my sanity

This sandbox has preserved my sanity yet again. All day has been blustery and chilly with rain on and off. The sun came out at 3pm and we opened up the sandbox.... sweet relief!! The kids have been playing out there happily with only the occasional blood-curdling scream from Nyah followed by absolutely outraged crying. You know, the kind that makes you think a digit has been chopped off. Yes, that is our little drama queen for ya. I don't usually rush off in a panic anymore, it's more like a glance out the window or casual question to Gabe about what happened. Usually it's that her brother has forbidden her to touch something that he is playing with. Oh the nerve of that boy to dare tell her what she can or cannot do!! :) Other than that, those two have been having a grand old time and there is plenty of sand lodged under fingernails and embedded in their hair to prove it!

Meanwhile I have had the opportunity to work on dinner in peace. I have had the hankering for Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Salad and so I decided to tackle that today. It is a lot of work making the sweet pork recipe, black beans from scratch, cilantro lime rice, tomatillo dressing, crisp tortilla strips and all the other fixings but it's worth it. Well, a few times a year anyway! Haha! So anyway, I have been loving this quiet time alone. I even decided to snap a picture of my two cuties at play and post about it so I can always remember this. I love those two munchkins to death but once in awhile it's hard being home every day, all day with them. I know all stay-at-home moms can relate! 90% of the time I just love it. Truly I do, I'm not just saying that. It is the most fulfilling and uplifting job a woman can work at. But there are those other times... and that is where the blessed sandbox comes in. The best $30 I have ever spent on Craigslist!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh my gosh, Gabe just came in covered in sand, water, and bark (and missing pants!) to tell me that he was "only a little bit wet, just a tiny, little bit wet, just a little." (Yesterday he got in trouble for rolling around (er playing) in the mud a neighbor's sprinklers created in our yard and was forbidden to go near it today.) Then he tells me that Nyah is playing in dog poop!!!!!! WHAT!!!!!! I literally screamed and raced out there to find this:

Somehow she got her legs folded up inside Denali's none-too-clean water dish. Full of water of course. She was soaked and filthy. The dog poop part is questionable and something I don't want to think about. There was some evidence on the grass (curse that dog) but now Nyah is sanitized and clean and that is that. I'm not sure how I can forget that although I may clean it all up before they start playing, the dog is still out there and things happen, if you know what I mean. What was I thinking, sitting down out of sight of the window to post on the blog?!! Duh!! Well now I can laugh about it a little. Now that she has had a quick little bath and has new clothes on and playing happily where I can see her!!