Day 54 - Kid Books & Stuff

Another day of kid stuff, mostly books. First, the books:

1. Dictionary of Discards
2. Flowers From the Ark
3. 258 Great Dates While You Wait
4. Breathe
5. A Dancing Star
6. Galatians
7. None of These Diseases (a duplicate; great book)
8. Amelia Bedelia
9. Blue's Clues
10. Thomas
11. Mama, Mama
12. Snowflakes
13. Mr. Greedy
14. Little Miss Giggles
15. princess sticker book
16. Aristocats
17. Belle Helps Out

18. fish bath toy
19 & 20. beloved froggy boots
21 to 23. pants
24 to 26. burp rags

Katie

Day 49 & 50 - Silly Bands and Toys

I can't believe I missed posting yesterday and almost missed today! Here it is at 11:30pm and I'm hastily tossing this post up (two days worth).

29 Silly Bands
9 Silly Rings
7 Car Keys
2 Bracelets
2 Broken hair things
1 Fake Flower
1 Figurine
1 Chapstick

- Katie

Day 47 - Toy Bits

1 to 4. Care Bears - old, from DH's childhood
5 to 8. Barbie cards from a deck I already got rid of
9. Toy makeup wand with the sponge ripped off
10. Tiny Hello Kitty figurine with pen all over it
11 to 15. Shape erasers
16. Some Tinkerbell toy with no purpose
17 to 19. Magnets to a Belle toy we already got rid of
20 to 22. Magnets to a counting book we already got rid of
23. Random comb
24. Baby linky - got rid of others already
25. Lego guide
26. Orange seaweed shape to a toy we got rid of at last year's garage sale

Today's just a bunch of random little toys that have been accumulating in the corner of my room.

Katie

Day 44 - Math Magnet Book

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!


This is a great learning tool, but I am tired of picking up little square magnets and finding them in odd places. Here is the book, 24 magnets and a set of pony keys that belong to toys I got rid of awhile back.

Katie

Day 43 - Big Stuff! Ebay, Consignment, & Given Away

Following is a big series of photographs of a variety of things that are now out of my house. As you look through these photos today you'll see all four of our daughters! 1. Leap Frog Table - donated to church

2. Loveseat! - given to a friend

3. Couch/Hide-a-bed - given to a friend

4. Boucer Seat & 5. Jumperoo - both donated to church

6 to 15. Clothing items taken to consignment

16. Styrofoam cooler - given to a friend

17. Crib Mattress - donated to church

18. Spider costume - sold on ebay

19. Horse costume - sold on ebay

20. Lion costume - given to a friend

21 & 22. Not Your Daughter's Jeans - 2 Pair - sold on ebay

23. Moster costume - taken to consignment

24. Another costume (martial arts) - taken to consignment

25. Elephant costume - again consignment

Finally 26. Lion costume - sold on ebay

There you have it. Some big things, some little, all gone. Hurrah!

Katie

Day 40 - Silly Bands

I know, I know. More tiny stuff! But good news: I'll have a posting of several large items later this week. Whoo-hoo! Hint: It includes couch photos!

Katie

Day 39 - Kid Offal

Today's selection is an array of kid junk that DH and I have been picking up and setting aside for ProjectTwentySix. It's amazing what just floats around a house!

1. Fake flower
2. Fake flower
3. Baby comb
4. Hair clip, dirty and never used anyway
5. Broken dollhouse bed
6. Jack
7. Jack
8. Oreo game piece - game gone at last summer's garage sale
9. Silly Band
10. Broken beads
11. Hanger that doesn't match the rest
12. Broken wind-up mouse toy
13. Magnet from Belle set
14. Quasimodo finger puppet
15. Sticker sheet from a long-ago sticker book
16. Minature Barbie playing cards
17. Pony wig
18-20. Stencils for another toy gone at last summer's garage sale
21. Baby bottle that liquid leaked out of
22. Marker lid
23. Pencil grip
24 -25. Perler bead guides
26. Outfit for long-gone paper dolls.

Katie

Day 36 - Hair Stuff, Cartons, & Random Toys

I little bit of organizing out in the garage turned up these egg cartons (1&2) and plastic containers (3-9). They must have fallen behind our *extra* barbeque at some point when I was still saving them.

10. A Carebear costume
11. Huge hair clip
12. Bubbles that keep getting left out (I warned her)
13. A train toy that got left here by someone
14 to 19. Hair claw clip things
20. Rubber freebie bracelet
21 & 22. Random dog toys
23 & 24. Lidless markers
25 & 26. Hair bands I didn't make use of with my full-haired baby. Gave to a friend.

Katie

Day 35 - Plastic boxes & Magnet Toy

This is another toy I've slipped away and DD#2 hasn't asked for. Almost 3 years ago we lost all but one of Belle's 'shirts' and pieces have been disappearing and littering my floor since we got it. We also have a Cinderella set of these but it has stayed more intact and I want to offer it as consolation when DD#2 figures out Belle is gone.

These plastic containers I saved and we put the sets of "squishy princesses" in them. Each princess with her own clothes/accessories in each box. Now it's too much of a pain to keep them separate. They all swim together in a plastic shoebox and my life is easier. I just keeping telling myself that it's really OK if Flounder mingles with the Briar Rose dress.

There are also a couple more fake flowers, a Color Wonder marker that is all dried out, and a Princess pin that is rusting.

One random, additional thought: Today I had to throw away my Sunday newspaper. A few weeks ago I resolved that if I hadn't read my Sunday paper by Monday night I had to put it straight into the recycling bin. No more stacks of Sunday papers on top of the fridge until I have "time" to read them! Well, it happened last night. A Sunday paper not even opened. So this morning I flipped through the ads to pull out coupons, pulled out my very favorite (small) section, and recycled the rest. Then I stood over the recycle receptacle, perused the front page of my little section of paper and then let it go. Ouch! But hurrah for one less thing littering up the kitchen.

Katie

Day 32 - Baby Clothes, Hats, Bibs, Formula, Gear

Today it's lots of baby items.

1. dishwasher basket
2-3. formula given to me that I'll pass along to a bottle feeding friend
4. A broken Barbie chair I decided not to fix
5. A broken Cinderella that was cake topper I decided not to fix
6-7. Shoes that give DD#3's feet an owie
8-12. Bibs that don't give good enough coverage anymore
13-14. Slippers DD#1 really wanted to contribute to ProjectTwentySix.
15. Wipes container I used to carry in the diaper bag
16. Broken kid sunglasses
17-21. Sunhats we don't get enough sun to use
22-26. Outgrown baby clothes

Sweet DD#1 really wants to be involved in ProjectTwentySix and frequently brings me a pile of things to get rid of. Usually very little of it is stuff that would qualify, like trash/papers, or it's stuff I can't let her get rid of, like shoes that she needs or will keep for the next sister. I'm trying to think of ways to get her involved but haven't been able to do much yet other than let her take photos with me. I'm hoping we can focus on the Project here in the next couple of days and do a big clothes purge as we pack up and part with many summer clothing items. She would be a big help with that.

Katie

Day 31 - Shirts & Pony toys

1-8. Shirts that don't fit. I sent most of these to a friend.
9. Galaxy Quest on VHS. Can you believe we actually had two copies of this one?
10. A flimsy book that got scribbled on. On of my biggest peeves is defaced books.
11. A pair of tights that are way too big for the girls. I picked them up used and figured I'd just stow them for later, but I haven't managed to stow them and I want them off my dresser. Be gone!
12. A candle plate that would totally work as a serving plate if it were dishwasher safe. As it's not, I'll just part with it.
13-26. My Little Pony figures and various pieces. One of my girls loves these, but I slipped them away three weeks ago and she hasn't even noticed. I'm trying to trim down how many "sets" of toys we have. Grandma has an impressive collection of these particular ponies so we'll just play with them at her house.

Did you notice the background is different? I was changing my sheets at photo time so instead of blue bedspread you see white mattress pad.

Katie

Day 27 - Misc. Kid Items

1. to 3. Kid hangers that don't match
4. & 5. Kid books, one destroyed
6. & 7. Birthday cards
8. Cool hat I got back in college, but don't wear anymore
9. to 15. Jacks
16. Broken garden trowel
17. Cinderella hairbow that is bloodstained. Could clean this easily with peroxide, but not worth the time.
18. Broken beads
19. to 22. More fake flowers
23. Broken egg timer
24. Another bath toy
25. Cool magnet that I totally love, but it sticks out from the fridge and is forever getting knocked off. Just tired of picking it up.
26. Barbie McDonald's toy shawl.

It's pretty easy to find kid stuff to get rid of. There's just so much of it! And so far they aren't asking for anything I've included in ProjectTwentySix. DH and I were talking this weekend and we are already noticing a difference in the amount of kid flotsam floating around. Yahoo! It's totally motivating to see some results of our efforts already!

Katie

Day 26 - More Baby Clothes & Throw Pillows

1. & 2. Throw pillows given to us with a hand-me-down couch. Too frilly for my taste.
3. to 12. Cloth diapers that are falling apart.
13. to 17. Baby clothes
18. Diaper cover
19. Lotion tube that lost a lid long ago
20. Infant hat
21. to 24. Bath toys that get gross inside and I don't want to clean them anymore
25. Hotel conditioner just sitting in the shower
26. Sun hat

Katie

Day 24 - Bathtub Alphabet

A bathtub alphabet. It was missing two letters and I filled them in with other random bathtub toys. 26 things I don't have to pick up after bathtime or spend time maneuvering them into the bathroom toy storage with all the other bath toys. Hooray!

p.s. Don't bother with this for your own kids because they aren't going to learn to spell in the bath and any interest in the letters is to spell their names which three of my four can't do because of duplicate letters in their names anyway.

Can you say "run-on sentence?" I can.

Katie

Day 17 - Paper Products

1. DD#1's dollar store baton that broke, leaked liquid, and stained the carpet. Grrrr.
2. Kitchen timer that still works, mostly, but falls apart all the time.
3. Kid sunglasses, broken
4. Child's book
5. Miniature flower basket
6. My Little Pony bracelet
7. Tall birthday candles
8. Marker with no tip
9. Easter napkins
10. Birthday napkins
11. to 16. Plastic containers without lids
17. to 23. Styrofoam cups (yuck!)
24. Broken cabinet girls used for Barbie wardrobe. Don't want to fix it.
25. Red paper plates, napkins, & plasticware
25. Birthday plates & napkins

We had a big party and I searched through my paper products bin. I found lots of things I didn't need including the stuff in the photo. But I still have a lot I'm not ready to toss out yet . . . maybe by the end of ProjectTwentySix.

Katie

Day 15 - Fake Flowers

This collection of flowers was a ProjectTwentySix casualty waiting to happen. We had a big party and our girls wanted to welcome our guests in a special way. They littered the driveway with many of these fake flowers from one of their flower girl baskets. The wedding was 16 months ago and these baskets have been hanging out in the dress up box. After the party I gathered these up and tucked them back into the basket not wanting to make the girls give these up just yet. But the next day Ed must have had to pick them up, too because they were in a little pile on our bed - the place we quietly collect our 26 items each day - Daddy says sayonara little flowers.

Katie

Day 14 - CD Player, Kid Shoes

1. to 5. Birthday cards
6. A Jehovah's Witness bible/literature
7. A City newletter I'd set aside to read
8. CD Player the kids destroyed - highly irritating to this mama
9 & 10. Colored pencils
11. to 13. Empty/dried up glitter pens
14. Yet another kid hairbrush
15. & 16. Headbands I don't like
17. Stuffed dog (1 of 4)
18 & 19. Water shoes too small for intended kiddo - new & good for consignment
20 to 23. Outgrown sandals
24. Sundress
25. Instructions for something
26. A barbie playing card
27. A kitchen toy

Whoops! TwentySEVEN today. Oh well.

Katie

Day 13 - College T-shirts

1. to 4. Wrapping paper from one of the girls' baby showers. This is the second batch.
5. to 14. T-shirts from a stack in the closet. Mostly from my university and I was able to pass them along to a current student there. One was a shirt I tye-dyed for spirit week back in high school!
15. & 16. Little notebooks that I am forever finding scribbled pieces of and are often on the floor.
17. Stained washcloth
18. Princess 'make-up' bag. Gets fought over and has no real purpose.
19. & 20. Pencils grips - just a mess maker
21. Crocheted flower brooch
22. Empty chapstick tube
23. Airplane kit - a fun party favor, but only one left and the girls will fight over it.
24. to 26. "Mister" books. Very long to read and sometimes the characters aren't very nice. Girls almost never ask for these to be read aloud.

A big thank you to a couple of friends at church yesterday who told me they are following this blog. It's so nice to know somebody is out there!

Katie

Day 12 - Baby Clothes & Toys

1. A math book I thought was really fun but the kids didn't dig it.
2. A completely painted paint-with-water book - why was I keeping this?
3. A card from one of the girls covered in stickers
4. A toy mirror
5. Princess purse - too small for productive use and often causes a fight with company.
6. A sippy cup DD#4 didn't like
7. A sanitized nipple from the hospital - under my bed for at least a year, but possibly longer if it was from DD#3 instead of DD#4.
8. Gift Bow - A kid got into the gift wrap cupboard
9. A Barbie decoration leftover from DD#4's 4th birthday. She's 6 now.
10. to 26. Clothes - mostly baby clothes including white onesies that have been through 4 kids now and won't even bleach clean. I am so happy to throw these in the textile recycling!

Katie

Day 10 - Baby Toys

1. Leapfrog book cartridge - we have never had a leapfrog book
2. Singing duck whose battery has died and no way to replace it
3. Bunny rattle
4. Bunny plush
5. Another bunny plush
6. Chick plush
7. to 26. Linking rings - so great for the last 3 babies, but we just don't need them anymore.

Several of these items were gifts and it's so hard for me to post a picture and share that we're getting rid of them. It's almost like a confession and I have to fight feeling guilty. But that's the whole point, right? And it's one of the goals of ProjectTwentySix - to be truly thankful and appreciative of gifts without keeping the gift forever.

*sigh*

Katie