Epic fail- a week of distractions

Possessions- Part 2-was going great this week until I was presented 7 bags of handy me downs from an unexpected source.  Yep, we gave away over 500 pieces of clothing June  16 - 29 and here I was with more clothes.  Honestly this was a gift - it was if God was saying- see, I will provide. 

What would I do with the clothing?  I wanted to shove them in the closet and deal with them in the fall.  Instead, I spent a day sorting and bagging.  I kept a few things for Henry but most were re-bagged for more first time adoptive moms who do not have a stash of clothing for the fall. 

Then I decided to move Igor into his own room and move Merone in with Henry.  This allowed me to go through and give away more things from the kids' rooms but I was not focused on "7" per se.  I was trying to get my children settled.  Then I was busy with life- swim lessons, doctor appointments, contractors, and you know parenting...

We did manage to remove a stereo, DVD player and a space heater from our house but we have more.  I need more time so we'll try - Possessions- Part 2- for one more week. 

Summer of 7 x 2

In June we started our summer of 7.  It hasn't gone as planned.  The first week was Possessions- giving away 7 items of clothing for 7 days.  Our 7 turned into two weeks (or 7x2) of clothing give away.  
I hate to say it but Possessions Part 2 is also moving to 7x2.  We'll be doing it again next week.  This week we went to the beach (courtesy of some awesome friends) for a few days so we haven't gone through every room.  I've done the kitchen (14 items), the children's bookshelves (50 books) and Rob went through his things (14 items).  I also spent some time in boys' bedroom with a trash bag (only one item to give away).  The boys and Merone picked out 8 toys to give away but there are more we can part with.  The biggest item (by size) is the boys' toddler bed which was stored in the attic.  We delivered it to a couple who is expecting child number two.  It was so sweet to see our well loved bed set up in another little boy's bedroom.

Here is our modified list of 7
June  16 - 29: Possessions- We will give away 7 items of clothing and shoes per person (35 items) a day for 7 days.

June  30 - July 13: Possessions- Part 2- We will give away 7 items a day of (non-clothing) for a total of 49 items

 July 14 - 20: Media -  We don't have cable or Netflix or any gaming system so this will be Internet related.  The cruel details are to be determined (I'm thinking a facebook fast? shudder..)

July 21 - 27: Clothes- We will wear just 7 articles of clothing - items and exemptions to be determined.

July 28 - Aug 4: Stress- We are going to do a modified version of the seven prayers from the book.  It will probably be five pauses for prayer.

Aug 5 - 11: Spending-  This may be modified but for now we will not purchase any items this week.  (exceptions would be any medical emergencies and RX's that may need to be filled)

August 12 - 18 : Food-  We will eat 7 foods which is currently being negotiated.


We may have to modify the dates again while trying to keep to the spirit of 7.

The Summer of 7: Wrap up on the second week of clothing

Our 7 days of purging clothing turned into 14 days of clothing after I found more boy clothing in the attic. 

At first I had a hard time giving up items of sentimental value.  Then I realized I still have the memories without the item so purging was much easier. 
All totaled- we purged a whopping 512 pieces of clothing in two weeks!  Wow, is an understatement.  I had no idea we had so much clothing for the boys!

Now- what do we do with all the clothing?  I e-mailed a couple moms who recently adopted their children.  I asked if they would be interested in some of the boys' clothing.  The Answer was YES!!  One mom said the clothing will be a huge blessing.  I am so glad we can bless families with our excess and we will lighten our load.

During this process I realized that I am storing up treasures in my closets... ugh.

Matthew 6:19-21(NIV)¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Some changes we will be making - When I receive hand me down for the boys, I will not put it in a closet thinking I will "get to it later".  I will go through it and then pass on what we do not need.  We will be implementing my husband's rule- for every one clothing item received we will give away 2 pieces of clothing.    

This week begins  Possessions- Part 2- We will give away 7 items a day of (non-clothing) for a total of 49 items.   We'll see what we glean from this week.

One year with Merone

Refusing to pose for the camera!

Celebrating one year as a family

Picking up Merone from the Transition Home - June 2011

One year ago at the Guest Home in Ethiopia

Igor turns 10!

A friend often says the days are long but the years are short.  She is so right.  
I cannot believe that Igor has turned 10 yrs old!!!  He asked for a very low key birthday party.  He had a few friends over for a pizza party and then they went to see Madagascar 3.  He really enjoyed his birthday celebration.

Happy Birthday Igor! 

Hit the rewind button please!

Saturday started - Possessions- Part 2- Where we planned on giving away 7 items a day of (non-clothing) for a total of 49 items.
I went into the attic to pull out some items to purge when I came across MORE CLOTHES!  ugh...  I spent two hours going through the clothing and had to take a break.  Here's just a few of boy's clothing that no longer fit. Talk about excess!

This is a good reminder I must go through any hand me downs right away so I can pass on what is excess.
Clearly one week was not long enough to purge all the excess clothing we have!   I have hit the rewind button.  We are modifying the 7 Schedule- this week we will continue giving away clothing and shoes. 
June  23 - 29: Possessions- We will give away clothing and shoes an additional 7 days.  Let's see if we can give away another 200 pieces of clothing.

I will update our Summer of 7 schedule later this week.
Interested in how others are doing? check out the blog hop:

7 Days of purging

The purge started off strong then was slowed down by my son turning TEN!  Days 5, 6 and 7 we purged things but not at the previous rate.  I finally purged items from the hall closet!  The number of coats, pull overs, rain coats, etc was insane but has been trimmed down.  The final three days we purged 42 items. The grand total purged - 247 items.  WOW!  This total does not include several items in the laundry basket to be purged.

 Until I looked in our closet with fresh eyes I had no idea how much we had.  Before we were married my husband had this policy-  purchase one new item then purge two old items.  He has tried to stick with this policy over the years.  Now I can see the benefits of doing this.  Our budget does not allow us to purchase clothing on a whim or because of a new style but I am certainly guilty of holding on to clothing which "brings back memories", clothing I like that doesn't fit or clothing I like enough only to wear when everything else is dirty!

For me "The Purge" was an excellent reminder that the purge must be done each season AND when I get a bag of hand me downs for the boys I need to go through the items and compare them to what we already have.  Otherwise, I will find 12 pair of sweat pants in the closet!  Ugh.

Starting tomorrow- Possessions- Part 2- We will give away 7 items a day of (non-clothing) for a total of 49 items.  May the purge continue.