worn out T-shirt of DH's.
5. A sweater I've had since high school
6. A long-sleeved shirt I love but I must have snagged it somewhere because there's a small hole in the knit fabric that I can't fix without it being obvious.  Rats!
7. A dressier tank top, but I'm trying to set a no-spaghetti-strap example for my girls.
8. A sweater DD#1 likes but it's a bit short and thin so I won't save it for the next in line.
9. 18M top
10 to 13. Tights with holes/runs.  With 4 little girls we go through a lot of tights!
14 to 17. Socks with holes in the heel. 
18 & 19.  Socks that a little girl wore outside and stained
20. 18M dress
21 & 22. Worn out undies
23 & 24. Shoes that fit DD#4 but don't stay on well to DH's great frustration.  So he decided these need to go.
25 & 26.  Sweet little Robeez DD#4 has outgrown.

Katie 

Day 158 - Small toys

This assortment has been collecting in the corner of my bedroom.

1. Dairy Queen toy tray
2. Baby plate toy
3. Lid from play kitchen
4 to 7. Bread slices
8. broken red monkey
9. Easter egg DH painted.  Funny story: I thought he had painted it when he was a kid and that I was supposed to save it as a childhood keepsake.  He just told me it was only a couple of years old.
10. Hair clip
11. Lid from play kitchen
12. broken hair clip
13. Tinkerbell game piece
14. Gem from something or other
15 to 21. play kitchen utensils
22. watermelon
23. Strawberry Shortcake
24. Beast with enchanted rose
25. Owl from Pooh
26. Owl from Bambi

Katie

Day 157 - Alphabet Blocks

I love these blocks!  I wanted them from the time DD#1 was a baby, and I finally found them at the consignment store last fall for just $12 and I had store credit.  I couldn't resist and DD#4 would be just the right age for them.  Well, she doesn't like them as much as I do .  .  . And I'm so anal I have to put them away just right every time and it takes too long.  Goodbye blocks.

Katie

Day 156 - Toys

Today I pulled some baby toys out of our playroom.  DD #4 is 19 months and doesn't need rattles & teethers so much these days.

1 to 9. Color/Shape signs that stubbornly won't stay on the wall.  They're not super useful for homeschool anyway. 
10. lion rattle toy
11. fish rattle toy
12. hammer that makes a bonking noise, but not a big 'hit' with my girls. 
13. barbie horse with broken leg
14. bath frog
15. mailbox toy - so fun but back is open and the parcels fall out and I am forever picking them up
16. package for mailbox
17 to 19. letters for mailbox
20. fun baby triangle toy
21. stuffed dog
22. beaded toy
23. monkey rattle
24. heart rattle
25. pink teether
26. 35mm camera the girls have used as a toy for a long time. 

Katie

Day 155 - Unknown Electronic Stuff

Today's selection is an assortment of cords and plugs and things related to the comuters that I cannot identify.  But there are 26!  Thanks to DH for sorting through a box from our old basement office AND a box in our new office.

1. A white cord with a big box on it
2. A white cord
3. A modem?
4. A white box
5. A black box
6. Another black cord with with a box on it
7 to 10. Black cords with various ends
11. A green cord
12. A purple cord
13. A blue cord
14. A yellow cord
15. Something that attaches to a modem (that's what my note says)
16. A plastic something
17. Base for a webcam
18. A screw that goes to something
19. A bag of tiny hardware for something
20. A furniture slider
21 & 22. Plug converters
23. remote
24. A black cord
25. A webcam & cable
26. A webcom and mounted base

Katie

Day 154 - Craft Scissors & Paint

The other day my kiddos were searching for scissors because I am constantly tucking them away where the 2 year old can't reach them. When they couldn't find any of their normal scissors they got into my craft set that sits unused and gathering dust in my pantry on the craft shelf. The good news is that I was reminded of these scissors, the bad news is that the 2 year old found the scissors after her older sisters got them out.

1 to 20 - Craft Scissors
21. Scissor spinning rack
22 to 26. Craft paint I used back in college for stenciling my dorm room furniture - I guess I can part with it about 15 years later.

Katie

Day 153 - Paperwork with Electric Bill analysis

Yes, it's more paper. And there will be more still I'm sure because our office is flooded with it!

This includes:

1. Marketing materials to become a Stampin' Up demonstrator. I love making cards and would have loved this. DH isn't into the whole direct sales thing though so it was a valid reason to say 'no, thanks.'

2. Materials from a Marshall Reddick real estate seminar we attended with my father-in-law back before kids. It was a get-rich-quick scheme using the booming real estate market. We decided not to get involved.

3. Electric bills dating from 2005. I don't know why I saved these. But it was interesting to note that energy per KWH has increased 26% in exactly 7 years and that the charge for their "Electric Conservation Program" has increased 520% over 7 years. That is not a typo! It's still a tiny part of the total electric bill, but that's a huge increase. It's also interesting that my KWH usage has increased 23% with the addition of 4 kids. It's probably all heating water for dishes & laundry!

4. Paystubs from a job DH had back in 2005

5. Paperwork from same job regarding a change in ownership

6. Notices about insurance prescription drugs

7. VISA bills dating back to 2002. I've had this credit card forever - my first one when I was 18 and headed to college "in case of emergency." The first time I used it was to buy a warm coat at the GAP. Hmm. Recently I got a letter from this bank saying they were closing the account due to inactivity. *sniff* Oh well.

Katie

Day 152 - Office Paperwork

I know these days of paperwork posts must be totally boring to read but I am very excited to be getting all of this out of our office! You should see the huge stack of paper and magazines to be recycled this week!

These particular papers include:

1. Home phone bills dating back to 2002 when DH had his first apartment. Interestingly they are for 5 different companies. Why did I save these? I have no clue.

2. Promotional materials from a timeshare seminar we went to to get free airline tickets. Again, why did I save this stuff?

3. Garbage pickup bills starting in 2004 when we bought our first home. Same question.

4. Correspondence and statments from my first 401(k) at my first job after college. This particular IRA has changed hands twice and I'm sure I don't need this any more. These will get shredded and put in the yard waste bin.

5. A fancy blue file from my accounting firm days. I'm pretty sure it's contents could be proprietary so I dissembled it.

6. My favorite items - Phone Cards! One was a $10.00 phone card that came in a Post cereal box. It expired back in March of 2003. There are also a couple from MCI - remember them? How the world has changed in 10 years!

Katie

Day 151 - 26 Things That Plug In

1 to 3. Adapters to who knows what?!

4. A waffle iron that I would love to keep, but I have three and getting rid of one is reasonable, right?

5. We got rid of this at the city recycle event. It's our old printer that still would scan for us, but not make copies or print. Time to go! And glad to get it off the desk!

6. A printer Ed got years ago for free at work. It worked briefly but after several years of not being used, it wasn't agreeable - even with a new ink cartridge.

7. Speaker that doesn't work - recycled

8. Another speaker that doesn't work - recycled - And a DD#3

9. Broken box fan - recycled

10 & 11. Little speakers that work fine but we don't need them

12. Big curling iron that hasn't seen the light of day since being stuck in a drawer when we moved into this house five years ago.

13 & 14. Ancient phone and base - recycled

15. Toaster that died. It was only $4 so I guess no big loss, right? - recycled

16 to 19. Dead Christams lights and replacement bulbs - recycled

20 & 21. Plug-in air fresheners

22 to 25. More phones I'd been keeping in hopes DH would figure out our house phone. No luck. I'll just buy a set that matches when we finally get around to it. - Recycled

26. Another printer. This one from my cousin but we don't need yet another.


Phew!

Katie

Katie

Friday Narrative - City Recycling Event

Last weekend DH took a load of stuff to our City recycling event. I was pleased to get so much out, but was disappointed because we had a bunch of concrete chunks that could have been taken, but they're still in the basement. RATS!

Here's what we did take:

1. Styrofoam - six large pieces that were packed around our new bathrub/surround
2. Batteries - A quart Ziploc full
3. A whole box of electronic items plus a box fan and big printer (see post later today)
4. Scrap metal - Old shower head, old kitchen faucet, a pipe we dug up in the basement
5. Two old toilet seats
6. Huge bag of sheetrock pieces and dust

Here's what we didn't take:
1. Prescription drugs - they were only taking these for a couple hours and we missed the window
2. The concrete chunks from the basement.

Overall it was nice to see so much leave!

Katie

Day 150 - Magazines & Cassette Tapes

I pulled these off the bookshelves of the office today.

We had saved some of our old Christian cassette tapes thinking the kids could listen to them on their little stereo but of course that never happened. There are also a few tapes of stories and songs that the girls never got into.

I was surprised to find these magazines also lurking on a bottom shelf. These are Martha Stewart Living magazines from 2008 and a Seattle kitchen magazine I saved for some reason or other.

Katie

Day 149 - More Disney Figurines

The girls were really ready to part with more toys than I imagined. They only wanted to keep their favorite Belle, Ariel, Cruella, and Pocohontas. I was so pleased they found so much to contribute to ProjectTwentySix.

Katie

Day 148 - Disney Figurines

I thought I'd sneak a few duplicate Disney figurines out of the girls' collection but they surprised me and happily picked out even more.

Here are Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Lion King, Pooh, & Thumper. There's also a rabbit I think is from that TV show Bonkers, but I don't remember for sure.

Katie

Day 147 - Theological Research

It seems like any information I need can be found on the internet these days so I no longer need to keep research on Mormonism, Homosexualtiy, and Spiritual Gifts. I also have a lot of sermon notes, study notes for teaching junior high girls, and notes from our Newly Married Sunday school class. There are also a few pamplets from missionaries & ministries and some printed statements from our own church which can be found online now. Class notes from a Worldview seminary class I audited. Most interesting is a 46 page study called "The State of Our Unions - The Social Health of Marriage in America - 2004 - Essay: The Marrying Kind: Which Men Marry and Why." I'm sure this would be a really interesing read with current information.

Katie

Day 146 - Kid Stamp Box

I cleaned out the girls' stamp box today.

1. A cupcake wrapper
2. A birthday toothpick
3 to 5. Fairy paperdoll outfits
6. A melted crayon
7. A date stamp with 1989 as the highest year
8. A Hello Kitty stamp with non-washable ink
9. A roller stamp from the top of a pen
10. A lid to a different roller stamp
11 & 12. lids to glitter pens
13. A horse stamp with misaligned innards
14. A stamp block with missing rubber
15 to 20. Fairy stamps & lids from that intermediate period when Disney was trying to market fairies but hadn't landed on the Tinkerbell movies (and those characters) yet.
21 & 22. Rubber stamps from a birthday party that are very inky and it's not washable.
23. glitter pen
24. A 'make-you-own-book' craft project
25 & 26. Foam stickers. I hate these things. Too many little bits of white paper left lying around.

Katie

Day 145 - Office Paperwork

Today's office selection is from another cleaning out anothedr drawer in the filing cabinet. These are documents from a student loan paid off back in 2002, insurance information from the jobs we had when first married, research and continuing education from my accounting days, and information related to unemployment from before DH and I were ever married!

I know a pile of paperwork is a boring post, but I figure if I've gotten rid of 4 inches of paper, it counts.

Katie

Day 144 - Jewelry

I cleaned out some jewelry. I have more I could get rid of, but some I love and would like to get repaired.

1 to 5. White bangles I bought from my cousin at her garage sale.
6 to 10. Green bangles - see above - why did I think I'd wear these? I am not as cool as my cousin, nor do I have her body or wardrobe.
11. Silver/Pink butterfly anklet
12 to 14. freshwater pearl earrings on card. I have another pair of freshwater pearls I prefer, but mostly I just like real pearls.
15 & 16. earring charms from a pair of earrings a friend made. She is super talented and totally blessed me when I was feeling particularly low regarding our finances and lack of accessories.
17 & 18. Gold sunflower earrings that must be from my mama.
19 & 20. Tommy Hilfiger Silver/Blue earring that I received as a bridesmaid gift. Can anyone guess when that wedding was? Tommy Hilfiger was totally cool back in 2001, right?
21. Silver string choker with blue beads.
22. Matching bracelet that's all yucky with age.
23. Iraqi prayer beads from a serviceman in the family who's had three tours in the Middle East
24. Red beaded necklace from an old friend and roommate.
25. Two silver braclets clipped together - all yucky with age
26. A silver "Y" necklace that I love, love, loved. It had matching earrings which may turn up, but it's also getting discolored and I don't wear silver all that much anyway - which is kind of unfortunate with gold prices so high. Oh well.

Katie

Day 143 - Missing Property Taxes and Kid Crafts

This jumble of papers includes an assortment of kid craft projects that were saved for whatever reason. With my girls it's someone's birthday card six months away or a letter for a penpal or more commonly, some stickers stuck on a page for their most recent babysitter. On the left are a number of empty sticker sheets. Why did these never make it to the trash can? I don't know. They are happily there now.

Of greatest interest is that grey envelope in the lower part of the photo. You know what that is? Property taxes that were due in October! Yep. See those kid scribbles on the envelope? Know where I found that? In the little cubby of their craft table! Gah!

In case you're wondering I am not six months delinquent on my taxes! I didn't see the funds leaving our checking account for over two weeks after I wrote the check so I finally paid online the day after they were due with a little penalty and figured if the check ever showed up I just get a refund or apply it to next year's tax.

Katie

Day 142 - Office papers from my old career

I went through a couple drawers in the tall filing cabinet today and found today's assortment. These are

1. Articles related to accounting and family business succession planning - the career I was headed toward when DH started sniffing around.
2. A couple years worth of work performance reviews from the accounting firm where I worked. It was really interesting to reread those and reflect on that time of my life.
3. Paperwork related to a bridesmaid dress I had to return, then dispute the charges for when the company wouldn't refun my money. It's the one time I've had to dispute a charge on my credit card and I was saving it for reference. But should it come up again, I'm sure I can figure it out without these 9 year old documents.
4. Receipts and notes related to mystery shopping that we participated in 4 years ago. The company said to save all our notes so I was diligently doing so. I guess if they haven't asked a question in 4 years I don't need these anymore . . .

Katie

Day 141 - Kid Misc.

This is an assortment of kid toys that have collected in the corner.

1. art project 'doll'
2. furniture for this dollhouse
3. chipmunk McDonalds toy
4. dress from this magnet doll set - found in the car
5. shoes from this magnet doll set - found in the car
6. ice cream shaped necklace with colored sand - a mess waiting to happen
7 to 10. plastic food items from the kids' play kitchen that is cracked and broken
11. infant key chain
12. pipe cleaner piece form a build-a-bug craft project/book
13. 6" tiger ruler
14. broken carrot from kids' kitchen
15. blue thing DH informs me is from a McDonalds My Little Pony toy
16 & 17. bracelets
18. horse toy that doesn't stand up on its own. Just frustrating every time we try to play with it.
19. a press-on nail - found in the car
20. a Toy Story cardboard disc from something or other
21. a Littlest Pet Shop sticker dispenser that results in way more fighting than fun
22. a 'boa' for little Barbie figurine - I get tired of this piece floating around
23. a magnet from this Belle toy
24. a dinosaur from the dentist
25. a spoon from the kid kitchen
26. a sled ornament in the top right corner I missed. I painted this one with the kids at Christmas and have zero need to keep it.

Day 140 - Office Glitter Pens

Here's the first post from the office. I started with the kids' craft area because I really just want to get it out of that room.

This is an assortment of glitter pens and lids that were all hanging around. Most of these are empty or nearly so. I have no idea where all the lids came from.

Katie

Day 139 - Movies

We've been enjoying 'goodbye viewings' of many of these movies, recognizing it's unlikely we'll ever watch them again so why keep them? I am also happy to send off 2 Barney tapes, even though my kids were slightly distraught to spot them in the pileup on the kitchen counter. A few are just boring, a few are 'girl' movies that I don't really like because of bedroom stuff or swearing. Two in Spanish I'm giving to a friend whose kids go to a Spanish immersion school.

1. Romeo & Juliet
2. Best of Saturday Night Live 1975
3. Rob Roy T
4. Joe Dirt
5. The Ghost & Mr. Chicken
6. Taped movies: League of Their Own, Total Recall, Die Hard 2
7. How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days
8. Shakespeare in Love
9. The One
10. Dude, Where's My Car?
11. Stargate
12. Good Will Hunting
13. Young Guns
14. Spies Like Us
15. Amazing Panda Adventure
16. Love Comes Softly
17. Love's Enduring Promise
18. Love's Long Journey
19. Los Aristogatos (Spanish)
20. The Thief and the Cobbler
21. The Moon-Spinner
22. Barney's Great Adventure - the Movie
23. Barney What a World We Share
24. The Nuttiest Nutcracker
25. Los Muppets en el Espacio (Spanish)
26. Legend of the Desert Bigfoot

Katie

Friday Narrative - Office Horror in Pictures

Oh friends,

Our office is in such terrible shape! I've been using my laptop in the kitchen for months because it's so hard to get work done in the office. Well this week DH brought his laptop out, too. The hurricane of papers, kid craft stuff, homeschool stuff, and office offal is really overwhelming. Warning! The images that follow are extremely embarrasing to my psyche. They're probably fine for you . . .

This is to the immediate right as you enter the door. Our printer is on its box on the floor because we didn't have desk space for it/didn't bother to move the old printer. The bookshelf in the corner was intended for office supplies & software but it's just a catch-all now.

On the right wall is our collapsible, six foot table we're using as a desk with no drawers or shelves to stash the junk. That's DH's old dinosaur computer he can't part with because of college software on it. That's my old laptop, too, a hand-me-down from a friend when ours was stolen back in 2008. Finally, in the far corner. A tall file cabinet and a short file cabinet.

This is the wall opposite the door. Basically the kid craft area. I want to remove this from the office because naughty child things keep happening to my paperwork. On top of the table is a box of gardening gear for growing seedlings. This room gets very hot on warm days and it's the perfect place for plants.

On the left wall we have the bookshelves. Books, books in front of books, alphabet boxes for homeschool, random videos, 'collectible' stuff I'm supposed to sell on ebay in a box on the floor, and a box of stuff that came out of our car when we sold it back in November.

Finally the corner to the left of the door. These drawers are filled with tons of homeschool gear, office supplies, and one each for sporting gear and winter gear.


There will be much leaving this room, but I think lots will be paperwork. I'm hoping not to bore you with office posts, so I'll try to alternate with other stuff as I progress.

Katie

p.s. My further delay was due to a final tax return that just wouldn't die. My spare time went to that instead of blogging.

Day 138 - Miscellaneous Household

1. Dry erase board
2 & 3. Kid belts that are more trouble than they're worth at potty time
4. Bathroom toy for this dollhouse
5-7. Fake flowers
8. Wooden spoon that's splitting
9. Bag clip that's nearly broken
10. Travel game board
11. Basket
12-14. packages of medical tape from c-sections so at least 19 months old . . .
15. Manual for Kodak Advantix camera
16. Hair clip
17. Silly ring
18. Hair band with elastic broken inside
19 & 20. Colored pencils
21. bag clip with loose spring
22. wallet from a gift exchange
23 & 24. Pieces of a mega blocks set we don't have anymore
25 & 26. beaters from a burned out hand mixer

Katie

Where Have I Been?

Good Morning, Dear Readers!

I have been absent over a week and thought I should offer an explanation to the very few of you who read. I've been busy visiting my parents, preparing a few tax returns (my former career), refinancing our house, and parenting 4 littles. Sometimes life gets in the way of blogging - Darn! - but I have to keep my priorities in order: God, DH, DDs, Homeschool, Household business, THEN blogging. Don't feel bad that you're so far down the list. After you there's yardwork, folding laundry, most of the non-daily housework, and my other blog, www.aresourcefulhome.com, that I miss dreadfully!

I'm hoping to get back to posting later today and will likely be doing double posts for a few days out of guilt for being disloyal to The Project.

Thanks for reading.

Katie