Monday Morning Decisions

Too many of them.

I had a hard time sleeping last night - a rarity for me - but that gave all these plans and thoughts a chance to start battling each other in my mind.

It would have been nice to make up my lost sleep this morning, but Mike is out of town, so I had to get the garbage out to the street, bring in the newspaper, and feed Darby and Stella.  After that, I decided to just stay up and decide what I'm going to do with my day.

The house was fairly clean until I started once again re-organizing all our pictures.  That's the actual photographs, not those thousands of digital photos on the computer.

Thank goodness this picture is blurred, or it would be harder to look at.

When I moved here and was lucky enough to have so much storage space, I just unpacked boxes and stuffed everything into the cabinets and closed the doors.  I think this section was vaguely "Pictures, Games, and Baby Books," but other things have sneaked in there.   Through the years, I've done a little organizing but never finished.

These are some of the boxes that are labeled with dividers.  I'm plowing through the stacks and stacks of pictures and only taking a little time out to reminisce and even toss out some of them.  Why is it so difficult to throw away picture of Gray's 3rd birthday party when there are multiple copies of each one?  And all those photographs of beaches, mountains, etc., that I'm sure looked outstanding and photo-worthy at the time.

Okay, that's ongoing and may take a few days, along with my attack on the toys in the attic.  I've been sending Emily picture after picture of the toys that belonged to them and asking if she wants them kept for Graysen.

Like dolls!  I haven't even reached the boxes of Barbies and Fisher-Price My Friend dolls that they loved so much.

 

What I have unpacked are Cabbage Patch dolls, which no one cares about keeping.  I'm not sure what to do with them.  The ones with yarn hair seem to have a little value, so I may try my luck on Ebay.  The little pink doll, which is not sentimental, cleaned up nicely and might sell too, Romper Room Softie.  Stuffed animals will also find new homes somewhere.

 

 I'm shocked Emily didn't want the Annie figures.  There are 3 more somewhere.  They were well played with.  She also doesn't want the Strawberry Shortcake figure with the receding hairline or the Pretty Pony with the missing tail. 

 These little dolls are called Amanda Jane and have very little value.  I think I was more taken with them than Emily because of all the cute clothes and accessories, but they're really too small to dress easily and kind of got put aside.  We're keeping those.

 This was Elise's favorite doll.  I'm not sure of the brand, and she can't remember her name, but she's definitely a keeper.

 Along with this cradle made by their Grandaddy Windham.  It's not going anywhere!  I'll make a little quilt to go in it, and I think it will be a treasure for Graysen.

The much-loved mermaids (no bath was complete without a mermaid entourage), Pretty Ponies, and fairy-type things survived a nice wash in the dishwasher and hair conditioner and are ready for more playing.

 Mermaids made the cut.

 But not the fairies.  Looking for homes for them.

 I found these sweet Madame Alexander miniature dolls that came with Happy Meals at McDonald's.  I tried to collect them all but am missing some.  They're also not suitable for little hands to dress.  I'm not even sure their clothes aren't sewn on. But they're cute, so I'm saving those.

I'm not sure where the larger Gorham dolls came from - just don't remember anything about them.  The smaller ones are from a collection of 12 - one for every month.  I got January and October and some extras.  They usually just came out at Christmas, so they're in good shape.

 

I'm looking forward (and Mike isn't) to bringing more boxes down to dig through.

The Beanie Babies are not going anywhere - well maybe the miniatures I'll part with.

  I started buying those every once in awhile many years ago and just found them.  They have no value either, but every one of them (except maybe the snake, which I don't have) is so cute.

The kittens and puppies are my favorites.

If I can tear myself away from sorting and organizing and tossing, this bin of yarn is taunting me.  I need to make a larger Viking hat for Graysen, some bathcloths for her, maybe another hat, and some dishrags for myself and the ladies at the dentist's office.

 The front door wreath seems to have been overlooked.

And the poinsettias need attention.

 Pinterest needs organizing.

 

 
Mama's door needs clearing of Christmas cards, but she first wanted a picture to show how much more social she is than us.

I can't stop without posting pictures of this sweet baby.  She was going through a phase of not wanting to nap and waking up in the middle of the night when we were there, so they were working on shortening her afternoon nap.

 

When Emily announced out of the blue, "Let's go get her," Elise and I raced her up the stairs.

 

At first she was startled and had a hard time processing what was going on.

But then Mama explained what was happening.

 Did some clapping games.

 And she decided waking up was a nice thing.

 

 

 Such a precious baby.  I can't express how much we adore her.