Tidying Up (but not too much)

Just a quick one today...
My laptop charger cable died a sudden death yesterday evening without me noticing until my laptop was out of power :(  I am grateful to have our ancient old PC in the study/ learning room - but the boys are usually on it, & it's pretty slow, poor old thing!  Anyway, I'm hoping my new charger cable will arrive soon - I feel lost without my laptop (probably a sign that I rely on it way too much)!

Today we're having another lovely lazy Monday - just to uphold the stories about HE kids doing school in their pyjamas ;)  Youngest and I made some brownies first thing (sorry, no laptop = no new photos), and then the boys took it in turns on the computer, either on MathsWhizz or Reading Eggs.  The rest of this morning has been spent mainly having a good clear-out of their bedrooms, that now look MUCH better!  They also helped with sorting washing, making lunch & general tidying (I think we even have a bit more space to put some books away in now), and once Middle and Youngest's bedroom was tidy, they had a lovely time turning their now-visible carpet into a safari park with all the toy animals we had found :)  Youngest also made some sticker pictures, and Eldest and I checked eBay where he is currently trying to sell off some of his much-loved lego in order to buy an even more loved Star Wars Wii game.  It's a great lesson for him in Maths, not to forget beginners' level finances, marketing, business studies etc.  I was a bit sad when he told me the other day he's 'grown out of' Lego Atlantis (he used to be passionate about it) - but I have to accept that he's growing up, and I was really glad that he was open to the idea of selling some off to raise his own funds, rather than expecting to have everything he wants handed to him. He used to want to hold on to everything, but our house just isn't big enough, and one thing I have learned from moving house as often as we have, is that you can't afford to hold on to stuff that you aren't reasonably going to use again.  Being a frequent mover has made me a bit of a ruthless anti-hoarder.  I definitely aspire to the William Morris quote,

 "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautfiul"

Of course, having three gorgeous small mess-creators (not to overlook contributions from the adults in the house), I'm resigned to the fact that my house is never going to look anything like a show-home - at least, not until they've all flown the nest - but who wants to look forward to that?  Definitely not me!!!  A friend posted this lovely saying on Facebook the other day, that sums up my attitude pretty well:

"My home is filled with toys & has fingerprints on EVERYTHING & is NEVER quiet.  My hair is usually a mess and I'm always tired, but there is always LOVE & LAUGHTER HERE.  In twenty years time my children won't remember the house or my hair but they will remember the time we spent together & THE LOVE THEY FELT."                                                (from the 'I LOVE BEING A MOM' Facebook page)

So, that said, I'm not going to spend any more time on our faithful but slow old computer, I'll just say that seeing as the weather has taken a turn for the worse again (sigh), we're going to snuggle up for a 'cinema' afternoon, where the curtains are closed to make the room cosy and dark, and we eat popcorn & watch a DVD (Happy Feet 2).  I do love Mondays :)