The Storm Before the Calm - Part I

I must confess that I can be a bi-polar parent.  At times, I have tons of energy for doing huge things with the kids, but I balance that out with stretches when we never leave the house.  Presently, I'm enjoying some hermit days at home.  John is getting used to taking his naps in bed, rather than in the car.  June is spending hours cuddling Brown Eyes.  Clara spends half her time upside-down on the trapeeze.  Will has conquered endless enemies in Natonia.  And I've am cleaning.  Corners, pictures, piles, cabinets, drawers, storage rooms.

We have travel behind us, and travel ahead, so I told myself that these 3 weeks in between are about staying home.  Cleaning out.  Doing projects.  Getting bored.  Getting creative, maybe.  I'm checking things off my list, very very slowly:

• Make Two trips to Good Will - Check.
• Clean out the art cabinet - Check.
• Assemble and paint two benches - Check.
• Try to keep the garden alive.  1/2 Check.
• Hang kids' mailboxes - Check.
• Tune up the bikes - Check.
• Organize baskets of old pictures - In Process.
• Take stuff to ReSource 2000 - Later.
• Dye the 10-year-old "white" couch - Later?
• Get on top of sewing projects - Later?
• Make an arbor - Get real.  Never.

In addition, I'm making appropriate adjustments to my to-do list.  Staying home with all four kids for multiple weeks is a quick cure for ambition.

(I failed to catch a picture of the 1000 piles of photos arranged on every square inch of our bedroom tonight, so no photo with this post.  The girls started looking at them and it became one big pile, which I swept under the bed so Jeff could sleep in peace.  I'll post another picture.  Later.  Or not.)