Cleaning House

One of my goals on maternity leave was to clean out the basement. That like many other goals didn't actually happen. Though I did make a good dent in the clutter but the place is still a mess. When I started the process I didn't want to just throw everything away because a lot of it was in good shape but we just didn't use it any more. There are the regular outlets like GoodWill and The Salvation Army but I wanted to see if I could maybe trade a few of these and get something back. Here is a little summary of what I found.

To Donate clothing and housewares:

-Goodwill
-The Salvation Army
-Dress for Success

To donate children's items:

-Newborns in Need - newbornsinneed.org
-Project Night Night - projectnightnight.org

To donate books, CDs, or DVDs:

-Books for Soldiers - booksforsoldiers.org
-Read to Reader - readertoreader.org

To swap items online:

-For clothing and accessories - rehash.com or swapstyle.com
-For children's items - handmedowns.com or thebabychain.com
-For books, CDs, DVDs, and video games - bookins.com, bookmooch.com, chancexchange.com, goozex.com, or swaptree.com
-For everything else - freecycle.org, neighborrow.com, swapthing.com, titletrader.com

I haven't tried all of these but I have use a few and I have gotten rid of a lot of things while helping others or trading to get something that I do want. I also ran into a way to give away gently used shoes. If you go to piperlime.com there is a link in the lower right-hand corner for soles for souls. You send your shoes to them and they distribute them to people worldwide who are in need and they send you a receipt to use for your taxes. I just sent them a big box yesterday.

So get on out there and clean your house out and help someone else out in the process! And reusing is also green!

One, Two, Tres...

Murdoch has learned/is learning to count and say the alphabet. The counting has been going on for awhile. We walk up the stairs and count the stairs so he was counting to 15 pretty well. We count to three for a lot of things - one, two, three, jump, or I am going to count to three and you better stop hitting your sister or you get a timeout - he doesn't really help us when we do that :) Lately instead of saying one, two three, he has started saying one, two, tres. It is cute. It took me a couple of times to realize what he was saying. I guess they count in Spanish at school and he has started to pick some of that up.

I am loving....

That little piece of her head where you can see her heart beating. And it is almost gone...

Nice!

As Murdoch has started to talk more and more you start to realize quickly words that you use often. I never realized how often I use the word 'Nice' until Murdoch started using it all of the time. A couple of months ago we went out to get some new shoes together and he wore them out of the store I guess I said 'Murdoch those are nice shoes!' basically because I didn't want him to take them off. Then he started saying nice shoes to his shoes and everyone elses shoes which was kind of funny. Earlier this week I gave Murdoch a bath and then asked him if he wanted any lotion or cream - often times he enjoys a 'massage' after his bath. So he said yes and I asked him where he wanted the lotion. He told me his left foot and lifted it up in the air so I put lotion on that foot and started to rub it in. After about 5 seconds of that he said 'OOOOOHHHH Nice!' and I started dying laughing. And of course because I laughed at what he said he kept doing it over and over again.

I guess 'Nice' is better for him to pick up from me than compared to a lot of other words!

What doin'?

That is Murdoch's way of asking you what is happening or what is going on. I personally love it. Not sure why but it makes me laugh. Last night we had police cars speed down our street, happens often enough to not make it alarming but not often enough to make it exciting. So three cop cars pull up two houses down, and they get out and start walking up and down the street. Murdoch and I turned out the lights and pulled up the shades so we could see what was happening. Not too much happened - I still don't know why they were there but the whole time Murdoch keep saying 'What doin' Mama?' The kid is leaning over the back of the couch looking outside with his bum up in the air and he is choosing this over Handy Manny! I am not sure if this is the best lesson to teach your children - yes go spy on your neighbors but make sure you turn the lights out so they don't know!