Welcome to my home, it was clean yesterday, sorry you missed it

I saw that phrase on a plaque in someone's home, maybe my sisters, who has 4 children, close in age, and she always seems to have a tidy home!

I was inspired by my friend Drea to share what my home really looks like. She, just like myself, is a Mom to 3 boys, close in age to my boys and she had her 3rd son just days before Silas arrived :) Today on her Blog she bravely shared photos of her "messy" home :) I honestly did not think it was that bad, it looks similar to my own. Mostly clean laundry, dirty laundry, laundry baskets, cloth diapers, receiving blankets, sippy cups, toys, games etc etc...

And I am trying not to judge, but I have seen some other bloggers share their messy home...yeah, scary stuff! Made me feel a bit better!

Life with a newborn and two young boys leaves little time for cleaning and organizing. I honestly think it makes for a better parent when you are spending time making finger paintings and clay dinosaurs or heading to the park to play rather spending time scrubbing and folding clothes :)

I was raised by a Mother who had severe OCD. Everything had a place, everything was spotless, jeans were hung on a hanger, the vacuum lines had to be straight (I'm not kidding)....our home looked un-lived in. I commend my Mom for keeping such a tidy home but being raised like this made me kind of OCD.

After the birth of my 1st son I had to let it go. Before he was born I could not relax and watch a movie if a magazine was lying on the floor, or a dirty dish was in the sink. It took some self training to loose this, and I still have not completely, but I am learning to let it go.

I am still a bit of an organizing freak, I go through the kids clothes and toys often to get rid of things, I am a bit of an anti-hoarder. I love getting rid of things. In my idea of a perfect home it is bare. Just the essentials, which in my view is a lot less then most people would consider essential.

Ok, so my home does not look totally messy, but in my eyes it is a bit of a disaster. Baskets of books to be put upstairs, layers of dust, steps need vacuumed and if you have hardwood floors and kids and pets then you know the misery of how often they need swept, and it's been days!
















Believe it or not, I did the windows last week! You can't really tell from the picture but they are bad.































The kitchen is hopeless, but I can't complain because my sweet husband is in there much more than I. And we do not have a dishwasher {GASP!} We don't own a microwave either, umm, but only one is by choice! :)
My excuse for a messy and dirty, yes, dirty kitchen, we are going to remodel soon, uh-huh...yeah, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Really though, the kitchen is hideous. Brown vinyl flooring, 70's paneling with gold glitter...the cabinets were dark brown until I painted them white, seriously, how does one keep cabinets white when you have kids! (and a messy chef for a husband) Impossible I tell ya, impossible!
I did wipe down the inside of the cabinets yesterday as we are battling pantry moths! I had to declare war on them! Peppermint oil and bay leaves are supposed to get rid of them, we will see... I think they were nesting in my toaster or a bag of rice.... ICK!














My room, usually it's the cleanest and least cluttered space in the house, this week, it's a bit of a mess...























The boys room, hopeless, I must realize that boys are just messy, mine are anyways. I seriously cleaned their room a few days ago! They change clothes ALL day! Oh, and the shelf on the floor was pulled off by Sammy a few days ago, it's still waiting to be put back up...























I like to remember this poem when I feel overwhelmed with my household chores...I have seen it on many blogs :)

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo
Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But children grow up as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

- Ruth Hulbert Hamilton