Pre-Spring Cleaning

We have been doing some pre-spring cleaning around our house lately. Vacuuming the rugs front and back, pruning bushes in the yard, decluttering the nightstands, bookshelves and dressers--you know, those places where things tend to gather and then collect dust. It is so nice to accomplish these tasks, and then to just revel in a newly decluttered space. My mind is somehow more at ease and clearer when the physical clutter around me is tidied. This explains my need to declutter my workspace before I can think and get things done. Some can work just fine with papers piled high and important documents buried beneath a jumbled heap, but I would just sit and think about how all of that needed to be cleared before I could really focus on the tasks at hand. Even as I child I always had a place for everything. I instantly knew if one of my siblings had been in my room, even if they tried to leave things as they were. I have been told that I would put away my dirty clothes in my dresser just to have them off the floor and out of the way. I am sure that my mom appreciated this particular quirk of mine. Don't worry, I now very much appreciate the importance of a hamper!

The same goes for my digital space. I feel anxious if my desktop is too cluttered with applications, folders and files. I like to have everything filed away neatly, in its place and out of sight. I go a bit crazy when the the apps on my phone are not organized. Please tell me I'm not alone in this! This extends to my blog as well because, in a way, it is another workspace of mine. Some time ago, I began to feel like my blog itself was too cluttered, and that it really didn't fit me any longer. It affected me more than I realized for quite some time. It finally came out when I was emailing my friend Bekah about the changes I wanted to make to my blog. I didn't feel like posting. I didn't want to draw readers to my site because the design no longer seemed to reflect me. Bekah and I had long been planning a revamp for my blog and after that discussion I knew I needed to get busy determining what I really wanted it to be. I set out to find inspiration for the new look. It didn't take long to find a common thread in all of my choices--clean, simple and fresh. I am pleased to say that is exactly how it turned out! When I look at the new site, I feel like I can breath again, and it makes me smile. I'll be sharing more details on tomorrow's Friday Refresh. I can hardly wait! If you follow me on Facebook, you might have even noticed that I already unofficially unveiled the new logo. Go check it out if you haven't yet. I am pretty ecstatic about how she worked my own handwriting into it!

Kindness Elves with a Toddler {Friday Refresh}

Have you heard of the the Kindness Elves? They came about when Anna Ransom, the mom behind the blog The Imagination Tree, was looking for an alternative to the Elf on the Shelf. From what I understand, the Elf on the Shelf watches you and reports back to Santa on your behavior--a very creepy twist on the naughty and nice list aspect of the Santa myth. I have always enjoyed seeing the photos my friends take of their Elves getting into mischief throughout the month of December, and I give them so many props for doing that each night to create an allusion of magic for their kids. However, when thinking about what I wanted to teach Young Master Gray about Christmas, the Elf on the Shelf just didn't fit. I found the idea of the Kindness Elves so refreshing. Instead of focusing on behavior or if Santa will reward your behavior with presents or not, the Kindness Elves encourage you to engage in acts of kindness during the holiday season, especially the last 12 days leading up to Christmas Day.

 

I heard about the Kindness Elves last year and attempted to include them in our traditions for the holiday, but it was simply too late and Young Master Gray would not have really comprehended the meaning anyway. I gave myself a pass and decided to plan ahead this year. Even this year I do not expect to go all out with our acts of kindness. I am looking at it as a trial run so that there is not too much pressure on Young Master Gray or myself. I mean, he is only two. While I do believe that he has some understanding of what we are trying to accomplish with our acts of kindness, I still don't think he can fully appreciate it this year.

With that in mind, I kept our list of daily acts of kindness rather simple. I have a feeling that he will really enjoy it next year and even get in on the fun of planning what acts of kindness we should enact. The Kindness Elves arrive on December 12 and then the days that follow are the days we will perform our acts of kindness with Christmas Eve being the final day.

Day 1: Make a craft and send it to someone special.

Day 2: Collect toys you no longer use and donate them.

Day 3: Make a DIY Christmas card for somebody in the hospital.

Day 4: Make a bird feeder to feed the birds in the yard.

Day 5: Gather food and donate it to the food pantry.

Day 6: Give free hugs to friends and family today and brighten their day.

Day 7: Donate a toy to the Arkansas Children's Hospital toy drive.

Day 8: Make a video for great grandma to tell her Merry Christmas.

Day 9: Make a DIY gift for your daycare teachers.

Day 10: Choose an animal from the Heifer International catalog to donate.

Day 11: Take treats to the fire station.

Day 12: Pick up your books and toys and put them where they belong.

I ordered our Kindness Elves from The Imagination Tree this year, but they sold out within a matter of hours. If you are interested in purchasing the official Kindness Elves next year, visit their Facebook page and sign up to be the first to know when they are available. If you would like to get started this year, you may be able to find some of these cute little elf ornaments I found at Target last year. In fact, since our elves are coming from the UK and have yet to arrive, these may be the ones we end up using this year.

If you already have an Elf on the Shelf and want to shift the focus to giving and kindness, you can give him a new purpose as kindness elf!

Get started with an introduction to the Kindness Elves and ideas for the 12 Magical Days of the Kindness Elves. Plus, 25 ideas for your Kindness Elves.

With or without the elves, I hope to encourage a spirit of kindness, generosity and service to others in Young Master Gray, during the holiday and all year round. Feel free to follow along on Instagram and see what kind acts our elves inspire us to carry out this season. I hope the next two weeks are full of goodness and light for you and yours. Merry Christmas!

{Friday Refresh} A new beginning

I posted the first Friday ReFresh post almost one year ago with the intention of showing updates of our home remodel. Then our remodel kind of stalled, or at least it is going much slower than I had anticipated or hoped. It turns out that having a toddler in the house is not very conducive to things like redoing floors, painting, or completely gutting the only bathroom with a bathtub. Luckily we were able to get quite a bit of the work done before we moved, including replacing the ductwork, repairing the drywall, painting, etc. However, we still have so much more to do. My hope of a series dedicated to home reno projects seemed to have floated away like a kite without a string. Then I began thinking about all of the different ways to refresh. You can refresh yourself, your wardrobe, a piece of furniture, a routine, a perspective...the list goes on.

So the Friday ReFresh is officially reinstated, just no longer limited to home remodel projects. I love a good before and after and I look forward to coming up with weekly ways to refresh my mind, home, wardrobe, decor, and even my blog. I hope you will come back next week for a post that will be about refreshing my workspace.

What would you like to refresh? Is there anything in particular you would like me to address in this series? I really would appreciate your input on this endeavor. It can be anything! I will try my best to use your replies in a Friday ReFresh post.

(Sharing at Idea Box Thursday)