Moved to tears....

Do you see this pile of clothes? It makes me cry.

But not how you think. It's tears of joy. If you look carefully, you'll notice that all of these clothes have been turned right side out before being dumped on the floor.

It was my new years' resolution: To get the boys to turn their clothes right side before they go into the laundry. Every night, the chant has been, "Brush your teeth. Flip your clothes. Put them in the laundry box."

What's special is that tonight, Hugo even announced, "Mom. I don't have to flip my clothes tonight because you know what? If I take them off this way....." [he demonstrates] ."... then they're already flipped!"

See? Tears of joy.

Two constants in our lives

In the midst of daily challenges, it is a comfort to know we can always count on two things.

1. Laundry. We hang stuff out every day unless it is raining (and even in the rain--there is a roof over the poles). Now that it's colder, the clothes are larger (!) so if we have two days of laundry, it's a tight fit in our little washer. When I was packing, I did not realize that I'd only need three pairs of pants for each boy. One on their bodies, and two on the line.

This image is taken of our clothes hanging out at night. It may be foreign, but I see nothing wrong with hanging it out the night before!

2. Dust. These two images are taken literally 3 days after Darrin vacuumed the entire house for an hour:

Five people in four rooms? Check. Constant movement of bedding, in and out of the closet? Check. No dryer to collect all that lint? Check.

Excuse me, I have to go vacuum and hang out the laundry....