The Messy Kitchen.

 

Let me introduce you to my messy kitchen...
Kitchen, Readers...Readers, Kitchen...

Now I know it's not super duper messy, but each morning while my tea is steeping, I do a "kitchen sweep" where everything gets tidied up for the day.
This photo is the end of day.  Not unusual for the kitchen to be turned topsy-turvy by day's end, but this particular day I walked in and instead of being overwhelmed, I smiled.

Let me explain...

See that box of Rice Krispies?  It's from a giant batch of rice krispy treats we'd made that day, and devoured for lunch.  Yes, rice krispies for lunch.

The bag behinds it contains the remains of a delicious loaf of bread that Russ cooked for us.

The plastic containers behind that are part of our never-ending collection of plastic containers that Brooklyn plans to use for her plants in the spring.

The crockpot back in the corner?  Some sort of delicious-ness, which was served in all of the dishes scattered about.  Whatever it was, everyone must've liked it.

The cake pan?  Russ and Sam decided to make a Minecraft cake...but only got as far as the cake itself (no frosting or anything Minecrafty about it).  It was THE BEST chocolate cake any of us has ever had.  I have tried to replicate it, but have been unable.  Russ claims it was because Sam was in complete control of mixing.  Guess I'll have to wait to try again when Sam's ready.

The knife and cutting board?  "Mom, can we cut some stuff?"  "Sure, what shall we cut first?"

The box of crackers in the front there?  Leftovers from a cheese-making party at friends' house where far too much cheese was consumed.

The bread-maker bucket over by the sink?  My half of the bread-making process--Russ does the making, I do the cleaning.  It's better that way...people actually eat the bread.

The mugs?  A nice sunny morning with my love, sipping our warm drinks and talking about what the day holds for us, while the kids still slept quietly in bed.

The frosting buckets?  I've been collecting these to put our food storage in.  Russ asks for them at the bakery when he runs to the store for me, even when he doesn't want to.

The wine bottle?  A good end to a great day.


It's hard sometimes to not get overwhelmed at the amount of Mess that happens each day.  But I've found that it helps so, so much not to look at it as Mess, but as Life.
...now that's not to say I always walk into a room and smile at the "Life" exploded all over the wall and ceiling and let's not mention the floors that I can't see...but sometimes it really does help.