before i actually had kids...

i always said that i would never let a mess get in the way of a really good time. i did pretty well at first letting gabe do fun messy things on a regular basis. then, when ezra was born, we did a few less things and as time went on, we got so busy that i actually forgot about my resolution to bring on the mess along with the fun. not that we stopped doing fun things... its just that the fun things that we were doing involved going out (to the park, to feed the ducks, to the library, to target) and didn't necessitate getting messy.

now that titus is here, we definitely find ourselves home more often than not. of course, in a few months, i anticipate leaving the house just as much as we did before (because if you really know me, you know that i get a little stir crazy at home) but for the time being, it is simpler and makes infinitely more sense for us to stay close to home most days.

so for now, while we are home, and my incredibly energetic boys are stuck inside most of the time, i am trying to remember to turn a blind eye to the amount of clean-up an activity might take and let them have their fun. even if i have to mop the floors... again. or give them yet another bath (after all, isn't taking a bath just swimming indoors anyways?). or spend the next year picking dried beans up off the floor.

and i suppose in the end, i won't remember how much time it took me to clean all of the paint footprints up off the floor... i will just be happy to recall how sweet chubby toddler feet look when they are covered in finger paint.