My annual decluttering

It seems to be around this time of year I feel a need to purge and go through our stuff. Maybe it is because Simon works through this time when other families are usually having family holidays and time together or perhaps it is because we've received more "stuff" with Christmas, or maybe it's because the kids seem to go through a developmental change with the types of things that are played with and no longer used.

So today I felt energised to get stuck into it (one of those spontaneous things that happens to me sometimes). It ended up being a lovely day and kids had a great time. Despite the day being sunny and warm after a few cold days, we just didn't feel the need to get out of the house.

We started off doing the usual chores of tidying the kitchen and picking up the bedrooms before starting for the day.

It felt like a long, peaceful day that just had such a good flow...the kids played well ALL day without a hint of a fight, they handwashed the big dishes for me (making plenty of mess in the process lol) while I went through the kitchen, then we had a break for morning tea, read some stories, they painted and then went on to playing with lego while I pottered around sorting the bathroom out. I then saw them moving towards the TV wanting to watch a DVD, so off we went to make playdough which took them through to lunchtime. All afternoon they made up crazy games using the couch cushions, played in the double-doored wardrobe in Danielle's room for ages (pretending to go to Narnia and back - who knew that would be a game for a 1/2 hr), played with all the old toys and baby gear I was trying to sort out that had been tossed in there (so I left them to it while I moved on to sorting out our bedroom before going back to it once they moved on to some other game). Tended to a few wounds and injuries, made dinner and then went down to the beach for some fresh air and a swim before home for a bath and both crashed out asleep while having stories read to them.