Friday Randoms

Hello there! I have not written much lately because life has been so busy. In fact, I ended up letting the kids stay home from school and daycare yesterday because they just seemed so out of sorts and tired. We're doing too much, and so I am doing what I can to scale back, although part of it is just powering through this very busy season. Still, I'm learning to recognize where me and the kids need downtime. We need days where we don't leave the house, where we stay in our jammies, watch movies, make spaceships out of cardboard boxes, and go to bed early.

I signed up for The Bloom over at Slow Your Home, mostly because I was so rejuvenated by the Cozy Minimalism course from the Nester, and I wanted to continue to make positive progress in our home. Cozy Minimalism was focused more on decorating, whereas so far, The Bloom's mini courses are more about decluttering and simplifying, but I've so far really enjoyed both.

The other night I decluttered the medicine cabinet and our kitchen utensil drawer. I also organized the kid's stuffed animals (I wish we could declutter those, but S is very opposed to donating any. I need to work on him).

I also got a carpet cleaning machine for my birthday and it is the best present ever! I used it last night and it's fantastic. The carpet looks like it was professionally cleaned. One thing that really stresses me out about our home is our wall-to-wall carpeting. I wish we had hardwood floors, but we live on the second floor, and while I don't think it's prohibited, it wouldn't be the best choice for a family with two rambunctious boys. Having a machine to keep them looking fresher is really going to be a game-changer for me when it comes to my happiness at home, I think.

We're still plugging away at the house savings, while still enjoying things in the condo. S's friend birthday party was an amazing amount of fun, and we even took the kids outside and had part of the party in the condo's side yard. It was lovely. And today I was telling some people about an event at the nature center across the street, and they said, "wow, that sounds like you live in a really cool place." And yeah, I kind of do!