Things worth remembering

 Looking around my house right now, I wouldn't say it's a picture of domestic bliss. The computer desk in front of me is littered (as always) with an assortment of things that I suppose, if you look at them individually, tell you a lot about our lives (but really it just looks messy). There's a booklet of Lego building instructions. A colorful picture of Diego that Rhett brought home from the Fred Meyer playland, on which he has written "RHTT," insisting that there is no "E" in his name. A shopping list. An envelope from the bank that had our car title in it, which we received last week after paying off our van. The newest Ensign magazine. A DVD from the library. A box of blank note cards intended as "thank you" cards, but which are getting more and more dusty. A baby gift that I finished a week or two ago but still have not mailed. They Might Be Giants CDs (Benjamin loves the science songs). Registration card for Rhett's new booster seat. Toys. The Stake directory. Etc.

There are toys all over the floor that I can't seem to get my kids to clean up. The (pitiful) birthday decor from three days ago is still on the walls. On our mantel are the following: a frosting-container piggy bank, a plastic cup containing bits of chalk that Lucy will eat if she can reach them, Easter stuff, a bottle of gorilla glue, three wooden reindeer, a few bouncy balls, the puzzle blocks Paul made me last Christmas, a small notebook, and an air freshener that needs to be refilled.

And I won't bother describing the state of my kitchen floor, or any other floor in the house for that matter.

Plus, I've been cranky at my kids today. (Though, in everyone's defense, we've all got colds so we're all cranky.)

Does anyone feel better about their own house now? I hope so. You're welcome.

So. I am not a good decorator. (We have one picture hanging in our living room that was not created using construction paper, glue, or Q-tips.) I am not so good at cleaning everything that needs it. And I'm not the best mom in the world.

But, I look at pictures like these from a Tuesday evening early in April and I am reminded that housekeeping isn't everything. Home decor isn't everything. Picture-perfect isn't real, so I shouldn't compare myself to everyone else's blog life, or even to anyone else's real life. (I've have to remind myself again and again about that message from Elder Holland. I've needed it more than usual lately.)

A long time ago my mom gave me some advice that I continue to appreciate, which her mom gave to her. I don't remember the exact words, but it basically goes like this: Let your house get dusty. Play with your kids. My house is often very dusty. And too often I don't play with my kids when they ask me to. But I'm trying. And I'm trying to remember what's important, and what will matter in 10 years, when my boys are in the middle of their teens, and what will matter in twenty years, when my kids have left home. I don't think it will matter that our computer desk is cluttered. I do think it will matter that I hung their preschool art on the walls, and that we played Legos together, and that Paul and I like to talk with each other and laugh together and that our kids see that.

This was not supposed to turn into an essay about how messy my house is. My point is that I wish I could capture the feeling I get from these pictures every day. Because this is what matters.

Helping Dada mow the lawn

 Little Lucy in a ruffly dress and pigtails

Boys who I hope grow up to be just like their dada

 

 Sidewalk chalk, and Rhett spontaneously starting to draw the alphabet all by himself

 Evidence of one of many bouquets of dandelions I have received from my boys

And a few other things that maybe don't matter so much, but that are still memorable.

 Paul's homemade greenhouse, ready to grow more tomatoes

The parsley I planted last year that, amazingly, withstood the winter and is now growing profusely

I'm thankful this view is from our back yard and not the front, because that would just look tacky. :)