Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Life and Other Huge Messes

I haven't updated my blog in a month, but that's nothing.

The laundry baskets in my house are overflowing--some with dirty laundry, some with the clean-but-unfolded kind. The unmatched socks drawer is undoubtedly crammed full of pairs... if I could only find the time to match them up.

The powder room floor is swamped with de-rolled toilet paper, courtesy of Esme Rose.

The entry landing is strewn with Craisins and tiny bits of rice cake, courtesy of I-don't-know-who.

The basement looks like a second-hand shoe store exploded in it, from when I started sorting all of our accumulated, hand-me-down, girls' shoes into "too-small for Esme," "too big for Esme," and "not on any child of mine" piles.

The toy room looks like a refresher-course in "obeying means all-the-way" just waiting to happen. Somehow, when I asked the kids to "Put the princess dresses away" earlier today, it seems they must have heard, "Toss them into a big, gauzy heap somewhere sort of near the dress-up box."

The kitchen linoleum is flecked with all kinds of stickiness and grime.

Our master-bath is grody, our bedroom is strewn with items from the still half-packed duffle bag I took to a women's retreat this weekend, our new crop of library books is scattered widely over the living room...

And, outside, the sun is shining. And the weather is gorgeous. And I put it to you: when the stern winter winds finally give way to playful breezes gently wooing us outside, how am I supposed to accomplish anything inside? And why does it always seem that just as I finally have our winter routine down pat, summer arrives to shake me all up and turn me inside-out and upside-down?

Being a little short on answers to life's great mysteries today, I will not attempt to solve my own riddles. Instead, in keeping with the messy appearance of my home, I'll let this be a good, messy post with a bunch of unrelated pictures that have been sitting on my camera for the last month randomly strewn about where a conclusion should be.

IMG_9091
Matthew, wearing on his head the bowl that Meg carried around "just in case" during her tummy bug. (Don't worry; it was clean.)

IMG_9103
"La, di, da..."

IMG_9101
"Oh, hi, Mommy. Um, yes, I know I'm not supposed to stand on chairs, but I, ah... I..."

IMG_9102
"Being the baby of the family and all, I just assumed I could get away with it."

IMG_9110
Smoochin' my littlest.

IMG_9111
When Esme dumped the entire container of foam shapes from Grandma, it made a lovely confetti.

IMG_9114
1, 2, 3 little stooges.

IMG_9116
Meg's head adorned with the "hair tattoos" Aunt Dacia gave her for Christmas. This was our second go-round with these, and they looked MUCH better this time than the first.

IMG_9127
Esme, just awakened from a nap, with some serious sun flare behind her.

IMG_9130
Esme, five or eight shots later, just awakened from a nap, with some serious sun flare behind her, telling me, "Enough already with the camera, Mama!"

IMG_9135
Mrs. Gruner's meat sauce was a hit!

IMG_9136
The Parisian Princess...

IMG_9137
...and Popeye.

3 comments:

Sandi said...

Are you sure your not talking about my house. Happy kids, messy house...all good.

often wonder when I will start something and get to the end of it before something else needs my attention. I am thinking maybe 10 more years :o)

Love ya girl and your cute little peeps!

Debbie said...

LOVE this post, my friend! Thanks for so effectively capturing the glorious season we're in (Spring, too)!

Love you.

Annie said...

Wonderful signs of life!!! And good news for you - old man winter isn't quite done with winter just yet! We may get some cold evenings and snow this weekend! Isn't it lovely when the cold weather comes on the weekend? :)