A Beautiful Mess

The title is a cliche but I really don't know how else to describe this life. If I took photos of my house right now you would probably turn me into social services. I won't lie; my house explodes on a daily basis-- several times a day. I can't help it. I've tried to keep up and it drives me more crazy. I find myself arguing with the kids about "WHY" they took this out or that about 20 times a day. I wish there was a better way to deal with the mess. I wish that I could keep it more clean, but it is literally unavoidable with these kids. I could do it with Gabriel but then I had Elizabeth and she is a walking disaster. She then trained her apprentice, Josiah, to be just like her--maybe even a better mess maker. To give you an example, yesterday I went to the bathroom to find one of them had tried to clean the cat litter box and scooped the "mess" all over the floor. Then they tried to hide the evidence behind the toilet . I have four young children, and this is reality for now. We live here, play here, sleep here, and even school here. There is only so much I can do as one person, so I try to enjoy the moments in between the chaos. 

So, back to school...Gabriel has slight (maybe more than slight) ADD. I literally have to sit next to him and push him to finish a worksheet. If I get up to do the dishes he's out of his chair, thinking and talking about something else, or simply fidgeting after finishing one equation. It isn't easy to keep him on task but I'm trying to optimize my time and read, catch up on pictures/blogging, or mindless scroll through Facebook. It is a daily struggle, but I like to take things day by day. It is how I keep my sanity.

Here is our school desk. I told you it wasn't pretty! We have cups, books, a white board, halo mask, and a baby in a high chair being fed to keep her from screaming. Every day these books get laid out and then put back in a china hutch. The important thing is we get it done, and I'm happy to say Gabriel is doing well. He consistently gets 95%-100% on his math work, A's and B's on his phonics and reading, gets science concepts like a champ, and does "o.k." at spelling and writing. We are working on those last two things, but I am choosing to look at these years as a betterment process. I am not a task master to him but continue to encourage his betterment with words of affirmation and approval. Isn't that what we all crave? Room for betterment and encouragement to do so? I think this is the point of this post. To say that you do not have to be perfect to get stuff done! You just keep doing it and get better as you go. The mess might not always be beautiful, but the moments in between are:

During a short break Gabriel got to hold the kitty cat (we named Mashca) and Hannah put on her super hero cape. Then we all crash at the end of the day:

Even the kitty gets tired after a crazy day! The kids definitely keep her on her toes.