When I went to open the dining room curtains this morning, this guy was camping out near the bottom:

Needless to say, the dining room curtains will remain closed today.

Do I even need to tell you how I feel about this?

How do I photograph the smell of two boys fresh off a scout over-nighter?

Fortunately for you, I can't.

I held off taking a picture all day because I had big plans for a Hot Date with my hubby tonight, and I thought I'd snap a shot of us all gussied up for our fancy dinner out.  But then Brad came home from work all drippy and snotty and achy and feverish, so we had to revise the Hot Date plans.  And by revise, I mean cancel.

 Brad was in bed, Lukie and Jess both fell asleep before 9:00 and Pepper and Adam were at a scout campout.  So, I put on my jammies and slinked (slunk? slank? anyone know?) upstairs with this...

...to spend several quality hours with my DVR.

It was more than a little bit awesome.

I'm having an I Miss Berlin Moment.

Because Berlin is so close to the Netherlands border, every store, road-side stand, and train station shop was FILLED with tulips in the spring.  And they were cheap.  Like, 2€ for a bouquet cheap.  And they were big and fresh and lasted for a long time, just like tulips should be.

I bought this piddly bouquet today at Walmart for $6.  It's just not the same.

Last night, I asked Adam and Luke to S&S their room.  Apparently, this is their version of spick-and-span.

When I saw this, I had every intention of cleaning it up today.  Sometimes, they just need a reminder of what Clean is. 

(Plus, did you notice the crib in the corner?  That may have been there ever since Becky was here a couple of weeks ago--it never put itself back into the closet, which is weird. Sadly, I must assume part of the blame for this monstrosity.)

This morning, I took what I thought at the time would be a Before Photo.  But since I got four hours of sleep last night, a nap seemed like a better use of my time this afternoon.  So, the above picture is a Still Like That Photo.

This morning when I went to wake Lukie up at 7:00 AM, his side of the bed was empty.  I checked the bathroom and the computer room, but he wasn't there.

Elizabeth-Smart-Paranoia started to creep in as I returned to his bedroom one more time, just to be sure he was really missing, and this is what I found when I dug under the comforter:

He was just on Adam's pillow.

Phew.