thoughts of a homemaker

My house is not always clean. Not that its dirty, but its usually messy. I am often in awe at those who manage to keep an immaculate home. Now, I know how to clean. I spend time every day cleaning my house, and it gets done. But it never stays done. I don't really know how to keep my house clean. I usually blame it on Ana. She must make the mess because I clean up every day.

The other day I realized something, and it came in 2 parts. The first was a dream I had the other day that our "landlords" (a.k.a. Dave's brother and his wife) told me my bathroom was too messy, and I needed to keep it cleaner. (Not that they would ever do that - its not that bad.) I woke up feeling all awkward about it and realized that if I am so paranoid at what other people think of my homemaking skills, I needed to do something about it.

So that day I looked around and took notice of what made my home look messy. And I was surprised to find that it wasn't Ana's toys that caused the problem..... It was my mess. I was the one who was getting stuff out and not putting it back away. Dave was by no means off the hook either. We were the problem.

So we came up with a game/competition to help our little problem. It is day 1 of that game, and I have to admit, its an adjustment. It sounds so easy to simply put things away when you get it out, but its a habit that is hard to get into. I am becoming much more aware of it, though, and I think its the beginning of some better housekeeping on my part. Usually by this time of day, my living room is beginning to show the activities of the day, but surprisingly it has stayed much more orderly (with the exception of a few toys on the floor). Its a good feeling.

Now I wanted to add a few pictures of Jack, since its been a while and he's getting so big!

Playing with Ana:


Playing with Ana again:


He found a piece of chocolate that somehow was left in his reach, and wasn't discovered until it was too late:

Happy Tuesday!