Sentimental

I definitely would not call myself a pack rat. If I feel we are accumulating too much stuff, I personally find that to be stressful. I have been grateful for the purging the kids and I have done lately. Some went into the garbage, I donated some, and I have been selling some of the stuff. There are times though when I am sentimental and save things. Lately the kids and I have been expressing how we are sentimentally attached to a few things that weren't things we opted to save. For example, I had been using a bottle of lavender dish detergent from my brother's apartment. We used it up earlier this month. It might sound strange, but I had a hard time throwing the empty bottle into the recycling bin. What a goofy thing to be attached to. Maurice had quite a few half dollars in his apartment. If he was still alive, I'd love to ask him why that was the only type of coin we found in his apartment. I had split the coins between his nieces/nephews back in March. My kids didn't want to spend theirs, but again it didn't seem like something we actually wanted to save in memory of Maurice. Each year I add coins to a container, and then each summer we give all the coins we've collected for the past 11 months in the offerings at each VBS and at Camp Good News. I told the kids I thought Maurice would like that his half dollars were being given to a missionary (that's what the offering was going toward). They agreed. We experienced the same thing while sorting through their toys. One we kept in part because it had been a gift from my Mom. Nadia had a hard time parting with a coloring book which she said my mom gave her. I asked if she thought she'd ever use it again. She said, "no." Then I said I don't think we should keep it.

Ian purchased a Lego set with his share of the money from the toys I have sold thus far. It's supposed to arrive tomorrow. He's very excited! All three kids have been enjoying Oliver's new scooter. Nadia has had that scooter on her wish list for over a year. I almost got it for her birthday, but I knew I planned to get one for Oliver for his birthday, and so I got her the swing. The swing is also a huge hit with our three kids and also Karyss (neighbor). The boys were having a blast on it today. One perk of Nadia being at camp is the boys play together a lot more than usual. I think the swing was a good choice for Nadia's birthday, but I think I need to buy another scooter at some point so three kids aren't trying to share one scooter. Nadia could have gotten herself a scooter with her birthday money, but she bought a set of books and a Lego set instead.