I spy with a mother’s eye…
Notes that say simply “Mom” left in unexpected places
Half-full trick-or-treat bags on the pantry floor in July
A paper cup catapult ready to launch
Books about fish that fill my son’s head with more facts than Jacques Cousteau knew himself
A cluttered art table no one can seem to keep clean…ever
My red metal crab constantly repositioned on the bathroom counter to look like it’s hiding, walking, or a hermit crab
Every time I went in the bathroom, this guy was in a different place.
A rocking chair where my daughter reads aloud in her room at night
Small fingerprints on our dirty storm door
Dolls ready for school
Toys scattered on the floor after a day of loud, in-your-face pretending
Tear stains on a pillow when one sibling decided playtime was over
An indentation in the pile of beanbags and pillows where the kids snuggled together
A drawing of a bird that looks more lifelike than stick figure, penciled by my son
Play people lined up along a table in the playroom
Pink barrettes on the kitchen counter that I’ve asked one million times to be put away
Purple plastic heels, size six-year-old
A desk in a boy’s room littered with lists of state names, book characters, city names, and types of fish
Drawings of rainbows in all sizes
A pink rubber ring with a 12-carat “diamond” that will hopefully be one’s wedding ring someday
A cardboard robot that appeared on my nightstand out of nowhere
A beaded pink tiara
Ugly Lego men painstakingly placed above my son’s bed
My son says these guys sometimes fall on his head at night. I think they are just escaping.
Paper bits under my daughter’s chair from an hour of just cutting
Sheets and blankets spread over every inch of the playroom floor
Drawings on a closet door of mushroom people named Snillwill and Lenny and Grent
…and two busy kids behind it all.
Some of these guys have peg legs and walking sticks. Coming to a forest near you.
Mom in the Muddle 
Love this post! Clever.
Thanks. There was much more I could have added. Foam frames on the fridge. Magnets overdone in glitter. Homemade pottery imprinted with thumbs and fingers. Everywhere I look, something says a kid was here.
When our son was young, it was Lego men, toy soldiers, numerous wars that the boy always won. Our oldest daughter, very different from her brother, (but just as sweet), had a hospital ward with Operation Doll; a doll made out of a dolls head and straws, stockings, pillow stuffing, and anything else she could find. Operation Doll had numerous tracheotomies, heart surgery, limbs amputated and resewn…and the girl is now an Emergency Medical Technician. You never know where the images in their heads will lead them; but thank goodness for them.
This one’s a Fresh Pressed for sure!! It feels as if you’re describing my own house during the summer. You’re caption on the Lego figures…hilariously funny. And probably true. Keep it up, Muddled!
Thanks, Shannon. He sure loves those crazy-looking things. They do look pretty cool over his bed though. Better than scattered on the floor!
I agree with Shannon, FP-worthy. You described the chaos in such a sweet way. And, it of course, sounds just like my house!
You guys are crazy, except for the chaos part. Kids take over every room of the house like they own it, don’t they?
What a great way to capture home life – would be fun to write something like this every six months or so to see how fast our houses change with little children! Really like the pictures too
Thanks. Yes, that would be neat to keep track of the odds and ends that litter my daily life. Neat idea!
Love this!
Love those images now because you will blink and they will be gone.I loved this post,it brought back so many memories of my kids and their animal clinics……..
Great idea for a post and very well executed. Loved it! And I agree with the others, it sounds like my house (especially all the little scraps of paper from cutting!). Happy!
Thanks! This place is a madhouse and we have friends coming over this weekend. We need to get things shipshape today. Expect groans loud and clear across NC.
A perfect description of a home where children live. 🙂
I love the Lego people in the typesetting drawers. They look great! (But I understand that they need to escape sometimes.)
Good catch. Yes, those are typesetting drawers. One of the very few ideas of mine that my son has liked. 😉
You just keep putting good ideas in front of your kids and they absorb them, whether they realize it or not. My 4 are all very artistic!
What a lovely mash-up of all things mother. 🙂
I nominated you for a “Very Inspiring blogger” award.
http://closefamilies.wordpress.com/
Thank you. My kids would argue that point. There are so many inspiring folks out here. Congrats to you!
I’m not sure who is scarier – the lego people or the mushroom people! Excellent post.
I won’t be very original when I write: I loved this post! I especially love how the crab keeps being turned into a hermit crab! Love this post! Shared it on Facebook, it will make several people smile.
Thanks for the comment and thank you for sharing!
How sweet. Love the mushroom people!
I love how I feel like time stopped as I read what you were seeing. Like a little photo in time, a precious reminder to stop and look and appreciate all the things that we may skip over quickly, though one day we will wish we could keep them forever. Great Post! (From a mother clinging to a growing up teen) 😉
Thanks. I know. Sometimes I wish I weren’t tripping over doll clothes and Legos but then I smack myself.
I just wrote a post about my teenage daughter stepping into her ‘Own’ life. I think from the path your blog takes you would be able to relate to my new scary stage of Motherhood. Enjoy the Lego and the Dolls clothes.. 🙂
Hahaha See I knew you’d like it LOL
Yes, I did very much. I try to prepare myself for that stage even now because I think it’s going to take me that long to get ready for it. And I don’t think one is ever really ready for it.
No Definitely not, Hence my ‘Freaking’ Post. lol. I cried my eyes out while I read it out to my Big ‘tiny’ Girl! Asking her “Are you sure you can’t squeeze into your size 2 all-in-one suit, you could at least try! 😉 Thanks for joining me in my time of need. 🙂
Priceless!!
Perfect description of a house with kids around.
You forgot the “omnipresent Cherio” though. 😉
Ha ha! Thank goodness we are out of that phase where they don’t make it into the kids’ mouths.