A new wardrobe!

So here it is...my wardrobe for the next 30 days. The 33 chosen few!

I have tweaked Project 333 to fit me a bit better, as it is not supposed to be a hardship...so I'm not counting jewelry or most accessories in my 33 items. I'm still waffling on shoes...for now you can see my three pairs on the shelf above the clothes.

So from yesterday's starting list, I have decided not to count the scarf, sunglasses, and earrings. I replaced them with a tan glitter tee, a purple & black beaded top and a pair of brown capris. This is a shot of all the empty hangers...and now even most of the shelves are cleared as I put out-of-season items in a large tub. Ah, the peace that decluttering brings!


Since Elena is in this with me I've given Kai the job of taking our daily outfit pictures. I was trying to stop Elena's silly face in this one...goofy girl!


Really, there are a lot of outfits I can make from my selections and today I didn't feel limited at all--ha! I often think about gals like the pioneers who had two, maybe three dresses to wear year round...it makes the excess of my shelves seem overwhelming. I think next up will be my 50+ cake pan collection. Oh, dear.

Project 333 - Why not?!

I'm starting to think maybe Jodi has a conspiracy going...she perhaps knows I need to do something, mentions some ideas and then sits back and giggles as I take off with some new hair-brained project! Now, really, I know this isn't true (is it?), it just so happens that we are traveling a similar road in life and overcoming similar tendencies embedded in our beings from childhood.

Anywhoo...Today Jo tweeted about Project 333...that it might be something she is considering. So I did it. Today. With both my closet and Elena-bug's closet. Now the two girls under this roof each have only 33 items in their wardrobe. It's a tad scary for me...Elena's was pretty painless since she lives in soccer tees & I didn't make her count accessories. (This is the "before" shot of our closet...note that the top left rod all belongs to Eric--my stuff is on the bottom, the shelves, and the right...conveniently not in the picture...duh!)


Here's the project in a nutshell--in order to live a life less focused on "stuff", purge your wardrobe every three months down to 33 seasonally appropriate items. This includes goodies like accessories (aack! my bags!) and shoes but does not include pj's, workout clothing, under-things etc.

So, since I didn't have anything better to do this afternoon (ha) here was my bed during the sorting progress. I had bags for consignment clothing, donations, summer items and various other wack-o categories, but it all got cleared. I now have 93 empty hangers in my closet!


Here is my starting list. I'm pretty sure this will just be a wardrobe for May as spring wraps up and then will have to swap things out for the heat. If you think there is something I could go without, by all means, let me know as I really want to add in more accessories!!

TOPS
1. Black tank
2. Black v-neck tee
3. Grey v-neck sweater
4. White scoop neck top
5. Coral printed tank
6. Coral l/s tee
7. Aqua 3/4 sleeve athletic tee
8. Aqua cable-knit cardi
9. Lt. blue tee
10. Periwinkle cable knit cardi
11. Navy slinky top
12. Brown knit shirt
13. Black l/s v-neck top
14. White slub tee

BOTTOMS
15. Worn Jeans
16. AE Jeans
17. Denim shorts
18. Black athletic capris
19. Brown a-line knit skirt
20. Black slinky skirt
21. Denim skirt (below knee)
22. Camo pants

DRESS
23. LBD jersey knit

OUTERWEAR
24. Jean jacket
25. Navy hooded jacket

ACCESSORIES
26. Scarf-multi
27. Purse
28. Tote
29. Shades (yup, sunglasses count!)
30. Earrings

SHOES
31. Tennies-athletic
32. Casual tennies
33. Ballerina flats-animal print

Tomorrow I will take a picture of my items all hung nice and neat in one teeny part of our closet. Then I suppose I will start posting about what in the world I am wearing or not wearing to prove (as others have done and are doing) that it can be done! Thanks for the inspiration Jodi...now I just have to cruise around and look for construction sites.

Day 38 - Gratitude

Today is Good Friday. I hope you are able to take some time to reflect on the great goodness behind the crucifixion of Christ. Really, our whole lives revolve around the events of this weekend so many, many years ago.

On to the blessings from my Thursday...

1. A satisfying cup of tea with a dear friend after some good, hard, work!

2. The joy brought by the left over cupcake Eric brought back home...split three ways, three happy kiddos. Well, Zane wanted more "cream" aka frosting.

3. The fact that Eric made, frosted and cleaned up after concocting the 2 dozen cupcakes for his work meeting...not me!

4. A unique group of women gathered to discuss some of our favorite things...yay for the JA Club!

5. After a long lent, Easter is almost here!

Day 36 - Gratitude

5 Things from Tuesday:

I am thankful for...

1. A newly organized coat closet that holds all the backpacks that were living on the entryway floor.

2. Playing puzzles with Zane uninterrupted for half an hour...I don't think I've done many puzzles with him before...poor third child!

3. Finding missing vacuum attachments in above coat closet! Plus the missing bar to my hanging clothes rack! Score!

4. Starting MI5 season 7...exciting! (I'm loving me some Netflix...and RA's not bad either! Amy, am I allowed to post this in a gratitude list?)

5. Watching Elena tear it up on the soccer field...cold, but fun!

Day 35 - Gratitude

The 35th day of Lent...a Monday. Will it? Can it?...be good? I started the day standing in the shower praying again for grace and patience in my roll as a momma. That I would be quick to listen and slow to anger. God answered that prayer...but made me work at it! At one point I asked the children if we could please just go FIVE whole minutes without someone crying.

Between a huting, almost-out, loose tooth, eyes that simply couldn't 'see' to finish writing one sentence of copywork and Zane really wanting to swing 'ou-side', it was a challenge they couldn't quite meet. However, we did all survive the day with semi-cheerful hearts, school work finished, the house tidied a bit and some free time in the afternoon to boot!

Through all of that...here are five things I'm grateful for:

1. Grace! (I've said that one before, but it's truly the theme of my life)
2. The idea for Kai's "morning routine" cards to keep him focused on getting going.
3. Elena no longer lets perfectionism keep her from starting a new sketch...she drew a beautiful bluejay with a farm in the background.
4. So many friends on our new T-ball team! It's going to be a fun season.
5. Clean sheets on everyone's bed! (Another thing I'm not so hot at doing regularly).

Days 32 & 33 - Gratitude

Wowie-zowie...some days just go faster than others! Now the challenge...10 things over the last two days to be grateful for.

1. Elena, old enough now to go to Grandma's and help with younger cousins staying for the week.



2. Time with just my boys while she was gone.

3. Spring flowers blooming gloriously before the wind and rain ravaged their delicate petals...and the bouquet plucked just in time to grace our kitchen.



4. Goodies arriving from thirty-one! Can a girl ever have too many bags? (Love my purse Sara!)

5. CVS...it needs a whole post of it's own...I do a version of CVSing that involves only things we need or can donate to charity. All for almost free. What fun and a great blessing.


6. Play date with a new-er friend for Kai--who seemed a bit at a loss without his sis around.

7. An afternoon chat and prayer time with good friends.

8. The BBQ & Bluegrass fundraising dinner at Parker Elementary tonight with family.


9. All my in-laws with birthdays this week--Happy Birthday Chrissy, Kim & Nate!

10. No phone calls for awhile...amazing how much I stay tied to my phones. We canceled the home line this week and my sim card died today. Oh well, the quiet is nice.

And the winner is...

Congratulations Kelli! I will get your gift certificate to you ASAP for your new flexi clip from Lilla Rose. Thanks to everyone who entered to win...I have another friend hosting a giveaway later this month and will post info when it's up!

*The winning number (5) was chosen by Random.org's True Random Number Generator...and my own comment was removed before the drawing.*

The majestic cross (left) is Lilla Rose's April Flexi Clip of the month, available only for a limited time.

Day 31 - Gratitude

This "place"--blogland--is indeed a good place to hide the ugly and show the pretty. I find myself really good at hiding behind pictures of my sweet kids and stories of adventures in homemaking. So although I will not bare my soul to you, dear anonymous reader, I do want to make perfectly clear that I am a mess. A sinner. A wretched person. Beastly. And the grace of God is all that gets me through this life. My theme word for this year is grow. Let's hope for some growth today...and that Eric would extend grace to me.

Have you guessed that yesterday was not the most fabulous? Well, even better then that I must find 5 things to be thankful for.

1. I saw a snake slither across my path when I was with the boys in the woods. I did not scream. I did not run. I quickly tried to point it out to them and watched where it went. THAT my friends, is coming from someone who has worked for decades to overcome a deep, deep terror of those creatures. I think we have progress!!

2. Some beauty observed and an attempt to capture it after my monstrous moments.


3. Watching Kai try to catch frogs on the edge of the pond.

4. My counters are clean again! How quickly I had forgotten that an audiobook makes dreaded chores pass quickly. There was no avoiding the pot of refried bean juice that was stinking up the whole house last night...however, I did manage to procrastinate cleaning it until 9:45 p.m. I'm so bad at things like that!

5. My friend and neighbor, Kathy, who wanted my opinion on her new cabinet pulls as they finish redoing their kitchen. I love to visit with her and see her delight in the new beauty of her home.

Have a blessed day!

Day 30 - Gratitude

Hi friends...I am so encouraged by your comments about these gratitude posts, both online and in person. It is exciting that God is using this exercise to do more than stretch my own self!

I'm diving straight in tonight--5 things from my day that turned my thoughts toward God:

1. Time to sit in the sunshine next to my spring flower bed thinking and writing about the state of my soul.

2. A freshly mopped kitchen floor...does it for me every time!

3. The majesty of Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia stories...we're still listening to the series on audio. Our car drives are so peaceful...and exciting these days!

4. Unnecessary band-aids that magically make owies better.

5. A chance to rock my sleeping (big) baby, even though he woke up because of a hoarse cough (I hope the cough was just from a throat tickle).

Day 29 - Gratitude

And just like that, my Lent project is back on track. The end of last week and over the weekend I was attending the largest homeschooling conference in the KC area so no blog posts about the blessings...but there were many!

Today was pretty good for a Monday. The little funk in the afternoon could have been avoided by consuming some caffeine I do believe, but that is over and done and I'm moving swiftly toward couch time!

Five blessings of my day:

1. My dear neighbors are back from wintering in Texas and we got to catch up with them today! Welcome home Mary Jean & Bud.

2. The scratch recipe of the day turned out really good! Refried Beans without the Refry...thanks Jo for the tip. Now if just someone besides moi would eat them (I froze most...might be, ahem, not a good idea to eat a whole crock-pot full myself).

3. Remembering the laughter that filled the air at lunch on Friday with several girlfriends.

4. "I read George book! I read Baby book! I read 'schlama, schlama' book!" That last one is Llama, Llama, Red Pajama. Perhaps one of the cutest read aloud books published of late.

5. Being excited about the next school year...and even better, excited about finishing up this one!

Have a great Tuesday...I'm kiddo free most of the day and have yet to choose what I will do...perhaps something wild and crazy like go to CVS.

Day 25 - Gratitude

This post will have to be quick. Although it is 6:55, I already hear Zane and the day will be in full gear before I know it! So good thing I took lots of pictures yesterday. Sometimes a beautiful, sunny spring day is all I need to get me going in thankful mode!

1. Miss Peggy at the library! She is the best story-time librarian ever! All my kiddos have listened to her read, sing silly songs and have fun since before they were walking.


Zane thought he'd like a different chair...


And then discovered a poster with neat book covers...


Bubbles! Bubbles! Bubbles!


2. Another special teacher, Miss Shari. Elena is enjoying her second year learning piano and has her first recital coming up!


3. I found brown paint on the garage shelf so we could paint the Trojan Horse!


3. Nature Study...and beautiful red tulips just opening up. Perfect for my little artist to sketch. She had permission to go anywhere on the block...I'm so glad she chose our front yard.


5. And one more homemade snack try...but these are already winners around here as I've made them several times. Homemade Granola Bars from Erica at Confessions of a Homeschooler.



---and because they're my kiddos...of course they added sprinkles!

Day 24 - Gratitude

I try to recycle when I can. Not necessarily in the big blue bin, though I do use it, but by reusing items around the house. And really, isn't garage saling one of the most awesome ways to recycle stuff? Anyway, as a note, party cups are not dishwasher safe. At least not these cute polka dot ones I bought for Elena's birthday party. I'm bummed...they were so fun!



Gratitude for Tuesday:

1. Discovery Homeschool Academy! Momma's break, the kiddos enrichment. We all love it! (That's my kindergarten-cutie, Elena, on the homepage banner of their site.)

2. My friends, Amy & Kathy, and our Tuesday afternoon book discussion. We are working through The Good & Beautiful Community by James Bryan Smith. It's a great experience!

3. Time to play with only Zane most of the day...and part of the evening. Play-doh, swinging, sliding, big trucks, books...it was fun. I need so much to focus on him when we have that one-on-one time, though often I do other "stuff" in the relative quiet.

4. Two more days until the homeschool conference! I have my list ready, my sessions picked out and my suitcase packed.

5. Courage to try out a new semi-healthy homemade snack recipe. Homemade Pop Tarts. They are so-so...a little thick on the crust and only one kid would eat them.

Day 23 (again) - Gratitude

It's a quiet morning. My internet service is running again. My tea is brewing. All good things on this Tuesday...to reflect on Monday.

Oh, my. Let's just say I'm thankful for God's never-failing grace. I thought I was doing better at this mom thing, but when Kai overheard me tell Eric on the phone that I might ship them all off to Siberia, he asked me why I keep talking about selling them and it pierced my heart...rightly so too! Sarcasm has always been a huge failing in my life and I KNOW it can wound, so I will once again pick up my cross and try again...carefully.

Now for my 5 things to be grateful for:

1. The fun of a three foot tall box/grey tape/paper mache Trojan horse model that is now in the kitchen (and seems perfectly normal in our house!). Kai and I think the Littles just might come and hang out in it some night.


2. Zane's exclamation of "Dat's Fun!" for anything remotely "fun" in a two-year old's eyes: Running fast, going over a hill while riding in the van, cutting his pickle, finding himself in his self-made-I-find-Zane hide and seek game...really cute!

3. Laundry back on track...Mondays are my main wash-the-clothes days now and I got all 7 loads washed and most folded--still have to put away so my folding table does not turn into our dresser again!

4. Crock Pot Chicken.


5. I have so much, yet deserve so little. I'm thankful to know that for a fact and am overwhelmed with gratitude to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

Well, if you made it through all that, I would love it if you would pray for me this week for patience and love toward my children and for putting the needs of others (especially them) before myself.

And one more thing totally off subject...I'm hosting the first giveaway on my blog for one of the cool hair clips I now am a consultant for through Lilla Rose. If you want to enter you can check out this post. There are only two entries so far so your chances of winning are great :) !

Day 21 - Gratitude

Fridays are good days in the Eastwood Household. Kai woke up and went straight for computer games...um, no. "But Mom", he protested, "it's Fabulous Fun Friday!" I told him it could be fabulously fun after school.

5 Blessings from my Fabulous (almost warm) Friday:

1. A good cup of tea to start the day.

2. Baking a surprise birthday cake for Elena...it's going to be a soccer ball but she and Eric think it's boobs (the ball bakes in two halves). Oh, dear.

3. Starting to read aloud two of my favorite books from childhood: Heidi and The Bluejay Boarders. Two chapters in and the kids are already hooked!

4. Getting a glimpse of the beautiful birthday tea-party set up for one of Elena's friends. I bet Amy will post about it if you want to see!

5. New cable internet service! Good-bye DSL and dropped service (at least we hope)!

Have a great weekend! ~Resa

Lilla Rose Hair Jewelry Giveaway

No April Fools...I'm giving away one of the beautiful hair accessories from Lilla Rose! Since this is the first giveaway I've hosted on my blog, you (as one of my 10 loyal readers) probably have a really good chance of winning (YAY!).

I am even more in love with the Lilla Rose products since I now have tried not only the flexi clips, but the hair sticks and the jeweled headbands. The super-soft, stretchy, adjustable band that goes under the hair on the headbands allows you to wear it all day with no typical "headband-ache". Fabulous! Several of my friends have purchased a flexi clip or two and are wearing them every day. How nice to get away from plain ponytail holders, plastic claws and barrettes.

So here's how the giveaway works: All comments must be left here on this blog post, not facebook. You choose any/all of the below options to enter (the first one is the mandatory entry). If you don't have a blogger profile, just be sure to include your name and email in your comments. On April 15 I'll use an auto-number picker deal to choose the winning comment number. Then I'll send the winner a gift certificate for your free flexi clip (or other product--up to $15)!

1. Visit my Lilla Rose website and watch the size/styling videos, then leave a comment about your favorite hairstyle. 1 entry/leave 1 comment
2. Visit the Lilla Rose store and tell me which flexi-clip (or other product) you like. 1 entry/leave 1 comment
3. Make a Lilla Rose purchase from my website. 3 entries/leave 3 comments
4. Like my Lilla Rose Facebook page. 1 entry/leave 1 comment
5. Share this giveaway on Facebook or blog about it. 2 entries each/leave 2 comments each
6. Follow this blog or subscribe by email (see sidebar). 1 entry/leave 1 comment

Good luck!