My mess, or, why can't this house stay clean?

Yesterday morning I spent 42 minutes walking around the house cleaning. This doesn't mean I was sweeping, or dusting, or doing dishes. I walked around the house picking up random things from the floor and putting them back where they are (theoretically, in my world view) supposed to go. Among the things I found just lying around:
1. One dress up shoe, purple, presumably Helen's.
2. One play TV from the dollhouse. Emma insists it's broken because it won't turn on.
3. One child's sock, purple (no idea where the mate is)
4. One sticker, floral, with sparkles
5. Mardi Gras beads, green, metallic
6. 6 play frogs, various colors, which are supposed to live on a bench in my kitchen, but had somehow migrated to the Sesame Street playset
7. One Little People person, Maggie, under the front hall cedar chest
8. One Snow White diaper, shoved into a doll buggy, presumably to hide it for safekeeping
9. One Bonne Bell lipgloss, mine, with a tooth divet in it. Emma doesn't believe they're not candy
10. One half of a blue plastic Easter egg. Again, no idea where the other half is, or how it even got into this house.

All I want is a clean, streamlined Scandivian-style house. What I got is an evolving, completely thrown together, always interesting mishmosh house. Not House Beautiful material. I love it, but man, when will I stop scrubbing dry erase marker off my kitchen wall?