my house.

this is what i wish my home looked like (notice the white pitchers in the kitchen-- LOVE)...

with those bedrooms and this craft room...

and, this bathroom.  for sure this bathroom.

but, my house does NOT look like this.
it is dark.
and cluttery.
yes.  it's fun and alive and full of kids and full of friends and full of memories (like yesterdays tuesday folder papers all over the coffee table)...

but, i really want to BECOME a bit more clean and crisp and organized and empty.

i have posted my efforts at organization.
i work VERY hard at organization.
AND i REALLY try to get rid of stuff.
i love my house.
but, it isn't everything i hope it can be.

i have a best friend who i've talked to every week for the past 10 years.
she is a gifted organizer.
even with 5 (almost 6) kids...
she reads my blog and thinks my house is organized like hers.
it's NOT.
(actually, this post is really for her... today on the phone she told me i had to post some real pictures because my house always LOOKS clean.  DUH.  why would i want to SHOW everyone my MESS.  yes.  i spend a lot of time cleaning... not much time arriving.  but, i am humble.  So Taneil... take a look at my REAL life and i hope you'll still be my friend tomorrow.)

i have pretty spots, that i show.
i have organized places...
but, i definitely have places of disorder.
and... this spring i am not pregnant or nursing and i REALLY want to tackle my spaces.
but... this is not my GOAL.
my goal is to NURTURE... kicking clutter is what i do in my SPARE time.

so, in the air of full disclosure... please come on in.  and view my REAL, not so clean house.
this is what you would see if you happened to knock on my door this afternoon, and let your little kid run all over my house, and chased him so you REALLY got to see my messy spots-- like my craft room, and my boys unmade beds and my tupperware full of little girl clothes that i JUST FINISHED sorting and my messy desks, and the clutter that i'm always TRYING to do away with...  you get the idea.

my house. (in a very tight little neighborhood with a beautiful sky).

my messy garage. (it's getting better!!)

my bedroom and the professor's office.

the master bathroom.

my closet.

 the professor's closet (with my mess of unsorted old pictures in boxes).

the kitchen/dining room/laundry room- with a pile of stuff to take to Goodwill waiting by the garage and a full length mirror waiting to be hung in the girls room and the red rain boots that leah just found in a box and wears ALL day long).

my craft room. (AHHH!)

my living room (with clothes boxes).

the girls room (big girls only-- sorry, lily was asleep in the little girls room.)

the boys room (they usually do make their bed... well, Jakob usually does).

That's my house today.
Some days it is cleaner.  Some days it is messier.
Overall.  I love my home.
I wouldn't trade MY LIFE for a cleaner, more expensive HOME.

but, like my kids who i will never stop teaching... i have a home that i will never stop cleaning.
i hope that someday it becomes a little more like the house that i KNOW it can be.

disclaimer-- i did NOT write this post fishing for compliments about my house.  seriously.  NO "you look great in your DI shirt" comments allowed.  i am 33 years old and just fine with my clean/messy house.  i balance TONS of stuff and so, some mornings the boys don't make their beds and I'M OK with that.

and someday, when i have NO young children at home, my house will SHINE.  unless, of course, i am lucky enough to have grandkids who leave their fingerprints all over my windows.  I would take kid fingerprints over clean ANY DAY.  i'd take POOR and HAPPY over rich and happy any day (ha! just kidding).  i'd take OVERWHELMED over LONELY any day.  today i don't have a magazine house-- but, i do have my FAIRY TALE life.  i really, really do.  and, one of my favorite things in the WHOLE world is spending time with someone who cares more about PEOPLE, FAMILY, KIDS than their HOUSE. 

and, i'm like that.

and, that is why my poor garage needs a little TLC.