Cleaning Up the Messes of Others

I have been an At-Home-Mom for almost 16 years now. I know that I am mostly responsible for taking care of the house. I have tried to teach my boys to be responsible and caring for the things they own. Apparently I have failed. This is what I woke up to on Saturday morning. Now, it didn't get like this overnight. Sometimes I let it accumulate over a few days just to see if anyone will notice that we haven't eaten dinner at the table in a few nights or that they can't find something that they were looking for in the place that it is supposed to be. This is actually a week's worth of accumulation. and I think there are only two or three things that I actually set down in this mess.

• I used the camera
• I set the green scarf on the table the night before
• I had just cleaned out the recipe binder and was taking it to Deseret Industries

But there are several things I didn't touch:

• I didn't use the potting soil that had been on the dining room table for TWO weeks (The seeds that were planted are already up!)
  
• I didn't read the book that is under the recipe binder but should be on the shelf
  
• I didn't use the colored pencils
• I didn't get the rocket supplies out
• I didn't use the peanut butter, jelly or bread
• I didn't leave my church binder, scriptures and other misc. papers on the table
• I didn't leave the pile of newspapers
• I didn't forget to hang up my jacket
• I didn't forget to push the toaster back where it belongs
• I didn't forget to do the dishes the night before (we all have nights we do dishes)
• I didn't leave the butter out
• I didn't ignore my mom when she asked me to take the plate rack back down to the basement

But I cleaned it up! And they wonder why I am sometimes grumpy!!!

Rocket Man

Jim loves rockets. Which is nice when you have three boys. They all love building and shooting them with their dad. We have a park a half a block away from our house (really it is a big grass field/water shed). That is where lots of the rockets are blasted from. There is also a park in Bloomington, by the "Fun Place" where a lot of our rockets have also been blasted from. We do the countdown and the boys try to catch them before they land - or crash.

While Jim was Scout Master, just about every scout in our troop got their Space Exploration merit badge. He is not the Scout Master anymore but they asked him to be the Space Exploration merit badge counselor. So about twice a year he gets out his launch pad, teaches his class and sends a few rockets into space (notice I didn't say OUTER space ;)). It is great fun. The kids like pushing the button or lighting the fuse. They love to run after their glued and painted masterpieces, trying to capture them before they hit the ground, hoping to be able to get that second launch in.

I love my Rocket Man!

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Ahh, The Good Ol' Days...of Last Week

Today it is a little gray and there has been some rain. It snowed a few days ago. Spring in Utah does that. It teases us into thinking the cold weather is over by giving us a fantastic weekend... Then it snows! I have lived in northern Utah almost as long as I lived in southern California, where I grew up, and I still am not used to the "Spring Tease".

Well, last weekend was one of those fantastic weekends. Jim cleaned out the garage (his ongoing project) and he got the boys out in the garden beds cleaning up. They also planted a few things. The peas are always one of the first things to get planted. They don't mind getting snowed on.

Here is Austin turning the dirt in one of the small beds

Kyle is pruning back all the grape vines. Jim's sister comes and gets them every year. I'm not sure what she does with them but I'm sure it's something really crafty.

Occasionally we can get Josh to help. If only he was as willing to help as our dog, Macy. Jim's garden project this year is to build a little fence so she can't "help" so much and to take out some of the adjoining grass so we can have double the garden. We will be a busy bees this year!