We are making progress with the dolls/toys.

[mamabear]

We have all been sick this week and it has been slow going. I have only been able to talk her out of four or five dolls, once they were all lined up. NO Cabbage Patch Kids - those are the ones she wants to keep absolutely. I think there are a couple more she'll be willing to let go when the dust settles.

To get these kids down to a large Rubbermaid of toys each - which was my goal - wow, I just don't know how I'll do it. All I'm keeping now is:

three 24" shelves of books - board books, because Jake is still into them, and absolute hardcover classics, a few softcovers that are really good

tree blocks

math manipulatives

about seven puzzles

about ten or fifteen different games - Cariboo, Don't Wake Daddy, Candyland, Harvest Time, etc. (could possibly get pared down)

a shoebox of plastic Easter eggs, they love having an egg hunt, but realistically I won't move these, of course

musical instruments of various kinds

the dolls and a few stuffed animals

the doll clothes - really, really need to get gone through, everyone needs to get dressed in their best and have a change or two and the odds and ends must go

small bendy fairies and their wooden accessories - one 11x17 wooden box holds all this

kitchen and kitchen gear - gear will get pared down to what fits under the stove plus a small woven basket

two small shoeboxes of cars/trucks

three big bins of Brio - will get pared before move, I think

Gosh, that's not "all" is it - it's still a lot! Oh and the Leap Pads, which never get used but she insists she'll use it every time I say I'll give them away. I'm giving her one month - they could be good distraction for the car - and then off they go if they haven't been used. We have a regular one and a my first for Jake.

Plus art supplies and two hippo-head (LOL) sleeping bags.

I am though, at a loss, because everything I'm keeping gets used regularly. The dolls still have to be pared down. The Polly Pockets my mom bought her have gone away mysteriously and she hasn't missed them. But if I do that with her dolls, she'll freak.

So that's where we are after an afternoon of ripping into the toys and books. Still more to do...but my energy is flagging, I am giving dh a hot stone massage in a little while and then watching a movie. I have to be at work at 8:30 tomorrow.

The excess is two big boxes of Woodland Fantasies stuff they never play with, three to five records boxes full of dolls, toys, and books, and a large Rubbermaid of blocks and one small of blocks.

[Kristin]

Lauren - you are doing so well. You are thinking about things and trying to pare down where appropriate. I guess *everywhere* is appropriate for paring down in your situation, but anyway...

I could easily pare down my children's toys. I'd let each of them fill their own backpack with whatever their hearts desired and then I'd pack these up:

~shoe box size plastic bin of Ben's Trains
~plastic bin of wooden blocks (about the size of 2.5 shoeboxes put together)
~wooden dollhouse

The place I would have the most difficulty with is the children's books. We must have 300 children's books. Every now and then I go through them to see if I can pare down and I only end up taking out 2-3 books each time. I just can't part with them. I guess if I had to, I could probably pare down to about half of what they've got.

I am actually working on paring our kitchen down right now. I was considering getting a stand mixer, but now I just don't know. I could use it to make our butter, too. I only want to keep things that have more than one use and the rest can go. I wonder if it is more difficult to decide what can stay and what can go if you don't really have to/need to? Or if it is more difficult when faced with the need to pare down considerably. LOL!

Keep up the good work. Hey, did you get your app. in and all set by the deadline? I hope you're all feeling much better now.

[mamabear]

Thanks Kristin! Yes, I got my app in - it arrived Thursday morning. Now I get to sit back and wait. I'm supposed to hear whether I got in by the end of February, and hear whether I got an assistantship by the end of March.

I think it will be easier to get down to completely bare bones, ie one tub of toys, once we know for sure we are going. But every layer gone counts.

My mom is coming for a visit in mid-February and my goal is to have the whole house clean and at least Round One of decluttering (ie going through each room once) done.