So we finally bit the bullet and are moving house. The thought of it is overwhelming – so much crap to be sorted, packed or purged. With six kids, I know you can imagine just how much crap we’re talking here. Adding further stress is the prospect of making our current house look nice enough that some other family will want to buy it.

Getting our house sale-ready will be a big job. My kids have left their marks – on the walls, carpets, curtains and pretty much everywhere else. In addition to the cosmetic issues, we don’t really use our house in the traditional way. My dining room has been transformed into a children’s study, and the kids’ dressers are in the hallway to make way for all the beds that need to fit in the bedrooms. In short, there is a house staging expert out there who is going to make a lot of coin out of me.

We told the kids about the move and they generally greeted the news well. We’re only moving up the street to a house on a court with some more square footage.

The four-year-old was most reluctant. After some discussion, I realized that she didn’t understand what a move meant. Turns out she didn’t want to move because she would miss her bike. I explained that all our crap was coming along with us and she went through the house item by item for confirmation that it would be coming along. Yes darling, even the plates are coming with us.

So I thought she got it: we bring our stuff with us; they take their stuff when they leave.

The day came when we were able to take the children through the new house. Thumbs up all around. The sellers are empty nesters who seemed thrilled that their house would once again be alive with the energy of small children.

After having a good look around the new digs, I noticed the four-year-old had a little worried look on her face. I asked her what she thought of the new house to which she replied:

“I like it, but there’s one problem: NO TOYS!”

I’m now thinking this move is going to take more patience than I originally anticipated.

Christmas is right around the corner and now is the perfect time to weed through the old toys to make room for the new.

First, gather up all the stray toys around the house and make sure they get to their rightful owner’s room. Once all the toys are gathered in the correct room, it is time to start sorting. Don’t hold back: it’s time to take all the toys out. While you’re putting like with like it gives you a chance to really see how much of a certain toy your child has and what they no longer play with.

Then it’s time to purge those toys your kids no longer play with. You can save them for the younger siblings or pass them on to someone else who can use them. If you save any toys, box them up and get them out of the room. Keeping the toys that aren’t played with commingled with the toys that are just creates more clutter. After the purging is complete you now have room for the new toys that the holidays will bring.

Take a good look at your storage; is it still doing its job? As your children grow, their interests change and so do their storage needs. Re-evaluate the system you are currently using to see if you need to make any changes. Create homes for all of the toys, so they have a defined space. Your kids will be more willing to pick up if they know exactly where things go.

Last but not least, create labels that your children will understand. If the toys are stored in a bin that is not easy to see through, take the guess work out. For younger children, use pictures and then start incorporating words.

Making the effort to get those toys organized now will give you a head start to a wonderful new year!

The Mabel’s Labels team is rallying around the amazing Anissa Mayhew of Free Anissa & Aiming Low who suffered a stroke yesterday.

She is a force to be reckoned with – a cheeky, fun and half-mad blogger, a mother of three whose youngest child is a cancer survivor, and a supportive friend, great woman and social media maven. We look forward to hearing news of her speedy recovery and can’t wait to catch up with her again at BlogHer ‘10

Please keep her in your thoughts and send all prayers and good health vibes her way!

Visit Aiming Low & follow #prayersforanissa on Twitter for updates and information on how you can offer assistance.

Trust Mabel’s Labels for gifts as fresh (and cool!) as the season. Our personalized labels can include any text at all so let your imagination fly.

With a little creativity, address labels turn into bookplates and gift tags become stylish seals on bags of homemade treats. Kids not fooled by your hand-signed gift labels? Order Holiday Gift Tags from “Santa” to keep the magic alive for even the smartest little sleuths.

Our labels make great stocking stuffers and add-ons to other gifts; tuck some alongside books, DVDs, electronic gear…for more inspiration, please see our holiday gift guide.

As all you mamas know, once one kid is down, it’s just a matter of time before they all start dropping like flies. I’ve got a lot of flies, so things can drag on for quite some time. In fact, with so many flies, the whole little germ fest tends to recycle and the first kid who brought it into the house is starting round two of something while the last kid is just heading into recovery mode. It’s like a twisted game of germ tag.

So what was wrong with them? We probably had a bit of swine flu love, but it was nothing more than what seems to be regular winter germ fare – fevers, sore throats, coughs. I didn’t feel it was necessary to drag them to the doctor only to be told to get their germs out of her office and back home because they have the flu. Did I vaccinate them? Nah, waiting in line for five hours with six kids sounds more hideous than H1N1 itself.

Everyone ended up missing out on a few days of school and activities. Once things seemed to perk up they were back in action – a little case of the sniffles does not warrant a sick day around my place. They’re well versed on keeping their green bits to themselves and I’d never put them back into circulation if they posed a risk to their friends.

We seem to be nearing the end of the first round of this nonsense and my overall assessment of sick round #1 for this season is a mark of B+. Marks got docked because baby ended up in ER on Ventolin. We gained marks back because we got through it without any pukers, and most importantly mama didn’t get sick! As long as mama doesn’t get it, we’re golden. Once I go down, it’s all over, red rover.

Two particular quotes indicated we were nearing the end of round one:

1) 6-year-old who had spent a few days frequenting “the loo” called me over to the toilet to do an inspection and announced “Look! I think my poop is feeling better!”
2) 3-year-old whose nose resembled a leaky tap for several days said “Mama, my nose has gone quiet!”

So come on round two, we’re ready for ya – we’ve got immune systems and we ain’t afraid to use ‘em!