5 Favorites: Imperfect Things I Love In My Life

Trying to keep life real and uphold my commitment to 31 days of posts…I bring you 5 faves about my imperfect life. And in true-to-me fashion, I am blogging late at night while humming Firecracker to sleep.

{five}

Our school table, bought for $20 at Goodwill…is perpetually covered in scribbles. It’s not Pinterest pretty, not re-finished (though I have considered it), and needs a good scrubbing. But, it was a sweet deal and is the perfect place for my boys and I to learn together.

{four}

Our mantle…perpetually home to TV remotes, saint statues, candles, and seasonal garlands. It is our space to celebrate family, faith, and the seasons. We have a huge canvas print of all 5 kids up there, and I pretty much decorate for the holidays around it. The exception is Advent and Christmas, when I replace the canvas with a Nativity scene.

{three}

The piles of books that always sit on the couch and on the lamp table. No matter how determined I am to keep books put away, the stacks grow and stay. Why do I not scream and shout about the clutter? Well, sometimes I do…but I am not so worked up about the books, because books strewn about are signs of kids who are reading, and enjoying reading, and getting books out on their to read. *That* is something I will never put an end to, so the books and piles stay.

{two}

Our in-kitchen pantry, which is never quite as organized as I would like…but it’s never organized because everyone else in the family also uses the pantry. My boys wake up and get their own cereal (as do the girls, but it’s more note-able when 4- and 6-yr olds are feeding themselves!). Each of the kids preps their own lunch for their homeschool academy days. Fence of course feeds himself breakfast, but he’s also usually the one prepping brunch on Sundays. In other words, everyone is welcome in the kitchen, self-sufficient, and also putting things away again…so, my organization is lost but that is perfectly fine when I consider that everyone in the family is involved in cooking and meals in some way.

{one}

The craft supplies and card-making materials that used up, cut in random (and not “efficient” sizes or shapes), and haphazardly strewn about the sewing room…because the kids are being creative and thoughtful making cards and handmade gifts for family and friends.

There is beauty in all these “imperfect” little bits of my domestic life, because there is love and community and sharing immersed in all these imperfections. It’s the love and sharing and growing that matter most, and in my mind, that makes it all imperfectly perfect.