Spring Cleaning . . .

Our closet has progressively gotten very unorganized (at least my side!) and I have been wanting to clean it out and organize it all winter. So finally now that we have had some warmer weather I have been able to get in and clean it out. See, since our house is so old, there isn't a lot of closet space, so the owners before us enclosed the front porch and made a master walk-in closet, which is right off the living room (they used the LR for a master bedroom). So, it isn't heated or air-conditioned, which makes it very hot or cold in there! That's why I wanted to wait until some nicer weather so I didn't freeze my tilly off when I was in there! I also have straightened and organized my tupperware cabinet very nicely as well as have gone through and cleaned out the toy boxes. I got rid of a lot of small, dinky toys that seem to make their way to the bottom of the box and my kids completely forget about them until I start cleaning it out and then they get excited to find this or that toy and all of a sudden they say "I was LOOKING for that!" and it becomes their new favorite toy for at least a couple hours! I was actually surprised this time because Tyler really didn't care that I was throwing a way a big pile of toys that he never plays with - sensibility is finally sinking in - at least on that subject! :) So here are the BEFORE and AFTER shots of my closet.

BEFORE

We have our 72-hour kits and toiletries/cleaning supplies for emergencies in this closet, which were just heaped on the floor, as well as a bunch of water bottles (full and empty), so it was nice to get that all organized. My friend gave me these handy bottle stackers from her work that they were going to throw away, so I was able to get twice as many bottles in one space than I would other wise. Thanks, Heather! I also took all the game out of the boxes and stacked them so the kids could reach them and so we could actually remember which games we had! I got rid of clothes I hadn't worn in at least a year as well as a TON of various sized boxes that I thought would be good to keep for gifts but hadn't ever used. It felt so good to purge it all and actually be able to see what I have. Which also helped me realize that I need some new, casual, short-sleeved shirts! I think I have some shirts from before I was married!

AFTER

You may not be able to tell very well from the pictures, but I sure think it looks a heck of a lot better than it did! What a relief! So, of course, Morgan found something she hadn't used in a long time and wanted to put it on. I thought she looked hilarious, so I just had to take a picture! I can use it to black mail her when she's a teenager! It's one of those things where I'm amused at the expense of my kids! Little did Morgan know that I wasn't really taking her picture because I thought she looked adorable, but because I got a good laugh when I looked at her - especially with it all bunched up on the legs in the front and back! Mean mom, I know, but I just couldn't resist! I think it was more funny than what the picture portrays!