“One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.” - A. A. Milne

I have this quote on the wall next to my disorderly desk.  I oftentimes wish I had been blessed with the gift of being tidy and organized, but sadly I was not.  And I do believe it is a gift!  One that comes so naturally to some and not to naturally to others.  I am proud that 99% of the time, I go to bed with a tidy living room and a clean kitchen.  But it often stops there.  The bathrooms are always clean (thanks to cleaning during kids baths) though not always tidy.  I seem to almost always be behind on laundry which means that my bedroom is cluttered with baskets of clean, waiting to be cleaned, folded and sorted and waiting to be folded clothes.  Only I know which is which!  The girl's rooms are always safe (well, most of the time) so that there is at least a path to the door through the toys, coloring pages and tossed aside clothes (Taylor goes through several sets of clothes a day based on her mood and the dancing-ness of the music we have on).  My backyard is surprisingly tidy (aside from a sprinkling of toys) due to my tender care of my baby plants.  My sweet pod peas have started climbing! But my desk, is always disorderly.  And I have no idea how to manage this!  I clean it about once a month  (and discover coupons and pre-school pages and forgotten grocery lists amidst the pile) But it always seems to find it's way back to chaos in a surprisingly short amount of time.   Perhaps I should simply accept this about  myself and move on?  Or maybe it is a spiritual lesson on self control and organization....is there anything in the Bible about organization?  Hmmmm.  

Organization has been the my central theme the last day or so as I go through piles to give away.  My lovely sister had a baby boy so that means the four big bins of baby girl clothes can find another home.  I am donating them to the WISH rummage sale which you should all come too!  It is on the lawn of the hanford civic center tomorrow morning.  When my wonderful Husband works a lot (as he has been lately) I find the housework closing in on me, I realize just how much help he generally is and get into a slump where I feel as if I will never come out on top of my do to list, so why even bother?  Of course it doesn't help that it has been sooo beautiful outside!  Who wants to stay inside and do laundry when we can be outside playing!?!  I need more windows....

The world has been smaller lately.  As disorganized as I may feel - I like it when the world is smaller.  Not so overwhelming.  Oh, and I discovered another tea!!!  Hold on, let me find the name of it:  It is plum and blackberry black tea.  I got it from 'Fresh and Easy' you know, the newish grocery store in Lemoore?  I like it!  It reminds me a lot of my long departed and loved black mango tea from Trader Joe's...it just tastes a little blue-er, not quiet as yellow.

Oh!  I got a sewing machine this week!  I got it 50% off at target, it was the last one.  I had been watching it for a while.  (oh, if anyone needs to stock up on thank-you cards, gift bags or wrapping paper it is all 75% off at the moment.  I think scrap booking stuff might be too, but I don't have use for that so I didn't look very closely) Amazon post my sewing machine as having a $250 list price (and they are usually pretty accurate) So I would say getting it for $70 is pretty good!  It also has wonderful reviews.  I spent all afternoon the other day getting it set up and working.  It was actually a weird feeling.  My job is hard, but it doesn't take much mental energy as far as academic learning is concerned.  Now, I know that a learning manual for a basic sewing machine is nothing academically- but I could feel those muscles working.  The ones that have been asleep for a few years now.  It felt good, but wow I was exhausted by the time the girls woke from rest time.  
Dang it!  My tea cooled off again.  I need a mug that keeps hot drinks at a constant 175-180 degrees. It just doesn't taste good anymore when it cools off.  And it cools off way to quickly! My problem is that I don't really like travel mugs, so even though I have some insulated ones I wont use them unless I am actually traveling.  Ah well, I suppose if this is the worst thing I have to complain about today it is a good day!  So I will put my complaining on the shelf for now and be so very thankful that I have some lovely hot tea to drink...and a microwave that can heat it back up for me! 

Ah - short post today.  The world is calling and I fear I cannot hide behind extra shows, cups of tea or computer screens today.  I will close by posting a few pictures from the last week or so.  Like I said, we have been having fun lately!  And luckily my children have no inherited their mother's perfectly understandable and not at all irrational fear of mud.  After all, playing in the mud is something of a right of passage as a child is it not? 

They started out pretty clean....

That didn't last long...

More mud!!

Messy!  

Needless to say - both children were hosed off and popped promptly into the bath!  Then dressed in cozy pj's and we read stories until bedtime.  A good day for kids!  See?  This is why my house is a mess, we are having too much fun outside to clean!

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
for children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I'll play with my babies 'cause babies don't keep.

                                                                                                          - Ruth Hulburt Hamilton