Because we live here....

Kid's laundry baskets balanced everywhere that isn't the
laundry room.

We live in this house.  There are eight of us here.

That means that things are NEVER as clean as I would like...EVER!!!

It means that there is always dirty laundry and dirty dishes.  It means there are usually footprints on the kitchen floor and crumbs on the kitchen table.  

Most of the people living here are small, they are still learning to clean up after themselves (ok, I'm not convinced that they are learning that, I am trying to teach it but I'm not sure the message is coming through).

The living room corner...this is not quite what I had in
mind when I asked kids to put this stuff away.

 And so, piles of stuff are stashed in corners and things are dropped randomly when they are no longer needed, and I get to find them and try to keep the chaos to a minimum.  Some days it is overwhelming.  Some days I don't think I'll ever see tidiness again. 

G and Logan's laundry...notice the absence of a laundry
receptacle...they do have one...somewhere.

Books read while sitting on the heating vent, then left to enjoy
the heat on their own.

Abandoned bathtub buddies.

No one even sleeps in this bed, why is it a mess?

Post toast remnants...and a diaper??? on the kitchen counter.

And then there are moments like these when everyone is laughing and sharing and having fun amidst the disasters and then I remember why I put up with it all.  I adore these people and even if it means loads of bonus cleaning and some Wicked Witch of the West style lectures, I wouldn't give up living with them for anything.  They make my world an amazing, if slightly less tidy place.  And they've managed to force this type A order monster to lighten up just a bit (and boy did I need that). 

I am terribly grateful for my very lived in -- and loved in -- home.