mess and clutter?

But I only put up pictures of the clean parts! ha. You should see my laundry room. Since I have been writing this blog, I cannot count the number of times I have gotten it all in order, and thought it would never get awful again. ha. hahaha.

My hallway upstairs. I didn't post a picture of that, either. Picture it though: an unseen laundry basket filled with some clothes the girls don't miss too much, and lots of extra comforters piled on top. We have issues with bedding, we have lots of extra blankets and comforters which is nice when someone needs clean stuff before theirs goes through the wash, but where do we keep it all? For years I had a stack of folded blankets and comforters in the end bedroom, but now Charlotte Claire and Camille have their bunkbeds, and it is a nice room, so the bedding ends up in the hall. In a perfect world, it would be folded on the laundry room shelves...one of these days.

I also didn't put pictures of my room. It isn't too bad, but my dresser is a clutter-attractor. Not Paul's, he is very neat with his stuff. I still have my big lavender Norwegian pram parked in there, with lots of stuff in it. Stuff I need, like clothes that don't fit me, and baby stuff I couldn't part with, and stuff I bought for birthdays, and my cupcake decorating sets...Paul asks every once and a while when I am going to get rid of the carriage, and I just look at him and ask, "Where would I put all my stuff?" He just shakes his head. He does not understand. I need to go through my clothes and weed out the things I no longer wear, one of these days.

I also didn't take a picture of the treadmill sticking out of the closet downstairs, because the girls wanted it in their room and it did not fit through their doorway. It was way too heavy to bring back up the stairs, and we already decided it wasn't good to have in the living room because with the wood floor it was just to echo-y and loud when anyone used it. Plus, it took up so much room.

I was thinking that maybe soon I would have another one of those temporary moments of insanity, and I will sneak around and take more pictures...but I imagine if I posted pics of their rooms I would be pretty much in Big Trouble.

They would get me back via facebook, I think.

I did love all the comments I got from yesterday's post. To be fair, the living room was relatively clean for those pictures. It gets really messy every day, and is picked up constantly. I have always liked the kids to be able to play where we all are, so they bring out the trucks and dolls and set things up...(I turned on the van radio the other night when I was picking the girls up from Susan's house...the radio host was citing a study that found: messy houses are good for kids. They need to have toys out, need to build forts and make things at the table, because imagination is really important for brain development. Video games and watching television are not good for them, (duh!), but having a house where they are encouraged to jump around and play pretend is. Did I already say DUH?!)

The shoes and boots...blah, there is work to do over there, too. Sorting time again! Kids keep growing, and I bet a million dollars if I were to take all these guys to any store with a shoe department, at least one of them would tell me their tale of woe, how small their shoes/sneakers/boots are getting....

Common sense would be to get rid of the too-small pair when one got a new pair, but common sense doesn't have younger siblings.

Throw snow pants and mittens and hats into the mix over by there by the door...and blah.

If I had a mudroom, I would be happy.

ha.

Anyway, enough about the mess.

There were days when it was hard to get a chance to run in and go pee, much less sort through things.

Paul said to me the other night, "You have lots of time." Yes, I do. Finally after all these years, I have time. Time to exercise and time to sit and put my feet up, time to put laundry away properly when the dryer buzzes. Time to play with Rosie and Kitty Kitten, which makes me feel guilty sometimes, knowing Paul is working hard to support us all. So I try to do my part to make life good for the family, like getting a healthy dinner on the table every night, making sure there are plenty of clean towels and matching socks, and keeping the floors clean. I try to make sure there is milk and fresh fruit. I try to look at my evolving role here at home as my job, so I don't slack off too much. Because I AM a slacker.

Yes, I have help from the kids but...they do not have as much time as I do when they are in school, especially the college kids. So I don't ask too much of them. The older ones do their own laundry, keep their rooms pretty clean, help clean up dinner, take the garbage out, and the bathrooms clean. Occasionally I will do a Chore List and get a lot done in a short period of time, but mostly I just plug away at things.

Joseph worked yesterday and again today for my nephew-in-law, who does renovation work. I had to get up at 6:15 and drive him to where he could catch a ride in to work, because the car he inherited from Abigail has bitten the dust. Too old, too expensive to fix. I would rather drive him over than have him take The Big Van, just in case I need to pick any sick kids up from school, plus it takes too much gas. Joe has all the credits and pre-requisites he needs for nursing school, so he is applying to go in the fall and is not in school right now. He did well in college, he got straight A's. So I hope he gets accepted into the nursing program.

Sitting here typing is fun and relaxing, but there is no shortage of things to do here. Camille is playing dollhouse, Rosie is napping, the college kids haven't left yet because they are doing evening clinicals. They are still sleeping. I won't bore with the details of what I plan to do today, but I hope to keep this in mind while I work: thankfulness. There is so much complaining in me. I don't want to fan those flames and turn into a huge nagging grumbler. Having so many people occupy one house is quite interesting. They aren't all total slobs, but just for instance: there are two cups on the computer table, two on the lamp table, a few tissues on the floor near the garbage can, coffee sloshed on the counter, cereal still out, a pair of socks on the floor, a towel on the couch, a hairbrush on the chair, someone's sweatshirt slung on a kitchen chair. If each child does one or two sloppy things, it adds up to a big mess. rrr. I do try to straighten them out, in a nice way of course, ha, but...

Tomorrow I have to go in to the hospital first thing in the morning, fasting, drink something fatty and yucky, and have a gallbladder function test done. Ca-ching. It is January and our new huge deductible hasn't been met yet, so we have to pay 100% of everything. With that in mind, I almost declined to have this test done, but decided that we will end up paying the deductible whether it is for this, or just for dr. visits, so I may as well find out what is wrong with me.

Tomorrow afternoon I have to take Paul to the airport, he is going to a church conference out west, in Oregon, until Sunday. I already have a list of kids wanting to go with me, and the clamor for getting to sleep on Daddy's side of the bed will soon follow. I hope Paul enjoys the break, sleeps well, finds "paleo" food to eat (meat, nuts, fruits, veggies), and comes home refreshed and encouraged to be happy and content and be saved in all the trials God so lovingly sends. And, that he hears just a little something about Loving One's Wife, ha. (seriously kidding, he is amazing to me, sometimes I see how I can be about things, and he never lets on that I am being witchy with a capital "B"....)

Now I have blabbed on enough...