Something to blog about... something to blog about...

I was a total failure this year on Easter when it comes to pictures of darling outfits. It did not happen. I stuck ties and white shirts on the boys, as usual, and Georgia wore an already-worn-once dress. As did I.
I left church early with a bad case of Vertigo. Not fun. I have been having these dizzy spells lately. One day Del walked into the kitchen just as I keeled over onto the floor. So the mystery diagnosis continues. But I am fine, promise.

I did however snap some heartwarming pictures after I had my kids tucked into bed that night.

After my kids get to sleep, I usually seriously contemplate removing the family, and burning the whole house down.
I have two or more hours of cleaning in front of me after the mini snoring has begun. No fail, even if I spent a good portion of my time during the day cleaning. Which I try hard to be somewhat diligent about.  I have to get dinner put away, and then there is laundry, and the constant need to wipe bathrooms down after a day full of use by my boys. But the most fun is the complete chaos that seems to creep into these four walls between the hours of 4:00 and 8:00 p.m. The house is clean when the kids get home, we do jobs and homework, run to whatever activity we have, or make dinner, and then... it takes on a life of it's own. I will also throw in here, that my wonderful husband has given me his blessing, and since becoming pregnant with Georgia I have had outside help in cleaning my home. I am now down to a once monthly deep clean by a company. And I could not be more grateful.

I took these pictures on a Sunday night. I will say that on weekends things get particularly hideous. We are never home on Saturdays anymore, and Sunday is a church, Sunday dinner, family time, whirlwind. Not to mention, Mom is trying to keep the Sabbath Day Holy, and not be a cleaning maniac the whole day. And with my husband leaving early on Sunday for church meetings, my kids have free reign while I shower and get ready for church myself. We come home to a MESS!
I will be honest there are some nights when I am just not feeling the never ending job of maid. I sit down and pretend I am not lounging in the remnants of the tornados that are my eight, six, three and 11/2 year olds.  I am in a constant state of bending over to pick something up, and you would never know it from the pictures below.

So I am looking for some motherly advice. From my own mother, of course, but also from those of you out there who feel my pain. Women with tidy children need not apply. What store do you buy tidy children from anyway?

I am seeking a balance in all of this. I am sure this is something I am facing because:
A. I chose to be a mother, and have four children in six years.
B. I HATE clutter, and if my house is unclean, my mental state is not good.
C. My husband does not notice clutter. Unless it is pretty obvious. ARGG!
D. My husband does try to help me. But he is indescribably busy running his company, and being everything else he is. I have taken on the role of homemaker, in it's entirety. So no picking on him.
E. I am supposed to learn patience.  Double Arggg! Who wants to learn patience?
F. Okay. F? I'll cut to the chase.

I am on this Earth to learn to be a better person, and sometimes that means not being selfish and letting my family enjoy their home environment without me breathing down their necks. "Pick that up. Put that back. Where do we put our shoes? Dishes in the sink! I am going to put these toys in time out! Aim for the water in the bowel. FLUSH!"
But it is a very high priority to me that our home be very clean, and that my children know how to get it to that point. I want to enjoy our family time, and stop calculating out the time it will take me to clean it all up after we are done.  I realize that requires me teaching them how to clean. I know there are days that I need to be better at letting them do it with imperfection, and not swoop in to finish it "correctly."
This is not all there is to it however. I love my children with every ounce of my being. But they are still very dependent. That is okay, they are little yet.
So what do you do? How do you keep the train running on a smooth, and clean track? How do you, or have you, inspired your children to shoulder the housework as they grew up? And what am I missing? Am I just a tired mom of four kidlings? I think I will jump if all of you out there never have this problem.
Help a mama out! Any kind advice is welcome.

Oh, and P.S. I won't open my door for you if the house looks like this, in most cases. So I don't know what is possessing me in the posting of them on my blog!

And this picture is making me hate all of my furniture.

The dress on the chair is my fault. I was lucky it hit a piece of furniture with how dizzy I was.

Last but not least, the basement. The place that takes the brunt of it. I will admit this was damage that began in the middle of the week, Right around the time I threw up my hands when it came to the basement that week. Now, I should post the "clean" shots to prove I am not a slob. But that is not the point of this post. Thoughts, advice, recipe's for some kind of coping serum?