Spring...

We had a beautiful day here in the 'Burg yesterday. The kids got to play outside. I was thrilled! I've waited for this day all winter long. And it was a long winter. I even wrote a post about it, but waited to publish it until I had the perfect picture. Today started off much the same. Sun shining, birds twittering, no chilly bite in the air today! Surely I'd get a perfect 'Spring has arrived' picture today. But first, off the kids went to play. Those glorious moments of a quiet home while the kids play are treasures for a mother to be sure.

But then things started to get troublesome. The mud puddle was a hot spot for playing yesterday as evidenced by the cake like brown stuff all over shoes and pant knees, so my first foray outside was to ask them to find something else to play outside. Suprisingly, they complied although nothing can be more exciting to a budding imagination than fresh mud, can it?

Bugs. Bugs can be more exciting to a budding imagination. Although I personally don't see the interest, I understand the necessity for my children to have a healthy amount of curiousity about all things creepy crawly and left them to their play. Only when they decided to throw rocks at the bugs that were on the house did I venture outside for a second time.

I went back inside, intent on getting some packing done while I watched Barefoot Contessa whip up a delicious treat. A few minutes later I realized Lainey and Brady must've found something else exciting to do outside because all was quiet from the back door. After a few of those treasured, quiet moments, Lainey bursts in.

They had found a pet.

They made him a salad but he wasn't hungry.

It was like a spider, but it was maybe a mouse.

His eyes were open, Mom!

They named him something, but I don't remember what because at that precise moment Brady walked in waving his little fist excitedly, fingers clutched around something small and gray...their new pet.

A dead mouse.

A girly screech eeked out of my throat and I started yelling at Brady to get it out of the house. We washed hands and discussed that we don't touch outside animals ever. Especially dead ones. And we certainly don't proudly wave them in Mom's face.

Knowing I'd share the story with you, I took a picture of the thing sitting on my back porch where Brady tossed it because I haven't gathered the courage to go give it a proper burial in a garbage sack. But then I thought that a picture of my dead mouse isn't really the perfect spring picture, is it? So all you get is the story.

You can thank me later.


Happy spring, friends.

In other news, Lainey has her first bonafide loose tooth. Big things happening around here, yessiree.