Today I realized that I have about a week left in Lent and I’ve barely implemented “The Plan.” Sure, I’ve prayed, fasted, and done some service, BUT pruning a “Room a Day” took a deep dive after Week 3 and pruning my “Desk & Office” area barely started. So, what do I have to show […]
Living Lightly
Susan Vogt on living more simply but abundantlyBrowsing Posts tagged Toys
We’re down to Holy Week and I haven’t done a total clean sweep of all the hidden places in our home, but I have found stuff I didn’t know we still had and put them in 3 categories: 1. KIDS’ STUFF: * How many puzzles should one home have for a rainy day? Probably a […]
My last post was about giving away useful stuff (coats, curtains, rugs…) but I also found at least 6 kinds of hidden things that were pretty frivolous. Nerf Guns: Several years ago one of our children bought each family member a Nerf gun as a gag gift for Christmas (since we had a reputation for […]
Having just finished 4 blog posts on the limitations of recycling plastics plus one post reminding us to commit to reducing our possessions, Christmas 2020 arrived. It hasn’t been a pretty year with the pandemic, racial unrest, and polarizing political tensions. Yet, many of us at least have probably received some nice new Christmas presents. […]
We’re 9 days into Lent (not counting Sundays) which means according to my master plan I should have spent 4 days pruning our Master Bedroom, 4 days pruning Bedroom #2, and 1 day pruning the upstairs Bathroom. I’m one day behind (the bathroom), but who’s counting. I know curious minds want to know how it’s […]
I’ve got a big plan for Lent this year which will come in a couple weeks so I’m just catching up on smaller things that came my way recently. Keep your eyes open for opportunities Some give aways come by chance. We hired someone to do some electrical work at our house and the worker […]
Before I reveal what “BVG” means, I’d like to share a letter to my grandchild. See if you can guess the BVG. Dear grandchild, Once upon a time, a long time ago, BVG, you may wonder what families did for fun. In my own family we played GAMES. Lots of them were board games. We […]
Sometimes you’re in a hurry. Sometimes you’re behind. Sometimes you just don’t want to take the time to figure out where to take your extra stuff. That was me last week. I was being good. I was going to a prayer service. BUT they asked folks to bring some school supplies as a goodwill offering […]
I hate our sweet gum tree. Actually, I don’t hate the tree itself which has beautiful red foliage in the fall, it’s those nasty, spiny, sweet gum balls that fall from the tree and clutter our yard all year round, that I hate. If I had known this before we planted the tree, I would […]
True, there are no miscellaneous kids hanging around our home any more and we wouldn’t give them away if they were. The kids we have launched into the world have left some things, however, that we finally feel free to give away. I’ve been collecting these odds and ends for the last several months as […]
Last week it was girlie stuff, this week it’s boy toys. I know this all sounds like I’m a prehistoric parent who gender-typed the toys we gave our children. Actually, it was just the opposite. We offered both genders all kinds of toys, but still they gravitated toward more traditional choices. Regardless, our oldest son […]
Our grown daughter finally went through her stuff and gave me permission to give away most of her dolls. I thought she’d balk at parting with the Barbies but she said that was OK. Even though I’m not fond of the Barbie image, I did decide to keep a few that still had their hair […]
OK, here’s all the stuff that #3 child absolutely did not want me to get rid of but didn’t want to take himself. I could have given him a deadline and said anything he hasn’t claimed goes to Goodwill as some readers have suggested. In fairness to him, however, he does have a very small […]
I knew this storage closet would be a challenge. It stores camping, canning, and Christmas stuff plus kitchen supplies waiting for our kids’ apartments and toys waiting for grandkids to grow into them. (Don’t worry, Brian, I’m holding off on your 9 boxes of model train supplies.) It also is our electronics graveyard of known […]
Our family is pretty competitive and likes to play board games. Now that the kids are only home for short visits and most games take at least three players, most of our games gather more dust than players. I counted 53 board games (some left over from Jim’s childhood like Foto-Electric Football). I’m giving/throwing away […]
