Hello, Monday.

   Monday is our laundry day.  But when we're not stuffing the washer or dryer or matching up socks, sometimes Mondays will find us doing something like scooping gravel into a little water pitcher...just because. 

    It felt really good to get outside again, even if it was for a little bit.  I would be embarrassed to admit to you how little we go out in the winter, even when it's not raining all the time.  The reason, (other than general laziness on my part) is that there never seems to be a perfect time.  The morning is always full, then it's a rush of lunch and naps and by the time they get up from afternoon naps I'm usually knee-deep in some project of some kind and by the time I'm done with that it's high time to make dinner.  Add to that the weird weather of sun/rain/sun/rain in one day, and you can't really aren't able to plan outside time or get into a routine because you never know when it might dump on you.

Exhibit A:  In the first few pictures you can see shadows from the sun shining.  But in the next ones the sky gets overcast and gray, and by the time we were done with snapping these few pictures, it was raining on us.  But I'm happy to report that I'm finally figuring out a way to squeeze in a little outside time, even in the schizo Oregon winter weather.  Only took me a few years. 

    The key is, "There is no time like the present."  As in, literally RIGHT NOW.  If the clouds clear, and the sun shines, grabs your boots and coat and dash outside.  If you wait even a half hour, your chance may be gone.  My original plan (since it seemed nice) was to go on a long walk with both girls, but then Charlotte took a long nap and I would have had to wait until she got up to take them both, so Jocelyn and I just went out into the yard for a bit.  Even if I had waited on Charlotte, it would have rained on us on our walk, so it all worked out perfectly.

    And then I always struggle with, "Well what will she do?  She can't ride bike, the swing is always wet, etc.etc."  I'm discovering that it really doesn't take much.  Exhibit B:  Scooping gravel into a little can provides a shocking amount of entertainment for a toddler.  You could always ask them how many pinecones they can find, or just sit and watch robins pull up worms from the lawn like we did for  a while.  They really don't need much to be having fun, as long as they're with you.

    After the rain started up, we came inside and I tackled lunch, naps and laundry.  What's this?  A picture of my laundry room ON laundry day?  What a brave soul I am.

 Now Jocelyn is napping, and Charlotte is doing this:

And I am doing this:

And that wraps up a pretty good Monday morning, in my book.