30 Days of Thankfulness - Days 28 - 30

I never know what I am going to learn from my kids next.  The other day, the mailbox flag kept falling.  It wouldn't stay up.  I grumbled that maybe I could bend it to stay up or if we couldn't figure out how to do it, then we'd have to buy a new mailbox.  I really wasn't surprised when Hunter said, "Oh I can fix it!"  Then he took me to the mailbox, showed me the area inside the mailbox where you can tighten the flag, and that was that!  It works perfectly now.

OK - I honestly was surprised then.  I guess I had seen that adjustment area in the mailbox before, but I just never paid enough attention to it to think about what it was for and how it worked!

Hunter will probably have that bumper sticker one day that says "Question everything."  Today I asked him what sort of vehicle he wanted when he grew up.  He doesn't know but said it needs to haul a lot of stuff.  Tabby wants a Mustang.  Solomon wants a hot dog truck.  Snicker ...

Day 28 - Cleaning out & organizing:

Last Friday and Saturday, I was able to spend most of those days up in the attic.  The attic was completely trashed!  Holiday decorations, homeschool things, clothes, several bins of Lilly's things, and stuff everywhere.  It made me sick to my stomach to even go up there.

Here's a view of one side - the mess goes all the way to the end:

Friday night, I finally achieved a cleaned out and organized area on the opposite side:

I had 5 boxes and 7 large trash bags of "good stuff" to donate.  And I lost track of how many bags of trash I had.  Plus I got a nice collection of stuff to try and sell on Ebay and/or CraigsList.

I need one more half a Saturday to finish up the remaining messy area in the attic, then I will be done!

It actually surprised me just how good this made me feel mentally.  I mean I don't even go up in the attic much.  But just knowing that it is organized and much of the excessive stuff is gone made me feel "lighter" emotionally and physically.  It really did!  I'm not a minimalist by any means, but keeping too much stuff really can be a burden. 

Day 29 - Hand-me-downs:

While I was in the attic, I was able to "shop" for clothes for Solomon - he's moving up into the 3T size.  Money is extra tight right now, so I feel so blessed to have everything he needed on hand.  The things are a combination of hand-me-downs originally from "JL" - one of my brother's sons, things I bought for Hunter from Walmart (love the affordability of the "Granimals" brand), Ebay, and from friends. 

Here is Solomon dressed for church yesterday: dress shirt that JL wore and then Hunter wore, pants from Ebay, and shoes from a friend:

A fun aside about the shoes - they were originally give to Hunter from my friend Jennifer.  (She gave us a bag of nice clothes her son had outgrown, along with some toys.) Jennifer and I both grew up in the same neighborhood in northern Virginia and were on the same soccer team.  (Her dad was our coach.)  Jennifer moved to this area of N.C. before Tabby and I did.  Some of her children go to the school that Frank works at and that Tabby attends.  Her son practiced with Tabby's cross country team for a bit when the season started.  He and Tabby hit it off and ran at practice together.  They were later shocked to hear that their mom's once walked to school together!  Small world ...

Day 30 - Trim Healthy Mama style eating:

Back in September, I posted that I had realized I had gained weight, and so I went back to the "Trim Healthy Mama" way of eating.  (My post is here.)  I ended up easily losing about 17 pounds in about 3 months.  I realized yesterday that I gained FIVE pounds back over the Thanksgiving holidays.  Goodness!  I didn't think I had eaten that much more.

But I jumped back on the plan today, and know I'll lose that weight quickly.  I'm so thankful for the two sisters that have shared all their knowledge about eating!  (Super condensed version - eat low glycemic foods and for each meal/snack - have a protein with either a fat OR carb - don't mix fats with carbs.)  Pearl Barrett and Serene Allison initially wrote a huge book/cookbook explaining the eating style and more.  Then this past September, they published a simplified version - The Trim Healthy Mama Plan and a separate cookbook - Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook. 

My whole family likes almost every recipe I have made from the cookbook.  I like that the foods are "normal" every day types of things that are easy to prepare.

Right now, my favorite drink from the cookbook is "Good Girl Moonshine."  This drink is so healthy and has a real zing to it.  It is made with apple cider vinegar, ginger, stevia type sweetener, water & ice cubes, and optional extract for flavoring.  The health benefits are numerous:  it is slimming, and a digestive aid.  Plus it "detoxifies, clarifies, and alkalizes your body."  You can get the recipe from their website, here, for free. 

Check out the Trim Healthy Mama store for books, food, and skin care products.  (Note - they have some special Cyber Monday stuff on sale today.  They've had a hard time keeping all their products in stock, as the demand has been so high.  But their book lists alternatives in case you can't, or simply don't want to buy their stuff.  By the way - I really love their sweeteners.

sunrise

This concludes my 30 days of thankfulness.  It was a good exercise for me.  I learned a little about using my new camera - especially that I have A LOT MORE to learn.