We'll call it Spring Cleaning I guess....

So I will spare you the details, but I spent a majority of the last few days disinfecting our home from the flu virus. We all came down with it.... Carry your hand sanitizer folks, that's all I can say, it was not fun!!!!

Once I finished disinfecting, I figured I would go ahead and start purging the closets for spring.  This is a real sore spot for me.  I love, Love, LOVE organized closets.... But, I have an obsessive urge to keep every article of clothing.  I have a weird fear of not having enough clothes for the kids. Not that we didn't have clothes as a child, we absolutely never went without, but we only had a few... My Mom did the washing every single day and we just rotated what we had. I am fairly thrifty and rarely buy new clothes, although I do at Back to School time... Most of my shopping is done at second hand stores or is from friends as hand me downs... But, in all honesty, my children could have probably gone an entire month with me washing anything but socks and skivvies..... You can imagine what my closets/dressers looked like.... If there is a magic number of outfits that each child should have, please let me know!!!! I cut down drastically and I am sooooooo happy with what I have done! For the boys, I planned on keeping 7 pair of pants, 7 pair of shorts, a handful of nice shirts and approximately 15 tee-shirts....  For the girls I had to add for skirts and dresses and sweaters and camis, but you get the drift....

So here is my plan, I took all the hangers and turned them to face out.  When fall comes, if the hanger is still facing out, it needs to be donated because it was never worn. I have been doing this in my own closet for years, but never thought to use this in my children's. I am the one who puts away the majority of their clothes, especially the "hang ups" as my kiddos call it....

So here is Leigham's side of the closet (since the boys share)... In here he has (some were still in the wash) 4 short sleeve polo shirts, 2 short sleeve button downs and 1 long sleeve dress shirt, 3 long sleeve flannel shirts (his obsession right now), 10 pair of jeans-khakis-dress pants,  5 hoodies........

And here is everything I have pulled out of all our (mine included) closets/dressers!!!!!

Now, in my defense, 2 full bags are Elijah's clothes that he just grew out of (He just jumped 3.5lbs over night!), 1.5 bags are Charlie Anne's she has finally grown out of (She was still wearing size 12mth in most stuff), and 1 bag is all newborn things (burp rags, receiving blankets, Ect....)

Later today, I will be take all of these bags to the Women's Refuge. Many women leave their Domestic Violence situation with just the clothes on their backs.  When I left my DV abuser, I only had 2 laundry baskets of essentials for my 3 babies and myself.   If this can help out a handful of Moms and their children, I would rather that happen than have my drawers overflowing. If you have things you are wanting to donate, please take them to Shasta Family Justice Center at the Downtown Mall. (And yes, I sorted all of the washed, purged clothes by size and gender as well... more to make it easier for the Refuge to give out than for my own OCD, but sorting it still felt great!!)

And, last but not least.... My daily reminder of my New Year~New Me Resolution.  This is in my entry hall. We see it every time we come and go. We see if any time we have guests. I can even see it from my rocking chair in the living room :) Make yourself a reminder to slow down, savor your babies while they are babies, love your Littles while they are truly little.

And always remember...

Cherish the little things...

Pay Attention and do not miss the Simple Joys in Life!!!!