Day 225 - Kitchen Purge

I moved on to the kitchen and was amazed how much I found.  Really, you'd think after 7 months of Project TwentySix this stuff would already be gone!

1. Doll sippy cup to a doll we got rid of at the garage sale
2 to 7. Cupcake holders.  In theory a great idea, but we've never used them and they're awkward to store.
8. Avent bottle lid
9 to 11. Nipple, ring,  & lid to Evenflo bottle
12. Corning lid I searched and searched for in garage sale stuff
13 & 14. Pie tupperware and lid
15 & 16. Other plastic box and lid
17. Formula taker
18. Tea ball - I have another I like better
19. Garlic Powder that hardened and I was keeping for some reason (?).
20 to 24. Random plastic lids without containers
25. Lid intended to fit over a standard "can" of food.  I don't buy canned food much and when I do I don't store it in the can after opening.  No need to keep this.
26. Tupperware sippy lid.

Katie

Friday Narrative - A Fresh Perspective

We just flew in this morning in the wee hours and tucked our kids in just before 4AM.  I am beat!  But what a lovely 10 -day vacation in Maui!  We played games and enjoyed TV and swam every day.  I loved that my kids got to play with their cousins and I got to spend time with my siblings and their spouses. 

We stayed in a 900 square foot timeshare unit.  It had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a full-size washer/dryer, a full kitchen, a dining table with 6 chairs, a lanai with table & 4 more chairs as well as a couch/chairs in the living room.  It was pretty wonderful only having 5 outfits each and the few toys we could fit into our carry-on luggage.  I could clean up the entire place, including vaccuming, in about 20 minutes.  I did one load of wash a day and it was easy to stay caught up.  In short, it reminded me how little we need to live and still enjoy our life!  I am hoping I can ride this wave for a couple weeks and get rid of lots and lots of the day-to-day items I constantly pick up! 

Even more, this stay renewed my "one day" dream to live in a small space with all the kids.  It was really easy to manage in the 900 square feet and I could totally see us waking up, eating breakfast, homeschooling, and living in the space.  DH either smiles indulgently or rolls his eyes when I start waxing poetic about it, but whatever - A girl can dream! 

My dream is more like 600 square feet with one bedroom/bath and a huge sleeping loft upstairs with a second bath for four little girls. 

So look for some purging posts this week!

Katie

Day 224 - Toy Purge

After my wonderful time in our beautifully empty condo on vacation, I decided we can dump quite a few toys.  I nearly emptied the "baby toy" drawer because really, these don't get played with anymore.

1) caterpillar/butterfly vibrating toy
2) Giselle the Giraffe - loved by 4 children
3) DD#1 art project
4) Sheep rattle
5) Beanbag ladybug
6) Other half of McDonald's toy Polly Pocket dress
7) butterfuly vibrating toy
8) crinkly book
9) Jr. Asparagus from Veggie Tales
10) Larry from Veggie Tales
11) Laura from Veggie Tales
12) Bob from Veggie Tales
13 to 18) Little stories that came with Biblical action figures
19) Rattle
20) Map of USA - I'll get another at AAA if we ever need it
21 & 22) Pieces of a sippy cup we no longer own (found these buried in the diaper bag)
23) Play-dough lid
24) Paper pad
25) Lens to sunglasses
26) Disposable razor that's been on the kitchen counter (?) 

Katie

Day 223 - GI Joe Vehicles, Other Toys

Phew!  This is the end of the GI Joes!

1. X-Men book

2. Indiana Jones book

3. My Pet Monster book

4. Stamps/Postcard/Book showcasing Star Wars art

5 & 6. GI Joe vehicles

7. Nintendo strategy VHS tape

8 to 14. More GI Joe stuff

15 to 17. Batman vehicles

18. Cat transformer - Thundercats?

19 to 26. 4 figures & helmets from Voltron

Katie

Day 222 - Choose Your Own Adventure and GI Joe Accessories

1 & 2 are Choose Your Own Adventure books I found in DH's old stuff.  I loved these when I was a kid!

3 to 25. More GI Joe weapons & accessories

26. Panda figurine

If you've noticed a few pandas the past couple of weeks it's because DH collected pandas as a kid. 

Katie

Day 221 - More GI Joe Accessories

Yes, There's still more GI Joe accessories!  Here are 26 for today's contribution to The Project.

Katie

Day 219 & 220 - GI Joe Weapons

Here are lots of GI Joe weapons and accessories.  These posts are so boring I'm doing two days' worth today. 

Katie

Day 218 - GI Joe Action Figures

Still more of DH's collection as I try to get caught up from vacation.  These are GI Joe action figures.  I looked these up on ebay and I really should give selling them a go because they are almost sure to sell.  I'm giving myself until July 31 to get them posted or they are getting donated.

1 & 2.  GI Joe branded kleenex

3 to 23. GI Joe action figures

24. GI Joe dog

25. GI Joe bird

26. GI Joe hat

Katie

Day 217 - Green M&Ms

DH's sweet sister has a tradition of giving him some sort of Green M&M candy every Christmas and Birthday and sometimes other holidays.  Today's selection are mostly part of those gifts.  Most of them are old enough that it was before "Green" got branded as a female M&M. 

1. M&M dispenser

2 to 23.  Various M&M figures that came as part of a candy gift

24. Old panda Pez dispenser

25. Eleroo from the Wuzzles (Half elephant, half kangaroo)

26. Small panda figurine

Katie

Day 216 - M.U.S.C.L.E. Figures

These are M.U.S.C.L.E. toys according to DH.  He coincidentally had 26 in his collection.

The name is an acronym for Millions of Unusual Creataures Lurking Everywhere.

Katie



Day 215 - Disney Figures & GI Joe Accessories

More of DH's collection for Day 215.

1. Gonzo

2. Baloo from Talespin

3. Don Karnage from Talespin

4. Tummi from Gummi Bears

5. Hunni from Gummi Bears

6.Chip from Rescue Rangers

7. Dale from Rescue Rangers

8. Gadget from Rescue Rangers

9. Gruffi from Gummi Bears

10. Goofy

11. Thumper

12. Thundercat

13 to 26 (plus a few more) . GI Joe Accessories/Weapons

Katie

Day 214 - More Smurfs & Disney Figures

A big thanks to DH for letting me move these things out of the house.  Not only is it clearing up the burden of "stuff" but they are quick & easy for daily posts!

1. Gargoyle

2 & 3. Muppet Babies Scooters

4. Papa Smurf

5. Sleepy

6. Super

7. Snowboard

8. Smurf Basket

9. Chocolate

10. Monk

11. Peewit (Peewee) sidekick from Smurfs

12. Gargamel's cat, Azrael

13 to 15. Smurf accessories

16. Smurf keychain

17. Smurf wind-up walker

18. Webby from Ducktales

19. One of the Donald Nephews (Huey, Duey, or Louie)

20 to 22. Goof Troop toys: Max, Goofy, PJ

23. California Raisin

24 to 26.  Muppet Babies (Piggy, Fozzie, Rolf)

Katie

Day 213 - Smurf Figurines

I've been out of town again so over the next couple of days I'll be trying to catch up for the days I was away.  Expect multiple posts. 

I was only home for a few days between two vacations and I simply didn't have time to gather enough "everyday" items for those days I was away.  Instead I cracked open the last box of DH's collection that was in that basement Ebay closet.  It's a shame I didn't get to these before two garage sales!

Day 213's selection includes 26 smurf figurines from the mid-80's.  Most of these have DH's name written on the bottom of the feet. 

1. Airplane

2. Wings

3. Toadstool umbrella

4. Roman Emporer

5. Wrestler

6. Surfer

7. Baker

8. Drinker

9. Candle & Nightshirt

10. Baker/Eating

11. Pilgrim
12. Graduate

13. Different Graduate

14. Bread Baker

15. Bread Eater

16. Brainy with Popsicle

17. Scotland Yard

18. Clown

19. Joker

20. Easter

21. Leprechan

22. Jack-o-lantern

23. Trumpet

24. Bicycle

25. Broomstick

26. French Fries

Katie

Day 212 - Second Day Home

A second day at home has yielded all this.  I haven't been able to get into the office and likely won't for several more days, so I'm happy to find all these items popping up!

1 & 2. Boots
3. Phonics teaching video
4. Fabric belt
5. Umbrella for My Little Pony
6. Doll whose leg has fallen off and I can't get it back on
7. Shoelace
8. Littlest Pet Shop accessory - I get sick of picking these things up
9. Color book with pages all colored
10. Purse
11 & 12.  Bubbles
13. Glass Cherub
14. Picture I had hanging in the nursery for the first 2 DDs
15 to 17. Pieces of an old McDonald's Polly Pocket toy
18 to 23. Magnets to toys I just sold at the garage sales - Oh well.
24. Tiny pad that isn't practical
25. Old AAA card
26. Some Barbie advertisement

Katie

Day 211 - First Day Home

I just got home from two weeks out of town.  It's amazing how much junk I see lying around when I have 'fresh eyes.' 

1. Sweatshirt - impractical white
2. Tights the DDs won't wear
3. Tights with a hole
4. Socks in which one of the DDs wore a hole in the top.
5 to 9. Crazy straws that are fun the first time but cause arguments and are hard to get clean
10. Ballerina figure that came on a cupcake
11 to 13.  Plastic syringes that come from the pharmacy
14. Bath scrubber
15. DVD purchased at a used book store, but it didn't play.  I was beyond the return window so it's just getting thrown out.
16 & 17.  Crocs through which DD#2 has worn holes
18 to 26. Glow bracelets that are just clutter

Katie

Day 210 - Batman Collection

This is the first installment of DH's childhood collection of batman paraphenalia.

1. Batman tin

2. Batman figurine

3. Robin sticker

4. Batman figure in powder blue

5. Flourescent green wallet

6. Black Batman action figure

7. Penguin in car

8. Black & grey Batman action figure

9. Batman pez dispenser

10. Two-face car

11. Penguin umbrella

12 & 13. Guns

14. Black batman action figure

15. Whip

16. Bat-hook

17. Riddler bust

18. Batman bust

19. Penguin soldier

20 & 22. Batman candy-dispenser busts

23. Batman plastic bank

24 to 26 (and bonus). Batman round cases

Katie

Day 209 - Office & Movies

We've been busy working in the office and these are some discards.

1 to 3. Sorting baskets

4 & 5. Hats

6. Bag from last year's homeschool convention (I am at this year's TODAY)

7. Book - What Color is Your Parachute that I bought DH back in 2005 and never took out of it's Amazon cardboard packaging.

8. Workbook for above book, also never opened

9. Book about having an ebay business

10. Baby monitor (half of it anyway)

11. Cell phone charger

I grabbed this stuff on the way out the door.  I couldn't forget to take movies to the garage sale!  I took this picture once I arrived at my aunts and before I stuck price tags on it.



12. Legal-size file folders in a big box (Also getting rid of legal-size file cabinet)

13. More folders - small package

14. More folders - another small package

15. Pattern for little girl dresses

16. Pattern from 1950's that would suit me, but I don't have time to sew.  Darn.

17. Jungle King VHS

18. Jingle All the Way VHS

19. Titan AE DVD

20. Be Kind Rewind DVD

21. Man in the Iron Mask DVD

22. Book - The Late Bloomers Revolution (really pretty amusing)

23 to 25. Books - Anne Perry novels

26. Bowfinger VHS (Thank you DH for dumping this one)

Bonus - Blank Check VHS

I was so pleased these two photos worked out to just about 26 items.  How convenient!

Katie



Friday Narrative - Garage Sale #2

I had a second garage sale at my brother and sister-in-law's house last weekend.  I took all my 'leftovers' and was able to make an additional $250!  Added to the $600 from the weekend before, this is easily my best garage sale summer ever.

After this sale I boxed up my own stuff, my aunt's stuff, and my sister-in-laws stuff for donation to the Salvation Army.  I itemized everything and donated 14 boxes Monday morning.  Then I picked up 5 more boxes (the books we hadn't packed yet) and donated those to the Goodwill. 

I ended up bringing home 4 trash bags of clothes/linens that I wasn't able to itemize before making the donations.  I just couldn't do less than 4 hours of sleep that night and I had a schedule to keep.  Those 4 bags have now been itemized and are in the back of my car waiting to be donated.

Highlights of this sale:

• Getting to meet/chat with several of my SIL's great friends
• Crashing into my brother's work truck while I was pulling a trailer - no real damage thank goodness!
• Ridiculous 23 boxes of donations for my 2012 tax return.  Woohoo!
• Selling DH's old Nintendo magazines for $15. 
• Selling a 9 year old bridesmaid dress (from my brother and SIL's wedding) for $2.50.
• Getting to spend lots of time with my niece and nephews who are also my godchildren. 

Overall I think Garage Sales are a lot of work for not a lot of return.  The only thing that makes it bearable is having a buddy or two to do it with to share the work and to have fun socializing.  Garage sales also have the added benefit of making you evaluate your belongings to determine what you can part with.  Obviously ProjectTwentySix does that for me now, but there's always next year!

Katie

Day 208 - Miscellaneous Last Minute Photo

A last minute peek into the basement closet before I left town for the garage sales yielded a few more Little People toys and a Creative Memories cutter.  I grabbed a few more things from the corner of my bedroom to come up with 26 items.

1. Creative Memories cutting tool

2. He-man comic book

3 & 4. Kool-aid comic books

5 & 6. Robeez outgrown

7. Brown corduroy pants

8. Borwn skirt

9. Khaki skirt

10. Dance pavilion

11. Carriage

12. Prince

13. Princess

14. Royal Horse

15 & 16. Fence pieces

17. Eric Carle caterpillar

18. Toddler book with noise buttons

19. Child rear-view mirror

20 & 21. Tupperware bowl & lid (doesn't fit properly)

22. Belle mug with literally, a hole in the side.  I don't know how DH manged it.

23. Cloth diaper

24. Playmobile pirate set

25. Play-dough chicken top

26. Stained baby washcloth

Katie

Day 207 - Packing Material

This was another box from the basement ebay closet.  It was full of packaging materials.  I gave the bubble wrap to my neighbor who is moving and recycled the rest.

Katie

Day 206 - Women's Clothing

Today's selection is another box from the basement closet. It's full of plus-size women's clothing most of which have tags still attached.  This was another of my ebay ideas.  So happy to have put these in the garage sale!

1 & 2. Velour jogging suit.  My cousin made a ton of fun at the garage sale for this one.

3. Black skirt

4. Brown skirt

5. Black denim skirt

6. Green tee

7. Navy mock turtleneck

8. Black mock turtleneck

9. Maroon mock turtleneck

10. Dark turquoise long-sleeve tee

11. White mock turtleneck

12. Dark turquoise button-up

13. Brown mock suede button-up

14. Maroon embroided button-up

15. Pink button-up

16. Orange plaid button-up

17. Brown sweater

18. Black sweater

19 & 20. Thick pink socks I never, ever wear

21 to 26.  Tights of various colors I never, ever wear

Katie



Day 205 - Clothing

I've managed to pull out the summer clothes for three of the girls.  These are some of the discards as I reviewed what was in storage.

1. Plaid scottie Christmas dress

2. Velvet long-sleeved dress that's just too far out of style to keep

3. Short-sleeve collared dress that needs ironing

4. Cute, cute skirt but I don't have a shirt that coordinates well and DD#3 has only worn it once.  No reason to keep it for DD#4.

5. Jean skirt - have another in this size

6. Tangerine capri pants

7. White/tangerine peasant top

8 & 9. Purple heart sweatsuit that DD#2 LOVED.  It shows

10 & 11. Princess PJs.  Have plenty of pjs in this size.

12. Beatles shirt

13. White tee

14. Cute floral top outgrown

15. Red leggings outgrown

16. Long-sleeve white shirt - have tons

17. Bathing suit - 4th in this size

18. Other half of butterfly wings

19 & 20. Orange socks - one has a hole

21& 22. Puple socks - one has a hole

23 & 24. Brown shoes I don't wear

25 & 26. Toddler undies in size 4.  My kids haven't needed training pants in this size yet.  I'll assume DD#4 won't need them either.

Katie

Day 204 - Other Small Toys

Here are the remainder of the Little People and a few other toys that have been collecting in the pile in the corner of my bedroom.  When ProjectTwentySix is over I'll enjoy having my bedroom back!

1. Dora house my mom gave to the girls a few months ago.

2. Birdhouse art project

3. Tassle one of the girls got from a missionary at Sunday School.  I love the idea of a missionary souvenir, but the girls have been fighting over this for several months and I think it will be simpler to have it out of the house.

4. Pascal party favor

5. Birdhouse art project

6. Noah

7. Chicken from old school Little People barn

8. Firedog

9. Baby rattle

10. Baby teething toy

11. A is for Alligator

12. B is for Bear

13. D is for Dolphin

14. E is for Elephant

15. F is for Flamingo

16. Q is for Quail

17. O is for Ostrich

18. P is for Penguin

19. R is for Rhinoceros

20. S is for Seal

21. V is for Vulture

22. W is for Walrus

23. Y is for Yak

24. Z is for Zebra

25. Zookeeper

26. Boa/Lei party favor

Katie



Day 203 - Little People Alphabet Zoo

I also took these Little People figures to the garage sale.  It was missing "T: for tiger and "X" for x-ray fish but someone still bought it for $7.  It's such a relief to have these things gone.  They have been hanging around for a couple of years at least as a looming project I hoped to eventually get to.  It's not just the clutter leaving but the project that is forever off the list!  Hurrah!

1 to 24. Alphabet animals

25. Zookeeper

26. Carrying case

Katie

Day 202 - More Little People For the Garage Sale

More Little People today.  I'm including all this in the garage sale stuff.

1. Flower Maiden

2. Baby Unicorn

3 & 4. Mama Unicorns

5 & 6. Pandas

7 & 8. Royal Horses

9. Peahen

10. Jaguar

11 & 12. Giraffes

13. Queen

14. Noah

15. Banquet table

16 & 17. Lion

18. Alligator

19 & 20. Thrones

21. Elephant

22. Jaguar

23. Dragon

24. Royal Horse

25 & 26 (& Bonus). Old style little people, two even wooden!

Katie

Friday Narrative - Garage Sale

Last weekend I had a big garage sale with my two cousins, my mom, and my aunt.  This has been an annual tradition for the last six or seven Junes and it's usually a great sale!  We are super-organized and we have lots of folks comment on how great our sale is.  We also have lots of  "returners" each year who tell us they look for our sale every summer. 

This year I made $600 after paying for my share of the signs, balloons, and the traditional pizza after clean-up.  This year  was a more difficult clean-up than usual because I was packing up most the leftovers for another garage sale I'm having THIS weekend with my sister-in-law.  Pizza never tasted so good! 

Highlights:

• The girls made $28 at their cookie sale AFTER paying for the cost of cookies
• Some dude and his girlfriend were elated with DH's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle collection.  I sold them the lot for $30.  No one was interested the whole first day and half the second day so I was happy to let them go.
• An older gentlemen offered to buy our entire VHS/DVD collection for $.25 each.  All the VHS were already priced for a quarter and the DVDs at $2 each.  There were about 10 DVDs and over 80 VHS tapes.  I sold him everything for $19.  Happy to see all the VHS tapes disappear. 
• I was able to box up three boxes of donations along with several larger items for the Goodwill.  My aunt graciously gives me her leftovers each year so I can take the tax deduction. 
• We ended up with a visit from my sister, Deborah, which was an unexpected and rare treat.  It was really nice seeing her get to know her nieces.
• Our sales total was over $1,600 for the two days.  As we make sales we record which individual is supposed to receive the money.  We then add up the totals for each person and divvy up the take.  For the two days were less than $3 off the total cash compared to the written record.  This is pretty amazing considering how many transactions there were! 

Wish me luck with this next sale!  The leftovers this time will all be boxed up and donated to the local Salvation Army. 
Katie

Day 201 - Bigger Than a Bread Box

This series of photos includes various items that either wouldn't fit well in my 'normal' pictures for ProjectTwentySix or that I simply got rid of singly and needed to snap a quick picture.

I love these multi-picture posts! 

1 to 7. Here is a train toy I bought at a friend's garage sale thinking my kids would love it.  They did, but we have another train and it didn't make sense to keep two.  I sold this one in last weekend's garage sale and made $2 profit.

8. This is a very fun and noisy vaccum that has Cookie Monster rumbling or Elmo shrieking about vaccuming when it gets played with.  We gave it to DD#2 for her 3rd birthday when she was in love with Elmo.  Just time to let it go.  Also sold at the garage sale.
9. A throw pillow one of the girls green markered on and
10. A pillow one of the girls made at a kid party.  Both of these were taken from the free box and the garage sale.
11 & 12. Pandas that were in the basement guest closet.
13. A glass elephant I gave my sister back in March for her birthday - she loves elephants.
14. A poofy, purple dress I bought for DD#1 first birthday photo shoot.  This was passed down to my cousin's baby, Edy.
15 & 16.  This hammering toy was purchased two Christmases ago for DD#3 when I was searching around for anything we didn't have already that I could give her. You can imagine the problem this could be with 4 daughters in a 5 year span. 
17. A Tinkerbell backpack that was handed down to us and that DD#1 totally loved and carted around everywhere.  This has been to Hawaii, Idaho, Colorado, Utah, California about 6 times, and Oregon about 15.  It was well-used, so much that I put it in the free box at the garage sale and no one wanted it.
18. This is a fun farm toy.  Our church nursery has the same model and as we're there about 3 mornings a week I figured the girls could enjoy those ones.

19. A box of packing peanuts.  Amazingly, someone bought these for $1 at the garage sale.  I intended to recycle it at a packaging store, but hadn't gotten around to it when the garage sale weekend was upon us.

20. The girls broke this adorable umbrella.  Bummer.

21. Packaging for a fun kid's book I'm putting in the garage sale
22. Jacket to an outfit I'm putting in the garage sale
23 to 25. Packing for Robeez shoes I'm putting in the garage sale

26. Wooden cradle that my aunt painted for the girls.  We have three doll cradles and this was the largest so now we're down to two smaller ones.

Day 200 - Little People NOT going to eBay

Today, here are more items from the ebay stockpile.  These are all Little People from Fisher Price. 

Does anyone else have a pile of stuff sitting around that you think you might sell one day on ebay or Craig's List?  It has felt great just getting this stuff out of the house!

1 to 6. Giraffes

7 to 10. Lions

11 to 14. Zebras

15 & 16. Polar Bears

17. Noah

18. Mrs. Claus

19 & 20. Dad

21. Daughter

22. Fireman

23. Blue man

24. Red man

25. Tractor

26. Trailer

Katie

Day 199 - Stuff I'm NOT Selling on Ebay

I have been keeping a lot of things for a lot of years intending to sell them on ebay.  Of course I never manage to sell them so I've decided to go ahead and take them to a garage sale.

1. Awesome mosquito puppet - I hate to part with this

2. Cabbage Patch Kids clothing from 1983 new in package

3. Fairie Tale Theater Sleeping Beauty

4. Tuppeware dressing bottle

5 to 10. Miniature Cabbage Patch Kids figurines

11 & 12. Princess House corked bottles

13 to 26. Vintage Tupperware playset with cups, bowls, lids, pitcher

Katie

Day 198 - Cleaned Out Car

Here are a few more items that were in that box full of stuff from the car we no longer own.

1. Duck foot I have been searching for for years!  Literally!

2. Rock art project

3. Ribbon

4. Tape measure

5. Golf

6 to 13. Pieces of a Melissa & Doug cake toy

14. Mickey head antennae topper

15. Sticker from a doctor's office

16. Pacifier

17. Dental floss

18. Expired medical card

19. Banana magnet

20. Safety pin for diaper

21. Craft stick

22 to 24. Light bulbs to that car

25. Map of the United States

26. Map of Portland, Oregon

Katie

Day 197 - Cassette Tapes in the Car

I'm finally going through the box of junk that's been on our office floor since the first of November when we sold our old car.  The box included these 26 cassette tapes.  I had a great time remembering the mix tapes, in particular the "Mr. Wendall Mix" which was my favorite.  There are a couple of kids tapes and several John Piper sermons a friend, Eric Riddle, gave me literally 9 years ago.  Crazy!

Katie

Day 196 - Office Cleanup!

Here is DD#4 having more fun in the office.  DH and I worked all day on Memorial Day getting papers sorted and things shifted so we could move his desk in.  For over 2 years we have had our computers on a folding 6 foot table so moving the desks in is a big deal.  So far we just did DH's, but it was a doozy having to be dissembled then put together again. 

All of these papaers were also shredded or recycled or both.  We pay DD#1 $.01 for each paper she shreds. =^) 

Katie

Day 195 - IRS Forms

This is a huge pile of papers, mostly old IRS forms that DD#4 had a great time flinging into the hallway.  The french door on the right is the office door.

It's definitely at least 26 things and I emptied several file folders.

Katie