Yesterday was nice for a little while so I took the kids for a small walk. Several people complimented Deedee on the fairy wings that she insisted on wearing. She really likes to play dress up right now. The only downside was when I got stung by a wasp. I don't even know where it came from! I was standing, talking, and the next thing I know I felt a sharp pain on my hand. It stung for quite a while and even left a bright red spot that finally faded. I don't remember the last time I was stung by one. I guess they're mean when they first wake up. :(

For some time now I've been buying special juices for the kids to drink in the morning with their breakfast, R.W. Knudsen's Simply Nutritious Morning Blend and Green Machine. The Morning Blend tastes very nice and the kids suck it down no problem. I discovered that Charles likes green juice some time ago when I bought Naked's Green Machine for a quick breakfast that I could down me while driving. Unfortunately, it was too expensive to buy such a small bottle for the kids very often so I was pleased when I discovered Knudsen carried it in a large size. However, this last time, I found a different company that also makes green juice and decided to try that one on the kids too since there were more nutrients and vitamins packed into it than Knudsen's. They don't care for it as much and don't drink it as quickly. In fact, I had to challenge James to a little beat the clock contest to get him to drink his. Two ounces go down quickly so he really must not care for his. I told him that if he drank it in less than 60 seconds, he would get a cookie and down it went. The jar is less than half full now so there's only a few more days for them to suffer through it. :D I prefer this one for the nutrients, but if they won't drink it, it's not worth buying.

Going through the clothing is going well. Carey and I decided that our goal will be to go through all clothing not already in the dressers, hanging up, or in boxes which is still quite a bit, believe me. When the big Spring Cleaning day comes, and everyone starts showing up, we plan to have any clothing that we're keeping and still needing washing be bagged up to go straight out the door to the laundromat. Carey and I have sat down and worked out the quota's for the children's clothing; they will now have only so many pieces of each article of clothing. We're tired of them having so much that half of it isn't even being worn. We figured that a week and a half's worth would do them. So there are outfits for seven days, plus three more in case of accidents. This is a lot harder than I thought it would be. Well, not for the boys. In fact, I think I'll have to buy some items for them. Especially since all pieces with recognizable cartoon characters are going away. (Barbie, Power Puff Girls, Scooby Doo, Back Yardigans, etc. Carey says he's tired of providing free advertisement for shows the kids don't even watch. Although Carey did amuse me by drawing the line at comic book characters such as super heroes and Charlie Brown. They actually stay. Oh, and the vintage cartoon characters he doesn't mind, such as when we were kids.) But when it comes to the girls, specifically Deedee, she's over quota on everything except her t-shirts. Sigh....... she has a lot of cute stuff so it's hard to choose. Some of the kids stuff is going up to my parents for when the kids visit so I don't have to pack stuff up there for them. But the rest is going to Goodwill and we've already filled several garbage bags.

We're also working on organization. Since we're downsizing so much, the kids' stuff that hangs up (dresses, suits, etc.) will now all fit into one closet. Their stuff is already color coded with hangers. Carey always forgets what fits whom if not for the hangers. But since I'm one to buy stuff a bit large for the kids, it's hard to keep track of what actually fits them now, and what I have that they'll be growing into so I don't run out to buy stuff for them that they don't need. I did look into buying some plastic dividers that have sizes on them. But I can't find them locally that go above a 2T and I just don't need stuff for size six months anymore. :D So I looked online and while they're at a great price, they're prohibitive after shipping. But then I found this link to make my own, so that's my project today. I've even dug out my sticker paper to make the size lables and I found my roll of laminate so they'll be somewhat sturdy enough to last a bit.