This was the face that went with these words:

I put all my laundry away! Aren’t you happy?

It took him 10 years to even realize I did laundry. I think he thought it magically got clean and placed back where it belonged by some sort of clothing fairy. Two years after that, days after his 12th birthday, and he put his first pile of clean laundry away.

I’m a mothering success apparently.

Meanwhile, Ashlyn has been putting away her own laundry since she was maybe 2. Drew, days away from turning 8, is quite good at taking clean laundry from his dresser and closet and making it appear like all he has is dirty laundry. And, Lydia, now 5, doesn’t really create much laundry since she prefers either staying in her pajamas all day or bypassing clothes altogether.

And, that’s my family, people.

Gotta run. My dryer’s buzzing again.

Oh, weather channel. I’m not sure if your link to family activities is thoughtful or mocking me as I am buried in snow today with 4 children who now have attended 4 1/2 days of school over the last 3 weeks.

We’re at about 10″ right now and counting. That’s a dog in the park across the street struggling to stay afloat in it all.

So happy to hear more is coming yet tonight because 10″ and then a wintry mix on top of that just doesn’t seem enough. I was really thinking it would be awesome to get something more like 14″ especially since our snowblower died in the last snowstorm.

Got to FaceTime Mark from Thailand this morning. Everyone at the conference is going snorkeling tomorrow in their partly sunny and 86 degrees weather. But, he’s going to take a day trip somewhere else with some folks because he doesn’t want to be out in the sun all day.

Well…here’s the good news….when I check the 10-day forecast…

Together Called may see some rain showers but no snow. 

Clinging to this today:

Hello. How was your day?

And…there is my adult conversation for the evening. In a blog post. Not all that conversational as I click away in a quiet house while a cat purrs beside me. This is what happens when my husband is on the other side of the world and I’ve parented alone four children including one four year old who seems to enjoy screaming more than speaking lately since he left last week. Yeah, I know, it’s only been a week…Has it really only been a week? I think the high-pitched screaming had affected my sense of time.

I have learned this past week, however, that taking three 6th grade boys to school every morning at 7:15 (fine, 7:20, I have been late every single morning…) is better than a cup of coffee—they are ridiculously funny when they mean to be and when they don’t mean to be. I’ve also learned that I still need my coffee regardless…and my really good concealer.

Snow? Really pretty. Shoveling it? Not so pretty or even remotely fun, especially when I’m inside still trying to recover and realize that it’s getting warmer out and if I had just waited a few hours I probably could have gotten away with my preferred method of snow removal after all (i.e., drive over it a few times and call it a day).

I’m really hoping that this cat leaves my side and magically learns how to wrap gifts over night. Maybe he could go track down the gifts I ordered that haven’t arrived yet. Maybe that’s asking too much. I’ll settle for him finding the gifts I bought a while ago and put away in our storage room and either can’t find now or have forgotten they even exist.

Come Sunday night, I will be singing Come Thou Long Expected Husband robustly. Mark better be singing I’ll Be Home for Christmas. 

So good talking to you.