Everyday Moments

Life...unedited. 

These random iPhone photos are dark, blurry, and untouched,

but they capture everyday moments from the last couple weeks.

Savannah and her neighborhood friends Sky and Liza had fun playing the game Four Square in our entry:

We're so proud of Savannah for finishing chapter book #4!

Savannah was excited when she received this post card from her teacher in the mail:

Every couple months, I get a $10 Kohl's coupon in the mail. I let Savannah and Hadley "spend" $5 each. They always enjoy hunting for a bargain at Kohl's. When we used the coupon this week, Savannah got a make-up bag, and Hadley got an assortment of chapstick...for a total of $10.85. 

Over the last two years, Tal and I have been decluttering our house. This week we purged our coat closet and linen closet and then took four bags of donations to Goodwill. Our closets feel so much lighter, and we have no desire to fill them up with more stuff. We are determined to keep our closets clutter-free!

Below is a "before" picture of our coat closet. Honestly, I don't think Tal and I have cleaned it out since we moved into our house 7 years ago. It was a dirty and disgusting job, but it felt so good to clean out, sanitize, and organize the closet: 

Coat Closet
Before

Coat Closet
After

When we decluttered our linen closet, Tal and I kept a few towels for guests, as well as an extra blanket and an extra set of sheets for each of the three bedrooms upstairs. We donated everything else.

Upstairs Linen Closet

Before

Upstairs Linen Closet
After

Today Tal and I both took the day off from work, so we could have a "daytime date." It was our first date in three months. We spent the day getting new tires on the Expedition, running errands, and walking around the mall. At the mall, we ate lunch at The Cheesecake Factory (thanks to a $25 gift card from Tal's employer). I got the chicken carbonara, and Tal ate shepherd's pie. After lunch, Tal and I even had time to take a nap before we picked up our girls. It was a wonderful day. We loved having some alone time, peace and quiet, relaxation, a leisurely meal, and adult conversation.

Tal ran over one of our candy canes in our front yard.
All I can say is that I'm glad it wasn't me this time. Haha:

Tonight our family went to Jingle Jam at church:

We sang Christmas songs and played games:

We even won a $50 restaurant gift card!
We are looking forward to eating some tiramisu (our favorite!) at Olive Garden!