From earth to outer space

Out of nowhere, C just said, "Mom, I love you. All the way from earth to outer space."

I think he was inspired by that book, "Guess How Much I Love You?", but I'll take it.

And kiddo? I love you all the way from earth to outer space . . . and back. ;-)

It's nonstop

I guess I really won't complain, because April showers DO bring May flowers, and it's not even April yet. So I should really be grateful that it's not snowing. But apparently, when it doesn't snow, it pours.

This is what the river two blocks away looks like today. Our sump pump has been on overdrive. And I saw our neighbors across the street pumping out a ton of water from their basement window well yesterday. That would stink. Literally.

Normally, you can see this tree's root system. Not today. Nope.

And normally, you don't see the river and the park intersecting. (By the way, it's soggy at the park. My shoes and socks got soaked. Ew.)I drew in a yellow line where the river bank is SUPPOSED to be.

As long as it doesn't creep into our basement, I'll just be grateful that it's 56 degrees outside today. :)

NO ROSES ALLOWED

I think it was after our first Valentine's Day that I told D, "NO ROSES ON VALENTINE'S, EVER! They're overpriced, cheesy, thorny, and I just plain don't like them on 2/14." (Any other day, they're great.)

I'm sure my cantankerous nature took him by surprise, but hey. Nine years later, we're still married. And it's probably due in small part to the fact that he's learned that tulip bunches are just as good for this holiday.
And I got creative this year, too:
(C said, "Mom, don't write on the wall!" Luckily, we have plenty of exposed drywall that will eventually get covered up since our kitchen is still in shambles.)

Plus, instead of doing the goingoutanddressingup thing, we're going to order (deep dish, probably) pizza, watch 24, and hang out in sweats.

Muy caliente.

I try to fly, but...

My old roommate introduced me to Flylady a few years ago. I'm a fan of the concept:

Declutter.
Don't stress over the little things.
Declutter.
Get your life in order by eliminating hotspot messes.
Declutter.
Do your Weekly Home Blessing Hour.
Declutter.
Focus on Zones.
Declutter.
Do Zone Missions.
Declutter.
Train your kids to do the same.
Declutter.
FLY!
(and keep decluttering.)

So I find this ironic:

Flylady. Kelly. Flylady Mentors. Can I count deleting these messages as my 27 fling declutter boogie today?

Valentine's Day cards

So I used to instruct people in the art of rubber stamping and cardmaking. It was all I did in my past life. Seriously. I was really into it and I still enjoy it a lot. I still have a craft room. I still have 80 reams of coordinating cardstock.

But apparently three months away and I've lost my touch.

This is the best I could come up with for C's preschool Valentine's Day party tomorrow:

What has happened to me?! Not even an embellishment! UGH.

(In my defense, it IS 1 in the morning.)

Skunky

When I woke up this morning, I smelled skunk inside our house.

At first, I thought it was my breath. (I'm sick, so my morning breath is pretty ripe.)
Then I thought it was my hair. (I got it done yesterday, so I thought - maybe it's the chemicals.)
Then I thought it was C. So I pulled him close and took a big whiff. Nope.
Then I thought it was C's breath. "Did you brush your teeth this morning?" "Yes, Mom."

I couldn't figure out what it was, so I let it go, took C to preschool, and came home to print some stuff in the office.

Ew. Ew, ew, ew. It REEKS down there. We have a basement office that has a window that opens up to the underside of our deck. So yeah, I'm pretty sure there's something fishy going on down there. Or skunky.

I'll let D handle it when he gets home.

Rock Out

We rock out a lot in our house.

Tonight: Beyonce.

Oh-oh-oh.

Sand Traps

I went downstairs to fold some laundry a few mornings ago and came back upstairs to find this:
Hot chocolate mix, WITH marshmallows, poured in little piles all over the carpet. Cut open with hair cutting scissors.

C, who totally knew he did something wrong just by looking at my horrified expression sheepishly said, "Oh! Hi, Mom."

"C, what are you doing?!!" I said in my most panic stricken voice.

In a hurried attempt to cover himself, but nearly hyperventilating, he said, "I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I.... I was just making a golf course, Mom."

"How is this a golf course?"

"You see? The golf ball rolls here, and then it goes here, but then it goes into the sand and you can't get it out."

What could I say to that? So clever.

Luckily our vacuum works pretty well.

Kitchen Surgery

When we bought our house, our kitchen needed some serious help.

We went from this
to this.
Not saying it's awesome, but it was at least a fairly good upgrade.

Fast forward 2 years. Today, our kitchen looks like this:
Apparently, a clog froze mid-pipe, caused two six-inch cracks in the PVC, and then as the weather "warmed up" to 25 degrees, defrosted all over our basement floor.
Home ownership really isn't all it's "cracked" up to be. (I kill myself.)

Oh, and for some reason, I found this, in my handwriting, on the wall.
I'm clearly delirious, because all I can think of is shawty:

Chaos

The house looks like this today:

because it still looks like this outside:
And no, your eyes do not deceive you. That is a life size Thomas the Tank Engine Mega House. In my kitchen. Because there's no space left in the toy room for it. (For perspective, note the regular human adult size chair next to Thomas' creepy smile.)

Spring, get here NOW! (And D, just give me 25 minutes to clean this up...)