Misc Ramblings – Page 20 – a hippie with a minivan

Toys

Today Simon tackled the boys room and we finally went through the books and got rid of quite a few, next are the toys.

Toys are hard to de-clutter, especially with 4 kids. Some toys are played with, some are not, some are outgrown, some are just being grown into. In any case, we have way too many and the kids are not ready to let go. I don’t know what to do. I used to have an addiction to buying cheap used toys or other things. I found so many great deals but the mess and clutter just grew and grew.

A few years ago I finally decided to make the change. To stop buying, to stop cluttering up the house with stuff that we really didn’t need or wouldn’t use and start getting things under control. Over the last few years we have gotten rid so much stuff, including toys, often by putting them in storage and them having them disappear. Now I can often skip that step and no longer have such an emotional attachment as I used to. Xavier however, is a lot like me and has trouble letting go so it makes things hard at time.

If I could go back, I would have done things differently. I loved when I was at Annie‘s that there were just not many toys. A mess was easy to clean up. I wish that we would have stayed minimalist when it came to that, to everything really. But now that we have them it is such a hard thing to deal with.

Our problem is the bulk of the toys… the Legos, the Playmobils, the Star Wars figurines and ships. All toys that are played with often but all have little pieces that make a playroom look like a dump within the span of a few minutes…

We have tried so many things to keep things under control to no avail. The room is always chaos, and of course, when there is a mess, they are less likely to use the space; and when they use the space, they make a mess. It is a vicious cycle. The boys are in change of cleaning the space, and once in a while we would step in and help. It is too much though, for all of us and we have had enough of the chaos.

So, Today is the day that we are tackling it.

The things that have a home, can keep their home. The rest is up for grabs. We have a bin. A large bin with a top. What can fit in it can stay. The rest will go.

So… how do you keep the toys under control? Who is in charge of cleaning the toys space? How do you dea with kids that have trouble letting go?

Gooey Swiss Delice Brownies…

Years ago I found the best brownie recipe ever… The recipe is all over the web and called “Whatever Floats your Boat Brownies” because the base of the brownie is the same and you add “whatever floats your boat” to them…
I usually add chocolate chips but the only colouring/artificial flavouring free chocolate chips I can find are pretty awful and are not even real chocolate. So I haven’t made brownies in a while… until a few days ago…

I decided to make them and then remembered that I had a bag full of Swiss Delice chocolates in my cupboard that I bought at Costco. I love these little chocolates. They are creamy, chocolatey but not too sweet. I buy a large bag and keep some in my bag in case we want a treat when we are out.
I got a few out and unwrapped them and started to cut them into chunks… after about 30, I had the right amount to add a heap of chocolate chunks to the brownies.
OMG… these are to die for!

“Whatever Floats your boat brownies”

1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa (I use a dark dutch cocoa)
1 cup sugar (I use less, especially if I am using a sweet addition)
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt

1 -2 cups of whatever floats your boat (chocolate chips, chunks, candies, nuts, raisins etc)

Preheat oven to 350. Butter an 8X8 pan
Mix the melted butter and cocoa together, add the sugar and mix well. Add the eggs one at a time and mix in. Add the vanilla and mix and then add the flour and salt. Mix until the flour is incorporated but don’t overmix. Add whatever floats your boat.

(Swiss Delice Chocolates)

Bake for about 25 min but don’t overbake… you want a nice moist crumb.

If you want to double the recipe, use a 9X12 pan and bake for about 5min longer.

Warning: these are addictive and will disappear fast…

I recant yesterday's post..

This morning, I went to pick Wilhelmina up and my back went out… I have had back pain before, I have never had that before. Except for maybe some of the back labour I went though, except that there are pauses between contractions. This just won’t stop.

It took all of my strength to get back into the living room from the bathroom. I called my Chiro and she said to get up and walk, and that she would come by the house. I took some Advil walked around and felt like I was in labour.

Xavier stepped up and made breakfast for the others and would pick up Wilhelmina for me when I needed help and was great help overall… it is such a great thing to have a big kid around.

The Chiro came over and massaged me a bit and then gave me some stretches to do. Simon came home early and I trying to move around and keep stretching even though my body is screaming at me to not move…

Needless to say, I had to cancel my workshops for tomorrow.

The next will be on the 4th of December.