Such beautiful colours. The flower was one picked out of the garden by my daughter, and it matches perfectly with a gorgeous fresh peach.

Things are going pretty well here. Time is flying by and much is being accomplished. I am finally seeing some progress on the decluttering front. I keep gathering bags of items for the thrift store, and some more items to sell, and after many weeks of doing so, I am beginning to think there is light at the end of the tunnel. Now instead of stacks of clutter in front of more stacks of clutter, there are only small stacks to deal with. I am beginning to feel my head slowly unclutter as well.

Our littlest one is now officially potty trained. Yipee! I can’t say that I’m sad to see diapers go (she is still in diapers at night), though now none of her little pants fit her cute little tushie. Those cloth diapers sure do add some bulk. I guess it’s a good thing that it’s summer and wearing nothing but sundresses and new undies will do just fine.

Oh, and she turned two, where does the time go?

This is what that fresh peach turned into, a scrumptious peach blueberry crumble. Yum! Sometimes there is nothing you need more than digging a spoon into a bowl of steaming, fruity crumble to make you feel better. Especially when there is some yummy ice cream melting into the crevices of fruit.

Hope everyone is doing well. I will be doing my best to post several times a week and see how that works out for now. It feels good to be back.

Hi everybody. I’m sorry I missed being here for the last few days. I’m in the middle of I’m not quite sure what yet. I honestly am having a hard time with energy right now, and the blog seems to get the last of it. I realize that I’m not busier than anybody else, but I feel like I am spread so thin these days.

Lack of sleep, decluttering, lots on my mind and just keeping up with cooking, laundry, kids etc. is wiping me out. I really don’t want to give up the blog, but I think I am going to have to cut down on posting for a while until I can pull myself together.

I am going to try and post several times a week and see how that goes for a while. Thanks for understanding.

This past weekend, our town had a Celtic festival. I was really looking forward to it as I have fond memories of Scotland. After we lived in England, we moved to Scotland for three years.

I love the sound of bagpipes, and I miss hearing them more often. When we lived in Scotland, I took Highland dancing lessons, and adored them. I haven’t really danced since then, but that was definitely a highlight for me.

The festival was really nice as it brought back some great memories. My brother even plays the bagpipes a bit, so now I need to convince him to give the kids some lessons.

It was a really hot morning, but we all had fun. I must admit, I teared up a bit when they played Amazing Grace on the pipes and drums, it gets me every time.

I know lots of towns in the States have Celtic festivals, so if your town has one and you’ve never been, give it a go. You’ll have fun, I promise.

In an effort to pay some bills, including a whopping one from when I was in the hospital, pregnant with the babe, we are having a spending freeze. If it isn’t necessary, it isn’t gonna be bought.

So far we are doing really well, not even one dollar has been spent on anything other than things that we actually need. When you are really knuckling down, you realize that not much is actually necessary. Shoes for the kids, yes, a quick run into the thrift store, not so much.

It’s not like we spent much before, but now we are being really, really careful. We want these bills to be a thing of the past, so that is a priority. It’s kind of addictive, being able to put another dollar or two in the jar/savings account. They grow slowly, but every penny counts, right?

I do have a couple of other commitments that will require a little bit of spending, but the commitments were made before the freeze, so I will still hold to those. I’m really excited about this, it doesn’t feel like a hardship at all, because I know how much better I will feel when we are completely out of debt.

This is the restaurant where Hubby and I got engaged 12 years ago! Yikes, that’s a long time. Anyway, I haven’t been back since that day, but we were able to drive by it one evening while we were out at the shore. It brought back great memories, and look at what has happened since then. Almost 11 years of marriage and four beautiful children.

Even though the babe is finally sleeping better, I somehow am still completely shattered. Our 7 year old son has been waking nightly with bad dreams, and also sleepwalking, so no rest for the weary.

I thought as I am still working hard at decluttering and still a little too tired to think coherently, that I might use your help. Is there anything you want to know about me? If you’ve got questions, just leave them in the comments and then next week I’ll try to answer them.

I hope you all have a fantastic day. I’m off to fill up another bag for the thrift store.

More holiday pics for you today. Here are just a few from our days in Philly. There is some of the most beautiful architecture in the buildings, even the sidewalks. Also some delicious food, and an Ikea. What’s not to love.

Little girls are just so nurturing, I love to see them develop their mama skills. The babe is following in her big sisters footsteps and starting to carry her babies in a sling. She wraps them up in blankies and snuggles with them, carefully tucks them in bed.

Occasionally baby will be thrown to the floor, but she is always quickly retrieved with lots of hugs and kisses and cuddles in the “rocka” chair.

It’s nice to see the age gap between the girls finally beginning to close. They are nearly four years apart, but as the babe is getting older, they are able to play better together. I so love to see them together, I always wished I had a sister (I love my brother to bits). Here’s to many more years of being little mamas.

Hi everybody! I feel bad as I am almost constantly taking little breaks from my blog. Such is life with four little ones though, I suppose. I am in the middle of a couple of projects, one which is some serious decluttering of the house. It is taking up all of my time and I am feeling so ready for it to be done, that I really need to be able to focus on that and the family for the next few days.

I will be back on Monday, hopefully with a much calmer house, and mind. Have you recently decluttered, or do you need to? What’s your favourite tip for decluttering? Do you feel so much better when it is done? How do you decide what to keep and what to let go?

Our two weeks at the shore were full of adventures for the babe. When you are used to the plains and emptiness of the west, seeing the ocean was amazing for her.

Feeling the sand squidging between her toes and the freezing ocean water run over her little feet…

the ocean breeze blowing through her hair and for as far as she can see, nothing but water.

Running along the beach….

and exploring on her own (with Daddy a few paces behind her).

Helping build sand castles…

finding new treasures, and discovering that sand doesn’t taste that great.

Of course, keeping up with the big kids is no easy task for such little legs,

but what better way to rest, than taking a long nap on our picnic blanket with the sound of the water in your ears and the ocean air in your lungs.

Every couple of days she still says “ocean…back”. We will definitely be making this trip every year.