THESE ARE THE DAYS OF OUR LIVES...

We've been enjoying the sunshine and approach of spring.  Don't you love sleeping with the window open?

And you know what sunshine means?  It means I get the Spring Cleaning Bug!  I started with the boy's rooms.  I needed to make room for their new desks that we bought them for homeschooling.  Oh yeah - did I mention we're homeschooling next year?  More on that later.

A steal at ten dollars each.  Now we just need textbooks, art supplies, science materials... And the boys' rooms were as far as I got on that spring cleaning, because after moving one queen sized bed, one toddler bed and two twin beds from one room to another, by myself, I was wiped out.  I think I'm still sweating from that day.

Ethan brought home these depictions of Lincoln and Washington a week or so ago, and let me tell you, I had a fright when I pulled them out of his backpack.  A little warning next time, Ethan!  But the more I studied them, the more they grew on me.  And now they are hanging in my bathroom.  Not really.  I put them in the garbage so they wouldn't attack us while we sleep.

After Cameron made his diorama, Drew begged me to let him paint, which I did, because I'm a cool mom like that.  I thought he knew that the paint was not for eating, but I was wrong.

And speaking of Cameron's diorama, here is the finished product.  Isn't it funny how you picture one thing in your head and your child can picture something completely different?  I always thought there might be more grass in the grasslands ecosystem...  But this diorama will be displayed in his room til the day he dies, he loves it so much.  

This is me on my pretty, new bike.  I wouldn't let Andrew buy me a mountain bike because he wasn't there during my childhood when I almost died forty-seven times on a regular bike on a regular, paved road.  He just doesn't understand.  So I went into the bike store and picked out this one, and the salesman practically gave it to me because I was so charming.  That and it's last year's model which they couldn't seem to get rid of.  It has a lovely bell.  And I can't decide if I want a basket on the front or on the back.  So if you have an opinion - let me know.  I love riding it.  Except for when this is attached to the back:

...and then I almost die.  Pulling three kids, (yes, three - they fit...sort of), behind me in that thing reminds me that all that walking I've been doing doesn't count as exercise at all because I've been doing it at a snail's pace while I wait for Drew to pick up every fallen leaf he sees.  I took the three little guys for a ride yesterday and about twenty minutes ago my legs started to feel normal again.  I'm going again today.  And the next day and the next.  And then one day, I magically won't feel like my thighs are on fire when I pump the fatties up the hill.

And finally, we picked up Andrew's bug yesterday to the tune of more money than I want to mention.  It still makes me want to vomit.  So on the way home from the mechanic the left turn signal quit working because Andrew went over a bump, and also, the fuel line was leaking.  So this is the t-shirt that Andrew used to catch the drip of gasoline that we spent $3.05 a gallon on.  He fixed both issues; the first by going over another bump to jostle the electric lines back in place and the second by replacing the fuel line, or a part of it, anyway.  In spite of all these issues, Andrew still has a ginormous smile on his face.  I'd have a smile on my face, too, if we could have bought the $200 worth of parts ourselves and if Andrew had done the labor.  Lots and lots of hours of labor.  They really add up.  Thank goodness for tax returns.

Now I'm going to go do the breakfast dishes.  By hand.  Because more than two weeks later, my dishwasher is still not working.  But before I go, here's proof that Trent still exists, even after all those sleepless WEEKS when he got used to being held all night after being sick and decided not to sleep at all - ever.  FOR TWO WEEKS.

Have a lovely day, everyone!