Get real

In an attempt to be real, even though I don't care to share my name and where I live, here's a bit about my real life.  It's messy.  Always very messy.  Having five kids and being a pretty laid back housekeeper makes for a messy house.  I do typically clean it up with the help of the kids Monday through Friday but, Monday through Friday the house is still always a mess.  I guess when you live life that's how it usually goes.  On weekends, I don't clean much.  There just isn't time or sense in it when your better half is a tornado.

Yesterday I showed you some of my mess and I did get it all spic and span including doing two full loads of dishes and then being left with another sink full after dinner.  Here's how it all looks this morning.

This is taken from the hall.  The kitchen, dinning, and living area is about 22' by 20' total.  It certainly doesn't sound ideal for a family of seven but it works for us.  It makes cleaning pretty easy too.  We have a rule that says no toys downstairs (except for the baby and toddlers toys...they only have a few.)  That helps more than any other thing we've ever tried.  This area is a bit of a mess right now but I bet I could get it tip top including dishes in about 30 minutes. 

Here's a view from the other side by the fridge.

I'd love to cover the couches and chair in a lighter colored fabric (white!) to lighten up the place, but that won't work with my family due to the cost of such a project and having children who live outside in the dirt all day every day.  I'd have to make a no playing outside rule and that just wouldn't be any fun.  Plus they'd be inside all day bugging me.  Ha!  I love my kids and I love having them around me everyday, but mine talk a LOT (nonstop...to me) and it's not usually about anything I'm real interested in, plus, they make messes.  I really enjoy my quiet time while they're outside.

As I said yesterday, we're building this house with cash so it's far from finished because we don't have and abundance of the green stuff laying around or an abundance of time to work on it.  We just do what we can when we can.  That ladder will eventually be replaced with a ship style ladder and it leads up the the kids room.  Right now the entire second floor is unfinished, the walls and ceiling are even paper backed insulation but some day it will be two bedrooms and a half bath...hopefully. 

Once the baby wakes up from her nap, I'll clean the house real quick.  My bedroom is already done and the laundry is all washed and waiting to be folded and put away so hopefully I can keep it fairly clean this weekend.  My two youngest girls are sharing a birthday party this weekend which is good motivation for me to stay on top of things.

We homeschool too and this year my one and only boy will be starting kindergarten so I'll have three in school.  I'm looking forward to it.  We plan to start on Tuesday, I like to stretch summer vacation out as long as I can.  As far as curriculum goes, I don't use any particular one.  I just mix and match and use what I have and that has worked for us so far just fine.  My oldest is starting sixth grade.  I'm not sure what I'll do once she gets into the harder math but so far I've found lots of resources online as well as some pretty good work books from places like Mardel's book store.  Wal-mart carries some good work books on several subjects for kids up to grade four (I think...can't remember for sure what grade.)

I hear the baby babbling in bed, so it's back to work I go!