go outside and play in the dirt pile .. what they say .. you heard me ..

sunday .. it was a crazy day .. is all i can say .. the children spent saturday night with aunt mary and uncle ross .. according to cash they had smarties and diet coke for breakfast .. i quizzed ellie about what they had to eat .. she said that aunt mary made the best blueberry pancakes that she has ever had in her entire almost 8 year life .. so .. you didn't have smarties and diet coke i say .. oh mom .. no .. that would not have been a healthy choice .. oh ok i say .. with a great deal of relief in my voice .. cash did though .. she says to me as she hops and skips out of the kitchen ...

so you can imagine .. cash all hyped up on diet coke .. smarties .. aunt mary and uncle ross ... his "enthusiasm" totally contaminated ellie and they both turned crazy ..

between the disaster in my back yard ..  all the gray dust from the screenings tracked all thru my house .. the pile of laundry .. my "enthusiastic" children and the long list of things to do before this coming weekend .. i was on over load .. i mean close to melt down overload .. jeff was "working" outside .. so i told the kids .. go outside and play in that huge dirt pile .. what .. they both say to me at the same time in a tone that suggests that i may have lost my marbles .. you heard me i said .. go outside and play in that huge dirt pile .. they look at one another with huge smiles on their little faces .. ok mom ..

they both race toward the door that leads out to the back porch .. careen into one another .. smash open the screen that then winds itself up and snaps so loud that sophie runs under my desk ..

omg .. i say to myself .. jeff sees that the kids are outside .. he sees this as an opportunity .. hey babe .. do you want to get busy while the kids are outside playing in the huge dirt pile .. i look at him with what i am sure is total bewilderment on my face .. what i say to him shaking my head .. do you want to get busy .. he says .. like maybe i did not hear him .. that was it .. do i want to get busy .. no i say .. what i want is for the pool deck to be done .. i want all the heavy equipment and crap out of my back yard ... i want my flower beds back the way that they used to be .. i want the laundry fairy to come and fold all your white t-shirts and socks .. oh .. he says .. could you make me some tea then ..

ellie is wearing a dirty pj top that she dug out of the very bottom of the dirty clothes pile .. her jeans are a) to short and b) to little .. i like the one leg tucked into the boot .. her hair is a sticky gross mess and i am sure that there is dirt under her fingernails ..

as far as she is concerned she is on top of the world ..

and cash .. all he wanted to do was bring a big load of the screenings into the house .. i will keep them in my room he says to me .. no .. i say again for the 100th time .. mooooommmmmmm he says .. i shut the door on him ..

the only saving grace to this whole entire day was that mom made chili for dinner ... my all time most favorite thing to eat ..

 i had 3 bowls ..