Some Assorted Notes

No discussion of our lifestyle would be complete without mentioning the fact that we store EVERYTHING the older children have used for the next child in line to receive it. This means I have boxes and bags and more bags of "stuff" all over the house, but mostly in the basement where Patrick and G share a room. There is stuff in a corner, stacked to the ceiling. There is stuff in a wooden shelf behind a cloth curtain. There is stuff in their makeshift closet stacked to the ceiling as well. D jokes that by the time I find where stuff is located, the children have grown out of it. This is partially true, but I think only because things get grown out of unevenly. Say I have a child with a large chest and skinny legs. He'll outgrow stuff and I'll store it season by season. But if the next child has a large waist I might find he's outgrown the pants by the time I unwrap them. It is VERY DIFFICULT to store things in their exact sizes when you consider that a 4t in one brand is certainly not a 4t in another. I try to be objective and reasonably standard when packing clothes, but you know how life is. I do save quite a bit of money by doing this; however, it does lend a messy appearance to the house because it cuts down on our other storage. I think in three years we will not have nearly so much stuff as J and S will have gotten over the period where they change entire wardrobes in a month due to growth.