It's a Recurring Ritual...

We don't do too well on the "keeping our lives uncluttered" front. Julie has commented that the biggest challenge in getting our house on the market was getting enough stuff cleared out -- into storage, to Goodwill, to the attic, to the garage, etc. -- that we had the house sufficiently ready for showing. Our neighbors who have been in the house before that process began have commented...repeatedly!...as to how great it looks.

So, what's the recurring ritual? Well, it's not "decluttering the house." Rather, it's my mother conspiring with Julie to identify the largest, bulkiest toy possible to buy one (or all) of our kids for a birthday or Christmas. Foam blocks, various large plastic toys, and any number of wheeled vehicles grace our garage courtesy of this ritual. They almost skipped the ritual one Christmas, but compensated by getting them a complete junior musical instrument set -- mostly percussion!

My parents are heading out for a birding trip in Canada tomorrow morning, followed by some time in their cabin in Maine, so the "Alana's 2nd birthday" edition of this ritual arrived a bit early. Our wonderfully decluttered, clean living room...now sports an enormous spring-driven spring-and-bounce horse. You know how when you remember objects from your childhood, and then you see them again as an adult, they are often much smaller than you remember? That's not hte case with this thing -- it's about 3 times the size of the not-so-fancy version I had as a kid.

Only six more months until Carson's birthday and the next installment! I envision myself linking back to this post at that time!