baring it all

My mom has come to town and gone, but her presence is felt every time I open a cabinet or closet. Though we usually spend our time together shopping or something fun, this time we went to work. My house was long overdue for some purging and cleaning. I'm not really a hoarder, but my cabinets were arguing otherwise!

We started upstairs where things were really the worst. Jason nor I venture up there very often and there's good reason. It's a land mine of toys, trash, and anything my boys can drag out! We usually tuck them in quickly at night and then rush downstairs praying all the while that we make it out alive! It was a little out of control. So we got busy making our piles of trash, consignment items, and yard sale items. As sad as it is, I had to let go of lots of those baby items that were no longer used and taking up space. My babies are now boys, and that's a hard pill to swallow! Luckily my mom was here to keep me focused on cleaning out!

When I finished upstairs, I was left with lots of closets, cabinets, and drawers that were breathing a sigh of relief that they were no longer bursting at the seams! We started with the hall closet... it was home to what seemed like a million sets of sheets, blankets, pillows, and bags. I'm not sure what I was planning to do with all of it, but it's no longer a concern. It's all ready to go into a yard sale, and someone else can use it to junk up their linen closet!

We moved from there to Jack's closet. I have two boys, and we are so fortunate to use hand-me-downs. Unfortunately, they are difficult to use if they are not organized, and I tend to get behind on packing them up. But this weekend I took time to catch up the last few years of clothes, and they are all ready to go for the next go round. They are packed and organized in boxes and labeled with their contents and sizes.

The boys never use their bathroom, but even still, I've managed to pack out all the cabinets with useless stuff. They are happy to only house things that are intended for the bathroom!

And just went I felt a sense of accomplishment, I entered the............PLAYROOM! Oh, the playroom! Playrooms are straight from Satan! I'm convinced of this after I began cleaning ours out! And my children have been possessed by it. I found some of the most interesting things in there stuffed in drawers and bins.... sippy cups, candy trash, forks, candy trash, single socks, and candy trash. I have a feeling my children are taking candy upstairs to eat when I'm not looking! After purging and cleaning, the toys are now organized and easier to find. I put all the toys in sorted bins which will hopefully help the boys KEEP the playroom clean! Yea right!

And then we went downstairs. It wasn't AS bad, but it still needed work! We cleaned out lots of cabinets and then I made it to my bathroom! I was seriously embarrassed of the things I was hoarding... I mean keeping! I think I found 10 bottles of lotion that had roughly a tablespoon of lotion in them each. I'm really not sure WHY I had all of them, but apparently I was preparing for a lotion famine in my near future! I swallowed hard, took a deep breath, and I threw them all away. My drawers are capable of closing now, and I can actually find the things I need!

I'm so proud that my house is clean enough to bare it all... at least for now! For the first time in a long time, I'd actually be happy for someone to "drop in" and I wouldn't immediately go into cardiac arrest!

But if you do decide to drop in, you are free to roam... but I warn you not to enter Max's room! All those items I so proudly cleaned out of the closets and drawers found their way to his floor, where they are awaiting a consignment sale and a yard sale... that won't occur until September! Good thing he doesn't sleep there anymore! :)

So what about you? Done any spring (or summer) cleaning? Mine was long overdue, but I"m thankful to my mom for pitching in and helping out! She's a fabulous housecleaner, but she makes an even greater mom! And I can't wait until September to finish the job! I'll update you when the clean-up is complete! :) Happy cleaning!