That time of year... the great clothing swap!

Yesterday was the day.  It was time to pull out the buckets of clothes in the attic and find out if I had any jeans to fit my girls.  

Thankfully, I did!

Over the years, I've tried to make the swap less stressful, but I've found that with three kids I need to let go of my plans for a day and just plug away at it.  When I've tried to homeschool the same day as the great swap, I would just get stressed out!  

I've worked to keep the bins of clothes well labeled, but it always took a lot of work.  At the time, I didn't realize that the bins were less work than going shopping would have been!  Now I do understand that.  

When my kids were really little, I used to garage for all of their clothing.  For sizes up to a 5T, I would 25 or 50 cents for a piece of clothing.  I would come across garage sales that wanted several dollars for a piece of clothing, but unless it was a winter coat, I knew we didn't need it.  Little kids go through a lot of clothing and garage saling is a great way to find little kids clothes!  

As my kids got older, I was so fortunate to have a few families at the church we attended who gave their hand me downs to us.  And then when my kids grew out of them, I handed them down to other families in the church!  I would go through the clothes when my kids were done with them and think about the personalities of the children at church--and give the clothes to the kids I thought would like them!  It was so much fun.  My kids loved seeing kids where the clothes to church after them, too!

But, things began to change around the time we moved away from that community.  My girls were approaching the sizes that they will be as adults and there were fewer hand me downs because other girls were grown to the heights they will remain!  And my son approached the age where hand me downs were fewer because the boys ahead of him got so much use out of their clothes and they didn't have a lot of life left in them.  

So, this year, I've had to figure out how to fit more shopping into our schedule for shoes and clothing.  I buy things as needed.  Every time I find something when I'm in a crunch for time, I am thankful!  Whether it's shoes because my son's shoes have holes in them, or finding shorts that my daughters and I are both comfortable with.  I am thankful.  More and more I find that clothing my children involves a lot of trust in God.  

Trusting God that He will help me find clothing my kids and I are both happy with.  Trusting God that He will help me find clothing that helps my kids look like other kids.  Trusting God that our budget will balance when needs come up.  

As for this year's swap yesterday...  

My kids have all grown this spring and summer.  3/4 of my son's pants didn't fit him anymore so I had already made a trip to Walmart to get 3 pairs of athletic pants and 3 pairs of khakis for church and the week.  I knew I still needed 2 or 3 pairs of jeans for him and I found those in the bucket I had for him!  And for the girls, I found enough jeans that I had picked up at garage sales this summer to find several pairs that fit each of them!  Yay!  

I often ask other moms where they shop because I'm always looking for new ideas of where to find clothing for my kids, so I thought I'd share in this post the places that I like to shop. 

Here's what I've found so far...

Girls:
Shoes:  garage sales, Marshalls
I found several pairs of boots this summer for my girls for $1-$3 each.
Pants/Jeans:  Old Navy (watch for sales), garage sales
I aim for 50 cents or a dollar a piece at garage sale for pants, jeans, and shorts (no holes, or big spots)
Shorts: Old Navy, Target for athletic shorts (they had some that weren't short shorts!
Tshirts:  Life is Good (for one of my daughters), Target for athletic shirts for my other daughter
Special shirts/Sweaters:  garage sales
I rely on garage sales for special pieces--church shirts and sweaters.  A lot of friends I know love Uptown Cheapskate and they utilize this place as a way to consign things their teenagers grow out of and then use the credit to buy pieces that are new to them.
Dresses:  Ross, garage sales
When we moved to where we live now, my girls needed dresses for church.  Our old church was much more casual and they only needed jeans or capris.  But, here we needed dresses.  I found that we could get casual dresses at Ross for between $10-$15 each, which is less expensive than Target.

Boys:
Shoes:  Ross, Outlet stores, generic vans for church--Old Navy
My son is rough on shoes, he gets a pair of pull on shoes for church and a pair of tennis shoes for every day.  Summer was different.  I picked up flip flops on sale at Old Navy for the pool and Khombu sandals at Costco.  A good friend tipped me off to that one--they lasted all summer and only cost $10!
Shorts:  Target
Target has been a great place for basics!
Shirts:  Walmart, garage sales
Pants:  Walmart, Target

Before my kids went to bed last night, the buckets returned to the attic empty--all except for one.  I don't have a lot to store anymore.  But, in some ways, that makes it much easier!  I have less to keep track of and I know better what I need to keep an eye out for over the winter and into the early spring!  I went to bed thankful the clothing swap was done and even more thankful for God's provision of clothing for my children.  

Matthew 6:25-34

25“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26“Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? 27“And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? 28“And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30“But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! 31“Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ 32“For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

      

34“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Advice I remembered about kitchens...

Years ago, I was in a friend's house talking with her about her kitchen.  She mentioned something to me that she had read on an organizer's website.  I never went to the website and found the advice she mentioned, but I have tucked away the advice and pulled it out every single day since.

The advice was about where to start when organizing your kitchen.  The friend said the organizer said to start with your counters!  Clean them off.  Clear everything off of them that doesn't absolutely have to be there. 

So, when we moved last December into a new home, I knew immediately that our new kitchen was going to be a big adjustment for me.  No kitchen island.  Less counter space.  Many fewer cupboards.  Choices to be made about what was important and what wasn't...  And solutions to be found.

This morning when I made biscuits, eggs, and bacon for my family, I realized that I'm used to this new kitchen now. 

Here are some of the ways I've adjusted:

1.  Our coffee maker and our nespresso machine sit on the sideboard in our dining room.  It's close to the kitchen, but not in the kitchen.

2.  The coffee bean ceramic container and grinder sit on one counter in the corner because I have to clean up after the coffee bean dust and I want that in the kitchen.  At the other end of that counter section sits my vita mix blender base and toaster.  We switched from a toaster oven to toaster because it takes up less room.  The blender canister stays inside a cupboard. 

3.  There's a tiny piece of counter between the refrigerator and pantry closet.  I placed the knife block there.  It made use of the space!

4.  Next to my stove, I put a small round lazy susan with my cooking essentials:  Salt, Pepper, Toothpicks, cooking spray, olive oil, and honey.  These are all things I need to grab as I'm cooking and it saves time having them right there.

5.  In the corner of the L sits my Kitchenaid.  I remember that my grandmother and aunt stored their Kitchenaid mixers away when I was a kid, but it's so heavy for me to lift.  But, I can easily move it in and out of the corner by just pulling it forward to use.  Next to the mixer sits a stainless steel canister with the basic tools I need while cooking: a flat whisk, a round nonstick whisk, a metal spatula, a thin metal cookie turner, a thin plastic turner (for eggs), a thicker plastic turner, 2 rubber spatulas, a metal turner, a slotted plastic spoon, and a wooden paddle.  I'm careful about not adding to this container and making it too crowded.  If I put too much in, it makes getting things out quickly frustrating to me.  Behind it, I have a plastic chopping board leaned up against the backsplash.  We have granite countertops and chopping boards like to slip on it; so I used a hot glue gun to put a small dollop of glue in each corner of the board and now it doesn't slip!

6.  Other than those items, the only other thing I keep on the counter is a container of liquid soap. 

7.  One of the puzzles I faced when we moved in was what to do with our dirty dishes and clean dishes that I had handwashed, but that needed to dry.  My solution for the dirty dishes has been to put as much as I possible can in the dishwasher.  Anything that can't be put in the dishwasher gets cleaned as I cook (within reason).  We have a bar countertop which I make the most of.  I found two silicone drying mats at Aldi that I placed on top of the bar.  That's where I put dishes to dry--up off the countertop I use and out of the way, but still close at hand. 

8.  The other things I put on the bar countertop section are a double metal basket with fruit and onions and a rectangular basket that I keep bread and rolls in.  I tried to store bread in the pantry, but it molded too fast because of the climate we live in.  Keeping it on the countertop keeps it close to my mind and reminds me to use it!  The only other thing on that counter is our betta fish.  I enjoy looking up from the sink and seeing Spartacus II, the fish, every time I look up! 

When I garage sale, I'm always looking for baskets, things I can use to help organize my family more!  I just found the basket that sits on my kitchen counter last weekend.  The loaves of bread had been sitting loose on the counter before that in disarray.  Somehow baskets and containers make everything feel more organized and clean!  Baskets show my family where things belong, where to put them back after they use them!

I've learned a lot from cooking in this kitchen and my cooking has changed.  Elaborate meals are more daunting, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.  Making simpler meals means that I am generally less rushed and that I can enjoy cooking a little more.  I'm learning bit by bit how to make the most of whatever space I'm cooking in!