Rain

It has been raining steadily since Friday night. Sometimes it is pouring, sometimes it is drizzling, but it is always raining. And this is all after a week of steady sunshine. Mother nature is schizophrenic. In April, whenever you discuss the rain, someone will always tell you that April showers bring May showers, until you feel you will have to hit the next persion who tells you that. But we have gone past April. We are in May. So what do May showers bring? A mess. Just ask Potsdam, Saranac Lake, and any number of towns along the Mississippi.

One of Alexander McCall Smith's more recent books was The Right Attitude to Rain. It takes place in Scotland, so they might have some sort of legitimacy in rain endurance. But I bet whoever came up with that silly idea didn't have to run errands in the pouring down rain with three kids and then come home to a basement 6 inches underwater. With little bits of Justin's wood shavings floating around, just waiting to attach to something so it can dry there like water grafitti.

I had to go out and move the sump pump hose and this is how much water it is pumping out at a continuous rate. When it is pumping. Our sump pump is old and elegant and pumps only when prodded to duty.

Of course, life isn't all bad. A rainy Saturday meant a morning of errands with Justin. We generally tend to errand in tandem rather than in togetherness. He ttook Orianna and went to Giroux Brothers while I hit up Rite-Aid with the others. Then quick trips through the grocery store and Wal-mart while Justin watched the kids in the car and a lovely hour all together in tractor supply, wandering around looking at animal type stuff. Have you ever seen the Schleich animals? Plastic molded animals. I love them. (Yes, I am a geek.) So do the girls. I let them each pick out one of the cheaper ones. Lily was sure her baby ducklings needed a Mommy, so I was a terrible parent and gave in. They each got two.

These are Orianna's lynx and cheetah. I told her it was a leopard because I don't know any better. She wanted to name them Tinkerbell and Sleeping Beauty. (How can my kids be that Disney-fied? I blame it on story tapes.) I told her that they needed fiercer names, so she went with Princess Potatohead Fierce (the lynx) and Prince Lion Fierce. An improvement on the originals anyway.  

They go everywhere with Orianna.

This is Mrs. Tiddlequack with her ducklings, Widdle, Waddle, Piddle, and Paddle, courtesy of Justin. Lily loves them and telling people which one is which.

Mrs. Tiddlequack is apparently right at home in the Polly Pocket carriage.

Part of my Mother's day present from Tractor Supply. I love them!

They match bleeding hearts.

My tulips are such wusses that they refuse to open up unless it is sunny. Are all tulips like this? Apparently dandelions are all like this. Flowers these days! I never noticed dandelions and their pickiness until this year. They close at night and stay closed in the rain. Fair weather flowers.