More clothes!  Day 5 brought a quiet Sunday afternoon and lots of time to take on the girls rooms.  (And now that all of those dresses are out of the way - we have more room to work with!)

Most of the items from today went straight to Goodwill. (By the end of the month, I'm going to be on a first name basis with all of the attendants at the drop off.)

Pajamas, t-shirts, sweat-shirts and jackets....it's all gone. Yippee!  (And yes - there are still plenty of things in the wardrobe of our Ava and Neely fashionistas)

How are you doing with the challenge?

I'm hearing lots of great things from those of you who have decided to do this in your homes too!

Day 4 took us to the book shelves.  Books!  I have books everywhere - and my family would tell you that most of them are of the "boring business book variety." (I also have an e-reader that I adore - so it is time go completely electronic.) This was my criteria for giving or trashing books. (Books never fall in my "sale it" category.)  If a book is a hard cover and signed by an author, and I liked it...then I keep it.  Everything else goes. Everything!

The stack of books you see pictured here are just the first 25.  I was actually able to go way beyond my goal of 25 things today. All were donated or passed along to friends. (Most of my friends do not share my appreciation for books of the "boring business book" variety)

I made copies of special recipes, quotes, and plans from certain books,  and sent them to their new electronic file on my computer.

Neely and Ava really had a great time going through their books and selecting the ones they wanted to give away.  We spent a lot of time talking about our favorite stories and remembering the times when we first heard them.  It was lots of fun and a big relief to see all those now empty spaces.

It's Day 3....And we tackled the toys!  Which was a little bit painful for Ava and Neely.  They had lots of fun playing with the toys as we stacked them and they got lots of practice on their negotiation skills.

I have to admit, there were quite a few things that went immediately to the donate pile, only to be later removed because of a well thought out and brilliantly delivered case for keeping it.  To quote Ava after one such victory, "Neely, at least we saved that one!"

We eliminated 2 gaming systems, 6 games, a Weeble tree-house, stuffed animals and much, much more.  And in the process, we took time to organize the things that we were keeping.

So now we get a lot more enjoyment form the things that we have and we spend less time looking for "that pink Barbie shoe."  I even parted with the crib bedding set that Neely used. (Can you believe it still looked like new!)

Stop back in tomorrow to see what we tackle next.

It really is a disgrace for 2 little girls to have so many dresses!  I have to admit I am a little embarrassed at what I found in their closets.  Every single dress is just completely "stinkin' cute," and it was a little difficult to decide to part with them. But once I got started, I couldn't stop until I had looked at each one.

25 Dresses to Give or Sale We went way over the 25 item mark today.  I donated at least 25 that were in near perfect condition and I kept a few out that I am going to sale.

Both Ava and Neely are "girly girls."  At least half their wardrobe is pink and there's hardly a dress that doesn't have a purse and shoes to match. (I know, I know, but I can't help myself.)

Anyway, it felt good to un-clutter the dresses! Not sure what we are going to tackle for Day 3...

By the way, My Sister has decided to take this challenge as well, and you can read about her progress on her blog.  Maybe you will be inspired to un-clutter your life too!

Day 1

Do spices expire?  I'm not sure. But I can promise I am never going to rummage through a cabinet of half used, perhaps outdated canisters again.  I condensed, trashed, and reorganized. (And then I seasoned the roast.)

It took less than 10 minutes, but I know it will save me a lot more than that in the days ahead.

Are you taking this challenge?  Would love to hear how you are doing....

That's 25 Days and 625 items that we are going to give, Trash, or sale.

So much of what we have learned the last two years is about prioritizing and time.  Of course, we have always known the value of family time and special moments with our children.  But Neely's illness gave us an entirely new perspective on the importance of living every day to its fullest and not sacrificing those things that you deem most important for the sake of things that you just feel obligated to do.

So we began to look for ways to simplify our life.  Learning to say "No" without feeling guilty, setting priorities that help us meet our family goals, and eliminating the clutter in our lives.  I've become fascinated by the idea of the minimalist.  Now don't think I've gone overboard, I'm not on the brink of selling everything we own to go and live in the Rain Forest.  But I do believe that we spend way to much time collecting, caring for, and managing things.

So we are trying to stop.  Being that this is the Holiday Season, interwoven with family time and the spirit of giving, it seemed like a great time to take our minimalist approach to a new level.  And we decided to take a challenge.

For each of the 25 Days leading up to Christmas, we are going to find 25 things in our house that we can give away, throw away, or sale.  That's a total of 25 days and 625 things!   I wish I could put a number on the space that we will un-clutter and the time that we will reclaim.

This challenge is a little different from the typical posts that you find on NeelysMiracle.  (Don't worry - there will be plenty of Neely-isms and health updates as well.)  But because this challenge is something our family is taking very seriously, I plan to give you a quick update each day to let you know how we are doing.

We're also inviting you to join us in this challenge.  Empower yourself...Take control of your time...and take back your life.  It's as easy as asking yourself 3 questions: Give it? Trash it? or Sale it?