Lately

Lately - it seems like I share most of our life through Instagram, rather than this blog.  It's so fast and in-the-moment. (I'm @julia_davis7)  But for all you who aren't on Instagram - here ya go!

 

Lately - I've traded in my sewing pursuits for typical summertime things... pool, parks... and some major painting and de-cluttering. 

I've been slowly working on a room at a time in our house, purging, de-cluttering, and organizing.  Getting rid of stuff is an amazing feeling, even though it's slow going for me.   I was inspired last year, by Sarah's 40 Bags in 40 Days concept (and her simple clear tips & tricks on how to go about it).  I never did get through our whole house last year.

Then a few months ago I stumbled upon Ann Marie's adorable blog, and she had some free printable charts and more motivation to get going...

So, I tackled our storage room first...

It's one of those rooms that's soooooo nice to have, but quickly becomes the dumping grounds for anything and everything.  I gave away/got rid of at least 8 trash bags full of clothes - 4 bags of stuff went to the Goodwill - and 2 big bags went in the trash.  Boy does it feel good to have it cleaned out.  Now let's see how long it lasts!

Lately - over the last 2 weeks - I re-painted our entire main floor, in Benjamin Moore's Revere Pewter.  Its a soft greige (gray/beige) and holds it's own against the greenish daytime light cast through the new windows, but we like it at night also.  (this is all that was left of our 5-gallon bucket of paint!)

Lately - Jack's been having 4-H shotgun practices to get ready for the big County Shoot, so we spend every Thursday evening (just like last year) at the shooting range - and while he's shooting, the other little ones are playing with cousins and friends, eating a potluck dinner, and generally getting covered in dirt. 

Lately - the local (and free) splash-park has also been a huge hit... (and this is how Blaize smiles when he says "cheese".)

Lately - oh yes - Audrey lost one of her front teeth on Friday... and her other front tooth the very next day! And the tooth fairly only forgot 1 out of the 2 nights, which is an improvement for us!  I absolutely love it when my kids loose their front teeth.  I think it looks so cute.  But then I'm always a little sad at the same time - once they loose those baby teeth, their smile will never look quite as young again - just a reminder of how quickly the days are flying by.

So - that's what we've been up to lately.  How about you?