Spring Forward

Don't ya just LOVE spring!!!

I've been working my way around the house pursuing the yearly SPRING CLEANING. Cleaned my car out, swept out all the accumulated leaves and dirt in the garage, cleaned the basement, going through old clothes and toys, getting RID of stuff. I feel an overload with STUFF everywhere, toys, gadgets, clothes, ect. SIMPLIFY is the word going through my head as I weed through the piles and piles of unnecessary things we tend to collect over time. It seems like such a daunting task at first, but the results are so refreshing.

A while back I took a friends advice to pack away a huge box of toys for about 6 months or so. It was AMAZING what happened. I pulled out this box as I was packing for our trip, and threw a bunch of the old toys in a suitcase. The excitement my daughter had when I unloaded them on our trip was just priceless. She had completely forgotten about ALL the toys. It gave me that same giddy feeling I get when I save money. We usually buy a few new toys before trips for the kids to have something fun to entertain themselves while in the hotel room, plane ride, or car ride. So, in reality, I DID save money. My husband and I were secretly laughing feeling as though we'd fooled them into thinking we went out and bought them new toys :)

I have a new rule that I've been following for about a year now. I learned it from Peter Walsch from the TLC show, Clean Sweep. He says, "When you talk about 'spring-cleaning,' it really makes it an event rather than a process, I'm much more a fan of the concept that spring-cleaning or organizing is something you have to tackle in a little way every day."

That is exactly what I've been doing over the past year. He advises to get rid of an item every time you buy something new. I've found this to be VERY helpful and has kept the clutter to a minimum, in my closet that is, haven't quite been as diligent when it comes to the toys. We have an older home so unfortunately it didn't come with many walk in closets. I think its been a good thing though, because I believe that the more space you have, the more stuff you buy to FILL the space. When you have TOO much stuff, you eventually forget about it or where you once placed it, and end up buying the same items over and over. Now each time I buy a new article of clothing I find an old one I don't wear much anymore and stash it away in a bin. Once the bin is full, I either donate them, give them to my sisters, or I've even taken them to PLATO's CLOSET a few times. I walked away with $40 cash once!!! That was pretty exciting!

So, as I was cleaning out and sifting through everything I realized that I need to start doing this with the toys as well.

I went through the entire house and made groups of toys.

Do you think Lily has enough babies?

I don't think she'd want this many in REAL life so WHY so many dolls???. It's totally unnecessary, so I'm getting rid of some and packing up at least half and storing it away for about a year.

hmmmmm, maybe it can be her Christmas this year :)

Everytime Sean goes to the store he buys Oliver a new ball. I think he's got enough now but Sean doesn't seem to think so :)

In the process of my spring cleaning, I came across this purse that I LOVE, bought it last spring, only used it for a few months,

then of course had to buy a new one for the fall :)

and now it's spring again, so I felt like I needed a NEW one.

I spent $90 on the first one, but have come to terms with the fact that it will probably just sit in my closet and never get used again. Changing purses is fun, and I know I'll keep finding one I like more each season. So, what I thought I'd do, was offer it to one of you! I will make it a giveaway!!! I'll keep this going until the 1st of May.

By the way, I got the white and maroon purse from this awesome Boutique I love, you can go to my friends facebook page, see pictures of what she has right now, and ask her where the next open house is. She also has tonz of cute clothes, shoes, and accessories.

I got the pink one from Boehme Boutique at the mall. I love that place. Find so many cute things there.

Okay, so, here's how to enter to win the WHITE purse. (you can find all the icons you need at the top of my page) Leave a comment for one entry, and here's a list below of things you can do for more chances to win (leave a comment for each thing you do).

• Become a follower of this blog
• Become a Fan on Facebook
• Subscribe to this blog via email (in sidebar)
• Follow on Twitter
• Subscribe to my Youtube channel
• Mention this giveaway on your blog, twitter, or facebook.
• Or vote for me on top mommy blogs (you can vote once a day and leave a comment each time if you want)