Simple Life

I read this short article today.  Amen.  Moving and being forced to pack up every item you own is a great way to make yourself stop and think of if that thing really has value to you or not.  We've been back in the US for over a year now and I enjoy some of our accumulating and decorating, but I'm also starting to choke on the clutter and overload.  Today I'm going to go through the kids clothes and get rid of a lot (or atleast put it away in storage)  Abi especially, she has too many clothes and changes her outfits so much and always leaves it on the floor, Mel was reduced to tears Saturday when she had to clean her room again which her little sisters are able to trash so quickly.

That article also made me think of when we were in Brazil, one of the times that we travels and had very little stuff.  Life was pretty hard in some ways, but super easy in others.  A little hard/exasperating on the day pictured below, when the well-water pump thingy broke (yet again) and we left unable to flush our toilets.  Luckily there was a downpour or rain, so we grabbed every container/bin/pot possible and collected water and all the toilets were flushed, oh the joy!!  And of course now it is just a tender and fun memory.

But one lesson that I'm going to keep forcing through my head today as I make myself deep clean and de-junk the house is that: my kids don't need or even want all this STUFF!!!!  It's all too much!  Why do I hold on to it?!?  The kids seriously don't care about most of it, it's me.  Let it go Tiff!!!  When we were in Brazil the kids each had one toy and one cape.  And they were good with that.

Hyrum as his imaginary character "BLACKNESS"!

We did go through a lot of paper - lots of paper crowns, belts, and other creations were made on a daily basis.

 

Ethan with paint on his face and socks on his ears, making him a very good puppy for their "doggy game".  Hyrum and Mel playing with the clothespins I used to dry the clothes for our family of 7 that I washed everyday by hand ...and because of that experience I'm happy to report I have never complained about doing laundry since!

How much better it would be for us to help and teach my kids to create memories and relationships instead of things.  Here's a link to a list of more things I'm going to try and do to strengthen my family.

Wes with Pao de Acucar in the background, one of my all time
favorite pictures of that little guy, what a smile!

Corey, Joe, Me and Wes in Rio de Janeiro's famous Cristo Redentor

Yes, I probably shoot myself in the foot a little too often by buying them things that I imagine (I) will make for kids playing nicely and having fun, and when the reality (R) is not like that, I tend to experience unhappiness (U = I - R).  Here we are now, we haven't done to much yet during these almost 3 weeks of summer, I'm still trying to get on top of cleaning the house and organizing all the stuff in it.  I bet if there were less stuff it would be a lot easier, no?  Si.  Well, it's decided then, I'm stepping away from the computer now to go simplify my life!  Cheerio!