Thursday, December 9, 2010

Embracing the Lovely


































Today the floor is littered with pieces of bark from firewood in front of the hearth;
construction paper scraps, beads, snippets of pipe cleaners, and a few ornaments that have fallen off the tree
-or rather, the tree has been brushed past so often
that it's only lucky survivors which cling yet to the lower branches.
Dust bunnies scurry for corners, a lone doll shoe and string cheese wrapper appear to take up
permanent residence under my dining table.


My kitchen counters overflow with srippets of crumbs, a spoon or three that stirred coffee,
a knife with yesterdays peanut butter,  pieces of this and bits of that clutter every surface that was once clear
and where it wasn't clear, I just shoved the cheese and grater aside to make room for the bowl of
chicken Enchilada filling. 
Not exactly efficient, but workable.
Barely.

2 loads of clean laundry consume an indoor drying rack,
while 1 wet load washed yesterday waits to take it's turn by the fire.
A bag of dirty laundry, damp towel and shaving cream sit by the front door
where they landed last night when AJ came from showering up the hill at the neighbors house.
Two gigantic boots are also hogging that front door space, along with two daddy-sized boot liners
removed and placed beside boots, bag, and well... about 5 other pairs of boots.

Walking through the house feels like navigating an obstacle course.
It IS navigating an obstacle course!

Despite the gray, and rain, and chaotic mess in my home today,
there was a serene covering of peace and the sweet sweet covering of contentment.

The smells emanating from my messy kitchen
spoke the celebration of our new cousin Josiah Blaze!






















Dinner for us, dinner for them, and chocolate chip cookies to boot.
Warmth  throughout the house because 2 boys keep me in stock of wood
- even if it leaves a trail of bark chips through my living room.
The shards of paper?
They are tell-tale signs that paper chaining came into vogue here today.
"The worlds longest paper chain?"  They asked.
"At least the longest paper chain our house ever had!"  Said I.
And it was.




























































































The scent of warm cookies...
 Boquet of sweet baby-smelling new cousin...

















Twinkling tree lights...............
 The glow and comforting heat from orange coals in the woodstove.
Lengths of colorful paper chain strung from the dining table work station
over the clothes rack, and around the corner into the living room.................






















Happy content voices.
A full heart.
My heart quietly singing... it is well.

There is a mess. Or ten.
There is a maze to get through.
There is the occasional altercation:  "Mom.  I don't want to tattle... but I'm going to."
There is sometimes a lapse in patience or grace on my part;
but there IS so much to enjoy and relish and absorb
if I look past all the things that make life common
to take in the lovely things that fly past in the blink of an eye.


































































































 And so I do.


What common things are you looking past to see what's beautiful?
Tell me!

8 comments:

Cinnamon said...

Hmmm~ let's see how about lighting a candle in the kitchen even with dirty dishes.

Noticing the smile on my 2yo face when he just spilled a cup FULL of ice water.

Our tree that is lit up with NO candy canes on it because they've all been eaten.

I love Christmas~

~Cinnamon

Morgan said...

Beautiful pictures (and kids!). I'm so glad to hear that you don't always have a perfect house. :)

Momma Bug said...

Mostly.

I like it "tidy" and try in vain to achieve that more often than anyone else appreciates :-D HA!

Thank you Morgan. There are both good and not-so-good things about the fact that a blog doesn't show the whole picture, but I'm so glad to know I am loved even when my house is not picture-perfect!

outdoor.mom said...

GREAT Post!! Congratulations to your sis in law :-) Beautiful baby!! When my house is messy, i would WAY RATHER sit down and blog - lol!! Great job finding contentment in your mess. I get stressed out about it too easily. Can't wait till the day i can come have a cup of tea at that table :-)

Diane said...

Ah, I wish I could ignore the mess a bit more. I haven't decorated the house for Christmas yet, partially because I want the house clean and organized BEFORE I pull even more stuff out to clutter...ur I mean decorate the house. Guess I need to enjoy and just get the decorations out today.
But there has been the lifting the decorations into the house from the garage that has held me back too, with my back and mom recovering, hasn't been an ideal situation. :)

LOVE the paper chain kid pics!

Tell Hannah and Charlie congrats. What day was the baby born?

Photo Momma said...

Love the colorful chain... And love your post. You are such a talented writer to turn even a messy home into something poetic and beatiful. I love it!

Unknown said...

I love the decorating fun. My kids love doing that too. What do I look past to enjoy something beautiful?

My sleeping children cuddled together amidst a messy bedroom!

PS. Kaydee and Emma are my twins in case you are wondering. We were signed into their blog when I left the other two comments!

Momma Bug said...

Mommy of 12,
I have been enjoying your blog, your family, and your perspective that feels so familiar ;-)
Thank you for YOUR faithfulness!

Love!