Today we took advantage of some nice temperatures and our first completely free Saturday that I can remember to do some deep cleaning.  Yes, we moved in December 16th of last year, but today we cleaned out the garage and got rid of the last boxes, organized so that all the hand me down clothes bins are together, christmas bins are together, camping equipment together, etc.  While BW started in the garage, I also went through the kids toys to weed out toys that aren't played with, are missing pieces or are broken.  A couple of my children have inherited my pack rat gene. 

"Mommyyyyyy, I might play with those(legs off a GI Joe guy whose top is not to be found)."

"Mommyyyy, I know I never play with that stuffed animal, but ______ gave it to me so it's special."

"Mommyyyy, I just haven't played with it for a while because I didn't know where it was!" 

They kept checking my trash and give away bags and pulling things back out.  The culling of toys always helps to remind them of toys that they haven't played with for a while so everytime I went to the living room more toys were cluttering the floor.  More than once, I said the phrase "I don't think you guys understand what we are trying to accomplish here!"

In the meantime, as I was making my trash runs (using small bags to throw away frequently so that little ones don't have a chance to go through them), I was retrieving MY precious things that BW mistook as garbage and calling out to him, "You just threw away my journal from 2001!" and "I know that we now know that book was written by a heretic, but don't just throw it in the trash!" and "That basket was a gift from my old employer when Girl7 was born.  It has sentimental value!" 

But amazingly, we did accumulate enough trash that BW took some over to our church's dumpsters because our trash and recycling cans were completely full and trash day isn't till Tuesday! 

I was even able to go through our homeschooling craft and game area, getting it organized and the closet that doubles as a pantry since our kitchen lacks a little in the way of cupboard space - wonder how long it will stay looking neat and tidy?  Although we are completely exhausted, it feels so good to have a clean garage and home with everything organized - for the moment anyway.   

We enjoyed a yummy dinner tonight.  As part of our Stewardship unit, each child planned one of our dinners this week and tonight Girl7 had planned roast beef, mashed potatoes, green beans and her own creation of strawberries mixed in vanilla yogurt.  Next week, they will plan menus again, but having to keep to a budget at the grocery store - still trying to figure out how I'll be able to monitor that and still get my grocery shopping done with 4 kids! 

How did you spend your Saturday?

Blessings!

-J