thinking functionally... and hating every minute of it.

I've finally come to the conclusion that in order for our family to survive I need to make my house a very functional home. This is both liberating and disappointing at the same time. This might not be rocket science for most, but for me, succumbing to the fact that having a "pretty" house doesn't cut it with 4 kids and a full life has been a difficult process. As much as I would love to have a beautiful lantern with tangerine scented candles on my counter, a basket full of size 3 and 5 diapers and Burt's Bee diaper cream serves me better on any average day. Beautiful throw pillows on my couch are out of the question... they would be destroyed by ninja warriors before anyone would have a chance to see them. I had to ask my self a very simple question: what is our home primarily for? The answer is easy: raising 4 gifts of God while attempting sanity for their parents. So the solution was obvious: function over beauty.

I do still have pockets of beauty strewn around my house.... I love my wall of picture frames, my glass container of tea bags and my bedroom is slowly becoming my secret get-away.

It's a season... just like everything else in my life, and I'm determined to enjoy every minute of it... even if for the time being my couch cushions have turned into wrestling mats.

Our UNFINISHED wall of picture frames I have been saving for years. We still need to put up a few more frames and then fill them... but it's starting to look the way I pictured it in my head when we moved in!