Story Time

I've discovered a magic solution.

Something that will instantly reduce stress, make you a better parent, housekeeper, homeschooling mom, anything!

It will save you money, maybe even make you money, and create more free time in your schedule.

I told you: magic.

I suppose there is a catch; it does require something from you, but it's not nearly as challenging as you may think.

The first step is always the hardest.

Want to know what it is?

Decluttering.

Hopefully that wasn't a let down. It does seem a little anticlimactic.

Ever since we lived in a 680 square foot house, I have come to highly regard minimalism.

We thought we did a lot of decluttering before we moved to our farm house, but after boxes sat unopened for a couple years while we renovated, we realized it was time to purge. Gradually, over the last two years we have greatly reduce our inventory and it has been nothing but freeing!

We recently did another walk through and got rid of some things that were no longer adding value to our lives.

The kids are definitely involved. Generally, I 'buy' things from them. The kids choose if they would rather have money for the item or keep it. We do a bit of bartering and everyone leaves happy, except maybe Dad who has the 'bill' to pay when he gets home.

We have removed truck loads of things from our house and we don't even remember what we got rid of (except for the time I donated my mom-in-law's jacket, I remember that #fail).

But I wonder,

how far is too far?

The other day while talking to our 3 year old son, my husband, Tim, broadcasted our son's full name, "Tobias Judah Adele!"

Our preschooler dryly responded, "That's not my name."

Tim went on to announce all our children's full names (which is a lot since they all have two middle names), concluding once again with, "Tobias Judah Adele."

Tobias is still not convinced and matter-of-factly says, "Nope. I'm going to declutter that name."

New on the Blog

I made a promise to myself that I would publish a new article on our blog every week for an entire year.

This week I didn't make it.

It was a combination of procrastination (the amount of time and research that goes into some articles is daunting), and I was also focusing my attention elsewhere.

This week I was working on a project that was really exciting to me. I was writing two essays that I will be submitting for publishing on some other websites. This will be the first time that I will have ever received payment for my writing. It's not much, but it is a huge milestone for me.

Many of you have been so encouraging and it has given me the courage to pursue some dreams I had filed away a long time ago. Encourage: to instil courage. Thank you so much. It means more than you know!

The Farm

Sunday was a snow day. Winter has been a rollercoaster on the Saskatchewan Prairies this year. We've had days of -50 degrees celsius and days of +10 celsius. Thursday afternoon it was melting as we headed off to skating lessons and Saturday night it was cold and blizzarding.

It looks like March is coming in like a lion (out like a lamb?)

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I hope you have a great week!

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