7 Quick Takes about Cheap Thrills, Secret Pants, and Aggressively De-Junking the House

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?

—1—

This week the kids are on spring break and my mom is here!

The other evening everybody was hanging out in the living room, and my mom burst out laughing when she looked at Phillip and I. "Boy, are you guys an old married couple!" she said, and took a picture.

At least we're sitting on the same couch.

You know it's bad when even your mom is roasting you.

—2—

It's been ridiculously cold here, but on the decent days we've been trying to have fun outside. 

First we went on a pretty hike but the highlight for my kids seemed to be the snake they found on a log:

And then we went to a field where they had the time of their lives playing with a dollar store boomerang:

On the way home we passed a really thick vine hanging from a tree branch and of course, they spent a half hour taking turns swinging from it like Tarzan.

Like they say, the best things in life are free.

—3—

My 15-year-old had a craving for oatmeal cookies at 8 PM, which I learned when she presented me with a list of the pros and cons of potentially making a batch of them.

The cons included "it's kinda late" and "sugar," and the pros included "doing stuff with family" (her grandma is here so I'll let her have that one) and also: "sugar."

She made the cookies.

—4—

I took my oldest two girls clothes shopping because they desperately need shorts for the upcoming summer. 

At the first place we visited, I noticed this sign advertising "secretly slender capris:" 

Hmmm.

Exactly what is a "secretly" slender capri? Like, you look fat in them but you're just fooling everyone because you're actually thin underneath? I'm not following.

Then at the next store, I noticed this label on some pants: 

I want to know what's the deal with everything being "secret" nowadays. Can't pants just have regular features? Not everything has to be a surprise, you know.

—5—

I've been continuing with my whole house declutter. I'm talking, like, majorly decluttering. I'm getting rid of entire pieces of furniture and everything in them. 

For example, we have this dresser that we repurposed as a cabinet for all of our kids' craft supplies. It was popular for a time, but when I honestly assess it now, the cabinet is mostly just taking up space in our already small dining room. 

So I filled a 12" x 12" container from the dollar store with things from it that the kids actually use and then took the entire cabinet to the end of the driveway with a 'free' sign. It's beaten up and could definitely use a new coat of paint, but I hope someone takes it.

(Phillip says not a chance, but I believe in miracles. A few years ago I did the same thing with a hand-me-down play kitchen the kids had completely trashed over many, many years of use, and someone took it. So I think anything can happen at the top of the driveway, I really do.)

—6—

Looking at the growing pile of donations in the corner of our bedroom, I'm actually pretty shocked. I think we have less stuff than the average family, but I just had no idea how much was actually in our house. Phillip came home from work yesterday, took one look around and asked, "Are we moving?"

He was joking. Sort of. But it kind of does look like we're staging the house. 

I'm just getting rid of so much clutter, including decorative stuff like things hanging on every wall and furniture lining the whole perimeter of every room.

I credit Dawn from The Minimal Mom for starting me down this road, and I really can't recommend her enough. I'm only about a fifth of the way through the house and I'm already thrilled with how much better we all feel already.

—7—

On a completely unrelated note, I think you'll probably enjoy this little news clip from The Onion.

In fact, I know you will.

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