Spring Cleaning

EmJ asked me a few weeks ago what a tomboy was. I replied that it's a girl who likes to do boy stuff, like play sports, get dirty, handle the creepy-crawlies, etc. And, of course, I said, "You, EmJ, are NOT a tomboy." She looked at me and said, "Well, I am a tomboy in one thing. I like bugs. I took apart a ladybug yesterday and put it in a bag. It was really hard to cut the eyes out."

Speechless.

I was speechless. Then I laughed and thought no more of it. Until spring cleaning began. Guess what we found in the garage?

A froot loop, some hardened playdough, 6 containers of used up watercolor paints, Luke's list of "Qualities I Want in my Future Wife", an old picture frame, last year's (moldy) slip 'n' slide, and yes, ONE DISECTED LADYBUG IN A BAGGIE.

(I tried to take a picture, but it didn't photograph well.)

Instead, I should have taken a picture of the garage, which is beautiful and clean. You can almost, almost fit a car in there...(DJ, come get your stuff!). We tore out the built in desk and shelf, which created the perfect space for a fridge and deep freezer (I can dream, right?). As is the tendency with big projects, this spring cleaning episode did not stay contained in the garage, and it looks like I'll be spending much of the next two weeks dealing with the fallout.

Speaking of fallout, I think we may be getting some from Japan. The Boss has eaten her dinner three nights in a row!!! Some mutations are acceptable.

And I know you are dying to hear about Luke's "Qualities I Want in my Future Wife" list. Trust me, I was dying to hear all about it, too. Instead of just reading it to me, Luke gathered the kids around to survey them.

Does mom have a testimony? yes
Does mom have a good sense of humor? yes
Is mom athletic? YES
Does mom like to camp? yes, except we've never actually been
Does mom love our families? yes
Does mom want to have a lot of kids? yes
Is mom spiritual? yes
Is mom charitable? yes (Willie says, "No idea WHAT that means.")
Is mom fun to be around? yes
Is mom short? yes
Is mom a good cook? EmJ yells, "YES! Oh wait, ugh, no, I meant to say no."
Is mom patient? resounding NOOOOOOO

Thanks guys. I found their responses almost as humorous as the fact that Luke had a specific height requirement.

And on the cooking thing....there is a good chance EmJ was remembering the rice pudding I tried to make this week. Epic failure. So epic that I'm breaking my rule about using the word epic.

Gus let me know that leopards broke into his school today and left a pot of gold coins.

Leprechauns, sweetheart, leprechauns. I know I'm the only mom in the world that completely ignored St. Patrick's Day, but let's at least make it look like we are on board with the whole holiday thing.

Finally, and speaking of holidays, our favorite is just around the corner....it feels like Christmas around here....gotta get the spring cleaning done quick...because it's almost Opening Day!!

We've been watching our favorite baseball movies, playing a lot of backyard baseball (okay, not really. We've been staring out at the rain and mud WISHING we were playing baseball), and preparations are underway for an Opening Day picnic of hot dogs, licorice ropes, and Crackerjack!

It's going to be epic.