It's Always Something

Regardless of the season, our kitchen always seems to succumb to the paraphernalia from the activities of the year. 

Fall

During the school year, we have backpacks by the back door, school papers on the desk and lunch bags on top of the fridge. (I haven't yet found a good spot for the lunch bags... right now I put them in our drying rack on top of the fridge, but then when I need to dry dishes, I have to remove the lunch bags before I take down the drying rack, then put them back in when I'm done. Not the best arrangement.) Then at Halloween time we have a large bowl full of candy that sits on the kitchen counter... taking up valuable counter space! Sadly, that silly bowl tends to hang around for a very long time.

Winter

Then in the winter, in addition to the school things, we've got extra bulky coats and hats and mittens and boots by the back door. And usually some towels. Towels that we lay down on the floor after playtime in the snow - otherwise wet boots and clothes get troopsed all over the kitchen floor. (Oh, to have a mudroom!!)  In February is Valentine's Day, bringing with it more candy... and the candy bowl. (Which may still be out from October!)

Spring

Ah, the satisfaction of putting away all of those extra bulky winter things! Yeah! Spring just brings us back to the typical Fall stuff with school items. Oh yes, and Easter... and more candy. Yup, that candy bowl again.

Summer

Again, much satisfaction in putting away those silly lunch bags for the summer. Hooray! And the backpacks are put away, too. So that's nice. Then comes out the cleats and mitts and baseball hats and balls for the boys' baseball season. Oh yes, and the water bottles for that, too. They, much like the lunch bags, don't really have a good "home", so when we are actively using them, they end up on the kitchen counter. And wouldn't you know, summer also brings with it parades... and you know what that means! More candy! *sigh* Out comes the candy bowl again. (There is seriously not too many months when it's not sitting out on the counter.) Also comes the sunscreen and bug spray sitting on the counter, too. And then at the end of the summer, the cleats and soccer shin guards join the rest of the stash by the back door. And at that point, we're ready for Fall...

There really is always something.

And there you go... the cycle of "stuff" from the Andres household. :)