Children's Museum

Every night before he goes to bed, Nathan tells me that he's "going to dream about those boats" at our favorite children's museum.

In February, on one of our many snow days, we trekked to the museum, where Nathan spent no less than three hours playing at his favorite spot.

The last time we were here, he came home soaked to the skin. This time I was smart and brought along a complete change of clothes.

Here is a long view of the river, with Nathan and the twins watching the boats float along.

Madeline found her inner artist in the painting room. Note the tongue.

She didn't notice the "Please-don't-mix-paint-colors" sign.

She threw an absolute fit when I had to extract her from the room.

Clara.
The duo.

Quote of the Day

“A wise man [Lin Yutang, 1937] once distinguished between ‘the noble art of getting things done’ and ‘a nobler art of leaving things undone.’ True ‘wisdom in life,’ he taught, consists of ‘the elimination of non-essentials.’ ”

“What are the nonessential things that clutter your days and steal your time? What are the habits you may have developed that do not serve a useful purpose? What are the unfinished or unstarted things that could add vigor, meaning, and joy to your life?”

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

My Morning

My name is Isaac.

Today I helped Mommy paint.

So did my twin sister, Madeline.

I watched as Mommy put the lid to the paint can on the sink in her bathroom and closed the door as she left.

She wasn't looking, and I haven't told her yet that I know how to open doors.

So I opened the door to the bathroom and went in. I found the lid and picked up a nearby cup and rolled it through the wet paint. Then I wiped the painted cup on my shirt and tossed it in the sink.

I decided, since my hands were wet with paint, that I would try an experiment. I found some jigsaw puzzles and painted them with my wet hands. Then I wiped them on my shirt.

Madeline found a Magic Eraser and followed Mommy around, wiping the eraser on the wet walls right after Mommy painted.

Mommy told her, "No!"

While Mommy cleaned Madeline off, I found a bucket of soapy water. I dumped some out.

Mommy told me, "No!"

Mommy always says, "No!"

I told her, "Uh oh!" and pointed my finger to show her that I understand.

So instead of dumping the water out again, I decided to find a towel and drop it in the bucket and swirl it around.

Guess what Mommy said?

While Mommy cleaned off my wet and painted hands, Madeline found a paintbrush and started scribbling on the walls.

Mommy almost dropped me while she ran to get the brush from Madeline.

I cried when she almost dropped me.

Madeline cried when she took the brush away.

Mean old Mommy.

Madeline and I decided not to paint anymore. Instead, we decided to let Mommy paint in peace.

So we went down to the kitchen and pushed some chairs up to the counter. We climbed up and found a bowl of goldfish crackers. We ate a few, and then we dumped them out and had fun crunching them all over the floor.

Then we found some marshmallows and started eating them. We giggled at each other while we watched the marshmallow juice dribble down our chins.

Mommy came to find us.

She always comes to find us.

And guess what she said?

Madeline and I have hatched big plans for tomorrow. Maybe we won't paint plastic cups or crunch goldfish or dribble marshmallows. Maybe we'll do something even more amazing.

But I bet I can tell you what Mommy will say.

The List

We've been really busy.

And I've been a little frazzled. (OK, more than a little.)

Here's why.

In the last month, we have:

*Remodeled a bathroom

*Replaced several light fixtures

*Primed and painted the kitchen and bathroom cabinets. (Brian got up at 3:30 one morning to put a second coat of paint on them, so they could dry before the kids woke up.)

*Replaced all knobs on said cabinets

*Re-caulked in bathrooms as needed

*Cleaned the carpets

*Taken three trips to a local moving & shipping store, for supplies

*Taken way more than three trips to Lowe's

*Packed about 30 boxes (of family pictures, books, etc.)

*Organized every closet

*Organized the bathroom cabinets

*Organized the storage room

*Cleaned out the attic

*Cleaned every vent in the house

*Taken five carloads to Goodwill

*Cleaned some super-dusty exposed pipes

*Painted the front door

*Shredded eleven (ELEVEN!) Magic Erasers while cleaning marks off of walls and baseboards

*Moved the contents of a 10' U-Haul into storage (boxes, furniture, treadmill)

*Repaired a post on the porch

*Spackled & sanded numerous gouges in the walls

*Touched up the paint throughout the house

*Hired a painter to paint six ceilings (We have our limits; this was one of them.)

*Borrowed a load of decorative things from my parents

*Installed new blinds in a bedroom

*Moved a whole bunch of stuff, large and small, around the house for "staging."

And we're still not done:

*We have two workmen waiting in the wings, for the snow to melt so they can fix a roof leak...and replace rotting wood...and paint the porch.

*Other parts of the exterior await our efforts, while we wait for the melting of the snow and for an available day to rake...and sweep...and weed...and prune.

*We have numerous itty-bitty last-minute things to do, like rearranging our eating arrangements (staging again) and stowing papers away.

*With all of the sprucing up, the cleaning still has to happen--cleaning mold around the windows, cleaning the outside of the fridge, cleaning the fingerprints off the windows, cleaning the fans and tracks in the door, and on and on. This in addition to the standard cleaning of bathrooms, etc., that I generally keep up on pretty well. Today, I made a command decision. We're hiring the cleaning out, just one time, right before the house is listed. It's my own little February present.

All of this in hopes that our house will readily sell in what has become a very tough market.

Needless to say, we can't WAIT to be renters next year!

My Valentine

My Valentine is:

kind (he never says an unkind word about anyone)

and multi-talented (he is incredibly artistic. and he can fix anything.

and i think there's practically nothing he can't do)

and supportive (he supports every hare-brained idea I have)

and quiet (because he's introspective)

and wise (he has tremendous insight into many situations)

and a masterful chef (he grills some amazing chicken)

and an excellent teacher (he knows how to break things down to the

basics)

and musical (he's a violist and truly appreciates good music)

and brilliant (seriously. brilliant. absolutely amazing at what he does professionally)

and funny (ask him to do some ballet for you some time)

and dedicated (he works harder and longer than anyone I know)

and loving (he is a family man and wonderful husband and father)

and inquisitive (he watches documentaries...and does science experiments with the kids...and reads good books)

and patient (he has a wonderfully even temper)

and unselfish (he comes home every night and asks, "what can I do?")

and just about perfect, in just about every way.

I love you, Valentine. Be my Valentine forever.

The Apocalypse Is Coming...

...or maybe just two feet of snow.

Tomorrow begins our second blizzard and our fourth noteworthy storm of this winter.

It all began six weeks ago.

Last week, school was cancelled due to heavy rain and melting snow, which caused excessive flooding in the county.

And also last week, that flooding caused a water main break in our area, which resulted in us boiling drinking water for four days. And no hot water, either. (The laundry pile was epic.) I didn't really mind the water episode. It was a nuisance, for sure. But we did just fine.

But tomorrow. Tomorrow! I [don't] love ya', tomorrow!

The forecast: 20 to 28 inches of snow.

The first blizzard gave us 27 inches of snow, and we didn't see a plow for five days. But it was Christmas, and Brian was home, and it was fun. And Brian did 97% of the shoveling.

This time, Brian will be working all weekend.

The kids have had a slew of school delays and cancellations in the last two weeks.

We have some serious cabin fever.

The coming few days will be a test of my patience and character. I'm a bit nervous about the grade I'll get.

Thoughts of the impending storm are on everyone's mind...swirling in the air...seen in the checkout at the stores...in the lines of cars at the gas station...in the email notifications of cancellations...in the shelves devoid of milk and batteries and snow shovels.

It's been an unbelievable winter--for Virginia.

Virginia: Where a skiff of snow translates into major news stories, school cancellations, and entire communities rushing to the grocery the night before for that last gallon of milk.

Virginia: Who hasn't seen this much snow in a single winter for a century.

Virginia: Who drastically cut the state budget for snow removal in 2009.

Virginia: I love you, but I don't love the winter you've given us.

So as vengeance, maybe we'll just move to Minnesota.