A Day in the Life

Disclaimer: If you have a weak stomach, you may want to skip this post. :)

It's been a typical day, I guess. Princess stuck some sticky-tak-wall-hangy-stuff into the fur of her webkinz. I had to cut it out.

Honey is still having nasty diapers. Two before ten today.

Speedy still has the bug, and has trouble making it to the toilet sometimes.
Shortly after cleaning this up, Princess hollered that she got poop on her dress. (She was wearing a hand-me-down flower girl dress for dress-up.) It fell in the toilet when she was wiping.

While I was cleaning the dress off, Honey came to me with something wet on her hands, sleeve, and pants. My only conclusion was that she was playing in the poopy toilet. Yee-haw.

We really DO have tons of toys and games and other things that should keep her attention so she doesn't have to resort to playing in the toilet.

Oh, and I dyed some red patches onto some towels from a red blanket while doing laundry.

And this was all before 1 pm.

And the ants have attacked our house again. On multiple fronts.

Busybody

This girl. I can't even tell you how busy she keeps me. It's ridiculous. Even more ridiculous is how stinkin' cute the girl is.
Everybody else was working on getting the yard ready for some re-seeding, leveling spots for stepping stones. I came out and saw Honey taking handfuls of loose dirt and dumping it on her head.
I can't even imagine what all she has put in her mouth. The list of things we've caught her with is bad enough.
While I was cooking supper, Hubby rushed in with Honey and said he thought she'd eaten a white ball of fertilizer. I've called Poison Control several times, so went ahead and dialed them up. While I was on the phone with the gal, I ducked outside to check the label on the fertilizer bag. Came back in to find Honey saying yuck and holding her tongue out. And soapsuds all over the counter from the bachelor buddy. I asked her if she licked the bachelor buddy, she said yes and yucky....as the gal from poison control was asking if she was having any reaction to the fertilizer. It was a little hard to tell. She'd also tried some Captain Crunch powder that turns milk green while I was gone. Stinker.

Yesterday we headed out of town to do yardwork on our rental house. I don't really know what I was thinking--that all four kiddos would be content while we did that?? There were bouts of fussing, crying, having to go to the bathroom, etc. It was not so bad till Honey said she was poopy. I (thankfully!) put a changing pad on the front seat of the van and laid her down. And much of the NASTY in her diaper came running out the back. All over her clothes and the changing pad. I got her cleaned up, grabbed her extra outfit from the stash I keep in the van (thankfully!!) and put her shoes back on. Yuck. She's still having diahrea today. Yuck.

Also yesterday while eating at Wendy's, Princess comes out of the bathroom and informs Hubby that she has diahrea. Loudly. By the time we leave, she has announced it again. I'm just feeling sorry for the other people eating around us--nice and appetizing.

I have photos out on the desk with my labeling pencil because I'm in the process of writing dates on the back. (doesn't usually take very long...without distractions) Anyway, I had been on the couch, rubbing Honey's feet because they hurt. She left the room, and I was finishing up a magazine article when I heard a lot of paper rustling. Came in to find her sitting on photos, trying to draw on them, etc, etc. Got her set up at another desk with her own paper and colored pencil. Went downstairs to switch a load of laundry. Came back up to find her scurrying to put my brown pigment ink stamp pad away. Did I mention she was wearing a white sweatshirt??

While I was typing this, I heard scratching and looked over to find Honey drawing on the wall with colored pencil. Are you worn out yet? I am!

*edited: In the middle of this post, I changed an icky diaper. Stood Honey up, pulled up her pants. She kind of paused, then said, "uh poo-poo." Which means 'I just went poopy.' A little frustrated, I left her standing there to finish going if she needed to and came to finish this post. Went back in to find her rubbing orajel all over her hands like lotion. And some other white cream smeared on the mirror. {sigh}

Not much

Seems like I haven't blogged because there's really nothing going on. But actually, everything is going on. You know, life, the kids growing up too fast. I'm just trying to enjoy it all, because, really they are growing TOO fast! I don't want to forget how their little hands feel in mine, the smell of a baby's head, the way they cuddle up and want to read stories with me. Yes, I'm busy. Busy trying to enjoy all this and still keep up with that other stuff, like laundry, cooking, cleaning. :)

Princess piled a bunch of blankets on the baby. Made me think she was the pea in the story.
Snuggle-Bug's smile:
I gave Speedy a haircut. Here's the before. It was really, really long.
See: here's the pile that resulted. Gross, I know, but I couldn't believe how much there was! I forgot to take an after picture of Speedy.
Princess enjoying her new Christmas boots.

Growing Up

I can't believe how Snuggle-bug is growing up before my eyes! Today she was looking right at me, smiled a couple times, even started to coo! She's also losing her hair. :) She is such a good baby--I am not sure if I enjoyed the 'baby' stage this much the other three times or not, but I kind of wish it wouldn't go so fast!

The hardest parts of the day seem to be lunchtime--she's hungry then, just like the other three. Bedtime hasn't been great, it's tough to get her settled down and staying asleep. But once I do, I can get a good 4-6 hours of sleep (yay!) depending on who else wakes up and how many times they come to our room.

My Turn!

I ran some errands last night (alone!) and left Hubby in charge of the 4 kiddos, getting dinner in the oven, overseeing the application of Valentine window clings, and tutoring his brother. He did a great job, and was just thawing some milk for a bottle when I got home. The older kids were disappointed--'but I wanted to feed her a bottle.' (insert pouty face). I assured them they still could. Not many bottles around these parts, so everybody wants a turn when the opportunity comes around. Snuggle-bug drank it down in a hurry, so they had to switch fast:


Look how cute I am, 6 and a half weeks old:
Princess loves to hold and pose with her baby sis:

What's the Connection

I'm not sure why watching American Idol got Speedy thinking, but he had me worried when he said, "I know what I want to be when I grow up. I want to be a...I want to be a...a...a..." (of course I was thinking, a bad singer??)

Princess added "God already know what we're going to be, right?"

Speedy: "I want to be an eye doctor." Oh, good.

Princess piped in, "I want to be an airplane-flyer." Really, a pilot? "Yeah, I want to drive airplanes." She's really in question mode, so went on, "How does God know what we're going to be?"

Me (??): "He knows what would be the best use of the talents and gifts He's given you, to bring Him the most glory."

Princess (knowingly): "oh."

Kids make it seem so simple.

This GIRL!

Oh. My. Word. Honey seems to have had a re-lapse into that stage where kiddos just turn mobile and learn to climb and reach and are into absolutely everything! Seriously, TP in piles in the bathroom, dumping trash cans, anything on the kitchen counter. Whew. She is wearing. me. out. On top of the busyness, she's given up naptime. But she'll fall asleep in a minute watching big bro play on the computer:

Hard to stay mad at a face like this:

Girl, Interrupted

The story of my life. All day, I have witty and clever blog posts going through my head, things to remember, funny things the kids do. If I'm lucky, I can remember them until I get some computer time. If I'm even luckier, the kids aren't constantly interrupting me and the internet is not down. I wondered if I should get one of those 'note-to-self' tape recorders. But when would I have time to listen to it??

There's so many things I'd like to to, but I don't know where the time goes! Or if I have a minute, I can't remember what it was I was going to do when I had the time! There's a deal at 2peas right now--upload 20 projects and earn $20 to spend in their store! How could I pass that up? Hopefully I'll get to it. :) There was a call for journal-bloggers at Blissfully Domestic that piqued my interest. Maybe I'll get to that, too. Or my lonely scrapbooks.

My 3 and 5 year olds are already telling me they're bored and there's nothing to do. Oh dear. Just another confirmation that we have too much stuff. I've been wanting to declutter and organize, but this also falls into the interrupted category.

Speedy likes to make idle threats when I ask him to do something he doesn't want to do or won't let him watch yet another cartoon. He needs to work on things that might actually be meaningful to me, though. Here's one of his threats this week: 'If you don't let me ___, then I'm going to throw all my toys OUTSIDE!' (Hmm, that wouldn't really bother me! Less to pick up!) Another one, 'I'm not eating EVER AGAIN!' (Again, doesn't really bother me, I seriously doubt he would last for even one meal!)

On the plus side, the 3 older kids all had rags and spray bottles in hand to help me clean this morning. We're still working on which household items can be cleaned with what. Like, let's not squirt vinegar-water on the computer mouse to clean it. But thanks for helping!

I've been enjoying seeing Snuggle-bug change already. Her cheeks are plumping up, her eyelashes are getting longer, she's looking at more things (albeit cross-eyed). I never get tired of checking out the baby features. And wishing they would never get bigger. But at the same time wanting to be done changing diapers. (after 5+ years straight of it!)

Honey has started getting reprimanded. She just gets crushed, but she definitely knows what she's doing. She's just so cute and animated in her facial expressions and what she tries to say and do. She has an adorable gallop-a-skippity-hop she does around the house. We like to say she just toodles all over. :)

{sigh}

Seems like we've had nothing but the sickies since the baby was born. Which is not unusual for January for us, post-children. We bought some elderberry juice concentrate in December, it's supposed to boost your immune system and keep you from getting sick. Well, our trial isn't going well. :)

Speedy was the most recent to have the stomach bug--was throwing up Sunday afternoon. So it was a shock last night, when I FINALLY had Snuggle-bug settled for a couple hours of sleep and was ready to move from the recliner to my comfy bed, and Speedy was in our room, scared. (well, that's not the shocking part,) I heard him mumble something about a bucket and then heard the dreaded splat. (You know what I'm talking about.) Hubby is such a sound sleeper, it took quite a bit to get his attention, and what a rude awakening--he hadn't even heard Speedy come in. The kid threw up all over our bed. All over my pillow, to be exact. My pillow. So, laundry, bath, sit with him a bit, it's after 1 am and I'm ready to crawl in bed to try to snooze. And the baby is ready to eat. So back to the recliner, 'cause she's too congested to lie in bed and eat. I can't decide if it was a short night or a long night. Ugh for winter.

On a funny note, Hubby was in charge of supper last night, so walked with the older 3 kiddos to the local grocery store. Speedy was the usual drama--a bag of bagels was TOO HEAVY to carry back 2 blocks. Honey was in charge of carrying a container of yogurt. She was proud of herself, but was mad we wouldn't let her eat it before supper. In the midst of the dinner-hour hoopla, Hubby found Honey scooted back in a corner with the lid and seal off her blueberry yogurt, eating it with her fingers. She's persistent, anyway.

You may be wondering what Hubby was craving--fried chicken and mashed potatoes. Pretty good, but as I grabbed a chicken leg, I remembered why I don't make fried chicken. (I had a bad experience in college with some undercooked fried chicken at none other than my future husband's house.) Now add to that the midnight vomiting of fried chicken, and it may indeed be awhile before I can eat it again.

Reality...

...Is setting back in after coming home with the new baby and post-holiday hoopla. I was actually home by myself one morning with all 4 kiddos while Hubby was at the doctor and running errands! It wasn't SO bad. :) Though Snuggle-Bug spit up ALL over herself, and all down her back somehow. She was overdue for a bath anyway, so it was okay. Here she is at 10 days old.
Feels like she's always been around! :) Other people have told me that once you have the 4th kid, it's just one more, not that big of an adjustment. So far, I'd agree with that. Snuggle-Bug has been a very content little girl so far, for which I am VERY thankful!

Back to the reality--everybody, even the baby has had a cold, Honey has had the stomach flu (AGAIN!), Hubby felt poorly and spent a day or so sleeping, never-ending meals, because once we're done eating and the kids wiped off, the real clean-up begins: clearing the table, wiping it down, sweeping the floor, doing the dishes...then starting over for the next meal! The laundry, the everybody needing something at once, reading stories to 3 climbing all over me while 1 nurses...anyway, if you're a mom, you know what I mean! The 'break' has been great, but time to get used to reality again--Hubby goes back to school on Monday!!

Again???

Yes, everybody was up early again today. Princess ate some breakfast with Daddy around 5 am, then came in bed with me and wiggled. Honey had been wiggling and coughing since about 3:30 it felt like. Those 2 girls finally just got up and watched PBS. They're going to crash pretty soon...

Funny...

...how easy it is for Hubby to lay out a punishment like, NO TV TOMORROW! But I'm the one who suffers, too! (yes, I do rely on videos or pbs kids at certain times, especially dinner prep.)

Oh well, after a session of good blogging, I feel like I can face the rest of the day!

Neither here nor there...

...As I get older, (i.e. have been a parent longer), some things start to make more sense. For example, growing up, the kitchen cabinet above the microwave in our house held a hodge-podge of miscellaneous stuff. Medicine, bandaids, art supplies, parts of 4-H projects, jewelry. NOW I understand--as the kiddos get into more, you keep moving it higher and out of sight! That cabinet was one place we couldn't get to, I guess. In my own kitchen now, one of the upper cabinets is home to medicine, gum, scissors, permanent markers, scotch tape, fingernail clippers...I'm sure the list will continue to grow as the kids get into different things and make more messes, and Honey CONTINUES to put EVERYTHING in her mouth. One day this week, (and this is just what I remember) she stuck her hand in the meat sauce bowl and snitched; stuck her hand in the raw hamburger in the pan and snitched (I got her to spit that out--eww!); stuck her hand in the can of cream of mushroom and snitched (but didn't like the taste); was drinking fishpond water out of the rain gauge; and sucking on batteries. Seriously, I don't remember the other 2 kiddos being quite like this. Honey has also started mastering the art of cutting. Not that I want her to have scissors, but she's quick, strong, and loud when I try to wrestle them away. She was not deterred by pinching her finger a bit in the blades, either.
Another recent obsession is chapstick--she wants it constantly. She has a tube that is basically cleaned out that she leaves around so she can apply it as needed. Today I saw her putting chapstick on a Little People puppy. (yes, this is a cow, she was posing for me.)

In other random news, Princess was well for a day and a half, then early this morning started getting sick again. That's NOT the way it's supposed to happen! We were looking forward to a birthday party and football game tonight. :( At least no one else seems to be sick...yet.

Mouse report: I don't know how, but seriously, I hear the mousetrap snap during the night. (or at least I think I do.) So in the morning, I have the kids check the trap, they get the flashlight, and yep, everytime I've heard the snap, there's been a mouse. Hubby has started tally marks on the trap, this will be #4, I believe. Plus the 2 on glue traps and one in the oven drawer. Have we found the whole family YET??

It seems like I have so many fun projects I'd like to work on, and I feel the itch to sew something--but it just doesn't happen. Life gets in the way, I suppose. It puts me in even more awe of the TONS of clothes my mom sewed for us growing up, not to mention the dolls, pound puppies, doll clothes etc. And hubby doesn't understand why I need to stay up so late! That's the only time to have a quiet thought or work on anything without help!

"WHOOOAA!"

...said Honey as Hubby cut into this Boston Cream Pie dessert with the cake breaker. (like a big, metal comb.) I guess they both appreciate the finer side of dining. :) (I finally tried it Betsy, and it was easy and good!) (a Kraft Food & Family recipe)

Hubby carving a pumpkin with Speedy and Princess. (He's SO much better at it than I am!) Princess has only been talking about carving her pumpkin since we got it ten days ago!
One of my kitchen helpers. Yes, letting her do this and then clean her up IS easier than listening to her fuss about me keeping her out of it. Have you had this much fun with flour??
I'm definitely feeling the nesting. :) Simple tasks turn into major re-organizing and sorting efforts, because I can't just shove it in and walk away right now! And even though I was pooped last night, I sat down at my scrapping desk and got caught up organizing and updating baby books for a couple hours!

I'm having a little (or a lot) of mommy brain, too. Tuesday evening, I bought a new toothbrush for Honey. The last place I remember seeing it (still in the package!) was on the kitchen counter. I cannot find it now, I even checked the trash can!

On the plus side, I found a book from our PAT library that I hadn't seen for about 4 months. I had given up--today I spied it between the head of our bed and the wall. :)

Why Do I Bother??

How is it that seemingly simple tasks can turn into an ORDEAL so quickly with munchkins?? Yesterday, maybe I just should have known better after I returned from mopping up milk in the dining room and found Honey pouring almost a WHOLE pitcher of apple juice all over the counter, herself, down the dishwasher, and onto the floor. And we've ALREADY been having trouble with ants. But...we had portraits scheduled, so I got breakfast cleaned up and proceeded to get everybody ready. Princess wasn't bad, she's been looking forward to her 5-yr pics for a couple weeks. Honey was fairly cooperative. Speedy...now this is where things started turning sour. He DID NOT want to wear the nice outfit we'd picked out. I eventually got it on him; then he was CONVINCED he needed to wear his yellow socks. Sorry, kiddo, not for these pictures. We're about ready to get in the van, everyone is clean and dressed, just need to brush Speedy's hair. I wet it down (like Hubby does) and brushed it to get those rooster tails flat. He proceeded to say he didn't want his hair wet and rubbed it dry with the hand towel. And say that he wanted 'crazy hair' and mussed it all up. Grr. (You can see why on most days, no one has neat hair when we leave the house!) I think we actually made it to the mall on time, checked in and straightened hair, put Honey's shoes and socks back on (she kicks them off whenever she's in the van for more than 2 minutes.) Then Princess has to go potty. "Are you sure you can't wait?" "No, I have to go REALLY bad!" The 4 of us trucked to the restroom, which thankfully, wasn't far. Back to take the pictures--no one would cooperate. Honey wouldn't stay (or even go) to her spot; Princess was kind of pouty and wouldn't really smile; Speedy was rolling around instead of staying put. So we gave up on all 3 for the moment and went on to the birthday girl. Who would not cooperate.
The photographer: "Would you like to come back and try a different day, to get what you were looking for?"
Me (not out loud): "No, I would not like to get all three of these kids dressed nicely with hair combed and out of the house on a certain time on another day to come back to this studio where you are not engaging them or working with them at all."
Me (out loud): "No, I don't think that would help."

Finally, between another worker coming to our rescue to make the kids smile and pose them; and fruit snacks from the diaper bag for Honey in between shots, we came up with some decent pics. While waiting for our pics to load, Princess had to go potty again. Are you serious? We truck back to the restroom, and she starts to go in by herself. A good thing. But she pushes the door right next to the bathroom by accident. Not so good. It's a fire exit and the alarm starts sounding. She starts crying. I try not to start crying. A saleswoman comes to turn it off and says not to worry, it happens every weekend. Not much consolation after the morning we've had.

So, when you get the kids' pictures in the mail, it might be wise to refrain from any comments regarding anything that's not positive. :)

Weekly Shenanigans...

...or 'Why Moms Have Gray Hair' (if they haven't pulled it all out already...)

A picnic outside, enjoying the nice weather...until Honey started stealing all the good stuff from everyone else's plate...and Speedy started being pokey and going on and on about getting some string cheese after he finished (an HOUR later)...and Princess started complaining about it being too hot...
Bedtime, at least has been going okay after moving Honey to the big bed. (Remember, she kept crawling out?) Big sis helps her go to sleep, and I think they both love it. :) Naptime, on the other hand, is a struggle. ONCE, Honey was tired enough to lie right down and take her nap. Another time, I had to lie with her 40 min. till the wiggle-worm fell asleep. Yet another time, I got frustrated after so long and put her back in the crib. I heard her saying 'uh-oh' again and again; and when I checked her a little later, she was asleep on her belly on top of the changing table (that's what she climbs out of the crib onto.) What a rascal. Not to mention the TWICE in the past couple weeks she's poo'd in the tub, while her sibs were also in there. That adds a bit too much excitement to the bedtime routine.
Here's the best face-time I can get. :) Speedy wanted to take my picture at the football game. I said, "Can you see my face in the window?" He said, "yup."
Fall decor on the mantle--it's been a fun spot to decorate in this house. I have a variety of candles and candleholders, some fake leaves and bittersweet, some beads. I love fall. :)
My tree candleholders surrounded with acorns we've picked up the last several years. Not real colorful, but kind of fun.

On the side, I've scrapped a couple pages, decorated a journal, finished an Andrew Murray book, and tweaked our school a bit. It's still a work in progress.

Wait a second...

I think Honey just climbed out of her crib! None of my kids has ever even tried that, that I know of. (the only other suspects are asleep.) I guess she's been paying attention when big sis helps get her out in the morning. But...now what? How do we keep her in her crib to go to sleep?? She still has to cry herself to sleep.

I think she's teething--it's been a very fussy week for Honey, with several nights of unusual wakefulness.

Topsy-Turvy

My life isn't, though some days are. For example, like today, when I am late to the doctor because Speedy wants to wear Princess's flip-flops. (We try not to allow the cross-dressing in public.) And then two kids are complaining of tummies hurting in the van, one is fussing, and I'm stuck behind slow, I mean leisurely drivers...when Princess tells me she's going to spit up. I give her my 'trash cup' and thankfully it holds. Whew.

Another example: coming out of Dillon's with a slew of groceries, and it is POURING rain. I mean, the bagger is wearing a raincoat to help me to my van! Honey started crying, but the other two thought it was a fun adventure.

Anyway, my point was going to be a verse that struck me from my daily devotional this week. It's funny how sometimes I see verses that I never recall reading before:

"...Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my
unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,"
says the LORD, who has compassion on you.
Isaiah 54:10

I was comforted by that--even when things seem topsy-turvy, God still loves me and is there, hasn't given up on me.

And lastly, more encouragement in a quote on a friend's blog:

"Start by doing what is necessary;
then do what is possible;
and suddenly you're doing the impossible."
--St. Francis of Assissi

There are some days when even doing what's necessary seems to be beyond what I can accomplish, much less anything else. It's nice to think that if I just keep plugging away, God can bless my meager efforts into something more.

Love to Read

I've always loved reading, hopefully that is trickling down to my kiddos. Here they are, 'reading' chapter books. Honey had to have one, also, but of course looked up to say 'cheese!'

I hope this translates to lots of actual reading once they can read the words and not just the pictures! :)
So I haven't been that happy with how 'school' is going for us--Princess gets frustrated if things are too hard, and I think she's not quite ready for what we're doing. Then there is Speedy, who REALLY wants to be involved, but completely on his own terms. I mean, I want it to be fun, not frustrating, so I'm researching online to see if I can find some free resources that are literature-based (where the activities are kind of based on a book of the week or something). I'll keep you posted. Or maybe I just need to set aside the same undivided time just to play games, do puzzles, art, sing songs and read. More relaxed. But I always feel like somewhat of a failure if I quit something in the middle. Which is silly--if it's not working for us, it's not working.

On a completely random note, I finally finished up two batches of apple jelly. Sure-Jell makes it pretty easy, but it was still kind of intimidating to try.

A couple recipes

I'm finally getting around to posting my favorite homemade play-do recipe! I think it's so much easier to clean up than the boughten stuff. It's a fun color and smell, too! Halving this recipe makes enough for my 2 older kiddos to play with.

Kool-Aid Play-do

2-1/2 c flour
1 c salt
2 pkg unsweetened kool-aid
3 tsp veg. oil
2 c water

1. Mix dry ingredients in large bowl.
2. In saucepan, bring water to boil. Turn off heat and add oil.
3. Pour oil and water mixture into bowl of dry ingredients. Blend and knead until well mixed. (It will be hot!)

We usually keep ours in a margarine tub in the fridge for months.

Homemade Baby Wipes
Cut a roll of paper towels in half to make 2 short rolls. (I like Bounty select-a-size)
For a container, I use a round wipes container that the cheap wipes come in--I've had it for 4 years, I think!

2 c water
1-1/2 tsp rubbing alcohol
1 Tbsp baby shampoo
2 Tbsp baby oil

Mix together in container; remove center tube from paper towels; put lid on and turn upside down for a few minutes to get an even soak.

You can tweak the amounts of ingredients, depending on how wet, soapy, etc. you prefer your wipes.

GET-YA MOVIN’ GRANOLA

4 c old-fashioned oatmeal (or quick oats)
1 c wheat germ
1 c coconut (I make it without this)
½ c Canola oil
½ c brown sugar (or honey)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
1 c almonds, or nuts of choice
1 c dried fruit if desired

Mix everything together except nuts and fruit. Spread on cookie sheets or pans. Bake at 200 degrees for 2-3 hours. Add nuts and fruit at the last part of the baking time. Cool and store in an air tight container.

There. Can you tell what all I've made in the last two days? :) Also, if you've never heard about teaching your baby/toddler signs to communicate instead of screaming and grunting, here's a good link with more details. About the most we've gotten to with any of our kids are 'milk' and 'more,' but even those help immensely!

Shenanigans of the day around here--during nap time, Speedy was wanting to hide behind hubby's low closet bar. Usually fine. But today I later found that he had taken ALL the hanging clothes off and put them in a huge mound on the floor. I can't believe that this kids who complains about being 'too tired' or 'not big enough' to do things, could empty an entire closet rod. Even later, I heard he and Princess jumping on our bed. I went in, and they had their shirts off, all the pillows and covers on the floor, and the laundry baskets blocking the door.

And the non-stop questions...like about the snake the dog killed in the flower bed WEEKS ago. Speedy: Where did it go?
Me: It shriveled up in the sun.
Speedy: And then it died?
Me: No, it was dead before it shriveled up.
Speedy: And then where did it go?
Me: It turned back to dirt.
Princess: Does everything turn back to dirt when it dies?
Me: Pretty much.
Princess: Eww, I don't want to be dirt when I die.
Me (sigh): The part that matters will be in heaven; it's only the part that doesn't matter any more that will be dirt.
Princess: Oh. So, like, snakes and panthers and people and bears and everything turn back to dirt?
Me: Yes, I think so.