"Mom, why are we hoarders?"

Rylie asked me this question one night as I was putting her to bed. She asked me if I was going to bed or staying up and I told her I was staying up to clean the house. She has a hard time sleeping unless she knows someone is awake watching the house. ( She has a lot of fear about someone breaking in our house, even though we live in the middle of nowhere.) She then asked me how long I was going to stay up and I told her quite a while because the house was messy. That was when she asked "Mom, why are we hoarders?" I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. We sometimes watch that show on TLC about compulsive hoarders and I guess she thinks our house can get pretty messy. So maybe I have a pile of unopened junk mail and a pile of pictures the kids have drawn that I don't know what to do with. Maybe I also have dishes in the sink and unfolded piles of laundry and remnants of mealtimes all over the counter tops, and blankets and toys all over the family room, but I definitely didn't think I was a hoarder. Anyone who knows me, knows that I have a very clingy baby and can rarely get anything done unless I am holding him. I know that I should just put him down and let him cry or try to preoccupy him, but I have tried all that before and he still comes over to me and hangs on my leg and cries. So, I just give into him and sit and play with him. I've tried loading the dishwasher with one hand while holding him and he just tries to grab everything. I guess I have let things go a little bit but now I'm worried about what my kids think. I clean my house at least once a day but it gets messy pretty quick. I try and I guess that is all that matters. I won't live with a dirty house but for now I have to live with a cluttered one. I took a picture of what my house looks like on a day to day basis and will let everyone else make their own opinion. Maybe she is right and I am just in denial or maybe every mom's house looks like this sometimes ( please, someone tell me I'm not the only one so I don't feel too bad).

Golfing

Porter has been doing a lot of golfing lately and the girls always want to do whatever he is doing. When Porter went to the driving range one day he of course had to take the whole family with him. Rylie and Brynlie used whatever clubs Porter wasn't using and tried their best at hitting the ball. I think the club was as tall as Brynlie but they actually didn't do too bad. They did get bored not far into the bucket of balls. So they found other ways to entertain themselves.

They started out with just throwing the golf balls around, then they started posing for pictures. Yeah, they kind of look like rugrats. Brynlie insists on dressing herself and I think Rylie did Brynlie's hair that day. They are still beautiful though.

Then they put the ball buckets on their heads and club covers on their feet like socks.

Then they got really silly and put the club covers on their hands and had a boxing match. After that they thought it would be more fun to get the clubs and have a sword fight. They did all this while Porter was trying to practice. Now they think they want to go with Porter on a real golf course. I can only imagine what that would turn out like. Good thing the driving range was empty that day.

Easton is 10 months old

My handsome little boy is now 10 months old. He is certainly different from my girls. He is very energetic and into everything. He laughs every time I tell him 'no'. He thinks it's pretty funny to have mom chase him and get mad. He loves to be outside and play with dirt. He thinks he is a puppy and goes around with his tongue hanging out and making puppy sounds. He is cruising along the furniture and loves to have someone help him walk around. He is a very good eater and will eat anything I put in front of him. That is another huge difference between him and my girls. My girls were both picky eaters and only wanted to drink their bottles. He loves it when I imitate animal sounds and can even do a few himself. He can say 'bye' and 'hi' and also ma-ma and da-da. He loves to bath or swim and gets angry when the girls are bathing and I won't let him in with them. He is obsessed with grabbing handfuls of dirt out of my house plants, but he usually will wait until I see him by the plant before he grabs the dirt and giggles when I try to get him out of it. He keeps all of us on our toes, but he is so much fun.