Stuff!

Stuff!! Do you ever feel like you have too much stuff? This is where I am now. I feel like our family has too much "stuff" and we are too focused on "stuff". Stuff, material things, objects, clothes, shoes, toys, or whatever you want to call it, I think we can get lost in it if we are not careful!
This morning I woke up and decided it was time to get a hold on some of this stuff. I mean really, why do I need 5 mixing bowls? Why do we need 20 towels? Just gives me more laundry!  Why do my kids needs toys, and toys, and more toys! They don't even know what they have! It makes me very sad that we have turned into this family that thinks we need all this stuff!
Matthew was off work today so I thought this would be the best time to tackle this problem. Matthew worked on his closet while Jagger and I worked on all the toys! I was so proud of him. He was very willing to go through the toys and start getting rid of them. I think he realized some of the stuff he had out grown and it was time to pass along! After the toys, I moved on to the kitchen and hall closet! I was amazed at each area, and ashamed at the same time. Here we are a family of 4 and we have more than some families will have in a lifetime. It really opened my eyes to what I am teaching my kids. I don't want them growing up thinking that they have to have a house full of stuff to be happy! Less is more! ;) I would much rather my kids be willing to give to others than continue to fill our house with things that bring temporary happiness! It took us several hours to finish but once we were done it was like a weight was automatically lifted. It felt so good knowing what all we were getting rid of..

the pictures do no justice!!! ;) I was very proud of my family! After our "purge" we all went to Wal-Mart for some grocery shopping! Jagger was not excited about this. He really wasn't happy when he figured out he was not getting anything. His response, "but mom, I gave all my stuff away".  Oh my.. I guess I have not done the best job about teaching my son that we don't give our stuff away to get more!

When we came home from Wal-Mart, I had a family project for us to work on.  Our family is doing something different this year. We are not putting up anything Christmas until after Thanksgiving. This is very hard because everyone is starting to put up Christmas decorations, but I am holding on strong. I was talking to my good friend Stephne, who told me about a project her family was doing for Thanksgiving. I knew immediately this was what we needed to do. Enter the Thankful Tree...

Every day we will put leaves (our hands) on the tree. Each leaf has something that we are thankful for. By Thanksgiving our tree should be completely full! I think this will be something we do every year! 

Hope everyone has a blessed night!

Lots of love..