Hy's 9 and that's fine! Evan's 36 and that's....old! ;)

Hy's buddy Thomas was going to have a bday party....on Hy's bday. These boys are one day apart. So I called Thomas' mom and (since it was Hyrum's year to have a party) I asked if they could combine. Ashley was so good about it. It was way awesome and the boys had a blast. We were going to do it at the park, but the weather was bad, so we did it in the church instead.

L to R: Ethan Felthauser, Will Rex, Trevor Bankhead, Thomas Harper, Sean Laughmiller.

Thomas' siblings: Grace, (Hyrum), James, Emma 

 The awesome soccer cakes that Ashley made.

 Hy got a money pizza from Grandma Vicky. $50!!! That was one excited 9-year old. We gave him a pitchfork and he got some long johns and some Legos. I sure love this boy of mine :)

 Ev started to work for Heber Laughmiller for the month starting on his birthday. We had a cake for him and he made his own steaks (because I can't cook them like he can). Love my sugar daddy ;)

Fast Forward Fall of 15

Ol' Buzzy got to be in the Homecoming Parade as a Cub Scout flag bearer. He grabbed the flag when he saw us.... ;)

 I'm a cheap-skate, so on school picture day, I decided to take my own pics. These are pics that aren't on the wall, but cute, anyway!

 We took most of them in the chicken coop.

 After the second round of pics, I had them do their summer chores. Linz was in charge of feeding  the chickens scraps. Then she'd put Herbie's food in her bucket and carry it back to the house where Herbie's dish is.

 Hy would bring a couple of milk jugs filled with water for the dogs & chickens.

 Ri would feed the chickens their chicken feed and then gather eggs.

 Hy would help feed the dogs and sometimes scrape the kennels.

 And Jibbers, ol' Jibbers would SOMETIMES carry the empty milk jugs back to the house.

 We are doing preschool with Allison and Lindsay this year. They love it! Here they are in their aprons.

 Allison told me this is her "Deb" outfit from Napoleon Dynamite. Makes me laugh! Love that girl.

 One day, the girls and I did mani/pedi makeovers. Included was watching 7 Brides for 7 Brothers.

 Face masks and foot soak!

 Riley put my hair in curlers and then fell asleep.

 After shot of the makeovers. Work it Lindsay.

 Ooo la la, Miss Riley. And that look, Kelsey!

 Hyrum had a very special experience to go to General Conference for the first time and see President Monson in real life! It was neat day. Unfortunately, that was the day I started my 14 day cough :( I was coughing all through President Monson's talk in the conference center and I was right in the front of the balcony in the middle. It was miserable and one of the worst coughs I've ever had.

 Kelsey decided to try the makeover on her own....

 Cooks cook cookies with the letter "C".

 Kelsey wanted to be "baby" like her cousins that all still have binkies. She learned where Grandmummsie's stash was and would suck/chew on the binky the rest of the day. She even requested a "bah" (bottle). Tricky Kelsey.

 Campbell soup kids and their hot cocoa.

KonMari

I like to think that I balk at the "trendy" things. I don't know why. I never watched the movie "Titanic." Still haven't. Why? Because it was HUGE and I had no interest in it. I didn't want to be like the other "sheep." I never finished Harry Potter series (although I think I will someday) and never even started the "Hunger Games." Now, I am into some trends, and this one was HUGE for me. This is below scriptures and a lot of my favorite LDS authors and speakers for me but right there with FlyLady and Dave Ramsey: Marie Kondo and "The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up." I heard about it and decided to look into it. Mom got me the book and I was hooked!

The first thing to declutter during your "decluttering" marathon is your clothing. I never thought I had very much clothing but I was still surprised at the volume. 

Most pioneer women had 2/maybe 3 dresses...a work dress and a church dress. How come we have to have so much?

The picture on the left is my closet before and the picture on the right is my closet after. You may not be able to tell a huge difference, but I could. My closet actually looked beautiful to me! And I almost just wanted to leave the doors open rather than close them. It was truly refreshing. I got rid of clothes that didn't fit or that I really didn't love and it was so free-ing!

Next is your books. Again, I was shocked about how many I had.

(*I had an after shot of my "library" closet, but I can't upload it for some reason).

Anyway, my declutter marathon is continuing. My goal is to be done in 6 months (April 2016). It feels good and I'd recommend this book to anyone who wants to declutter and tidy!