Fingerprints..and a WHOLE LOT MORE

So, I'm sure most of you have read one of those little fingerprints poems, usually on the back of a cute little handprint of your child. You know, one that goes something like this:

Sometimes you get discouraged
Because I am so small,
And always leave my fingerprints
On furniture and walls.
But everyday I am growing,
-I'll be grown up someday,
And all these tiny handprints
Will simply fade away.
So here's a final handprint
Just so you can recall,
Exactly how my fingers looked
When I was very small.
I love you!

I've been thinking about that a bit lately and using it to appreciate the goings-on in my house. I think I will miss those fingerprints (so that's my excuse for never cleaning the glass that will just be dirty 10 minutes later)

I'm also reassuring myself that I am going to miss this very cluttered playroom, full of crumbs and beautiful children along with my kitchen counter full of junk (wait, I mean very educational childrens items):
my porch overtaken with toys, play equipment, and furniture piled up and shoved into the corner: sippy cups filling the dish strainer...or wait, is it called a drainer? WOAH! Mom brain, I honestly don't know!
My dining room overtaken with spelling games and art projects:
tripping over random bottles and toys in my shower:
then getting out of the shower to step on some more random piles in my bathroom:
You see, I could have never taken these pictures (all on the same day-promise!). I could have let you think I have this wonderfully tidy house with the most well-behaved children ever...but that would be a big lie. Most of all, I really have been thinking about that poem. I've been looking around my house at ALL of these things and really appreciating them. Learning to love this stage of life that my little one's and I are in. Realizing that I can't possibly keep everything in order-and that it's perfectly okay. I have 3 children to care for and teach...and couldn't ask for a better "job" or bigger responsibility. SO BLESSED!