Lightening the Load (One Party at a Time)

 Sometimes (well, okay, every week) the clean laundry pile starts looking like this (plus one more basket that didn't fit in the picture, plus probably another load in the dryer):

Needless to say, it starts feeling pretty overwhelming, pretty fast.

When that happens, sometimes you have to do this:

It's called having a Laundry-Folding Party.

It involves dumping out laundry baskets, cranking up some music, dancing a little, sorting and folding a lot, and somehow convincing your spouse and children that they will have fun because the word "party" is included.

Given the right music, the right attitude, and the right dance moves, they actually just might really have fun. And, with any luck, the party wraps up by 8:00 pm and you don't have to spend the rest of the night drowning in other people's (clean) underwear.

Now that's a reason to celebrate if I've ever seen one.

And...DONE!

When Craig told me (at the beginning of February) that he wanted to try to get the backyard done in time for his Dad's memorial (which was on the 20th), I did what I usually do when he says that he wants to do something completely unreasonable: I said, "Okay, sure honey," while secretly figuring that there was absolutely no way it would happen. And Craig, in characteristic fashion after telling me that he wants to do something completely unreasonable, worked his tail off night and day finishing up trenches, wiring, conduit, and block walls, not to mention coordinating contractors, getting last-minute quotes, and setting up installation appointments just so he could prove me totally wrong.

In the span of fifteen days, after the backyard had loomed behind us for months largely ignored and sorely tolerated (by me, anyway), the tile was finally ordered, delivered, and put down, the pool fence was put up, the planter boxes were completed, fake grass was measured and installed, and the patio furniture that had been sitting in our house since last summer was finally assembled and taken outside (thanks to some very good and awesome friends of Linda's). The pool itself was literally finished on the very day of the memorial, with the contractors turning on the hose to fill it right before we left the house for the cemetery.

There are still some things to do in other parts of the backyard, but this was the BIG one, and I have to say that it never ceases to amaze me how quickly Craig can get something done once he decides that he's going to do it. (Once HE decides, mind you.)

And guess what? I am not dreading summer nearly as much as usual this year, 

(Remember that kidney-bean shaped hole in the ground that used to look this this?)

(Well now it looks like this!!)

(But first it looked like this...)

(Which means that, for a few hours at least, the kids looked like this.)

Okay, now who's coming over??

Clinging to Spring

Phoenix may not do Spring for long, but she sure does it beautifully.

(Please, please please stay forever, Spring, and don't let the summer 

come and crush our fragile spirits for 6 long months...)

Sakes Alive, Someone' s FIVE!

 It's true. My youngest little girlie turned five last month. Per our agreement, she won't be getting any older, thank goodness. It's good to have at least one kiddo that has agreed to stop aging after she reaches kindergarten. Hope she likes it since she'll be there for quite a while.

Festivities included Build-A-Bear workshop and Black Bear Diner on her Bearthday Eve (note the bear theme? We try to be consistent), then a family party the next day with cake and presents (and Baby Kaden!)

Please enjoy the following bear-load of pictures.

Happy Birthday to our singing-est little girl, whose smarticles, memory, and powers of observation put us all to shame.

A Short Story

Once upon a time there were bar stools in our kitchen. 

Then, one day, Spencer leaned how to climb up on them to get onto the counter, where he helped himself to an endless supply of tap water and gloriously bubbly dish soap.

Now, the bar stools are all in the living room, guarded by this vixen. (Okay, she's not really guarding them, but they really are in there for an indefinite period of time because Spencer is kind of a monkey.)

The End.