Messy Mom Monday

Brittany and Jess are hosting a new link-up called Messy Mom Monday--getting real about the fact that virtually no moms have it all together all the time, even though it may look like it sometimes. I'm not sure if I've ever told this story before on the blog or not, but not too long after Lizzy was born, I remember looking at some other moms that I knew and thinking, I just don't understand how they do it! Their homes were always spotless. They were always posting on Facebook about their from-scratch cooking, the many novels that they were reading, their great 10 mile run, the hilarious TV they were watching, AND the great Beth Moore studies that they were doing. And here I thought it was a good day if I got a shower.

And then when I was talking with a few of the moms one day, one of them mentioned that they had been hiring a high school girl to come clean their house. Another mentioned that she has her kids go to daycare one day a week, and that's when she does her long runs and cleans the house. Another told me that they just shove everything into their back bedroom anytime someone is coming over. It was like an epiphany to me--they aren't perfect, I just thought they were. It can be a lonely place to think that you're the only person who doesn't have it all together all the time, and that's what I think this link-up is all about...letting ourselves be real once in awhile, and hopefully letting others know that it is okay for them to be real too.

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Here's my sweet adorable girl this morning...she's on the couch watching Dora while I lay in bed and blog.



But let's back up and get a fuller picture of the room, no?


It's amazing what you can hide in photos.

Our laundry situation is out of control right now. I wasn't able to do laundry at all last week and hadn't done much the previous week either, so it was a little outrageous. We made some good progress this weekend, but left two loads on the couch yesterday morning ready to be folded after church...and then didn't end up back home until 10pm. So there they still sit...along with numerous other piles of laundry that need to be washed and sorted through.







The buffet is still a mess from Lizzy's birthday last week. And the photo that I took to show you? I have no idea what happened there, but it ended up looking like this:



And our spare bedroom? Oh my GOSH you guys...it has become the dumping ground lately for everything that we don't have a home for anywhere else. We desperately need to add some money in the budget for Rubbermaid containers to get this under control!

But, Justin only has a week or so left on his high-paying job site, and so I'm leery about actually spending that money instead of putting it in savings. I mean, I can always just shut the spare bedroom door.

Go link up with Jess or Brittany and share your Messy Mom Monday post with us!

Um, it's not Halloween yet.

Yesterday, I was doing a senior portrait session for a local girl and her boyfriend. We were at this old barn-type place, and I had backed up to get a wider angle shot.

Suddenly, I heard her shriek, and sprint away. Her boyfriend {who was clad in a deer shirt and mossy oak hat to give you an idea of his personality}, also yelped and ran for the hills.

"What? What's wrong?!" I yelled as they were running away.

"Oh my God! OH MY GOD! It's a bat! I heard something squeaking, looked over, and it's a freaking bat! It just flew behind that post," she yelled.

"Maybe I should check and see if it's okay?" the boyfriend suggested.

"Don't you dare! Bats aren't supposed to be out during the day! It could have rabies! My friend from high school had a bat land on her shirt one evening, and she had to get rabies shots! DO NOT TOUCH THE BAT!" I yelled back frantically.

"Seriously though, it was kind of dark over here by the overhang, and then it flew over there to the dark corner. Maybe it's just hurt..." he responded.

"Don't you dare touch the bat or I am taking you to the hospital to get rabies shots!!!" the girlfriend threatened.

He began to walk over towards the dark corner where the bat was hiding, when it promptly flew away into the distance, invoking shrieks of terror from the girlfriend and I.

Seriously, bats during the day are not cool at all. I itched the rest of the day just thinking about it, even though the bat didn't come within 30 yards of me, and even though I doubt having rabies makes you itch. I have no desire to see bats in person....EVER. I'm quite content to see them in our copy of Stellaluna, thankyouverymuch.